Thanks from a Demon

The Monster King reappeared before Senju Kyogawa and flapped its chubby wings.

"Master, now we can sign our contract! I don't like the name 'Ugly Thing.' You should call me Ugly Monster instead~" The Monster King's voice purred coquettishly in his mind.

Hearing that adorable voice and thinking of its hideous appearance, Senju Kyogawa couldn't help shuddering.

"You really want to be called 'Ugly Monster'?" Once he'd recovered, Senju Kyogawa asked again. He really couldn't understand what the difference was between the two names. Besides, "Ugly Thing" even sounded a little cuter. How was "Ugly Monster" so amusing?

Ugly Monster clearly loved its new name and insisted on keeping it. No matter how much Senju Kyogawa tried to persuade it, it wouldn't change its mind.

"Fine, fine. If you like being called Ugly Monster, then Ugly Monster it is," Senju Kyogawa said helplessly.

"But I have three rules for you."

"First, you can eat my 'flames,' but you can't stop me from using them."

"Second, can you change your appearance? Can you put your eyeballs back in their sockets?"

"Last, don't let your underlings lick me whenever they feel like it!"

Senju Kyogawa laid out all his demands at once.

Ugly Monster's eyeballs rolled around. It hovered there for a few seconds, then obediently tucked them back into its sockets.

Next, its manta ray-like body gradually lost its fluorescent green color, revealing a soft, pale white beneath.

Then Ugly Monster spun around in midair and asked, "Master, do you like it now?"

Senju Kyogawa nodded in satisfaction. Ugly Monster looked pretty cute like this. But why did all the other Spacetime Rift Derivatives still look so hideous?

Senju Kyogawa voiced his confusion.

"Oh~ They're all my clones. They don't have independent thoughts, and they're not as powerful as I am, so they can't change their appearance."

As soon as it finished speaking, all the Spacetime Rift Derivatives abruptly disappeared, and darkness returned before Senju Kyogawa's eyes.

"Don't worry, Master. We usually live in the flames around your heart, so we won't interfere with your use of them!" Ugly Monster reappeared and explained.

With Ugly Monster's help, Senju Kyogawa managed to escape the sticky Spacetime Rift.

After a dizzy spell, Senju Kyogawa opened his eyes again—and found himself hundreds of meters in the air, flailing as he plummeted toward the ground. He waved his arms helplessly before falling.

When he was only a dozen meters from the ground, he spotted several monsters surrounding a child below.

"Get out of the way!" Senju Kyogawa shouted at the top of his lungs.

The boy clearly had no time to heed his warning. He was locked in a standoff with several monsters. The long-tongued monster had snatched away his kunai, and he was almost out of chakra. Several weaker monsters were also eyeing him hungrily.

But with the long-tongued monster there, the weaker ones didn't dare divide up the prey before them. They could only form a ring around the child, whose short black hair stuck out in every direction, and stare at him with drool dripping from their mouths.

Senju Kyogawa was ten meters from the ground.

At the critical moment, a gigantic Manta Ray appeared and caught Senju Kyogawa as he plummeted.

With a splat, Senju Kyogawa landed face-down in a pool of slime.

"Ugh!" Senju Kyogawa spat out the slime in his mouth, wiped his face in disgust, and grumbled, "Ugly Monster, can you show up a little earlier next time? I nearly fell to my death."

"Oh! Master, you don't like falling from the sky? I thought you humans really liked that feeling..." Ugly Monster replied playfully.

Ugly Monster's arrival cast a shadow over the ground below. The monsters looked up curiously and saw the Manta Ray blotting out the sky.

The long-tongued demon caught a familiar, tempting scent. It looked up too, sticking out its long tongue as it searched for the source.

"Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique!"

With the short-haired boy's swift hand seals, a huge fire dragon appeared and charged at the surrounding monsters.

The monsters had been staring up with drool hanging from their mouths. The sudden Fire Release scorched them black.

Senju Kyogawa curiously leaned over Stinky Treasure's back and looked down, watching clearly as the great fire dragon sent the monsters surrounding the boy flying.

The boy with the short, spiky hair seized the chance to leap out of the ring of monsters.

But just as he was about to escape, the long-tongued demon suddenly shot its tongue toward the boy as he fled.

The slime-covered tongue was about to touch the boy's back. Senju Kyogawa couldn't watch any longer. He still remembered how that long-tongued demon had nearly made him pass out from its stench.

Senju Kyogawa pulled a counterfeit Nichirin Sword from the system space, focused his breathing, and leaped off Ugly Monster's back. Gathering all his strength in both arms, he swung at the long-tongued monster!

Sun Breathing: First Form: Waltz!

A dazzling blaze accompanied a circular slash that cut the monster in half at the waist.

The long-tongued monster let out a scream. The place where it had been cut turned black as if scorched by the sun, and the char spread across its body.

The tongue reaching for the short-haired boy drooped helplessly from midair, then crumbled inch by inch into ash.

The long-tongued monster fell to the ground. A deep sadness suddenly filled its eyes, and tears welled up in them. It turned its face toward Senju Kyogawa and lifted the corners of its mouth ever so slightly, then mouthed a few words to him.

"Thank you..."

Senju Kyogawa couldn't help freezing at the sight. Only then did he realize that the monster had once been human, too.

Just then, the sun emerged from behind the clouds. Its light passed through the air and spilled across the ground.

At last, the monster dissolved into bubbles. Like the Little Mermaid in a fairy tale, it became shimmering bubbles glowing in the sunlight, then slowly disappeared.

The Little Mermaid had become foam and returned to the sea's embrace. But what about him?

Where would he go?

Senju Kyogawa felt a hollow sadness. In the instant he saw that relieved smile, he thought of many things: the monster attacking him with its tongue, the inexplicable Evil Demon Virus, and the warmth of this town before the demons appeared...

[System, what happens when an "Evil Demon" is destroyed?] Senju Kyogawa asked the system on an inexplicable impulse.

The system replied:

[He will atone for his sins, enter the cycle of reincarnation, and begin a brand-new life...]