Chapter 111
Even demons were people with their own personalities.
And to think they used to be human...
I couldn't help feeling reluctant to wipe them all out.
But after talking with Gremory a few times, most of that reluctance had faded.
“They are demons. And so am I. To struggle, lose to a stronger force, and perish—that is the fate of demons. This is the Demon Realm, after all...”
“Are you saying we should follow the laws of the Demon Realm while in the Demon Realm?”
“Exactly.”
Either way, I had no other way to take down Baal or Agares.
Just as a two-dimensional being can never defeat a three-dimensional one, no matter how strong it becomes.
Gremory said their phases themselves were different.
“To fight them, we have no choice but to lower their phase or bring it into alignment with theirs.”
“... Since there's no way to align our phases in here right now.”
“Yes. We lower theirs.”
After spending several days farming rice and sorting out my thoughts, I came to a conclusion.
“Come to think of it... if you commit a crime in this world, you go to Hell. Where do you go if you commit a crime in Hell? There's nowhere left to go, right?”
We call that someone who's gone as far as they can go.
That's me.
Someone who's gone as far as they can go.
“Pardon?”
“... I was just talking nonsense.”
My friends from the Demon Realm really aren't good with jokes.
So I'd better get out of this boring place as soon as possible.
**
The first place I headed for was Agares's territory.
Agares's territory bordered Baal's territory at the eastern edge, so naturally, it was the first one I reached.
It was far more developed than Gremory's territory.
As you'd expect from a great lord's domain.
I had to hurry.
I didn't know how long Gremory could hold out.
If I wasted time and the two Demon Lords came over to interfere, all my efforts would be for nothing.
I couldn't have that.
As I flew across Agares's territory, I spread Gluttony over a wide area.
Agares's territory was enormous.
But, like anywhere else, its population centers were concentrated in certain areas.
Gluttony spread out in force around what could be called Agares's territorial capital.
And it wasn't just Gluttony.
Pride spread in the form of zoonotic diseases, inevitably lethal to living beings.
I considered trying something like a bombardment with methanogens, but held back.
─ Kyu!
Kyukyu asked me to let it handle things, too, so I let it out...
─ Kyu-uuuuuu!!
Apparently, slimes also lived beneath Agares's castle, because at Kyukyu's cry, they began oozing up to the surface.
The damp conditions created by slimes were perfect for an epidemic to flourish.
Besides, just because this was the Demon Realm didn't mean it was free of infectious diseases.
Pride's colonies issued commands to the vast store of pathogens carried by the sewer slimes.
Pride's authority—the projection of its dominion over lower-ranking pathogens—was unleashed.
It all happened in just a few dozen seconds as I flew through the sky.
“Greed, want to get in on this, too?”
─ N o t . i n t e r e s t i n g.
What a finicky guy.
Still, Greed's power would have been a great help.
But I wasn't going to force him if he refused.
If the others weren't enough, I'd call him in then.
After spreading everything I had...
all I could do was sit back and watch.
It began as soon as the Gluttony colony settled on the ground.
Demons and magical beasts were disassembled in an instant.
But...
Something completely unexpected happened.
[Your level has increased.]
“... Huh?”
It started with a single message...
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[You have reached Level 50.]
[You receive ‘Material Item Selection Ticket (Large)’ as a reward.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
....
[You have reached Level 60.]
[Your main stat has increased.]
[Your main stat, ‘Control,’ has increased by 10%.]
What the hell... This is scary.
What in the world was...
Oh, wait. I'd forgotten for a moment.
I was inside a Gate, wasn't I?
That meant the beings inside were basically classified as monsters.
Which meant...
My level...
Went up like crazy.
I think I gained nearly 17 levels all at once.
I was Level 60 now.
And at last, I broke through the 250% wall and my Control increased.
260%.
How long had it been since my Control exceeded 250%?
Since it went up when I reached Level 60... had this been blocked by the level cap, too?
But I didn't have time to think it through...
[Field Boss ‘Kaliman’ has died.]
[Regional Boss ‘Galiolande’ has died.]
....
I even got all kinds of boss-clear notifications.
I received too many titles to count.
And in the process...
[Control]: 300%
At last, it reached 300%.
[Control has reached 300%, awakening Gluttony's additional authority, ‘Hound's Hunger’.]
[Hound's Hunger]
Description: Grrrr! Woof, woof! Grrr! Woof, woof, woof!
Details: Marks any entity chosen as a target for pursuit. Any marked enemy that enters Gluttony's perception range immediately becomes a target for attack. When pursuing a marked enemy, Gluttony's flight speed increases by 1,000%.
[Control has reached 300%, awakening Pride's additional authority, ‘Biological Transformation’.]
[Biological Transformation]
Description: Humans? Aren't they beings made up of a mere 40 trillion cells? If you can differentiate into every kind of microorganism... is there any reason you couldn't turn into any kind of cell?
Details: If a sufficient number of entities are available, the colony can be transformed into the form of a specific organism. The fidelity of the reproduction varies according to that organism's ‘rank.’ To transform into a desired organism, you must observe the target sufficiently with Mician and reach 100% observation.
Two entities had awakened additional authorities.
Greed, why don't you have anything?
─ I . a m . c u r r e n t l y . i m p r o v i n g . m y s e l f.
Ah, right...
In any case, my level hadn't stopped increasing at 60.
[Your level has increased.]
...
My levels were beginning another upward surge.
At this rate, would I hit Level 70 in here?
Come to think of it, this was a level-scaling Gate.
It might actually be possible...
Kyaaaaaagh!
A few flying-type magical beasts or demons rose from Agares's territory to attack as it was being swept away, but they were disassembled immediately.
The Gluttony Legion, having gained a new authority, was actively sweeping away Agares's retainers as if they had grown wings.
Next was Baal's territory.
I had to hurry.
Gremory, I hope you're holding out.
**
“We've done our best to match our ranks, but...”
“The difference in experience between you and us, Gremory, is greater than the difference between a fly and a dragon.”
“Why not join us instead? I'll grant you a share in the new ‘Paradise’ that will soon be opened.”
Gremory, facing Baal and Agares, gave a little laugh at their honeyed words.
“You must know that I shared my stake with my Savior.”
“At most, it must have been a small portion.”
“We can make up for that much.”
“A small portion? It was indeed a portion.”
But...
“After receiving such a great blessing from the Demon God, how could my share have stayed the same?”
“I had a feeling.”
“That brat actually has the power of a ‘god’...”
“Half of my power already belongs to my Savior. I wanted to give them even more, but they refused.”
In truth, it was slightly less than half.
If the share exceeded half, the recipient would gain the rank of a ‘Demon Lord’...
Kim Segyun, who didn't want to become a Demon Lord, had strongly refused to accept more than half.
“In any case, if you can bear even half of this power, then go ahead and try.”
“......”
Agares and Gremory fell silent.
It was half of Gremory's rank, which she had raised to a level comparable to theirs.
There was no way they could bear that much at this point.
Even if they could...
If it were directed at Kim Segyun...
Could they really handle it?
“It can't be helped.”
“I'll kill you, Gremory, and take your power.”
“... Try it if you can, you old geezers.”
Harsh words spilled from Gremory's pretty lips.
At the same time, Agares reached out, and hands burst from Gremory's entire body.
Agares's authority—the very one that had left even the 45th-ranked Demon Lord helpless.
Caught in it, Gremory smiled serenely.
“How foolish. Have you, wise Agares, lost your sight?”
“......?”
When Gremory exerted just a little force,
Crack! In an instant, hairline cracks spread like a spiderweb across the hands surrounding her body, and they shattered into fragments.
Deep, widely spaced furrows appeared between Agares's brows.
“... I see.”
“Now you understand.”
Gremory, who had already transferred half her share...
Had only half her power.
But the actual power she could use was all the power Kim Segyun had entrusted to her.
Agares's authority was activated based on the rank of the target's actual form, but...
Since her actual power was twice that...
“This was how to counter your unfathomable authority.”
“Indeed. I didn't think any of the greedy Demon Lords would use that countermeasure.”
For a Demon Lord, power was as precious as life.
There was hardly a Demon Lord who could give half of that power to someone else.
“It can't be helped.”
Even without his authority, Agares was sufficiently powerful.
And Baal was behind him, too.
However, Baal had already suffered a tremendous blow while escaping the mental world.
“I know this is difficult, but we have to hurry. Only we can stop the Creator's ‘Gluttony.’”
“... I understand.”
Just as Baal rose to his feet to step in,
Agares clutched his heart and collapsed where he stood.
“Guh!”
“Are you all right?!”
“I-I'm fine... Uuugh!”
He was clearly not fine.
The pale, hazy authority could practically be seen draining from his entire body.
Baal cried out, his face turning pale.
“How could it be happening already?!”
Without realizing it, they had been measuring everything against the ‘Creator of Paradise’ from the past.
But...
The one they were facing now was ‘Kim Segyun,’ not the ‘Creator.’
They were almost the same, but...
The Creator back then...
Hadn't possessed flight abilities as tremendous as Kim Segyun's.
Kim Segyun was flying at several times the speed of sound, so fast it was difficult to follow him with the eye.
And while doing so, he was scattering retainers over the widest possible area from above, while exerting overwhelming dominion over every single one of them.
“Gyaaaaaah!”
Just as had happened to Baal.
No, even worse.
Agares vomited several buckets of black blood.
As the power he'd shared from his retainers drained away, he could no longer maintain his higher-rank form, and it began to collapse.
On top of that, there was no longer an infinite source of life in the Demon Realm.
Once Agares, who had been relying on a share of his retainers' power to endure, lost those retainers...
He rapidly aged into a wretched old man.
Even his ‘demonic form’ disappeared.
Only an unsightly human remained.
“Agares...!”
Baal gritted his teeth.
Then, right there, he began dispersing his body to vanish.
It was one of Baal's authorities, allowing him to teleport to any location in the Demon Realm.
Of course, Gremory wasn't about to stand by and watch.
“Baal, have you forgotten? If this were your territory, there'd be no way for me to stop your authority, but...”
This was...
Gremory's land.
This was the territory of Demon Lord Gremory, and they were the invading force.
“Guh...”
Baal gritted his teeth as he looked at the thorn-covered rose vines coiled around his feet.
When the difference in power was overwhelming, one could ignore territory and everything else through sheer force.
But in a situation like this...
“Wasn't this the lesson you taught every Demon Lord—no, the entire Demon Realm?‘
As Gremory smiled wanly and raised her hand,
her retainers began to appear one by one.
Gremory knew.
Unlike Baal and Agares, who had wielded that immense power for a long time,
she couldn't properly control it, even though she now held such immense power.
If so...
At the same time Gremory nodded, the power she had left...
Was passed on to the retainers in her territory.
The demons and magical beasts of Gremory's territory, now imbued with powerful strength, bared their fangs at Baal, whom they once hadn't even dared to look at.
”I reject the order of the Demon Realm that you created.“
If Baal and Agares were beings who unilaterally siphoned power from their retainers...
No, if that was what every Demon Lord did...
If that was how the Demon Realm was structured...
Then Gremory...
Would reject that order.
She...
Would create a new order in the Demon Realm.