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Chapter Text

“What the actual fuck is this bullshit?” Kim Dokja hisses while gripping the book tightly, uncaring that it might rip - he’s already paid for this damn thing, anyway. “All of that, just for Yoo Joonghyuk to die at the end?!”

The bookstore turns silent all of a sudden, making him look up and blush in mortification to see almost everyone there staring at him. Before he can apologize and run away from there forever, though, two teenagers have already come up to him, solemnly placing their hands on his shoulders.

“Ahjussi, preach louder.” The teen girl in a ponytail speaks with an utmost serious voice at the same time her chuuni-looking friend screams. “Yeah, right!! The author expected us to believe that Yoo Joonghyuk would just kill himself after everything?! Then what’s the damn point of portraying him as an invincible hero before?!”

At that moment, Dokja feels an inexplicable understanding with these two kids whom he never met before in his life. He stares back at them just as solemnly, quietly mourning all the time he has wasted reading this bullshit from beginning to end.

The story, ‘Dark Supreme Fallen Angel’ (DSFA), is what Chinese readers would call ‘dog blood,’ what Western readers would deem ‘whump,’ and what Dokja would describe as ‘fucking infuriating.’ Its protagonist is Yoo Joonghyuk, a half-human half-angel who was abandoned by both of his parents who had a massive fallout with each other, leaving him to fend for himself for years; before accidentally wandering into the Demon World’s boundary and meeting the Demon King of Salvation at ten.

Said 'Demon King of Salvation' is the very same Kim Dokja who has been reading and cursing this novel.

It was certainly a major and unpleasant surprise when Dokja found himself waking up as a newborn human in a rather unfamiliar world, despite the last thing he remembered being bleeding to death under Yoo Joonghyuk’s Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds. He took eight years to fully understand and accept that the world as he knew it ‘back then’ was no longer there, but his personality as one of the strongest Demon Kings still never disappeared, which helped immensely in fighting back against his abusive human father and forcing him to stop beating his mother up so frequently.

Still, it didn’t stop the two of them from being ridiculed by everyone else for years once his father ended up dead by drunk fighting with other drunkards, eventually leading to his mother committing suicide… but, that’s not here or there.

The important thing is that he still remembers his past as the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ and he has been reborn for 1862 times. All of which were this same exact way without fail: without memories of the previous lives, taking the ‘human’ Yoo Joonghyuk in and training him in a harsh way, cursing and banishing the kid when it was revealed he was one of the angels he despised; and then eventually being killed years later by an adult Yoo Joonghyuk, now fully matured as an Archangel and getting revenge on him.

Dokja had been wondering for a long time how it could be that he only retains his memories in this 1863rd life, and where Yoo Joonghyuk was - was that guy also a Korean citizen?

Then, on one fateful day, he caught wind of the DSFA novel, read it out of curiosity because the protagonist and the main villain’s names were similar to theirs… which began his days of following every chapter but swearing and cursing underneath each of them.

Nothing could describe the anger Dokja felt when he realized that his whole life as ‘Demon King of Salvation’ was nothing more than a mere story, and that his worth was only as the main villain to make the protagonist Yoo Joonghyuk’s past more tragic and pitiable.

He had tried to calm down and continued to read the story past his own death, just to see how his former disciple slash adversary ended up living, only to become even angrier. It turned out that everything was a convoluted mess of bullshit, to put it mildly.

The incident that made Dokja despise angels in the first place - when the beloved little demon he adopted was killed mercilessly by them - was a plan instigated by Syswitz, Duke of the 73rd Demon Realm, to turn the Demon King of Salvation against angels, breaking the fragile peace that had only been recently gained between demons and angels.

Years later, when Syswitz found out about Yoo Joonghyuk, the half-human and half-angel child, being taken in by an unsuspecting Dokja; he cooperated with Asmodeus - Master of the 32nd Demon Realm - to intentionally spread misinformation about how the Demon King of Salvation was raising an angel for his own use. Which led to the hoard of Archangels barging into his territory that day, revealing the truth that Yoo Joonghyuk was a half-angel, and making Dokja banish him.

Those two could only spread the misinformation that day thanks to an insider within the angels - Anna Croft, who was at the time a disturbingly precocious and ambitious human child adopted by Olympus, a well-respected region within the angel world. She pretended to listen to Syswitz and Asmodeus’ sweet nothings of making her a Demon Queen, closely monitored Yoo Joonghyuk’s activities after the guy was taken in by the Eden branch, and spent years manipulating him.

She prevented Yoo Joonghyuk from ever knowing the true reason Dokja despised angels, instead insisting with him that the Demon King of Salvation simply hated all angels and humans because ‘demons are just evil like that’ and that he was a liability to be gotten rid of.

Yoo Joonghyuk easily believed her, precisely because he had seen first-hand how harsh his master was with him and how easily he threw him away like trash (Dokja couldn’t help but smack his own face at being called out), which was why the guy suddenly barged into his house that day to get revenge on him.

Then, the rest was just endless whump and whump as Yoo Joonghyuk spent his life as the Archangel ‘Supreme King’ massacring demons with a ruthlessness that unnerved even his fellow Eden angels, at the same time also being assassinated and pursued relentlessly by the demons. In the background, Anna Croft still patiently took her time deceiving everyone - from Syswitz and Asmodeus, to Olympus, and especially Yoo Joonghyuk who was essentially just her killing puppet - to conspire the demons and angels against each other.

In the end, after the gruelsome Great War between the angels and demons that ended with all of them dead aside from Yoo Joonghyuk, the protagonist also ended up killing himself as he considered himself too filthy to deserve living anymore. His last thought before death was how different his life could’ve been had his ‘master’ never thrown him away.

And it was only then that Anna Croft emerged, now as a shrewd 50-something years old woman, declaring to the humans that they could now all live freely because all of those pesky demons and angels were dead. Cue the in-universe humanity celebrating, and Dokja’s outburst at the bookstore in the first place.

He’s only appeased the tiniest bit by how, just like those teenagers who sympathized with him, most readers of DSFA are also outraged by this dogshit ending. The comment section of the final chapter is so filled with colorful curses and not-so-well-meaning wishes for the author that Dokja doesn’t feel the need to add in his own. Some of them are even writing their own ideas for a better ending, all of which much more satisfying and well-concluded than whatever it was that the author cooked up.

Dokja is so focused on reading all the slander in the comment section that he doesn’t pay attention to where he’s going. When he realizes it, he has already been hit by a truck, bleeding on the ground while curious spectators hover around him.

For fuck’s sake, this life just had to end with the truck-kun…?!

With his final thought cursing out whatever God up there for making all of his lives a joke, even ending this one like some kind of isekai manga MC, Dokja breathes his last.

= = =

When Dokja wakes up on the bed of his mansion in the 51st Demon Realm, with large red horns and huge black wings signature of the Demon King of Salvation, he once again screams to the heavens with the vilest curses he can think of to whatever God up there.

Why is it that, for his 1864th life, he’s back to be the Demon King? And this time, also retaining the memories of his life in the modern world as ‘Kim Dokja’?!

He can’t help but wonder if the ‘God’ up there was offended by his attitude towards the story they wrote or something, thus decided that the best way to punish his trangressions was to force him to suffer being killed by Yoo Joonghyuk for the 1863rd time.

… No, wait. He has read many reincarnation stories, and the originally villainous MCs usually managed to avoid their fate by refusing to interact with the ‘protagonists’ whom they wronged before. In that case, he just needs to move to the 49th Demon Realm this time, staying far away from that protagonist bastard-

Throb

Dokja’s body jolts in pain at the sensation of somebody touching and tresspassing the barrier between the human world and his 51st Demon Realm. In his hundreds of years as the Demon King of Salvation, no human or angel has ever been foolish enough to trespass his barrier (especially not the angels, after that incident) except for only one person.

His whole body runs cold. The damned God up there, did they have to arrange for him to reincarnate on the very same night Yoo Joonghyuk found his way into his territory?!

And it’s not like he can just leave the bastard alone, not when he has gained some good conscience after a life of being a normal model citizen in a modern world. Isn’t Yoo Joonghyuk only like, ten years old right now?! Even the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ before had eventually taken the brat in under the guise of ‘training him to become less weak,’ so why would model citizen ‘Kim Dokja’ leave the brat alone?!

Standing up and cursing colorfully all the way, Dokja eventually finds himself standing in front of the glorious protagonist, his former disciple turned adversary, and his eventual killer - Yoo Joonghyuk.

Seeing the guy like this as a mere ten-year-old whose eyes are widened in fear, trying his best to stand up and make a defensive stance yet unable to stop trembling, and just how… tiny he is, squeezes Dokja’s chest a bit.

Now, he hasn’t forgotten how Yoo Joonghyuk had cruelly killed him so many times before. How the bastard started with using the very techniques Dokja had taught against him, then cut off his wings and horns, and finally used his own horn to stab his heart. Damn, did those Eden angels somehow turn that guy into a perverted killer?

But then, Yoo Joonghyuk would probably not have done that had Dokja never thrown him out for being half-angel. And while the ending of DSFA was dog shit otherwise, Dokja was genuinely struck by how Yoo Joonghyuk had thought back about his life as his disciple before dying.

They had hated each other enough to fight to the death almost two thousand times, but in the end, aren’t they both just tools for the God above to fool around with? To the point that neither had a ‘happy ending’ to their life?

… In fact, the thought of fighting with Yoo Joonghyuk in this life makes him tired.

What if he just… gives up?

All those thoughts run through Dokja’s head in a short moment, and when he blinks back to reality, he realizes that Yoo Joonghyuk is still staring at him like a prey at its predator.

Come to think of it, DSFA explained that Yoo Joonghyuk wandered into his realm in the first place because he was too hungry and saw a rabbit run that way. He was so desperate for finally having some food that he completely forgot about the area being the forbidden zone, where the Demon King of Salvation allowed no unauthorized access.

Before Dokja can stop himself, he has already blurted out. “What are you, stupid?!”

When Yoo Joonghyuk turns from looking cautious to staring at him like a deer in the headlight, Dokja completely loses it. “There’s no way you haven’t heard about this area being the border between the human realm and my realm, the Demon King of Salvation!! And yet you still somehow found your way here?! Did you think of the consequences?! Did you think of anything at all?! How can you be so stupid?! Do you just not have a shred of self-preservation?! And not to mention-”

“Sh-Shut up!!!” Ah, it looks like Yoo Joonghyuk is just like any other brats, unable to handle being scolded. “I’m not scared of you!! I’ll kill you!!”

But, even as a powerful Archangel, it had still taken Yoo Joonghyuk a few near-lethal wounds to be able to kill him, a well-established Demon King. Then, what can a ten-year-old half-human child who hasn’t awaken his angel potential do? Dokja doesn’t even bother blinking when Yoo Joonghyuk’s tiny body just uselessly slams against his leg without any damage to him whatsoever. In fact, it’s so easy for him to just crush this kid right here and there.

Letting out a sigh, Dokja briefly kneels down before picking Yoo Joonghyuk up and carry him in one swift swoop.

“You-!! What are you-!! Demon King bastard, if you want to kill me, just do it-”

“Shut up. Who taught you such disrespectful manners, huh?” Dokja scoffs as he pulls the brat’s cheek. “You’re hungry, aren’t you?”

Yoo Joonghyuk goes still in his arms after being called out. The fact that his tiny stomach then growls very loudly in lieu of an answer makes the kid blush from head to toe, tears welling up in his eyes perhaps in embarrassment.

Seriously. Who the hell thought it was a good idea to make this kid the main character of a whump?

“... I will cook something for you. Even the Demon Realm has some plants and animals that humans can eat.” Dokja finds himself softening his voice as he wipes the kid’s tears with his right hand, left arm still carrying him. “So stop thrashing, it’ll just make you hungrier.”

As he then walks at a slower pace so it won’t disrupt Yoo Joonghyuk’s empty stomach, the kid slowly goes from being rigid in his arms to burying his face in Dokja’s chest, before Dokja feels that same spot on his chest getting wetter and wetter in addition to rapidly louder sniffles.

Saying nothing, he continues to keep a stable hold on Yoo Joonghyuk with his left arm and strokes the small fluffy head with his right hand, thinking that it’ll calm him down a bit.

Instead, Yoo Joonghyuk only cries louder.

… Tch, the protagonist really is troublesome.

Chapter Text

Now, Dokja is not at all proud to admit this, but the past him as the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ was quite an… edgelord, for lack of a better word.

He didn’t use to be that bad, but after Biyoo’s death (he swears to kill Syswitz painfully now that he knows that bastard was behind it), the past him completely changed from being willing to talk to angels to absolutely intolerant of them. He had declared to the angels that they better stay away from him because he would ‘kill them on sight,’ and did kill some particularly low-rank, cocky angels who deliberately provoked him to make his point.

And then, he completely isolated his 49th and 51st Demon Realms from outsiders, making it clear that he would kill anybody who steps inside period.

Thus, even though the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ had taken Yoo Joonghyuk in out of some guilty conscience, he was still rather cruel about it due to his edgelord view of humans and angels alike back then. He would never hold back despite fighting against a literal ten-year-old, would demand a bleeding and broken-bone Yoo Joonghyuk to keep standing up because ‘the world would not be kind to you,’ and never displayed a shred of care towards the kid besides cooking for him three times a day.

… Ugh, the past him really was the worst. And that was before finding out that Yoo Joonghyuk was half-angel. Well, he did display more mercy towards Yoo Joonghyuk by just kicking him out and forbidding the kid from ever seeing him again, rather than killing him, but still.

All those thoughts run around messily in Dokja’s mind as he watches Yoo Joonghyuk cautiously picking at the stew he made for him, as if worried it might be poisoned. The cautious manner coupled with how Dokja has become a more decent person compared to before leads to a conclusion: he needs to be nicer to Yoo Joonghyuk this time.

Not because he’s afraid of being killed - what's the point of being afraid when his death is an inevitability? - but merely due to how he just doesn’t want to make it difficult for his disciple anymore. He’s fought Yoo Joonghyuk for thousands of years, and now Dokja is just tired.

But, how do one start being nice to his eventual adversary and killer…

“Is the food not to your liking? You’re eating it quite slowly.” After thinking for a moment, Dokja starts with his concern about children being picky with food.

“... You’re the Demon King of Salvation,” is all Yoo Joonghyuk replies him with, but his narrowed eyes speak volumes of the implication behind those words.

Dokja had spent the years being Yoo Joonghyuk’s master mostly neglecting the kid outside of training, so it takes him aback to see how… irritating this brat is. “Idiot,” he emphasizes the insult with a scoff and a flick to that infuriating little forehead, “if I wanted to kill you, I would’ve crushed you out there long ago. The Demon King of Salvation does not need to go through meaningless troubles like poisoning food.”

Yoo Joonghyuk glares at him while rubbing his sore forehead, somehow looking a lot more defiant and, dare he say, pouty than earlier. For a moment, the brat looks less like the Archangel who would use Dokja’s own horn to stab him and more like just a normal kid, so Dokja finds himself softening his voice. “Really, what’s wrong? Do you not like the food?”

Those dark eyes bore into him for a long while before the small, chapped lips answer in an uncharacteristically small voice. “... I want to… eat… dumplings.”

“Dumplings? Is it a type of human food?” Dokja speaks as cheerfully as possible to distract himself from cringing at how he’s pretending not to know what that is. “Then, tell me, how do you humans make it? What ingredients do you use? I can try to imitate it with what’s available in my Demon Realm.”

Yoo Joonghyuk now doesn’t even bother to hide how flabbergasted he is, which makes Dokja scowl inside as he wonders what kind of rubbish rumor about the Demon King of Salvation is being spread in the human world. Did this brat hear something about him eating children or whatever?

“... No, it’s okay. I-I’ll tell you later.” Yoo Joonghyuk shakes his head before practically gulping the stew down like he’s being held at gunpoint. Then, the kid stares at him again while sitting straight as a board, like he’s not sure what to do or if he should even breathe in his presence.

Dokja lets out a small, exasperated sigh when he can’t remember how Yoo Joonghyuk used to act as a kid at all despite having search all corners of his memories. Ah, but wasn’t that his own fault for not being willing to interact with the boy at all? … No wonder Yoo Joonghyuk got revenge on him in the end, seriously.

Thankfully, at that moment, Yoo Joonghyuk lets out a yawn that he immediately stiffles, looking at Dokja nervously. Letting out a bitter laugh (what is he, some kind of bogeyman?), he once again picks Yoo Joonghyuk up and carries the stiff, small body across the huge mansion. “Well, let’s get you to a shower and then sleep. I have some children clothes but they’re very old, so try to bear with it while waiting for me to give you something new.”

“... You have children?” This is perhaps the first sentence Yoo Joonghyuk speaks that doesn’t sound scared or suspicious of him in any way, just curious.

“... Had. I had an adoptive daughter, but she’s dead.” Dokja smiles at him in a way clearly telling that he’s not interested in elaborating. “Anyway, she was quite a naughty child, so you don’t have to worry about wearing dresses or anything - I only have pants and shirts for her.”

Yoo Joonghyuk looks like there’s still a lot of things he wants to ask, understandable considering he’s still a curious child, but ends up just staying quiet, and Dokja is thankful for that. It’s a whole other can of worms that he’s nowhere near willing to open.

“Ah, what’s your name, by the way? I never asked.” Dokja asks to ease the awkward silence.

“... Yoo… Joonghyuk.”

“Alright, Yoo Joonghyuk.” He nods with an innocent grin as if it’s the first time he knows this, opening the door to Biyoo’s long unused room but still cleaned frequently. “Stay here. There is a bathroom inside. I’ll talk to you about your training plans tomorrow.”

Dokja then drops Yoo Joonghyuk off at the room and makes to get out, thinking that the kid would want to be left alone… only to feel something tugging at his coat. Surprised, he turns around to see Yoo Joonghyuk quickly letting go of his coat as if being burned, his expression scared and eyes widened like even he himself didn’t understand why he did that.

… This is turning out to be a lot more awkward than he thought.

“What? Do you want a lullaby or something?” In the end, Dokja bends down on eye level with the kid, trying to make his voice soft and welcoming.

“... It’s not like that…” Yoo Joonghyuk mumbles in a barely audible voice, face flushed.

“Then do you just want me to stay here until you fall asleep?”

“...”

After a long while of waiting but Yoo Joonghyuk still keeps staying silent, Dokja… loses his patience. So, once again, he unceremoniously picks the kid up and shoves him into the bathroom, takes off his ragged clothes and wash him from head to toe despite Yoo Joonghyuk’s screams and protests. Maybe Dokja has just unwittingly made his eventual death more gruesome by this offense, but he can’t care less right now. He focuses more on scrubbing all the dirt from Yoo Joonghyuk’s scrawny body, especially the ones threatening to infect his wounds.

Once Yoo Joonghyuk has been scrubbed clean and changed into Biyoo’s old clothes - a simple shirt and black pants - Dokja then tucks him into bed. “I’m not a particularly good singer but I can sing a few songs. Just sleep already, it’s not good for kids to stay up late. ‘Shine, bright morning light, now in the air, the spring is coming’...”

The protagonist finally sleeps after three songs, burying himself inside the blanket and shivering - perhaps not from lack of warmth right now, but from how he was too used to the cold and probably sleeping in the streets.

“Annoying brat.” Dokja sighs and strokes the kid’s fluffy hair one last time before leaving the room. He will have to make a proper training plan for both the human and angel side of Yoo Joonghyuk, which, for obvious reasons, is difficult to say the least.

= = =

“You have eye bags. Are you okay?”

“Demon Kings don’t get tired from this.” Dokja smiles while bullshitting nonchalantly - he is tired, but there’s no way he’ll let himself act vulnerable in front of his future killer. “Anyway, from now on, you’ll be training under me. Had you wandered into any other Demon Realm but my own, you would’ve been long dead. Thus, it’s vital that you at least know how to defend yourself somewhat.”

“... Why are you doing this?”

“... Hah?”

“All of this. Taking me in, letting me stay, and now training me… If you’re also a Demon King, why haven’t you killed me? What do you want?!”

For a moment, Dokja doesn’t see the small scrawny child he tucked into bed yesterday. Instead, in front of him is now the grown-up Archangel Supreme King, with his majestic white wings yet dressed in all black, demanding to know why Dokja could discard him so easily and if he had never been anything to him.

Blinking rapidly to take himself back to reality, Dokja places his hand on the frowning protagonist’s head. “Would you rather I kill you instead? I can do that right now.”

“...”

“See?” He scoffs bitterly without any humor. “This is the first lesson - if someone who could be cruel to you is choosing to be nice instead, don’t question it.”

Then, he softens his voice in addition to turning his threatening grab on Yoo Joonghyuk’s head into a stroking motion. “And the second lesson - how to defend yourself from a much, much more threatening being.”

The entire morning passes with Yoo Joonghyuk desperately trying to dodge and run away (mostly running) from Dokja’s attacks. He has to admit that he might’ve felt a bit too petty about earlier and attack the kid too fast with too much cheer.

Still, there’s at least some improvement in how he’s actually holding back and not, well, use his entire strength against a ten-year-old like the previous 1862 timelines. Dokja shudders at how the past him was awful enough to just leave the bloodied and broken-boned Yoo Joonghyuk there to bandage himself after training.

“Pay attention to your opponent’s line of sight. That’s how you can somewhat predict their attack direction.”

“Do not look away. Try to overcome your instinct and continue looking straight at your opponent. Never show your ‘blind spots’ to them.”

“You’re not yet at the strength level to actually defend against my attacks, so don’t bother. Prioritize running away. It’s not cowardly to preserve your life.”

Dokja once again lets out a humorless chuckle at how he’s unconsciously teaching Yoo Joonghyuk all the exact same techniques and in the exact same orders as before. It seems, despite a whole new life in a modern world, he still hasn’t changed.

What did change, however, is how… strangely fast Yoo Joonghyuk is learning. Dokja’s broken memories tell him that it had taken at least two weeks before Yoo Joonghyuk could dodge all of his attacks unscathed, but this 1864th one is already able to escape 80% of them after just four hours. Is this 1864th Yoo Joonghyuk just particularly talented, or has he been street fighting more frequently than the previous ones?

… Ah, but what does it matter? Yoo Joonghyuk will still kill him anyway. His experience with this kind of ‘villains changing their ways’ novels taught him firmly that no matter what the ‘villains’ do, the ‘original plot’ will still happen and there’s no changing it.

Shaking his head to discard the useless thoughts, Dokja decides to have a bit of fun by briefly using his full strength to sneak behind Yoo Joonghyuk and kick the brat’s ass. It takes all of his self-control not to laugh like an immature kid when Yoo Joonghyuk whips his head back with shock and betrayal on his little face, even welling up some tears in anger.

“You-!! You really are a demon!! Who would do something like that-?!”

“Tch. You were learning so quickly that I got irritated.” Dokja scoffs before leaning down to scoop Yoo Joonghyuk into his arms - he’s learnt that the kid somehow becomes surprisingly docile when he does this and so things will get done quicker. “Alright, get some rest and have lunch. We will continue with a different lesson in the afternoon.”

“... Dumplings?” Any trace of sulk or pout is now gone entirely from Yoo Joonghyuk’s little face as the kid instead looks at him with wide eyes.

“I read the books in my library - I have a library, you can see it later - and see some references for the ‘dumplings’ you were talking about. They may taste quite different, though, because I wasn’t using ingredients from the human world.” Dokja picks up a dumpling and puts it into Yoo Joonghyuk’s bowl. “Try one?”

Of all the things Yoo Joonghyuk could say after eating, Dokja will never expect that the bastard just goes ahead and say, “It’s not good enough.”

“You damn brat…” He can’t help but pull the slightly-less-gaunt cheek, not bothering to hide the irritation from his voice. As far as he remembers, the previous Yoo Joonghyuks had never complained once about his food, so why is this one so cheeky?!

“... It’s alright, but not good enough. I… If you allow me, I… can make better ones.” The brat looks uncharacteristically shy as he whispers in a barely audible voice.

“You?” Never mind the fact that this kid is only ten-year-old and he’s not interested in employing child labor, where did he even learn to cook? “And… better ones? So do you want to cook it with ingredients from the human world, then? If that’s the case, I can take you back there.”

“... Take me… back?”

Why is Yoo Joonghyuk looking all confused when that’s what he’s implying? “I mean, even though I said that I’d be teaching you, you’re not forced to stay here all the time. I can take you back to the human world from time to time, if you want to buy something. Or… whenever you don’t want to stay here anymore, you can leave.”

Thinking back about the previous 1862 timelines, Dokja once again cringes in irritation at himself for having never bothered to bring Yoo Joonghyuk to the human world, even though the kid must have a lot of things he wanted to get or places he wanted to see. That was all he meant by it.

Yet, for some reason, those big dark eyes begin to water again - did Yoo Joonghyuk cry this much as a kid? “... You want to throw me away.”

“... Hah? Don’t put words into my mouth, when did I ever say that?” Dokja scowls while lightly slapping that stupid head. “All I said was that I can let you visit the human world occasionally. And you’re free to leave whenever you want, but if you want to stay here - and I have no idea why you would - then you can be here.”

It’s only then that Yoo Joonghyuk seems somewhat appeased, although still kind of sulky with tears still in his eyes. Dokja has to spend so much time ruffling his head, pulling his cheek, and even feeding him before the bastard finally stops sulking, yet ending up clinging into his coat.

“You’re so troublesome… What am I supposed to do with you?”

Despite those words, Dokja can clearly feel that there’s no real heat in them, just like how he’s not actually annoyed but instead smiling in exasperation, once again patting Yoo Joonghyuk’s head like a habit.

And when Yoo Joonghyuk looks up at him for that with wide eyes that seem to sparkle, he can’t help but think, maybe even this brat can be a bit cute.

Chapter Text

Had there been some kind of ‘system’ like in SV*SS or some ‘game interface’ like OR*V, or whatever else that these isekai/reincarnation stories usually have, Dokja would’ve had some directions to go.

But for some reason, he was reincarnated rather… plainly, without any ‘system’ telling him what to do.

Thus, he’s been feeling torn on whether his decision to treat Yoo Joonghyuk more nicely this time is ‘correct’ or not. Dokja doesn’t care what happens to himself, but if his decision causes Yoo Joonghyuk’s life to somehow get worse than the dogshit ending…

“... Salvation. Demon King of Salvation.”

Dokja blinks out of his thoughts at the feeling of small hands incessantly tapping at his cheeks, courtesy of the protagonist brat who is glaring at him, indignant and worried at the same time. “You haven’t listened to me at all. You aren’t even eating the dumplings I made.”

“Ah, sorry, sorry. I was just thinking, but it’s nothing important.” Dokja ruffles the protagonist’s little fluffy head, amused at how bold Yoo Joonghyuk has become around him after just one week. His amused smile turns sour rather quickly the moment he bites into the dumplings. “Brat, how many times do I have to tell you that I’ll never eat tomatoes no matter how much you force me?”

“Tomatoes are good for your health. Are you telling me that the Demon King of Salvation of all people are too cowardly for some tomatoes of all things?”

Yoo Joonghyuk’s confident scoff slowly turns into a hesitant look as he watches Dokja, perhaps unsure if this much sass is going to offend him or something.

If he was still the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ from back then, he would’ve been pissed - in fact, he would never allow Yoo Joonghyuk to talk to him that way. But now that he has lived a normal human life, he simply can’t bring himself to act like such an edgelord anymore.

Besides, seeing Yoo Joonghyuk bickering playfully with him like this is a novelty, one that… doesn’t feel bad.

So Dokja just scoffs back with a flick on the annoying small forehead. “Brat. As punishment for daring to talk about me like that, every time you can’t dodge my moves this afternoon, I’ll kick you one time in the ass.”

The tense atmosphere immediately disappears as Yoo Joonghyuk screams in protest with flushed cheeks, but can’t change Dokja’s mind anyway, who uses more strength than usual to make sure that Yoo Joonghyuk can’t keep up before doing exactly as he said. The kid ends up sulking and refusing to talk to him for the whole night, and for some reason, he finds it worth it. To just stay with someone, doing stupid things, and spend his days in peace like this.

… Which only makes him more wary of the eventual ‘plot’ that will happen.

“Yoo Joonghyuk, hey. Hey. Sorry about earlier.” Dokja pokes the kid’s puffed cheeks until they deflate, and only continues once the protagonist finally turns to look at him. “To make up, do you want to go to the human world again tomorrow?”

“Again? But we just went last week to buy ingredients…”

“Don’t you feel bored being cooped up here, seeing nobody but me all the time? And doing nothing but training, again with no one else but me.”

“... I don’t mind…” He has to strain his ears to hear Yoo Joonghyuk’s reply, whispering as if not wanting him to hear with flushed cheeks. Huh, that’s surprising - considering his relationship with his human father and how long it had been since Biyoo’s death, he didn’t expect to be well-liked by children.

“I’m glad to hear that, but I think it’s best you go outside and touch g- I mean, make some friends.” His hand finds Yoo Joonghyuk’s head and makes a mess of his hair like usual. “Last time, didn’t you have a nice talk with that little girl from the doctor’s? And I think you were playing with some other boys and girls, too. Children should have friends, especially with how you’ll eventually go back to the human world.”

The protagonist whips his head up at Dokja, looking offended, but seems to decide better against whatever it is that he wants to say and just sighs. “If you insist.”

“Don’t make it sound like I’m the one asking you for a favor, bastard.”

“You’re the one who keep insisting I should go outside. I’m perfectly fine just staying here.”

As they continue with some stupid bickering about how Yoo Joonghyuk shouldn’t be a NEET with the bastard keeps on talking back to him, Dokja silently thinks about how the ‘plot’ might advance differently now that Yoo Joonghyuk is leaving his realm more often. In the ‘original plot,’ Syswitz and Asmodeus didn’t find out about the protagonist’s true origins until at least five years from now, but if they find out earlier thanks to snooping around his realm…

… He would have to say goodbye to Yoo Joonghyuk earlier, wouldn’t he?

Isn’t that a good thing, though? Yoo Joonghyuk might be forced to fend for himself earlier than expected, but that way, the angels would also find him sooner, and he would just be accepted as one of them without having to go through years of suffering under Dokja.

It’s a good thing, Dokja repeats in his head, finding his resolve wavering at the protagonist’s big, innocent eyes looking at him.

= = =

“This much meat and vegetables, please.”

“Aahh, what a cute and well-mannered child!!” The shopkeeper coos in adoration, glancing at Dokja with amused eyes. “Father, are you taking care of him alone? Perhaps you may need someone to help with that…”

“Thank you very much, I’m flattered, but I’m good.” Dokja smiles politely as he pays for the food and quickly pulls Yoo Joonghyuk away before any more troublesome question can arise.

He knows that his human disguise - which is just himself without the horns and wings - is quite a looker, but so many people have assumed that he’s Yoo Joonghyuk’s single father that he’s starting to get worried about potentially crueler torture in the future. Where did these humans even get that idea, anyway? Yoo Joonghyuk looks nothing like him - in fact, the DSFA novel emphasized how much he looked like his angel mother Armisael, which was why the angels recognized and reclaimed him in the first place.

“Last time and now, too, they didn’t realize that you’re the Demon King of Salvation at all. How come…?” Yoo Joonghyuk tugs at his sleeve so he would kneel down for the kid to whisper into his ears.

“It’s been nearly two hundred years since I closed off my realms. Any human who would recognize me was already dead.” Dokja whispers back in a smaller voice. Huh, maybe he should buy some warmer clothing for the kid, his ears are so red.

“... But if anyone recognizes you, wouldn’t that be trouble? I knew it, there was no need to go outside so frequently…”

At the way Yoo Joonghyuk bites his lips in guilt, Dokja once again uses his weapon of picking him up - he’ll never stop being amused at how the protagonist always immediately melts into his hold. “It’s fine, no one will know. Besides, it’s not about me, but you. Didn’t you have fun with those kids from before? Let me take you to see them again.”

Despite Yoo Joonghyuk shaking his head with token protests, it’s obvious that he wants to play with the kids his age like the child he’s supposed to be. So, Dokja wastes no more time in subtly using super speed and delivers the protagonist to the doctor’s place from the other day, where those kids would usually play nearby.

He ends up spending the rest of the afternoon just watching Yoo Joonghyuk huddling with the kids, most notable being the doctor’s daughter who the protagonist talks to the most while they’re playing. DSFA never mentioned any love interest for Yoo Joonghyuk due to being dead-set on being a whump, but if his changes to the ‘plot’ can help the protagonist find some happiness despite the later angst…

Huh, wait. There’s also that short-haired girl who keeps glancing between Yoo Joonghyuk, the doctor’s daughter, and Dokja himself. Could it be, that damned protagonist manages to find himself in a love triangle? Dokja snickers internally - he should bring Yoo Joonghyuk outside even more often, if that’s the case.

“... hyung. Hyung.”

“... Me?” Dokja blinks out of his thoughts to see Yoo Joonghyuk hugging his leg.

“Who else but you? I can’t call you ‘Demon King of Salvation,’ and you don’t have a normal name.” Yoo Joonghyuk sasses at him in a tiny voice before whiplashing into a teary-eyed look. “Hyung, I want to go home.”

As expected from the protagonist of a dog blood novel, he really knows how to make heart-wrenching expressions, grumbles Dokja inside as he picks up the little bastard and waves goodbye to the wide-eyed children behind.

He can clearly hear the kids whispering ‘that’s his brother? I thought he was his father…’ and Dokja feels that he has to rectify it right away. “Then just call me ‘Master’ properly? It’s because you don’t that these humans are assuming stupid things like us being brothers or Heavens forbid, father and son.”

“What kind of ‘Master’ kicks his student’s butt all the time like that?”

“You brat…” Dokja has lost count of how many times he said this as he pulls on those cheeks - now looking much healthier with more meat. “As for a ‘normal name’... I do have one.”

“... You do?” Yoo Joonghyuk’s indignant expression turns awed rather quickly.

“... ‘Kim Dokja.’ You can call me that from now on, if you want.” He finds his voice much softer and more vulnerable as he mentions the name from his previous life. The ‘Demon King of Salvation,’ indeed, never had a name; so having Yoo Joonghyuk call him with his ‘human name’ makes it sound like a nice secret that only he knows - of how his life as ‘Kim Dokja’ has made him more sympathetic to his disciple and want him to be happy.

Yoo Joonghyuk ends up mumbling ‘Kim Dokja’ over and over into his chest on the whole way back to their 51st Demon Realm, which amuses him so much that he ruffles the protagonist’s head even more often than usual.

He has been thinking that perhaps nothing major will change in the ‘plot’ after all, when a familiar and nauseous feeling of his Demon Realm being infiltrated hits him. This feeling is not from just any random being, human, or even an angel - but from a fellow Demon King.

Particularly-

It takes all of Dokja’s restraints not to instinctively tighten his arms, which would crush Yoo Joonghyuk into pieces in the process. Instead, he gently puts the protagonist down before immediately unsheathing his sword, dealing what would’ve been a beheading slash to the intruder.

“Oh, Demon King of Salvation, is that how you treat a fellow Demon King who comes to visit you after such a long time? Just when I was about to tell you something use-”

Without dignifying Syswitz with any word, Dokja unleashes his power, blowing up the whole forest that acts as the 51st Demon Realm’s barrier and the other bastard in the process. Fully knowing that it’s not enough to kill him, though; he continues swinging his sword down in multiple slashes, all of which aiming at nothing but weak spots, eventually succeeding in turning Syswitz’s smug smirk into a look of rage as the bastard spurts blood all over.

“Enough!!” Dokja is forced to stop when Syswitz uses both hands to squeeze his neck. “I’m not going to tolerate this treatment, Demon King of Salvation!! Did you lose all manners after shutting yourself in for two hundreds years?!

“Let me speak - the other Demon Kings had all sensed the presence of a human intruding your realm. And yet, the human,” he looks pointedly at Yoo Joonghyuk, “is still alive. In fact, you appear to be… raising it. You ought to get rid of it, if you don’t want complications with the others-”

Dokja punches the bastard with his full strength, forcing Syswitz to let go of him as the bastard falls at least ten meters away. Then, it’s now Syswitz’s turn to be choked as Dokja’s hand turns red and monstrous with claws protruding out, clawing into that damn neck.

“Shut the fuck up. You don’t have any rights to tell me what to do, when you’re the fucker who killed Biyoo.”

“... Demon King of Salvation, have you been in isolation for so long that you’re getting confused? Those angels from Olympus were the ones who-”

“They would never have been able to do that if you hadn’t led her to her death!!” What little sanity left in Dokja’s body completely leaves him as he screams like a beast, punching Syswitz with the same fervor. “You were the one who blinded her with illusion, making her think that those humans were monsters to be killed!! You were the one telling the angels to keep an eye on my realm!! You were the one making sure that they were there on that day to catch Biyoo on the act!! No one else but you!!”

Even until now, Dokja still never forgives himself. He was so blinded with anger after his adoptive daughter’s death, and then in so much grief and refusing to think about it again, that he never noticed how suspicious her death was. He had raised Biyoo to be respectful to humans and angels alike, why would she kill humans without making sure of their intentions? Why would the angels from Olympus just happen to be there on that day? All of which, he never thought of, until the novel DSFA spelt it out for him.

It was all this bastard’s fault, and just so he could remove the Demon King of Salvation from the equation to sow chaos between demons and angels. Just because of such a fucking reason that Biyoo died-

To his displeasure, Dokja is unable to finish the job, because Syswitz somehow manages to muster some leftover strength to run away after briefly obscuring his vision. He stares at the pile of blood on the ground, at his own hands stained with filthy blood, and the burnt forest - the aftermath of his anger.

He doesn’t know whether to feel glad that, despite his explosion of fury, Yoo Joonghyuk remains completely unscathed - at least, physically-wise. The protagonist is trembling as he stares at him with wide, scared, teary eyes. “... Kim Dokja…”

“... Sorry. He was… the one who framed my daughter to be killed by the angels, so…”

Dokja finds himself unable to even finish his explanation. The wrath is still consuming his mind, clouding his judgments, and screaming at him that the kid right in front of him - right here - is also half-angel. That, no matter if he had nothing to do with Biyoo’s death, he was still the same kind as those bastards who had still killed a demon child without confirming if she really was guilty. That-

Inside him, the ‘Kim Dokja’ part screams back at those thoughts, that Yoo Joonghyuk didn’t end up happy, that he spent his last moments of life lamenting his master’s awful treatment, that angel or human or demon, in the end, are they not just fellow miserable pawns for the God up there to toy with? That, didn’t he promise himself to not make things difficult for his disciple in this life?

The two lines of thoughts conflict with each other, which doesn’t help Dokja one bit right now.

In the end, he takes a deep breath to stabilize his voice. “Yoo Joonghyuk. I’m sorry, but I don’t want to talk to you right now. No training for tomorrow, either. Cook dinner just for yourself.”

Then, after quickly reinforcing the barrier around his 51st Demon Realm to burn down any intruder and ensuring Yoo Joonghyuk’s safety, Dokja turns back. He can’t afford to be near Yoo Joonghyuk any longer, not with his current mental state.

Once he has reached a far enough location from the mansion, Dokja lets all of his bottled emotion explode.

By the time he’s exhausted himself enough to turn from furious to numb, this spot of the vast forest has also become a barren wasteland. His own hands are burnt from his effort to remove that fucker’s dirty blood from his being. And his throat feels scorched from all the profanities and desperate screams that he’s let out.

“... Damn it. Fuck it all to hell.” Dokja collapses to the ground, his legs no longer having any strength to hold himself up. “... Biyoo…”

Chapter Text

When Dokja wakes up in the next morning and finds himself face-down on the scorched grass instead of his own bed, his first thought is ‘Ah, that happened,’ and then, ‘I fucked up.’

He stands up and hurriedly runs back towards the mansion, cursing himself all the while. Even if it’s true that his anger was always best let out completely before doing anything else, he has still left Yoo Joonghyuk all alone for at least half a day. His ‘Demon King’ side is saying that the kid can manage himself and that’s his future killer of all people, but his ‘model citizen Kim Dokja’ side is saying that he’s still only a ten-year-old.

Damn it.

Either way, Dokja wastes no time in opening the main door and quickly finds Yoo Joonghyuk sitting by himself at the dining room’s table, surrounded by cold food, a dark expression on his face.

“... Yoo Joonghyuk?” Dokja hesitantly calls, mentally preparing himself for something like Yoo Joonghyuk’s angel side awakening from wrath and fighting with him. “Uh… Sorry for leaving you for so long. I only woke up just now-”

He hasn’t even finished the sentence when the protagonist practically jumps up from his seat, then runs and slams his head into Dokja’s stomach in a desperate hug. “Kim Dokja, Kim Dokja…!!”

“... Yes, Kim Dokja is back.” He repeats dumbly, not expecting this reaction at all.

“Are you… Are you feeling better now?”

The wide eyes looking up at him in both fear and worry causes Dokja’s chest to twist in guilt, which he tries to chase away by ruffling Yoo Joonghyuk’s hair. “Yes, I, uh, spent the whole night releasing stress so at least I’m not angry anymore. Just…” He can’t stop the exhausted sigh from coming out. “Just, I’m… tired.”

Yoo Joonghyuk bites his lips while looking conflicted for a moment, before speaking in such a small voice that Dokja has to strain to hear. “... Do you… want to talk about it? I… don’t know how to make you feel better, but… At least, I can listen.”

A bitter chuckle escapes Dokja’s throat. Here he was, promising that he would take care of his disciple in this life, only for said disciple to be the one fussing over him. What a useless adult he is… just like his human father.

Yet, even though he should know better than to burden a ten-year-old with his hundreds-of-years baggage, to confide in his future adversary of all people… Dokja so desperately wants to tell someone, if only to finally lay this guilt along with his wonderful memories with Biyoo to rest.

So, against better judgements, Dokja smiles and lightly pats the protagonist’s cheeks. “Then, if you don’t mind… Wait for me to shower and heat the food back up, and then I will tell you.”

The way Yoo Joonghyuk nods with nothing but relief and joy on his little face makes Dokja’s chest clench further.

Even though he was the one to pick up the protagonist and give him a place to stay…

Right now, he doesn’t know who’s the one being saved.

= = =

“More than two hundred years ago, a demon child found her way to my realm.” Dokja starts in a small voice in between taking spoons of the (very delicious) soup Yoo Joonghyuk made. The way this kid was considerate enough of his current mental state not to include tomatoes this time… Ugh, what did he do to deserve this?

“At the time, she was much younger than you - only five years old - and was shivering with barely any clothes on her. I didn’t need to ask to know that she was abandoned, so I immediately took her in.

“She didn’t have a name, so I called her ‘Biyoo,’ and raised her to my best ability. I taught her all the fighting skills I knew - basically like with you, but it was easier to teach her because she was also a demon.” Unlike you who’s a half-angel, a species I literally don’t know how to teach, is what Dokja doesn’t say. “It was a great feeling, seeing her growing up day by day and becoming more cheerful, especially whenever I took her to the human world and let her play with the children.”

“You were okay with letting your demon daughter play with the humans?” Yoo Joonghyuk widens his eyes at that part.

“Ah, right… The relationship between demons, humans, and angels was very different back then.” Like a habit, he ruffles the protagonist’s fluffy head and chuckles at how Yoo Joonghyuk never fails to lean into his touch. “At the time, after many years of slowly getting to understand each other, all three realms were ready to be in an official truce. It might be difficult for you to believe considering what you must’ve heard of me, but… I was once the most enthusiastic advocate for all three realms to be at peace with each other.

“I grew up in the 51st Demon Realm all alone, and found solace in the books and novels written by the humans. Then, I also met a few angels who enjoyed reading, and made friends with them. Thus, I once naively believed that if only we could all get through our differences together, the three realms could exist in harmony or at least in a way that no one harm the other.”

“... But then, your daughter…” Yoo Joonghyuk whispers in a small voice, like he’s not sure if he should even bring that up. Dokja only laughs without humor as he gently pats the kid’s head.

“Yes, my daughter.” Dokja is thankful for taking the time to have a proper outburst last night, because now, he can only feel numb, too tired to be angry. “That guy you saw yesterday… It’s Syswitz, Duke of the 73rd Demon Realm.

“I recently found out that he was the one to stalk my realm, deliberately placed illusions on Biyoo so she would think that monsters were about to infiltrate our realm and kill them, only for them to turn out to be humans. And he had been snitching on me to the Olympus branch of the angel world, about how the Demon King of Salvation was supposedly raising a weapon to kill humans. So those angels were there… and killed her.

“To be fair, I did have some blame in this, too - I shouldn’t have let Biyoo go outside too freely, and should’ve come quicker. But I was too late, and Biyoo was already dead when I came. Thus…” He chuckles more in an increasingly bitter tone. “I went berserk, and had a blood battle with those angels right away. Some of them were dead, some became permanently injured…

“Anyway, let’s just say that after that, there was no such thing as a truce between the three realms anymore. I no longer wanted anything to do with any being, so I closed off my realms and made it clear that anyone who stepped inside would be killed. And I did kill many angels, humans, and even demons who deliberately infiltrated despite my warnings. This ignited long-buried tension between the demon and the angel worlds… eventually becoming what you see today.”

The ‘model citizen Kim Dokja’ side of him berates him for dumping such heavy stuff on a ten-year-old; but the hurt, lonely, and broken ‘Demon King of Salvation’ side can feel nothing less than relief. He has finally managed to tell this to someone, the very same disciple whom he neglected and came back to kill him no less. Somehow, the fact that it’s Yoo Joonghyuk who has listened to him without interrupting, frowning his little face in trying to understand him, makes Dokja feel something indescribable.

There’s nothing but silence for a long while after that, with the two quietly eating the rest of their meal and Dokja then cleaning everything up. It’s only when he comes back to the table with a plate of (demonic) fruits as dessert, that Yoo Joonghyuk finally speaks up again. “Kim Dokja, I… I want to ask something, but… please don’t be mad at me.”

“I won’t. Just tell me.” Dokja makes sure to make the softest and most welcoming smile possible.

“... Now that you found out your daughter's death was due to a Demon King, instead of just the angels… How… How do you feel about angels now?”

… Huh.

He spends the next several minutes just staring at the squirming Yoo Joonghyuk, dazed. That’s a surprisingly heavy question to come out of a ten-year-old. Should he feel proud that the protagonist has already known to think of this complicated matter at such a young age?

“Ah, don’t worry, don’t worry. Like I said, I’m not mad at you, it just took me a while to think.” Dokja hugs the kid into his chest as usual when Yoo Joonghyuk looks ready to kneel down and beg for his forgiveness. “And my answer is…

“There’s no changes. I still loathe the angels.”

Not leaving Yoo Joonghyuk confused for too long, he continues, although with his voice now dripping with venom. “It’s true that they wouldn’t have had such an easy chance to kill Biyoo had Syswitz not handed it to them on a silver platter. However, in the end, those Olympus angels were still willing to kill a demon child without allowing her to explain. And the unapologetic way they behaved after I confronted them… It’s clear that they just wanted a way to piss the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ off.

“So, I still despise the angels, now in addition to humans and demons. I despise everything. I do not want anything to do with angels, no matter what.”

Dokja knows that what he’s saying is very cruel, especially for Yoo Joonghyuk, who will eventually learn of his angel heritage and think back of the moment his master blatantly admitted that he loathed his kind. Yet, he doesn’t regret saying it. It’s better to be up front about his feelings now, unlike the previous 1862 timelines, where he never told his disciple anything and just banished the kid without any consideration.

In his arms, Yoo Joonghyuk goes very still, perhaps from bafflement with this Demon King’s level of grudge. Well, it’s not like he can take back what he said. If Yoo Joonghyuk wants to leave and go back to the human world permanently now, that will be better for him anyway-

“... Master, I…” The protagonist pulls away, only to look up with the most heartbreaking and desperate pair of eyes that Dokja has ever seen on him. “I am… very thankful that you have taken me in and took care of me, despite your feelings about the matter. I will do my best with training, I will follow whatever order you gave me. So…”

… Hah, what’s this all about? For this disrespectful brat to suddenly call him ‘Master’ and talk all that nonsense…

… Wait a minute, don’t tell him…

“Yoo Joonghyuk.” He puts the protagonist down and places both hands on those small shoulders, speaking in the sternest voice possible. “Do you think I saved you just because I wanted you to be a replacement for Biyoo or something? Because both of you were small, defenseless children who were unlucky enough to infiltrate my realm?”

The way the brat goes pale is enough of an answer, and Dokja scoffs while shaking his head. “Really, why would you think something so stupid? If I saw you as her replacement, I would’ve called you my ‘son’ and given you a different name. But I never did that, because Biyoo was Biyoo, and you are you. She’s my adoptive daughter, but you are not - you simply are my disciple, Yoo Joonghyuk.”

Then, Dokja pulls the kid a little closer just to ensure that Yoo Joonghyuk can see how serious he is. “I didn’t save you to make you a second Biyoo. It’s simply that you were an unfortunate child who shouldn’t have ended up here, and I had the means to take care of you until you become independent… so that’s what I’m doing. Nothing more, and nothing less. There’s no need for you to feel like you owe me or must obey my every whim just because of that.”

In fact, it would be better for Yoo Joonghyuk not to feel indebted to him, now that Dokja has been very transparent about his hatred for angels. It’s better that the protagonist leaves his side and just become a successful Archangel, later coming back and giving him a swift death.

Yet, Yoo Joonghyuk looks at him with a broken expression instead of joy, as if unable to comprehend why Dokja would say that. What’s with whump protagonists and feeling like they owe the world? Seriously, he’s so troublesome…

Dokja ruffles the kid’s fluffy head, finding himself completely out of wit. “Really, don’t worry about any of that. If you want to pay me back or whatever, just make sure to learn and train properly to protect yourself as an adult. And, like I said, you can stay here for as long as you want. I don’t mind.”

Surprisingly enough, the last sentence seems to finally appease Yoo Joonghyuk, judging by how the protagonist glomps him again - this kid, how is he such a cuddlebug? “... Thank you, Master… Kim Dokja. As long as you keep allowing me to stay… I’ll learn, I’ll do my best, and… I will do anything for you.”

… This bastard, has he heard none of what Dokja told him earlier?!

… Hah, but so many things have happened in the past day that he has no energy to berate Yoo Joonghyuk anymore. Dokja simply hugs the kid back - he seems touch-starved, as expected of a whump MC. “Okay, understood, understood. A lot has happened, so I guess we can postpone the training further until today ends. Until then… If there’s anything you’d like to do, tell me. I’ll accompany you.”

Yoo Joonghyuk has brightened up so much that he thought it’s something very major, only for it to turn out that the kid just wants to spend the rest of the day listening to stories told by Dokja. Oh, and making Dokja learn his way of cooking dumplings, too. What the hell. Are kids this easy to please? … Well, now that he remembers it, Biyoo was also quite easy to please…

“If you find me crying in the dark… Please call my name, from the heart…”

Dokja can’t help the fond chuckle out of his lips at the sight of Yoo Joonghyuk’s eyes slowly closing after three lullabies, once again unconsciously clinging into his arm like a true touch-starved kid.

After a short while of debate, he eventually climbs on the bed next to the protagonist and hugs that small body into his own. He will spoil Yoo Joonghyuk until today ends, the kid deserves at least that much after an entire night being left alone by his awful master.

If Dokja still has any consciousness left, he would be questioning himself for finding solace in his future killer of all people…

… but Yoo Joonghyuk’s body is too warm and comfortable, so he says ‘fuck it’ and wastes no more time in falling asleep.

= = =

Now, Dokja is not a fool. He knows that beating up a fellow Demon King, regardless of the extremely valid reason, is an offense worthy of being demoted and punished at the very least. Even if he’s the infamous ‘Demon King of Salvation’ who doesn’t give a shit about anybody’s opinion whatsoever, it’s still legal in the demon world’s law for Syswitz to get revenge on him, even killing him. So, he has been preparing himself, re-training his deathliest skills, while also making sure that Yoo Joonghyuk is properly equipped with both offensive and defensive techniques.

However, he didn’t expect that it took… so long for Syswitz to come back - a good six months after that day. Six months might be nothing in ‘real life’ a.k.a. the modern world where he was a model Korean citizen; but in a ‘fictional world’ like this, especially with its protagonist, that would be enough time for a significant jump in power.

Yoo Joonghyuk is now eleven years old, much more proficient with his technique than before (especially the human-specific skills, understandably), and now has his own sword - the ‘Unbreakable Faith’ that Dokja used before but now gives to him as recognition of his abilities.

To be fair, this is rather risky considering that it’s a sword meant to be utilized by demons and Yoo Joonghyuk is the least suitable possible person for it, but… he has nothing else. It’s not like he can just give him the ‘Black Heavenly Demon Sword,’ which will be even worse. Either way, he just wants Yoo Joonghyuk to have a proper weapon against another Demon King, who’s now right in front of their door, looking murderous like a beast with his wounds still not healed.

Dokja barely dodges the furious slash from Syswitz, dripping with poison and turning his precious vegetable garden into a black dissolved mess.

“... Yoo Joonghyuk. Maybe it’s best that you don’t join this fight. I’ll be okay, but I can’t guarantee that you won’t be affected in the crossfire. Ah, damn it, it really is too much to make a child like you fi-”

“Kim Dokja. My Master.” Despite the slight trembling of his hands, Yoo Joonghyuk otherwise looks calm, his big eyes now narrowed in focus. “You have taught me everything, and I have tried my best to learn properly. Now… It is my chance to repay your kindness, by helping you get rid of… this.”

Dokja has no reason to feel so happy and reassured by those words, least of all from his future killer. But he is. So happy that his heart can burst out of his chest, even.

“... Stay close to me, then. Just do what I taught you, and don’t be reckless.” Maybe the good feeling has made his mouth more loose than usual. “I don’t know what I will do to this world if I lose you, too… so, never risk your life. Understand?”

He doesn’t know if he should thank the damned God up there, but that stubborn Yoo Joonghyuk is actually listening to him, staying close and never doing anything out of his current ability. It helps calm Dokja, allowing him to properly focus on being the main DPS of this fight with a crazed fellow Demon King, who is using his deathliest poison while slashing at them like an animal.

Why did Syswitz appear so late? Why, from someone shrewd enough to orchestrate that whole plan and persisted as a somewhat-major villain for two-thirds of the novel, he became this kind of mindless monster?

Those are questions Dokja would’ve asked, but now that this bastard can’t listen to reason, he won’t care anymore. There’s not much he can do against the true God of this world, DSFA’s damn author, anyway. So he simply focuses on beating Syswitz into a worse pulp than the other day, concentrating all of his condensed anger in the past two hundred years and releasing it onto the rightful target.

He’s almost finished with killing Syswitz, when suddenly, the bastard roars as he seems to concentrate what little strength he has left to generate a pure white ball of energy. Dokja’s entire body goes cold at the sight. It’s supposed to be an angel-exclusive deadly ability that can leave a demon crippled for life at best and die painfully at worst. How could a Demon King like Syswitz know that ability?! Does it have to do with how he’s a mindless monster right now-

… Fuck, the ball is already thrown at him. Welp, at least Yoo Joonghyuk can live freely without being held back by this awful master anymore-

Dokja hears a loud explosion along with the whole area filled in white light. When it finally clears, he sees Yoo Joonghyuk standing in front of him, his entire stance stiff and his ears red from what seems like anger as he tightly grips the Unbreakable Faith.

… Ah, have Yoo Joonghyuk’s angelic abilities awakened this early already?

He knows that the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is not supposed to be a fool. The ‘Demon King of Salvation’ would immediately be able to tell that the kid in front of him is an angel, and would immediately kick him out without a second thought despite just literally being saved by him.

But ‘Kim Dokja’ will pretend to be a fool.

It feels too nice to have Yoo Joonghyuk here with him, chasing away the loneliness that he’d never admit he was feeling in hundreds of years of isolating himself. It feels too nice to teach Yoo Joonghyuk and see those eyes sparkling at him in admiration. It feels too nice to hug the protagonist and feels another person’s warmth next to him again.

So he quickly finishes Syswitz off, burning the bastard’s body down with his strongest-degree flame, and even pouring down a whole bottle of his precious magical potion to make the body disappear like it’s never been on Earth.

Then, he turns back towards the trembling Yoo Joonghyuk. Judging by the protagonist’s scared expression and pale face, it seems he didn’t understand how he could do it, either. Of course, Yoo Joonghyuk is supposed to be completely in the dark about his heritage until the day the angels confronted ‘Demon King of Salvation’ and reveal it, after all.

Dokja has promised himself not to make things difficult for his disciple in this life. Then, pretending not to know anything is included in that. He won’t do anything, at least not until the angels inevitably arrive at his doorstep and make it impossible to keep this sweet dream going.

“Yoo Joonghyuk.” He kneels down to his disciple’s eye level and wastes no time in immediately hugging that scared-stiff body into his chest. “You did very well for your first fight. I’m proud of you, my disciple.”

Just to ensure to Yoo Joonghyuk that he’s not mad, nor has he found out about his angel heritage, Dokja pats the kid’s back with one hand and ruffles his hair with the other, just the way the protagonist seems to like it.

Thankfully, it seems his clumsy attempts at reassurance are good enough, if the way Yoo Joonghyuk finally hugs him back and sobs into his shoulder is any indication.

They stay like that for a long while, but Dokja finds himself not in any hurry to remove himself from this warmth. Yoo Joonghyuk seems to feel the same, anyway.

He wants to stay in this fairy tale deviation of this awful story just for a bit longer.

Chapter Text

In the spirit of trying to stay in their ‘happier’ deviation of this dogshit novel despite already changing the plot (by killing a major villain), Dokja purposefully avoids seeking out the other ‘important characters’ like Asmodeus, or Olympus, or least of all Anna Croft, by himself.

He spends the next four years just living quietly with Yoo Joonghyuk, not just training the protagonist anymore but also letting him attend a human school to give him some friends (a.k.a. the kids who have been playing with him since young) and a ‘normal’ life. Yoo Joonghyuk clearly enjoys seeing more people even if the brat keeps on pretending to be reluctant about it.

However, what amuses Dokja is how this kid still keeps jumping up in excitement to see him picking him up and always seems the happiest in the mansion with him. The protagonist doesn’t seem to care about the fact that he’s already a 15-year-old teenager and not a child anymore, still always running towards him with a hug whenever Dokja shows up at the end of class. And it’s not like Dokja has any ground to talk, seeing how he’s still indulging that behavior - especially at ‘home,’ where he will always let Yoo Joonghyuk hug or touch him anywhere.

It was the best years he had ever had in all of his 1864 lives after Biyoo’s death. Even his most normal life as ‘Kim Dokja’ was full of crap, such as his human father’s entire existence and his human mother’s suicide, so he only becomes even more greedy to keep maintaining this ‘fairy tale’ deviation.

… At least, Dokja would like that to be the case, but he’s not that naive. The fact that no Demon King or any official from the demon realm has ever come to demand answers from him for Syswitz in the past four years, or how eerily quiet the demon realm is in general, or how there’s no moves from the angels despite how Syswitz could use their technique… All of those are suspicious.

So is the fact that he hasn’t heard any gossip from the human world, even though the human realm is sandwiched between the other two realms and has to endure a lot of their shit.

Four years is too long for no ‘plot development.’ What on earth are those bastards Asmodeus, Olympus, and Anna Croft scheming? If this causes any difficulty to Yoo Joonghyuk’s life…

“What’s going on, young man? You’ve been looking serious.” Dokja is jolted out of his thoughts when the old man (technically way younger than him, but still) next to him claps his shoulder. “Hey, now that I remember, you’re that handsome kid’s dad, aren’t you? Worried about your son? Now, now, have some tea and calm down…”

At this point, Dokja is too tired to correct people on his (lack of a) relationship with Yoo Joonghyuk anymore. “I’m just a little concerned, Sir. The demon and angel realms have been very quiet, but if they suddenly do something, if my son somehow gets sweeped into it…”

“Aaah, right, those scary beings!!” Another middle-aged woman hisses angrily, although still trying to make her voice as small as possible not to disrupt other customers in this small tea shop near the human school. “Young man, actually, I live near the mountain where Olympus usually visit the human world, and… I swear that I saw them going with some demons!! That might be a Demon King, too, because he dressed so nicely… Ugh, what are they going to do now?! Be careful with yourself and your son, okay?!”

After the astonishment about such sudden lore drop fades away, Dokja bites his lips as he wonders if this has anything to do with Syswitz becoming a mindless beast all the way back then. The fact that the Demon Kings mostly hate each other is barely concealed even during official meetings where they’re expected to be well-behaved, much less outside of that. It wouldn’t be surprising if another Demon King, likely Asmodeus, made some kind of deal with the angels that involved using Syswitz as their test subject.

Whatever they’re planning, he doesn’t know, because the knowledge from the DSFA novel is no longer accurate when Syswitz is now dead. However, it’s possible that the demons and angels who conspire with each other will eventually start spreading their involvement to the human world, pretending to be amicable to each other while secretly trying to rope as many humans to their side as possible.

And Yoo Joonghyuk, who is almost identical to his angel mother Armisael, will certainly be recognized and roped into becoming Anna Croft’s killing machine. The thought almost makes Dokja break the tea table in half right here and there - he can’t thank the past peaceful four years enough for calming him down.

Should he stop allowing Yoo Joonghyuk to study in the human world? Back then, the kid insisted that just being with Dokja in the 51st Demon Realm was enough for him, anyway. He can keep Yoo Joonghyuk with him there for as long as possible, in the hopes of maintaining their peaceful little bubble as long as he can-

… except, Dokja knows he has no rights to do that. Why would he, the ‘main villain,’ interfere with the ‘story’ beyond what's his role? Yoo Joonghyuk is doing so well in the human world with those little friends, too, and what rights does Dokja have to take that away from him just for some more selfish moments of happiness?

He’s only supposed not to make things difficult for the protagonist this time around. Not actively screwing the guy’s life over more than he already did.

Turning around and seeing Yoo Joonghyuk deep in what looks like a thoughtful discussion with the doctor’s daughter, Dokja sighs. He’ll just have to disguise himself more so those bastards won’t immediately make the connection between the Demon King of Salvation and a half-angel child.

= = =

“I don’t like how you look now.” Yoo Joonghyuk grumbles at him the next day after class ends. “Those guys were asking if I had a new father. Why did you change? I like your usual look.”

It’s really saying how comfortable they have become with each other that Dokja doesn’t even think much before holding Yoo Joonghyuk’s hand to take him home, just as how Yoo Joonghyuk doesn’t hesitate one bit to squeeze his hand back.

“A new father, huh… You humans have such overactive imaginations.” Dokja sighs as he pulls on the protagonist’s cheek, who unsuccessfully tries to bite him back. “I was talking to some people yesterday and they talked about the Demon Realm and Angel Realm being more involved with humans recently, so I just thought that I should make myself less recognizable to avoid problems.”

It’s, in all honesty, not a very thorough disguise - Dokja simply made his eyes bigger and purple, changed his hair to blond, and dressed in a full-white outfit instead of his normal attire of white coat and black suit. He’s, sadly enough, not skilled in this kind of disguise magic. Still, the fact that it’s so different from how ‘Demon King of Salvation’ would choose to present himself, and that he’s supposed to be isolating himself, is at least a good enough distraction.

“... Oh.” Surprisingly, Yoo Joonghyuk widens his eyes in understanding before they go downcast as his grip on Dokja’s hand tightens. “Then… You can keep looking like that while we’re out. I don’t want any trouble for you. But… please change back to normal when we’re back at home… Master.”

“Don’t think I don’t know you’re bribing me with every time you call me ‘Master’ unprompted, brat.” He snorts while lightly slapping the cheeky bastard’s head. “That’s the plan, though. No need for a disguise in my own home, is there?”

Dokja has to try his best not to feel touched or moved when Yoo Joonghyuk nods eagerly at those words, nor how the protagonist has referred to his mansion as ‘home’ so naturally earlier. Or how he himself is also starting to think of the 51st Demon Realm as their ‘home.’

… All of this will go away one day. Don’t get attached.

He’s thankfully spared from agonizing over that any further when Yoo Joonghyuk lets out a soft ‘oh’ before apologizing to him, saying that he forgot a book at school, then hurriedly making a run for it.

Normally, Dokja would’ve just waited there for Yoo Joonghyuk to be done - the kid is now a teenager and can handle himself, after all. But all this talk about the demons and angels scheming something together - enough that a Demon King ended up mindless and able to use angelic techniques - makes him anxious. As if something bad will happen - if not to Yoo Joonghyuk, then to him.

Discreetly, he follows the protagonist back. Dokja has trained him well and has no doubt that Yoo Joonghyuk might be aware of him following, so this is more to avoid being seen by whomever may be conveniently there at the school to confront the protagonist alone.

As expected, his intuition as a reader of many novels is correct - someone has been conveniently waiting for Yoo Joonghyuk alone at the school, after everyone else already left.

It’s an unfamiliar face in the sense that he’s never seen this one before, but when Dokja connects it with his DSFA knowledge, it’s obvious.

This is Anna Croft.

She looks exactly like the novel’s description - long blonde hair, pale skin, unusual eyes with one red one (perhaps due to being adopted by Olympus); and most importantly, a seemingly-permanent smug look on her face.

Dokja has never known ‘hate at first sight’ until now, when he looks at the big bad’s face, using all of his restraints not to kill her right there. He wouldn’t be surprised if Olympus has placed some protection measures on her, and even if he succeeded in killing her, that would just be dooming what little future Yoo Joonghyuk can have - there’s no way the angels would accept him as one of them if his master killed their precious adoptive child.

Clenching his hands in a tight fist, Dokja then stares at the little shit, forcing himself to pay attention to her every move and word. Fitting for the big bad, Anna Croft doesn’t hesitate at all in making her way to stand right in front of Yoo Joonghyuk, who takes a few steps back warily.

“... Who are you?”

“I didn't expect you to be enrolling in a human school. However, this saves me a lot of work in seeking you out.” She crosses her arms with a smile that seems to be trying to look genuine except that it doesn’t. “My name is Anna Croft, and I can be your ally, Yoo Joonghyuk.”

“... How do you know my name? And what do you mean?”

"You may not know this, Yoo Joonghyuk, but you're a person capable of utter destruction." Anna Croft hides her smile behind her hand - at least she’s aware of how villainous and fake those smiles look. “Join Olympus with me. It's okay even when you're human, because I'm also human but they still took me in for they saw value in me.

"You're strong. You will become a warrior who slays every demon, turns the Demon Realm to a blood bath, and ensuring that they can no longer threaten the humans' safety. Especially the demon who's abusing you and just wants to use you as a future weapon. You can kill them all, in the name of the angels’ protection."

… Why are her manipulating skills so bad? She’s literally just spewing information to the protagonist without explaining anything or giving any valid points. Is this really supposed to be the mastermind behind everything, the one who single-handedly turned the demon world and angel world against each other?! Or is it just Dokja’s biased view as someone who has read and known the novel?

Either way, though, the blatant slander pisses him off. The Demon King of Salvation doesn’t need someone else to fight for him, does this brat think he’s one of the strongest demon kings for nothing? And if anyone wants to use Yoo Joonghyuk, it’s her with her audacity to make him kill whoever she wanted for years.

Dokja doesn’t want to hear all this bullshit anymore.

“Yoo Joonghyuk?” He steps out of where he’s hiding with a casual smile on his face. “Are you done with getting your book? I’m just a bit worried because you took a while.”

“Ma- … Hyung.” Dokja can’t help the proud feeling at how Yoo Joonghyuk’s apprehensive face immediately turns relieved and happy at the sight of him. “Hyung… I’m sorry for keeping you wait. I’m going right now-”

“You’re his brother?” His barely improved mood evaporates right away at how Anna Croft scoffs, flicking her chin up as if he’s a worm under her feet and not the Demon King of Salvation of all people. “I’m busy talking to him. Can’t you wait a bit more-”

“No can do.” Even though he knows he’s not supposed to raise suspicion, Dokja still allows himself to give her a cold smile that promises a swift neck snap if she speaks further. “Let’s go, Yoo Joonghyuk. I’ll make fried fish today.”

Anna Croft is still screaming something behind him, but Dokja can’t bring himself to care less, keeping a tight grip on Yoo Joonghyuk’s hand and taking him as fast as possible back to the 51st Demon Realm. This is what’s supposed to be the big bad? Not a single shred of subtlety. There’s no way he would let that little shit sweet-talk Yoo Joonghyuk into killing him. He doesn’t mind dying nor bleeding out under Yoo Joonghyuk’s hands anymore, but not if the protagonist is manipulated by Anna Croft to do so.

He feels a bit guilty for being in a bad enough mood not to speak a word with the protagonist throughout the way home, but a small part of him is saying that no one can keep calm after meeting someone like that, and he honestly has to agree.

At least Dokja knows for sure that the moment they arrive at home, he’ll calm down right away, and able to smile at Yoo Joonghyuk again-

“... Master.”

… Uh-oh.

“Ah, Yoo Joonghyuk, uhm… Sorry for dragging you like that. It’s just, uh, that girl seemed to be making you uncomfortable so I just…” Dokja scratches his head, internally cursing himself out. If anything, he was the one who got pissed off all by himself. Ugh, what happened to chilling himself out after a whole life of being the normal ‘Kim Dokja’?!

“Master… Kim Dokja.” Yoo Joonghyuk squeezes the corner of his black coat. “How much of… that… did you hear?”

… Oh, so he wasn’t mad at him for rudely dragging him away, but was scared that his master heard all that stuff about conspiring against the demons?

“From the beginning. She was talking about being your ally, didn’t she?” Dokja crosses his arms while letting out a sigh of distaste. He then waves a hand when Yoo Joonghyuk flinches. “I’m not mad at you. Rather, I find it understandable, even, that you would eventually develop a desire to kill demons. You’re still a human, after all.”

He means it completely analytically, especially considering that Dokja himself will be Yoo Joonghyuk’s first demon kill, but somehow, it makes Yoo Joonghyuk turn pale and tremble. “N-No!! Master, please don’t think that!! There’s no way I would ever kill you… Not you!!”

Well, you don’t get to choose that considering my death at your hands is literally the point of my character… is what Dokja thinks, but isn’t callous enough to speak out loud. Besides, he’s grown used to having his heartstrings tugged at the sight of his disciple looking lost and scared.

“Yoo Joonghyuk, listen. I mean it when I said that I found it understandable. That’s just how we are, and that’s the unbreakable line of separation between us - a Demon King and a human.” Dokja hugs the protagonist into his chest again like they have always done since Yoo Joonghyuk was a child. “I will not resent you for killing me… if that’s a choice you yourself make.”

“Master, no-”

“But I don’t want it to be because that girl convinces you. Because she manages to make you think you’re a ‘force of destruction’ of whatever bullshit.” He spits out those words with the most venom possible. “Because she makes you think you’re some kind of bloody killer. You are not someone like that, Yoo Joonghyuk.

“In fact, in my eyes, you’re someone who will be a hero.” He unconsciously tightens the hug on Yoo Joonghyuk’s now much bigger body that still looks somewhat cute (to him at least). “You will not kill demons because you want to make a bloodbath out of them, but because you want to protect someone else - be it the humans, the angels, or whatever. You’re a person who makes other people happy. So don’t listen to her, don’t let what she said cloud your mind.”

It really says something about how much Dokja has changed from his former ‘Demon King of Salvation’ self that he completely means it about not minding Yoo Joonghyuk killing him. And how he’s now directly throwing a wrench into this sorry excuse of a story by trying to remove Yoo Joonghyuk from Anna Croft’s influence right now, instead of letting things go per its course.

However, he doesn’t think he’s doing anything wrong. In fact, that’s what Yoo Joonghyuk deserves - to be his own person and not anyone’s puppet, whether it be Anna Croft, the Olympus branch, the Eden branch, or least of all the ‘Demon King of Salvation.’

The silence drags out for a long time, but Dokja sees no need of breaking it first. He has always let Yoo Joonghyuk do things first, to make sure the protagonist is comfortable before proceeding further. This won’t be an exception.

“... Kim Dokja.” Dokja’s breath hitches a little to see Yoo Joonghyuk looks up at him with eyes that look so… how to put it, vulnerable, hurt, and yet hopeful at the same time? “You said that I’m someone who can… who can make other people happy. Then… Are you happy by my side?”

“Yes.” He doesn’t hesitate for a fraction of a second. “Right now, you, Yoo Joonghyuk, are my happiness.”

The protagonist’s eyes tear up, but unlike when he would sniffle and sob out loud as a child, now the tears just silently roll down his face as he clutches both of Dokja’s hands like a lifeline. Dokja has to get one hand out to wipe those tears away for him - poor whump protagonist, to have this reaction from hearing that someone is happy because of him. Just what kind of life has this guy lived until now…?

“... Kim Dokja, my Master. I already told you, but I’ll say it again - I will never kill you. Not you.”

Dokja knows better than to believe in those words, seeing how they’re ultimately still just playthings of the ‘God’ up there, the damned author. But, at the way Yoo Joonghyuk looks so determined and sure of himself, yet also desperate for Dokja to believe him, he can’t help but wants to take his disciple at face value.

“Okay, okay.” In the end, he settles for ruffling Yoo Joonghyuk’s head, internally musing about how this kid might grow taller than him very soon. “Let’s not think about those unpleasant things anymore. Help me gather the vegetables, won’t you? I’ll fry the fish extra crunchy today.”

Watching Yoo Joonghyuk nods like a puppy then immediately scutters off, Dokja feels a strange sense of peace and acceptance.

He was not lying in the slightest - living with Yoo Joonghyuk and just enjoying a simple life, is his happiness.

However, he also understands the fact that in the future, all of this will be ruined, especially now that Anna Croft is aware of where Yoo Joonghyuk is. And he’s very certain that she’s also found out about his human disguise.

In that case…

Accepting his death without struggling is the least he can do, for the disciple he once wronged.

Chapter Text

Perhaps it’s due to how Dokja is beginning to feel how numbered these days really are, that he can no longer earnestly enjoy the feeling of waking up next to Yoo Joonghyuk like he usually did.

He finds himself instead trying to memorize all the details on that sleeping face, the way the protagonist breathes in and out peacefully, how Yoo Joonghyuk will unconsciously reach for him perhaps for warmth (even though he’s always properly tucked in a blanket). All of these are sights that he will never be able to see again once they become enemies - which will be very soon.

After the day of meeting Anna Croft; for the first time since forever, Dokja went to the deepest corner of his giant library, where he had stored all the books about angels, demons, and humans back when he was still an idealistic peace advocate. Before Biyoo’s death, he had been an avid reader who consumed books like water, and collected so many books even from the mythological era to eventually read. He had never expected that those books would only be read now, tens of thousands of years later.

Eventually, he finds a few books that confirms his suspicion - there is a long-forgotten and forbidden method since the myth era for angels to corrupt demons and humans alike. With the price to be paid being said unlucky demon or human’s soul and a certain amount of blood from the penetrator angel, the demon/ human will be rendered an empty shell whose only purpose left is to carry out the angel’s will.

This means, Syswitz was definitely turned by this method, and perhaps by an angel at least as powerful as Poseidon or Zeus of Olympus, or Metatron of Eden. But considering that Eden was the angel branch who took Yoo Joonghyuk in and took care of him in the novel, it’s very unlikely that it’s them. It could only be Olympus, who, for whatever reason, wanted to get rid of the Demon King of Salvation by using a fellow Demon King to kill him as some perverted kind of punishment.

… No, it’s not ‘for whatever reason.’ Dokja has always known that it’s because he has no alliance - obviously not favoring humans or angels, and yet also hostile to his fellow demons. A wild card like that can change his mind at any moment, and with his level of power, he’ll be a great thorn in his opponent’s side.

In that case, it’s dangerous for Yoo Joonghyuk to keep staying with him, regardless of whether or not he wants to ‘abandon’ the protagonist. Yoo Joonghyuk will be considered an obstacle along with him, even though unlike Dokja, he does have a place to belong - Eden, as one of their future warriors.

It’s bad enough that he couldn’t protect Biyoo. If Yoo Joonghyuk also gets killed by Olympus, or by Asmodeus and his cronies, as a consequence of being with him… Dokja will never forgive himself.

Crash-

His entire body throbs at the sensation of his barrier being forcibly penetrated, a feeling way more intense than that fateful night Yoo Joonghyuk accidentally wandered in here. To make it worse, he can feel multiple different angelic aura, those that completely oppose his demon body and making him nauseous from head to toe.

Anna Croft sure works fast, considering it’s only been two days since their encounter. In the novel, it was supposed to be Syswitz and Asmodeus spreading misinformation to Olympus, but maybe Anna Croft has taken matters to her own hands and outright told her sponsors of how the Demon King of Salvation was raising an angel to eventually use him.

Trying to not vomit at how nauseating the angel aura is making him feel, Dokja hurriedly makes his way back to the main door. As expected, a bunch of high-ranking angels - judging by their large wings and majestic halos - are already there, looking at the trembling and struggling Yoo Joonghyuk trying to defend himself with emotionless eyes.

Dokja’s memory is rusty - there are more than twenty thousands years to remember, after all - but when the guy with blue-white clothes in the middle starts speaking, he can tell who he is. Poseidon, acting leader of Olympus, regards Dokja with a voice as cold as his ocean-blue eyes.

“Demon King of Salvation. We must say that we didn’t expect this level of shamelessness from someone who self-declared that he hated all demons, humans, and angels. To think that you would try to use one of us, after already killing many of our own before.”

“You are just as shameless, Poseidon. What rights do you and your kind have, breaking into my realm and throwing accusations at me out of nowhere? How is it your business what I do with this human child?”

From his peripheral vision, Dokja pretends not to notice how Yoo Joonghyuk visibly flinches and turns a lot paler. Instead, he looks behind Poseidon, trying to see and estimate how much power he’ll have to exert to fight off this many angels at once. Their faces all blur into each others for him, but one particular angel catches his eyes from how strange she’s behaving. She isn’t looking at him and Yoo Joonghyuk with hostility, but rather uneasiness and even… guilt? Who is this angel?

“A ‘human child’… How laughable.” Poseidon’s emotionless face briefly twists into a mocking smirk. “From the way she reported to us, I had thought you took him in fully knowing what he is… Yet, you truly are clueless?”

“Stop!!” Yoo Joonghyuk suddenly shouts next to him, voice desperate yet pleading at the same time. “Don’t say another word!! Don’t tell him!! I… I’m not…”

“Foolish, poor child. You’ve been brainwashed by him for so long, enough that you think by his side is where you belong.” Poseidon lets out a mocking sigh at the same time the angels behind him start forming some kind of formation. “But you don’t. Your place is with us.”

A blinding beam then shoots from the angels, forcing Dokja to immediately move aside lest he burn into crisp from so much opposing power at once. Yoo Joonghyuk, on the other hand, doesn’t - or couldn’t? - move away in time… but it doesn’t matter.

Dokja stares in fascination at the way his disciple screams from the overwhelming power yet doesn’t get destroyed by it. Yoo Joonghyuk’s body then begins to light up, and from his back, white angel wings start sprouting until they reach half the size of his own demonic ones.

At that moment, Dokja feels his heart drop - but not from anger, surprise, or betrayal like his previous lives. Instead, it’s a deep sadness from seeing just how far the distance between them is, from having no choice but to wake up from this fairy tale deviation of this awful story.

He doesn’t let any of that show on his face, though. If those cruel Olympus angels can see his true feelings for Yoo Joonghyuk, it will be over. Yoo Joonghyuk will be labeled a traitor of his own kind, and will be relentlessly chased the way they will do to Dokja himself. No matter how powerful Dokja is as a Demon King, he can do nothing to awake Yoo Joonghyuk’s angelic potential, and it’s not like he can protect the protagonist forever.

Poseidon is right. Yoo Joonghyuk’s place is not with him.

“N-No…!!” Next to him, the protagonist is shaking his head and looking at him with such begging, heartbreaking eyes. “M-Master, Kim Dokja… It’s-It’s not what you’re thinking!! I don’t know- I’m not…!!”

“... Aaah, I’m tired of this display. Child, are you or are you not an angel? Are you completely brainwashed by him?” The female angel carrying a huge bow standing next to Poseidon suddenly scoffs with an irritated look on her face - she must be ‘Artemis’ based on the DSFA novel’s description. “If that’s the case, I don’t see why we should waste time trying to get him back, Poseidon. Even if he’s Armisael’s child, he’ll be nothing more than a liability if he’s loyal to that demon.”

Ah, this won’t do, Dokja scoffs in his head. As expected, they’ll be more than happy to kill Yoo Joonghyuk along with him once he fails to show loyalty to his angel kind. And he won’t let that happen.

Without a word, Dokja grabs his disciple’s collar and unceremoniously throws him to Poseidon’s feet. No one but Dokja himself would know that he’s intentionally used less strength to not hurt Yoo Joonghyuk too much.

Then, tightly gripping the Black Heavenly Demon Sword, he puts all of his strength into it before slashing the angels, wounding all of them - even Yoo Joonghyuk. Some of them scream in pain, while the more high-ranking angels, particularly Poseidon, stares at him stunned.

Dokja pours all the venom possible into his words, which isn’t difficult considering his still not faded away resentment towards these angels for killing Biyoo. “Brainwashed? Don’t make me laugh.

“Had I known this brat was one of yours, I would’ve killed him the moment he stepped foot into my realm. Do you really think I would harbor an angel, when you angels were the ones killing my daughter without mercy long ago?!” He’s started screaming before realizing it, swinging his sword at them more ruthlessly and causing more bloodshed. “Your shamelessness should know some degree!!”

In retaliation, the angels start launching all kinds of deadly attacks that would kill him in one touch at him, and Dokja even almost gets stabbed by Poseidon’s trident. However, already surviving the bloody battle back then, he narrowly escapes them all. His mind is too busy focused on the still shell-shocked Yoo Joonghyuk kneeling on the ground with tears running down his face, as if unable to believe that he was lying next to his master on his bed one moment and already got thrown out by him the next.

… This is not good. He doesn’t want to drag out this battle and hurting Yoo Joonghyuk more than he already did.

Ignoring the bleeding wounds from the angels’ attacks, Dokja expands power to his barrier to push all the angels out. Just as their angelic power is harmful to him, his own demonic one is repulsive to them as well, so all of them - even Poseidon, looking at him with nothing but hatred - eventually disappears behind the barrier.

Except for one.

Dokja knows that this is very selfish and cruel, but he can’t help it. He wants to personally see Yoo Joonghyuk off one last time as master and disciple - even if he’s already rejected those labels himself earlier.

“Kim Dokja… Master…” Yoo Joonghyuk weakly raises one bloodied hand towards him. However, unlike before when he would touch and hug him freely, now the hands tremble with clear hesitation.

The image of the Yoo Joonghyuk from all those previous lives, silently crying and staring at him in betrayal, flashes through Dokja’s eyes and forces him to blink it away before coldly addressing his adversary. “I don’t have any disciple who’s an angel. Now, leave, and don’t ever come back again. You won’t get to keep your life next time.”

“... Why?!” To Dokja’s surprise, Yoo Joonghyuk now whips his head up fully to shout at him with such anger that he’s never heard before - not in this life, at least. “You took me in!! You raised me and taught me what you know!! You called me your ‘happiness’!! Then, why… Why was it all it took for you to throw me away, just because I’m a half-angel?!”

Because you won’t be safe staying by my side from now on.

Because this ‘fairy tale’ is already over.

Because that’s our fate as the protagonist and the main villain.

His insides are shaking with guilt, urging him to hug Yoo Joonghyuk and beg for forgiveness, to tell his disciple that he’s sorry and they can still live together like nothing happened.

But Dokja bites his lips to prevent those unwanted words from coming out. As per the DSFA novel, Yoo Joonghyuk will irreversibly hate him the moment he’s discarded by his master. None of those useless words will be of any use now.

“Yes.” He nods without any emotion in his voice. “That’s all it takes.”

“Kim Dokja!! No!! Kim Dokja!!” Yoo Joonghyuk’s expression turns scared and devastated again, tears now pouring out like rain from his eyes as he tries his best to reach his arm here despite the barrier pushing him back.

“... Goodbye forever, Yoo Joonghyuk.” Unable to stop himself, Dokja allows a bitter smile on his face. “We will never meet again.”

Those words are technically untrue, because years later, they will meet again when Yoo Joonghyuk has fully matured into an Archangel on Poseidon’s level and killing him.

However, their peaceful days in the 51st Demon Realm together will never come back. They will never meet as the master and his adoring disciple, ever again.

Dokja doesn’t let himself look away from Yoo Joonghyuk. He burns the image of the screaming and raging protagonist into his mind, all the way until the man finally disappears from behind the barrier.

It’s then that he turns back with wobbling legs, going back inside the mansion and collapsing on the kitchen table’s chair, having exhausted himself too much from dealing with the angels and reinforcing his barrier.

The 49th and 51st Demon Realms, from now on, will never be opened again. At least, not until Yoo Joonghyuk forces his way into them eventually.

His shaking right hand hits something on the table, and Dokja blinks in astonishment to see that it’s a pot of steamed dumplings. There are even two plates and two pairs of cutleries on the table.

… Right, it was just in the morning that the angels ambushed them. Did Yoo Joonghyuk make these while he was in the library?

“... This cheeky bastard. He put tomatoes in today…”

Wet feelings on his cheeks forces Dokja to put his spoon down as he touches his face, feeling hollow to feel tears on them.

“... Yoo Joonghyuk.” He laughs without any humor as the tears continue to fall. “Didn’t I play my part well… as the ‘main villain’?”

Chapter Text

Compared to the utter depressive state lasting almost two hundred years after Biyoo’s death, Dokja would say that he’s doing a lot better this time.

‘A lot better’ in the sense that he still remembers to eat, tend to his plants in the garden, self-practice his skills, and sleep at night. Although he doesn’t do any of that well.

Despite only living here for five years in Dokja’s hundreds of years’ existence, Yoo Joonghyuk has carved his presence thoroughly. The rooms smell of him - especially his own room that Dokja never has the heart to touch since then, wanting everything to remain exactly at it was. The garden outside still has all the plants Yoo Joonghyuk chose, those few ones from the human world that can thrive on the demonic soil.

All of his clothes are still here, in his now locked room. All of his training and study books are still here. All of his little modifications to the mansion, as his way to make it look more ‘livable,’ are still here. And Dokja still finds himself willingly putting in tomatoes while making dumplings.

So, he’s doing pretty okay for someone who willingly kicked his disciple out for something out of his control. He thinks.

Dokja sighs as he flops down on the grass field, having been on a constantly tired state from spending every of his waking (and even unconscious) moment to reinforce the barrier. Before, he just let it be naturally and personally took care of any intruder (which was how Yoo Joonghyuk could even get in in the first place), but it’s different now - he doesn’t want anyone to have a chance of stepping foot in.

He isn’t arrogant enough to think that Yoo Joonghyuk would want to come back before getting strong enough to kill him, but it doesn’t hurt to take some precautions. Besides, even if it’s not Yoo Joonghyuk, Dokja is in no mood to greet any potential demon, human, or angel anyway.

His hand reaches for the Black Heavenly Demon Sword to swing it mindlessly, and he notes how it still feels a lot more awkward than using Unbreakable Faith. Not that there’s anything he can do about it, though, considering how he neglected to retrieve it from Yoo Joonghyuk and ended up kicking it out along with his (former) disciple. Surely, Yoo Joonghyuk would get rid of it, not wanting a reminder of his awful master.

… Speaking of Yoo Joonghyuk, how is that guy doing, Dokja wonders. It has already been two years since the day the protagonist was kicked out.

After finally calming down somewhat from his guilt, Dokja racked his brains and eventually remembered the angel with the weird manners on that day. Based on her looks and description in the novel, she was ‘Uriel,’ one of the high-ranking angels in the Eden branch and also one of the two people to truly care for Yoo Joonghyuk as a person. The other one was his new master in the angel realm, ‘Breaking the Sky Sword Saint’ Namgung Minyoung. She was the person to give Yoo Joonghyuk the ‘Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds’ that the protagonist never failed to kill him with.

Dokja has no idea why an angel from Eden would be with Olympus on that day, considering that their relationship was described to be terrible in the novel. Perhaps Uriel herself wanted to, or Eden’s leader Metatron gave her an order, to come there and take Yoo Joonghyuk in just in case Olympus didn’t treat him well?

Then, assuming that Yoo Joonghyuk is currently in Eden’s care and based on the novel’s timeline, he should be meeting Namgung Minyoung in three more years at twenty years old. He will proceed to train under her for five years which leads to his awakening as an Archangel, and then come back to the 51st Demon Realm for their fated blood battle.

Dokja has eight more years before he gets to see Yoo Joonghyuk again.

It feels like an eternity that’s somehow even longer than the 1862 timelines he remembers.

… And here he goes again. Any moment Dokja isn’t occupying himself with something else, Yoo Joonghyuk immediately fills all of his thoughts. If he lets himself loose enough, Dokja would even hear that young voice calling his name, or see those sparkling eyes looking at him like someone important and not the main villain.

Dokja sits up to resume practicing the Black Heavenly Demon Sword, knowing that he’ll keep wallowing in guilt for at least half another day if he allows those thoughts to continue.

= = =

Another year passes, with Dokja barely remembering what he did throughout.

The comforting silence of his 49th and 51st Demon Realms is now so eerie without the certain young, cheerful voice that he still hasn’t forgotten.

= = =

One more year passes.

He feels slightly more used to the Black Heavenly Demon Sword now.

Hopefully, this will allow him some dignity of being able to fight back a bit more and not have his wings and horns teared off anymore.

= = =

Another year passes.

These days, Dokja finds himself always tired, having been exerting himself every day since five years ago - the day he abandoned Yoo Joonghyuk - to reinforce the barrier.

On the one hand, it prevents any outsider from coming in; but on the other hand, it renders him even more isolated from the outside world than he’s already been. He has no idea what’s been going on for the past five years, whether the angel and demon worlds have gone on a full-on war or still in that fragile state of fake peace, and how the human world is being impacted in the former case.

Faint memories about the kids whom Yoo Joonghyuk used to study and play with come back to his mind, particularly the short-haired girl and the doctor’s daughter. Their school back then was also a bit uncomfortably to his own realms, only a mountain apart (which was why he enrolled Yoo Joonghyuk there in the first place). Thinking about those kids being dragged into the power struggle between demons and angels leaves a bad taste in his mouth.

After a day of contemplating, as well as remembering how he’s always wished he could’ve done something more for his human mother (whom the humans here are viscerally reminding him of); Dokja decides that he’ll step out of his realm, if only to look around and get an understanding of the outside world, along with making sure that he’s having a disguise on.

Because he’s not a very creative person, Dokja ends up using the same disguise on the last day he was in the human world - blond hair, purple eyes, full white outfit. Still, he figures it wouldn’t matter to the angels and demons anyway - all he needs is just less human eyes on him.

Once Dokja finally reaches the familiar human city where he used to take Yoo Joonghyuk to school before, he’s greeted with nothing but demons swarming around. This is more like a ‘demon city’ at this point. There are some humans, but they’re either being harassed or talked down to by the demons - particularly that one woman who is clearly the doctor’s daughter from before now grown up, biting her lips while being pushed around by a snobby-looking goat-like demon.

“Are you disobeying me? Human, must I remind you that I’m the acting manager of this Complex? If I tell you to heal our esteemed Duke Gillobat, that’s what you’ll do.”

“I do not owe you anything. The very same Duke Gillobat promised that I could leave this place after helping him develop the method to plant the Mendacity Tree. I have the instructions and seeds right here,” she extends her hands with a book on one hand and a small bag in the other, “so I get to leave.”

“Ah, but Duke Gillobat finds your dedication and your talents with the magical plants very valuable, so he has recently ordered me to keep you.” The goat-like demon smirks in a fake apologetic way. “Better that, than to let you fall into those angels’ hands.”

The woman’s elegant face slightly contorts in anger. A part of Dokja wants to come out from his hiding and teach that demon a lesson - it seems like Asmodeus doesn’t discipline his underlings well - but another bigger part tells him to keep watching, which he listens to. There’s too much he’s been missing out, and he would rather not unknowingly inconvenience this woman in any way.

Thankfully, it doesn’t take long for someone to come to the woman’s defense. Dokja widens his eyes to see that it’s no one else other than the short-haired girl who would occasionally sneak a glance at him and Yoo Joonghyuk back then - now also grown up, with a confident demeanor and a dagger glinting on her hand, approaching the now hesitant demon while scowling.

“What are you doing here, you angel dog?!” The demon pulls out his own weapon - a bow - and wastes no time shooting some at her. “Didn’t our Duke and your master Uriel agree not to interfere in each other’s business?!”

“Who are you calling an ‘angel dog’?! And since when is Uriel my master?!” What little calmness on the short-haired woman’s face disappears as she growls at the demon while slashing his face with no hesitance, causing Dokja to wince a bit. “This is my friend you’re messing with, bastard!! I’m taking her back!!”

Dokja silently watches the rather one-sided battle, which doesn’t last very long with the demon running off in the end while screaming about how his Duke Gillobat will hear about this. It’s really saying how disconnected the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ is from the outside world that he has no idea who this so-called ‘Duke’ is.

And, the short-haired girl… Although she said she’s no property of the angels, it’s clear to him that she has a sponsor from the angels' side, who gave her the weapon and some power that allows a human like her to outmatch a demon. ‘Uriel’... the same angel who came to his realm that day, the one closest to Yoo Joonghyuk in the novel. Then, perhaps it’s not a coincidence that his childhood human friends are also under her… protection?

“Sooyoung-ssi… Thank you very much.” The doctor’s daughter’s soft voice takes Dokja out of his thought and returns his focus to their talk.

“No, sorry for taking so long to get you out of here, Lee Seolhwa. It’s true that Uriel had an agreement with Gillobat, so I had to wait for an opportunity where it could be clearly proven that they violated the agreement first.” Sooyoung (?) pulls Lee Seolhwa up while biting her lips in regret. “Anyway, Han Donghoon is waiting for you at your shop. He and Lee Hyunsung will help you move to Havilah with us - Yoo Joonghyuk can protect us better there.”

“You’re not coming too, Sooyoung-ssi?”

“I need to take care of something first.”

Despite being taken with watching Lee Seolhwa hurriedly gathers her stuff and disappearing behind the houses, in addition to realizing the lore drop of Yoo Joonghyuk’s location; Dokja’s vast experience as a Demon King allows him nevertheless to block Sooyoung’s sudden attack from behind. Effortlessly, he grabs her neck and throws her to the ground, restraining her despite her futile effort to kick him away.

After a while of trying but still unable to break out of his hold, Sooyoung hisses. “Tch… Here I thought I would be able to deal with this intruder quickly, but it’s you… Yoo Joonghyuk’s ‘father’ - or ‘brother,’ I never understand it with him - what are you doing here?”

He didn’t expect her to remember him - this might be complicated. “That depends on your answer. The last I saw, you were just a normal human child, so how come you’re now equipped with an angel’s weapon and authority? What happened to this place during all those years?”

Sooyoung stays silent and glares at him for a long while, but he’s just as stubborn and meets her glare with an infinitely colder one. Eventually, she’s the one to turn away first, looking on the verge of tears as she mumbles to herself. “Damn it… Had I known I would become this fucking NPC and deal with the main villain of all people, I would’ve asked Munpia to allow me to write myself more OP…”

… Hah?

“... You… How do you know Munpia?”

“... You’re saying that you also know Munpia?”

“And you… mentioned that you would’ve ‘written’ differently…”

The silence this time is less tense and a lot more awkward as Dokja continues staring at her in disbelief, while she blinks at him nervously with sweat running down her forehead.

Once everything finally sinks in, Dokja smiles beautifully at her. “You fucking hack author. Are all my 1862 lives just a joke to you?! Couldn’t you choose someone else to drive Yoo Joonghyuk’s character development?!”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!! Calm down, I don’t understand!!” She raises her hands up in surrender. “So are you just an unlucky guy reincarnated into ‘Demon King of Salvation,’ or… or are you the actual…”

The hack author stops her own words to instead gulps nervously, which Dokja nods at with another bright smile. “I’m the actual ‘Demon King of Salvation,’ who somehow reincarnated into a modern world and found out about how my entire damned life was just a whump story where I was a sideline character. You little… I have so many things to say to you…”

“... Master?”

This time, it’s Dokja’s turn to have a chill run down his spine as he hears the familiar voice, now much deeper but still recognizable, a voice that shouldn’t be here. Didn’t ‘Sooyoung’ say that he’s supposed to be in Havilah - wherever that is - right now?! Then what the hell is he doing here-

“Han Sooyoung.” The voice now sounds a lot more pissed off. “What are you doing with my Master draping himself all over you?”

Dokja blinks and looks down to see that they’re indeed in a rather misunderstanding-worthy position, with Han Sooyoung’s hands pinned underneath him while he’s hovering above her. Ah, crap, didn’t he once deduce on how these two - Lee Seolhwa and Han Sooyoung - might be Yoo Joonghyuk’s love interests? … Well, shit.

Not to mention, he’s not even supposed to confront Yoo Joonghyuk right now. It should be 5 years later, but instead the protagonist is now meeting him at twenty years old, a time where he might not be skilled enough to kill Dokja yet.

So Dokja does what he thinks is the best thing at that moment.

He stands up, carries the confused Han Sooyoung on his shoulder like a sack of potatoes…

… and runs the hell out of there.

Chapter Text

Dokja isn’t stupid enough to think that he can outrun Yoo Joonghyuk. Despite having not turned around to see his disciple (because he, embarrassingly as it is to admit, didn’t dare to see what expression was on that face), he can still feel the protagonist’s immense angelic power. For some reason, even though there’s supposed to be five more years, Yoo Joonghyuk has already awakened his full potential as an Archangel at only twenty years old.

The fact that he can hear the protagonist’s footsteps very close to him is a reinforcement for that. The way Han Sooyoung is practically screaming and crying about how she doesn’t want to ‘die like this’ is yet another.

Which is precisely why Dokja is heading back to his 51st Demon Realm. ‘The most dangerous place is the safest place,’ after all - at least, he can utilize his home turf advantage and strengthening the barrier to block Yoo Joonghyuk’s entrance until the guy either gives up or eventually breaks in, at which point he’ll leave Han Sooyoung behind and run away again. She was talking about Yoo Joonghyuk protecting them so there’s no way the protagonist would harm her, anyway.

As for him…

He doesn’t know how to face Yoo Joonghyuk right now. He doesn’t want to see the rightful anger on Yoo Joonghyuk’s face from being betrayed for something he couldn’t control, or the understandable murderous intent for his adversary. Much as Dokja doesn’t admit it, he’s a coward - at least in this situation.

The moment Dokja manages to get both himself and Han Sooyoung inside the barrier, he immediately reinforces its strength, and ignores the feeling of Yoo Joonghyuk continuously slashing on the barrier with his sword as he takes Han Sooyoung into his house. She has been thrashing and screaming the whole way, so Dokja has no other choice but to tie her up on a kitchen chair with the demonic vines growing abundantly in his garden.

“Damn you!! If you hate me for being the author behind your suffering, just kill me already!! Why bother taking me to your lair like this?! Or do you want to torture me?! You fucking pervert demon k-”

Han Sooyoung’s rant gets cut off by Dokja shoving a dumpling into her mouth, leaving her blinking in utter confusion while unconsciously chewing it. Her face then turns agonized and teary as the demonic chilies inside the dumpling finally kicks in. “Ahhh!! What the hell is this?! Hot, hot, hot-!!”

“Too noisy, not to mention slandering me like that. You’re the one who wrote me and yet you don’t remember how, if the Demon King of Salvation actually wants to kill someone, they will already be dead by now?” Dokja scowls at how the hack author is practically breathing fire from the offending dumpling, and waves a glass of milk in front of her while smiling mockingly. “I’m not interested in killing you - the only reason I brought you here is to get information from the literal ‘author’ of this stupid story. Promise that you will answer all my questions, and then you’ll be untied along with getting this.”

“Y-You cruel demon!! Heartless!! No compassion in that empty chest-”

“Oh, so you can handle spices well, huh? I happen to have made plenty of those dumplings-”

“Fine, fine!! I’ll answer anything I can!! Just give me the milk!!”

Dokja raises an eyebrow at her pointedly.

“... Please!! I beg you, please!!”

Scoffing, but somewhat satisfied for now from having the hack author begging him, Dokja takes the vines away and hands her the milk. He makes sure to give her a cold smile promising of punishment if she tries anything funny, however; and she grumbles but obediently drinks the milk, still teary from the spice.

“... What kind of life did you have as a ‘normal human’? The original ‘Demon King of Salvation’ was cold and emotionless, but you… you’re just twisted.”

Dokja can’t even find it in himself to be irritated as he simply laughs. “Thanks for the compliment. Now, are you still going to deviate from the subject, or are you going to answer me properly?”

“I said I will!! But you haven’t even asked.”

“Didn’t I already ask what happened during the past five years?” Dokja leans closer to her as he makes a more serious expression. “I need to know the current situation with the angels and demons’ power struggle, and preferably every information related to Yoo Joonghyuk. He’s in a very awkward position with being half-blooded and having lived with a Demon King for years on top of that. I want to see if there’s any way to make sure he’s least affected by this bullshit.”

Han Sooyoung blinks repeatedly for a while after that, as if unable to comprehend what he just said. But when he’s about to repeat it again, she has already spoken, face still bewildered. “... At first, I didn’t understand why Yoo Joonghyuk was so attached to you - seriously, you were all he talked about when he did speak - but… now I get it. You’ve become so different from the novel…”

… Attached? Does she mean like the protagonist is so obsessed with his revenge that he could barely talk about anything else? Well, that’s one thing that isn’t different from the novel.

At Dokja’s impatient look, Han Sooyoung raises two hands in surrender. “Okay, okay, I’m speaking!! But, just so you know: Because of you, this story has gone so off the rails that not even I, the author, knows where it’ll go from now on. I’ll just tell you what’s been going on - and this is mostly heard from Uriel. After all, I’m just an NPC who barely ever got to be with the important cast.”

Before Dokja can snark at her about karma from torturing her characters so much or ask what she meant by ‘because of him,’ she’s already started. He can do nothing else but occasionally feeding her a dumpling to maintain her energy, non-spicy ones this time.

= = =

When Metatron asked her to accompany Olympus just in case because this was a rather complicated situation, Uriel didn’t want to take him seriously, because for the serious Metatron who couldn’t tell a joke to say that meant that it really was a big deal.

Yet, the situation in front of her forced her to wholeheartedly believe him.

She had heard many things about the Demon King of Salvation, (in)famous for having survived a bloody battle with many powerful angels from Olympus due to how said angels killed his daughter. And that the Demon King had been locking his realms away for hundreds of years, unaffiliating himself with any of the three realms. Thus, she had expected him to treat the half-angel half-demon child who wandered into his realm cruelly… but judging by how the child was screaming and begging for his heritage not to be revealed, it… didn’t seem to be the case.

For some reason, the Demon King of Salvation kicked all the other angels out first, so she couldn’t know what he was telling the child. But when the child was finally kicked out, he refused to get away from the barrier, uselessly slashing at it with a sword not meant for an angel like him.

“Seriously, what’s this? Some kind of a joke? I went along because Poseidon was talking all that about getting Armisael’s child to fight for us, but he’s stuck to that demon?” Artemis scoffed while spouting hurtful words, enough that Uriel had to do her best not to snap at her. “What a waste of time. Just kill him or whatever, I don’t care.”

The other angels from Olympus also left after her, with varying degrees of scowls and muttered unpleasantries. Thinking that it’s up to her to take the child in now, Uriel turned back… only to be greeted with Poseidon pointing his sword at the small head, killing intent full on his face.

“What do you think you’re doing?!”

Stepping back to avoid her burning flame, Poseidon scowled with his sword still firmly aiming at the young angel, now at his neck. “Artemis had a point. If that Demon King of Salvation has already brainwashed this child to this extent, he’s no use to us angels. There’s no meaning in taking care of him just for him to one day betray us for his master.”

“Like Hell I’d let you do that!!” Creating a line of fire in front of her, Uriel spread her arms out before the still shell-shocked child. “I’m not allowing you to kill one of our angel kin, especially one who’s still this young and didn’t know anything!!”

“Just so you know, Uriel, I don’t mind making enemies out of Eden for the sake of eliminating future liability-”

“Then, I suppose you’re willing to fight all of us at once?”

Uriel had never been happier to hear her supervisor’s voice or see him, in addition to Gabriel, Jophiel, and Michael, right now. She didn’t mind taking on Poseidon by herself either, but her bad habits of not holding back while she’s pissed off might cause this child to be injured. Hurriedly whisking the child into her arm (and having no choice but to knock him out because he was so resisting), she then hid behind Metatron, watching him staring at Poseidon with disgust.

“If Olympus doesn’t want this child, Eden shall take him in. We note your point about him having developed a fondness for demon after living with one for a long time… but that doesn’t matter. If he does end up betraying the angel kind, we will worry about that then.”

“Metatron of all people, saying something so irresponsible?” Poseidon let out what’s perhaps the rudest scoff she’d ever heard. “Fine. However, your Eden shall take responsibilities for everything that will happen when this brat betrays us. Olympus doesn’t consider him one of us anymore. He’s a traitor of our kind, just like his mother.”

Gabriel’s tight grip on her wrist was the only thing stopping Uriel from punching the bastard’s teeth out. Taking a few deep breaths in to calm herself down, she then turned toward Metatron with the angel child still in her arms, trying to make her face as pleading as possible. “Metatron, I know this might sound crazy, but I-”

“-will take care of that kid? We already figured that out on the way here.” Michael cut off her words in a matter-of-fact way. “Out of us, you’re the one most easily swayed, after all.”

“You ba-”

“Are you ready for how difficult it will be, though?” Gabriel tugged on her wrist. “Much as I don’t want to agree with Poseidon, it’s true that the child has some attachment - no matter how twisted it is - to Demon King of Salvation. It won’t be easy for him to accept us.”

“And you’ll be the only one hurting from his rejection. So you should think about it more carefully, Uriel. I can just take him to Dionysus or Mass Production Maker.” Jophiel nodded along with her, dead serious.

Touched as she was for their worries, Uriel shook her head. “No, I’ll be his caretaker! Don’t worry, I’ve already thought of what you said… and still, I can handle him. It’s fine, he should grow out of his infatuation for the Demon King soon enough!!”

= = =

“Metatron… It’s very humiliating to admit, but… I…”

“There’s no need to be embarrassed, Uriel. I appreciate that you’re still worrying for Yoo Joonghyuk despite his behavior until now.” Metatron was merciful enough not to berate or laugh at her, but his blunt words stabbed her heart. “However, if I may be frank, he’s a lost cause. It’s already been one month, and he still keeps going back to Demon King of Salvation’s realms. You have your own duties as well, it’s not like you can just keep dragging him back.”

The fact that no one else, not even Michael, laughed at her either, only deflated Uriel more. She had tried her best to get Yoo Joonghyuk to open up to her - enough that he finally told her his name - but there was zero hopes in him forgetting about the Demon King. He barely ate anything, and at least three times a week, would keep finding new ways to sneak out of the house she gave him just to walk all the way back to the 51st Demon Realm, banging on and trying to break through the barrier to no avail.

“Ugh, I know… But still, I feel so bad for him!! He obviously has a crush on Demon King of Salvation, yet this tragic young love is full of obstacles!!” Something lighted up in her head, and she looked up from where she was wailing into her hands hopefully. “... What if I try to get inside the Demon King’s barrier, and explain to him about how Yoo Joonghyuk just want to be with him again-”

“You would have better chances winning against Asmodeus with your arms and legs tied.” Michael extinguished her hopes immediately.

“I have to agree with Michael.” Not even Gabriel sided with her - she’d never felt so betrayed.

“After all, the Demon King of Salvation hated angels for a good reason - those Olympus barbarians, not even verifying the truth before killing his daughter. The fact that he just kicked Yoo Joonghyuk out without killing him was enough mercy by his standards already. If you bring him back, I can think of nothing but disaster.” Jophiel firmly shut down any lingering hopes left.

“... But… It’s not like we can just leave him depressed like that forever…”

“I agree.” The previously quiet Metatron sighed while grabbing his forehead. “At this point… Perhaps, calling the ‘Breaking the Sky Sword Saint’ for help is our only choice. If anyone won’t allow themselves to be stuck by emotional reasons, it’s her.”

= = =

Namgung Minyoung stared at the kid who had refused to look at her since he came here, wondering why she even took him in again.

Then she remembered how the angel with blonde hair had begged her, and how something in her couldn’t help but feel bad at the empty yet desperate look in this kid’s eyes; and let out a long sigh. So much for trying to keep a neutral stance and not involving herself with any parties, only to still be swayed by useless empathy.

“Kid.”

“...”

“Yoo Joonghyuk. If you don’t answer me properly right now, I’m kicking you in the ass.”

Surprisingly, that got a reaction from him. “... What?”

Alright, that’s rather rude, but she could be patient and understanding once in a while. “Look. Eden had entrusted me to teach you, as your master. I don’t like going around admitting this, but… I’m also a half-angel, so I’m perhaps the one who understands best how you should be trained and what techniques you should employ. If you’re going to be stuck here until they take you back anyway, might as well just learn from me to kill time.”

“... You don’t have to teach me if you don’t want.”

Minyoung found herself not offended, surprisingly - perhaps because the kid’s voice sounded sad rather than petulant. “Why are you saying that?”

“If you’re forcing yourself because Eden said so, don’t. I… won’t call you ‘Master’ anyway. For me, there is only one Master.”

Huh, Eden really wasn’t kidding about how infatuated this kid was with that infamous Demon King of Salvation. Now that she remembered it, wasn’t said Demon King also someone who had isolated himself from the world? In that case, the way he treated this kid must have been… interesting.

“Fine, no need to call me ‘Master.’ But you must add ‘-nim’ to my name, or I’ll kill you.”

Smirking at how that got the kid to glare at her, Minyoung then spoke more seriously. “And those feelings for your old Master… Keep them strong in your heart, and keep training so that one day you can get stronger than him. Then, you shall be able to demand answers on why he couldn't have looked past your origins, despite how much time you spent together.”

Oh, now some fire finally lighted up in this kid’s eyes.

“Feeling like learning now, huh?” Minyoung couldn’t help but laugh at how the kid was now kneeling down, all serious. “Okay. First of all, ditch that sword. I don’t know nor do I want to know why that Demon King gave it to you, but it’s only for demons. You shall have another training sword.”

“...”

“Do you want to learn or not?”

“... yes, Breaking the Sky Sword Saint… -nim.”

= = =

“... that pretty much sums up Yoo Joonghyuk’s life after you abandoned him. He pined after you so much that Eden had no choice but to bring Breaking the Sky Sword Saint to him 5 whole years earlier. Then he’s now just the protector of Havilah - the land Uriel is in charge of - and occasional vigilante who beats up offending demons. Nothing much.”

“You really are such a hack author. The way you lore dumped was so bland and yet exaggerated.” Dokja scowls at her, uncaring of her indignant protests. After all, how could she speak so little of Yoo Joonghyuk’s accomplishments, and yet outright made up and exaggerated the protagonist’s so-called ‘infatuation’ with him? What good is an author if she mixes up hatred with affection?

… Still, she did give him information, so Dokja decides to not be harder on her than he already is. Taking out a plate of fruits and feeding her one slice, he asks in a gentler voice. “Thanks, anyways. How about the whole power struggle stuff with the demon world and angel world? And that little sh- I mean, Anna Croft. She was the mastermind behind everything in your novel. What’s she doing now?”

Han Sooyoung’s blissful chewing face turns guilty as she looks away while sweating. “... Uhh… She hasn’t shown herself up for a while… ever since Yoo Joonghyuk started training with Breaking the Sky Sword Saint, I think. So I have no idea what she’s up to.”

“...”

“Don’t look at me with those cold eyes!! I told you, of all people, I just had to be reincarnated into an unimportant NPC!! How was I supposed to know what those bastards have been scheming?!” Han Sooyoung practically wails in despair. “Well, but from how I wrote her in the original novel… She must be busy with training with Olympus, in addition to two-timing them by occasionally going to meet in secret with Asmodeus at the border of the 32nd Demon Realm.”

“How could she even do that for so many years without being noticed by Olympus?” Dokja frowns at how it seems the big bad has a rather thick plot armor.

“... I… didn’t think that much. I just wrote it assuming that Zeus had such a soft spot for her that he never doubted her.” The hack author becomes more and more flustered at Dokja’s increasingly unimpressed expression. “It was just a self-indulgent story I wrote to relieve stress from writer’s block!! I didn’t ask it to become so popular!!”

Clicking his tongue while feeling lucky that he’s now a demon instead of a human because he would’ve died from high blood pressure a while ago, Dokja takes a breath to calm himself before finding something else to ask. “Alright, then how come the human city became infested with demons after five years? Did Asmodeus have something to do with it?”

“Oh, right. Asmodeus decided that he wanted to rile up the angels by flaunting the demons' influence over the human world - so he conquered the city and all the nearby towns two years after you closed off your realms.” To his surprise, Han Sooyoung now looks a lot more serious. “Now that we’re talking about him, you should know that he has an unhealthy obsession with you - and not in the Yoo Joonghyuk way. You’re so strong, and yet you’re on no one’s side, so he’s dead set on killing you just to make sure no party can have you.”

“... Don’t say such creepy stuff, it’s giving me goosebumps.” Dokja rubs his arms, disgusted at the mere thought of that bastard Asmodeus being obsessed with him. “Besides, isn’t Yoo Joonghyuk still in more danger than me? Asmodeus may think that he can sway him to his side just because he lived with me for a few years and might be sympathetic to demons or something. Or Anna Croft may still want to make him her puppet, like in the novel. Or Olympus may finally be serious on killing him to remove the ‘liability’.”

He has no idea why Han Sooyoung stares at him in disbelief for a long while at that, then shakes her head repeatedly, before ending up slamming her face into her hands. “... You… How can you be… so dense…”

Dokja would’ve asked her to explain what she meant, if not for how he can no longer ignore the growing prickling feeling in his chest.

“... Hack author, are you good enough at fighting to beat Yoo Joonghyuk? Or at least, to run away without a scratch?”

“... Huh?”

“Because he’s already broken through the barrier.”

Leaving the confused author behind with some quick words about just hiding herself if she can’t handle it, Dokja hurriedly runs outside. With a grimace, he sees that Yoo Joonghyuk has indeed already found his way in, slightly battered and bloodied from the barrier’s defense mechanism, but still looking at Dokja with nothing but hatred in those dark eyes.

“Master… So it’s okay for you to run off with Han Sooyoung, a human; but you couldn’t be bothered to look at me even though I’m also half-human? Is the angel blood just that repulsive to you?”

Crap, such bitter words full of resentment from so many years. The way Yoo Joonghyuk is still mockingly calling him ‘Master’ doesn’t help, either. Still keeping quiet lest he accidentally say anything he shouldn’t say, Dokja eyes the man warily. How do one even begin to calm down an angry, dead-set-on-revenge protagonist…?

“D-Demon King of Salvation!! Don’t worry, he’s just a bit mad that you didn’t pay attention to him despite having not see him for so long!! But if you just start patting his head and say sorry, he’ll behave again!!”

… Hah?

Dokja blinks incredulously at how that angel, ‘Uriel,’ has just suddenly popped out behind Yoo Joonghyuk’s back.

“Uriel, what are you doing here?” The protagonist slightly looks to his side just to give her the most unamused look he’s ever seen on him.

“Well, neither you or Han Sooyoung came back to Havilah even though it’s already late, and I could feel your power being used up so desperately at this location, so I had to check up on you!” Uriel pouts, then whips her head around to smile at Dokja in such a happy way that he feels a little creeped out. “So you were trying to make up with your Master?! Come on, Demon King of Salvation, just pat his head!! And you can add a hug while you’re at it…”

Why do her words feel full of ulterior motives? No, scratch that, why is this angel assuming such a good relationship between him and Yoo Joonghyuk?

“Oh, how saddening. Hundreds of years of the Demon King of Salvation refusing my hand, only for him to already cozying up with the angels when I didn’t notice?”

… what now.

Dokja is unable to keep the disgusted expression out of his face when yet another unwelcome presence steps into his garden like he owns the place - Asmodeus, the beloathed fellow Demon King that he’d never liked in all of his 1863 timelines.

“You must be wondering why I’m here.” Asmodeus continues with a straight face as if willingly ignoring how the atmosphere has become more tense because of him. “It’s as this angel said - the other angel’s power when he tried to break your barrier was so overwhelming that practically every one in the Demon World felt it. And she mentioned something interesting… This angel is infatuated with you?

“Demon King of Salvation.” His casual tone now takes on a notable edge. “Are you betraying the demon kind with these angels?”

Go suck your own di-

Dokja barely manages to bite back his instinctive snappy response in time to instead turn back and give Han Sooyoung a dirty look. Why are all the somewhat-important characters barging into my residence today?! What did you do?!

I have no clue either. The plot’s gone off the rails long ago, don’t ask me, is what she seems to be trying to convey with her guilty eyes while making herself as small as possible behind a bush. This unhelpful bastard…

He has no choice but to handle everything by himself now. The most important priority is to make sure Yoo Joonghyuk doesn’t get dragged down with him. In that case…

“Don’t invite yourself into places you’re not welcomed, all of you.” Dokja glares at all three intruders, reserving the nastiest glare for Asmodeus. “And who do you think you are, going around accusing me? I don’t know who these angels are, nor am I responsible for whatever delusions they may be having.”

There, an appropriate response that removes any iffy implications of being ‘involved’ with the demons from Yoo Joonghyuk. Now, the only problem left is how to get all these people to leave, so he can keep interrogating the hack author-

“Haa.” Yoo Joonghyuk suddenly sighs, before making his way toward Dokja with his face full of… pain and bitterness? “So you still want to play it like that, Master. Fine, I’ve given up hopes of having you acknowledge me long ago.

“But… At least, please let me stay by your side. You can hate me, you can ignore me, you can refuse to talk to me - I don’t care. All I ask for is to let me fight and die for your sake, Kim Dokja, my Master.”

Yoo Joonghyuk, screams Dokja in his head. I’m trying to make sure you won’t get dragged into the power struggle bullshit here, so can you stop?! And why do you sound like a masochist?!

Chapter Text

“Hmm? This angel is saying some interesting things… Just how intimate is your relationship with him, Demon King of Salvation?”

“Shut the fuck up and go kill yourself.” Dokja can no longer hold himself back at the smarmy look on Asmodeus’ face. The bastard just laughs without any damage whatsoever; and Dokja only feels further aggravated at the way the Uriel angel is squealing and taking a spot next to Han Sooyoung with a mysterious bag of popcorn in her hand, as well as how Yoo Joonghyuk is now standing so close he can feel the protagonist’s body heat.

This is the worst. Yoo Joonghyuk has just firmly established himself as an ally of the Demon King of Salvation (who had unceremoniously kicked him out without remorse years ago, which makes Dokja very concerned about the protagonist’s masochistic tendencies) - right in front of Asmodeus of all people, and in front of a high-ranking Eden angel.

Dokja doesn’t know how to resolve this problem in a diplomatic way, considering his lack of social skills, so he resorts to just killing Asmodeus.

Without wasting more words, he aims straight for the bastard’s head with his deadliest techniques, which succeed in shutting that damned mouth up for a while as Asmodeus concentrates on not getting hit.

He would’ve felt more satisfied about having managed to wipe that smirk of the guy’s face… if not for how Yoo Joonghyuk is assisting him. Sure, the protagonist’s moves are amazing and elegant, as expected of being taught by ‘Breaking the Sky Sword Saint’... but, protagonist, you’re an angel!! Aren’t you worried about getting hit by stray demonic energy blast and hurting your body that way?!

It’s not like Dokja can say that out loud, either, lest it be taken by Asmodeus as concern for the enemy. So he has no choice but to essentially ignore Yoo Joonghyuk’s assistance - what you don’t say can’t be used against you in court. Dokja can occasionally see flashes of hurt on Yoo Joonghyuk’s face at his indifference, but he decides that it’s just his imagination.

“Go, Demon King of Salvation!! Go, Yoo Joonghyuk!! Kill that bastard!!” Uriel is cheering enthusiastically behind them, which Dokja also ignores. Because if she can’t see what’s wrong with a Demon King and an Archangel teaming up against another Demon King, it’s not his problem to tell her.

Though, much as this isn’t the best time to admit it, Yoo Joonghyuk joining the fight does actually wear down Asmodeus faster than it would’ve been if it was only Dokja. Being fellow Demon Kings, the bastard has some natural resistance to Dokja’s own power; but the addition of Yoo Joonghyuk’s Archangel power is posing a big challenge.

Making a mental note to find a way to thank Yoo Joonghyuk later, perferably by getting rid of Anna Croft; Dokja discreetly positions his sword in such a way that it’ll penetrate Asmodeus’ brain with a single move. Just a few more seconds-

… wait a minute.

Now that he notices, Asmodeus didn’t directly engage him much. In fact, he was far more focused on Yoo Joonghyuk, keeping on slashing at the protagonist and drawing a lot of blood.

… Fuck, could it be-

Dokja’s train of thought is immediately confirmed when Asmodeus stabs his stomach at that moment with the very same sword he’s been using to stab Yoo Joonghyuk, whose blood is still on it. His vision turns blurry as the unwelcome nauseous feelings hit him in full force, turning his limbs weaker right away.

Isn’t this the same method that was used to turn Syswitz mindless? This fucker, he’s using his own disciple’s blood for this shit-

At that moment, Dokja isn’t calm enough to think about his action. With all his strength, he pushes Yoo Joonghyuk away so hard, the protagonist falls to the ground. If he’s going to become a puppet for Asmodeus’ dirty purposes, at the very least, his (former) disciple should be as far away as possible to not be affected-

The last thing Dokja sees before his vision turns white is Yoo Joonghyuk's weirdly stricken and… heartbroken (?) expression as the protagonist tries to reach a hand to him.

= = =

When Dokja opens his eyes next, it's a place he could never have expected: the prison of a Demon Palace. He rarely talked to his fellow Demon Kings even before the Biyoo incident, much less afterwards, but the excess blood on the walls and squelching sounds from the cells adjacent to him make it clear this is in Asmodeus' lair - someone with needless sadism. His own cell is much nicer and cleaner, but it doesn't help much when his wrists and ankles are both tied.

Had it been a normal situation, Dokja would've easily broken out of the chains. But to his displeasure, due to Yoo Joonghyuk’s blood on the sword Asmodeus stabbed him with, his limbs are essentially jelly now. And not just his limbs, but his body is now burning with an intense pain threatening to make him unconscious again. After all, to angels and demons, the other side’s blood is fatal poison.

Isn’t he supposed to have lost his mind by now, though?

Now that he remembers it, another requirement for the brainwashing spell to work is the soul of the controlled demon/human. However, his soul is still intact. Did that bastard Asmodeus mess up the spell somehow?

Dokja leans his back against the wall, forcing himself to calm down and wait. In novels, the villains always love going around gloating to the hero and giving away lots of details about their plan, after all. He’s never been more glad for having developed a way to make a ‘recorder’ from the stone and the magic available here way back then, out of boredom during break times in Yoo Joonghyuk’s training. With the stone hidden in his coat’s inner pocket, Dokja squeezes his eyes shut in an attempt to ignore the pain, and wait.

Sure enough, just about an hour later, Asmodeus appears in front of his prison cell, a smug grin practically splitting his face. Seeing that destroys what little left of Dokja’s calm. “Cut off your own dick and eat it,” he practically spits out the words.

"I'd rather eat yours."

"..."

"Don't look so disgusted. I’ve wanted to have the chance to talk to you so closely again, to see that defiant look in your fiery eyes." Asmodeus smiles in such an insincere way that Dokja wants to chop his head off. "And you should treasure your last chance to talk as yourself, too."

“So I’m Syswitz number 2, huh?” Dokja scoffs, his hand raising the middle finger. “That guy must be rolling in his grave right now, having cooperated with you to take me out of the picture, only to end up being your test subject for this spell. You're calling me a traitor of the demon race, when you had done something like that to your own accomplice?”

“... How sharp. I didn’t expect that you’ve figured out about us being behind your daughter’s death…” The caution on Asmodeus’ face then fades away for his usual smirk to reappear. “Well, it's a good thing I didn't underestimate you and went all out with this plan, then."

"Wasn't this method supposed to turn the affected demon mindless immediately? There was the blood from an angel, but... Somehow, you didn't manage to consume my soul, huh?"

Dokja's experience with these villains is that they'll keep talking, thinking that no one but the hero can hear them anyways, and he's right. Asmodeus generously launches into a long explanation about how, when Dokja lost consciousness, both Yoo Joonghyuk and Uriel had launched themselves at him and grabbed each of his arms to remove the curse’s influence. Apparently, Asmodeus still somehow managed to shake them off and bring Dokja to his lair, but they were relentless in chasing after him and are currently trying to get to this palace.

“Either way, they were able to keep you from losing your mind for now. But their futile effort won’t blossom anything in the end.”

His blood turns cold to see Asmodeus pulling out a decently large vial of blood. Before Dokja can try to get away, the bastard has already forced his mouth open and dumped the whole vial down his throat. Still weakened from Yoo Joonghyuk’s blood, the new amount of blood makes him feel even worse - his body is burning, his vision turns blurry, and he basically feels on death's door.

“Those angels were the exact same - when they got angry, they both lost reason and knew nothing more other than to kill me. But that made it easy for me to cut them and gather their blood.”

There’s nothing but malice in Asmodeus’ cold smile. “You're a resilient one, Demon King of Salvation... so even with this much blood from both Uriel and your loyal dog, it'll take until tomorrow morning at the very least to fully corrupt you. However, that's good enough for me.” Asmodeus cups his face with both hands. "I've always wanted your power... This is all your fault. If you could just obediently take my hands, I wouldn't have had to do this."

Dokja uses whatever strength left he has to curse at Asmodeus with the vilest words possible, telling the bastard to go kill himself for using him as a puppet for war with the angel world like this. But the fucker just smiles again in that punchable way before getting out, leaving Dokja alone with his body practically on fire and his consciousness fading second by second.

Trying his damndest not to lose his mind, he begins to rationalize Asmodeus’ actions, and realizes that the bastard… doesn’t make sense. Dokja himself, Syswitz, and Asmodeus are the three most powerful and prominent Demon Kings in the demon world. Now, with Syswitz dead and Dokja soon to follow after battling Eden, there will only be Asmodeus left with Olympus still untouched. Is that bastard so confident that he can take down Olympus by himself? Or does he trust Anna Croft that much?

It’s obvious that only Anna Croft could’ve been the one to disclose this method to him, seeing how long-forgotten and forbidden it was. Yet, she’s the mastermind behind this whole novel, someone who never cares about anyone but the humans. If Asmodeus somehow thinks he can also use her, that’s a different matter, but… how exactly?

Dokja’s blood runs cold as an unwelcome possibility comes to his head - just as the bastard has used Yoo Joonghyuk’s blood for the sake of brainwashing him, what’s stopping Asmodeus from also using his blood to break Yoo Joonghyuk’s mind? Then, Yoo Joonghyuk will still become a puppet just like in the original novel, just Asmodeus’ this time instead of Anna Croft’s.

Like Hell I’m letting that bullshit happen-

With sheer willpower, Dokja manages to break his right hand free from the chains. That’s enough for him to then reach for the Black Heavenly Demon Sword to the side (this Asmodeus bastard sure looked down on him enough not to get rid of his sword) and free the rest of his limbs. He stands up with wobbly legs and aims his sword at the walls behind him. If he’s going to lose his mind anyways, at least he won’t let Asmodeus use his body.

However, to his frustration, Yoo Joonghyuk and Uriel’s angelic blood has worn him down more than expected; and Dokja collapses to the ground again while still not yet break the walls down completely.

Damn it. Fuck all of this.

Had Dokja known he would die like this, he would… he would…

He would’ve apologized to Yoo Joonghyuk. No, scratch that, he wouldn’t have bothered with acting like a proper ‘main villain’ in the first place. Had he known the story would’ve gone so off-course, he would’ve just taken care of Yoo Joonghyuk properly…

“... Yoo Joonghyuk…” Dokja wonders if he’s dying now, with all the moments when they were still living together currently flashing in front of his eyes. “I wish… to see your smile… again…”

= = =

"The chaos going on in Demon King of Salvation's realm, and then Asmodeus' realm... They'll be destroying each other soon thanks to the method you gave him, won't they, my dear child?"

Anna Croft nods, feeling relieved to see Zeus’ satisfied look. “It will be killing two birds with one stone, Father. Asmodeus believed me about how I would destroy the angels from the inside for him, so I had given him the brainwashing method long ago for the sake of him killing his demons competition. And now, with his current plan to use the brainwashed Demon King of Salvation to kill Eden, Olympus won't have to lift a finger to destroy our own competition.”

“But isn’t Asmodeus being a bit too arrogant?” Sitting next to them, Poseidon asks with his expression wary. “Has he not thought of how, even the Demon King of Salvation would eventually be exhausted and die after fighting the whole Eden army by himself? Then, what plan does he have to overthrow us next? Due to the inner power fight in the demon world, after Demon King of Salvation's death, Asmodeus will be the only Demon King left. There's no way he can do anything by himself.”

“That doesn’t matter to us, does it?” Zeus waves his hand with the confidence and arrogance of Olympus’ leader and one of the strongest angels in existence. “If the demon world and Eden destroy themselves, leaving only Olympus left to dominate the humans, that's enough.”

“As expected from my brother. We are lucky to have a leader like you.”

Poseidon’s smile looks completely sincere, enough that Zeus just nods with a pleased huff, but Anna doesn’t miss the pointed look he gave her in that brief milisecond. Discreetly nodding at him, she then stands up and leaves after making an excuse about going out to gather more information about the upcoming blood battle between Asmodeus' troop and Eden’s army.

Once she’s reached her personal room, at one of Olympus’ deepest and most impenetrable corners, Anna finally allows herself to sigh in relief. It’s so tiring, having to keep up a facade in front of everyone… but if she just keeps enduring and following forward with her plan, eventually, it will all pay off. Humanity will get to live just by themselves.

Despite all the empty promises she has given, whether to Asmodeus and Syswitz, to Zeus, or even to Poseidon; she has no plan to give them what they actually want.

Ever since her failure to string Yoo Joonghyuk to her side five years ago due to how attached he was to his damned Master, she's been going with the new plan: to use Demon King of Salvation as the weapon to eliminate Eden and the Demon World. And then, at Yoo Joonghyuk's most vulnerable moment, she'll use her manipulation skills to direct his anger towards Olympus.

She will say that Asmodeus only knew how to control his master because he was in cahoots with them, utilizing his grief and lack of purpose for her own use. From what her Prophetic Eye could see of her previous lives, Yoo Joonghyuk’s potential is massive - pushing him to the edge far enough, and he will become a mindless killing machine, capable of taking down Olympus by himself even at the cost of his own death.

At that time, Yoo Joonghyuk can also get rid of Poseidon and Zeus for her.

She has been promising Poseidon that she will get Demon King of Salvation’s or at least Asmodeus’ blood for him to apply a reverse brainwashing spell on Zeus, gaining control of Olympus. Zeus' leniency towards her and Poseidon's desire to overthrow his brother is why she's having as much freedom as she does now. But she knows that the moment she lets down her guard or isn't careful, letting them find out her real thoughts, everything will be over.

After all, no matter how much she can sweet-talk and manipulate, she's still just a human.

Thus, there’s no choice but to keep going forward with her plans, slowly but steadily and carefully.

All of this is so the humans will not have to obey anyone but themselves.

= = =

“... gugh- Ugh!! Damn it, this stupid wall sure is hard to break… Ah-ha!! Yay, I can get in!!”

… what the hell. Why is the afterlife so noisy…

“What afterlife? Wake up, Demon King of Salvation. Your dearest author is here to save you!”

…?!

“... Han Sooyoung?!” Dokja springs back to life despite how close to dying he still feels. “What are you doing here?! How did you get here in the first place?”

“How rude! To think I practically risked my life infiltrating this stupid complex prison to save you.” She scowls at him before turning away sheepishly. “Well, it’s mostly thanks to Yoo Joonghyuk taking away their attention by killing them one by one, but still.”

“... What do you mean? Yoo Joonghyuk… is here? For what reason?” The destructive effect from the angel blood makes Dokja unable to think straight or rationally. “For that matter… why are you here? You were comfortable writing nothing but suffer about our lives, whether mine or Yoo Joonghyuk’s. Hell… You were the one writing Syswitz and Asmodeus conspiring together to kill my Biyoo.” His voice becomes more and more bitter near the end. “Now that the story has gone off its course, are you feeling guilty and trying to save your ‘characters’ or something?”

A long silence engulfs them, but Dokja doesn’t break it. He uses all of his strength to stare at the author, at the one behind all of their suffering, until she finally sighs and looks back at him with a weird heartbroken look in her eyes.

“You’re right. I felt guilty. It was different when you were nothing more than letters on my computer, but now that I’ve seen you as actual people and see the ‘lives’ I wrote for you actually happening, I… feel bad.” She reaches a hand out to him. “That’s why I’m here, to make up for you. You don’t have to like it, but at least accept my help, for Yoo Joonghyuk’s sake.”

After hesitating for a moment, Dokja lets out a long sigh, before finally grabbing the author’s hand. “... For what it’s worth… Thank you. I… wouldn’t be able to break out of here by myself, with how I am right now.”

Han Sooyoung mercifully chooses not to make a jab at how the normally unshakeable Demon King of Salvation is admitting his weakness, prioritizing pulling his wrist to guide him through the prison that’s practically a maze. “Yeah, I could feel Uriel and Yoo Joonghyuk’s blood inside you. That… must be rough. Which is exactly why Yoo Joonghyuk is so desperate to save you right now. Uriel can’t come because their diplomatic relationship with Olympus is complicated, but she’s doing what she can behind the scenes.”

“Why do you keep talking about Yoo Joonghyuk like he… actually wants to save me?” Dokja manages to give her a skeptical look despite how awful he feels.

“Come on, Demon King of Salvation, this is not funny. I know you’re not that dense. Try to think again about his words and actions since you first reunited with him - it’s not how someone who despises you would act.”

The worst part is how he can’t refute her. He’s been forcing himself to think otherwise, because it’s too good to be true, but…

It’s true that Yoo Joonghyuk doesn’t hate him, especially with how he’s declared that he just wants to stay by Dokja’s side and die for him (which is concerningly self-destructive, something he must address later).

But then…

“... But then, I don’t understand. I treated him terribly. I kicked him out for something he couldn’t control, sticking to my script as the ‘main villain.’ Why would he still want to…”

“Wait, what? You think you’re the ‘main villain’?”

Dokja has no idea why Han Sooyoung is looking at him so incredulously. “Who else? I mean, even though Anna Croft is the ultimate ‘big bad,’ it was still my actions that drove Yoo Joonghyuk over the edge? Then what else am I but not the main villain?!”

“Oh, oh my God… This is too good…” Han Sooyoung’s grip on his hand tightens as she snickers to herself in an irritatingly proud way. “That means… I’m not a hack author like you said!! You couldn’t figure out my true intention!!”

“What the fuck?! What exactly is your true intention, then-”

“Let’s talk about that later, okay? When you’re properly rescued and rested, that is.” Her smile turns weirdly gentle and sad. “Look, he’s waiting for us.”

Dokja unconsciously follows her finger and sees how, indeed, outside of the prison lair where so many demons are lying down either dead or half-dead - which must have been why their escape went so smoothly - a lone figure is standing in the middle.

His heart starts racing for no reason when Yoo Joonghyuk widens his eyes, then runs towards him, and immediately takes his other hand in a tight grip. This is the first time he actually has a proper look at the grown-up Yoo Joonghyuk since that fateful day, and Dokja can’t help but be amazed how the protagonist looks almost exactly like he remembers in those 1862 timelines - handsome, brooding, dressed in all black yet with majestic white wings.

However, there’s a big difference.

Yoo Joonghyuk has never looked so desperate and teary before.

And he certainly has never pulled Dokja’s hand to his mouth for a kiss, either.

“... Master.” Yoo Joonghyuk continues in an utterly serious manner, uncaring of Dokja’s blush and splutters of disbelief. “This time, please let me be the one to take you home, the way you always did back then. Allow me to take you back… to our home.”

Chapter Text

Even with the pain overwhelming his senses, Dokja’s heart still can’t help but race at the protagonist’s words. ‘Our home’ was how the two of them used to refer to his house in the 51st Demon Realm. It’s been five years since then, not to mention how Yoo Joonghyuk was kicked out from there so unceremoniously… and yet, the protagonist is still referring to that place as ‘their home’?

He can’t be in denial anymore. No matter how unbelievable it is, it’s still the truth - Yoo Joonghyuk not only bears no hatred for him, but still regards him and their time together highly enough to still consider the 51st Demon Realm ‘home.’

Why?

Dokja’s silence seems to be misunderstood by Yoo Joonghyuk, whose grip on his hand tightens further as the protagonist turns to Han Sooyoung with an urgent voice. “Han Sooyoung, cover the rear. I’ll be carrying Master, it seems the corruption is now to the point that he can’t speak.”

“Yeah, okay. But only until you reach his house, and then I should fuck off, right?”

“Do you want to stay and watch the treatment?” Yoo Joonghyuk gives her such a look that Dokja feels judged on her behalf. Meanwhile, Han Sooyoung screams at the protagonist about how she’s not interested in being the ‘third wheel.’ What is she even talking about…

“... Treatment?” Dokja tugs on Yoo Joonghyuk’s hand with the little strength he has left, successfully returning the attention back to him. But he doesn’t expect Yoo Joonghyuk to flush brightly at his question.

“... There is… a treatment method to take the angel blood out of your body, Master. It’s just rather… private.”

Private? Maybe the protagonist will have to stab him bloody to extract the blood or something? Then he guesses that does make it ‘private’...

Still…

“I… don’t think it will work, whatever that is.” Giving up all pretenses of being cold, Dokja sighs in resignation as he clutches the still bleeding wound thanks to that Asmodeus bastard. “I know my body. The fucker has injected too much angel blood for it to recover, and the reason I’m still talking to you like this is just through sheer will.”

He raises the recording stone with one hand to interrupt when Yoo Joonghyuk and Han Sooyoung look like they want to protest. “This is a… recorder… Han Sooyoung, you know what it is. I was able to record Asmodeus saying with his own mouth that he had used Uriel and Yoo Joonghyuk’s blood to make me his weapon and destroy Eden. With this… Eden will have a legitimate reason to deal with him. Bring it back to them.

“As for me… Like I said, I’m done for. So I just want to trouble you two one last time.” Throwing away his pride as one of the strongest Demon Kings for a moment, Dokja bows to them. “Please… take my body to the middle of the 49th and 51st Demon Realms, and leave me there. It’s a large enough place that even when I become mindless and destroy everything until death, no one else will be affected.”

Yoo Joonghyuk’s face contorts in anger. “We didn’t come all the way here for you to die like that-”

“I’m sorry, Yoo Joonghyuk.”

“... What?”

“I’m sorry for what I did back then. For kicking you out without allowing you to explain. For refusing to acknowledge you afterward. For… everything.” Words flow out of his mouth as if prompted by the guilt from his treatment of Yoo Joonghyuk for thousands of timelines. “I was stupid and believed that it was the best way for the angels to accept you, for you to live a good life… But it only hurt you. And I’m sorry.”

After a brief hesitation, he decides to take Yoo Joonghyuk’s (now much bigger than before) hand and squeeze it - what the hell, he’s going to die anyway.

“You’re still… my happiness. Thank you for coming into my life, Yoo Joonghyuk.”

Dokja then lets go of the protagonist’s hand and looks at the two expectantly, waiting for them to follow his request. Yoo Joonghyuk bends down for Han Sooyoung to help haul his battered body onto the protagonist’s back, who proceeds to growl in a determined tone.

“I told you, Kim Dokja, we didn’t come all the way here for you to die just like that. I said I can save you, and I will, right after we reach our home. You’re not leaving me again.”

… How optimistic. Is this still the main character of a whump?

Dokja is too tired to argue, though, so he simply leans his head on the broad back and tries to keep himself from losing control. After them, Han Sooyoung’s footsteps echo closely, but still far enough to keep track of any enemy following them - which may not be a lot if any at all, considering the bloodbath he’s seen Yoo Joonghyuk made.

“Demon King of Salvation!!”

… son of a bitch.

Strings of colorful profanities explode in Dokja’s head as Asmodeus somehow catches up with them, screams at them, and swings at Yoo Joonghyuk’s blind spot. Thankfully, the protagonist still manages to keep a hold on him without a scratch, but Dokja repeatedly slaps his back to make Yoo Joonghyuk put him down anyway. He has thought Asmodeus was too busy scheming whatever evil plan he had to pay attention to the outside… it seems he’s underestimated this minor villain.

“Han Sooyoung, stay back.” Yoo Joonghyuk urges the hack author who hurriedly hides behind a bush after saluting, then turns towards Dokja with a much more mother-hen voice. “Master, you’re in no condition to fight right now. Leave this bastard to me.”

Shaking his head, Dokja grips the Black Heavenly Demon Sword tight in his hand while trying to smile at his disciple. “No. As an angel, you don’t have any defense against his blood or his power. It’s best that I… take this… on…”

His words trail off in disbelief as he finally registers fully the sword Yoo Joonghyuk is using. There was no time to pay attention before, but now he sees that it’s not the Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds accompanying the protagonist for 1862 timelines… but his own Unbreakable Faith that he forgot to take back from Yoo Joonghyuk back then.

“... What the fuck!!” Dokja can’t help the exasperated shout despite how near-death he’s feeling. “Why the hell are you still using that damned sword!! It was supposed to just be a temporary training sword until you get a better one more suited for your angel blood!! This stupid kid, intentionally stunting your growth-”

“I know. I choose to use this sword regardless. It was the only thing left from you in all those years.”

Yoo Joonghyuk’s quiet yet serious voice and the sad look in his (teary??) eyes shuts Dokja’s mouth immediately. He finds himself staring at his disciple for what feels like forever, until a dagger thrown by Asmodeus spoils the moment.

“I see you’re not even pretending not to be the master of your loyal dog anymore.” There’s no more trace of his usual smug or smarmy expressions as Asmodeus instead just looks murderous. “There’s nothing wrong with punishing you for betraying the demon race, then.”

“Fuck off. There’s no way you’ll get to use my body as a weapon.” Dokja raises his sword with one hand and a middle finger with the other. “Let’s continue where we left off earlier. Even if I die this time, I’ll drag you down with me.”

“I don’t care about your body anymore. A puppet that doesn’t listen is of no use. I’ll just destroy you so the angels can’t use you.” Suddenly, the familiar aggravating smile flashes through Asmodeus’ face. “And I know exactly how to do that.”

Dokja doesn’t even have the time to curse when the bastard, predictably, runs straight at Yoo Joonghyuk after quickly stabbing his own hand to drench the sword in blood. It’s a move as dirty as it gets, forcing Yoo Joonghyuk into a more defensive stance as the protagonist has to try not to get stabbed.

Using all the willpower he has left, Dokja lunges himself between those two with the intent to force Asmodeus’ attention away from his disciple.

“Ha. I knew you would fall for this.”

The fuck-

Before he realizes it - no thanks to his perception being affected by the angel blood - Asmodeus has already grabbed his neck to pull him close, then point his sword threateningly at Dokja’s head. “Angel!! One more step, and your master’s head will be blown off!! You don’t want this to happen, do you?! You waited for so long to reunite with h-”

Asmodeus’ words suddenly gets cut off, along with a strange… warm and wet feeling dripping on Dokja’s head to his shoulder.

It takes Dokja a few moment to realize and comprehend the fact that Yoo Joonghyuk has just driven the Unbreakable Faith straight through Asmodeus’ brains. Shocked at this ruthless efficiency - never in all those 1862 timelines had Yoo Joonghyuk ever been so… thorough with him - he almost misses Han Sooyoung’s shout.

“Okay, finish him!!”

Jolting out of the trance and pulling himself away, Dokja sees that Han Sooyoung has gotten out of her hiding spot to restrain Asmodeus’ arms and legs with some chains that look decidedly angelic. What little coherency left in his brain manage to connect all the spots together, prompting his mouth to speak.

“Yoo… Joonghyuk. Keep your… sword there… and continue to channel… your power… I know how to kill a Demon King thoroughly… so I will… do it.”

Thankfully, despite gritting his teeth in reluctance, Yoo Joonghyuk just nods and does as said without protesting. It puts a smile on Dokja’s face even through the pain he’s still feeling, energizing him enough to rip Asmodeus’ chest open with his sword, before burning his heart. There’s not a single word the bastard can utter as his body begins to disintergrate along with the heart that’s now an ash pile on the ground.

It’s, admittingly, quite surreal to see the only other prominent Demon King dead just like that; so different from his prominent role in the original DSFA novel. Dokja would’ve dwelled on that fact a bit more, if not for how the strain from using his power repeatedly causes the angel blood to flare up in him again, turning his vision black.

He doesn’t register anything afterwards, until he feels something warm, wet, and soft, touching his lips.

… Huh?

Blinking awake immediately, Dokja is greeted with an eyeful of Yoo Joonghyuk’s beautiful long eyelashes and perfectly straight nose in 4K as the protagonist kisses him in what almost feels like desperation.

“Eh?!” Trying to pull away from that protagonist death grip, he then cups the guy’s face to ask with the most incredulity possible. “Yoo Joonghyuk, what are you doing?!”

Hurt briefly tinges Yoo Joonghyuk’s face, before the protagonist replies quietly. “You’re feeling better compared to before, aren’t you?”

“... Oh.” Dokja’s eyes widen at how the pain has decreased somewhat, if still very uncomfortable. “It’s… true. But how? You were just… kissing… me…”

He trails off his own words at the realization, at the same time Yoo Joonghyuk’s handsome face flushes a deep red. “This is the… private… treatment method that I told you about earlier. Uriel and Han Sooyoung were the ones who let me know this. It’s also forbidden, as it requires an angel and a demon to have intercourse and consume each other’s body fluids to neutralize the other’s negative blood effects.”

Despite the neutral and almost academic way the protagonist is trying to sugarcoat it, all Dokja hears is how this whump story somehow turns out to have a perverted element, with the protagonist’s dick - or his hole?! - being able to cure everything.

“Han Sooyoung, that damned hack, perverted, buffoon of an author!! That element never came up in the actual story, so what did you include it for, huh?! What is this, a stallion novel?!”

“... Novel? Author?” Yoo Joonghyuk stares at him in confusion for one brief moment before turning serious and urgent again. “I don’t understand what you’re saying, but never mind that. Master, no matter how much you might despise doing it with me… it’s the only way to keep you from dying. And I already said… that I wouldn’t let you abandon me again.”

“No, I don’t hate doing… *cough* it with you…” Dokja can’t hold back the cough from sheer embarrassment. “It’s more about you. I treated you so badly, yet you’re willing to do something like this… to save me? It’s supposed to be something special, is it not?”

Instead of answering, Yoo Joonghyuk’s eyes soften as the protagonist pulls him back into the kiss, this time with a lot more… touching and taking off clothes. Dokja would’ve felt horrified from how he seems to have even less experience (zero) in this matter than his disciple, if not for the similarly inexperienced though eager way Yoo Joonghyuk undoes their buttons.

Throughout all of that, his disciple still never pulls away from his mouth. In fact, now that Dokja’s senses are coming back slowly, he can feel how his blood is being drawn down Yoo Joonghyuk’s throat, perhaps to ‘cure’ it. It feels like an eternity later before Yoo Joonghyuk’s mouth finally leaves him… only for Dokja to gasp as his dick gets squeezed in a wet, tight heat.

The protagonist is taking Dokja’s dick up his ass with teary eyes, bitten lips, and flushed cheeks. He wonders how his brain hasn’t exploded yet with all the very… interesting developments that have happened today.

“I would’ve loved for our first time to be slower, but… we don’t have time. This is the quickest way to remove the corruption from Uriel’s and my blood.” As if there’s any faster way to remove the corruption with this perverted author and her stupid tropes, Dokja bites back the snark to instead moan when Yoo Joonghyuk begins to move up and down his length.

“Ah… Uh, Yoo Joonghyuk, does it… hurt?” Amidst the confusing mess of pain and arousal, he finds himself worried for how the protagonist is furrowing his eyebrows perhaps from the lack of proper preparation. “I think we can stop a little for you to adjust first.”

His disciple does not, in fact, stop. Instead, the guy just blinks at him, then reaches out a hand to stroke his cheek. “You’re genuinely concerned. You’re not disgusted, doing this with an angel - even if half.

“And earlier, you talked about how you thought throwing me out was the best way for the angels to accept me. You knew. You’ve always known all along, haven’t you?” Yoo Joonghyuk leans closer with an intense, almost manic look in his eyes. “When did you find out? Why did you act the way you did?”

“...” Dokja finds himself speechless from how the protagonist has deduced almost everything by himself. The chill only run further down his spine when Yoo Joonghyuk narrows his eyes in realization.

“Does it have something to do with how you were talking about Han Sooyoung, her being an ‘author,’ and a ‘novel’?”

Damn it, he’s so smart. Dokja sighs in resignation as he nods, holding Yoo Joonghyuk’s waist for some stability to pour out the truth.

“... Yes. It’s a long story, and you may not believe me. However, in my previous life, I reincarnated as a human in a ‘modern world,’ and found out that this entire life was just a story that had repeated 1862 times before that…”

Throughout the whole time Dokja recounted the novel, what he remembered, and his belief that he had to follow the ‘original plot’ which led to their fallout; Yoo Joonghyuk is eerily quiet. Yet, the protagonist still diligently bounce up and down his dick and removing his pain little by little; so he has no choice but finish telling the truth as honestly as possible.

It takes another while after he finishes for Yoo Joonghyuk to finally speak again. “Han Sooyoung has a lot to answer after I’m done with this.”

Good luck, hack author, Dokja internally makes a cross gesture despite being the least suitable being to do that. The unlucky author will need a lot of luck to deal with her angry protagonist, though.

“And… I see now. That’s why you didn’t appear in my last life.” Yoo Joonghyuk strokes his cheeks again, but this time with a strangely devastated expression. “I was so sad… that it wasn’t you. But… if that’s where you went… And at least, we could finally meet again, with you finally bearing… no hatred for me.”

“... W-Wait a minute.” Dokja shakes his head in disbelief. “You’re saying that you… also…”

“I also found out that we had repeated our conflict for 1862 timelines, but only in my previous life - just like you.” Yoo Joonghyuk pulls one of his hands up for another kiss, now wet with tears. “I used to wonder, with hatred, why you were called the ‘Demon King of Salvation’ if you could throw me away so cruelly. However, it was then that I finally understood…

“You were my salvation. You were the only reason I could even live that long. Without you, there’s no ‘me’. You are the only reason my life has any meaning at all.”