Demon Realm War (4)
Pssss—
The power that had densely shaped itself in one place began to slowly scatter.
Caught up in the afterglow, Hela quietly gazed at her hands.
Just moments ago, the very hand that had held and swung the entire ‘Demon Realm.’
‘This is… really incredible.’
Having directly wielded this power, she understood.
As the representative of the Demon Realm, she, her subordinates, and the countless causal relationships tied to them expanded like a web, covering the entire realm to make use of this power.
It was akin to a kind of authority granted only to gods.
‘…After all, it’s possible because the Demon Tribe is similar to elemental beings.’
Maybe the overall level of the Demon Realm was higher than that of the continent’s typical life forms for the sake of this system.
If she could use this power freely, ruling the Demon Realm like a god wouldn’t be that difficult.
‘Of course, that’s just wishful thinking.’
A smirk escaped her lips.
Naturally, even if one were a Demon King, they couldn’t use such power recklessly.
After all, this was power delegated to manage the Demon Realm on behalf of the Demon God.
‘There’s no way I could wield something like that without restrictions.’
In simple terms, while it came with mountains of constraints and limitations, once activated, it wielded near-absolute authority in the Demon Realm.
Of course, Crushair and the being he was trying to descend with were not part of that criteria.
“Ugh, my whole body is stiff. The burden on my body is no joke.”
Hela muttered under her breath, pouting her lips and rotating her shoulders.
Considering the caliber of her physique, one could imagine just how much strain she had been under.
Of course, looking at the scene before her, it felt like mere over-dramatization.
The once barren wasteland had large craters formed as if bombarded.
…In fact, this was partly due to a genuine photon bombardment, but that wasn’t the main point.
“Hmm, did I overdo it a bit?”
From one point on the land, a thin line stretched into the horizon.
And in the sky, a scar appeared as it continued upwards, making Hela awkwardly scratch her chin.
‘But since it was my first time, I had no room to adjust my strength…’
It was also doubtful that she could have adjusted her power at the moment when the descent was nearly complete.
If she had hesitated, it might have made things more troublesome.
“Well, it looks prettier now, so I guess it doesn’t matter?”
While she absentmindedly gazed at the cross-shaped scar painted in the violet sky, Hela cheerfully shrugged her shoulders.
It wasn’t an empty statement.
The newly formed scar revealed the shimmering Milky Way, showcasing an even more spectacular sight than before.
Even she, who often looked up at the sky, momentarily lost herself in its beauty.
‘Now, I need to clean up.’
As she scanned her surroundings, she licked her lips.
Truthfully, there was nothing to clean up.
This place had originally been a barren land, and the target, Crushair, had completely vanished after receiving the finishing blow.
‘Even if there was a corpse left after he sacrificed everything, there wouldn’t be anything to salvage.’
Her gaze turned to those who had assisted her.
A black-robed black mage, a vampire wearing an opera mask, a three-headed dog scratching its neck with its hind legs, and a blonde child who was coughing and blowing his nose.
And even the man in metal suit still hovering high above, looking down.
“Still…”
As she watched them start to disappear one by one after finishing their tasks, Hela slowly licked her lips.
Though she had come to the Demon Realm, she focused on the perspective of one who had not participated in this fight.
“Isn’t it natural for a master to compensate for the damage their pets cause?”
If they were going to leave, they should pay for their mess.
No way they could just wipe their mouths clean and pretend it didn’t happen?
Looking back up at a particularly bright star shining among the Milky Way, she raised the corners of her mouth and turned away.
Her remaining balance would be collected by another friend.
What she needed to do now was return to her position as quickly as possible.
From now on, things were about to get overwhelmingly busy.
As the sole ruler of this Demon Realm.
The 16th Demon King.
*
‘…Found it.’
Heinrich, with the Wings of Radiance fluttering, muttered quietly.
Whoosh—
Like a glowing lantern in the darkness— his body radiated a divine aura that the energies of the Demon Realm dared not approach, enough to draw attention all around, but he paid it no mind.
He was in a place that few could easily reach, not to mention difficult to observe with any ordinary ability.
“Did they hide it in a place like this?”
This spot was much higher than where Hesperon had conducted his aerial bombardment.
Right at the edge of the world, with the Milky Way visible before him.
‘If it weren’t for the “Great Blessing: Wings of Radiance,” I might have struggled through the mana storm to get here.’
The Demon Realm was merely a branch derived from Auterica.
From the very beginning, a world where the cosmos and the Milky Way could not exist.
‘…By the way, it’s even more impressive up close. Is that all…?’
The area granted to this world of the Demon Realm ended here.
Beyond this point, where no more could be crossed, the vision of the Milky Way was the remnants of the Holy God scattered in the process of creation.
Due to the mana currents in the sky, it was hard to observe properly, making it look like stars from the ground.
“I’ll have to give credit where it’s due. If it weren’t for me, they might have searched the surface for eternity without finding it.”
And there, at the boundary of this world, was ‘it.’
The door leading to the sealed god’s shrine, which had suddenly disappeared from the Dark Nest’s underground consciousness.
‘Sure, how could I just give up after marking this Demon Realm? There’s no way I could just let it go easily.’
Right after joining the tracking of Crushair’s location,
Heinrich had focused on finding something without joining in the hunt.
Unlike the results from other avatars, he felt a distinct response.
From the start, it was an excessively powerful presence that he didn’t need to interfere with.
‘Maybe it disappeared along with Crushair?’
The Demon Realm was a domain under the jurisdiction of another god.
There was no way installing a door connected to his shrine there would be an easy task!
It must have required a price to pay in some form, and even now, after the plot in the Demon Realm had failed, it must have been at a level that was hard to give up.
That’s why it was hidden in a place that no one could discover.
‘Then where to…’
Approaching the firmly shut door, Heinrich tightly grasped the doorknob.
Crack—
The door began to resist violently, but…
At this point, there was no way it could stop him.
BANG!
He forcefully opened the door, almost ripping it off its hinges, and smoothly flew inside.
As the location of the shrine had shifted, the entire interior had been rearranged, resetting all the coordinates he had recorded while underground.
If it moved to another location, the newly set coordinates would likely become useless as well.
However, once he had entered directly, there was no escaping this time.
———!
He could feel the fury spilling out from the shrine through the tumultuous internal currents.
“Where do you think you’re stepping in with those filthy feet?” it seemed to say.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll finish up soon, so just sit tight.”
Naturally, Heinrich didn’t care at all.
He quickly flew deeper inside with calm composure.
‘The reactions are intense. My whole body is tingling.’
The shrine was a special place for gods.
No matter how fallen it may be, recognizing the entities that entered should be no issue.
Wasn’t that why he wasn’t hesitant to summon someone like Hans within to avoid exposing information about his maximum power?
“…I found it. The core of this shrine.”
But what if it were the Champion of the Holy God, a being clearly above that?
The creator god of this world, now judged and confined within the Abyss, and the father of all gods, the Holy God’s champion, Heinrich?
‘After all, the foundation of the power I possess is based on the blessings given by the Holy God.’
Moreover, the ungodly one was currently around the time of being expelled from the Demon Realm after being with Crushair.
Even in his territory, it would be hard for him to act right after being banished.
In other words, unlike before, this shrine was essentially unguarded.
Crack! Crack!
Squeak—
The door that hadn’t opened no matter how much he struggled before forcefully swung wide open.
On the other side of the gigantic hall, which was definitely not meant for humans, loomed an altar housing a heavily damaged holy emblem.
“That must be it, the core that maintains this shrine.”
———!
The internal currents roared in response to his utterance as if they were affirming his words.
If it could speak, it would have surely been cursing him feverishly already.
But insults from an enemy were no different from compliments.
With a lighter heart, he flapped his wings and landed in front of the massive holy emblem, suited to the scale of the shrine.
‘Is this its symbol?’
A colossal structure that had become unrecognizable.
Partially burnt, melted, and twisted, it resembled a screaming human face in anguish.
‘…So there is a piece of holy energy here too. Well, if it has been worked on for thousands of years, such an investment is natural. It seems this serves as a relay to the Demon Realm too.’
He should have taken a closer look when he first encountered the shrine.
After being too relaxed, thinking he would investigate slowly, he missed his chance last time; this time, he was determined to settle the score.
In truth, the reason he had paused the investigation was that he had found no way to open the altar’s door.
‘I might not be able to absorb the holy fragment directly like the other avatars… but as a priest, I have a better method.’
Isn’t there a set way for a priest to gain power?
For a moment, Heinrich gazed up at the holy emblem that seemed to be several times larger than himself.
He placed both hands on it and, regardless of the ominous energy emanating from it, firmly closed his eyes.
Hum—
Then, he began to raise his Holy Power and prayed to the Holy God.
With the holy emblem that dared to defy the will of the Holy God as a sacrifice.
Fwooosh!
Right after, a surge of holy power engulfed both Heinrich’s body and the holy emblem in a blaze.
———!
The shrine began to scream.
It was on a different level compared to the instability exhibited when he broke the previous Duke’s barrier.
Distorting and writhing as if the world were coming to an end, the immense shrine began to gradually vanish.
Crack—!
“Guh!”
Along with that, a smoky vapor began to rise from Heinrich’s hands, marked with the Saint Mark.
The divine light emanating from his widely spread wings had already far exceeded their usual output.
As the connection to the Holy God expanded, an unimaginable amount of holy power began to surge in.
At that moment, all the surrounding noise suddenly ceased.
No, it wasn’t just the sound that vanished.
It was as if everything—reality and illusion alike—had become non-existent.
A space of nothingness, devoid of anything.
In the midst of confusion, his consciousness began to rise toward a higher realm.
And then…
He came face to face with the grand and awe-inspiring existence he had only seen fragments of before.
‘This might be a bit… troublesome!’
A massive will sustaining and maintaining this world.
He hadn’t properly faced it, only vaguely sensed it, yet its overwhelming presence alone made the burden placed on his “Mind Hub” and “Soul Firewall” soar to their limits.
At last, when that presence, the Holy God’s gaze, rested upon Heinrich…
“Ugh!”
He felt an overwhelming sensation of falling, causing his eyes to snap open.
Whoosh—
…It wasn’t just a feeling.
The fierce wind rushing past his ears, the cold air washing away his cold sweat, and the strong pressure pushing against his face.
He was truly plummeting downwards.
From the lofty sky that touched the end of the world to the distant ground.
The cross-shaped scar etched in the violet sky, the Milky Way shone brightly, but it was quickly receding.
“Ugh, this is a bit much…”
Even the previous few encounters with the Holy God didn’t feel this extreme.
His body was in free-fall, yet his completely sprawled-out form had no strength left to lift even a finger.
‘Is this the power of the creator god…? This is on another plane compared to the other gods I’ve experienced.’
Heinrich let out a deep sigh.
He never imagined he would be skydiving in such a manner.
Especially without a parachute, and in a state where his entire body was paralyzed!
“Well, it can’t be helped…”
But he somewhat understood the situation.
And indeed…
《The racial value of the entity has changed to ‘Angel.’ You acquire the special skill ‘Herald of God.’》
《You have gained enlightenment by facing a lofty existence. You acquire the special skill ‘Great Spirit.’》
His entire race had fundamentally changed, making it strange if he remained unchanged.
He never expected to truly become an angel.
And not long after,
The figure of the newly appointed angel plummeting from the sky of the Demon Realm disappeared completely.
As if it never existed in this world.
