abcnovels
Chapter 255 - Halcyon (2)
Chapter 255 - Halcyon (2)
Chapter 255
The first sensation she’d felt after being born was fear.
– Eek!
– Wh-what’s that monster?!
When she first opened her eyes, she saw a demon looking at her in disgust.
The demon was frowning while looking at her as if she were a detestable being.
– Damn it! Bleh!
– Bleh!
They were vomiting while looking at her.
Unlike them, she didn’t have numerous eyes or skin covered by tentacles or moss.
– It… it doesn’t look like a demonic monster?
They called her a demonic monster.
—A demonic monster that wasn’t a demon.
—A beast that wasn’t self-aware and didn’t have thoughts.
—A being that lived by relying on their instincts.
– I… I’ve never seen a demonic monster that’s so disgusting…
They were looking at her in disgust and talking in fearful voices.
‘I…’
She lowered her head and prayed.
She desperately prayed.
She begged them not to bother her. To not hurt her.
‘I didn’t do anything wrong.’
– Die!
– Y-you disgusting bastard! Kill it!
Attacks poured toward her from every direction.
She couldn’t understand why they hated her so much, but there was something she was sure about: being hit by their attacks hurt a lot.
She escaped. Was it because she was born as a monster? Her running speed wasn’t slow.
She desperately ran.
– Follow it!
– We cannot let it grow!
They followed her, stomped on her, and tore at her skin.
It hurt.
She felt immense pain over and over again.
“Please, d… don’t bother me,” she begged in desperation.
– What’s wrong with this demonic monster?
According to them, a demonic monster was a being with no consciousness that relied on their instincts—a beast-like being.
They didn’t feel despair or fear.
They were monsters that wouldn’t hesitate to attack if they thought you were their enemy.
That was the ‘demonic monster’ they referred to.
“S-sniff.”
So what?
She wasn’t like that.
She wasn’t crazy; she didn’t want to tear down and eat her enemies.
She was just scared about what they said and how they looked at her.
It didn’t matter how much she tried to escape—they always followed her.
It was the same with others, even if it was someone she hadn’t seen before. All of the demons puked after seeing her and tried to attack.
Life was fear and pain.
Everyone in the world cursed her.
It was a never-ending nightmare.
In the end…
“Y-you’re also trying to bother me, right?”
She lost her mind.
There was no way she would be able to resist while staying sane.
Surrounded by fear and madness, she killed everyone close to her.
She realized that, if she didn’t kill, she was the one who would get killed.
“U-ugh.”
She created a habitat and realized that if she stayed inside the borders she’d built, other demons didn’t go after her.
But…
“Snif!!”
The wound didn’t close.
How they’d pointed at her. How they looked at her in disgust…
She desperately craved someone to look at her without fear. Someone who wouldn’t find her disgusting, but it didn’t matter how much time passed.
A hundred years…
A thousand years…
Even ten thousand years.
No one like that appeared.
She was always a target of fear and disgust.
It was a never-ending nightmare.
“Sniff.”
She cried and stayed crouched behind fence she’d built.
Even if she cried, nothing would change.
Just like that…
Too many years passed.
* * *
“KYAHAHAHA!!!”
The crazy sound of laughter spread to the surroundings.
She crawled onto the floor and grabbed KangWoo’s pants.
“Is… is that true? A-am I really pretty?”
It was a desperate voice.
She looked at him like a desperate person seeing salvation.
“Ah, well. That’s true, but…”
KangWoo looked at her with a confused expression.
He reacted reflexively.
She had reacted unexpectedly. He could feel a sense of madness from it.
“Ah, aah.”
Halcyon cried while touching her face.
It was as if she were under the effects of a drug.
She seemed to be feeling excitement and thrill. Laughter mixed with madness came out of her.
‘Don’t tell me…’
KangWoo thought of a certain possibility.
He could still see Balrog laying on the floor while vomiting.
A scenario of a possible explanation came to his mind.
‘It seems like it’s the first time she’s heard she’s pretty.’
Taking into consideration that, from a demon’s perspective, Halcyon looked more disgusting than anything…
In a world full of demons, there was a chance she’d never heard that.
‘It probably isn’t just that…’
She wouldn’t react like that just because she had never been called ‘pretty’.
‘Trauma.’
There’s a chance that her appearance being so horrible to other demons had left a certain trauma on her.
No. If that wasn’t a trauma, there’s no way she’d have reacted like that.
She was probably cast aside and became the target of the demons.
“This…”
KangWoo narrowed his eyes.
The ends of his mouth went up.
* * *
‘I can use this.’
It wasn’t hard to guess what Halcyon had probably gone through.
‘It’s obvious.’
He could guess and imagine it.
Using those things wouldn’t be hard.
‘The important thing is…’
How valuable would she be to him?
There was no need to think too deeply about that.
‘Even right now, it’s all a profit.’
There were many things he wanted to ask Halcyon.
How had she, an ancient demonic monster, arrived on Earth? Why were other ancient demonic monsters acting strange? What was up with the ‘King of Demonic Monsters’, the Behemoth’s, attitude?
‘Not only that…’
After reaching 150 Demonic Energy, for the moment, he couldn’t use the Authority of Predation to absorb the demonic energy of a target.
Of course, he could always compress the corpse, just like he did with Belphegor, but…
It wasn’t that increasing his ability to control demonic energy was quick. He was increasing it slowly through training, so continuing to stack condensed demonic energy wasn’t very effective.
For example, he wasn’t sure when he’d be able to eat Belphegor.
‘Well, it might be different if I Awaken…’
He wasn’t Kim ShiHoon, so planning the future based on Awakening wasn’t good.
“Sniff, sniff. I… I’m glad. I’m really glad…”
Halcyon was crying, moved.
KangWoo calmly looked at her.
‘Basically…’
Rather than killing her and turning her into a Demonic Energy Stone, it was better to turn her into an ally.
Although she didn’t have an Authority, her physical specs were better than an archduke’s.
‘Good.’
KangWoo smirked.
He’d decided on a goal and knew how to achieve it.
There was no reason to hesitate.
“Y-you aren’t lying. R-right?”
Halcyon looked at him anxiously.
KangWoo extended his hand toward her while making a kind smile.
He put his hand on her cheeks.
“Hmm…”
KangWoo hesitated for a moment.
Halcyon’s expression paled.
“Now that I’ve taken a closer look, maybe not that pretty.”
“Ah…”
A short exclamation came out of Halcyon’s mouth—it was one that had disappointment and relief mixed together.
KangWoo smirked. As expected.
‘In this situation, saying she’s pretty can be a minus.’
It was a simple problem.
Imagine there’s someone who heard they’re ugly throughout their life.
Could they trust someone who appeared suddenly and said they’re beautiful?
‘There’s no way.’
It doesn’t matter if it was a human, a demon, or a demonic monster, any emotional life form would have that instinct.
They would naturally be wary about the person who was saying something that didn’t make sense.
“R-right? Th-there’s no way I’d be pretty…”
Tears dripped from Halcyon’s eyes.
“I’m a disgusting… and dirty…”
Her voice became progressively weaker as if she were struggling to find words.
KangWoo’s eyes shone.
‘Now.’
When a mental breakdown was about to happen…
It was his chance.
“No, that’s not it,” he said firmly.
“Yes…?”
“You aren’t disgusting and ugly. Well, I’m not sure what you’ve heard until now, but at least, for me, that’s not the case.”
“Ah…”
“Now that I take a closer look, you aren’t bad. You’re not disgusting and ugly at all.”
KangWoo smirked and cleaned up her tears.
There was no need to exaggerate. No, exaggerating would only make things worse.
What Halcyon really wanted wasn’t for someone to tell her she was beautiful.
‘What she really wants is…’
For someone to tell her that she’s not disgusting.
“Ah…
That’s it.
It was something that seemed small—that didn’t seem like much—but for her, that would be something that saved her.
“Sniff, sniff.”
Tears dripped from her eyes.
She was trembling in excitement.
“Thank you. Really, thank you.”
She cried and clutched his clothes.
KangWoo looked at her.
‘Not yet.’
It wasn’t enough.
It was a 99% complete puzzle; there was still one last remaining piece.
He took out his communication crystal and mumbled in a low voice.
– Balrog, stand up.
Balrog, who was still vomiting, staggered into a standing position.
[Ugh! D-Demon King, it’s dangerous!!]
After seeing Halcyon stuck to KangWoo, he quickly stomped on the ground.
The Overlord’s Armor, one made of black demonic energy, gathered around his fist.
“Ugh…!”
Halcyon closed her eyes, and body started to tremble again.
Balrog’s fist covered with Overlord’s Armor wasn’t one she could defend against after becoming tired of the fight against KangWoo.
KangWoo slowly raised his hand.
BOOM-!!
Right next to Halcyon’s head…
If he had been 0.1 seconds late, her head would have exploded.
[D-Demon King?]
“It isn’t a dangerous situation, so stay still.”
Halcyon looked at him in surprise.
“Ah…”
She grabbed his clothes harder with a short exclamation because Balrog was frowning as if he couldn’t stand looking at Halcyon.
[Demon King… you aren’t affected by that monster?]
‘That’s it.’
It was the question he was waiting for.
KangWoo kept talking in a calm voice. It was about time to complete the puzzle.
“I’m not sure.”
“…”
Halcyon looked at him anxiously.
“Unlike what I’ve heard from you, I don’t find her that disgusting.”
The last piece…
“Are my eyes weird? I even find her a bit pretty.”
[Ha…]
“It seems like she looks like this only to my eyes.”
KangWoo shrugged his shoulders and then looked at Halcyon.
He could see a change in her eyes.
‘That’s it.’
The only one who didn’t think she was disgusting…
If he was special, if he was the only one who didn’t see her as disgusting…
“Tsk. Let’s stop for the moment, Balrog. Let’s go back.”
“E-excuse me!”
Halcyon raised her head.
He could sense desperation on her face.
It was obvious.
If there was only one person who could take her out of her nightmare, only a single person who didn’t find her disgusting…
‘Even if she had to offer everything…’
She would desperately cling to that savior.
“P-please take me! I… I’ll do anything. I… I won’t cry. So, P-please, don’t abandon me. I won’t do that anymore. I… I’ll do anything you ask. S-so please…” she desperately begged.
He could see a mad sense of desperation in her eyes.
KangWoo slowly turned his face.
‘That’s it.’
A satisfied smile appeared on his face.
Of course, what he did probably wasn’t morally correct.
Leaving a demon’s point of view aside, she was really beautiful indeed, and him being the only one to whom she wasn’t disgusting was a lie, but…
He had no intention of telling her the truth.
The reason why he’d gone through such things wasn’t to save her or take her from her nightmare.
‘What I need is someone who only listens, follows, and thinks about me. Someone who can die for me.’’
He needed someone like that.
“Well, okay.”
KangWoo smiled.
“I’ll take you.”
“Ah…”
Excitement rose from Halcyon’s eyes.