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Because Taeseongyeon’s ability was exceptional? That was nonsense. The ability Dokyeom had given Taeseongyeon was at least weaker than Geon Ita’s, which was why he could cut him down like pruning in the early stages.
Such was the nature of a necromancer. Summoning a single general-grade unit drastically reduced the number of entities one could maintain. On the other hand, summoning lower-level soldiers allowed for a higher count. In this field, they called it the balance of power.
Yet, the hell legion of Taeseongyeon seen in the video had well over a hundred, even after summoning general-grade units.
The moment this video was released, what Taeseongyeon would have to do was not an account of his inhumane acts but an explanation of his ability. That was how incomprehensible the structure and gap in power were.
“Why is it that when I’m with Taeseongyeon-ssi, my spirit hides like a mouse and won’t come out? What are you, really?”
Even Orias was like that. At first, he thought it might be a coincidence, but before long, he realized it fit together like puzzle pieces and changed his mind.
Orias would often be talking, but when Taeseongyeon appeared, he would shut his mouth as if sewn shut. He would fly into a rage over Agon’s meals, but when Taeseongyeon touched the seal, he wouldn’t even reveal his presence.
Dokyeom thought it was the hierarchy among demons, and tried to rationalize it as a phenomenon where Taeseongyeon’s spirit, ‘Gamigin’, was higher than Orias, so it was being avoided.
“Please answer so I can understand.”
But it wasn’t that. He realized late that the problem was entirely with Taeseongyeon himself. All of Dokyeom’s skills would malfunction and short-circuit only in front of Taeseongyeon, just like how ‘The Third Party’ had worked on other S-ranks but not on him.
“Han Dokyeom-ssi. Are you trying to accuse me that your skills not working is my fault, or something?”
The voice that came out with a faint smile seemed to interrogate Dokyeom instead. With a strange gaze, Taeseongyeon tapped the armrest, tapping. In that instant, a force that seemed about to break the chair gathered at his fingertips.
“Dokyeom-ah, shouldn’t you ask your own spirit that?”
“If you two coordinated, it would be useless even if I asked, so what would I trust? Anyway, Taeseongyeon-ssi, who is your spirit?”
“Han Dokyeom-ssi.”
“Why? Or should I say it?”
He was out of breath. Dokyeom pressed his twitching arm under the table and held it tightly. Little by little, a cold aura gathered like dark clouds. Taeseongyeon’s lips also stiffened and closed. He neither stopped nor urged.
If Dokyeom mentioned Taeseongyeon’s spirit here, what were the chances that spirit would appear?
The odds were fifty-fifty. The first fifty were the probability that the spirit would appear if it was really ‘Gamigin’, and the latter fifty were the probability that it would not appear if Taeseongyeon himself was ‘Gamigin’.
Yes, Dokyeom suspected that Taeseongyeon might be Gamigin himself.
Even if, with a very low probability, a completely unrelated demon was his spirit, or if Taeseongyeon himself was a demon, it would be a situation where Dokyeom had nothing to lose. Even if a completely different demon popped out, Dokyeom had a thorough understanding of all the demons in this world.
So, this was a gamble.
“The fourth-ranked demon of ‘Lemegeton’, isn’t it ‘Gamigin’?”
“……”
Whether Taeseongyeon was the ‘demon’ itself, finding that out was most important.
A heavy silence fell, and only the sound of the second hand moving reached his ears. But the silence quickly cleared.
As a low sigh suddenly flowed from between Taeseongyeon’s lips. By the time he realized it was a premonition, it was already too late.
In that brief moment when his vision blurred, Dokyeom encountered a vast hatred and darkness. It was also the moment he slammed the table due to dizziness. The world spun and he couldn’t breathe. Unusually clear letters filled his vision.
[The demon ‘Gamigin’ of ‘Lemegeton’ reveals their true name to the opponent.]
The suffocating black letters seemed to grab and crush his body. The demon Gamigin of Lemegeton. Dokyeom lifted his eyes and barely followed the letters.
“Ugh…!”
Even that, he had to shudder from the pressure squeezing his lungs midway. His heart pounded and his body sank involuntarily. Cold sweat trickled down his ears, and a chilling cold rushed in.
[The demon ‘Gamigin’ of ‘Lemegeton’ narrows their eyes slyly and chuckles.]
[The demon ‘Gamigin’ of ‘Lemegeton’ sweeps their horns and leisurely circles around you.]
Starting from the nape of his neck, the cold brushed his back, pelvis, and knees, reaching his ankles. It felt like a hand touching and stroking him, giving him goosebumps.
This bastard…
[The demon ‘Gamigin’ of ‘Lemegeton’ shrugs their shoulders, saying that after all, what’s favored is this flirtatious gaze.]
What it spat out was as vulgar as that of street thugs. It was indeed Gamigin. Inside, it was sinister, lecherous, slick, and cunning.
“G… get… away… you… bastard…”
His body had long been slumped over the table. Dokyeom cursed and spat. He felt keenly that this was different from when Ju Uiryeong’s ‘Gapp’ or Beom Yeonhu’s ‘Vine’ had performed ‘Gate Opening’.
Overwhelmed by a pitch-black, sinister aura from head to toe, his bones ached.
‘Taeseongyeon… is not.’
That Gamigin was not Taeseongyeon. Dokyeom grit his teeth with mixed feelings. Then, sensing a chilling aura brushing the seal, he violently scraped the area around the seal with his hand.
[The demon ‘Gamigin’ of ‘Lemegeton’ chuckles, saying that this guy receives favor quite fervently.]
“You… bastard!”
Dokyeom’s arm, which was flailing in the air, swept across the table. With a strong force, his wrist was caught, and his arm was firmly pressed down onto the table.
“Stop.”
At that one word, the force crushing his body disappeared instantly. The suffocating air and the spirit’s presence suddenly receded, leaving only silence in this space. The same went for the messages that had been filling his vision. As soon as his breath cleared, Dokyeom coughed and gasped.
“Cough, cough… ha…!”
He tried to pull his firmly grasped hand free, but it didn’t budge. The hand gripping his wrist, with protruding knuckles, appeared in Dokyeom’s sight. It was Taeseongyeon’s.
As it happened, he was holding down his trembling arm firmly on the table, so he could only let out a moaning groan. Even exerting force was painful, so Dokyeom could only grit his teeth and growl.
“This… let go?”
“Suspicious and stubborn, you have to see everything with your own eyes to be satisfied. And on top of that,”
Swish-
A heat brushed the inside of his wrist. The hand that had slipped under his sleeve gradually rolled up his clothes, brushing his forearm as it went up. Dokyeom tried to pull his arm out with force, but he was pulled back down onto the table.
It hurt. It hurt so much he couldn’t think straight.
Meanwhile, the hand that had rolled up the clothes to his elbow leisurely rubbed a certain spot. A suppressed scream burst from Dokyeom’s lips.
“And your body is in this state again.”
The fingertips that had been moving slowly over the black, dead skin suddenly pressed hard on the wound area. Dokyeom’s eyes closed as if distorted. His shoulders heaved and his breath came in gasps.
The black wound embedded on Dokyeom’s arm.
As if bitten by something, deep tooth marks lay hideously on the flesh. Over the past ten days, at Taeseongyeon’s direction, more than ten healing hunters had come and gone.
All the healing hunters expressed the opinion that it was a wound chewed by a monster, yet none of them could suggest a clear treatment. They all just shook their heads with troubled expressions, saying there was nothing they could do, and left.
“What more can I do? What do I have to do for Han Dokyeom-ssi to be satisfied?”
“Ha… that… what about the monster?”
“What will you do knowing?”
“I’m going to raise it.”
Of course, it was a lie. That thing was already a creature with only breath left, no ability to think, and if it remained in the world, it could only be used as a tool to cause harm. It had to be killed. It had to be sent off as painlessly as possible.
“Seeing you talk like that even with your arm in this state, it seems Han Dokyeom-ssi isn’t hurting enough yet.”
“It hurts enough, ha… please, take your hand off?”
When he abruptly pulled his hand back, the hand that had been wrapped around his arm easily fell away. Fearing his forearm would be grabbed again, Dokyeom quickly pulled it into his bosom and yanked his clothes down.
“I can’t grant anything other than the two things I mentioned earlier, so know that.”
The air changed around then. When Taeseongyeon clearly drew the line of what he could tolerate.
“If we’re done talking, sit up properly. I had something to discuss with Han Dokyeom-ssi as well.”
“What business?”
Thud-
Something was placed on the table. It was the thick document envelope Taeseongyeon had been holding. Dokyeom glanced at it, then raised his eyes to look at the opposite side.
“I can’t say anything good because I’m worried about Han Dokyeom-ssi right now, so take it as that.”
With a slightly tired look, Taeseongyeon spoke dryly.
“Read it. Whether to accept it is for Han Dokyeom-ssi to decide.”
His gaze returned to the envelope. There was no need to hesitate. Dokyeom reached out, picked up the sealed envelope, took out the documents inside, and began to quickly scan them.
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