Queen Asha rose from her throne and surveyed the island.
Thousands of Rakshasa looked up at her.
A force that, if unleashed, could conquer the world in an instant.
*Crunch!*
Looking at that power, rage swelled within her.
To have such a mighty army, yet spend all that time trapped on this tiny island.
Anyone who heard it would burst out laughing.
*'If not for that damn prophecy.'*
The Rakshasa prophet, who had never been wrong once.
After foreseeing the arrival of their natural enemy, he chose the path of self-destruction.
He didn't want to live in fear, waiting for the inevitable predator to strike.
---
*-My Queen. You must not go out into the world. You must not reveal your existence. You must live in the shadows. Otherwise... it will come. The natural enemy.*
---
Biting her molars as she recalled his last words.
*'What a coward.'*
It infuriated her, but she couldn't disobey.
A one hundred percent accuracy rate was that terrifying.
Just as the prophet said, Asha never stepped out of the shadows.
She strictly punished anyone who broke the rules and tried to reveal their existence.
For hundreds of years.
But when did it start?
She grew tired of it.
This life of hiding in fear of a natural enemy she couldn't even see, that might never show up.
So she sent Kang Woojin to the region the prophecy pointed to.
Since it wouldn't come to her, she had no choice but to go find it.
Because she didn't want to be trapped anymore.
Because she wanted to freely unleash this overwhelming power she'd cultivated in the shadows.
"Your Majesty, the Queen."
One of the Rakshasa approached and bowed.
"Lanzets is coming. The other Rakshasa who went with him are nowhere to be seen. He's alone."
Asha clicked her tongue and shook her head.
That coward came back alone again.
It was the same when he faced the Dokkaebi before.
Even in a battle where everyone else was annihilated, Lanzets survived and returned by any means necessary.
She gave him the title of 8th Evil for that survival ability, but every time she saw him, she couldn't help but find him disgusting.
Still, she was curious.
What did he gain this time, and what did he sacrifice to preserve that pathetic life of his?
And where the hell did he sell off the other Rakshasa?
*'Well, whatever.'*
She shrugged.
The deal with the Tower was already done.
The final piece to prepare for the natural enemy was in place.
Soon, the souls of strong humans would pour in like a flood.
She didn't know exactly how strong clearing floor 80 made someone, but it was clearly far better quality than ordinary souls.
"4th Evil, Raul."
"Yes."
"Search Lanzets thoroughly before letting him in. Make sure he hasn't brought anything troublesome."
"Understood."
Asha narrowed her eyes.
Even though it was her own order, she found it strange.
*'What is this body so afraid of?'*
Asha was currently surrounded by thousands of Rakshasa.
And Asha herself was a powerhouse rivaling the upper-tier evils.
No matter what came, there was no way she could lose.
So why did the prophet's last words keep replaying in her mind?
---
Not long after, Lanzets appeared, led by Raul's hand.
"Ha."
Seeing him in person was even more pathetic.
His face was pale as if he'd seen a ghost, and his clothes were tattered rags soaked in sweat.
Just looking at him made her frown.
The irritation rising, she opened her mouth.
"Coward Lanzets. Don't just stand there gaping. Where did you sell off the other Rakshasa this time..."
"A traitor has appeared!!"
Asha stopped speaking.
Silence fell over the space.
Even after hundreds of years, it was still vivid.
The memory of that day, when they were brutally slaughtered by a single being.
"Say that again. What appeared?"
"A-a Dokkaebi..."
*Crunch!*
In the blink of an eye, Lanzets's legs flew off.
Asha, eyes wide, ground her teeth.
"I told you not to use that title."
"K-keuh... Kkeuuuh... I'm sorry!"
"Are you certain? Is it the traitor we know?"
"I'm certain! There's no way I could be mistaken!"
She couldn't deny it.
Lanzets was one of the survivors who had faced Renya and lived.
Asha bit her molars.
So the natural enemy the prophet spoke of was that Dokkaebi bastard after all?
"How is that possible? The traitor was sealed away after losing his horn. And that place is guarded by the 3rd Evil, Kalik. Escaping on his own is impossible."
"It wasn't on his own! Someone freed the traitor! A human!"
Murmurs spread through the Rakshasa ranks.
The traitor being released was already like a nuclear bomb going off.
And to think a mere human caused this catastrophe? It just got more ridiculous.
"Quiet."
Asha raised her hand and steadied her breathing.
Then she wore a relaxed smile.
"So? What changes?"
She looked around at the Rakshasa.
"We haven't been standing still. We've been advancing for hundreds of years. Even if the traitor reaches us now, what can he do? How many times would he have to kill to annihilate all of you? Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? I don't know. But, coward Lanzets."
Asha glared at the terrified Lanzets with cold eyes.
"You haven't changed at all, have you? To be in such a state just because some ghost of the past showed up. You'll die of a heart attack before your soul even runs out."
"The-the traitor isn't the problem. The human with the traitor..."
After hesitating for a long time, Lanzets wore a despairing expression.
"Is the natural enemy."
A word that made her question her ears reached her.
But Asha couldn't hear any further reports about it.
More precisely, Lanzets wasn't given the time to give them.
*Sshhhhhh...!*
A white light flowed from Lanzets's shoulder.
An unknown alchemical circle spreading across his entire body.
Soon, changes came to Lanzets's body as well.
His flesh began to twist and bulge.
"Uh... ah..."
Terrified, Lanzets raised his head to look at Asha.
"Q-Queen, please save me..."
The words never finished.
What was Lanzets burst apart and scattered across the floor.
And in its place, a large frog appeared.
An icy silence swallowed the entire island.
No one spoke first.
They all just stared at the spot where Lanzets had been, giant question marks floating in their minds.
*'Why...'*
Asha swallowed dryly.
*'Isn't he coming back to life?'*
She didn't care about the frog that suddenly appeared.
She wasn't particularly curious about what it was right now either.
That wasn't what mattered.
Coward Lanzets definitely had spare souls.
So why was he still scattered across the floor like that?
As if he was really dead.
*Ribbit!*
The frozen frog opened its mouth.
*Gwaaahhhhk!*
Something shot out of it.
A man with sleek white hair.
"This is hard to get used to."
Dark frowned, covered in slime.
He felt like the pork trotters he'd just eaten were about to come back up.
*Sswweeeek!*
Dozens of thrown weapons flew at him, but they didn't even leave a scratch on Dark's body.
They slid off the slime and clattered to the ground.
"Oh?"
Dark whistled.
When they said the slime was for ambush defense, he thought they'd just slapped it on randomly.
But it actually worked.
Smiling, he took a step toward the throne.
Of course, he didn't get far.
*Thud thud thud thud thud!!!*
Rakshasa charged from all directions, plunging their weapons into the intruder.
The slime wasn't infinite, so the later attacks pierced him without resistance.
*Cough!*
Dark spat blood and clicked his tongue.
It hadn't even been an hour since he ate, and they were stabbing him like this.
What ill-mannered bastards.
All the Rakshasa, including Asha, fixed their eyes on the unidentified intruder.
"Who are you?"
"And who are you?"
"Show respect to Her Majesty the Queen!"
4th Evil Raul twisted his scabbard and shouted.
Dark looked down at Raul calmly.
"I'll remember that. Your face. And."
He turned his gaze to Asha, one corner of his mouth lifting.
"I only show respect to my master. Not to a weak bitch like you."
"Master...?"
A terrible chill touched her skin as she raised her head.
An ice pillar that had appeared without her noticing.
Asha narrowed her eyes.
*'Where did it go?'*
While she was focused on the man in front of her, she'd lost track of the frog that had acted as a portal.
Dark chuckled and shrugged.
"Slow to catch on. It's already here."
He snapped his fingers, and cracks formed in the ice pillar.
The pillar shattered into tiny particles.
And between them, a figure revealed itself.
The human that the intruder before her served as master. The one 8th Evil Lanzets had called the natural enemy before he died.
"Ugh!"
Jinhyuk covered his mouth.
The sticky slime from the frog coated his entire body.
Now he understood why Dark had been so disgusted.
"Oh shit."
He swallowed dryly as he assessed the situation.
Dark, who had only left moments ago, was already skewered.
He felt bad for always making him take the rough roles.
"Hey, you trash."
Dark, having confirmed Jinhyuk's safe arrival, looked at the Rakshasa clinging to him.
"I'm done here, so get lost."
No time was given to retreat.
*Crack!!*
Except for 4th Evil Raul, who instinctively pulled back, the entire group of Rakshasa froze solid.
Dark sneered at Raul.
"Like a rat."
"How dare you...!"
As Raul was about to charge again, Jinhyuk stepped forward beside Dark and spoke.
"Hold on a moment."
"Raul."
Asha also pulled Raul back.
Even if she was going to kill them, she figured she should hear them out.
The story of these lunatics who charged into this island alone.
"Nice to meet you. You're the Queen of the Rakshasa? You made a deal with the Tower of Despair?"
"And if I did?"
"There's still time before the deal is finalized, so if you die before then, the deal becomes void, right?"
This time, she didn't answer.
To dare speak of her death here.
And by a mere human, no less.
He would not die easily.
"What are you?"
"No comment. I don't have a habit of telling my name to someone who's about to die."
Dark, who had been listening, burst into laughter.
This guy had a knack for getting under people's skin.
"I really meant it when I said nice to meet you. You're my jackpot."
*Shing.*
He drew the Soul Reaper and stepped forward.
Behind him, his friends manifested one by one.
"Shall we start right away?"
A smile spread across Jinhyuk's lips.
"I'm in a hurry."
He pushed off the ground.
Time to hit the jackpot.
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T/N:
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