5
He spoke like he was spitting the words out.
“There was just too much damn work.”
Ah.
With that one sentence, I understood everything.
I mentally threw away the popcorn I was eating.
Idniss continued, his voice getting heated as he remembered his days in the Demon King’s castle.
“Morning, noon, evening, night, even dawn—the work never ended. And there were endless incidents every single day. Honestly, I wanted to quit everything.”
His small hands trembled.
Then he muttered bitterly,
“To be honest… when this happened to me, a tiny part of me was actually happy.”
It didn’t look like just a tiny part, but I didn’t point it out.
He clenched his fists and raised his head.
“Anyway… there were three Demon Kings, each slowly working themselves to death in their own castles.”
I covered my mouth slightly.
It was funny, but I couldn’t laugh.
“Recently, Ijero of the Western Sky finally died from overwork.”
“Huh?”
My brain couldn’t keep up.
I stared at him in shock, but Idniss just kept walking calmly.
“Wait… isn’t he a Demon King? Shouldn’t he be super strong? Can someone like that really die like that?”
“A Demon King is not absolute. Still, you’re right—it’s not normal to die from overwork. But in Ijero’s case, mental stress played a bigger role.”
I had nothing to say.
A Demon King dying from stress… what kind of world is this?
“The real problem started after that.”
His voice grew heavier.
“As if he had been waiting for it, Amu raised his army at the perfect timing. Before Ijero’s people could choose a new king, he took over the land. Then, after preparing his army, he came straight for my territory, Bellos.”
“That’s insane.”
I muttered without thinking.
Idniss nodded strongly, fully agreeing.
“Right. Even I think he’s crazy. If your land becomes three times bigger, the work becomes thirty times more. How does he plan to handle that alone?”
No… that’s not what I meant.
“So I thought about it, and I believe there’s a Celestial faction behind him.”
Celestials.
The moment he said that, I imagined people with white wings and flowing clothes like ancient gods.
“Well, if there are demons, then of course there are celestials too…”
“The last truce was 7,000 years ago. It’s about time they started causing trouble again. But I didn’t expect them to use such dirty methods.”
His voice was filled with anger.
“Those damn paperwork-loving bastards.”
“……”
Was that… an insult?
I made a strange face and asked,
“Your Highness… what will you do once you get your body back?”
“Of course, I will live freely in some quiet village—”
He suddenly stopped and cleared his throat.
“I mean… I will return to my castle and destroy Amu and the Celestials behind him.”
I crossed my arms and stared at him.
He avoided my eyes.
“What about that knight… Chrisus? Don’t you feel bad for him? He didn’t just help you once, right?”
“Demons are selfish by nature.”
Wow.
What trash.
A walking, talking piece of trash.
My face twitched.
I couldn’t hide my expression at all.
Idniss stopped walking and looked up at me.
“But no demon can ignore the loss of someone important.”
His voice was firm like steel.
“I will definitely destroy Amu and the Celestials. Only after that… will I go on my own journey.”
Before I could even ask if he was serious, he added,
“And I still have to give you your reward.”
My mind snapped back instantly.
I had completely forgotten.
Seeing my face, Idniss smiled faintly.
His already beautiful face looked even better.
For a moment, I just stared blankly.
Then he turned away and started walking again.
I couldn’t move until he got a little farther.
I looked down at my hand, slowly opening and closing it.
What was that just now?
For a moment, it felt like I was tied down by invisible chains.
Even in that childlike form, a Demon King was still a Demon King.
“Aren’t you coming?”
He looked back at me with a blank expression, as if that smile earlier never existed.
I clicked my tongue and quickly walked to his side.
“Let’s go. The village isn’t far.”
I stayed silent.
If I tried to explain, it would just make things awkward.
Instead, I opened the map.
Not far ahead, there was a village full of NPCs.
The entire place was filled with red dots.
No green dots at all.
An unopened region.
“Evan.”
I snapped back to reality at his voice.
And I immediately understood why he called me.
I looked around sharply.
The Demon King spread his arms.
It felt like he was saying:
Pick me up. Now.
“Title change. ‘Silent Wind.’”
[Title changed. Vision set to 2.0. Sensitivity +20. Agility +30.]
I lifted him with one arm.
With the other, I pulled out Guryza.
I pushed off the ground with all my strength.
At the same time, white lightning struck where I had just been standing.
“They’re Amu’s demons. High-ranking ones use fire, mid and low-ranking ones use lightning.”
“Do you really have to explain that right now?”
Lightning whipped toward me like snakes.
I moved between trees, using them as cover.
Tree bark exploded from the impact.
Some trees snapped completely.
I ran along a falling tree trunk and jumped from the end.
I hid in the forest canopy above.
“Running won’t work. If you don’t kill them, they’ll keep chasing.”
“I know. But fighting like yesterday isn’t my style.”
I put away Guryza and took out Rejects.
I stuck them into the branches and placed him inside.
He looked like he wanted to say something—but stayed silent.
“Stay here quietly.”
Without thinking, I reached out and patted his head.
It was smaller than I expected.
His hair felt surprisingly soft.
His eyes shook slightly.
“I… am a Demon King.”
His face was still expressionless, but he looked confused.
For some reason, that made him seem even cuter.
“I know, Your Highness.”
I smiled.
His black eyes darkened.
I spread my arms and leaned back.
The world flipped.
I fell straight down like a diver.
The demons climbing the trees looked up at me.
I pulled out Guryza and shot three instantly.
At the same time, I drew another gun.
P-01 Phantom.
Both guns held 19 bullets.
That meant 38 shots total.
Enough to wipe out a small unit.
Bang! Bang!
I twisted my body in the air.
Guryza was pure killing power.
Phantom was perfect accuracy.
If Guryza could hit an apple,
Phantom could hit a tiny fruit.
Every time Phantom fired, heads exploded.
Bodies fell.
Blood soaked the leaves below.
The remaining demons screamed and attacked.
Lightning flashed everywhere.
One hit a massive tree instead of me.
Boom!
I moved between trees, firing both guns.
Phantom targeted exposed limbs.
Guryza finished them when they reacted.
Everything went exactly as planned.
Now that I was used to their fighting style, they weren’t a threat anymore.
Their numbers dropped quickly.
The remaining ones tried to run.
I shot them in the back.
The fight ended easily.
I took a deep breath and jumped upward again.
Moving from tree to tree, I returned to the top.
“There.”
I heard his voice.
I rushed toward it.
Idniss was sitting exactly where I left him.
As expected, he opened his arms again.
I picked him up and jumped down.
Landing softly on the leaves.
“Hurry. More will come. And they may have noticed you too. Stronger ones are appearing.”
“Stronger?”
“The ones using white magic energy.”
“Ah.”
I nodded.
“We can’t stay long in the village either. Just get what we need and leave.”
“Then we should move fast.”
I adjusted my grip on him.
He wrapped his arms around my neck naturally.
I flinched.
His cold eyes looked up at me.
“Your hands are… cold.”
A weak excuse.
But he accepted it.
“Then I’ll raise my body temperature.”
Of course he could.
He was a demon, after all.
I ran while checking the map.
The forest slowly became brighter.
We were near the edge.
“Let’s go to the nearest village. It should be ‘Longterm.’”
He pointed ahead.
After running for a long time, we finally left the forest.
On a nearby hill, there was a town.
It was bigger than I expected.
Not a small village—but a walled city.
I asked,
“Is there a checkpoint?”
“Of course. Worst case, Amu already controls it.”
I stared at him.
“Then what do we do?”
He tilted his head innocently.
“You don’t look incompetent enough to need the main gate.”
…What the hell?
It was simple.
But it worked perfectly.
