The moon completely illuminated me as I transformed into a giant wolf.

“You’re the one who hurt Shal?”

I looked down at the sea-dwelling demon with his mouth dyed red and asked him. He was unable to scream since his shadow was bound, and was only able to beg me for help by moving his large eyeball.

I glanced at him, and cut off all the mermen’s fingers surrounding him with precision.

I could only hear the sound of the blades running for an instant. Their voices didn’t come out, nor did the sound of even a single drop of blood.

The idea of someone bleeding to death was not even remotely entertaining. Being kind as I was, I made the surface of my scythes heated up, burning their wounds as I cut them off.

Oh. I finally understood why Reisen didn’t kill the enemies he was displeased with, but instead burned and tormented them.

For a crime so grave, a moment’s pain wasn’t enough of a punishment. It was preferable to keep them alive for a long, long time, without killing them. So that they would remember the taste of their sins even in the afterlife.

However, I couldn’t seem to get it right, since I always end up killing them right away.

Slash.

“Oh. All your fins are gone, huh? Hey, where should I go next?”

Slash. Slash.

I sliced his arms, little by little. I sliced off his ears and his nose, gradually eliminating the unevenness of his body.

I didn’t feel pity or compassion for him. I was just simply giving him the appropriate punishment for a crime he shouldn’t have committed.

I didn’t know how long I had been punishing him, but the surface of his body had already lost more than the tips of a fingernail.

I couldn’t conceal my irritation when I realized that the sinning merman had breathed his last and was now a mere red puppet.

“Ahh, that won’t do… You’re not suffering enough at all. You’re too fragile. How can you die so peacefully when I’ve only just scraped off your skin? If you truly feel remorseful and apologetic for messing with this demon lord’s possessions… shouldn’t you try to live and suffer as long as you can? —Right, sea bastard?”

You know what I’m saying, don’t you? You’re next

I called and asked him with that meaning in mind. And, the man, who had long since realized that I was the demon lord, looked at me with tears in his eye, begging for his life.

…That’s right. You are an exception.

“No one can have Shal’s blood. So, with my special benevolence…”

I’m going to eat every last bit of you.

I swallowed the writhing man in one gulp, and my ferocious desire to monopolize finally found its common ground, quelling the anger that had been building up.

I wasn’t good at torturing. If I ended up killing someone, I had to live with it.

I took a deep breath, and licked my lips.

I turned my body around to look at my back, and loosened my magic. I saw Shal sleeping peacefully, displaying a relaxed expression.

Even though his body didn’t have any injuries left, he must’ve suffered from physical and mental fatigue, and anemia from the relief.

The sight of his sleeping face loosened my tension, and my mind was filled with calmness instead of the destructiveness I felt just a moment ago.

Shal… What a relief. I’m sure he didn’t see anything.

He didn’t have to see all the brutality. The felon’s mouth was sealed, and Shal shouldn’t have heard me uttering the monster language.

If you stay by my side, I will eliminate those that hinder you, with everything I have.

I hope you can live in happiness just as you are, my most important one, and that I can be next to you, if possible.

That was all I could pray for.

It was a tranquil and unchanging night.

The lukewarm summer night breeze enveloped Svenmarina with the scent of the sea, and the orange lights illuminated the bustling city.

It was only natural that when there is light, there are shadows. Just as it wasn’t that unusual in the demon realm to find a world of blood and violence, where the strong always prevail over the weak.

Those who lost were in the wrong. Those who were weak were eliminated.

Young demons without much power were protected by their parents and surroundings. Otherwise, they were weeded out.

Being isolated would give anyone an overwhelming disadvantage in this place. It was probably akin to a sin, where they must be eliminated.

They were resistant to pain, and even if their limbs got blown off, they would recover over time. The demon realm was that kind of place with that kind of inhabitants.

—The ruler of the said realm flew through the sky, and appeared soundlessly above Svenmarina.

He had no presence. He was silent, as if he was part of the moonlit night.

No one noticed his existence. He brought silence to the sky above the flying demons.

Those who were powerful, were often silent. The angrier they were, the more they became silent.

—From here, one could see the entire city that was still vibrant and restless. Anyone would be able to hear and see voices and figures clearly.

With one loud howl, the demons walking below covered their ears simultaneously and looked up at the sky in dismay.

The howl aimed to make his presence known reached all of their ears. It didn’t matter whether it was in the main streets, the alleyways or indoors.

The demons probed each other for the identity of the being.

“What was that? Was there such a… terrifying demon like that in this city…?”

“Nah, I’ve no ide… Wh…?! I-Isn’t that… a Kudlakion…?!”

“Oh? So that’s how they look like… How unusual. I’ve never seen them before.”

“You’re an idiot! Are you a demon who’s just been born?!”

“There can only be one demon like that in this realm and that is—the Demon Lord!”

The demon lord didn’t hear, nor was he interested in what was being said within the crowded city.

He placed a huge amount of magical power in his voice to be heard by all the demons in the city, and announced a new law for them to live by.

“Listen! Engrave this unto your souls: the only thing that will incur the extremely kind and gentle demon lord…”

“The dark-haired human wrapped in blue magical power next to me, is mine. I will cut anyone who dares touch him.”

“It doesn’t matter who they are. I will kill all those who go against it. I will kill them, thoroughly. Every last bit of them. Until there’s nothing left. That’s what I have decided. That’s all. If you have any objections, come at me now. Win against me, carve out my crest, and become the ruler. …Anyone will do.”

“However—Today, I will kill them all.”

On this day, the demons along the coastline engraved an absolute and inviolable law with the fear of death.