Chapter 132: Do Ji-hwan's Ambitious Project (9)
When an ability user became a demon, whose fault was it?
-That’s why you should have controlled your emotions!
Many said this, considering only the fact that someone had become a demon. Most ordinary people, not ability users, thought this way, harshly criticizing the person for falling into demonhood.
-At least become a villain. Then, there’s a chance for redemption.
They committed the same evil acts, but villains and demons were different. Unlike villains, who simply committed crimes and got a red mark on their record, a demon’s body turned red, not just a line on their profile.
Well, the specific colors varied, but no one would call someone with purple or green skin and blood of a different color human.
Even if they looked human, they were no longer human.
Demons became what they were to satisfy their desires, to destroy and break things.
-This time, the one who became a demon… their parents were murdered…
-What, becoming a demon just because your parents died! Tsk tsk, back in my day…!
-…….
-Anyway, kids these days, with their “middle school syndrome” and “turning to the dark side”, they fly off the handle over anything! Who grows up without pain!
Regardless of the reason, becoming a demon was seen as a failure of mental management.
While people might not say it aloud, they probably thought this way internally. Contrary to the sweet nothings whispered in their ears, ability users were sensitive to the harsh words and criticisms found in internet communities and anonymous spaces.
A demon was trash.
A demon was an entity that must be killed.
Without considering why someone turned into a demon, people rushed to condemn their fall into demonhood.
Yumir wanted to help these demons, to turn them back into humans.
-The more you show your power, the more the world will target you.
Despite knowing that revealing her identity could complicate her life, Yumir couldn’t just stand by and watch this wailing demon.
For this pitiful demon, Yumir decided to give her all.
“Aaahh!”
The demon screamed, spreading its wings. Green magical power formed into thorn spears, rushing towards Yumir, who swung her fan, creating a golden storm around her.
Woosh!
The golden storm surged upwards, blocking the demon’s attack. Everyone feared it might scatter or fly elsewhere, but the golden storm dissipated the demon’s thorn spears.
[Calm down.]
“How can I calm down! I should kill that trash! If not me, then who?!”
The demon was in a frenzy, but thinking more deeply than anyone.
“Do you think he can be judged by law if we just leave him?! No! The law is on his side! Now that I’ve become a demon, it’s always the person who became a demon who’s wrong!!”
[That man will pay the price. So, you should….]
“At most, he’ll get a prison sentence! No! That, that man…! Even knowing I was pregnant…!”
[…….]
Yumir couldn’t immediately attack.
“You, you’re a woman too, you must understand! My beloved man is cheating with another woman! And I’m pregnant with his child!!”
Maybe that was normal.
Yumir thought about her situation and felt that such a reaction might be the right one.
[I understand. You want to kill them. I often feel the same way.]
Yes.
If she truly stole that man, and if his wife was an ability user, maybe she would turn into a demon.
[That’s normal. You’re not wrong. It’s all that man’s fault.]
She hadn’t confirmed if the man was an ability user, but if he were to also go berserk, it was likely.
[But.]
This wasn’t about Yumir, who committed infidelity against Do Ji-hwan.
[I can’t just watch you get hurt because of such a man.]
“The only way I can be saved is by killing that man!”
[If you want to kill, then kill.]
Yumir closed her fan.
[But as a human, not a demon.]
“……!!”
Yumir leaped off the ground forcefully. In a single bound, she reached the vicinity of the demon, who was spreading its wings.
“Don’t come… closer!!”
[To you.]
The demon swung its nails, wrapped in magical power. Yumir almost entered the trajectory of the demon’s swinging nails, and people around started to panic.
[The salvation of the sun.]
Yumir jumped off thin air. As if stepping on invisible platforms, she defied inertia and leaped sideways in mid-air to dodge the attack.
“What?!”
The demon’s attack split the air. Yumir’s clothes were untouched, and she moved behind the demon, placing her hand on its back.
[Es werde Licht.]
Let there be light. Yumir radiated golden magical power towards the demon’s spine.
“Aaahhhh!!”
The demon screamed in the air. A cyan aura spread out from the demon’s body, but as soon as it touched Yumir’s golden magic, it extinguished like a spark.
“Ah, aah…!”
The demon’s skin gradually turned white. The deep green magical power forming the demon’s wings melted away like snow, and a golden, sun-like aura of magic wrapped around the woman.
“Ah, it shouldn’t be… I need to kill….”
[You want to kill, I know. But I’m not asking you to forgive.]
Yumir gently embraced the demon from behind as she started to lose consciousness.
[Let’s cool down a bit for now, okay?]
“Ah….”
[Your ability… I’m sorry. This is inevitable.]
She knew. Yumir was aware that others were listening to her words.
[You might not be an ability user anymore, but let’s think as a human for once.]
If she left like this, people would think the demon’s ability had vanished. Unseen by others, Yumir concealed the stolen ability within her sleeve, hidden by the long drooping ends of her robe.
[Just because your ability is gone doesn’t mean the world ends. It’ll be different, but…]
Yumir, clutching the sphere of the stolen ability tightly in her hand and concealing it in her robe, gently landed on the ground with the woman in her arms.
[Instead of abandoning humanity to become a demon, I wish you’d find another way. I do.]
“You are….”
[Even if the world is filthy and despicable, there’s still bright hope.]
Yumir laid the woman on the ground. Her wedding dress, stained with blood, was in tatters, but no more demonic aura flowed from her.
[Then.]
Yumir stepped back from the woman. She pushed the golden sphere up her sleeve and secured it with magic just as she was about to extend her hand toward the sky.
“Ha, haha! Thank you, hero! You really are a hero!”
[…….]
Just when she was about to leave in good spirits.
“Yeah, that’s right! How dare you try to kill people by becoming a demon!”
The man responsible for turning the woman into a demon was still bound in red restraints, laughing hysterically.
“Ha, hahaha! Untie me! Now, it’s annulment time! Darn, lucky we didn’t register our marriage…!”
[Do I look like a hero to you?]
“Eh…?”
[I came to save a demon, not you.]
Yumir turned her steps towards the man.
[Heroes shouldn’t hit civilians, but since I’m not officially a hero yet…]
“Just a minute…! You’re not going to attack me, are you?! Just because we’re both women, you’re taking her side!!”
[It’s not about taking sides because we’re women.]
In her hand, a golden magical power formed a long, wide rod. The rod, resembling an oar with a broad end, appeared thick and club-like.
[The guilty shall be punished.]
“Just a minute…! What are you going to do with that…!”
[Of course. Roll him up.]
“Huh…! Somebody help me! This woman, she’s a villain!!”
The man frantically shouted at the people around him, writhing in his restraints. Tied up in a red aura, his movements were akin to a squirming insect, and nobody attempted to help him.
“Please! This woman, this villain, is assaulting people!!”
[If this costs me the hero evaluation, so be it, but I have to do what feels right now.]
The era of ability users.
[Just one hit, no more, no less, right?]
For ability users, acting as their heart desired was not always illegal.
[One hit—!]
Pa-a-a-ang!!
The broad, magical-powered club hit the red aura restraints, and the man’s eyes rolled back as he fainted.
[…Sigh.]
Yumir threw the club to the ground. It soon vanished in a burst of light, and she turned towards the woman.
“…….”
The woman, despite staggering, was smiling. Sensing her transformation, she smiled gratefully at Yumir.
Nod.
Yumir bowed her head once in greeting and then drew a large circle in the air.
“Ah, there!”
Realizing Yumir was about to leave, people started rushing towards her, but she quickly stepped into the circle and teleported away.
Poof.
Back again.
“Krrrung! One successful mission…!”
Yumir immediately undid her transformation and stretched lightly.
And then.
“…Huh?”
When she returned to the open-air bath, it was empty.
Splash, splash.
Over there.
The living room was lit by the flickering TV screen.
Somewhere, only the quiet sound of water was audible.
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