Encounter with Demon

After returning to the refugee camp, I began experimenting with magic. To activate magic through imagination, I needed to understand the characteristics of the spell I wanted to use. If I used incantations, I had to memorize them—otherwise, the magic wouldn’t activate.

“I don’t want to memorize useless incantations, so I tried using the imagination method, but it’s not as easy as I thought.”

“Besides, it’s already night… should I sleep now?”

I lay down on the bed and thought about what would happen a week from now. The demons kept growing stronger, and the hero had vanished after fighting the demon king. At that moment, I got an idea—to use illusion magic on myself.

“What if I use illusion on myself? Will it make my imagination stronger? If it works, it’ll speed up my progress!”

I tried it by casting an illusion of an uninhabited world around myself. To my surprise, it worked. I could see the sky, mountains, forests, even rivers. But even so, I couldn’t feel anything when I touched this world.

“I can’t believe it! It actually works!”

“But… I can’t feel anything when I touch them. Maybe I need to strengthen my ability so I can?”

I pushed my illusion further, and after a few hours, I was finally able to feel the textures of objects in this world. I could control this place as I wished, and here, I felt truly at ease.

I began testing out magic—fire, water, wind, lightning, and earth. All of them worked. Training here accelerated my progress dramatically. One hour in the real world equaled one whole day in this illusionary world, making experiments here far more effective than in reality.

“So my understanding is clear now.”

“Oh right, I don’t have a name for this world. Then I’ll call it Mugen.”

I returned to the real world and realized I had completely skipped a night’s sleep.

“Well, that sucks.”

Even though my body felt refreshed, my mind was a little strained, so I decided to sleep for three hours.

Three hours later

I woke to the sound of commotion outside the camp. Looking out, I saw many knights lined up in full armor.

“What happened? Are demons attacking the kingdom or something?”

I put on the clothes and the mask I bought for visiting the tailor shop. The moment I stepped out of my room, I was surprised to find the camp completely empty. That gave me a rare chance to eat breakfast in peace without anyone bothering me. I grabbed just enough food and enjoyed it.

Afterward, I left wearing a hood and saw the streets crowded with people watching the knights march out of the gates.

(Are the demons coming here?)

I thought the knights would intercept them before they could arrive, but my priority now was retrieving my clothes.

On my way to the tailor shop, I spotted Resa in the crowd. Her eyes sparkled with admiration, her face shone, and a wide smile stretched across her lips.

(I guess she likes the knights.)

Eventually, I reached the tailor shop and picked up my clothes. I also asked about the commotion outside.

Rei: “Excuse me, ma’am, but could you tell me why the streets are crowded today?”

Tailor Granny: “The knights are marching to drive away the demons before they reach here. Don’t worry, young man, they always succeed.”

Rei: “I see. Thank you.”

I left the shop, only to notice Maia staring right at me.

(Maia!? Why is she looking at me? Don’t tell me she knows I’m here!)

I quickened my pace to avoid her gaze, and once I slipped into the crowd, she was gone from sight. Relief washed over me—she was definitely not someone I wanted to get involved with.

I began gathering information by listening in on people’s conversations.

Random Guy: “I wonder when the king will allow us to go outside the kingdom.”

Random Girl: “The king said there are dangerous demons that will kill us if we step outside. But… shouldn’t the knights have already dealt with that problem?”

Hearing that, I thought maybe what the king was doing really was the best for his people. I returned to the camp to drop off my clothes and started planning to sneak out at night.

In front of the camp, I saw Lady Fana sitting on the terrace, deep in thought. I had a few questions for her, so I approached.

Rei: “Excuse me, Lady Fana. I have a question about magic. Would you please answer it for me?”

Fana: “What is your question?”

Rei: “It’s about my mana. How can I know the amount of mana I possess?”

Lady Fana conjured a white orb using spatial magic and told me to touch it. The orb glowed blue, then she pressed a piece of paper against it. In an instant, the glow vanished, and she handed the paper to me.

Fana: “The easiest way to measure your mana is simply to use magic until you can’t anymore. But this method is far more efficient.”

I looked at the paper and found it filled with my stats—strength, speed, endurance, and more.

Fana: “Now, use your mana on the Shin Card. You’ll be surprised.”

I poured my mana into the card, and suddenly I could see myself using all kinds of magic—and exactly how much I could cast before my mana ran dry.

Rei: “What is this…?”

Fana: “Incredible, isn’t it? It basically simulates how much magic its owner can use before running out of mana. You can even simulate using magic you normally couldn’t.”

Rei: “This is incredible, Lady!”

Fana: “I know. Now leave me alone.”

I left Lady Fana on the terrace and went inside the camp. Excited, I started playing around with the Shin Card I had received.

“I feel like I’m holding a smartphone in my hand!”

After playing around with it for quite a while, I discovered that I could use magic to enhance my strength, speed, and endurance—boosting myself tenfold.

I didn’t forget my plan to go outside that night, so I began preparing weapons to face the demons.

Nightfall

I cast the strengthening spell on my body, multiplying my abilities ten times over, and leapt out of the window. Dressed entirely in black, I blended perfectly into the darkness.

In just a few minutes, I reached the kingdom’s gate. There, I spotted guards I didn’t recognize. I splashed water onto their unarmored hands, weaving my illusion into them. Under its effect, they could no longer see me, allowing me to stroll past the gate without issue.

I also asked the guards earlier where the knights had gone, and they said toward the north, near a destroyed village.

So, I dashed in that direction at incredible speed. On the way, about five kilometers ahead, I heard loud commotion.

“There’s something going on there. I should get ready.”

I pushed myself to move even faster. Soon, the sight of fallen knights littered the ground caught my eyes. Countless demons lay dead as well. The scene forced me to halt for a moment, my gaze heavy.

“…A horrible sight.”

The clash of battle rang out not far from where I stood, pulling me forward once again. This time, I slowed my pace—no need to stand out when I arrived.

At last, I reached the battlefield: a fierce struggle between knights and demons raging across an open grassland, with a forest looming at its side. The battle was intense, but the tide was clearly shifting in the demons’ favor.

Ox-Head Demon: “Hahahahaha! I’ll kill every last one of you!”

Knight 1: “Dream on!”

The ox-head demon had a humanoid body about three meters tall. He wore plate armor like the knights and wielded two axes twice his size. His fighting style was to spin one of the axes constantly at its pivot point as if it weren’t moving, then use the other axe to strike his opponent.

The knights were struggling against the ox-head demon, and there were still many other demons they hadn’t dealt with.

Knight 2: “Captain! I think retreating is our best option!”

Captain Knight: “And you want these demons to slaughter us? Retreating now would mean our kingdom is overrun by these filth!”

Knight 3: “But Captain, we can’t win against them!”

Captain Knight: “We need to hold them until reinforcements arrive! I already sent a message to the king.”

Lieutenant Demon: “Reinforcements won’t come! Your kingdom will be ruined—hahahaha!”

Captain Knight: “Tch… If only you hadn’t cursed Lady Fana, you’d all be dead by now!”

Lieutenant Demon: “That curse is amazing, isn’t it?! That’s our Demon King’s power—kneel before him now! Hahahaha!!!”

The battle became increasingly dire for the knights, but still they fought on, sacrificing their lives.

While they were preoccupied with one another, I prepared an explosive water spell mixed with some of my own bodily fluid.

(Water Balloon!)

I hurled that water spell into the middle of the battlefield, then hid.

BANG!

A spray of droplets rained across the field. Many knights and demons were hit by the spell—which meant I could now plant my illusion on them.

Lieutenant Demon: “Rain?!”

Captain Knight: “This is… magic.”

Captain Knight: “Hahahahaha—looks like your words were just a bluff! Our reinforcements are coming!”

Hearing the captain’s shout, the knights relaxed while the demons grew angrier.

Rei (thought): (Is he talking about me? Also, what does he mean by reinforcements? I literally don’t see any reinforcements coming here!)

The humiliated lieutenant demon immediately charged blindly at the knights. Seeing this, the knights began to panic.

Rei: “Dammit!”

I cast illusions on everyone hit by my spell: the knights saw reinforcements arriving, which bolstered their morale, while the demons saw each other as enemy knights that had to be slain.

Ten minutes passed, and the tide of battle began to turn. The knights started killing demons, while demons not affected by my illusion were slaughtered by other demons. As I began to calm down at this turn of events, something I hadn’t expected happened.

To my shock, the lieutenant demon started to break free of my illusion. He roared with an ear-splitting sound and began killing the demons that had accompanied him.

Rei: “He’s killing his own kind?”

Lieutenant Demon: “If those demons are going to kill each other, then I’ll kill them.”

The lieutenant demon then turned his assault on the knights. The knights—just as stunned as I was—were attacked without being able to fight back.

“Uwahhhh!” “Ahhh—help!”

The screams of the knights sent chills down my spine; it reminded me of that day. The remaining knights were driven back by a single demon. They could only hold out while the lieutenant demon continued his assault.

Rei: “I need to hit him with my magic again!”

(Wind Blows!)

This time I used wind magic combined with my bodily fluid. But just as I was about to launch it, I noticed his bulging eyes staring directly at me. Panic surged through me, and I fired my spell at him—exposing my hiding spot.

Lieutenant Demon: “SO YOU’RE THE REINFORCEMENT, WRAHHHHH!!!”

Rei: “Urk!!”

I quickly summoned water magic, drenching the ground to form a puddle. I always added my bodily fluid to every attack, making my spells far more effective—even though fire magic was still off-limits.

The lieutenant demon charged at me with a speed I couldn’t even track. At that moment, I remembered he was still under the effect of my wind spell, so I cast an illusion to lock his body in place. His massive frame froze five meters before striking me. But even though he didn’t land the blow, the shockwave alone sent me flying twenty meters back.

Rei: “Fyuhhh… I thought I was done for. For now, I need to touch him so my ability lasts longer.”

I started toward the immobilized lieutenant demon. He shouldn’t have been able to move, yet I saw him twitching, slowly forcing his body free. Reflexively, I stepped back.

Rei: “He’s starting to resist my illusion!”

Rei: “I must touch him before he can move freely!”

I dashed toward him, trying to make contact. That was a mistake. The lieutenant demon broke free from my illusion and swung at me. I narrowly dodged, but I couldn’t land my touch.

Quickly, I cast water and lightning magic together to paralyze him, then followed with light magic to blind him—buying myself time to slip into the forest and hide.

Enraged, the lieutenant demon unfurled massive black crow-like wings, toppling the trees I had hidden behind.

Lieutenant Demon: “YOU’RE DEAD! YOU HEAR ME?! DEAD!”

He lunged at me with terrifying speed, hurling a punch that could shatter my body. In that instant, my body moved on its own. My fist lashed out at his face.

But before my punch could connect, something burst forth from my hand—a blazing orange serpent dragon, the same one I had seen before. The serpent dragon surged toward the lieutenant demon’s face, colliding with explosive force and obliterating it.

Lieutenant Demon: “GUWAHHHH!!! This… this is impossible!”

And with that, the lieutenant demon drew his last breath.

Meanwhile, I stood there in awe, staring at the serpent dragon that had just saved my life.