I first faced it a few days ago, when massive flames and magical energy twisted together in combat.
I stood before Sertia, clutching a red sword, half my body scorched and my insides writhing with mana. Pain consumed me entirely.
Sertia was the first being in this world stronger than me. My sword couldn’t breach her barrier, and her attacks were ruthlessly fierce.
To achieve victory, I took the desperate step of swallowing a fragment of the Demon King. In that instant, the world around me froze, and I was pulled into the realm of unconsciousness.
[She’s not an opponent you can defeat]
A silver-haired figure embraced me from behind in that frozen world. I couldn’t turn or move or see her face, but I instinctively knew who she was. The Demon King Sertia had warned me about.
[She was the strongest even in that generation]
[In terms of raw power, she surpassed even the hero]
The Demon King’s voice was seductive as she pressed closer. I couldn’t shake her off. Her hands wrapped around my neck and gripped the hand holding my sword.
[I’ll lend you my strength. Kill that woman]
Red magical energy surged through me, tinting my hair crimson. My mind grew distant as the Demon King’s memories flooded in, twisting my reason. One moment of lost consciousness, and she would seize control of my body.
I grimaced and moved.
-Clang!!
Even the being who once ruled the Demon Realm was now just fragments. She couldn’t contain me. I was stronger than her diminished self.
Breaking free of her grip, I turned my red sword not on Sertia, but on the Demon King herself.
“Things won’t go according to your will.”
I tore away her magical energy, making my declaration. “Because I’m not your puppet.”
I wasn’t a monster. Not a doll. Not the Demon King’s avatar. I was myself.
Being lumped together with the worst villain in continental history felt wrong. I despised being equated with the Demon King, so I thrust my sword at her.
She stepped back, still wearing that casual smile.
[How long can you keep that up?]
I swung my sword, dispelling the illusion.
That was my resistance.
***
Suddenly, my insides twisted, and I collapsed. The world spun, my vision blurring. My throat burned like fire.
When I coughed, red blood sprayed across the ground. “Ugh!!”
After expelling what felt like liters of twisted blood, an overwhelming thirst seized me. My throat was so parched it felt ready to crack and split.
This was the price of denying my need for human blood for so long.
[Did you think consuming fragments would free you from drinking blood?]
Through the agony, I heard mocking laughter echo in my mind. The pain was so intense that death seemed preferable.
[Kill humans]
[It’s the only escape from this pain]
No.
I mustn’t kill.
“……”
This was the middle of the academy. Killing here would spiral beyond control—a point of no return.
Better to find the back alleys…
Go…
‘What should I do?’
In the end, wasn’t I just going to kill people where no one could see? Murder was murder, regardless of location.
‘Then why bother with the back alleys?’
‘Humans are everywhere here.’
‘…Should I just kill them all?’
The thought struck suddenly. Killing everyone here wouldn’t be difficult for me. Was there anyone who could stop me? No—not in an Empire where even Sertia had fallen.
One swing of my red sword could end every human life in the Empire. It would be so easy. I just needed to accept what I was: a monster who could never belong among humans. The pain would end.
Hadn’t I endured enough?
“It hurts…”
Was this the price of fighting my instincts? I resented those who couldn’t understand this agony. Despite constantly suppressing my nature, no one acknowledged my struggle. Even though I endured pain worse than death, in this novel’s world, I remained an extra beyond the dark stage.
The protagonists were already chosen. And they weren’t me.
I knew too well that no matter how much I endured, I would remain buried where no spotlight reached, suffering alone.
I wavered. If I claimed I didn’t hear the Demon King’s whispers, I’d be lying.
“Ah…”
After writhing in pain, I slowly stood. When my senses returned, I found myself the center of attention.
The surrounding students reached out with concerned expressions, but I refused their help. I couldn’t trust myself to make physical contact right now.
“Are you okay?! Can you make it alone?!”
Their worry showed there were still good people here. I felt ashamed for contemplating their deaths.
I nodded slightly to show I was fine, then staggered away. I needed to get as far from the academy as possible—at least my acquaintances shouldn’t see me like this.
***
The pain struck without warning. I’d endured so long without consuming humans, thinking I could last longer. The body’s true limits differed from what the mind believed possible.
The Demon King’s fragments weren’t enough. This body couldn’t survive without killing humans.
The world is cruel, and life is suffering.
Yet recently, it hadn’t been painful. It had almost been good. Since arriving in this world, I’ve experienced moments closest to happiness. Entangling with the story’s leads, I’d nearly felt like one of them.
“Cough!!”
But the world is cruel—perhaps crueler because of those moments. The instant I dared to dream, it dragged me back into the abyss. It forced me awake from momentary sweetness. When I reached for a ray of hope, it crushed what I sought more thoroughly than anything else.
Cruel.
The separation from those in the spotlight felt tragic.
And in the end, miserable.
As a murderer of humans, I couldn’t even receive cheap sympathy.
But it’s fine.
My emotions have grown faint.
I don’t feel sadness anymore.
Even when emotions rise, they cool quickly.
What remains is endless emptiness.
I walked aimlessly through the streets, feeling only void. No destination in mind.
Just walking.
Where no one would recognize me.
Far, far away.
“…This place is.”
I found myself in the back alleys. Had I unconsciously sought familiar ground?
It didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered except quenching this overwhelming thirst.
The scent of blood drifted through the alleys. Had criminals fought while I, their overseer, was away?
That didn’t matter either.
Already starving, the sweet smell made resistance almost impossible.
I quickened my pace through the changed atmosphere of the alleys. This was my domain—where people feared to tread due to rumors of a human-eating monster.
I walked without concern.
Because I was that monster.
Today, like other days, I prowled these alleys to hunt.
When I reached the source of the blood smell, I found a scene more grotesque than I imagined.
Human corpses lay scattered, and a monster was still killing a living victim. Red eyes and purple horns marked it as inhuman. Its face seemed familiar—someone from Seir’s memories, though I didn’t know the name.
“Demon King’s army.”
Why here? Why now?
“……”
I’d encountered the most unwelcome of visitors.