translation by mourningmoor
Timothy Gordon left the gymnastics arena and got into the car right away.
He told his secretary to head to the airport and immediately pulled out his phone from his coat. But he couldn’t make the call.
Because—cough—blood rose up from his throat.
His secretary, sitting in the front passenger seat, turned around with a startled expression.
{Boss.}
{Don’t turn around. Keep your eyes on the road. And don’t make a fuss.}
He took out a handkerchief and covered his mouth.
But there was too much blood to wipe it all away.
{Just what the hell is he?}
No, is he even human?
The moment time stopped, he knew this was no ordinary being.
This wasn’t just someone who could use a bit of magic.
Even when the ring’s power was violently shaking the entire concert venue, he remained unaffected. No, he looked like he was enjoying it.
He had the audacity to meet his gaze, smirk mockingly, and laugh as if it were amusing.
And then—he stopped time. It was suffocating.
Kang Ichan deliberately stopped time for everyone except him, forcing him to witness that power.
‘Are you still curious about me?’
That’s what it felt like he was saying. And it sent chills down his spine.
If it hadn’t been for the Master’s orders, he would never have gone to the waiting room.
Because his instincts were screaming at him—do not mess with Kang Ichan.
But he couldn’t refuse the ring’s power.
In the end, he had no choice but to face Kang Ichan.
And now, look at him.
The moment their fingertips touched, an overwhelming force surged into him. It was scorching and relentless—he had no way to withstand it.
In a desperate attempt to block that power, the ring’s magic raged wildly.
And that ended up tearing apart Timothy Gordon’s insides.
Another mouthful of blood came up.
{Boss. You can’t fly in this condition. We need to get you to a hospital immediately.}
{No. We’re going straight back to New York.}
At that moment, his phone rang.
Timothy Gordon swallowed the blood rising in his throat and answered the call with trembling hands.
{Yes, Master.}
Silence on the other end.
The Master had likely already figured out the situation through the ring.
{I checked his finger. Just as you said, the mark was there.}
The Master had given him only two tasks to confirm.
First, whether Kang Ichan had a mark on his finger.
Second, whether Kang Ichan’s thoughts could be read.
{And the mind control… it failed. It didn’t work at all.}
The funny thing was—not only Kang Ichan, but even Pyo Cheonhee and the other members' thoughts were unreadable.
They had done something—something on par with the ring’s power.
{He might really be the one you spoke of.}
No, there was no doubt.
{He—}
Recalling what had happened in the concert hall, Timothy Gordon swallowed dryly as terror crept over him.
{—controlled time.}
Even so, he did it so effortlessly.
The other side of the receiver remained silent.
{I will return and report back first. Master.}
After ending the call, Timothy Gordon found it difficult to breathe.
It felt like his lungs had completely burst, as each breath brought up a bubbling foam of blood.
He needed to get back on the plane quickly and take the medicine.
It was just as he arrived at the airport.
While he was waiting for his secretary to get out and open the door, the driver opened it first.
He was an employee of the Korean branch, the one who always drove for him whenever he visited Korea.
A quiet man, with a tight-lipped nature—someone he could trust.
But now, that very same man was looking at Timothy Gordon with an overbearing gaze he had never seen before.
{Mr. Gordon.}
On top of that, Mr. Gordon? Such an insolent way to address him.
{You can’t make it to the plane in that condition.}
Then, without warning, he reached out and forcefully pressed against his chest.
He should have staggered and fallen backward, yet, as if magnetized, his body stuck to the man's hand.
{You need to stay alive if you want to meet your master, don’t you?}
What… what was this man saying? No, more importantly, how did he even know about this?
There wasn’t even time to ask.
The place where the man’s hand touched him burned violently, overflowing with pain.
He could feel something piercing through his body and stirring everything inside.
A scream slipped through his lips on its own.
But one thing was certain—his body was being healed.
{Y-You… what are you?}
{You…? How disrespectful.}
The driver smiled coolly, his face laced with malice.
{How dare you call me ‘you’? There’s only one person in this world allowed to address me like that.}
At that moment, Timothy Gordon felt an overwhelming killing intent. But it seemed that the man had no intention of killing him right away.
The driver withdrew his hand.
{Go back and deliver a message. To that master of yours.}
This was not the usual driver. But it wasn’t Kang Ichan either.
This was yet another being altogether.
Timothy Gordon tried to use the power of the ring to examine his nature, but he saw nothing.
Only an abyss of darkness, with a faint red glow flickering within.
But one thing was clear.
This man was also an extremely powerful existence.
{Tell him that Kang Ichan is not the only one here. That I, too, am very interested in that magic circle.}
And he even knew about the secrets of the Circle?
Timothy Gordon, flustered, could barely breathe as he stared at the driver.
{So, what’s your answer?}
{H-Huh? Yes. I-I’ll deliver the message.}
Only after hearing his answer did the driver step back.
Then, as if nothing had happened, he calmly moved to the trunk and began unloading the luggage.
His secretary approached but didn’t ask what had happened.
Even though anyone could have seen the driver acting suspiciously, the secretary hadn’t even noticed.
As if he had been under some kind of mental manipulation.
It was bizarre. But at the same time, nothing special.
If this were 26 years ago, Timothy Gordon would have thought all of this was strange.
But now, this was just his daily life.
The power of the Circle was always something unnatural.
Which was why it was so shocking—this bizarre event wasn’t caused by the Circle’s power.
It must have been the power of another being.
And what was even more shocking was that this other being was not just Kang Ichan.
Stepping out of the car, Timothy Gordon looked at the driver with fearful eyes.
But the man, now looking like an entirely different person, was peacefully unloading the luggage from the trunk.
He could find no answers from him.
His secretary approached and draped a coat over his shoulders.
{Are you alright? Earlier, the blood—}
{I’m fine. I told you it was nothing.}
Brushing off his secretary’s hand, Timothy Gordon hurried into the airport terminal.
The body, which had been wrecked by Kang Ichan’s magic, was now completely healed.
* * *
He stealthily approached the man who was bowing deeply and greeting Timothy Gordon’s back.
“Doesn’t suit you.”
At that, the man straightened his back with an arrogant expression.
“When a mere regional branch PR manager sees off the chairman of the group, this level of servility is required.”
A playful smile lingered in the man’s eyes, which had earlier gleamed ominously with a red hue.
“This is what they call workplace etiquette.”
A scoff escaped.
“The Demon King doing workplace etiquette, huh.”
“This is a body I took while playing the role of a Demon King, but should I also take this old man’s livelihood away?”
Sometimes, I seriously wonder how this guy managed to live as a Demon King. He’s supposed to be one, yet he has more of a conscience than those Demon King faction bastards.
“Whatever. What did Timothy Gordon say?”
I asked while tracking the traces of Timothy Gordon, who had already disappeared into the airport terminal.
“He got a call right away. From someone called ‘Master.’”
“Master?”
Then, the Demon King subtly pointed at my fingers.
“He seemed to be reporting about that Grand Mage’s mark.”
Ha, so they sent someone just to confirm this? And someone as big as Timothy Gordon at that?
In the end, they just revealed that they knew my identity in this way.
And they did so while flaunting the fact that they had the power to even move the SS Group.
Would this count as a kind of threat?
“See? That’s why I should have just killed that Gordon or Gothic or whatever his name is. Why did you tell me to heal him instead?”
It was at the concert venue.
The moment Timothy Gordon almost harmed the members using the power of the ring, I deliberately stopped time, excluding only him.
Since they blatantly threatened me first, I had to respond accordingly.
The guy looked quite shocked. He even seemed scared.
So, during the intermission, I contacted Yoo Noah.
[I need to send a reply. That bastard flexed his power at me, so shouldn’t I do the same?]
“What if you killed him? We need to send a response.”
“They must have figured out who Jess is by now.”
“I let him live so they would realize it.”
It was just a little while ago, when I shook hands with Timothy Gordon in the waiting room.
For a very brief moment, I hesitated.
Should I send him back alive, or kill him first?
Then, I decided to send a response by letting him live.
But I had no intention of letting him go unscathed.
By the time the concert ended, my magic circle had just reached level 8.
So, I did some calculations.
Timothy Gordon’s master was at least 8-circle. The power contained in the ring was also at least 8-circle.
A show-off who enjoys drawing attention by burning his subordinates alive at a party.
A psychopath who openly causes trouble and flaunts his power in someone else’s concert venue.
There was no way that kind of bastard would grant his subordinate magic equal to mine. He might have added some of his own power, but the actual manifested magic was at best between 5-circle and 6-circle.
It was worth a shot.
Fortunately, the guy was the one who reached out for a handshake first, and as I hesitated for a brief moment, I grabbed his hand.
Then, I freely poured magic into him, causing resistance to flare up in his body.
In the mage society, this is called a power struggle.
Naturally, both sides do their best to defend to avoid losing.
But when the power gap is too overwhelming, the stronger side can damage the weaker one’s body.
This was my reply.
It wasn’t a matter of whether or not my identity was exposed.
It was about showing them exactly who I was. And who I had aligned myself with.
“They need to know about your existence, too.”
I had already been exposed. But if I half-killed Timothy Gordon with my magic, and then another entity healed him?
That would surely confuse them.
“Of course, they won’t be able to figure out the details.”
They might use market research as an excuse to return to Korea soon.
To take a closer look at the one bearing the Grand Mage’s mark and the one who possesses a red aura while moving from body to body.
“You should be careful, too. They might come after you as well.”
“Hah, what’s this, Jess.”
The Demon King, wearing an unfamiliar face, laughed loudly.
“There’s no way they’ll ever find out that I’m Yoo Noah. My existence doesn’t just get exposed that easily.”
“What are you talking about? I recognized you at a glance.”
The moment he walked into the waiting room as Yoo Noah, I knew.
That crimson aura he carried—there was no way it wasn’t the same one that terrified the continent of Armania.
The Demon King, Daimon.
“So just focus on not getting caught. You don’t have the same strength as before.”
“Stop worrying about me and worry about yourself, Jess.”
The Demon King gave a wicked smile, as if telling me to stop with the meaningless talk, and subtly gestured to our surroundings with his eyes.
“But really, should an idol who just finished a concert be seen hanging around here like this?”