Chapter 238: The Death King’s Family (2)

Swish.

Black water swirled around Goldencup. Or maybe it was a shadow, not water. Whether it was amniotic fluid or the shadow that they would drag along until they died, this was a perfect way to represent her birth.

[The Skill

Earthbone Dragon’s Skull

is active.]

The water... Err, shadow... The watery shadow enveloped Goldencup.

Swish, swoosh.

I could hear that mysterious water sloshing inside Goldencup’s cocoon. After a while, the cocoon became smaller. It kept getting smaller and smaller until it finally shrank to the size of a child’s toy bell. Only a marble was left in my palm. Its texture was similar to water, but it was as dark as a shadow.

This small thing was Sylvia Evanail’s existence. I held the marble between my thumb and index finger, then dropped it in my mouth as if it were a cherry on top of a cake.

Everyone in the hall was watching me nervously. In their eyes, I was neither the Duke Consort of Ivansia nor the Young Heaven of the Heavenly Demon Cult anymore but a demigod with a divine authority.

As they watched a demigod’s miracle with bated breath, I chewed on the marble. Of course, the marble didn’t taste like cherries. Those were sweet with a sour aftertaste. However, the more I chewed on the marble, the more Sylvia Evanail’s existence started tasting like a sad rainy day.

“L-Lady Sylvia.”

“Remember, you’re an asshole to someone too.”

“Butler! What are you doing? Where are you going?”

The memories fragmented. Every time I chewed on the marble, the nostalgic memories burst out like popcorn crumbs.

I swallowed Goldencup’s memories after crushing them into small pieces. I had to swallow multiple times for the whole thing to go down my throat. Human life was too big or too sad for me to swallow in one go. Goldencup’s memories were on the sadder side, like sweet red bean jelly that had been made too watery[1].

Still, I kept on swallowing Goldencup’s existence.

[A Box has been completed.]

I exhaled. This breath had mass and weight. It even had a color, as black as poisonous smoke. In the dark smoke, there were two eyes shining like a beast’s.

[The apostle of the Ruin-Harvesting Cow has appeared!]

The Tower called her by her old name, but it now meant too little to embrace her.

“Sylvia Evanail.”

She regained form from a breath. It was too exaggerated and grand to call this a reincarnation or transformation. It was more like a turning point in life. She kneeled before me.

I asked, “Is there a new name you want to have?”

“No, there isn’t. I want my name to remain the same. Actually... w-wh-what should I call you?”

Goldencup was in awe. It was natural. To her, I brought her back from the dead just now, even compressed her memories stored in the Skill

Monster Legion Reincarnation

into a Box using the

Earthbone Dragon’s Skull.

The Box was now within me. I could revive Goldencup whenever I wanted. Although she was used to having gods and magic in her life, what I just accomplished was clearly in the realm of miracles.

“R-Resurrection is a true proof of divinity. It feels inappropriate to treat you just as the Duke Consort of Ivansia.”

“Patriarch.”

“Pardon?”

“From now on, you may call me

Patriarch on official occasions. In private, you can call me anything you like. Mr. Kim Gong-Ja. Mr. Gong-Ja. Sir Gong-Ja. It doesn’t matter. However, when a war or battle breaks out, call me Patriarch.”

I stood up slowly. Although I was standing straight, I felt like an animal that had woken up after hibernating for a long winter. The many people watching me probably felt the same way too.

I infused my voice with aura and said, “Listen to me. People come together in many ways, but I would like to talk about two methods in particular. One is a family, and the other is a clan. Raviel and I are the only ones in this family as of right now. Making everyone I cross paths with become part of my family is my ideal.”

If only I could love someone else like I loved Raviel, if there was even a possibility of accomplishing the impossible...

“Estelle.”

Estelle heard my call and immediately rushed over and got down on one knee.

“Ah, yes, Master—I mean, Father.”

That remark made me chuckle as I patted Estelle’s head. “This is what I’m talking about. Even if Estelle calls me father and I call her my daughter, a family doesn’t magically materialize from this interaction. Look, Estelle. No daughter in the universe gets down on one knee in front of her father.”

Estelle was flustered. “Ah, even in such a case, the daughter should fulfill the duties of a subject when her father is a king, so it’s inevita—”

I laughed. “It’s okay. We’re just not close enough yet.”

“... Father?”

“I don’t have experience being a father. Estelle, you’ve never been a daughter, so you don’t know what that’s like either. We haven’t reached the stage of becoming a family yet. We don’t know yet what kind of father and daughter relationship we will have.”

The night wind blew. Ten years ago, a similar wind had blown through an orphanage outside the Tower..

“There’s a lot we still don’t know about each other.”

We still didn’t know what we were going to mean to each other.

“We can’t be called a family yet.”

We were only at the starting line.

“If we ignore that and think that ‘We are family’ or ‘We are close like a family,’ those thoughts will chain us down one day. We’ll criticize each other like ‘We’re family, but we don’t know anything about each other’ or ‘We’re family, so why can’t we do this much for each other?’”

It was when we expressed what we felt with words, but it was even more beautiful when we expressed our feelings with actions. That was what the orphanage director, with his usual tired look, had told all the orphans one day. Today, I was reciting his teachings.

“We... We should understand each other. We have to understand others as much as we ourselves want to be understood. We shouldn’t pry too much and respect others’ boundaries. Our wishes, our habits, the one last word we want to say before we leave this world, the reason we love sunsets... Until we learn these things about each other, we aren’t family yet.”

I looked around at everybody one by one—the Demon King who had tried to destroy a world, the cultists from eternal winter, and a young noble lady who cursed people.

“We are all trying to become one big family.”

Director.

“We aren’t a family just because we use the word to refer to our bond. This is the ultimate relationship we can have and an oath that we’ll work hard for each other. Caring for each other is already difficult. It’s even harder to make an effort for others, so how can a family be founded so easily?”

Yes.

“It will take a lot of effort.”

We would fight a lot, but we could do it.

“Until then, let’s become a clan in the shell of a family,” I declared.

Estelle’s ears perked up as I stroked her head. “Father... When you say clan...”

“Each clan member has a position and a role. A head steward is responsible for the hygiene and welfare of the clan and takes care of the cooking when the clan members are hungry.”

The orphanage director had also assigned every orphan a role. In the end, people simply did what they had learned to do while trying to improve little by little.

With a serious look, I said, “The eldest child is usually the heir. While training to become the heir, the child steps in and takes charge of the balls and social events when the patriarch is unable to entertain guests. Estelle, you’re the eldest child of our clan, so you will be in charge of many things in the future.

“Meanwhile, the clan warriors protect the clan so that no evildoers can kidnap the members. When there are forces threatening to destroy our clan, the warriors go out and fight.”

My dear cultists were blending with the night sky. Warriors sat on walls, under the walls, in the yard, and on the

daecheongmaru,

all of them looking up at me.

“I’ll try to be your family.”

I wasn’t related to any of them by blood.

“Until that day comes, let’s become a clan first.”

We would be able to care for each other more than anyone else. We had been hurt more than anyone else, hated humans, and been betrayed by our worlds. Even though we had also watched all sorts of destruction befall us, we somehow still met each other.

“Four Demon Kings.”

In the dark corner of the

hanok

, the Heavenly Demon Cult’s four best elites gathered around me at each cardinal point. The Blood Demon King, the eldest, said, “Yes! Please go on, Lord Young.”

His handsome forehead was wrinkled. To put it nicely, he was a man of principles. Still, he could also be called old-fashioned. As Teacher’s closest guard, he disciplined the cultists. Yes, he was a handsome boomer.

After thinking about it for a short time, he sighed and said, “Patriarch.”

“Yes.”

“We’re fine just being your tools. Lord Young Hea—-no, Patriarch, you have a righteous heart. Even if we’re used as tools, we would never have a day when we feel ashamed or have regrets. If you consider us to be well-forged swords, that is enough.”

“Teacher was like a mother to me. To you all, she was more than a mother. Blood Demon King.” I bent down and covered the Blood Demon King’s

bao quan

salute with my hands. “We lost her, but she was like a mother to us all, wasn’t she?”

“Yes, she was.”

“So that makes us brothers,” I said. “People don’t unite over what they have, but over what they lost. That’s our doctrine. If so, we’re a sad union since we lost Teacher. Let’s talk more, try to understand each other better, learn about our boundaries, sometimes become assholes to one another. We’ll become much more beautiful and happier than we are now. Until that day comes, I’ll be the head of this clan.”

The Blood Demon King’s mouth was dry. “Yes, Patriarch.”

“I entrust you with the family’s military affairs. You are now the deputy-chief warrior. I’ll soon appoint someone else as the chief warrior, so assist the chief as the deputy.”

“Yes, Patriarch!”

I turned my head. “Uburka!”

“Yeah.”

Thump.

When Uburka got up from the

daecheongmaru

and took a step, the yard shook slightly. Up to this point, he had controlled his weight using his aura. Now that I called him, Uburka let go of all his restraints.

“Did you call me, Daddy?”

Gasps of fear could be heard from here and there. The cultists, now my clan warriors, could surmise what level Uburka was at. He was a monster, the strongest warrior in the history of Terras, and a skilled martial artist who had undergone a metamorphosis at a young age. After he aged, he achieved life rejuvenation.

If the right opportunity was given after some time, he could reach the level that Teacher once threaded on. Noticing this, my clan warriors became nervous.

Although all the warriors were tense, I smiled. “You are my son.”

“

Ugor.

That’s right.”

“It’s like your screws triple-axled off your brain. You have a crush on everyone you meet and confess your feelings every time—”

“I think you forgot my Constellation name, Daddy. Do you want to get beaten up by someone with so many loose screws?”

[The Immorality-Dreaming Pig threatens you.]

I laughed again. “That’s okay. Even though you’re in your rebellious stage, you’re still cool, my son. Your daddy has only dated once, but it led to him marrying the best woman in the universe. In terms of efficiency, I’m already the king of relationships. You may ask your daddy for relationship advice any time.”

“Your case is... too damn unique, so I don’t think it can be used as a reference at all.

Uger

, if there’s anything I need to talk about, I’ll do it.”

“Yes, you are my second-oldest child.” I nodded. “You’re the strongest warrior I know.”

Uburka looked down at me. “I lost to you so many times.”

“I lost hundreds of times to have one victory against Estelle. The number of defeats is just a decoration that makes the victory look cooler.”

“Will I be able to beat you someday?”

“I believe in your talent, efforts, and will. You are the perfect warrior.”

Uburka remained silent. I placed my hand on the back of his large hand.

“Please become the chief warrior of my clan. If we have to fight, lead the family from the frontlines alongside me. You haven’t just learned the Demonic Heaven Arts, you mastered them. You’ve reached the pinnacle of the arts, so the clan warriors will gladly obey your commands.”

The warriors’ breathing became a little quieter, probably because their fear diminished and their anticipation rose.

“I modified the Demonic Heaven Arts and created the Demonic Heaven Formula Arts, which isn’t just about one’s sword. It’s the dance and song of hundreds of people. Learn it. Learn it and teach it to the warriors. You’ll do a good job. After all, you’re the son I don’t deserve, Uburka.”

Uburka placed his other hand over mine with a nod. He still looked young despite being a hobgoblin.

“I’ll become your chief warrior. If anyone dares to try to destroy our clan, I won’t forgive them. I will protect you and those who are precious to you. I’ll try to treasure them myself. As long as you love me, I’ll also love the world.”

I smiled, grateful for his vow. I had been born an orphan, and he had been born with albinism. But I had a family surrounding me now, and he didn’t have a reason to hate the sun anymore. In the future, we would defy our origins even more and prove it to the world.

I remembered someone I hadn’t summoned yet. His scent, hair, and eyes crossed my mind. I remembered someone else, the orphanage director, watching this man. His wounds were hidden behind his silky hair, and his past was buried in his blue, expressionless eyes.

“Come out.”

As soon as I said that, a rumbling shadow appeared. A hand reached out, and soon, the man fully emerged from it with a quiet exhalation. He looked just as I remembered him and, as Raviel’s distant ancestor, he resembled her. It was very easy to remember him since he looked like Raviel.

“I’m here.”

I nodded. “Kim Yul.”

He, too, would mean a little more to me.

1.

Sweet red bean jelly

☜