Enchantment.
The Demon King explained that it’s a basic ability possessed by high-ranking demons, usually manifested through magic.
[So, there’s really no way for a non-cleric human to resist it. That’s why this guy was acting all confused, without even knowing that someone had implanted an egg inside him, acting all ‘dazy’.]
“Who said I was acting all ‘dazy’? Sir Red!”
[Who are you calling ‘Red,’ you brat!]
Leaving the two bickering figures aside, Seongjin started to organize his thoughts.
The assumption that the person going around implanting Lophellum’s egg was using some sort of [Enchantment] ability seemed fairly plausible. Otherwise, who in their right mind would stand still while a parasite was being implanted into their chest?
However, wouldn’t that require the initial premise that the demon species had entered the Imperial domain? He had heard that Delcross was entirely under the Holy Emperor’s influence, preventing any demons from even stirring.
[Generally, the medium is magic, but it’s not like there aren’t cases where something else serves as the medium. In a sense, it could be even more dangerous if you don’t consciously resist it, like with divine power for example…]
What?
As Seongjin blinked his eyes, the Demon King sighed.
[You don’t have to look far. Just think about it. How did humans react when they faced your father’s overwhelming divine power?]
Seongjin recalled the day his neck almost got sliced off.
How did they react? Weren’t they just a bit moved?
So, that’s why all the Archbishops ran out of the conference room, lost control of their emotions, and cried their eyes out while sitting on the floor shouting praises to the Lord… huh?
‘…Somehow, that feels extremely dangerous?’
Seongjin broke into a cold sweat, and the Demon King chuckled.
[See? In a narrow sense, enchantment is just a technique to seduce someone, but in a broader sense, it’s a technique that extremely stimulates human emotions to the point of losing their sanity. So, if you think about it, whether the medium is divine power, aura, or anything else, it’s all possible.]
In other words, the Demon King was saying that as long as one can stimulate certain human senses properly, an effect similar to [Enchantment] could be produced.
[Ordinary humans often can’t even distinguish what starts as enchantment. Even if they know, they find it hard to resist. For example, I’ve used [Enchantment] on countless humans, but there was only one who didn’t fall for it. That is, you, Lee Seongjin.]
‘…Huh?’
Hold on, did I just hear something that can’t be ignored?
‘…What did you do?’
[Ah, enchantment. I used it on you…]
Seongjin was horrified.
When exactly?
[That’s the point, I offered to give you the world and all, didn’t I? Didn’t I look like an incredibly beautiful woman at that moment?]
‘……?’
Certainly, back then the Demon King did make various proposals.
—”I will save your life, and you’ll get to have both Earth and the Demon World. Think about the potential of the two fused worlds! You could even have power rivaling the Demon King!”
Let’s think more in detail about the situation at that time.
What did the Demon King look like then? A head that was all that was left, and even that face had been completely smashed by a fist? Was that a beauty?
Hold on, is that a situation where [charm] could work?
[…Khu-khuk!]
The Demon King suddenly let out a sound, whether it was a cry or a scream, and buried himself in a corner of Seongjin’s mind.
Hmm, it seemed like I triggered his trauma.
* * *
The next morning, after finishing his early training, Seongjin stamped his attendance with Sir Masain at the Monster Special Task Force office.
For the first two days, even Commander Bruno accompanied them. Faithfully fulfilling Arenja’s request to stay by Seongjin’s side.
However, at some point, he started to avoid the Monster Special Task Force office.
“That woman keeps talking noisily.”
When asked why, he scrunched his face and replied.
“Which woman?”
The commander pointed at his head without saying anything.
Ah, the woman with an abnormal amount of mind crystals in her head.
She is Dame Sharon Kyung, an exorcist from the Holy Terbacchia.
I thought she was usually a quiet person doing her job, but it seems she feels different to a channeler.
Apparently, various voices keep coming from her uncontrolled mind crystals. He said it’s too noisy, even if he tries to endure it.
“She said she can’t help it and asked for understanding, but well…”
Saying that, the commander furrowed his brows and nervously tugged at his mustache.
“She keeps throwing embarrassing comments at me, then laughs while watching my reaction. She’s enjoying it. She’s a really unpleasant woman.”
“….”
Dame Sharon. Why on earth did you do that?
Meeting another channeler with similar abilities after such a long time seemed to make her giddy with excitement.
And so, the regular members of the Pearl Palace team became Seongjin and Masain once again.
The Special Monster Task Force was still using a temporary office on the second floor of the administrative annex building. The annex was relatively quiet, so the two were able to arrive at the office without running into anyone. As soon as they opened the door, the overpowering scent of roses made them involuntarily scowl.
“Jibril…”
“Your Highness!”
A young woman with dark-brown hair curled into a high bun and large eyes greeted them with an elegant bow, lifting the hem of her skirt slightly.
Jibril Seymour.
A young talent specially invited to the team, serving as a plague doctor at the Lyora Plague Conference.
She always carried a large sprayer full of rose-scented perfume, and because she was unnecessarily diligent, she was always the first to arrive in the office and finish disinfecting the space. Meaning, the scent of roses never really left the office.
Seongjin found it slightly irritating, but as the Prince of the Holy Empire, he couldn’t just ignore the teachings of the Lyora doctrine recognized by the Church. He couldn’t easily kick out someone who had been recruited by Commander Leandros, who was in charge of the team.
Moreover, Jibril was fundamentally a very pleasant young lady. She always greeted people with a friendly smile and sprayed her perfume, leaving them no choice but to avoid the range of her sprays.
Seongjin sighed.
“What about the others?”
“Dame Sharon is out assisting Commander Leandros for the day. Sir Valerie has gone to the Theological Academy.”
“Ah! Your Highness, you’re already here!”
Before Jibril could finish her sentence, a red-haired inquisitor burst through the office door. He greeted them with a radiant smile and was holding a large book under his arm.
“I thought I’d get back before you arrived, but I was a little late.”
“No, I just got here. What’s that?”
Valerie grinned and put the book down on the desk with a thud. Dust flew up from the ancient tome.
“Prepare to be amazed! It’s probably been decades since anyone has opened this book.”
It was an old book covered in thick layers of dust. After brushing off the worn-out leather cover, the title of the book, barely legible due to wear and tear, came into view.
[Apocalypse of Another World]
Masain seemed startled and glared at Valerie.
“…Isn’t this a forbidden book designated by the Church? What are you doing with this?”
Masain, who was particularly sensitive to heretical discussions, looked as if he wanted to protect Seongjin from the book. The red-haired inquisitor blinked in momentary confusion.
“Ah, don’t worry. Of course, I borrowed it from the Theological Academy with proper permission.”
“You got permission?”
When Masain looked skeptical, Valerie scratched his head.
“Well, it’s understandable. The Church is in an uproar over discussions about creatures from other worlds. As a result, some materials are likely to be removed from the list of forbidden books.”
“……”
Jibril leaned in with curiosity, to which Valerie responded with a smile.
“Besides, this is the only book that describes creatures close to ‘monsters.’ Even if it remains a forbidden book, we have received limited access for our department. We are, after all, the Monster Special Task Force, aren’t we?”
A book containing monsters.
Finally, Seongjin felt a twinge of curiosity and glanced at the book over Masain’s shoulder.
Who in Delcross would write a book about monsters? How did they know about creatures that don’t exist in this world?
[Oh? There’s a book that contains Gehenna’s monsters?]
The Demon King also sent an interesting emotion for the first time in a while.
[Who wrote this? Wow, it’s fascinating.]
Pushing aside the still hesitant Masain, Seongjin approached and closely examined the book’s cover.
The thick leather cover was intricately embossed, making it difficult to distinguish the faded letters. After observing it for a long time, Seongjin was finally able to find the author’s name at the corner of the book.
—Written by Sigurd Sigurdson
Sigurd? Could it be?
[Seongjin! It’s him!]
The excited voice of the Demon King echoed loudly in his mind.
[I told you before, it’s undoubtedly him! The storyteller who wanders from dream to dream!]
***
The day he died and revived at the Diggory Mansion.
Despite being advised to maintain absolute stability, Seongjin laid in bed and had quite an extensive conversation with the Demon King about various matters that had occurred up until now.
The stories of the High Demon Kings and foreign lords the Demon King had seen at the border of the Void.
The story of Seongjin flying to Sigurd’s 34th District and returning with the aid of the Holy Emperor. The story of meeting the twins and wandering about.
Among them, the story that they talked about the most was about the puppet show that Seongjin had seen. A puppet show about the Dream Demon King, the Fire Demon King, and a cruel warrior.
[That was the guy who attacked me back then!]
The Demon King grumbled as if annoyed.
[Unforgivable to launch such an ineffective attack!]
Ineffective?
[Hey! Imagine being pushed slightly by a finger while standing on the edge of a cliff. How would you feel? I was dying at the boundary of the dimension!]
Ah, sorry.
After venting his anger for a while, the Demon King finally calmed down.
[The puppeteer you saw must be the storyteller who wanders through dreams.]
‘Storyteller?’
[Walking through a thousand dreams, emitting a thousand voices.]
Seongjin recalled the peculiar allure of that person’s voice.
So, is he the Dream Demon King? Must he fight the warrior to become the Storytelling Demon King?
[Well, from what I know, he’s not really what you’d call a ‘Demon King’. The concept of a story isn’t higher than that of a dream. He probably just lightly manipulated the concepts needed to create his small thought experiment.]
According to the Demon King’s explanation, the concepts that the puppeteer needed were [Dream], [Fire Demon King], and a human [Warrior].
Of course, the Dream Demon King wasn’t friends with the Fire Demon King either. All that was sufficient was solidifying the notion that the Fire Demon King entered someone’s dream, fought with a human, and died.
‘What about that gloomy story filled with betrayals…?’
[The author of the story is dark, so naturally, a dark story is born. However…]
‘However?’
[The story about the cruel warrior seems to be quite well-researched.]
What, this guy?
The two engaged in a brief war of words, fraught with nervous tension.
Looking back, I was like, ‘What kind of psycho is this guy?’ Even now, just thinking about that moment makes my heart race, you know?
What? You’re the one who invaded first, and you’re being all self-righteous? And you’re just a soul, you don’t even have a heart to race. What’s your problem?
Anyway, what Seongjin was focused on was the Demon King’s real name, and that part about the “dream.”
The Demon King’s name wasn’t actually “Al Pahars,” as expected. The name was twisted in the first place to launch an attack, so that was a given.
But when Seongjin asked for his real name, the Demon King hesitated.
[Hmm, maybe it’s better you don’t know. Speaking this name aloud could be troublesome.]
‘Why?’
[Because there are some conditions attached.]
‘…?’
So how do I call you if you suddenly fly off somewhere?
[I’ll call you to my side. Then, won’t your father swiftly come to pick you up?]
‘What are you talking about?’
If the Holy Emperor knew, he’d give this guy a good thrashing for speaking so carelessly. If anything like that happens again, that nobleman would happily kick the bucket!
Shaking his head in disbelief, Seongjin shifted the topic.
‘So what’s this ‘Dream’ about?’
Seongjin could understand that Gehenna’s Demon King was a representative of the Fire Demon King. After all, Gehenna was another name for the hell of eternal suffering.
But what did it mean for the Fire Demon King to have fought a human hero in a dream?
The Demon King calmly responded.
[It’s simple. I’m talking about lower-dimensional realms like the Sigurd 34th District as dreams.]
Huh?
To Seongjin’s befuddled face, the Demon King elaborated.
[The name Sigurd 34th District simply means it’s the 34th Earth dimension discovered by a storyteller named Sigurd.]
The 34th Earth dimension discovered?
Are there that many Earth dimensions?
[It’s just a simple lower-dimensional realm. The Earth of the Main World is separate, Seongjin.]
Seongjin, having lost all words due to the shocking revelation, heard the Demon King deliver the final blow.
[Your world is a lower-dimensional realm created based on the concepts of the Main World. In other words, it’s nothing more than someone’s dream.]
