Demon King

Predation – 4

It took an hour for my sister to let us back in. She looked at me like I was an enemy, but finally, let out a sigh.

“Brother, thank you for surviving.” Her face was still red, but her tone was rather calm.

“So you were different from other people. Somehow, I thought you were reassuring to have around, just like an older brother.”

“But he was really your brother.” Han Jia added but was hit over the head by my sister’s fist and sank down. I felt a need to preach to her as her older brother not to hit her precious friends.

“Whoo…” She let out another sigh, still holding anger at the hidden facts that had yet to be resolved. I needed to apologize once more, but as I thought that, she grabbed my arm.

“Let’s go see mom and dad together.”

“Yeah… let’s go.”

“You didn’t have to lie back then, you idiot!”

“Khh…!” I hadn’t been expecting a surprise attack with that sort of timing. Arm in arm, we separated from the others and headed to the ruins of the old building where our parents’ tombstones were. It was rather good timing, as I was still confused about how to face Lee Chan-yu. By daybreak, we arrived in front of the tombstone. She didn’t speak once during our journey, but as soon as we arrived, she approached the tombstone and whispered to it, brushing off the morning dew from the stone.

“Mom and Dad, we’re here.” I guessed my sister visited this place often. We first met here, after all. ‘How does she feel when she visits this place? Did she have no one to support here except them?’ I felt sad and could only mutter a weak sorry as I watched the back of my sister talking to the tombstone.

“Mom, this is my brother. He’s annoying.”

“Did you talk about me in that way?”

“He’s a man who uses a very annoying tone and pretends to be handsome.”

“…” Now that she knew I was her older brother, she held no reservations in bad-mouthing me. She had been lying about her age and pretending to be decent, so now it felt like I was facing my real sister—a cute younger sister who was still a bit rough and playful.

“Dad, you know, my brother is really shameless…” In that way, she spoke to our father and cursed me. Finally, she looked back at me, wondering how much time had passed, and whether I would retaliate.

“Now that mom and dad are also here, tell me. After the Great Fusion, what happened and how hard was it?” She frowned at me as she sat on the ground, damp with dew. I stretched out my mana to dry the floor.

“What to do…your brother is very busy.” I was actually busy. I wanted to evolve Mireina and Lee Chan-yu before the Devil’s Night arrived, and, if possible, I wanted to make sure my sister and Han Jia were strong enough. The same went for me as well. I wanted to practice until I could handle the two new items I acquired.

“I know, but this is more important. Tell me quickly. I won’t leave until I hear everything.”

“…”

“I’ll tell you everything, so let me know, brother. I want to hear it.”

“Alright, I’ll tell you.” I smiled bitterly. I couldn’t tell her all of the truth, but that wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

“I first opened my eyes on the first floor of the Black Palace…” A story told by a brother to his sister, and a sister to his brother, which began at dawn, only saw its end when the sun had set once more. I had heard her story somewhere in the middle and was now talking about L.

“Do you like her, too?”

“There may be some gratitude mixed in there, but affection is at the center of it. Yes, I love her.”

“…” I decided to be as honest as possible, so I expressed my true feelings as much as possible. She didn’t appear to like what she heard, however.

“I hate this new sister of mine. I don’t even know what kind of person she is, is she even human? I can’t allow it.”

“It doesn’t matter if you allow it or not.”

“I can’t allow it! Never!”

“Even you might fall in love with her if you meet her.”

“No!” As I roughly stroked the head of my sister, she was punching my shoulder. I realized that sense of distance between us had vanished. Now, I thought she was right. It had taken a while, but we both needed to make time for this.

“Thank you, Si-yeon, for being alive.”

“…If I had died, my brother would’ve been too lonely.”

“Hm…” I got up and hugged her. I was good at expressing my feelings in the past, but now I could take action when I needed to.

“I’m sorry, Si-yeon. I’m sorry.”

“…” She reached out and hugged me back.

“I don’t like my brother. He was originally a lot more grim and timid. He wasn’t a man who was good at grasping the atmosphere and speaking about what he felt…”

“Remember that being overly honest about your feelings can be a curse.”

“He smelled bad as well.”

“Hey now.” I smiled and tried to release the hug, but she didn’t let go. She let out a moan as she buried her face into my chest.

“Five more hours.”

“You sound like L.”

“Then two-hundred hours.” I tried to say that even that was similar, but I didn’t want to exceed ten-thousand hours. With my mouth shut, I decided to lend her my chest until her heart relaxed. That night, we crashed in the same room, albeit in different beds. She kept me awake with all sorts of sorts, but it felt good to listen to her talk. When I finally fell asleep, I slept better than I had in a really long time.

The next day, I got dressed and went outside. My sister was listening to a report from a guild member of Erkindra who had arrived at the fortress. She looked back as I walked out.

“Fate, you’re up. Wait a moment.” She gave a command to her subordinate, who bowed toward us and left. Upon checking whether he had left, her expression suddenly distorted to be like a demon’s.

“Brother…I remember asking you to leave the One Flag out to dry!”

“I smashed and killed everything.” All buildings and humans with any allegiance to One Flag were destroyed in killed. The government had taken up the momentum I started to take them out completely. Now, not a trace of them remained in Korea, although undoubtedly there was still a lot in foreign countries.

“Why kill people carelessly?! That’s no different from the humans who kill the fallen!”

“I have to kill the enemy. If I don’t, I’ll die.”

“Wow…they were a great guild!”

“Yes, I felt as such when we fought.”

“But why?!”

“They’re the enemy.” My voice was firm.

“Not only were they my enemy, but they were an enemy of humanity. Don’t worry, they’ve been uprooted.”

“Eh…but…!” She moaned, crying. Her heart understood my point, but I had no intention to force her into changing her mind quickly. I had to move, so she didn’t have to change. I tapped her head lightly and headed into the front yard of the fortress, where all of Rebellion had gathered.

“Captain, how’d it go?”

“We just fought a little bit.”

“It’s normal for siblings to fight and grow.” I clapped my hands to gather everyone’s attention.

“Han Jia, leave.”

“I want to listen too!”

“Si-yeon, return to your guild with her.”

“I want to leave our guild and join Rebellion!”

“Lee Chan-yu.”

“Alright.” Lee Chan-yu snapped his fingers, and some monsters jumped down from the air to throw Han Jia out of the fortress. My sister let out a sigh and looked outside but didn’t go to rescue her. After removing the outsiders, I opened my mouth.

“I think you know everything that happened the other day.”

“You ran wild.”

“It must’ve been wonderful to see Fate play such an active part…”

[I wish I could’ve been there.]

[It was scary! I’m still scared!]

The other day, we really kicked things off in the frontlines. It was hard to imagine a counterattack, given how hard we hit them, but we had to be prepared.

“So, we’ll move boldly now. Rebellion will show off their power.”

“It’s just like the captain to come out like that.”

[Will I be freed from the watchman role?]

“Our primary goal will be the Chaos Souls, and all things related to them.” I took a deep breath before continuing.

“I’m going to buy a record. Not a temporary one, but one that’ll continue to function. There won’t be a problem in purchasing it, as One Flag had enough gold to fill the sea.”

“It’s the best when someone else pays for it.” I ignored Lee Chan-yu’s remark.

“It will be dangerous. There is a possibility of a strange one like Lee Minha, but it’ll strengthen us in time for the next Devil’s Night.”

“And a possibility of the Elakatra…”

[Not all humans will understand us.]

Only

[It’s scary. Damn, I hate fighting…]

“From now on, it’s an all-out war.” I could see the chain connecting them to me with the Domination skill, crystal clear.

“Eat everything, grow stronger.” The power of Predation wriggling in my heart was amplified and stretched out, dyeing that chain pitch-black. I laughed bloodily as they each flinched. At the time, another chain came out of me. It snapped around my sister’s wrist, who had just come out of the fortress to approach us. She smiled cutely as if she had been waiting for it.

“I’ll go too. I have to see with my own eyes if they’re bad enough to be killed.”

“Don’t be afraid and wait.”

“I hate sitting still and watching. I’m going too.” I sighed and lowered my head. I didn’t know why my Domination affected her, and it wasn’t how I wanted this to go.

However, everything was ready.