As soon as Avon entered the dungeon, she could feel that the flow of mana had completely changed. As with any dungeon, the environment inside was completely different from Earth. However, as she was a high-level magician and witch, she did not need any special equipment to adapt to this place.
“….”
Avon held her breath and looked around the interior of the dungeon. It was a weird place; a mountain range of dark rocky masses surrounded the area, all the rocks were sharp to the point that there seemed to be no place to even step on.
Something was not right. Avon thought. Because she had entered the dungeon many times, she knew. This place was not a dungeon.
The sound of her feet stepping lightly on the stone floor echoed loudly in a quiet space filled with only the sound of the wind whispering in her ears.
Avon kept walking forward.
After walking for such a long time, she finally arrived at the place she had sought.
“The altar.”
It was a huge temple painted in many shades of colour. In this place, where there was no trace of civilization, let alone living things, the existence of such a structure stood out a lot. It was an old temple that seemed unmaintained, yet there’s a fire burning in the braziers.
Avon followed the stair and walked down the hallway. After she entered the innermost altar, Avon looked around.
There was nothing on the altar located in the middle of the great cavity. It’s really empty. When Avon frowned, the fire burning on the braziers suddenly burst in all directions one after another. And then, a shadow appeared.
It was… a huge shadow. Its figure easily filled the ceiling reminiscent of a dome to the very top.
Even though it had no form, it certainly existed right in front of her. Avon opened her mouth, forcing her trembling voice to come out.
“Are you… a demon?”
-·········.
The shadow did not answer. But Avon knew that it had certainly turned its head and stared at her.
And then, the shadow coalesced together into a huge skeleton. Between its sharp ribs, a gloomy bonfire burned quietly.
-A witch from an unknown world.
“….”
A witch was a witch, but just what was a witch from an unknown world? The incomprehensible sentences were translated into mental waves and assaulted her mind one after another.
– That’s weird. I thought witches were wise… Why did you do this?
It was still full of incomprehensible sentences. So Avon didn’t answer, and the demon smiled as if it understood. The only reason Avon could recognize that the demon in front of her was smiling was because the shadow that she assumed to be its mouth was torn to the sides.
– I see. Mixed with human blood, she became an imperfect witch. Mana, soul, everything is bad.
“Is that so?”
Avon couldn’t feel any strong ‘power’ from the demon. Her thoughts were running wildly. Clearly, the demon in her memory had bizarre power. So, Avon forced a question lumping on her throat to come out.
“Demon. I have come here to receive your power.”
-Hmm… a witch receiving Demon power? The tribes of witches in your world are…
“Yes. But now I feel no power in you.”
The evil snorted, finding her word to be ridiculous. But soon it laughed.
-Of course you can’t feel it. Our powers are fundamentally different.
“Then….”
At that moment, Avon lowered her head as a chilling sensation pricking into her skin. Her heart was pounding wildly, and her hands and feet trembled. It was hard to even lick her lips because of the sudden chill, and tears seemed to drop from her eyes.
It was simply the feeling of ‘fear’.
It was also the first emotion she felt as a witch who lacked any semblance of emotions.
‘What is this!!!’
– A witch with many flaws. Human blood is mixed inside your bloodline, and you also harbor a faint trace of emotion.
The shadow began to hang down and arrived at Avon’s feet. It looked like it was smiling.
– Playing with a witch like this is a new feeling… I think your world will be more interesting.
“…heh!”
Soon, the demon retreated, and Avon gasped shakily, stumbled back and fell down. The feeling of fear had completely gone, but she could still feel it imprinted in her chest and head.
‘The power of the demon is… the power that governs emotions, or even the soul itself….’
In addition, the power of demons which would directly interfere with the soul cannot be repelled by any physical science, magic, or martial arts.
It’s a new technique altogether. A completely new power that never existed on Earth before! Avon’s eyes slowly cleared up. She quickly raised her head and looked at the demon.
“Can you give me that power?”
-I can… but In return, a ‘door’ will be opened to your world. Do you know what that means?
Avon did not know. But it didn’t matter that much. All that matters right now is to receive that mystical power that governs souls from the demon. Avon nodded her head, and soon after, the shadow condensed with a strong wind, and she burrowed into Avon’s chest.
“Gasp!”
-Good…
Before long, Avon’s body slowly swelled up and took the shape of a giant skeleton towering at 100 meters in height. However, the bones were completely red with no trace of any white. On her forehead, a pair of horns that point to the sky grew.
The skull’s face was wrinkled, and it was very similar to the ‘demon form’ that humans had imagined in the history of the earth.
-Let’s take a look around the world you used to live in.
* * *
The administrative capital of South Africa, Pretoria.
The population of Pretoria had grown rapidly after the Great War, and currently around 3 million people were living in the city. Amongst the civilians, mercenaries and hunters could easily be seen anywhere on the street because of the dungeons, gates and monsters around the city.
In the first place, due to the geographical characteristics of the plateau with an elevation of 1,400m above sea level, there were bound to be many monsters around, and after being defeated by monsters during the Great War 32 years ago, this place could be called monster-populated land.
However, the mercenaries and hunters who had made this city as their home had made Pretoria stronger and safer. They never let monsters invade their city.
So, the citizens had always thought.
‘Our city is safe.’
It was quite reasonable thinking, and it was a common thought for anyone in the world who had been to this place at least once.
However, Pretoria and the world were currently in a state of confusion.
– Breaking news! In the capital of South Africa, Pretoria, a gigantic skull-shaped monster presumed to be an SSS rank, or more, appeared…
– Delivered by AAA. Appearing in South Africa, code-named ‘Demon’…
– This is reporter Ormon. Currently, the city of Pretoria has dispatched its hunter to find out the identity of the demon…
People were shocked when a huge, red skeleton appeared out of the blue in the middle of the city. Everyone shared the same question in their head.
‘Where did that monster come from?’
The mercenaries and hunters who were around the city were dispatched as soon as possible to quell the demon, but it was to no avail. They were swept away with one snort of the devil. Numerous buildings collapsed, and the ground also caved in with every step.
But… for some reason, the monster seemed to be unwilling to actively attack humans. It just looked around the city with curious eyes, as if it found the city interesting.
-There are no traces of mugong or magic here. That’s interesting. Interesting.
After roaming through the city for around 30 minutes, the demon suddenly turned to dust and disappeared and left all the hunter and mercenary alike in a state of confusion.
It’s only 30 minutes. In those 30 minutes, half of the city was destroyed.
* * *
A day later. Pretoria, South Africa.
Since the appearance of the demon, guilds from all over the world had gathered in Pretoria. I also came to Pretoria as the representative of Another League.
Among the wreckage of the collapsed building, furious howling of people could be heard. They all cursed the demon.
It was a common scene from 32 years ago, but the hunters mourned with a miserable expression at the sight that they thought would never be seen again.
“You are hunter Yoo Seodam…!”
I didn’t even need a fancy arrival. The hunters found me first as I scrambled through the wreckage caused by the demon. And as I was walking closer to the yellow barrier that surrounded the place where the demon last appeared, all the hunters smiled at me brightly.
It was only natural, every person here was wondering why the devil appeared, why did it disappear, and why did the hunters’ attacks didn’t work on it?
There was no one who could answer those questions. And the one who had the superpower of the ‘dimension’ in this world, I was the only one who could give an answer.
“It’s really reassuring to see Master Yoo Seodam here.”
“Please, an unidentified monster has appeared, and as a hunter I have to come.”
Even the government of South Africa rushed towards me and asked me to shake hands with them. It was so burdensome, I could die.
To be honest, I didn’t know much about this case either. I have no choice but to conduct an obvious, scientific investigation.
I roamed around the city for a couple of hours to learn about the devil, and listed the information that anyone other than me couldn’t provide.
“The footsteps of the code-named ‘Demon’ are getting shallower. This means that its weight has decreased with every step. Perhaps, it has difficulty moving. Also, the footprints are gradually getting smaller, it seems that its size has also decreased. It consumes a lot of energy this time, so I don’t think it will appear for a while.”
“Oh, I see!”
My guess was based on scientific evidence, and I used my own state-of-the-art equipment to observe every minute of the difference. But I had my own doubts.
‘The demon ran out of energy after wandering around the city for 30 minutes before disappearing… is that really the case?’
Maybe it came here to replenish its energy?
<It may be so.>
‘What?’
<Demon is a being who gets power through ’emotions’. This demon appeared here for a very short time, but in that short moment, it got a lot of emotions. Confusion, fear, despair, sadness. They all are great source of power for a demon.>
‘Hmmmm…’
As I was stroking my chin and contemplating, the system continued.
<Besides, I don’t sense the spirit of Earth from this demon.>
‘What are you talking about?’
<There must have been a lot of demons on Earth. But I couldn’t feel the spirit of the Earth from this very demon. In conclusion, it was its first time here. And there is no way for such demon to have enough power to manifest for 30 minutes.>
‘Then… is it a demon from another world?’
<Yes. But more precisely, it is a demon from the Demon Realm belonging to another world.>
It’s not just another world, it’s a Demon Realm belonging to another world!
“Why is it so complicated…”
As for how to deal with the demon… it was only unfamiliar to people on Earth. People from other worlds were familiar with ways to handle a demon. Even Aracelli’s original world had been invaded by the demon in the past, and the demonic traces remained clearly in the magic academy I went to before.
The same goes for Earth. It means that the story of confronting demonic invasion was too cliché for every world. Although there were no more protagonists on Earth.
<Probably, the demon is still hiding somewhere in the society.>
“Why?”
<The human society, which is famous for being the most emotionally active, would be like a food warehouse for the demons.>
I roughly understood that demons always made a pact with humans, or whatever, it’s a development from most of the novels I’d read.
“Are you saying that there is a possibility that this demon possessed a specific human?”
<That’s right.>
“Hmmmm…. How do you tell them apart?”
<Usually, it would be difficult. The power of demon is… as you know, strong enough to ignore people’s strength.>
At her words, I fell silent. Clearly, the power of ‘Saekgong’ that Bang Ho-win used was so powerful to the point that most experts couldn’t even resist it. I will be no exception.
<But, have you not seen the power to resist it before?>
“What? Aracelli’s magic?”
<No. It is ‘spirit magic’. Emotions are mystical mental waves that are inherently deep in the soul. A deeper understanding of the soul will help you figure out how to deal with the demon, and how to deal with it.>
“Oh, really?”
Also, it is only natural that my head flashed when the system said that if I deeply understood the soul, I could find the person possessed by the demon. Because the other day, I had brought three books about the soul or what the system called ‘Spirit Magic’. And it must be in Yekaterina’s storage now. If I use them to fight the demon, and ask for advice from Aracelli, who used to be a demon hunter, I would be able to respond as much as I want.
* * *
“Humm~”
Yekaterina hummed a delightful tune inside her library. It was not the Library of the White Witch but a real library that goes with the name ‘Another League President Yekaterina-only library’. Although the guild had not been established for long, this library was full of top secret technology and confidential documents that everyone in the world wanted, including books that she read as a hobby.
And, recently, the book she cherishes the most was none other than a book about ‘spirit magic’.
[About psychic phenomena.]
[What is a pure and clear soul?]
[How to treat the soul?]
It was only three books. But… Yekaterina understood the value of this book better than anyone else.
The soul, the power to deal with itself! In a way, wasn’t this a technique with a completely new value and concept that was completely different from magic and martial arts? Moreover, these books, which were easily over a thousand pages per volume, were so unkindly written that some would say they would die of boredom, but it was the right way for Yekaterina, who had a strong desire to explore.
Every time she read a letter in the book, her whole body was thrilled. The feeling of new knowledge coming into her head was really unbearable.
“Wow, umm, ummm…”
It was a study by a very powerful Soul Magician, so it was very difficult for Yekaterina, who did not know about souls at all, to understand.
She struggled to keep her happiness inside. The knowledge itself was powerful, but what if this spirit magic was applied to the development of the guild?
‘Our guild can grow stronger even faster!’
With that thought in mind, Yekaterina turned the pages, and she felt a sense of déjà vu.
It’s purely a witch’s sense.
Yekaterina hurriedly turned her head, an emergency text message from her smartphone arrived belatedly. She quickly checked its content.
“A demon has appeared?”
She hurriedly returned to her office, and as she turned on the news, she could see a giant red creature striding in a city in South Africa.
“What is that…”
As Yekaterina looked at the screen with bewildered face, her phone rang. It was a unique tone dedicated for Yoo Seodam. When she hurriedly answers the call, the voice on the other side of the phone speaks at once.
– Yekaterina. Are you keeping the three books I gave you?
“Yes yes. Absolutely. I was just reading it. But now, something happened…”
-No. Read on.
“Yes?”
When she answered blankly, Yoo Seodam said once again.
-I think it will help with demon hunting.
Yekaterina looked at the book that had fallen to the floor and she stood idly for a while.