Chapter 48: Hobgoblins (9)
"General Karuti!"
"Yes. Report."
The demon knight, seething with rage, reported fervently.
As expected, the content was about the High Heavens revealing their ambition to invade the Middle Realm. They also planned to send angels to the Middle Realm by commencing a ritual.
"That's all!"
"Thank you. Go handle your duties."
"Yes!"
The demon knight who finished his report left, and Karuti sighed deeply.
"Sigh."
It was, indeed, unfortunate news.
The ongoing conflict between the High Heavens, who wished for the demons' extermination, and the demon realm did not start recently. So far, they had been evenly matched, pushing and pulling each other, but if the High Heavens were to swallow up the Middle Realm and gather power from there, the demon realm would undoubtedly be in a vulnerable position.
The demon realm was divided, especially when compared to the unified High Heavens. What's more, among the demon nobility, there were those who would easily ally with the High Heavens if it meant eliminating their rivals.
There was no way to win in such circumstances.
"The negotiations also failed. Karuti is sad."
"It's ruuuuined! It's ruuuuined!"
"Be quiet."
Karuti gestured for quiet, but the demon beast wouldn't calm down.
"Useless creatures! Useless creatures!"
"Tsk."
Though the demon beast was noisy, it spoke the truth.
Gathering for the advent ritual and holding negotiations was a good idea, but no productive conversations were had. Typical of demon brats, there was only mockery, sarcasm, boasting, and the passing of blame.
The idea of the demons uniting seemed utterly impossible.
"The High Heavens' advent ritual… can't be stopped."
The sentient beings of the Middle Realm would welcome the angels…
"Ah, speaking of which."
While thinking about it, something suddenly came to mind.
"I wonder if Kyuse is still alive."
After the advent ritual, a lot had been prepared. Given the current situation, several measures were set up to monitor the Middle Realm. Naturally, some efforts had been made concerning Kyuse as well. Not much was expected, though.
*Thud.
Karuti thought it might be time and left the office, returning to her room.
A room that resembled a princess's chamber.
Amidst the many frills and ribbons decorating the room, there stood several out-of-place and ominous machines and artifacts.
"Now, let's see."
She started up the machines.
Whirrrr.
With the deployment of dark magic, the activated devices came to life. Karuti concentrated and manipulated the devices to track Kyuse's location. It wasn't too difficult since a tracking magic circle had been installed under the skin.
If alive, he'd be trackable; if dead, no response would be forthcoming.
And then.
"Ah. It's connected."
It connected.
Static.
A screen appeared before her, noisy and unclear. However, it was moving actively, indicating he was alive.
"Kyuse is really alive?"
While it was presumed he'd be dead, this was quite surprising. Karuti adjusted the view, finally obtaining a clearer image.
[Damn!]
A voice could be heard.
"Hehehe, Kyuse looks so miserable."
Kyuse looked pitiful. Seeing him made her laugh. That younger brother had an endearing side to him, even if he was a demon.
From then on, Karuti began observing.
At first, it was sheer amazement that Kyuse was alive that made her observe out of curiosity.
General Karuti had a lot on her plate. After all, she was a general. While Kyuse might be an interesting demon, she didn't have time to focus on him during such a crucial and perilous time.
He wasn't initially a significant figure anyway. He was clearly going to die soon. Even if he was observed, it was unlikely that any meaningful information could be gathered.
Thus, her interest was nothing more than mild curiosity, and she observed only occasionally during her free time.
However…
"Hmm, Brother Kyuse is doing better than I thought."
He turned out to be more impressive than she gave him credit for.
Surprisingly, Kyuse genuinely loved and cherished the goblins, which were no better than insignificant creatures. This was unimaginable to Karuti. Initially, it seemed impossible. She couldn't imagine such a demon existed.
"Brother Kyuse is such a psycho."
Her mild curiosity turned into sheer amazement.
He was not a regular demon. He sincerely cares for the lowly goblins, laughing, crying, and chatting with them. There shouldn't be such a being in the demon world.
ㅡBuril!
ㅡKerek!
Together, they were building a foundation for survival… The lives of the two gradually improved. An entity that was deemed to die was surviving.
ㅡTsupat.
Suddenly, the screen went off.
"Ah! It's time!"
The observation time was up, and the screen went dark.
"I want to see more of Kyuse! Show me!"
The next day.
And the day after.
Karuti continued her observation.
She couldn't stop observing.
Observing Kyuse had now become a vital task for her.
Due to various environmental factors, there was a limited observation time. She would have to wait for the next opportunity if she missed that time.
She always watched the live broadcast.
It was so fascinating that she couldn't help but watch it regularly. Amazingly, Kyuse even conquered the kobold's cave and took it over.
"That's the demon trained by this Karuti! If he can't do it after being taught by Karuti, that's the odd part!"
"It's weird! So weird!"
Furthermore, he even befriended a dryad.
And…
He dominated the goblins, trained them like soldiers, and even created dungeons to fight against the hobgoblin army.
ㅡGraaak! Grak!
ㅡAttack!!
"Good job! Well done! Brother Kyuse is great!"
The goblin army he personally trained and the truly insignificant wild monster tribe engaged in an adorable war.
As a general of the Duke's Order and a confidant to the Duchess, for Karuti, who had faced countless battles, this petty tribal warfare seemed like mere child's play. But the excitement was overwhelming.
When the chieftain was finally defeated:
"Woahhhhhhh!!!"
Karuti sprang up from her seat, shouting triumphantly. The snack bag she was holding flew, scattering its contents everywhere. She didn't mind the mess; after all, it wasn't her responsibility to clean it up.
"We did it! We did it! We did it! Brother Kyuse won!"
"We wonnnnn!!! We wonnnnn!!!"
Karuti was singing her joy alongside her familiar.
"Phew! Great! Now, if we extract the power from that chieftain… Ah! No! Again! Time's up!"
Because the screen turned off, what followed was unseen.
"What happened next?!"
Banging her chest in frustration, the screen remained dark. She'd have to wait until next time.
Regardless…
Karuti held a glimmer of hope for Kyuse.
Having come this far.
Truly.
Just a bit more…
"Wow…!"
Such an intense urge?
Thump. Thump.
It was a sensation unfamiliar to me. Was this an innate desire? A feeling stemming from my demon nature, not my human side? The pull was so strong that I instinctively began a magic extraction technique.
A dark, magical flame burst forth from my right hand.
"Shaa?"
"Sharan, wait a moment."
I gently caressed the head of Sharan, who was hugging me and slipped out of her embrace.
"…"
The chieftain…
Was dead, eyes rolled back. Looking at him, the urge intensified. Urging me to extract the magic immediately!
And so,
"Haaaaah!"
I stretched out my hand and struck at his chest!
Squelch!
My hand didn't hit him but went through as if I were plunging it into mud. That was when I tightly gripped the heart inside.
Sizzle.
The chieftain's corpse melted away in an instant.
"Sha, Sharan…!"
Sharan expressed her shock. And just like that, the body vanished.
In my hand…
There remained a shining purple magic stone crystal.
"It's shining?"
To put it nicely, the magic stone extracted from the kobold's corpse last time was just a piece of junk. It wasn't this radiant, nor did it have any presence. However, the magic stone extracted from the chieftain was different.
ㅡShimmer.
Radiant.
Its glow seemed to captivate me. For a moment, it felt like sweet chocolate. Purely on impulse, I ate the magic stone.
"Munch."
ㅡCrunch.
ㅡCrunch.
The sensation of chewing on the stone was amusing. It felt like I was snacking, and my teeth grounded the magic stone to powder.
ㅡGulp.
I swallowed.
And then.
"Huh?!"
A sensation like something hot going down my esophagus…! I felt it intensely!
"Oh, ohhhhhhhh!"
Suddenly, the magic inside me surged! As if the magic was moving violently, beating fiercely within me!
ㅡWhoosh!
At the same time, an aura of magic sprang up from beneath my feet!
"Ohhhhhhhh!"
A sensation almost like pain…!
But I could feel it.
The magic within me was growing.
Not just that!
ㅡTwitch!
I felt my horn grow by about 1 millimeter!
"Stronger, I've become stronger! I've grown!"
My magic grew by absorbing the chieftain's power!
"This is the power of the demon race!"
As I felt it, intense joy consumed my mind!
"Heh, heh…!"
"Hehehe!"
The goblins, eyes wide open, stared at me, trembling as they shoved their fists into their mouths!
"Shh…!"
Sharan, too, looked at me, covering her mouth with both hands.
"That's right! Look at me! Behold the power of the Demon King!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone