Chapter 108
They said I couldn't leave the Gate.
I was a little flustered, but I had a social standing and an image to maintain.
I needed to get a grip.
If I got confused, I wouldn't be able to clear this.
“Are you going to kill me?”
Gremory was dumbfounded and unable to say a word. At my question, she jolted and shook her head.
“N-no, of course not.”
“You sound suspicious, stammering like that.”
“N-no... no...”
I chuckled. I couldn't help it.
Maybe she just couldn't grasp the situation because things hadn't really gotten underway yet.
Perhaps I'd become too strong to feel nervous.
Who would dare stop me...
... Right, I'd been ready to run for my life from the storm just a little while ago.
That's right. Stay alert, stay humble, Hyeonsu.
You have to stay humble in this line of work if you want to last.
“Can I trust you?”
“I, Gremory, the 72nd Demon Lord, and my retainers will help you fight them, Hyeonsu.”
"Think it through. You're turning the entire Demon Realm against yourself, you know?"
“... I-it d-doesn't m-matter...”
If you tremble like that, your retainers are only going to get more scared.
I sighed as I looked at Gremory and her retainers, trembling like dogs caught in a midsummer frost.
“Then let's start by getting the situation straight. No matter how unreasonable this is, those who received the message should at least have figured out what's going on.”
“Yes, Hyeonsu.”
“What exactly is the Cycle of Eternity?”
What is it, and how did I steal it?
I could make a rough guess.
It must be something like Sloth.
But no matter how I thought about it, I wasn't sure it was important enough to make the entire Demon Realm go berserk.
Immortality is nice. Really nice.
But aren't Demon Lords immortal to begin with?
“It's the Demon God's blessing, which supplied eternity to the entire Demon Realm.”
“What is eternity?”
“Just what the word says. Thanks to eternity, the beings of the Demon Realm can live forever without dying.”
“... What happens if it disappears?”
“We'd be reduced to mortal beings, just like humans.”
Wow. I could understand why they were making such a fuss about killing me.
─ F u n n y.
... What's so funny now?
─ T h e y . w e r e . j u s t . h u m a n s . r e t u r n e d . t o . n o r m a l . i n . t h e . f i r s t . p l a c e.
Returned to normal?
Were demons originally humans?
─ Y e s.
What was all that about eternity, then?
─ T h a t . l a z y . b u m.
Lazy... Sloth?
Sloth, the entity called Sloth, is what they mean by eternity?
─ T h a t ' s . r i g h t.
My head was starting to hurt.
I should ask what it means...
─ S h e . d o e s n ' t . k n o w . O n l y . t h e . p r i m o r d i a l . d e m o n s . w o u l d . k n o w.
Gremory isn't a primordial demon? And she's a Demon Lord, for crying out loud.
─ O n l y . a . v e r y . f e w . D e m o n . L o r d s . k n o w.
So you're saying she isn't any help.
Anyway, the Demon God's power was eternity, and I had indeed gobbled it up.
─ N o.
No? Then what is it?
─ T h e r e . w a s n ' t . m u c h . t o . b e g i n . w i t h . W h a t . y o u . g o t . w a s . o n l y . a . f r a g m e n t.
If there wasn't much to begin with, why are they making such a fuss over me?
─ M o s t . o f . t h e m . a r e . i d i o t s . b u t . t h e . p r i m o r d i a l . D e m o n . L o r d s . a r e . d i f f e r e n t.
As I listened to Greed's explanation...
The primordial Demon Lords already knew that eternity was dwindling.
And the reason they were coming after me despite knowing that was...
─ T h e y . m i s t o o k . y o u . f o r . a n . e x i s t e n c e . c o n n e c t e d . t o . t h e . f o r m e r . m a s t e r.
They'd mistaken me for someone connected to that Constellation, since I was using its abilities...
Were they planning to take me hostage or something?
I had no idea.
For now... I had to fight as hard as I could.
Isn't that how it always goes?
The winner is the one who's right.
And I would be right.
**
Before long, the approaching beasts, demons, and even Demon Lords blackened the entire plain.
Gremory and her retainers could only look at one another with faces pale as death.
─Gremory!
A lion-shaped figure wreathed in flames roared with a thunderous voice.
─You won't get anywhere by looking for an opening over there! I'll give you a chance to join us even now! There's nothing you can do with a territory belonging to the 72nd-ranked Demon Lord!
Gremory glanced at me for no reason, then...
shouted boldly.
“This person is the savior of my territory! I will not betray my oath! Even if it means my annihilation!”
─Hmph! Fine! I'll grant your wish!
Of course, after shouting that, she looked at me with a tearful expression.
“That is Vinea, the 45th-ranked Demon Lord. He has a nasty hobby of finding out and revealing names that people don't want made public.”
“Of course, they're stronger than you, the 72nd-ranked Demon Lord.”
“... Thanks to the blessing you bestowed on me, Savior, I've grown stronger, so I won't be defeated easily.”
The problem was that Vinea's forces weren't the end of it.
Demon Lord armies kept arriving, covering the plain without end.
The armies parted, and a being slowly emerged from the east.
Gremory lowered her head and inched behind me.
... Is this woman really a Demon Lord?
“... That's Baal. The Grand Duke of Hell, ruler of 250 legions, and the one who has never once lost his place as the number-one Demon Lord.”
At first glance, Baal looked like a handsome man, but he was a horrifying monster with spider legs in place of a chin and the faces of a frog and a cat on either side of his head.
“Oh. With 250 legions, about how many people is that?”
“There are roughly ten thousand demons and beasts assigned to each legion in the Demon Realm, so...”
“2.5 million?”
How was 2.5 million supposed to compete with me?
Oh, right, you're the big brother.
Your legions number in the thousands of trillions.
There was no need to feel intimidated.
I was about to step forward confidently and say something when...
─Baal! Where have you left your mighty 250 legions to come here alone?!
In response to Vinea's protest—Vinea had brought every legion in his command—Baal clicked his tongue.
─Child, I know what you don't, and that wisdom is the difference between your judgment and mine.
─C-child?! Even coming from you, that's...!
And in an instant, Baal vanished from where he stood and appeared in front of Vinea, grabbing the lion's head by the neck.
Vinea's blazing body was snuffed out by a sudden blast of cold, and Vinea choked in pain with Baal's hand around his neck.
─P-please, spare...
─Fool.
With a flick of his arm, Baal tossed the enormous Vinea toward the legion, then gave me a slight bow.
─Forgive my late introduction, ‘Ruler of Small Things.’ Or should I call you his successor? I am Baal, a humble old man who resides in eastern Hell.
Just as Greed had said, Baal seemed to know exactly who I was.
So this old man had met that Constellation, then?
Interesting.
“I'm Kim Segyun. I believe in respecting my elders, but with so many of you showing up today, it looks like I'll have to attack an old man against my will.”
─If we're going to fight anyway, there's no need to rush.
“I have a reason to.”
I'd rather take them on one at a time than have them gang up on me, right?
I already had a hard enough time keeping track of people as it was.
“By the way, where are your 250 legions? Why did you come alone?”
─I am not foolish enough to try to overwhelm the Ruler of Small Things with numbers. You may appear to stand alone, but I know you have more retainers than all the Demon Lords of this realm and their followers combined.
Damn, he'd figured it out.
One of the advantages of my ability was that no one knew where it came from.
As expected of an old hand.
He was beyond a veteran—practically fossil fuel. I wondered if it was fair to bully a newbie like this.
─You are someone who can only be opposed with my own true power. There is no place here for retainers who are merely your subordinates.
But there's always a troublemaker around.
Vinea, who'd been humiliated by Baal, leaped to his feet...
─My legions! My allies! Advance! All of you, advance!
At the same time, Vinea's legions and the forces of the other lesser Demon Lords began their charge.
─Tsk, tsk.
Baal clicked his tongue.
... Does he think I can wipe them all out or something?
I felt like I ought to live up to expectations if he was going to act like that.
The Vinea Alliance's forces numbered a million, spread across a little over a hundred legions.
If they were all human, I might have felt a little guilty.
“Most of them are beasts, aren't they?”
“Huh? Y-yes, that's right.”
Overwhelmed by the million-strong force of beasts, Gremory trembled, squeezed her eyes shut, and turned away.
Was she imagining her territory getting trampled?
Well, she was the woman who'd wailed over a few spires being destroyed...
Demon Lord or not, she was more delicate than I'd expected.
“If they're beasts, then I don't need to hold back.”
It's not that I dislike animals.
But I can't bring myself to like mutts that come to bite me.
My rule is that a dog that bites people needs to be taught a lesson, even if it takes a club.
“Go.”
My mana capacity had increased tenfold, but I hadn't been able to expand Gluttony tenfold.
They consumed so much Nectar in the first place...
It was hard to expand their numbers tenfold in such a short time.
“Still... I've managed to multiply them about five times.”
From the several hundred trillion I had before... I was up to about two quadrillion.
If I filled it to the brim, I might just reach ten quadrillion now, but...
How much more Nectar would I have to produce to fill that many?
I had to build it up gradually.
That's what I'd thought, but now that I was in this situation, I regretted it a little.
Even so.
A million to one?
No, two quadrillion to one million.
A massive fog of bacteria billowing from my body swept over the million-strong army.
Vinea's elite legion at the very front seemed to hold out for a moment, but it soon crumbled into dust.
“... That's a little inefficient. Just take their heads off.”
It was cruel, but there was no need to break down their entire bodies.
At my command, the Gluttonies began swiftly breaking down the beasts, focusing on their heads.
The army that had numbered a million began shrinking from the front, slowly enough to watch it happen.
How much time passed?
On the plain, now littered with a million corpses, the Gluttonies were feasting on the remains.
─Impossible! This can't be happening!
As Vinea's legions were wiped out, the giant immortal lion visibly shrank.
─Retainers are a source of military strength, but they're also the Demon Lord's own power. And yet you use your retainers as expendable tools? How can someone like you be called a Demon Lord like me?
─B-Baal... why...
─Didn't I try to stop you?
You should've told me it was this bad!
I nearly shouted the words, but swallowed them.
Baal wasn't at fault at all.
He'd already tried to stop Vinea.
No, in the first place, Baal had far more retainers.
The result of several Demon Lords joining forces was a million troops across a hundred legions.
Baal, alone, had 250 legions.
There had to be a reason he'd brought not a single retainer with him.
That's what I had to believe.
But...
How could anyone have seen this coming?!
It was unfair, but I couldn't even voice my frustration.
Vinea's gaze turned to the human standing beside Gremory.
How in the world had Baal known who that human was?
Vinea was confused.
Of course, Vinea knew Baal had existed since primordial times, and had heard the tales of the primordial age passed down through generations.
Could it be that those stories...
─Baal! Did you and the other primordial Demon Lords hide the truth about the past?!
─You wouldn't have believed us even if we told you, so why should we have?
─But...!
At that moment.
Peeeeee!
A thin, high-pitched birdcall rang out across the entire battlefield.
The corners of Baal's mouth curled up slightly.
─He's here, too.
─... Agares.
The Demon Lord who shared eastern Hell with Baal.
Like Baal, Agares had never once lost his place in second rank.
A goshawk that had announced Agares's arrival with its cry appeared from across the plain and landed on the shoulder of an old man.
─It's been a long time.
─Indeed it has, Baal. And...
The old man was also the most learned being in Hell, known by the nickname ‘Sage of Hell.’
He glanced at me and said,
“It's been even longer since I've seen someone like you.”
His voice didn't echo through the air.
I heard it right beside me.
Startled, I looked to the side, and the old man was standing beside me as if he'd been there all along.
“A vast expanse of time has passed. All this time, we have desired only one thing: the recreation of ‘Paradise.’ To reclaim the old ‘Paradise’ that has already become Hell. That is all we wish for.”
And then...
He continued as though speaking to someone other than me.
“This time, I cannot let you go, ‘Creator of Paradise.’”