Chapter 198 – DMZ (1)

Dalton, a former member of the Demon King’s army, was touring the guild.

“Who’s that little kid?”

“No idea. Probably one of the guild executives’ children.”

It was a bit strange to see an elementary school student walking around with his hands clasped behind his back, but no one paid him any mind.

“Maybe he’s a VIP’s son? Assistant Manager Kim Min-ah from the aide’s office is personally showing him around.”

The hunters in training couldn’t help but steal glances at Assistant Manager Kim Min-ah.

A beauty who made you turn back for a second look without even realizing it. Quite a few people in the Hanul Guild had a crush on her.

“Disappointing.”

“It really is. To think the Vice Demon King is still wearing diapers.”

He had recently recovered the memories of his past life.

At first, he thought he was just mistaken. But the dreams kept repeating, growing clearer each time.

Then, he learned of Im Jae-joon’s existence.

He recognized him at a single glance.

His reincarnated lord.

He rejoiced, ready to cast aside the tedious life of an elementary schooler.

No longer would he have to pack his mother’s dull lunchboxes. He could finally enjoy the life of an adult, one where he wouldn’t be scolded for picking out the carrots and beans.

He was thrilled by the fact that a new Demon King’s army was being formed in this land.

He could once again stand by his lord’s side and witness the grand conquest they had failed to achieve in their past life.

Dalton, who had arrived full of elation, was now utterly appalled by the current state of affairs.

“Why is there no one with horns?”

“You don’t have any either, you know.”

“A man must possess horns. All those in this new Demon King’s army are unworthy.”

Dalton ignored Kim Min-ah’s jab and continued to speak his mind.

“I can’t tell if this is the Hero’s party or the Demon King’s army.”

“I told you. In this world, we’re allied with the Hero, remember? There’s no need to be hostile…”

“And you believe that?”

“Believe what?”

Kim Min-ah asked in response to Dalton’s question.

“To think someone who was once a strategist for the Demon King’s army could be so foolish. Tsk, tsk.”

“I told you to speak plainly. And stop using that old-man talk with a baby face. The dissonance is jarring.”

“You still have much to learn.”

“I think the only thing that’s ‘much to learn’ is your height, Vice Demon King. You seem to be shorter than average.”

Dalton ignored Kim Min-ah’s retort and continued.

“For now, we may have joined hands because we share a common goal.”

With a look unbefitting a child, Dalton glanced around at the humans.

“But what do you think will happen when our goals diverge?”

“…”

There are no eternal friends, no eternal allies.

“There cannot be two suns in the sky. A truly loyal vassal knows how to read his master’s heart.”

“You never know. The Demon King and the Hero get along better than you’d think.”

“Foolish. Then again, they say to deceive the enemy, you must first deceive your allies.”

Dalton scoffed at Kim Min-ah’s thoughts.

Was her thinking truly that naive?

Dalton’s words weren’t entirely baseless.

They might become rivals one day. They were looking in the same direction now, but who knew what the future held.

The Hero and the Demon King.

Like a tale from some storybook, the two were beings who stood on opposite poles.

People who should not be able to coexist, yet did.

‘What if, someday…’

She had, in fact, thought that the Demon King seemed a little too friendly with the Hero.

When she thought about it, the one who had shattered his ambitions at the very last moment was the Hero.

And yet, the Demon King held no hatred or resentment toward the Hero.

“It seems you’ve finally realized. We must solidify our own power, separate from the Hero’s. Olivier. You always had a particular weakness for the Hero.”

Dalton looked up at Kim Min-ah with cold eyes.

He was short, but the power he possessed did not depend on his physical stature.

If he so much as extended a finger, Kim Min-ah’s slender neck would crumple like a tin can.

“Keep them thoroughly separate. If you don’t, I will…”

“Hey, Kim Min-ho! Where do you think you’re wandering off to!”

“Heh heh… a critical strike from my mother.”

“Hey, Kim Min-ho!”

Seeing a mysterious woman shouting, Dalton’s assassin-like gaze reverted to that of an innocent elementary school student.

“Yeah, Mom! This place is super, duper big!”

He scurried over to his mother with a perfectly innocent expression.

Dalton’s mother bowed repeatedly to Kim Min-ah, expressing her apologies.

“I hope my son wasn’t any trouble.”

“What are you saying, Mom? Min-ho is a good boy.”

“Goodness. I told you to stay put. I’m so sorry. He said he wanted a quick look at his dad’s workplace, so I brought him along. Oh, I’m the wife of Manager Kim Jun-ho from the Operations Support department.”

As the friendly-looking woman introduced herself, Kim Min-ah smiled and bowed in return.

“Trouble? Not at all. All kids grow up wetting themselves.”

“…Wetting themselves, you say?”

The mother’s expression hardened at Kim Min-ah’s sudden remark.

Dalton could feel his mother’s grip on his hand tightening.

*Are you crazy?*

Dalton glared at Kim Min-ah.

*Nope.*

Kim Min-ah beamed.

She ignored the resentful stare from Dalton as he was dragged away by his mother.

It was payback for making her feel uncomfortable with his strange talk.

Yes, it was truly a pointless conversation.

What if, someday.

If the Demon King and the Hero were to ever go their separate ways, what should she do?

‘What am I thinking…’

Kim Min-ah was surprised by her own thoughts.

She was the Demon King’s confidante.

And yet, she had just deliberated between the Demon King and the Hero.

The very idea was absurd.

“He acts like he knows everything about the Demon King, but he doesn’t know that.”

Kim Min-ah snorted.

The Demon King might be cold, but at the very least, he wasn’t the type to break a trust he had formed.

Even when he knew it would be to his disadvantage.

If the Demon King had been that kind of person, he would never have been defeated by the Hero in the first place.

He was, after all, the one who had personally fought the final battle against the Hero to prevent the sacrifice of his many subordinates.

***

“Isn’t it strange?”

Siegfried suddenly spoke to me with a serious expression.

Then again, this guy always had a serious expression.

“It’s not just one or two. Don’t you find it strange that so many of the Demon King’s top commanders have been reincarnated?”

I’ll admit, I was a bit surprised when I saw the Demon King and Olivier.

I was less surprised when I later found out about Graham, and now, I’m just unfazed.

Is this why they say humans are creatures of adaptation?

“There are no coincidences. You know this better than anyone.”

I know.

When a coincidence repeats, it becomes an inevitability.

“You must be prepared.”

“Prepared for what?”

“For betrayal.”

Among the countless fractured dimensions, there are rulers who seek to become conquerors.

They dominate their own dimensions and then try to bring other dimensions under their control.

There’s a saying that those who have, want more.

The stronger you become, the more you want to become even stronger.

You worry constantly that those beneath you might climb above you.

The person at the bottom of the class doesn’t dream of becoming number one.

“Betrayal. What’s the reason for it?”

“…?”

Siegfried looked at me, as if asking what I meant.

He doesn’t get it. This is just common sense.

“The reason for breaking trust is simple. It’s because there’s a greater benefit to be gained.”

You betray a trust to gain a greater trust.

You discard a small benefit to obtain a larger one.

It’s the same for anything.

“He has nothing to gain by betraying me.”

The losses from betraying me would far outweigh any potential gains.

He’s not the type of person who can’t do that simple math.

“There are those who commit such acts even when there is nothing to be gained.”

Of course, there are.

“That’s what simple fools do.”

And he is no fool.

We’re filling in what the other lacks.

A relationship that could be called a strong alliance. Of course, nothing is eternal. But with each other’s support, we can walk the path to supremacy with ease.

By leveraging each other’s strengths.

“I’m not trusting him. I’m just trusting my own judgment.”

I have a good eye for people.

I pride myself on being able to see right through those who bear me hostility or malice.

“Just as I trusted you.”

At my words, I saw Siegfried’s expression soften.

How about that, moved you a little?

“For someone who says that, you did waterboard me when we reunited…”

The warm atmosphere instantly turned icy.

Did I do that?

Really, to Siegfried, my right-hand man? Did I really do that?

“Yes, I remember it clearly. You said, ‘The water knows the answer’…”

“Then who told you to swing a sword at me?”

“There was a reason for that…”

“I trusted you. But I didn’t trust your sword.”

“What is that supposed to…”

Trying to dredge up such a dusty old memory.

“I’ll be gone for a while, so you keep a close eye on the kids.”

I planned to raise my Synchronization Rate and Achievements as much as possible during this opportunity.

“Is there a need for that? They are all quite skilled.”

“Skilled, my ass. They get their asses kicked every day.”

Lately, not just Tae-yang, but In-ho too had started sparring with Siegfried.

Of course, both of them were getting thoroughly beaten.

“No, I believe they have reached a proficient level.”

“When you say ‘proficient level,’ you don’t mean the level of gluing eyes on dolls, do you?”

Siegfried let out a small laugh at my words.

“Wouldn’t it be better if I accompanied you? If it is to collect those ‘achievements’.”

In the other world, Siegfried was always by my side.

Thanks to him, I handled everything with ease. I could also palm off annoying tasks to him.

Siegfried is surprisingly diligent, so it’s comfortable having him around.

“Build up the kids’ skills here. We don’t know what’s coming.”

This is different from the wars in the other world.

My instincts are telling me. The coming battles will be a war between dimensions.

My team has been formed, and my people are growing, one by one.

Using this place as my fertile ground, I will begin my conquest.

“You’ve grown as well.”

Siegfried suddenly spoke like someone who wanted a taste of water.

“In the past, you would have tried to handle everything by yourself.”

I can’t do everything alone.

I will raise my people here to become a steadfast foundation.

And then, I plan to encompass the entire world.

“I never knew bossing people around could be this much fun.”

“Of course you wouldn’t.”

Siegfried’s impudent tone told me it was time for a long-overdue sparring session.

***

The disaster agency, created after the Gate crisis to control the numerous awakened individuals.

This place thoroughly managed the awakened, and it dealt with those who broke the law.

Villains who possessed power could not be locked up in ordinary prisons.

There were some who could kill a person just by glaring at them, suffocating them to death.

A secret detention center where such Villains were imprisoned.

A highly unusual inmate had recently arrived there.

“Hey, Gader Kim Jong-han.”

“…”

That figure, just now, had called out to the Gader on patrol.

“The air circulation doesn’t seem to be working. You should check it.”

“…You criminal bastard…!”

The former Operations Section Chief, Tak Ji-woo.

He was the right-hand man of Shin Chae-ho, the director of the disaster agency, and the one who had suddenly gone berserk and horrifically massacred people.

His moniker was “the Chief.”

He was a thorn in the side of every Gader.

The Gaders held a sense of pride.

Hunters had emerged like heroes in the age of Gates. Even if they weren’t on that level, the Gaders had a sense of duty to protect citizens and uphold justice.

The Villain known as the Chief had tarnished that pride.

“It’s utterly absurd that a bastard like you is leeching off the taxpayers’ money.”

The Gader gave the Chief a cold look.

The place where the Chief was being held was furnished with a luxurious interior reminiscent of a hotel room.

A top-of-the-line bed unfitting for a Villain, an air conditioner, a TV, a desktop computer, and even a shower.

It was incomprehensible that a criminal who had committed such a gruesome massacre would be afforded such luxurious facilities.

Everyone thought so, but no one knew the reason. And there was no one to give them an answer.

“No, that’s not it.”

The Chief denied the Gader’s words with a smile.

“It just means that the Republic of Korea is a merit-based society.”

“Stop spouting nonsense. I might accidentally discharge my weapon.”

“Discharge it? So suddenly?”

The Chief asked, feigning surprise. Seeing his nonchalant demeanor, the Gader ground his teeth.

“Do you have any idea how many people you killed? Guys I was drinking with just yesterday were torn to shreds by you. You think anyone’s going to be happy about that?”

“Aha.”

The Chief nodded his head as if he finally understood.

It made sense, as every Gader had been giving him looks filled with hatred.

“You must have been close to someone.”

Close?

No, he had loved her.

His fiancée was dead. Because of the damn bastard right in front of him.

“My condolences.”

The Gader gripped his rifle.

All Gaders guarding the detention center were issued bullets coated with mana stones.

“It seems I’ll have a friend to talk to today to relieve the boredom.”

He had thought about it countless times.

He knew that doing this wouldn’t bring his fiancée back.

But he couldn’t forgive the fact that the man who killed her was enjoying a leisurely prison life in such a lavish place.

*Click.*

He released the safety.

“Anger is a good thing. It allows you to cast aside your self, which was built on lies, and show your true face.”

He couldn’t take it anymore.

*BANG!*

The Gader pulled the trigger.