Chapter 109
The Creator of Paradise?
“No, I mean, I'm not that.”
“I know.”
Agares smiled, the corners of his aged mouth lifting.
“But there is no doubt that you are the person most essential to maintaining Paradise. Wouldn't that make you its creator?”
“Agares.”
Baal appeared beside him without my noticing and shook his head, his expression stern.
“There is no need to tell him even that.”
“Baal, this will be more effective. It's one of the Marks of Duty.”
“It may be effective, but...”
These old geezers are just standing there talking about me like I'm not even here.
Come to think of it, they came here explicitly to make an enemy of me anyway.
Just because they're being a little civil now doesn't mean I have to humor them.
I'm no saint.
What's the most important thing in a fight...?
Get the first hit in!
The Gluttonies, recalled after dissolving a million-strong army, spread out all at once and engulfed Agares and Baal.
Agares and Baal's forms vanished in an instant.
But...
Since I could share the Gluttonies' senses through Mician, I realized their ‘hunger’ hadn't been satisfied at all.
In other words, they'd attacked empty air.
“The Creator of this age is quite impatient. Our conversation isn't over yet.”
At Agares's voice from far away,
I spread the Gluttonies as far as I could in every direction.
But.
The Gluttonies still couldn't detect the enemy.
At this point...
Could it be that they weren't physical?
“Heh heh, we created Paradise alongside the Creator of Paradise. We know all of that person's abilities.”
“‘Gluttony’ is certainly a dangerous entity, but...”
“If it can't detect our physical forms, then it's meaningless, isn't it?”
The two old men sure know how to play off each other.
“If you have no intention of cooperating...”
“Then we'll have to make you cooperate by force.”
“We never expected that person to cooperate, even if ‘he’ had come.”
“Wasn't he the selfish man who used us as sacrifices to ascend to the rank of a ‘Star’?”
“If so, we'll have to use you, who earned ‘his’ favor, as a sacrifice instead.”
... What the hell are these bastards talking about?
“If you think you can, go ahead and try.”
I was already fully prepared.
But then.
Baal met my eyes...
... and smiled?
“It's certainly remarkable that you possess such power without having raised your rank... There may be advantages to remaining at a lower rank, but the drawbacks are all too obvious.”
“The absence of self-awareness (覺我, self-realization).”
At that moment.
Bzzzzzz...
The faint sound of a fly buzzing left me dazed before I knew it.
What... was this?
Then.
A system message appeared before my eyes.
[Demon Lord ‘Baal’ uses his authority, ‘Lord of the Flies.’]
[Demon Lord ‘Agares’ temporarily transfers his retainer to ‘Baal’!]
[‘Baal’s’ authority is greatly enhanced!]
[The effect of the authority ‘Lord of the Flies’ is causing your mind to become subject to ‘Baal’!]
What?
S-subject to him?
“Remaining at the material rank means you haven't properly honed your higher rank.”
“Heh heh, successor of the ‘Creator of Paradise,’ normally we wouldn't have sufficient cause to intervene, but...”
“The problem is that you became far too powerful while remaining at the material rank.”
... So, in plain terms...
I'm too strong for my level?
And that's why the final boss showed up?
You son of a bitch...
I was already planning to level up, damn it!
“Farewell.”
“We'll put your abilities to good use in creating our Paradise.”
At the same time, the buzzing of fly wings grew louder, tickling my ears.
It was getting hard to stay sane.
Just like this...
Really, just like this...
[‘Gremory’s Authority ─ Allure’ protects your mind!]
... I guess I'm not destined to die after all.
You came to save me, Gremory!
“... Gremory, you're hardly acting like a Demon Lord. Have you already given that man an authority as precious to a Demon Lord as life itself?”
Baal, who had seemed a little taken aback,
made an even louder buzzing sound.
[Baal's authority overwhelmingly surpasses the combined total of Gremory's authorities.]
[Demon Lord ‘Gremory’ is subdued along with you!]
And Gremory suddenly popped into view in front of me.
“......”
“......”
As I stared at her, Gremory hung her head, looking ready to cry.
“Hwae... I'm sorry... I got caught too...”
We're screwed.
**
“What a relief.”
Kim Segyun's body, frozen in a vacant state.
And Gremory standing beside him.
Baal let out a sigh of relief as he looked at them both.
“To think that person has already grown this powerful. They're every bit as impressive as ‘he’ was in those ancient times... No, perhaps even superior.”
“In terms of pure strength, yes.”
“At least we've imprisoned them, so we can relax. Once trapped in there, there's almost no way to get out.”
‘Abyss of Distant Illusions,’ one of Baal's authorities.
Once caught in there, there was only one possible outcome.
To cling desperately to their eroding minds in the infinite abyss, until they were ultimately reduced to nothing.
Their shattered minds would become bound to Baal, and through them, Baal would be able to use the ‘Creator of Paradise's’ authority in full.
Through ‘Kim Segyun.’
That was why they hadn't killed Kim Segyun, even though he was defenseless right now.
It wasn't killing Kim Segyun that mattered.
His authority was far more important.
“How much time has passed?”
“I don't know. An immeasurably long time has passed.”
“This time, we have a responsibility to create a proper Paradise in place of that irresponsible Creator.”
“Indeed.”
Agares and Baal.
The two Demon Lords began reminiscing about events from the distant past, now faded until even their memories of them had grown hazy.
**
Helium.
The name of a world that existed in one of countless universes.
A world that had developed in a different direction from Earth.
‘Baal’ and ‘Agares.’
And a few others.
They were the lords who reigned as absolute rulers of Helium.
They could wield magic—a power beyond the reach of ordinary people—and through it, they ruled over everyone.
One day, a mage appeared in Helium.
He brought magic that followed a completely different path from the magic system that had existed until then.
He was the ruler of invisible, minute things.
He possessed tremendous power that even Baal and Agares, mighty as they were, could not begin to fathom, yet the man had no desire to rule.
He simply traveled through countless worlds.
Then, one day, he returned to his homeland.
And said to the lords,
“If I gave everyone eternal life, would it be a blessing or a curse? I'll leave the decision to you.”
The lords, more powerful than anyone else but lacking eternal life, were delighted.
“Of course it's a blessing.”
“Absolutely a blessing.”
Baal and Agares were especially pleased.
Even they, peerless powerhouses with no equal in history, had realized that the moment of their deaths was approaching.
“Will you not regret your decision?”
“Of course not!”
“How dare you underestimate a lord! We never go back on our word!”
“Very well, then.”
And so...
‘Paradise’ was opened.
A world where ‘lifespan’ had disappeared.
A world where everyone could live forever.
After a very long time...
People realized that ‘Paradise’ could not be maintained peacefully.
First, there was the problem of ‘resources.’
The great lords tried to distribute resources by whatever means they could, using their power...
The population of undying people kept growing until the entire planet was overrun.
Even they, the great lords, had no way to save them all.
With no other choice...
The lords gave an order.
“Struggle. Fight one another.”
“Only the strong will survive.”
It was a world where people could ‘stay alive.’
But not a world where they could truly ‘live.’
And so...
Helium.
No.
Hell...
became a hell where nothing remained but eternal struggle.
They hadn't expected this.
Only then did the primordial lords realize they had made a mistake.
What they had wanted was Paradise, not a hell of eternal struggle.
And...
“If the ‘Creator of Paradise’ ever returns...”
“This time, we won't make the mistake of granting eternity to everyone.”
“Only we...”
“will be beings who can live forever.”
**
I'm going crazy.
“Sigh.”
Yeah, logically speaking, does it make sense for a rank-72 Demon Lord to defend against a combined attack from ranks one and two?
That would be even more of a balance-breaking mess.
“I'm highly resistant to most mental attacks... but they really are primordial Demon Lords. Baal in particular is famous for this sort of thing. Agares is no different.”
“First, let's figure out how to break out of this.”
Hearing how strong the enemy was was absolutely no comfort.
“By the way, where are we...?”
“It must be a mental world.”
“A mental world?”
“They must be keeping us subdued here for an immeasurably long time, trying to break down our mental barriers.”
“An immeasurably long time?”
“At least hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years.”
... Even if they had all the time in the world, they were going to wait that long?
“It'll be just an instant outside. We're trapped in a conceptual world, after all, so time doesn't matter.”
Damn it.
Figures.
Still, at least it's good to know what's going on.
No, is that really a good thing?
It's even more hopeless.
“At any rate, we have plenty of time to figure out a solution.”
But...
Why were all my items still equipped when we were trapped in a mental world?
“I can open my inventory, too.”
So they can't interfere with the system?
It was a little strange, but...
At least that was a relief.
If I'd ended up here without my items, it would've been hopeless.
Half my strength comes from my gear, after all.
“For now, Gremory, try to think of a way to get us out...”
“We can't get out.”
Wasn't that an awfully quick answer?
Are you not trying hard enough?
As I stared at her,
she blushed and sighed.
“The hierarchy among Demon Lords is absolute. There's only one way to overcome this. I would have to gain as much authority as Baal... no, as Baal and Agares combined. That's impossible in here.”
So she hadn't given up for no reason.
“Gremory.”
“Yes, Savior.”
“Don't call me Savior. This is all my fault. You can resent me.”
“N-no...!”
Gremory waved her hands and said firmly,
“You don't seem to understand because you're not a demon, but when a demon shares their authority with someone, it means they'll share their fate. This situation is a fate I chose, too.”
“That's a pretty miserable fate.”
Same for me.
Who could've expected this to happen just because I'd gotten too strong?
I never thought there'd be someone I couldn't beat even with an ability that could break down everything in the world.
It wasn't like I'd been careless, either.
There was nothing I could do.
“Whatever.”
I flopped onto my back and fell into thought.
We should have some time, anyway. Let's think this through.
To get out, Gremory's authority has to surpass theirs, right?
How do you raise your authority?
What, do we train in here like in DragonX?
Would that even make it go up?
“... Come to think of it.”
I remember saying something about the Demon God's power when I showed her the Nectar.
“Gremory.”
“Yes?”
“That power of the Demon God.”
“Ah!!”
Whatever gave her that burst of energy, she hurriedly dashed up to me and brought her face close to mine.
Too close! You're way too close!
“Th-that was a thing, wasn't it?! Do you have any more...?”
“I do.”
I'd used it all up that day, then spent a few months diligently brewing to make more.
With the extraction yield five times higher now, it was finally worthwhile to make.
“Th-that should work. O-of course... we'd need a lot.”
“Hmm.”
I wonder if escaping this place will just create another monster.
Even so.
I couldn't think of a much more reliable method than this right now.
But would the Nectar I had on hand be enough?
Of course it wouldn't, right?
But I couldn't start brewing it here, either...
... as I thought that and looked at the ground,
“... It's soil.”
It was the gloomy, iron-rich-looking soil of the Demon Realm, but that wasn't a problem.
Microorganisms are responsible for 99% of the nutrients in soil.
Microorganisms?
That's my specialty.
I still had my legions intact, and I had my items and my inventory, too.
It'd be better if I could contact Mr. Gyuseon, but I'd studied hard, too.
I had plenty of seeds.
I'd gotten quite a few rice seeds for research and kept several varieties.
I wasn't sure whether this was possible in a mental world.
But if I wanted to know whether it was possible, shouldn't I just try?
“W-what are you going to do...?”
“I think I'll try doing a little farming.”
Gremory looked bewildered for a moment.
I know, I know. Don't look at me like I'm crazy.
“I have a reason for this, a reason.”
If I could just grow and harvest rice, everything else would be solved.
“For now, try drinking this.”
I handed all the Nectar I had over to Gremory.
It was a shame, but they say you shouldn't hold back your stake when you're betting on a sure win.
Though that sounded like something a gambling addict who'd lost everything would say.
And so...
Leaving Gremory beside me, getting thoroughly drunk on the power of Nectar,
My farming began.