Demon King

Predation – 7

“You guys are no different!” A man with a Chaos Soul let out a shout, dying the beautiful shores in Florida with blood and a dark soul. All those who had been guarding him were already dead and devoured by the Predation I shared with the party prior.

“You’re a monster that eats souls just like me!” His HQ had been in New York, but he himself was hiding here in Florida with only a small number of elite guards. At first, I wondered if he really had a Chaos Soul as he was more powerful than Lee Minha, but he didn’t make that big of a commotion.

“Kohohohohoh!”

“There it is!” Gray smoke filled the air and flowed towards us ominously.

[Is that the power of a higher entity, Captain?]

“No way. It’s just the power of a body holding connected souls. It’s similar to what we’ve been dealing with so far.”

[…I think I want to vomit.]

“Tighten the shields so there are no victims, Katsuragi.” The elves’ strategy against humans was terribly effective. Humans would kill anyone in their way if it meant they could become stronger and stand at the center of this world. It hadn’t been long since they started their plan with the Chaos Souls, passing it on to humans, yet it had already spread so far due to that.

“Fate, I want to punish him.”

“It’s odd to hear that from you of all people, Mireina.”

“Why are you attacking your own? The soul is so precious…!”

“…Yeah?” Everything was going according to Elakatra and L’s plan. I had retreated too much before.”

“You guys will devour them too! I’ll become the ruler of America- no, the world!”

“Lee Chan-yu, Mireina. I leave it to you.”

“I can’t win!”

“Win anyway.”

“Even if you say it so lightly, we can’t do what we can’t do, damn it!” While speaking, Lee Chan-yu transformed into a werewolf and ran towards the man. Mireina was determined to stand firmly from the start, following after him with a dagger. I could see they were focused on the situation.

[Captain, are you…?]

“Perhaps.” There was almost no time left until the Devil’s Night. I was thinking about pulling them off the frontline if I could see their potential to evolve here. Lee Chan-yu’s claws shone with the dark energy of Predation, tearing the shoulder of this deteriorated monster as it tried to overwhelm him with a wave of dark souls. The Lee Chan-yu not long ago would’ve suffered a critical hit and fell away at that point, but now he was able to handle the power of Predation. I could feel it flowing through me through our connection.

“Khhhhh!” Mireina followed up right behind him. She jumped in between Lee Chan-yu and the souls that had gathered into the shape of a sword.

“If we win, I get a kiss!”

“No!” I was worried that I might distract her, but it turned out to be alright. He sent an attack my way, but I spread my hands forward and absorbed it. That was the biggest reason I wasn’t too worried about them; he was focused on me behind him, so he couldn’t put his all in attacking them. As I thought that, he began to show a movement I wasn’t expecting.

“Guooo!”

“Huh…” It formed into a huge soul mass that soared into the air, so far up, it was hard to see. It began to absorb the mana of nature from the air to increase its size. I almost felt sorry for it.

“It’s difficult to control…”

“Ha, can you really eat me? You’ll be my prey too!” The man shouted outrageously while holding back both Mireina and Lee Chan-yu. Even though he was burning through his mana, he still had plenty to spare. I hated to think about how many people had died to grant him that power. My sister flinched momentarily before stepping forward, but I raised my hand to stop her.

“Brother!”

“I know you want to help, but Mireina and Lee Chan-yu have to earn the experience that’ll come out of killing that guy.”

“Kh…” The contaminated soul sphere was attracting mana in from every direction and turning it into destructive power. Finally, it began to fall down as fast as it had risen. That was, towards where we were fighting now.

“Katsuragi.”

[I can’t stop it!]

“Focus on using your defensive magic. I’ll deal with the rest.” I began using Predation and Lunatic Trickster simultaneously, imbuing Katsuragi’s defensive magic with both of them. My target was Lee Chan-yu and Mireina. I could see the soul sphere gradually growing in size as it approached. Meanwhile, the two were constantly attacking the enemy without getting distracted. They believed in me to take care of it.

“I’ll die anyway, so why should I stop?”

“Our goal is something bigger than an idiot like you!” Lee Chan-yu’s claws tore into his face, demolishing the human body that was little more than an outer shell. The face of a monstrous pupa-like monster revealed itself, groaning at him.

[Idiot? That’s it!]

Was that the signal? The soul sphere engulfed the entire space, falling to the ground. Katsuragi’s shield met it, resisting it for just a moment, and then burst with a loud bang. That triggered Lunatic Trickster, consuming all the power in the sphere, and transferring it to Lee Chan-yu and Mireina.

“Kuhh!”

“Oh!”

[Unbelievable…!]

Yells erupted from the three.

“Brother, what are you doing?!”

“Now’s your chance! Do it now!” I didn’t have time to listen to my sister. I poured an immense power into them at once. Now, they would have to endure it until they were promoted. It would be tough.

“There’s a limit to how far you can push them!”

“They won’t die.”

[What nonsense…!]

“Ahhh!” Lee Chan-yu moved first. I wondered if his body would burst instantly, but instead, he pushed his right arm forward as if shooting a cannon. The tip of those huge, sharp claws was the focal point of his mana, facing right at the monster’s head.

[Damn you…die!]

Recognizing Lee Chan-yu’s movements, the man tried to crush him with his momentum. Both attacks were hoping for the other’s death, completely neglecting defense. Each attack hit. The man’s head burst apart, and Lee Chan-yu’s head was crushed in half. The roar of the impact made me think the sky might collapse.

“Ahhhhh!”

[Kuoooaaahhh!]

Both of them regenerated almost instantly and were destroyed again just as fast. They were trying to overwhelm the other’s regeneration.

[Huh?!]

At the moment, Mireina’s dagger found it’s way into the monster’s heart. Her fast and secretive movements made me wonder if she had awakened Reaper herself, but it wasn’t enough to kill the monster. It wasn’t enough to stab it in the heart. You had no choice but to extract the source of their energy with Predation. But Mireina soon exceeded my expectations.

[That is…]

“Now!” A bright white glow erupted from her dagger, denying and destroying all the elements that made up the monster’s body. It was the power I had from memories of myself. The power that was the enemy of Jinma, possessed by the elves. Mana that could weaken the mana of Jinma. It was the absolute defense she had learned, now expressed aggressively.

The change in mana was only possible because Mireina managed to survive and defend her soul from other beings in the Rookie’s Battlefield and had repeatedly battled with contaminated souls. Mireina, who was regarded as disposable by L and the Elakatra, called a hybrid by Rain and the others, didn’t care about it at all. She manifested the purest and most powerful ability among our ranks.

[Ahhhh!]

My worries for Mireina evaporated. After this battle was over, a full-fledged change would occur.

“Lee Chan-yu, don’t you lose!”

“Of course!” Lee Chan-yu’s attack followed right behind. He kept wailing on the enemy, biting and tearing at it. The end came soon after. In the first place, as soon as he failed to damage us with that sphere, his defeat was clear. Now the end had shortened due to Mireina’s unexpected awakening.

“Hahah!” After the enemy was slain, the mana that formed him was absorbed into Lee Chan-yu. Whether he could break through his limit or not. He roared fiercely as he accepted the mana. Mireina was changing, as well. All of the mana that composed her flesh was altering immensely, ripping her clothes apart. I quickly threw clothes over her to block her appearance before Katsuragi could respond.

[Why? Why?!]

“No.” I kicked Katsuragi, who was screaming, and waited for their evolution to end.

“Brother, can I become a higher entity?”

Only

“Well, I don’t know if it’s possible for a human. Because it’s difficult, I wonder if these people were driven to try a terrible method called Chaos Soul.”

“I don’t want to do that!” She jumped and shouted in disgust. I gave her a smile and stroked her head as she began to pout.

“If I become stronger… I’ll achieve it with my own strength.”

“I’ll help however I can.”

“There are things that my brother can’t help with…”

“Then give up.”

“That’s unfair.” I didn’t tell her that I wasn’t sure humans could even reach that level. But, for my sister, who was linked to me by that chain of Dominion…then maybe…

I didn’t open my mouth because I didn’t want to give her any false hope. We walked over to greet the two, who had finished evolving into higher-level entities.