The Demon Realm War (3)
Thump— Thump—
The heart beat fiercely.
Feeling it, the Dragon Duke… no, the being who was once the Dragon Duke delved even deeper into his inner self.
Fragments of the fiercely lived past days scattered and danced in his mind.
How did an ordinary dragon end up in the Demon Realm and ultimately stand at its peak?
There had been countless trials and tribulations over thousands of years.
And in the end, after enduring and overcoming it all, he finally reached this place.
With a single-minded desire for vengeance against those who had forced him to flee to this very spot.
To become the Demon King by his own power, conquer the Demon Realm, and then engulf the continent to prove his righteousness.
‘I am not wrong.’
Indeed, it was this world that was flawed.
He was the strongest in the world and superior to anyone in every aspect.
Is it not natural for one such as him to rise to a position of domination?
Crushair believed so.
And he was soon convinced it would come to pass.
“Hmm— I was wondering where you had gone, and here you are, hiding in a place like this? And in such a pathetic state, no less.”
That voice came before him.
Grumble—
The massive body that had been curled underground twisted violently.
It was an instinctive reaction before he could even register something.
A familiar female voice tinged with laughter.
The voice he despised more than anything, which suddenly appeared and disrupted his smoothly flowing plans.
The loud thumping of his heart that had been echoing in his ears faded away.
…No, it was just his imagination.
His heart continued to pound ferociously.
He was simply so overly focused on the external intruder that he couldn’t realize it properly.
“I really wonder how you keep pouring out so many monsters…”
Thud—!
Ignoring the sound of a tongue clicking in a sigh, Crushair slowly rose to his feet.
The collapsing ground and rising dust.
The aftermath shook the air filled with magical energy, causing an earthquake, but he didn’t care about such trivial matters at all.
“…Could it be that you turned your entire body into a passage to the Abyss?”
Hela quietly gazed up at the massive monster that had risen.
In the center of the abandoned land, which was said to be the most desolate even in the Demon Realm, stood a looming presence.
However, there was not a trace left from the encounter they had once had.
Not to mention that the size of that body appeared to be well over a kilometer, seemingly ten times larger.
“Hmm, upon closer inspection, it’s rather unsettling. I feel like I might vomit, so could you just lie back down?”
The being before her seemed more a manifestation of disgust than majesty.
Three pairs of wings that looked like mere decorations were hastily stitched together from human-shaped monsters, and the other body parts were no different.
Countless eyes turned to glare at her.
‘Wow— that’s gross.’
Hela grimaced as she looked at the enormous creature before her.
As if something were plucking at its fur, monsters continued to fall from its vast body even at this moment, and other monsters popped up inside to fill their empty places.
It was essentially a factory that produced monsters infinitely.
“Shipping out straight from the factory to all parts of the nation. Quite the service you have here…”
Of course, no one would welcome such direct delivery.
As the monsters fell off Crushair’s body and disappeared into the distance, Hela scowled.
‘No wonder no matter how many you catch, it never ends.’
Her judgment had been correct.
The fastest and only way to resolve this situation was to eliminate Crushair, who produced monsters endlessly.
He must have been hiding here knowing this full well.
“Right, this might actually be better.”
If the conflict had continued as originally planned, who knew how much longer it would have taken.
In contrast, simply eliminating that Dragon Duke, who had completely lost his marbles, would draw everything to a clean conclusion.
Moreover…
“I have too much on my plate already, so I can’t afford to be held back by you any longer, right? I believe you will understand.”
She just had to make sure to tell her subordinates that she would return swiftly.
And since you stepped over the line first, she would use every means at her disposal.
With a nonchalant shrug of her shoulders, Hela winked.
[—————!]
Moments later, the monsters clinging to Crushair’s body roared in unison.
Simultaneously, the many eyes embedded in that vast body glared fiercely.
It was an instinctive reaction to the danger surrounding them.
The monsters that had been appearing from his body and slicing through space ceased their movements and began to prepare for battle, but Hela continued in a composed manner.
“So, as I was saying—”
With each passing moment, her powers as the “Demon King” surged higher.
“Don’t just sprinkle dirt on this perfectly cooked dish and die already!”
The unified ‘world’ pierced through the gigantic body.
*
In the sky so high that everything on the ground appeared small.
Whooooosh—
Hesperon, suspended in the air by boosters, looked down quietly.
The analysis and output by “Machina: Callicas,” which had explosively increased the number of monsters, now revealed Crushair, the white creature, growing to twice its former size.
‘That’s no longer just a single life form; it’s practically a swarm. I need to aim for the core somewhere… but its size is a problem.’
Though it felt like a mass of ants buzzing about, each of those monsters was a formidable opponent not to be underestimated.
The balance of the Demon Realm wouldn’t have remained intact otherwise.
Moreover, the more they grouped together, the stronger they became, making it impossible for any regular attack to affect Crushair, who had become a swarm itself.
‘Even if it did, the newly sprouted beings could completely recover it.’
It wasn’t that the injuries healed; it was rather that the dead ones would fall away, making room for new ones. Thus, the power of Hela’s “Annihilator,” which suppressed regeneration, wouldn’t be effective at all.
Well, she might be able to take him down alone if she took her time, but…
‘No need to take that long route.’
Hesperon shrugged his shoulders and slowly extended his left arm forward.
After all, he didn’t come all this way immediately after the search was complete for nothing.
[Online Titan.]
[Launching artillery system.]
He couldn’t utilize the “Soul of Darkness” he had used during the search.
It was too vast a power for him to manage, requiring a cooldown period for stabilization.
‘But this will suffice for now.’
The current problem was that there were too many densely packed monsters, making it impossible to pinpoint the location of the core.
Thus, he needed to clear out that number first.
‘When it comes to sheer firepower, there’s nothing better than this!’
A targeting point arose within “Machina: Callicas” as measurements of distance, wind speed, humidity, and various statistics jumbled past.
The core of the titan, the Dragon Heart, began to heat up and energy slowly started to amplify.
“Ion cannon load.”
That was not the end.
As his words finished, a massive metallic structure began to ripple and rise near his left shoulder.
A huge barrel that had burst out of “Spatial Dimension Storage” integrated with the titan’s left arm.
Click— Kiiying—!
The ultimate weapon recently completed by Howard utilizing all his traits—the “Ion Cannon” had its Dragon Heart at its center, as the titan’s circuits connected to it and began to resonate.
[Titan external armament added— Ion Cannon connected.]
[Synchronization in progress. Energy amplification starting.]
Whew—!
The power of the “Technological Revolution,” a weapon that should neither exist nor could exist in this world, filled with the authority of compliance and disregard to the rules of Auterica.
An enormous amount of energy condensed within, and from the massive muzzle, the light of destruction capable of annihilating civilizations began to seep out.
[Charged Particle Cannon (upgraded) charging complete.]
And at last.
“Fire!”
From the sky descending to the ground.
[Shooting commence.]
A massive beam of light struck down.
*
Whoooosh—!
Hesperon wasn’t the only one to initiate the attack.
A domain of death spread across the area as all monsters touching the ground melted away in unison, and before they could be replenished, a storm of cold blood reduced everything to a pool of crimson liquid.
Moreover, with monstrous abominations and dragons unleashing their breaths, it was only natural that Crushair’s massive body, unable to keep up with the speed of regeneration, began to shrink gradually.
[—————!]
Naturally, he wouldn’t just sit back.
Claiming that producing monsters was not his only new power, he employed various methods to counter the onslaught.
He activated the six Eyes of Instant Death he had previously unleashed or distorted space, spreading corruption through the self-destruction of monsters.
But.
[Heheh… To use the Eye of Instant Death in a place where I exist. You really think lightly of me.]
“Future sight, huh… It’s not just about catching glimpses of causality. It’s quite a troublesome power.”
“Hahaha! It tickles! It tickles!”
[Keruk keruk! Why are you being so persistent when the air is bad, huh?]
The opposition was truly abominable.
Each being was not easy to face on a one-on-one basis, yet they were working together—moving as one in connection with their consciousness—it was impossible to withstand this.
[—————!]
Soon, Crushair, who had gradually returned to his original size, howled in frustration.
As if to say not to attack in a cowardly ambush but to fight him fairly one-on-one.
Of course, Hela wouldn’t even blink.
“What’s wrong? That can’t be all, can it? You’re not quitting here, are you? You sacrificed even yourself, after all?”
Provokingly, Hela’s words made him glare angrily at her, his fury and hatred burning brighter in his eyes than when she first laid eyes on him.
[…Fine! In that case, even if it means discarding my last fragment, I will surely rip you apart!]
Then, from that brute who had only been growling, a terrible roar burst forth.
The change occurred right after those words.
Swish—
As if waiting, the aura radiating from him began to shift.
[Hmm? What is this…?]
The first to respond was Undead King Hans.
An ominous energy began to seep out from Crushair, one he had previously encountered while descending to the Abyss, deeper than the Abyss itself, darker than pitch darkness.
The accursed energy stimulating the “Heart of the Undying” resting within him.
The same was true for Harley, who bore the “Seed of Madness.”
————!
He felt a gaze.
Not from Crushair, but from beyond that body now transformed into a passage to the Abyss—a gaze unexplainable.
Though the atmosphere twisted as if the very world sought to exclude that being, the power was utterly insufficient to prevent the arrival of a being paying a rightful price for their manifestation.
‘…So that’s it. After all, how could one who wishes to rule the world have sacrificed all of himself?’
But this was merely the story up until a moment ago.
The cornered being had finally chosen to abandon everything and plunge himself into the depths.
With the singular intent of bringing Hela, the instigator of this event, along with him.
And that wish likely aligned with the understanding of ‘that existence.’
Wooosh—
The connection grew steadily more stable.
Before it could come to an end, it became impossible to interrupt.
As if it were meant to be that way.
‘This is dangerous…’
Of course, it wouldn’t last long.
But the adversary was an existence that defied even the Holy God, the highest divinity.
No matter how much he had collapsed into desperation, that short time would suffice to slay a few of those recently sprouted seeds of divinity.
‘Tch, might be worth abandoning everything until the deadline expires…’
While weighing countermeasures earnestly in his mind to escape this situation.
Her body jolted.
‘Wait, what if…’
As if catching sight of something floating in the air, a pair of reverse eyes moved rapidly.
Soon a faint smile appeared on her lips.
《The influence of your status as the Demon King is expanding. The existence of the entity becomes more distinct.》
《The karma you possess has reached critical mass.》
It was felt.
Just now, she had crossed a certain threshold.
As if to prove it, a series of messages flowed forth.
《Achievement unlocked! Became the Demon Lord, the ruler of the Demon Realm.》
《Having ended a war that lasted a long time, you’ve become the undisputed top of the Demon Realm. For your reward, you receive the special privilege: “World Invasion.”》
《Achievement unlocked! You significantly influenced the world. Karma has increased further.》
While Hela remained in this place, the influence of Helheim was steadily extending.
In fact, given the current crisis, one could argue it established itself even faster.
As all rival candidates for the position of Demon King had drop-dead, the current result had been effectively determined.
They merely needed time to recognize this fact fully.
‘Perhaps I was just a little short, and the Demon God might have pushed me in advance.’
Considering the exquisite timing, it was a quite plausible assumption.
Of course, what mattered now wasn’t that.
Having officially ascended to the position of Demon King, it was more important to grasp what she could do now.
‘Ah, now I understand. Why the Demon God had no significant reactions until now.’
Once she became the Demon King, everything became clear.
She understood what the Demon God had sacrificed for.
She understood why the position of Demon King was so crucial in this Demon Realm.
‘The very existence of the Demon King was both the beginning and the end of governing the Demon Realm.’
Gods could not arbitrarily intervene in the affairs of the lower realms.
Though less so than the Holy God, the Demon God was under similar constraints.
However, in order to keep the imprisoned god in check, he felt the need for proactive intervention in the world and devised a way to sidestep his limitations.
“I am Hela, the 16th Demon King of the Demon Realm.”
That existence was none other than the Demon King.
The messenger of the Demon God, who had been entrusted with most of the management authority over the Demon Realm.
‘Well, it seems there are limits to that as well. Just like the 15th who ruined everything because of greed.’
Hela took hold of the ‘world.’
No longer was it about merely dominating the surrounding area.
Thanks to her will, the whole of this world called the Demon Realm became one and transformed into a colossal sword.
Having long been accustomed to the power of the “Demon King,” it was almost hard to believe that she had just acquired the qualifications.
“The one disrupting the order of the Demon Realm, Crushair, you—”
The target was still Crushair, who had not completed his descent.
Of course, no matter how much he might have made a reservation, if he did not have the cash to pay for it, he couldn’t buy anything at all.
“—shall be executed.”
Right after the world swung around.
————!
A new scar formed, intersecting the scar that crossed the sky of the Demon Realm.
