🌑 Demonic Master Who Just Wants Peace – Season 1, Chapter 1: Rebirth of the Demon King
The storm screamed across the jagged peaks of Murim's highest mountain. Lightning tore through the black sky, illuminating the ragged faces of the Heavenly Alliance disciples. Below, the earth itself seemed to tremble, but in the center of it all stood Seo Jinhyuk, the Blood Demon Sovereign. His presence twisted the air, a dark aura flickering with purple embers.
"The time has come to end your reign of terror!" the Alliance leader bellowed, sword raised.
Jinhyuk yawned. "You attacked me during dinner…" His smirk was lazy, but the air around him thickened, charged with overwhelming power. With a casual snap of his fingers, the mountainside split, sending shards of rock flying. The disciples screamed, thrown off their feet by the force, some disappearing into the shadows.
Then came the betrayal. A familiar face moved through the chaos—the man Jinhyuk had once trusted most. With a dagger hidden behind his back, he lunged, aiming for the Demon Sovereign's heart.
"Forgive me… Murim needs peace," the subordinate whispered.
Jinhyuk barely flinched, coughing a drop of blood but keeping his grin. "Peace? In Murim? That's cute." Shadows writhed subtly around him, responding to the faint remnants of his demonic energy. Even betrayal could not touch him.
White light swallowed him.
When Jinhyuk opened his eyes again, the storm was gone. He was sprawled on a simple cot in the Azure Cloud Sect, a young, seventeen-year-old disciple with weak energy and fragile limbs. His powerful body and skills were gone—or at least sealed. Only a flicker of purple light in his dantian reminded him that he was not entirely powerless.
"…Why am I in a righteous sect?" he muttered, blinking at the sunlight streaming through the window.
A senior disciple's boot struck him lightly. "Trash! Go fetch water!"
He obeyed, carrying two heavy buckets, yawning lazily. But even in this weak vessel, chaos followed him. A tiny surge of residual demonic energy escaped, and the old well erupted in a geyser of water and mud. Disciples flew backward, faces painted in shock, while birds squawked in panic. Jinhyuk scratched his head and smirked. "Oops… slippery hands."
Later, in the training yard, his attention was caught by a young woman. Ha Yerin, granddaughter of the sect leader, practiced with a sword, her movements precise yet not flawless. Jinhyuk's eyes flicked to her left flank—a small opening in her stance that even a casual observer could see.
"You're standing wrong," he said.
Yerin froze mid-swing, her eyes wide. "Who… are you?" Her cheeks tinged pink. Behind her, fellow disciples whispered, eyes wide in shock. "He… spoke to her?!" "Impossible!"
The moment was broken by a sudden commotion. Smoke and screams rose from the nearby village—bandits had arrived. Sect disciples rushed to respond, but Jinhyuk went forward not out of duty but curiosity.
"Hand over valuables or die!" the bandit leader roared.
Jinhyuk stepped forward, hands in pockets, calm as ever. "Can we finish quickly? I promised someone I'd be back before sunset."
With a subtle gesture, shadows spiraled from his fingers. Bandits were thrown back mid-air, some pinned helplessly. Villagers gasped. One bandit fell to his knees as shadow energy subtly bent around him.
"Rise…" Jinhyuk commanded. The man obeyed, a silent testament to the faint yet terrifying power the Demon King still commanded.
By sunset, the chaos had ended. Jinhyuk walked back to the sect with Yerin at his side, her expression unreadable but curious.
"Are you hiding something?" she asked softly.
"Everyone hides something in Murim," he replied, the purple glow in his eyes flickering faintly.
The wind swept across the Azure Cloud Sect's stone paths, carrying the promise of new enemies, new battles, and perhaps the slow blossoming of something more between the Demon King reborn and the girl who might see through him. Murim would never be at peace—but a new life had just begun.