The first sensation sheâd felt after being born was fear.
â Eek!
â Wh-whatâs that monster?!
When she first opened her eyes, she saw a demon looking at her in disgust.
The demon was frowning while looking at her as if she were a detestable being.
â Damn it! Bleh!
â Bleh!
They were vomiting while looking at her.
Unlike them, she didnât have numerous eyes or skin covered by tentacles or moss.
â It⌠it doesnât look like a demonic monster?
They called her a demonic monster.
âA demonic monster that wasnât a demon.
âA beast that wasnât self-aware and didnât have thoughts.
âA being that lived by relying on their instincts.
â I⌠Iâve never seen a demonic monster thatâs so disgustingâŚ
They were looking at her in disgust and talking in fearful voices.
âIâŚâ
She lowered her head and prayed.
She desperately prayed.
She begged them not to bother her. To not hurt her.
âI didnât do anything wrong.â
â Die!
â Y-you disgusting bastard! Kill it!
Attacks poured toward her from every direction.
She couldnât understand why they hated her so much, but there was something she was sure about: being hit by their attacks hurt a lot.
She escaped. Was it because she was born as a monster? Her running speed wasnât slow.
She desperately ran.
â Follow it!
â We cannot let it grow!
They followed her, stomped on her, and tore at her skin.
It hurt.
She felt immense pain over and over again.
âPlease, d⌠donât bother me,â she begged in desperation.
â Whatâs wrong with this demonic monster?
According to them, a demonic monster was a being with no consciousness that relied on their instinctsâa beast-like being.
They didnât feel despair or fear.
They were monsters that wouldnât hesitate to attack if they thought you were their enemy.
That was the âdemonic monsterâ they referred to.
âS-sniff.â
So what?
She wasnât like that.
She wasnât crazy; she didnât want to tear down and eat her enemies.
She was just scared about what they said and how they looked at her.
It didnât matter how much she tried to escapeâthey always followed her.
It was the same with others, even if it was someone she hadnât seen before. All of the demons puked after seeing her and tried to attack.
Life was fear and pain.
Everyone in the world cursed her.
It was a never-ending nightmare.
In the endâŚ
âY-youâre also trying to bother me, right?â
She lost her mind.
There was no way she would be able to resist while staying sane.
Surrounded by fear and madness, she killed everyone close to her.
She realized that, if she didnât kill, she was the one who would get killed.
âU-ugh.â
She created a habitat and realized that if she stayed inside the borders sheâd built, other demons didnât go after her.
ButâŚ
âSnif!!â
The wound didnât close.
How theyâd pointed at her. How they looked at her in disgustâŚ
She desperately craved someone to look at her without fear. Someone who wouldnât find her disgusting, but it didnât matter how much time passed.
A hundred yearsâŚ
A thousand yearsâŚ
Even ten thousand years.
No one like that appeared.
She was always a target of fear and disgust.
It was a never-ending nightmare.
âSniff.â
She cried and stayed crouched behind fence sheâd built.
Even if she cried, nothing would change.
Just like thatâŚ
Too many years passed.
* * *
âKYAHAHAHA!!!â
The crazy sound of laughter spread to the surroundings.
She crawled onto the floor and grabbed KangWooâs pants.
âIs⌠is that true? A-am I really pretty?â
It was a desperate voice.
She looked at him like a desperate person seeing salvation.
âAh, well. Thatâs true, butâŚâ
KangWoo looked at her with a confused expression.
He reacted reflexively.
She had reacted unexpectedly. He could feel a sense of madness from it.
âAh, aah.â
Halcyon cried while touching her face.
It was as if she were under the effects of a drug.
She seemed to be feeling excitement and thrill. Laughter mixed with madness came out of her.
âDonât tell meâŚâ
KangWoo thought of a certain possibility.
He could still see Balrog laying on the floor while vomiting.
A scenario of a possible explanation came to his mind.
âIt seems like itâs the first time sheâs heard sheâs pretty.â
Taking into consideration that, from a demonâs perspective, Halcyon looked more disgusting than anythingâŚ
In a world full of demons, there was a chance sheâd never heard that.
âIt probably isnât just thatâŚâ
She wouldnât react like that just because she had never been called âprettyâ.
âTrauma.â
Thereâs a chance that her appearance being so horrible to other demons had left a certain trauma on her.
No. If that wasnât a trauma, thereâs no way sheâd have reacted like that.
She was probably cast aside and became the target of the demons.
âThisâŚâ
KangWoo narrowed his eyes.
The ends of his mouth went up.
* * *
âI can use this.â
It wasnât hard to guess what Halcyon had probably gone through.
âItâs obvious.â
He could guess and imagine it.
Using those things wouldnât be hard.
âThe important thing isâŚâ
How valuable would she be to him?
There was no need to think too deeply about that.
âEven right now, itâs all a profit.â
There were many things he wanted to ask Halcyon.
How had she, an ancient demonic monster, arrived on Earth? Why were other ancient demonic monsters acting strange? What was up with the âKing of Demonic Monstersâ, the Behemothâs, attitude?
âNot only thatâŚâ
After reaching 150 Demonic Energy, for the moment, he couldnât use the Authority of Predation to absorb the demonic energy of a target.
Of course, he could always compress the corpse, just like he did with Belphegor, butâŚ
It wasnât that increasing his ability to control demonic energy was quick. He was increasing it slowly through training, so continuing to stack condensed demonic energy wasnât very effective.
For example, he wasnât sure when heâd be able to eat Belphegor.
âWell, it might be different if I AwakenâŚâ
He wasnât Kim ShiHoon, so planning the future based on Awakening wasnât good.
âSniff, sniff. I⌠Iâm glad. Iâm really gladâŚâ
Halcyon was crying, moved.
KangWoo calmly looked at her.
âBasicallyâŚâ
Rather than killing her and turning her into a Demonic Energy Stone, it was better to turn her into an ally.
Although she didnât have an Authority, her physical specs were better than an archdukeâs.
âGood.â
KangWoo smirked.
Heâd decided on a goal and knew how to achieve it.
There was no reason to hesitate.
âY-you arenât lying. R-right?â
Halcyon looked at him anxiously.
KangWoo extended his hand toward her while making a kind smile.
He put his hand on her cheeks.
âHmmâŚâ
KangWoo hesitated for a moment.
Halcyonâs expression paled.
âNow that Iâve taken a closer look, maybe not that pretty.â
âAhâŚâ
A short exclamation came out of Halcyonâs mouthâit was one that had disappointment and relief mixed together.
KangWoo smirked. As expected.
âIn this situation, saying sheâs pretty can be a minus.â
It was a simple problem.
Imagine thereâs someone who heard theyâre ugly throughout their life.
Could they trust someone who appeared suddenly and said theyâre beautiful?
âThereâs no way.â
It doesnât matter if it was a human, a demon, or a demonic monster, any emotional life form would have that instinct.
They would naturally be wary about the person who was saying something that didnât make sense.
âR-right? Th-thereâs no way Iâd be prettyâŚâ
Tears dripped from Halcyonâs eyes.
âIâm a disgusting⌠and dirtyâŚâ
Her voice became progressively weaker as if she were struggling to find words.
KangWooâs eyes shone.
âNow.â
When a mental breakdown was about to happenâŚ
It was his chance.
âNo, thatâs not it,â he said firmly.
âYesâŚ?â
âYou arenât disgusting and ugly. Well, Iâm not sure what youâve heard until now, but at least, for me, thatâs not the case.â
âAhâŚâ
âNow that I take a closer look, you arenât bad. Youâre not disgusting and ugly at all.â
KangWoo smirked and cleaned up her tears.
There was no need to exaggerate. No, exaggerating would only make things worse.
What Halcyon really wanted wasnât for someone to tell her she was beautiful.
âWhat she really wants isâŚâ
For someone to tell her that sheâs not disgusting.
âAhâŚ
Thatâs it.
It was something that seemed smallâthat didnât seem like muchâbut for her, that would be something that saved her.
âSniff, sniff.â
Tears dripped from her eyes.
She was trembling in excitement.
âThank you. Really, thank you.â
She cried and clutched his clothes.
KangWoo looked at her.
âNot yet.â
It wasnât enough.
It was a 99% complete puzzle; there was still one last remaining piece.
He took out his communication crystal and mumbled in a low voice.
â Balrog, stand up.
Balrog, who was still vomiting, staggered into a standing position.
[Ugh! D-Demon King, itâs dangerous!!]
After seeing Halcyon stuck to KangWoo, he quickly stomped on the ground.
The Overlordâs Armor, one made of black demonic energy, gathered around his fist.
âUghâŚ!â
Halcyon closed her eyes, and body started to tremble again.
Balrogâs fist covered with Overlordâs Armor wasnât one she could defend against after becoming tired of the fight against KangWoo.
KangWoo slowly raised his hand.
BOOM-!!
Right next to Halcyonâs headâŚ
If he had been 0.1 seconds late, her head would have exploded.
[D-Demon King?]
âIt isnât a dangerous situation, so stay still.â
Halcyon looked at him in surprise.
âAhâŚâ
She grabbed his clothes harder with a short exclamation because Balrog was frowning as if he couldnât stand looking at Halcyon.
[Demon King⌠you arenât affected by that monster?]
âThatâs it.â
It was the question he was waiting for.
KangWoo kept talking in a calm voice. It was about time to complete the puzzle.
âIâm not sure.â
ââŚâ
Halcyon looked at him anxiously.
âUnlike what Iâve heard from you, I donât find her that disgusting.â
The last pieceâŚ
âAre my eyes weird? I even find her a bit pretty.â
[HaâŚ]
âIt seems like she looks like this only to my eyes.â
KangWoo shrugged his shoulders and then looked at Halcyon.
He could see a change in her eyes.
âThatâs it.â
The only one who didnât think she was disgustingâŚ
If he was special, if he was the only one who didnât see her as disgustingâŚ
âTsk. Letâs stop for the moment, Balrog. Letâs go back.â
âE-excuse me!â
Halcyon raised her head.
He could sense desperation on her face.
It was obvious.
If there was only one person who could take her out of her nightmare, only a single person who didnât find her disgustingâŚ
âEven if she had to offer everythingâŚâ
She would desperately cling to that savior.
âP-please take me! I⌠Iâll do anything. I⌠I wonât cry. So, P-please, donât abandon me. I wonât do that anymore. I⌠Iâll do anything you ask. S-so pleaseâŚâ she desperately begged.
He could see a mad sense of desperation in her eyes.
KangWoo slowly turned his face.
âThatâs it.â
A satisfied smile appeared on his face.
Of course, what he did probably wasnât morally correct.
Leaving a demonâs point of view aside, she was really beautiful indeed, and him being the only one to whom she wasnât disgusting was a lie, butâŚ
He had no intention of telling her the truth.
The reason why heâd gone through such things wasnât to save her or take her from her nightmare.
âWhat I need is someone who only listens, follows, and thinks about me. Someone who can die for me.ââ
He needed someone like that.
âWell, okay.â
KangWoo smiled.
âIâll take you.â
âAhâŚâ
Excitement rose from Halcyonâs eyes.