The Modern Founding Chronicles of the Returned Demon King

Episode 59: The Demon King of Pride (10)

As Lucifer watched the battle between the two Lee Seo-juns, he suddenly recalled a distant past.

The time when he was an angel.

“Robert, why did you kill another one of your followers?”

Lucifer asked Robert, who was sitting on a white bench. He looked as nonchalant as if nothing had happened until just now.

Robert, with black hair and dressed in white, turned with a puzzled look.

“Kill? That person was merely punished by a judge according to the judgment of heaven.”

“Don’t play dumb, I know everything. Didn’t you frame him and put him on trial?”

“Hmm… Do you have any evidence that I did such a thing? You know you’ll be punished for false accusations if you persecute an innocent angel like this, right?”

“Do you think I, of all people, would say such things without any basis?”

Lucifer’s noble eyes turned towards Robert. Robert met that gaze silently.

A strange tension flowed between the two.

After a moment, Robert drew a wicked smile that could not be called angelic.

“That means, if only you, Luciel, weren’t here, I would still be innocent, right?”

At the chilling murderous intent that made his bones freeze, Lucifer unconsciously took a step back.

…Is this truly the expression of an angel? No, is this an expression one can make because they are an angel?

As he moistened his mouth with dry saliva, Robert smiled as if nothing had happened.

“I’m joking.”

“…Don’t you think your expression was too genuine for a joke?”

“Well, I don’t think you’ll speak up about this anyway, Luciel. If you were going to, I would have already been on that judgment seat, wouldn’t I?”

Lucifer answered with silence.

“Please, sit down.”

Robert patted the seat next to him.

Lucifer looked at him for a while, then sat down with a sigh.

“I’ll admit you’re smart. But it would be better to stop there. The other angels aren’t fools either, so you’ll be caught eventually.”

“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind.”

Robert nodded with an unreadable expression.

Lucifer rummaged through his pocket and handed over a gray stick about the size of a finger.

“Want to smoke?”

“…What’s this?”

“It’s a treat made from peeling the bark of the tree of Eden. Light it at the end and inhale the smoke, it’s fantastic.”

“Isn’t that something you’d get arrested for?”

“It’s fine as long as you don’t get caught, like you.”

Lucifer put the tree bark in his mouth and lit it with his finger.

Robert burst into laughter at Lucifer exhaling thick smoke.

“Haha! As expected, my eyes weren’t wrong!”

“…What do you mean?”

“Luciel, you’re similar to me in many ways. In the sense that you seek to create cracks in this rigid world.”

“That’s quite a slander.”

“So, Luciel, won’t you become my king?”

“…Are you saying you want to kill me?”

“Ahaha! Did it sound like that? That’s a shame. I thought you’d be okay with it…”

Robert licked his lips.

Lucifer glanced at him, then leaned back in his chair and exhaled deeply.

“So, why did you kill the one you were following?”

“Well… I suppose it’s alright to tell you, Luciel. Above all, you might change your mind after hearing my story.”

“Let’s hear it then.”

“Alright.”

Robert nodded and stared straight ahead.

Following his gaze, a butterfly was fluttering on a white flower.

“This world is too perfect. It’s peaceful enough for that butterfly to fly around without worrying about being eaten.”

“……”

“Peace… it’s good. A world where no one gets hurt. But we already know, don’t we? That this peace was achieved through someone else’s pain.”

From somewhere, someone’s terrible scream echoed.

Lucifer quietly listened to Robert’s words.

“I hate this falsehood. I want a world that’s true, even if it’s not perfect.”

“…So what’s your conclusion?”

“Well, the conclusion is that I want a king who can create such a world. A king who is kind but sometimes cruel, where good and evil coexist.”

“Didn’t all those you followed before seem like that too?”

“Hmm, that’s true…”

Robert scratched his head as if troubled.

“Honestly, I’m not sure exactly who the king I’m looking for is. But I think when I see such a person, I’ll naturally want to follow them.”

“I see…”

Lucifer leaned back and rested his arms on his knees.

He exhaled smoke for a while, lost in deep thought, then answered.

“Want to follow, huh… Well, it’s certainly not me. Above all, having someone like you under me would make me uneasy—?”

Lucifer’s words were cut off as he suddenly turned to the side.

Robert had disappeared. Looking up, he saw Robert calling out to someone in the distance.

“Inspector Raguel! Over here, over here!”

As if answering that call, a woman was approaching.

With curly red hair, her brilliant eyes were burning.

“Luciel, you…!”

The tree bark fell from Lucifer’s hand as he realized what was happening.

Lucifer’s face contorted as he shouted at Robert.

“Robert!!!!!!”

“Hahaha! See you in 30 years, Luciel!”

Robert waved cheerfully as he moved away.

…When he returned after being released 30 years later, Robert had already been banished from heaven.

Was it influenced by Robert’s words that day, or was it just suppressed thoughts that finally burst out?

Shortly after that, his name, which had been Luciel, became Lucifer.

Kuguugugugu──!

The swirling demonic energy shattered the reminiscence quickly. Lucifer stared at that point with blank eyes.

The Demon King of Solomon had already killed all the doppelgangers.

The supreme demonic energy erupting from his body gripped the entire area. Within the rising black demonic energy, he slowly turned this way.

“I’ll kill you.”

The moment he saw the two intensely burning eyes, he seemed to understand why that man hadn’t died at Robert’s hands.

It wasn’t just about power; there was something indescribable about him.

‘…This is a true king.’

Robert must have made up his mind after seeing this sight too. Robert felt that he would show the world he desired.

That’s why he wanted to confirm it even more.

‘That man’s limits.’

As he approached, Lucifer revived the doppelganger that had become a corpse.

Power filled his previously empty body.

Of course, he didn’t regain as much power as before using ‘Perfect Replication’, but there was something he believed in.

“Acceleration, Lightning.”

Gooooooo!

The ability to manifest the powers the doppelganger possessed.

This was the power of pride that despised and deceived others.

“Come, Demon King of Solomon! No, Lee Seo-jun!!”

He shouted, feeling the power surging within him. With this much, he wouldn’t go down easily.

Swoosh…

The storm raging around Lee Seo-jun subsided. A terrifying silence descended. A dizzying tension, pregnant with the air of battle, enveloped the city.

…Lucifer certainly didn’t take his eyes off him.

But somehow his figure had disappeared, and when he suddenly came to his senses, he was swinging his sword down right in front of him.

“……!!!”

With his face so dark that his expression was indiscernible, he silently drew a deadly sword path.

Slash!

Though he retreated instantly, he couldn’t prevent one of his arms from being cut off.

Lucifer, having put some distance between them, watched Lee Seo-jun with wide eyes, forgetting even the pain.

“You’ve crossed a line you shouldn’t have. Hiding behind someone else’s skin, you’ve spoken arrogantly.”

Lee Seo-jun murmured in a low voice.

“Did it feel good?”

His calmly exhaled breath was mixed with displeasure.

“You wouldn’t know. This damned sensation that remains on my hands and won’t disappear.”

Intense veins bulged on his hand gripping the sword.

“Demon King of Pride, Lucifer.”

At his tone, as if engraving it in a book of the dead, Lucifer’s body instinctively trembled.

“I’ll erase this sensation remaining on my hands with you.”

Though he seemed to have lost his reason, his will was crystal clear.

Small fragments were swept away by the low-lying demonic energy, and his black cloak fluttered unstably.

Seeing this, his subordinates reacted.

“Your Majesty…”

“My Lord…”

Their eyes were filled with reverence and fear, admiration and sorrow.

…Now he seemed to understand. It wasn’t that they followed Lee Seo-jun.

Everything that made up Lee Seo-jun forced them to follow him.

Letting out a hollow laugh at that noble dignity, he shouted at him with sparkling eyes.

“Lee Seo-jun! I revere you!!”

“I don’t need your reverence.”

His voice, still thick with anger, made Lucifer’s whole body tingle.

This was the feeling of one facing death. That majesty, overwhelming even himself, was truly befitting the king of all.

“You will die here and fall deeper than hell.”

A supremacy that made him want to kneel and worship right away.

“There will be no change to that.”

The next moment, a fate impossible to resist shot forth at an unimaginable speed.

===

**

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Swish swish swish!

Lucifer’s hot blood sprayed from the cold blade. A chilling sensation was felt as fingers and black wings were severed.

With each magnificent wing that was broken, Lucifer fell. But Lee Seo-jun, as if wishing for him to fall even deeper, swung his sword.

After the prolonged ravaging, Lucifer lost the strength to resist and collapsed face-down on the ground.

Lee Seo-jun looked down at him and said,

“Get up.”

“…It’s impossible.”

Lucifer replied with a subtle smile.

Lee Seo-jun plunged his sword into Lucifer.

“Get up.”

Lucifer, with blood flowing from his mouth, tried to get up, grasping the sword embedded in his chest.

But all strength left his body and he collapsed. Breathing heavily, Lucifer looked up at Lee Seo-jun.

The dark red clouds had disappeared at some point, and under the night sky where a large full moon hung,

Lee Seo-jun’s dark figure was outlined with a silvery glow.

“…You look as if you’re supporting this world. Truly glorious.”

“……”

“I think I understand why Robert didn’t kill you. It’s only natural to want to follow a being like you.”

Lucifer rambled on alone.

“Trample over me and soar even higher. Lee Seo-jun, your sword will one day reach the heavens.”

“Get up.”

“…You know it’s impossible, don’t you?”

As Lee Seo-jun twisted the sword, Lucifer coughed up blood.

Just as Lee Seo-jun was about to frown at the sight of Lucifer unable to rise anymore,

“Seo-jun.”

Kim Eun-ha called out quietly.

Lee Seo-jun turned his head in that direction. The Solomon demons beside Kim Eun-ha.

Lee Seo-jun pulled the sword out of Lucifer’s body and asked them,

“…Did I worry you?”

The Solomon demons shook their heads. Then, as if they had made a promise, they knelt on one knee.

Cheyenne spoke on behalf of them.

“We apologize, my lord. We have caused you trouble due to our inadequacies.”

“It’s not your fault. So, stand up.”

“…Yes.”

At Lee Seo-jun’s command, they reluctantly stood up. Their expressions were tinged with guilt.

“…Lee Seo-jun, I have something to tell you.”

At the sound of the metallic voice, Lee Seo-jun shifted his gaze to Lucifer.

Lucifer, looking up at him. He painfully opened his reddened lips.

“There’s an important story that will determine the fate of this world…”

(To be continued in the next episode)