Second Chances (KPop Demon Hunters)-Chapter 55: New Regime

A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next FIVE chapters are up on
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A paradigm shift.
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"If hate could defeat Gwi-Ma, I would have done it a long time ago. Trust me."
Those words, spoken in the midst of a fan signing that he and the rest of the Saja Boys had truly camped out all night in order to crash, were some of the only honest words Jinu had spoken to Rumi in the original timeline. He'd meant them with every fiber of his being.
Now though, as he stares down at the scorch marks atop the Demon King's Throne where the roaring bonfire once held court, Jinu reflects that hate was far from the only thing that helped him kill the tyrant. It wasn't hate that brought him here tonight after all… it was love.
"Heh. For some reason I thought you'd be tougher."
Gwi-Ma isn't there to hear his taunting. He's gone… dead… snuffed out. With the help of the Rainbow Honmoon, Jinu had destroyed the Demon King once and for all. Never again will Gwi-Ma's voice whisper in another human's ear. Never again will his patterns adorn another human's flesh.
No one will ever lose their family because of Gwi-Ma's machinations ever again. That… that brings a smile to Jinu's face. He feels good right now, really good. Though, it's probably time to get out of here and back to the girls-
"What… uh… what happens now?"
Before he can depart, however, a voice echoes out from behind him. With a snarl, angry mostly at himself for letting his guard down, Jinu whips around and shoots out one of his iridescent whips in the direction of the voice. The demon in question is nothing special and positively screams in terror as she falls on her ass and crabwalks backwards a few steps.
Honestly, that alone is what saves her life. First because if she hadn't moved, Jinu would have skewered her right on through. And then by being so pathetic as she cowers before him that Jinu ultimately decides to stay his hand. Pulling the Rainbow Honmoon back into himself, he huffs… before narrowing his eyes at the demoness in question.
Heh, small world. It's the same one from back in the beginning. She's no longer wearing the stewardess uniform, but he recognizes her all the same by her red skin and distinctive tusks, horns, and hairstyle. Seems that by saving her life when he first arrived in this timeline it meant she kept that life all the way until now.
Tilting his head to the side, Jinu stares at her quietly for a moment before finally responding in an ice cold tone.
"What do you mean?"
Gulping, the demoness carefully gets on her knees… and when he doesn't smite her where she stands, she climbs to her feet while still cowering back from him.
"What… what do we do now… my K-King?"
She doesn't sound so certain about that last part… but she does sound hopeful. Scoffing, Jinu slashes his hand through the air and shakes his head sharply.
"No. I'm not your King. I want nothing to do with you… with any of you."
Because indeed, he realizes now that there's an entire crowd listening in. Every single living demon is at the base of the pyramid, staring up at him in wide eyed silence, hanging off of his every word. It seems they'd sent this one up here to try and talk to him. A sacrificial lamb, for all that she would be a wolf among sheep if she were ever allowed around humans.
"But… you're so strong. A-And you saved us! You saved me! Gwi-Ma's voice is gone… we can all feel it. His power over us, his hold over our souls… is gone! Y-You could lead us to victory… you could be ten times the Demon King that Gwi-Ma ever was!"
Ah… so that's why they sent her out of everyone. Because the first thing he'd done after coming back in time was save her from Gwi-Ma's flames before attacking the overblown bonfire. Heh, so what? Did they see him as some kind of rebel? Their savior, perhaps?
… The truth was far more selfish. Put bluntly, he'd protected them all from Gwi-Ma's consuming flames tonight for the same reason he protected the demoness back at the start. Because every demon Gwi-Ma was allowed to eat would have made the Demon King more powerful and Jinu couldn't have that.
And so Jinu had done what anyone would do when trying to snuff out a fire. He'd starved Gwi-Ma of power and then blanketed him in the Rainbow Honmoon until there was nothing left.
That all of these demons and this demoness in particular got to keep their lives as a result was a simple byproduct, not something Jinu had actually aimed for or even really cared about. And now this demoness was talking like nothing had to change. Like Jinu could just take Gwi-Ma's place and they'd continue as usual…
"Victory against whom? The humans? The Hunters? No… listen carefully, ALL of you! No one will ever consume another human soul ever again!"
He raises his voice at that last part so that his words reach every remaining living thing in the demon realm. There aren't many left at this point admittedly… but Jinu won't lie, he looks out and he sees an army all the same. And that concerns him.
What if one of them tries to pull another Gwi-Ma by assimilating all the others into themselves? What if they band together and try to find a way to tear open even the Rainbow Honmoon? Jinu isn't even sure either of those things are possible, but as he stares out at all the watching faces, he realizes… he can't leave it to chance.
At the same time, it's not like he's going to stay down here. Fuck that shit. Not only would Rumi rip open the Honmoon herself if she thought she had to in order to retrieve him, but Jinu also wasn't about to spend his second chance apart from her for even a second longer than he needed to be. No, he needed… ah, now there was an idea.
"You wish to be ruled? You wish to be told what comes next?"
The demoness blinks wide eyes at his sudden queries, but nods hesitantly, nonetheless. Smirking, Jinu reaches up to the Rainbow Honmoon again… he won't do this without its support. Luckily, it comes down to him just as it did before, meeting his raised hand and offering him its power.
In the end, he doesn't need nearly as much for this as he did to completely destroy Gwi-Ma. Just a little bit here, a smidgen there… and before he knows it, four familiar entities in the garb of Jeoseung Saja stand before him.
"Abby. Romance. Mystery. Baby."
Reborn into this world, the four former Saja Boys stretch and roll their shoulders, yellow eyes flashing as they look from him down to themselves… their patterns glow with iridescent light, each of them carrying the power of the Rainbow Honmoon within them just as he did.
However, when they look at him… there's little in the way of actual recognition. They know him for what he is, not who he is. These four… well, even the original constructs had had only a basic sort of intelligence to them. Artificial, one might call it. And the same is true for these as well, though that doesn't make them any less capable. In fact, with the Rainbow Honmoon guiding them, Jinu suspects they will be quite capable indeed.
"Heya, Boss."
"Got orders for us, do you?"
"Guess we're in charge of this dump now, huh?"
"…"
Jinu sighs, smiling fondly at the four. Then, he looks to the cowering demoness nearby.
"You said you don't hear Gwi-Ma anymore, right? He no longer has a claim on your souls?"
She nods rapidly, licking her lips and tusks carefully.
"Y-Yes… he's gone. You've freed us all."
Jinu hums, tilting his head to the side.
"And now I imprison you once more. Temporarily, maybe, but imprisonment all the same."
Turning his attention from her back to the crowd, Jinu floats up into the air where Gwi-Ma's flames once rose. His four new glowing constructs float up with him, flanking him two to a side.
"Listen carefully. These four are to be your new rulers… and your wardens. However, they might also be your path to redemption. The Rainbow Honmoon gave me an opportunity for salvation and I have used it to destroy Gwi-Ma. Perhaps there are those among you who are good. Perhaps there are those among you who regret the choices that brought you here."
He doubted he was the only one wracked with guilt over what he'd done, after all. And yet, after four hundred years even Jinu had given up on becoming a better person until he met Rumi. Indeed, he can see confusion and baffled looks writ large across many of the faces below.
Most of these demons do not understand the concept of regret. Many of them were never even human to begin with. A few though… a few he knows were no doubt humans once upon a time, they have looks of hope on their demonic features. His message resonates with them, he can tell.
… It matters little in the end.
"Regardless of what state your rotten souls lie in… you will do nothing to endanger the human realm or the Honmoon. If you conspire to try and hurt the Honmoon, if you aim to hunt humans… you will be destroyed."
Harsh? Perhaps, but then Jinu knew that that was the only language demons really understood. Maybe some of them would eventually earn their own iridescent patterns. Jinu would check back in a few months and if there were any, he would talk to the girls about them potentially being allowed topside. After all, at that point it was in the Honmoon's hands, right?
But for now… Jinu nods to his constructs, all of whom nod back. The Saja Boys reborn, now the jailors of the damned and desperate. Abby, Romance, Baby, and Mystery all begin to fly down the pyramid to start processing their new subjects.
Jinu on the other hand flies up into the air, rising high above Gwi-Ma's Throne. Looking back down for a moment, he has to admit… it's a strange sight indeed to see the Throne without its King. Empty and barren, not a flicker of flame in sight. Strange… but also a good feeling. So very, very good.
Flowing back up through the Rainbow Honmoon, Jinu arrives back in the human realm, landing in the dark, dimly lit hallway silently. For a moment, he just stands there… and then he carefully opens the door to Rumi's room. Part of him expects at least one of the girls to be awake, if not all three. After all, he just used the Honmoon in a rather big way and they ARE all connected to it.
… But no. To his mild surprise, they're all still fully asleep and cuddling up against the illusion of himself that he left behind. Watching Rumi and her girls sleep for a moment, lost to the world and unaware of what he just done… it brings a smile to Jinu's face.
Finally, he switches places with his illusion once more, slotting himself back into the center of the cuddle pile. His return is a lot more of a disturbance than his departure was, but even though he jostles all three hunters a little bit, only Rumi actually starts to stir.
Before she can fully awake, Jinu runs a hand atop her head, his fingers gliding over her scalp and making her moan softly as he pets her for a moment. In mere seconds, she slumps back onto his chest, falling back asleep without issue.
Jinu has no regrets about what he's done this evening. None whatsoever.
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Rumi yawns and stretches as she takes her bowl of cereal from the kitchen over to the dining table where the others are already seated. Jinu across from her, Mira and Zoey on either side of her, they're all being relatively quiet this morning… uncharacteristically so in Zoey's case.
But then, she had dropped something of an emotional bombshell on them all yesterday after coming back from her talk with Celine. Hopefully it would be the last emotional bombshell for a while at least, but that didn't change the fact that they'd all been wrecked and exhausted by the time they went to sleep last night.
Rumi does feel a little bit guilty over that… but she knows Jinu and her girls wouldn't want her to be. She knows they wouldn't want her to be ashamed for leaning on them all for support and relying on them to get her through learning what happened to her parents.
She-
"So I went and killed Gwi-Ma last night."
Wait what.
Rumi's jaw drops open as the full weight of Jinu's words finally makes it through his nonchalant delivery. Mira does a literal spit take as the water she'd been drinking sprays out of her mouth in a fine mist that covers the table. Zoey, meanwhile, slaps her hands down on the table angrily.
"Who the fuck starts a conversation like that?! I just sat down!"
Jinu furrows his brow at Zoey.
"Uh… no you didn't, you've been sitting down for a while now."
"Hehe, yeah but I've always wanted to use that line. Don't worry about it."
Before Jinu can question Zoey on that further, Mira cuts in.
"Can we back up a moment please? Did you just say you killed GWI-MA?! How the fuck?!"
"I used the Rainbow Honmoon."
"You WHAT?! But we're connected to the Honmoon! We would have felt it!"
"I suppose it hid my actions from you for some reason… honestly, I was expecting you all to be awake when I got back. I was surprised when you weren't"
Mira slumps back in her chair at that.
"Huh… shit."
Jinu nods wordlessly in response to her shock before moving his eyes over to Rumi. She freezes under his gaze… but also finally finds her voice.
"… Why?"
Mira and Zoey both go quiet at that, bouncing back and forth between Rumi and Jinu as he lets out a quiet breath.
"It had to be done. So that no little girl has to grow up without a sibling or a parent ever again."
Rumi bites her lower lip and grabs the edge of the table to keep her hands from shaking too hard.
"… But why go without us?"
'Without me'
is what she really wants to say. If Jinu was going to storm the demon realm and kill Gwi-Ma, he should have at least involved her, for fuck's sake!
"Couldn't risk it. Couldn't risk you."
Rumi narrows her eyes and flares her nostrils, ignoring Zoey's quiet 'aww' at Jinu's explanation.
"… I'm mad at you, just to be clear. Not for doing it, but for doing it alone and without back up."
"I figured you might be and you have every right to be mad. But I can't apologize because I'd do it again a thousand times over. Still, you deserved to know. Better you be angry at me and know he's gone rather than happy with me and thinking he's still out there worming his way into the ears of desperate people."
That… Rumi lets out a long sigh and closes her eyes for a moment. So this was what real, honest communication was like, huh? The bad along with the good. When she opens her eyes again, she smiles slightly.
"Nothing but the truth now, yeah?"
Jinu just nods, still watching her intently, almost like he half-expects her to send him away and is memorizing every inch of her face in preparation for never seeing her again.
… No, not almost, that's exactly what the idiot is doing, isn't it? Rumi groans and rubs the bridge of her nose for a moment before jabbing a finger at him.
"Look, I'll be mad for a while but I'll forgive you eventually. I still love you though so get those idiotic thoughts off of your stupid, dumb, handsome face, got it?"
Blinking both stupidly and dumbly like the dork he is, Jinu just nods. Silence reigns for a moment more before Mount Zoey finally erupts.
"Eeeee, are we done being good communicators for the moment?! Because like, awesome that we can discuss our feelings and everything… but PLEASE tell me we're making Jinu show us his memories of last night! I have GOT to see him murderizing Gwi-Ma in magical 4k!"
"Heh, seconded."
Rumi looks between her girls… and smiles fondly.
"Okay yeah, I want to see that too. But don't think you're forgiven yet mister!"
She directs that last sentence at Jinu along with as stern a face as she can muster, causing him to smile a little while raising his hands in the universal gesture for surrender. Huffing, Rumi nods to her maknae.
"Zoey, get the popcorn."
"Yessss! Gaja, gaja, gaja!"
As Zoey rushes off to the kitchen and they all move from breakfast to couch time, Rumi can't quite keep the smile off of her face even though she's still supposed to be angry with Jinu.
Gwi-Ma is gone… and as a result it's just as Jinu said. No little girl will ever have to go through what she or Jinu's little sister went through… ever again. And that… that settles something deep in Rumi's core that she didn't even know needed to be settled. As she and her girls watch Jinu kill a Demon King, Rumi feels… content.
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A/N: Okay so next chapter is gonna jump straight to the Idol Awards. After that, we're pretty much in the endgame. I have lots I still want to do before I consider this story finished though. We'll have 10+ chapters at least after the Idol Awards, though I won't give an exact chapter count~
Feedback is GREATLY appreciated, every comment helps me shape a story like this one!
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