The Returner

Yi Ji-Hyuk stared at the demon king before his eyes and tilted his head.

“Uh, so. You’re…” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Question marks floated up around his eyes and his head constantly tilted from one side to the other, causing the demon king’s expression to crumple unsightly.

“It is I! Narusius!”

“Ehhh, mm…” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk maintained his “I still don’t get it” face, and the demon king who revealed itself as Narusius began gritting its teeth.

“You rampaged so blatantly in my territory, yet are you going to keep pretending that you do not remember?!” (Narusius)

“…My bad, but uh, the territories I’ve rampaged in aren’t just one or two, you see.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Narusius raised its hand and strongly massaged its temples.

This d*mn human!

This human who also happened to be a demon king as well, enjoyed this unfortunate talent of driving you nuts just by talking to him.

Even Narusius, who claimed to be a rational and intellectual creature, couldn’t help but lose itself to the emotion of rage when talking to Yi Ji-Hyuk.

“I simply cannot understand the very existence of you.” (Narusius)

“Well, it’s not like I wished for it, anyway.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

A human would never be able to fully understand a cat. They pretend to understand it, that’s all. So, the same thing should apply to humans and demonic beings, too.

No matter how much they learn about each other, they would never be able to understand the other side. The relationship between Erukana and Yi Ji-Hyuk was largely the same in that regard.

They might respect and show consideration to one another, but they couldn’t understand each other on the fundamental level. Seriously now, even human men had a hard time figuring women out, so different species understanding each other would be the work of unattainable fantasy.

“If demonic beings were able to understand me back then, I wouldn’t have gone through that much hell in the first place. Even Berafe’s humans couldn’t understand me, you know? That’s why I came back to this world with people who can do exactly that.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Excuse me, I’m sorry to butt in during this important moment, but…” (Jeong In-Su)

Jeong In-Su, bleeding profusely from his head, ever so slightly raised his hand.

“Yes?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I think you’re misunderstanding something here. Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk, you’re too far out there even for the people of this world to understand.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“……………….”

Yi Ji-Hyuk was overcome by this inexplicable sense of sorrow and shifted his gaze towards the distant skies.

Just for what purpose did I go through all that hardship to get back here? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

“So he says?” (Narusius)

“Shut up!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“It was written in books that when the truth about a human being is exposed, they would get angry for no reason.” (Narusius)

“I said, shut the hell up!” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I see. Plenty of things to learn from the books, then.” (Narusius)

Narusius still held Jeong In-Su’s head and raised him up.

“So, you wish to oppose us, is that it? Answer me, 99th demon king.” (Narusius)

“Hmm. I’ll be the one to decide that. Eh… My bad, but uh, which number are you?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I’m the 17th! 17Th!!!” (Narusius)

“Urgh, I just can’t figure out why you demons persist with using this stupid numbering system when you can just use your names. It’s so annoying and stuff. If not, like, get yourselves matching jerseys and put the numbers on the back or something. I mean seriously, it’s not fun or cool at all.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“What dogsh*t are you saying? Jerseys?!” (Narusius)

“Forget about it. You dumba*s demon who doesn’t even know about sports.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Jeong In-Su caught in the middle of this exchange was getting much more anxious inside.

‘Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk?! Please tell me that you can see me still trapped in this creature’s hand while you’re busy provoking it. Please?!’ (Jeong In-Su)

But, I thought that the relationship we enjoyed wasn’t like this… (Jeong In-Su’s inner monologue)

Yi Ji-Hyuk was busy making fun of Narusius as if he didn’t care whether or not Jeong In-Su would die in the crossfire. So he could only hope that the other parties involved understood how he was currently feeling like a fowl’s egg being held by a young child right now.

If Narusius got too excited and squeezed just a little with his fingers, Jeong In-Su’s head would go splat in an instant like a fragile egg.

“Excuse me, Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk, please think about…” (Jeong In-Su)

Yi Ji-Hyuk glanced at Jeong In-Su and tutted.

“Does it hurt? You’re bleeding a lot, you know.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Right now, I’m in no state to even feel the pain, actually.” (Jeong In-Su)

I might die at any second here, so why should I worry about ‘feeling the pain’?! Am I wrong?! Please, do something! Please! (Jeong In-Su’s inner monologue)

“Don’t you worry, I’ll make sure to preserve your remains for a heartfelt funeral in the National Cemetery.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“…Didn’t know your repertoire of jokes have increased.” (Jeong In-Su)

“I’m being serious, though.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Jeong In-Su smiled brightly.

This son of b*tch, so that’s how you thought of me. (Jeong In-Su’s inner monologue)

“Kekeke.” (Narusius)

Narusius cackled and alternated its gaze between the two men.

“You two know each other? But how unfortunate for you. I’ve never ever heard of the 99th demon king looking after his comrades before. You have no idea how cold-hearted that man is, do you?” (Narusius)

“Uh, actually, that’s more like a misunderstanding. It’s not that I never looked after comrades, I just didn’t have any until now, you see.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Oh, in that case, is this man your comrade?” (Narusius)

“Mm, well…” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk scratched his cheek.

Look here, Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk.

Don’t you know how hard I have toiled for you? So why are you contemplating your answer like that? (Jeong In-Su’s inner monologue)

“Judging from how much you’re agonising over it, I guess this man isn’t all that important to you. Well, isn’t it fine to get started after getting rid of him, then?” (Narusius)

“You want to kill him?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk smirked dismissively.

“You don’t get it, do you.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Narusius quietly stared back at him.

“This ain’t the issue of him being a comrade or not, dear Narusius. As long as I’ve decided to show up, you can’t harm anyone anymore.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Can’t harm anyone? Even the one caught in my hand?” (Narusius)

Yi Ji-Hyuk’s insidious smile deepened.

“Why do you think I’m still exchanging this useless banter with you?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Narusius was about to make its reply without hesitation. However, Jeong In-Su beat the demon king to the punch.

“Because, you’re a chatterbox.” (Jeong In-Su) 𝗳𝙧𝐞𝚎w𝗲𝚋n𝚘𝙫𝑒𝘭.𝑐om

“…”

“…”

Narusius’s lips bobbed a bit.

As for Yi Ji-Hyuk, his lips also opened a little but shut close again after being unable to find a retort.

“No, hang on…” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Now that I think about it…” (Narusius)

Narusius stared at Yi Ji-Hyuk with suspicion-filled eyes.

“Weren’t you like this back in the past, too? There doesn’t seem to be anything different even now?” (Narusius)

Yi Ji-Hyuk’s head faltered, an wounded expression showing up on his face.

“I’m a chatterbox, is it…” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Jeong In-Su tried to console him.

“Sometimes truth can hurt, but it is still necessary to face it, Mister Yi Ji-Hyuk. It’s important to own up to your nature, you see.” (Jeong In-Su)

“It’s fine, so forget about it.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Narusius groaned under its breath.

Talking to the 99th demon king always made you feel like you’ve lost your pace.

“That’s enough. We’ve talked long enough. I merely wished to speak to a different human than you, that was all. But now that you’ve arrived, there is no meaning in carrying this on. So this is enough of a…” (Narusius)

It was then, Narusius’s expression crumpled.

Its hand didn’t want to move.

“You…” (Narusius)

“You idiots called the demon kings.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk tutted loudly and walked closer towards Jeong In-Su. He then extended his hand, pried open Narusius’s fingers, lifted up the wounded general, then returned to his original position.

“So, I’m a chatterbox, is it?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Ehehe, I was just going with the flow, you see.” (Jeong In-Su)

Yi Ji-Hyuk could only chuckle at Jeong In-Su’s super-quick about-face.

“Anyways. Go hide somewhere in the rear. Don’t forget to get your wounds looked at, as well.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Of course.” (Jeong In-Su)

Jeong In-Su beat a very hasty retreat while Narusius stared at Yi Ji-Hyuk in sheer disbelief.

“H-how did you pull this off? Even if you’ve regained the power from when you were at your peak, you still shouldn’t be able to restrict my movements like this?!” (Narusius)

“I made some preparations.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Made some… preparations? Since when?” (Narusius)

“The moment you showed up in this tent, obviously.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Narusius’s eyes trembled.

Did that mean he had been hiding nearby all along and waited for the demon king to show up?

“You… you were waiting for me?!” (Narusius)

“Obviously, you dumba*s.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk smirked.

He so badly wanted to get rid of the demonic beasts running wild in the city. However, he understood very well what his role was.

His job was not to stop the monsters and evacuate the civilians, but to subdue the demon king that’d inevitably show up here. That was why he left alone the innocent people getting killed and all the buildings crumbling down.

Some might criticise him for that, but this was the absolute best response the current Yi Ji-Hyuk could come up with. If the preparations hadn’t been completed, he would never have shown himself even if Jeong In-Su was killed off.

“Are you telling me that you managed to draw a magic circle without me realising it?” (Narusius)

“You think that’s a difficult thing to do? You know, you idiots take me too lightly… Don’t forget that I’m a sorcerer, okay? What’s the matter with you?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Narusius gritted its teeth.

It was true that others often forgot this crucial fact, simply because he would spam Mana like crazy-which was the same as every other demon, actually-but no one could deny that Yi Ji-Hyuk was more than qualified enough to be called the history’s strongest sorcerer.

It was simply his laziness preventing him from doing it, but if he got serious, then he’d be able to wield all sorts of top-ranked magical tricks that the regular sorcerers wouldn’t even dream of.

“Kekeke, so I got careless, indeed. But, is this everything?” (Narusius)

“I’m telling you, you demon kings are beyond help.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk raised his hand.

“Well, allow me to satisfy your desire, then.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Snap!

He snapped his fingers, and a magic circle easily three hundred metres in diameter revealed itself on the ground.

The appearance of this magic circle filled with unquantifiable metaphysical letters was so bizarre and disharmonious that just looking at it made the bystanders feel like they were no longer standing on Earth.

“I’m sure you won’t die. I mean, you’re supposed to be a demon king, after all.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Kuuu-uuung!

The magic circle emitted bright light, then transformed into a gigantic hole.

“You b*stard…” (Narusius)

And then, Narusius was slowly sucked into this black hole.

The demon king wanted to say something, but by then it was too late and it got completely sucked into the hole now resembling a quagmire.

“Hmm.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Wuuoong!

Once the demonic being disappeared into the hole, it gradually shrunk in size before completely vanishing from existence, too. Yi Ji-Hyuk studied the empty space where the demon king used to be, and lit up a cigarette.

“I-is it over?” (Jeong In-Su)

Jeong In-Su walked closer while stemming the bleeding on his head with the corner of his clothing.

“I told you not to come here. Why didn’t you get that looked at?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“I might as well rip off my military insignia if I’m going to start whining about this little injury when we’re still stuck in this situation.” (Jeong In-Su)

“Excuse me, I don’t think you can call that ‘little’…” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“No, I’m fine.” (Jeong In-Su)

Yi Ji-Hyuk shook his head.

But then again… People were still getting killed even as they stood here, so a man in charge of the evacuation and defence couldn’t really afford to vacate his spot.

“Okay, fine. You get treatment for that at your own pace, but you should get out of here, at least.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Excuse me?” (Jeong In-Su)

“There’s no way that a demon king would be defeated this easily, right? That dude, he might have looked really disgusting, but he’s a really high-ranking demon king, you see. The dude who’s been roughing it up in the demon world for that long isn’t someone you can take lightly.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“Where did you send him?” (Jeong In-Su)

“Eh, well, should I call it the gap between space or dimensions?” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Jeong In-Su tilted his head in confusion, so Yi Ji-Hyuk just smirked and replied.

“Well, that guy will naturally come back sooner or later, so you don’t have to mind it too much.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

“That demon king will what?!” (Jeong In-Su)

Yi Ji-Hyuk was about to reply to Jeong In-Su’s flustered question, but stopped and spun his head in a certain direction.

The sky was splitting apart.

As if a massive eye was opening up, the empty space seemed to split horizontally, then it ballooned up to resemble a huge sphere.

“Speak of the devil.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk shrugged his shoulders.

“See? That’s why you should go over t…” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He wanted to finish his explanation and turned his head around, but by then Jeong In-Su was already so far away, running for his dear life.

I did tell him to run away, but why does this moment still feel so depressing? (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

“Well, life is lived by yourself alone, anyway.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk spat out a sigh and raised his head up. f𝘳𝚎𝑒𝚠𝑒𝚋𝘯o𝘃eƖ.co𝓂

“I’m sure the dude’s really p*ssed off about now.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He dropped the demon king in a true living hell, so no matter how strong the demon was, it must’ve gone through some hardship there. And the result of all that hardship would be…

“Yi, Ji, Hyuuuuuuk!!!!” (Narusius)

Narusius dashed out from the split space with a stupendous turn of speed. Then, it flew like a madman straight towards Yi Ji-Hyuk.

“Yup, he’s p*ssed off, alright.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

He smirked deeply and slowly raised both of his hands.

But, what should we do now?

I’m a sorcerer, you see. I mean, surely you should know that losing your cool against a sorcerer is a totally prohibited taboo. (Yi Ji-Hyuk’s inner monologue)

“Kekeke.” (Yi Ji-Hyuk)

Yi Ji-Hyuk cackled and began gathering Mana in his hands.

Since the demon king decided to break the taboo, it should pay the appropriate price, no?

Mana began to stream towards the space in front of Yi Ji-Hyuk’s head, then another magic circle revealed itself.

< 406. Not like I wished for it -1 > Fin.