The news that the eighth Devil King had been born in Korea spread across the world at astonishing speed.
And with it came the fact that this Devil King had accepted the duties of a king and become the new master of the National Intelligence Service, the de facto head of Korea's supernatural world.
Each country reacted differently.
For starters, America was so delighted it was almost absurd, and not only the president but even the Pentagon's director personally visited Korea to offer their congratulations.
"If anyone saw this, they'd think a new Devil King had been born in America."
"Either way, Korea and America have long been military allies."
"There's no reason not to be pleased."
"It'll also serve as a check on China."
"And this is high-level psychological warfare too. Everyone knows the Korean and Japanese supernatural circles have bad blood, and now both countries have Devil Kings."
"Calling it a hair-trigger situation wouldn't be strange at all."
"Let them win. It doesn't concern me. The winner is on our side."
That was a move America could make precisely because it was also a nation ruled by a Devil King.
It was the classic great-power response: the strong do not need to fight.
The National Intelligence Service did not view it badly, however.
Judging by their actions, America had still leaned a little more toward Korea.
When news came that a king had been born in Japan, they had sent congratulations, but they had not gone so far as to move the president.
Italy and Japan were already in conflict over the Japanese king's god-slaying, and above all, Japan had never really seemed to properly revere its own king.
Korea, by contrast, was the opposite.
The king himself had acknowledged the duties of kingship and taken the throne.
America's conclusion was that, as a god-slayer, his strength might be unknown, but in terms of the vessel fit to be a king, Korea's king was overwhelmingly superior.
"What about China?"
"They look like they've swallowed a mouthful of filth, but they're still offering congratulations."
"Oho. I thought they wouldn't buy it."
"A mere small country claiming to have a king! That's what they must have been thinking."
"How smart do you think a dictator is? Why would they do something that stupid?"
"There's no loss in believing it, but the loss from not believing it is enormous."
"Besides, a king is a trauma point for China. You know better than anyone that just because she keeps to herself doesn't mean Lady Luo is someone to take lightly."
In the previous administration, there had been an attempt to use the queen, Cult Leader Luo, for political purposes.
After all, Cult Leader Luo was a singular powerhouse even among Devil Kings.
She was the strongest Devil King, on par with Marquis Voban.
Even borrowing the value of her name alone could change China's standing at any time.
Fortunately, since Cult Leader Luo lived apart from the mortal world, they had judged that things would probably be fine and profited by trading on her name everywhere.
Korea and Japan, of course.
And Taiwan in particular had been badly hit back then.
But—
"They're all dead. Every last one of them."
"Yes. All the high-ranking officials were torn apart beyond recognition."
"The current government is basically built on those corpses."
"China may be a bit of a mess, but when it comes to kings, they don't joke around. They know better than anyone how terrifying a king is."
That was why they offered congratulations while still looking like they'd bitten into shit.
Unlike the queen, Korea's king was said to be extremely communicative.
Even if a cousin buys land, people get jealous. That's human nature.
And now there was a Devil King who was not only a newcomer, but a benevolent one.
For China, it must have felt like their intestines were being twisted in knots.
They could no longer bully Korea with bluster diplomacy, so of course they were irritated.
They had reacted the same way when a king was born in Japan.
"Serves them right."
"Yeah."
"Idiots."
The other countries were much the same.
Most of them sent congratulations.
They knew the National Intelligence Service was not stupid, and that they were not the sort to joke about something like this.
The only place that expressed any real regret was Britain.
More precisely, the Greenwich Wise Men's Council.
When Korea was asked to prove its kingly abilities, it had dodged the question and basically told them to get lost.
They probably had the mindset of "might as well poke the fruit we can't eat," but unlike when Japan had done it, the Korean king's response was razor-sharp, so they hurriedly sent an apology in the name of the council chairman, Alice.
"By the way, why exactly is Greenwich gathering information on the Authorities of god-slayers?"
"Beats me. I don't think killing the same god means you steal the same Authority."
God-slayers instinctively usurp the Authority best suited to them.
Even then, the power often mutates far beyond what the god originally used.
A representative example was Italy's Sword King, Salvatore Doni, who killed Vulcan, the god of civilization, identified with Hephaestus of Greek mythology, and in reverse usurped an Authority that regressed civilization.
When he released that Authority, every tool using post-medieval technology within a city-sized area would stop functioning.
True to his reputation as the very symbol of trouble, it was an Authority perfectly optimized for causing chaos.
"I heard a little about it too. Supposedly there are Authorities that defy providence."
"Providence?"
"Or maybe it was something about twisting the natural order. Anyway, they're trying to find out whether something like that exists because there's some insanely dangerous Authority out there."
"I have no idea what that means."
"Neither do I."
"The theory that the chairman has a severe addiction to naming Authorities is starting to sound more plausible."
Alice.
Princess Alice.
Her real name: Alice Louise of Navarre.
The highest-ranking witch in existence, and the strongest witch alive.
Some even said she was the only being who, despite not being a god-slayer, could stand against a Devil King.
Rumor had it she was on bad terms with the Black Prince based in Britain.
In any case, she was a mysterious woman full of secrets.
The surprising thing was only that she was young for a witch.
Of course, no one knew her exact age.
Ah, and for the record, she was also the one who had named almost every Authority possessed by the Devil Kings of the present age.
And naturally, she had not asked the Devil Kings for their consent.
In every sense, she was extraordinary.
And then there was Japan.
But in truth, there was nothing much there either.
"They're silent, right?"
"No response. But it's understandable."
"If they slip up, it's war."
"We'd have done the same."
Japan said nothing in response to Korea's announcement.
It was clear they were deeply shaken, but that was all.
As expected, the Japanese sorcerers who had been in Korea, including the four great families, returned to Japan at once, and nothing else happened.
"Could they possibly think we lied?"
"No."
"The Japanese sorcerers returned faster than we expected. The four great families and the Japanese government must have given them the word."
"If they didn't believe it, they wouldn't have moved that quickly."
"At the very least, they would have kept the sorcerers in the country to investigate."
But even that did not happen.
It was as if they had known there was a Devil King in Korea all along.
And after watching the situation, it was almost as if they had pulled out the moment Il-gyu officially became Korea's king.
"How?"
"It's still just a guess, but Jang Seong-woo seems the most likely."
"That bastard who got killed by Il-gyu?"
"You know he had ties to Japan's four great families, right?"
Uhara.
Sayanomiya.
Nagi.
Seishuin.
The great families with the oldest histories in Japan.
"Uhara is probably the one connected to Jindo Group."
And Uhara's specialty was a sorcery that handled summoned familiars called shikigami.
In terms of raw combat power, shikigami were somewhat inferior to ordinary summons, but their utility was on a completely different level.
Long-range surveillance through a shikigami's eyes.
And beyond that, the Uhara family's secret art was to parasitize a shikigami into another person's eyes and steal their field of vision.
"They spy on people like crazy with that trick."
"They probably weren't specifically targeting Jang Seong-woo. While they were working in Korea, they likely planted them in anyone who looked suspicious."
"So they can plant them without the target noticing?"
"That's a sorcerer's skill."
They must have discovered Il-gyu in the process.
Of course, they probably doubted it at first.
A king, all of a sudden?
With kings having been born in quick succession lately, it was easy to get the wrong idea, but kings are absolutely not common beings.
No matter how solid the evidence, they were not the sort to believe it the instant they saw it.
So they must have intended to investigate.
But before long, Il-gyu himself acknowledged that he was a king.
From Uhara's perspective, even if it was not direct, he had become tied to the king's targets for revenge, so it made sense that they pulled out quickly.
The only question was why the other Japanese factions had moved so fast.
"Uhara may have tipped them off. There must have been some reason."
"Japan's internal situation is no less chaotic."
"Still, a response will come before long."
Honestly, it didn't matter how Japan chose to act.
Korea had a king now too.
Of course, they did not want a king-versus-king battle to break out, but even if it did, the National Intelligence Service did not doubt Il-gyu's victory.
Having served at his side and watched him, even for a short time, they knew he was not the sort to lose to some greenhorn who still could not even accept the fact that he had become a Devil King.
He was still training and improving day by day.
By comparison, Kusanagi Godou?
He was just enjoying school life to the fullest.
With a blonde girlfriend from Italy at his side, no less.
"Let's focus on our own work."
"Right."
"Japan's problem has basically been settled at the first stage, and the other countries have all been swept through once already, so he'll probably begin in earnest now."
"We're going to get busy again."
Operation name: Normalization.
Il-gyu and the National Intelligence Service had finally finished preparing to draw their blades.