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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: JayM
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On a dark night without a single light, three men were running down a street illuminated only by the moon in the pitch-black sky.
Scuttling Scuttling!!!
And thousands of cockroaches followed behind them.
A swarm of cockroaches that were much larger than a human hand chased the three men.
The five War Boys they had brought with them had already been annihilated by a monstrous creature that could be considered as the king of the cockroaches.
The nearby zombies met the same fate. All of them had become hosts for the cockroaches, leaving the street teeming with the black insects.
“Damn it!!!!”
“I’m gonna die!! Fuck!!! I’m gonna die!!!”
“Shut your mouth and run, you crazy bastard!!!”
They had gone out to search for Manager Park of the Central Association’s recruitment department, who hadn’t returned long after he was due, and ended up in this predicament.
They had expected to encounter only a few zombies at most, but they never imagined that they would find an unheard-of insect-type monster inhabiting the streets here.
Moreover, they had yet to encounter evolved zombies like Ghouls, so they were even more vulnerable as they roamed the night streets.
The evolved zombies had single-mindedly focused on attacking the supermarket due to ‘some kind of attraction,’ paying no attention to other locations.
In fact, apart from Jang Jo-joon’s group, very few people in this city had even seen evolved zombies.
In any case, the price for disregarding the dangers of the apocalyptic night was steep.
No matter how many they killed, the swarm of insects showed no signs of diminishing.
It was a terrifying horror, a nightmare they could only escape through sacrificing someone.
“At this rate, we’re all going to die!!! Damn it…!!! Everyone, fall back! I’ll stay behind!!”
“What!! Hey!!! Choi Yoon-gi! You won’t be able to come back!!”
“Fuck… When we’re all about to die, does that even matter!? I’ll block their path, so you and your brother run and tell the executives! Tell them that there’s a crazy monster living on this street!!!”
The man named Choi Yoon-gi stopped running and turned to face the cockroaches chasing after them.
The Devil Summoner would have already learned about the deaths of the War Boys. However, information about the monster inhabiting this street had to be delivered personally.
If they remained unaware of this swarm of insects, the Central Association might face grave danger.
So he, already ‘brainwashed’ and willing to die for the Central Association, decided to sacrifice himself.
“Kra… Kruaaaaaaa!!!!”
Choi Yoon-gi’s clothes ripped, and his skin tore.
His body swelled abnormally, his eyes turned green, and twisted, mangled, blood-soaked wings erupted from his back.
Just like Manager Park, who had clashed with Jo-joon’s group.
He too transformed into a demonic form.
“Kraaaaaa!!!!”
Choi Yoon-gi let out a scream-like groan, intoxicated by the surging power and mental exhilaration. In exchange for abandoning his weak human form and transforming into a monster, he had gained overwhelming power.
He received power that was wielded by those connected to or contracted with demons.
And those who offered their souls to demons by transforming themselves into monsters could wield magic even without Awakening as Players.
That was the case with Choi Yoon-gi. With the help of a demon worshipper, he sold his soul to a demon and obtained magic power.
It was a filthy blessing, an ability gained by sacrificing himself.
“This power… Ah… Ah… So this is… why… everyone… goes crazy… Haha… Hahaha. Khahahaha!!!!”
Having fully transformed, he could no longer return to his human form, but he didn’t care.
Even though his body would collapse if he didn’t rip out and devour the still-beating hearts of living humans every day, he didn’t care.
He probably would have cared before his transformation.
But once addicted, there was no escape.
Once one tasted this insane sense of fulfillment, no one could return to their previous weak form.
Yes, there was no going back to the time when he could only release a meager amount of magic power.
He would only rampage, consumed by the craving for greater power and the desire to kill and devour living beings.
The magic granted by demons was like a drug. Choi Yoon-gi was in a state equivalent to having overdosed.
That was why he went mad. He couldn’t help but go crazy after being injected with a lethal dose of a drug and yet surviving.
Just like Manager Park who went berserk after transforming in desperation when Merhere severed his arm with her sickle.
He too lost his mind to the ecstasy of demonification.
“Haa…!!! Bapula-nim… Thank you!!!”
With a confidence that made him feel capable of anything, Choi Yoon-gi unleashed his amplified magic without hesitation.
The sensation of a trickling faucet bursting open and gushing forth satisfied his male urge to release, and Choi Yoon-gi became increasingly intoxicated.
Pleasure without pain. Power without responsibility.
Even if it led to inevitable destruction in the end, countless people followed and worshipped demons for the drug-like power they offered.
This was the fundamental difference between demons and evil gods.
Their perspectives on contractors and minions were different.
While demons viewed their worshippers as expendable tools, evil gods created true believers, apostles who worshipped them.
Therefore, demons were ‘parasites.’
And evil gods were ‘gods.’
“Die!!! Kiha!!! Die!!!”
Crimson magic erupted from Choi Yoon-gi’s hands.
Crackle crackle crackle!!!
Thousands of cockroaches chasing the three escapees were blocked and obliterated by the magic barrier Choi Yoon-gi single-handedly erected.
“Weak!!! Weak!! Too weak!!! Hahahaha!!!!!!”
Choi Yoon-gi couldn’t stop laughing. It was simply hilarious.
It felt like he had shattered the wall of reality that had always been so daunting.
It felt like he had taken control of the chaotic world.
That was why he didn’t see it.
He didn’t see the cockroaches parting like the Red Sea.
And the woman with goat horns who was approaching him while breathing heavily.
“Haa… Haa… Disgusting…”
The woman coated her hammer with black armor.
Then, she spread the magic she had absorbed during the day around her.
Only then, as the dark blue aura gradually approached him, did Choi Yoon-gi finally see the woman.
“Who are you!? How dare you not kneel before me!!!!”
Having already lost half his mind, he couldn’t properly assess his opponent.
The pink-haired woman, the Demon Slayer, shook her head at the laughing Choi Yoon-gi.
Choi Yoon-gi didn’t understand what that meant.
But the next moment, he realized his vision had been flipped upside down.
“Guh-?”
Crash!!!
The demon-possessed giant was sent flying.
He couldn’t withstand the Demon Slayer’s magic-infused kick, which closed the distance in an instant, and crashed to the ground.
The Demon Slayer extracted the magic from the fallen Choi Yoon-gi.
“Kaaaa!!!! S-stop!!! This power!! It’s mine!!! Stop!! Don’t take it!!!! Ah, no!!!”
His belated screams went unanswered.
The black-stained hammer flew towards Choi Yoon-gi. A meaningless death descended upon him.
Crack!
“Kraaa!!!”
Choi Yoon-gi barely managed to block the attack by sacrificing one arm. He quickly unleashed his magic, attacking the woman wielding the hammer.
He had aimed to rupture her abdomen and internal organs, but as his attack landed, black armor appeared on her stomach, blocking the blow.
Although the direct impact was blocked, the force of the blow still sent the pink-haired woman staggering backward. Choi Yoon-gi quickly got up and tried to escape. He had realized that he could never defeat this strange woman.
“Kuh… Spit.”
The woman wiped the blood from her mouth and, without hesitation, lunged at Choi Yoon-gi again. She swung her hammer at the fleeing demon-possessed man.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The hammer descended with blinding speed. Before Choi Yoon-gi could react, her hammer struck the fleeing demon-possessed man’s head, shoulders, and back, shattering his spine.
“Ah!! Aaagh!!!”
A dull cracking sound, followed by the gruesome noise of flesh being crushed and bones shattering, filled the street.
Along with the screams of the dying demon-possessed man, his wings were ripped out.
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Meanwhile, the two who had abandoned Choi Yoon-gi and fled increased their speed, quickly escaping the scene.
“Damn it… Brother, wasn’t that Yoon-gi hyung’s scream…? S-shouldn’t we help…?”
“Hey, hey! Just pretend you didn’t hear anything and run. Don’t stop… It’s too late. Don’t let Yoon-gi’s sacrifice be in vain… Uaaah!!!!”
Something pierced Lee Hyun-soo’s leg as he ran. He lost strength in his leg, tumbling forward and falling.
As he fell, he saw it.
Darkness coalesced to Lee Hyun-jae’s right, forming a massive maw that devoured his right arm.
“Kraaaaa!!!!!”
Lee Hyun-jae screamed while falling to his knees. His older brother, Lee Hyun-soo, pulled the black dagger from his calf that was bleeding profusely, and tried to reach his younger brother. But his body gradually stiffened and trembled uncontrollably, preventing him from moving.
The dagger must have been coated with something. A paralyzing poison, perhaps.
“Kra… Damn it… Damn it…”
Lee Hyun-soo realized that they had fallen into a trap someone had set.
Those abnormal, flesh-eating insects were suspicious from the start. They should have fled instead of venturing deeper.
“H-Hyun-jae… Transform… You have to transform to survive…”
“Ugh… B-brother… If I do that…”
“You’re already done for!!! It’s better to transform quickly…!”
Just as Lee Hyun-soo was about to continue, someone approached them.
“Are you also demon-possessed or something?”
It was a man whose face was strangely blurry… It was a face that was difficult to remember.
“Ugh…! You… Are you… the master of that insane swarm of insects!?”
Despite his body trembling from the paralyzing poison, Lee Hyun-soo didn’t lose his spirit and shouted at the man.
He was confident that he could kill him if he transformed into a demon.
The man, ignoring the question, asked Lee Hyun-soo in an irritated voice.
“I asked you first. Why aren’t you answering? Pluto.”
Crack.
“Kraaaaaa!!!!!!”
Lee Hyun-jae’s remaining arm was ripped off and devoured by a maw that emerged from the darkness.
Lee Hyun-soo, his face splattered with his brother’s blood, felt like he was going insane.
The technique the man used had snatched his brother’s arms in an instant without any preliminary movements.
There was no time to react. He ripped off limbs in the blink of an eye.
Faced with an unheard-of skill, Lee Hyun-soo lost his will to fight.
“Uaaah… Kraaa!!!”
On the verge of death from pain and shock after having both arms ripped off, Lee Hyun-jae tried to surrender himself to a demon as his brother had suggested.
But even that failed.
Crunch…!
Lee Hyun-jae’s head was bitten off and devoured by Abyssal Maw as he was transforming into a demon on the ground. Hot blood spurted from the severed neck.
Lee Hyun-soo was dumbfounded as he looked at his brother’s limp torso.
“Th-this is…”
“Did you think I would just stand by and watch him transform? I killed him before he could.”
Lee Hyun-soo was momentarily stunned as he looked at his brother’s corpse that had most of its limbs gone.
The opponent didn’t give him a chance to transform.
He was devoured by something unknown before he could.
He wondered if surrendering would be better.
Of course, the monstrous man before him didn’t give him a chance to surrender.
Even surrender wasn’t a choice he could make. This entire situation was being orchestrated by the man.
“Well, you’re the only one left.”
Fwoosh!!!
Tentacles sprouted from the hand of the man with a face strangely difficult to remember and bound Lee Hyun-soo.
Lee Hyun-soo screamed as he felt the pain of his limbs being crushed as if by a hydraulic press.
Then, a tentacle wrapped around his neck, silencing him.
“Hey. Don’t even think about transforming into a demon. I’ll crush you instantly.”
“Mm… Mmm…”
His mouth bound, Lee Hyun-soo shed tears.
Because behind the man who had bound him with tentacles, a pink-haired woman approached them while holding the severed head of the demonified Choi Yoon-gi.
There was no escape. He couldn’t run, he couldn’t break free.
Even if he summoned a demon and transformed, he would be helpless.
It’s over for me, Lee Hyun-soo thought.
“Now, I’m going to ask you a few questions. Answer truthfully, and you’ll die painlessly. Lie, and you’ll die a very painful death.”
Lee Hyun-soo nodded at the man’s words. The tentacle binding his mouth loosened slightly, allowing him to speak.
“Tell me everything about your group, the Central Association. Their location, their strength, everything.”
“Th-that’s…”
Lee Hyun-soo’s entire family was at the Central Association. Although he had just lost his brother, he couldn’t betray the rest of his family.
Lee Hyun-soo decided to resist. He would endure, even if it meant death–
Slash.
“Kraaaaaa!!!”
Something sliced through Lee Hyun-soo’s arm.
The wound burned with an unnatural pain.
Lee Hyun-soo trembled and screamed, overwhelmed by the agonizing pain.
“It would be wise to answer.”
A petite woman wearing a black mask that seemed to obscure her features like a cut-out shadow approached him while twirling a dagger in her hand, and whispered to Lee Hyun-soo.
“N-no!!!”
“Eun-ji, continue.”
“Yes, Oppa!”
Slash. Slice! Stab!
“Kraaaaaa!!!!!! Kuaa!! It hurts!!! It hurts!!!!”
It took only three minutes for Lee Hyun-soo to reveal everything he knew about the Central Association’s location, abilities, and overall strength.
He couldn’t endure three minutes of torture and betrayed the location of his family.
“I… I told… you… everything…”
Drooling, with tears, snot, and even urine streaming down his legs, Lee Hyun-soo repeated the information he had revealed countless times until he was finally crushed to death by the tightening tentacles.
The end of someone writhing in pain was always this futile.
“They have more people than I thought.”
“Indeed. They call themselves the largest all-encompassing group…”
“The bigger problem is that… Demonist. To be able to demonify non-Awakened…”
“He said that there are limitations… but it’s still a troublesome ability.”
Jo-joon nodded while stroking his chin. The longer they waited, the stronger the Central Association would become.
He had obtained several pieces of information from Lee Hyun-soo while torturing him repeatedly to confirm the consistency of his answers, and concluded that the information he gave was likely true.
The Central Association currently had an estimated two hundred members or more, and their numbers were still growing.
They were a survivor group based in a building that used to be a large cult church called ‘Our Heart Church.’
There were at least fifty confirmed ordinary Awakened, and the Wisp Warlock (a Devil Summoner), the Demagogue (an Agitator), and the Demonist (a Demon Worshipper) were particularly dangerous.
“To think such people were right next door.”
“Indeed… I didn’t know a group like that settled only 30-40 minutes away from here…”
“Let’s go back. We have no choice but to attack them tomorrow.”
Jo-joon set the corpses on fire with his Salamander and left.
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T/N – Well, RIP to the Central Association. I don’t see them surviving this one, demons or not. Still, a tidal wave of flesh-eating cockroaches chasing you is real nightmare fuel.
If you find any mistakes, feel free to point them out in the comments.
