In New Leaf village, some kind of ceremony was going on. So many players surrounded that one house without a door. They almost seemed like some sort of cult.

  Some newcomers couldn't help but get curious:

  "Hey, what's happening here?!"

  "We're all waiting for the Demon King."

  "What?! The Demon King's in there! What's he doing?"

  Some of them were worshipping Jack'O as the True Demon King of Infinite. Their head honcho wouldn't miss such an opportunity. He promptly and theatrically answered, his arms raised high up:

  "My brethren! We are gathered here to gaze upon the sublime appearance of our God, the True Demon King of Infinite! His esteemed self is currently training in isolation! We will make sure no one dares to disturb him!"

  His deep voice echoed in the village, with many clamoring in agreement.

  "We won't let any enemy through!"

  "He shall rule this world, and we shall serve him!"

  "He saved New Leaf from its ignorance. Glory be upon him!"

  Anyone sane felt like facepalming. Protect him? From freaking what?! Would anyone dare invade the training instructor's house? The NPC could slaughter players with a wave of his hand! This wasn't even considering the player himself!

  Still, most stayed. How would he react when he came out? Would he at least say a few words to the crowd? They could only hope.

  The cultists happily shouted, the regular players happily discussed— but then they all stopped suddenly, looking at one another in shock.

  "What's this?"

  "You guys hear it too?"

  "I-I think it's coming from the house?!"

  There was a low rumbling sound that began echoing. The more time passed and the more intense it got. The earth began shaking, pained yet resolved wolf howls resounded, and they felt incredible pressure.

  The payers began sweating torrents:

  "What the fuck?!"

  "G-guys, I have a bad feeling."

  "Is it me, or it's getting really hot?!"

  There was rumbling, there was pressure building, and there was the heat. A player suddenly realized what this meant:

  "It's gonna fucking blow up! Runnnnn!"

  "NIGERUNDAYO!!!!"

  But the warning came too late. Along with a sharp phoenix cry, all hell broke loose:

  — BOOM!!! —


  — Crackle! Crackle!—


  — WOOSH!!—


  The house in front of them blew up. The explosion was massive, accompanied by the crackling of flames, and then a wave of heat spread in all directions. It was as if a gas leak had just been ignited, and it was all going to shit.

  Plenty of red numbers appeared above the players' heads as they fell like dominoes and kept burning-

  2-

  2-

  2-

  2-

  2-

  2-

  2-

  2-

  2

  Heck, the ones that were too close even died on hit. Their eyes were as big a dead fishes as they disappeared in the inferno.

  There was an instant of silence, only an instant.

  "…"

  "Holy shit!"

  "This is our lord's power, Muahahaha!"

  "Praise the Demon King! Even his training is so intense!"

  "Open your eyes, heathens, and gaze upon his magnificence!"

  That's when something came out of the charred rubble with a thud. The training instructor was coming out, wholly covered in blackish ashes. He frowned seeing all the players and grimaced as he sized up the damage.

  "Crazy bastard!" He mumbled under his breath. "What kind of catalyst was that?!"

  He didn't know whether to be impressed or to kill the youngster. This was madness….

  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━


  Jack slowly opened his eyes, turbid ones that slowly regained clarity.

  This had been so intense. Before, he had always been in control, but he had lost himself this time. The fiery chicken's pace had engulfed him. Well, not totally.

  He had felt the urge to destroy, the desire to burn everything asunder, even the fucking world. He had felt it all so vividly as if he weren't human anymore.

  For what seemed like an eternity, he had been nothing but a heart. He had felt himself beat, he had felt himself rain destruction upon the universe, and he had felt satisfaction from the inferno.

  He had even heard its voice as if his own:

  ??? ?? ??? ?????????

  ???? ?? ?? ??? ??????????…


  ???? ???? ??? ???? ?????…


  ??? ??? ????? ???? ???? ???…


  ??? ????? ?? ??????? ???? ?? ????????…


  It had turned into an impulse, one coming deep from inside his soul, one that was about to overwhelm him. It was so persuasive as it ushered him to end it all.

  But then, he had felt disgusted, pure and profound disgust.

  "Destroy? Is that your whole pitch?"

  "Might? Ridiculous! This isn't true power."

  "You're just a heart. Of course, you're brainless!"

  "I'll destroy, I'll consume, I'll dominate, I'll protect, I'll do whatever the fuck I want! I'm motherfucking Jack'O. Now shut the hell up and give me your power already!"

  Thus had been the end of the heart. After all, even with how powerful it was, it was nothing but a heart.

  That's when a tired but victorious low "Woo" resounded. Atop his head, Moon Moon was also coming back to its senses.

  "How was it, buddy?" Jack asked with concern.

  "Woo…" (Relieved)

  It had somehow survived it. This had been its biggest challenge so far. It had only managed to keep struggling because it knew its master believed in it.

  Moon Moon could disappoint anyone, but not him! That's how it had kept fighting, even when it had felt the flames engulf its body and soul. The evil fiery heart had tried tricking it too, but it was too dumb to succeed.

  The heart had claimed that fiery destruction was the best. As if! The best was obviously Master! He gave the best headpats, shared delicious food, and had changed its whole world!

  Moon Moon had devoured the baddy liar heart, even with how bad it tasted. After all, the evil thing's power was better used for Master's sake! It was so glad that it was over…


  Jack smiled, seeing that Moon Moon was fine. It had been a gamble, even an impossibility, but he had expected such an outcome. After all, this strength was to be expected from a wolf he had personally trained!

  He happily inspected his gains. They were bound to be bountiful considering the degree of difficulty this whole thing had.

  [ +10 Fire affinity! ]

  [ Acquired Burning Man F!]

  [ Acquired Fire Manipulation F! ]

  [ Acquired Fiery Soul: Super Hot! ]