Demon Castle – 4

After the walls had been erected and I was freed from L, I went to find Rain before doing anything else. It was easy to move about without the others because Mireina and L were locked in a battle. Like the others, Rain had his own dedicated space in this castle that resembled his private store. I found him inside of it, standing as if he had been waiting for me all this time. He motioned for me to sit on the soft sofa, which was pleasantly comfortable. But what he said first was enough to make that comfortable sofa feel like needles.

“Andras is a liar. He will often mix in the truth to make it sound plausible, but it’s mostly all lies.”

“What did he say that was true? That I’m a traitor?”

“That’s the biggest lie.” He smiled bitterly and noticed L pacing on the wall over the room’s window. He drew the curtain close with an expression of slight surprise, but I wondered if she was looking for me.

“To tell the truth…there is one thing that you took away from us.”

“What is it?”

“Our names.” Were A, L, and Rain, not their real names?

“But it was to protect us, to hide us so we wouldn’t perish in the Great Fusion.”

“You told me you didn’t have a partner because you were so strong.”

“Yes, however the Great Fusion wasn’t only a disaster for those with partners.” He put a glass full of amber liquor and ice in front of me. I toasted with him and took a sip, offering some to Solas on my shoulder.

“Myu.” Solas, with his eyes twinkling, skittered onto the table. He stretched out a strand of spider web and dropped it into the drink, sucking up the liquor through it. It was hard to believe he had been such a strong force in the battle last night. Rain coughed, bringing my attention back from Solas.

“I’ve mentioned that the situation between the underground and the Earth is unstable, although much better than what we were prepared for. Even after the Great Fusion, it didn’t disappear, and the demons were able to maintain themselves. However…”

“Extinction…?” In his words, I sensed something sinister. Was he preparing for annihilation?

“That’s right. The Great Fusion brought the two worlds together into one, but the subterranean world had no equivalent on Earth. It had to disappear entirely.”

“All of it? Nothing left?”

“Not even a single speck of dust.” At his response, I remembered the Red Blood clan. The traces of their struggles, the hopelessness, and anger of the spiders that attacked me. I patted Solas’ head while I drank.

“But how did the underground survive?”

“Thanks to you, Fate. Perhaps it’s also connected to the reason why you took our names to hide us.” They hid underground from the Great Fusion. It would have taken magic on a ridiculous level to pull that off.

“Of course, it wasn’t perfect. We faced traitors and all sorts of unforeseen events. The underground was made subordinate to Earth, and the demons who lost their names scattered throughout the underground. Andras was one of them.”

“And only you three are left.” The ones who were connected to me and exerted their power only in my territory. I probably didn’t think it would end up like this from the start, with this place distorted and those who followed me waiting in misery. But they waited, nonetheless.

“Those without a name cannot have a realm. The only castle that exists here belongs to you, and although it was originally hidden by our magic…”

“During the Devil’s Night, this place becomes twisted and attracts demons?”“Correct. The phenomena will only grow worse as the castle grows larger and exudes more mana.” Rain emptied his own glass.

“That’s why I didn’t call for you. If there is no lord in the castle, the territory won’t expand even after overcoming the Devil’s Night. I was going to wait for you to become stronger.”

“But now it looks nicely out of place.” The castle had broadened its territory, and my guess that the nights would become harder had been correct.

“It would’ve been wrong for me to try to make you go back. You arrived here, and everything went well. You even evolved.”

“Myu.” Solas emptied his glass, and Rain poured him a new one.

“So, unless your foe is someone much stronger than you, I won’t stop you from dealing with traitors anymore. Not only will it help you regain your strength, these traitors can cause imbalances in the world.” According to Rain, what I did today was like cutting out a tumor that was plaguing the world.

“Every time they exercise their power, imbalances occur. What can correct it…I don’t need to tell you that.” I nodded at his regret-filled words. The traitors who broke the plans I made in the past, placing the whole underground in danger. There was also the chief of the Elakatra, perhaps a betrayer of the underground. I didn’t need to wait for it to sink in; the way to deal with my enemies and protect this place was clear. I just had to beat them.

But there was the issue of existence and names. How did these demons avoid the extinction crisis that was the Great Fusion? Did Andras really only tell me lies? Maybe he wanted us all to die together. I smiled bitterly while trying to imagine the faces of those demons from before the Great Fusion. Still, no memories came to mind, no matter how hard I tried to recall them.

“It’s not that I don’t understand, at least a little…”

“What was that?”

“…No, nothing.” I stood up. Solas quickly skittered from his drink back up to my shoulder.

“First, I’ll have to go back to Earth. I have work to do there.”

“Come back soon, I’ll be waiting here.” Receiving a steady goodbye from Rain, I decided to step out of the shop. I thought of saying goodbye to L before I left, but I gave up on that thought, given how long it would take to retrieve my hand from her. Instead, I went to the eleven-meter-tall ogre called Cain, standing as a tall landmark that my colleagues have gathered around.

“Captain!”

[Ahhhhhh!]

[Grr, grrr…]

Lee Chan-yu waved at me, and I could see that Cain was playing with his hellhounds.

“What do you think?” I asked Cain. He lowered his head to me with a smile.

[I feel like I was born anew. For the first time since I opened my eyes as a monster, I feel as if my soul and body match.]

Entering a higher system was a great pleasure, just as he said. It came with a sense of superiority that couldn’t be explained by a simple increase in strength or mana. He was given the status of an overwhelming existence that could easily fall into arrogance. Had there been no one stronger than him around, maybe he would’ve changed in personality too.

[It’s thanks to you. I feel like the captain’s mana guided me into taking a step forward I never could have made on my own.]

“It’s a big step forward just knowing that.”

[When I first became a monster, all I knew was despair. But now I know I can restore my freedom. Moreover…]

Cain examined himself. Unlike me, who had reached a balance between new and soul magic, all of his power was held in his body. He had no magical powers, but his body itself was imbued with strong mana.[I know you wanted me to become smaller, but now I feel even stronger than a normal ogre. I may be more of a monster, but I’m happy with it. I can feel the road ahead of me.]

“You’ve become a true…”

[Don’t say it. It’s the name of a possibility I couldn’t hold onto alone.]

He was under my command and evolved under the influence of the underground. He was of the same rank as me, although he wasn’t a Belkena. It was possible that whatever race he was now didn’t originally exist in the underground. Perhaps he would begin to build his own territory, attributing it to my own. I thought of all the pain he had been through until this point.

“I’ll ask you again in the future.”

[Thank you.]

He reached his enormous hand toward me, and I grabbed his index finger to shake it. Lee Chan-yu watched the scene with a look of slight envy.

“Captain, can I become like that?”

“Eleven meters might be impossible for you.”

“Not that.” Lee Chan-yu waved off my words.

“A higher system. I’m asking if I can reach that level.”

“There are quite a few monsters under your control, so your growth has slowed a little. But you don’t need to worry.”

“I see.” He no doubt had many thoughts on his mind, but he soon laughed them off and tapped Cain’s leg with his fist.

“Congratulations.”

[Thank you.]

It was a good sight to see, one I hadn’t dreamed of since becoming a monster. As soon as I thought about it, they both turned around to me.

“So.”

[What is your relationship with that beautiful woman?]

“So there was a reason you didn’t bring me here sooner. You were hiding such a beauty.”

[Are you a coward? Not just one, but two of them.]

They just made me their common enemy now. I smiled bitterly and turned to Mireina for help. I didn’t know what sort of situation I found myself in, but the way I trembled was undoubtedly pathetic to watch.

“Mireina, let’s go.”

“Huh?” She raised her head up.

“We’ve laid the foundation to build the underground, and I can’t afford to let you go.”

“Together? What about my ears?”

“It’s okay now.” I confidently flashed a bloody smile at her.

“Now I can hide you.”