The Returnee Wants to Live Comfortably

Judgment from the Devil (1)

Black Flame Cult.
Gil Tae-ho was the leader who ruled over that organization.

Even though it was called a 'murderer guild', it was a group with more than 100 members gathered.

They were meticulous in their own way, so even when a net was cast, catching their tail was tough.

And even if they did get caught, there were always methods prepared to cut off the tail and escape.

Someone who led people like that would be required to have tremendous abilities.
Of course, one such ability would be combat power.

〈Gil Tae-ho〉
- Grade: B (Lv91)

An astonishing level, almost at the threshold of A grade.

This was proof that, among other B grade hunters, he was on a whole different level.

Knowing that, Yun Jaeho couldn't help but be surprised.

Fwoooosh—

In an instant, Gil Tae-ho was engulfed in black flames.

He didn't even have time to utter a word; his entire body blazed up.

It looked just like what would happen if someone was scorched with a flamethrower.

"One down."

The boy who had suddenly appeared and set Gil Tae-ho on fire smiled lightly.

Why was a child here, of all places?

But more than that, seeing how he didn't even blink after burning a man to death gave off a decidedly unsettling air.

"Who are you?"

Yun Jaeho had kidnapped many awakened individuals and offered them to the Black Flame Cult.

The kidnapped people would have been used by the sect as sacrifices to revive his daughter.

But among all the awakened ones he had kidnapped, he had never seen a child like this one before.

It was strange enough for an unrelated child to be inside this gate.
And most of all, it was ominous.

"I heard everything you guys were just saying."

Still smiling, the boy looked around at the corridor leading further in.

"No wonder things felt strange ever since that angel appeared. Turns out it was all you guys' doing."

At the mention of an angel, Yun Jaeho's eyes sharpened.

"What did you just say?"

"Huh?"

"Where is that angel!"

Even though his voice was filled with murderous intent, the child didn't flinch.
Hunters weaker than himself would already have been trembling, but the boy simply crossed his arms and laughed.

"Keuk keuk."

"What's with you!"

At the abnormal display, Yun Jaeho shook in fury.
The fact that the boy had just burned Gil Tae-ho to death was already suspicious enough.
The boy spoke.

"What if I already got rid of it? What will you do then?"

"You brat!"

Yun Jaeho grit his teeth and brought his hands together.

Compressed wind formed a semi-transparent sphere between his palms.

"What did you do to that little kid!"

Like firing a ki blast, he hurled the bundle of wind at the boy.

The whirling blast, shaped like a transparent soccer ball, streaked toward him, whipping up a gale in its wake.

The impact twisted the steel structures nearby.

It was like a miniature typhoon—yet, it was somehow split in two.

"What!"

The vortex was slashed in half and vanished, as if the air itself had been cut.

On the other side stood the boy, holding a knife.

From the knife he held, a blade of magic power soared upward.

The reason the vortex had been cut was immediately clear.

"How does he have that kind of power!"

Yun Jaeho was thoroughly shocked by how adeptly the boy used sword energy, a kind of skill.

He simply didn't have the skill to be entering a D-rank gate like this.

The boy's young appearance was unsettling, but he decided not to mind it anymore.

Hesitate now, and he'd end up like Gil Tae-ho.

〈Wind Slash〉

Wind gathered again in Yun Jaeho's hands, shaping itself into a blade.

The nearest metal fragments on the ground were sliced like paper just by grazing the edge.

With a sharp stomp, Yun Jaeho rushed forward and slashed the blade of wind.

The boy parried with his knife wreathed in sword energy, causing a violent blast.

Kaa-BANG!

The clash of their powers sent a shockwave, shaking the ground.

Steel bars or metal arches fixed nearby bent like empty cans.

"Khrrrk!"

Even though he put all his power into it, it was Yun Jaeho who struggled.

The boy had deflected the wind blade effortlessly, then shook off Yun Jaeho.

Hurled aside, Yun Jaeho gasped in shock.

"Who... what are you?"

Maybe he was a top hunter disguised as a child?

As Yun Jaeho wondered—

"Huh?"

Suddenly, the boy vanished.

At the same time, he felt a thud in his abdomen.

The boy had closed the gap in a flash and kicked Yun Jaeho in the stomach.

"Urgh!"

With a single kick, Yun Jaeho was sent flying through a wall.

He rolled across the floor in a dark unknown place.

'He's strong.'

Power and speed—the boy outclassed him in every way.

In this state, there was no chance of victory.

'Jisoo...'

Yun Jaeho recalled, as always, his daughter's face.

Everyone else had left, and she was the last hope remaining in his life.

He couldn't fall here if he wanted to save that child.

According to Gil Tae-ho, over 90% of the plan was complete.

'I can't give up now. I must...!'

What reward had he ever received in life?

His parents abandoned him when he was little, and his wife died before him.

Having felt betrayed by the world, Yun Jaeho had long since given up on human decency.

He'd prepared himself before, arming with a knife and acid to fight.

It was time to return to being a coward again.

"Your name is Yun Jaeho, huh?"

The boy who had kicked him walked up, asking.

He looked as if he had heard about Yun Jaeho somewhere before.

"So what if it is."

"I heard everything. Lost your wife, lost your daughter—felt sorry for you for a moment."

He'd heard stories from his father, a prosecutor.

Sometimes his father would mention Yun's name when discussing cases requested by the Angel Guild.

And piecing together what Gil Tae-ho had said, the boy could guess Yun's true purpose.

"But now that I've seen you, you're not pitiable at all. Do you know how many people have suffered because of you?"

It was far beyond the level of mere victims; those kidnapped by him had lost their lives.

His madness had crossed the line—even killing the parents of a child.

"You crossed the line far too much. No one is going to understand you anymore."

A man swallowed by delusion, stealing the lives of innocent people.

The parents of the winged child the boy had hidden with 'Stealth' had also died at Yun's hands.

A psycho who destroyed a family. That was the present Yun Jaeho.

"Hahahaha... Right, no one will understand. The world's always treated me that way."

At that moment, a black aura emanated from Yun Jaeho.

It wasn't his wind affinity, but a skill handed down from the Black Flame Cult.

'Black God Flame.'

It dramatically increased all of the user's stats several times over.

"Kuhuk!"

But it came with a price—the sacrifice of his own life force.

Coughing up blood, Yun Jaeho forced a smile.

"If I can't get that winged brat... I'll just find another to replace her. And you showed up right in front of me."

Black flames arose in Yun Jaeho's hands.

His eyes burned with greedy flames as well.

Then enormous wings spread from his back.

〈Heaven Up〉

A unique skill only usable by Angel Guild executives.

It unfolded pure white wings, allowing the user to fly.

But under the Black God Flame's influence, the wings turned black.

There was no better image of an angel who'd sold his soul to a demon.

Swoosh—

With the propulsion of his wings, Yun Jaeho shot toward the boy like a bullet.

He formed wind into blades again and swung, but the boy-nimbly dodged.

But he failed to dodge perfectly, and a wound appeared on his face.

Sensing the danger, the boy widened the distance between them.

"I guess now isn't the time to be leisurely fighting."

He took off his jacket and muffler, tossing them in the corner.

It wasn't particularly relevant to the fight.

He just didn't want to go home in ruined clothes.

"Die!"

Yun Jaeho hurled another vortex-like ball, just as before.

Tinged dark by the Black God Flame, it whipped up a fiercer storm than before.

The boy swung his knife of sword energy to counter it.

Crack—!

The boy was shocked as his knife snapped instead.

He took the wind attack head-on and was blown away.

Crash! Slammed into the wall, the boy coughed up blood.

Tasting iron in his mouth, the boy thought to himself.

'It's been a while since I fought this hard—maybe not since the Empire's Five-Star Hero.'

He wondered how long it had been since he'd been driven this far.

Seeing blood that hadn't been spilled for ages, he felt a rush of excitement.

Even after barely defending with 'Protect' just before impact, the result was this much damage.

Not only was he an A-rank hunter, but some weird buff was making him stronger.

At this rate, he could even contend for S-rank.

"That's more like it."

The boy stood up, wiping blood from his lips.

His shirt was already in tatters.

Thinking he'd have to change as soon as he got back to the dorm, the boy smiled calmly.

"Let's finish this!"

At Yun Jaeho's shout, his black wings glowed even brighter.

He closed in again, swinging his leg at the boy.

Struck by the kick, the boy was launched into the air.

From that position, Yun Jaeho leapt up and unleashed a barrage of blackened wind blades from a distance.

"Ugh!"

It was like shurikens flying through the air.

Unable to block it perfectly with 'Protect' again, new wounds opened on the boy's arms and legs.

"HHAAAAAP!!"

Yun Jaeho let out a ki shout as both his hands began burning black.

Wind gathered in his hands, stoking the flames even further.

It was the attack that previously blew away the thick debris blocking the corridor.

But now his power surged by several times, focused in his hands.

"Goodbye!"

He fired the gathered force with both arms, like launching a ballista.

A tornado of black fire surged and swallowed the boy.

The black wind sliced its target like a blender, and the black flames incinerated what was caught in it.

The heat was so intense that the metallic floor and walls all melted away.

Even the ceiling vaporized, opening a hole with the sky visible through it.

"Haa... haa... keuk!"

As soon as the attack ended, Yun Jaeho started coughing up blood.

He paid a heavy price for using a power unsuited to his body, but he was laughing.

If this was all he had to pay to bring down that brat, it was a bargain.

"Huh?"

But through the thick smoke, a small silhouette appeared.

It was an impossible sight.

Yun Jaeho, sensing a dreadful foreboding, froze.

"I really thought I was going to die."

The sudden voice made Yun Jaeho flinch as if he had heard a funeral lament.

At the same time, he was struck by the strange appearance of the boy revealed through the smoke.

The form of that young human now had horns and wings.

"How long has it been since I've shown this form?"

"No way..."

As the smoke cleared, the child's form was fully revealed.

The black hair had turned white, with sharp horns atop his head.

And batlike wings spread from his back.

The form of a demon race, like something out of a fantasy novel.

No—more accurately—

"Devil...?"

The young Demon King who had blocked the black fiery tornado without a scratch approached step by step.

Yun Jaeho, stricken with terror, trembled in his legs.

The Demon King exuded an inexpressible magic power as he spoke.

"Let's finish this quickly. There's not long until morning."

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
Damn, we get to see his real form so early... If this ever gets a manhwa, this would look so cool... Hopefully...
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】