Isekai Conquest (3)
The levels of demons ruling over Devour were as varied as the dimensions.
They ranged from being far below the transcendent level to entities that had grown to just below the great demon stage.
Demons derive their power from their epithet-related deeds and fears, so not only effort but innate capabilities played a very important role in their abilities.
No matter how hard one worked, if their epithet was something like ‘Thief’, there would be limits to rising higher.
In that sense, the completely devastated and negative-emotion-overflowing world was like a land of opportunity for demons who had not been treated well until now.
About a hundred years ago.
When the gates of hell opened in this world.
Low-ranking demons, who were merely scraping by with meager amounts of money through insignificant contractors while stuck at the bottom of hell, all jumped out to the surface.
In the world they emerged into, they no longer needed to depend on contractors they didn’t care for.
Demons reveled in their freedom as they strutted through the world, and the merits and fears they collected in the process transformed into their strength.
This was the everyday landscape of this ruined world.
A playground for demons, a farming ground to wring out sustenance.
In fact, if they put their minds to it, they could have exterminated humanity anytime, but they didn’t.
The penalties they had to endure by coming to the surface, like losing their immortality, were no longer a major issue.
Perhaps in the early days when the gates of hell had just opened, or around the halfway point when the last resistance forces were fighting back, that might have been a concern, but now all humans had fallen to the level of livestock, leaving no one brave enough to resist the demons.
Chwaak—!
“Guh!”
Thus, the phenomenon currently occurring worldwide was a huge upheaval nobody in this world could have anticipated.
Demons suddenly dropping dead one by one from the assaults of a military force of death.
“Kwaaa! What is this? What the hell is going on? How can undead like this do this!”
And naturally.
The lists of victims were not just low-ranking entities like ‘The Fraud Demon,’ but also included higher entities that were recognized within demon society.
“I expected a bit from the Sword Demon… but this is quite disappointing. I thought I might get to stretch my body a bit after a long time.”
The Sword Demon, clad in the shell of a robust adult male, bared its teeth viciously and glared at the intruder mumbling lowly in front of it.
A middle-aged man in an unusual black uniform wielding a long sword.
He looked awfully calm for someone who had just severed one of the Sword Demon’s wrists.
‘Me? Cut by a sword? By the Sword Demon?!’
The Sword Demon, with its sword tightly gripped, glanced down at its severed right hand lying on the ground and grimaced.
No matter how much it fought using swordsmanship while wearing a human disguise, the fact that the Sword Demon had been bested by someone wielding a sword was utterly inconceivable.
If other demons learned of this, it would be a cause for mockery for hundreds of years to come.
Especially if the opponent was not even human but an undead…
[Absolutely unacceptable! I will tear you to shreds!]
A sharp aura burst from its body with an angry howl.
And right after that.
A massive blade shot out from its severed wrist.
The changes didn’t stop there.
Fwhoosh—! Thud!
Its body swelled, sprouting various forms of swords from all over.
Greatswords, longswords, daggers, and even blades shaped like saws and sickles.
The uninjured left hand had transformed into five sharp blades in place of fingers, and its hair reflected light as it turned into long, slender swords.
[I am the Sword Demon! The sword itself is my identity! Your attacks will never reach me!]
A colossal monster over six meters tall, entirely made of razor-sharp blades, roared as it looked down at the ground.
No matter what anyone said, its epithet was ‘The Sword Demon.’
It was a master of the sword, but the swordsmanship derived from that was merely a secondary aspect.
The element that symbolized it was the sword itself.
The sword had accumulated fears over long ages, having been alongside humanity since the dawn of history.
Using it both as a weapon and armor, the Sword Demon belonged to the upper echelon of demons, distinct from mere stragglers.
“Hmmm.”
However, before such overwhelming majesty, the middle-aged warrior still wore an expression of indifference.
“If the Sword Demon is in this state… then surely the ‘Demon of Weapons’ higher up wouldn’t be that different. Such a pity.”
He merely flicked his tongue lightly, casually surveying the monsters before him.
[Rude! I will make sure you never live again!]
Angry, the Sword Demon charged fiercely, slashing through the air.
‘I was just caught off guard earlier! There’s no way my body can be hurt by a sword!’
The swords that constituted its body were linked to exceptional legacies.
They were indestructible, ignored any solid defenses, and guaranteed death with a single cut, bringing victory while cleaving even transcendent beings.
All those abilities were directly transformed into its power.
That was the proud prowess of the Sword Demon, which frustrated countless heroes throughout history.
As a sword-wielding swordsman, the situation would be no different for that arrogant undead.
“Tsk, what a beast. I think earlier was actually better.”
It should have been…
Swish—
The wildly thrashing Sword Demon suddenly came to a halt.
Unknowingly, its gaze slowly fell downward.
[Huh?]
A strange mark traversed across its upper body, a line that had not existed before.
Snap—! Crash!
As the blade segments began to fall one by one following the crack,
Its upper body finally succumbed to gravity and collapsed onto the ground.
Clang! Smash—!
An absurdly easy conflict decided in one strike.
But what was important to it at that moment wasn’t just that.
[Cogh! How! How could a sword wound me!]
The Sword Demon was cut by a sword.
In this unbelievable situation, it had no choice but to fall into confusion.
A strike that disregarded its powers?
Such a thing was utterly unimaginable in its understanding.
“I don’t understand why I need to explain such basics.”
The once-great warrior who had transcended the ultimate realms and reached mythological levels, the Heavenly Demon, casually brushed the blade in his hands—the Heavenly Sword—as he replied with indifference.
“Myself is the sword, and the sword is myself. Whether the subject of the strike is an actual blade or not is meaningless.”
It was merely a simple application of Body-Sword Unity and Heart-Sword.
The monster, which pursued the ultimate through training and was supposed to follow the philosophies of swords, could never grasp that simple matter.
[Keaaah! No! This is nonsense! I can’t be like this!]
The Sword Demon’s last words were just that.
With a flash of light, countless blades shattered into debris.
Leaving that behind, the Heavenly Demon slowly turned his wrist.
“Hm, it wasn’t completely without meaning.”
The battle itself ended quickly, but the process hadn’t been without trouble.
It was indeed a formidable opponent that represented the opposite of him, and he had to give his utmost in one strike, nearing his limits.
In that process, he was able to recover some of the memories that had been damaged and lost.
While his overall level might still lag compared to his living days, with all the enhancements at his aid, he wouldn’t be falling behind in terms of strength output.
As the undead minions finally gathered the spoils of the demon’s remains,
“Looks like it’s over. I heard the Sword Demon was a pretty strong entity, but you were indeed impressive.”
A woman approached him slowly, speaking.
Dressed in a pitch-black armor that seemed to be woven from the Abyss itself, she wielded a similarly dark shield and combat hammer.
The black aura emanating from her body began to consume the surroundings, and the Heavenly Demon nodded slowly.
“Looks like you’ve also dealt with things without a hitch.”
She was the former priestess, the Secretary.
The undead following her bore signs of a fierce battle scattered all over.
“My opponent wasn’t that strong of a demon. Thanks to that, I could instill a proper lesson in them. It’s insulting that our Lord descended upon this world and they proudly flaunt a blasphemous name like ‘Demon of Disbelief’, isn’t it?”
Shrugging her shoulders with a bright smile while proudly resting the huge hammer, stained with an unknown reddish liquid, upon them.
“Well, that’s fine. So, does this mean our side is mostly done?”
The aggressive assault operation of the army of the undead was still ongoing.
Like cancer cells spreading throughout the body, the relentless army of death targeting demons weltering everywhere across the world.
Of course, there were losses that weren’t insignificant during the process, but due to the characteristics of the undead race, that was not a big deal.
After all, this world, filled with the grudges of death, had ample materials to replenish its forces.
“Right. So, what’s next…?”
The Secretary, who had been responding to him, suddenly fell silent and stared vacantly at the air.
Heavenly Demon wore the same expression upon realizing it as well.
Somewhere far away, invisible to the naked eye.
The rough clash between the two enormous forces seemed to swallow one of them whole, forcibly pushing it under.
Then after a moment.
“…Looks like it’s over.”
“It’s the end.”
A short phrase escaped simultaneously from their mouths.
“So there’s only one left now?”
“Right. You could say that’s essentially the main dish.”
“I’m looking forward to it. I hope there are some more useful fellows there.”
After a light exchange, they turned and began to walk.
Toward the direction of the teleportation circle formed by the undead mages.
Woooh—
Such broad movements were not only shown by them but were common among most undead in this world.
The great flow that shook even the well-entrenched fate of the world.
Thus, the army of the undead that had swept through the great demons of Despair and Destruction now focused their sights upon the remaining great demon forces.
The ultimate demon ruling at the top of Devour.
To the place ruled by the Infinite Demon.
*
Hans cautiously turned his body to check his condition, slowly nodding.
‘Indeed, now I understand why they call the great demons the apex of this world.’
The first hunt had succeeded with Despair and the second defeat with Destruction.
Both were formidable foes endowed with tricky powers.
Despair’s ability to incapacitate enemies within its territory while nullifying all hostile attacks targeting itself was a tremendous power in grand battles and specialized in self-preservation.
No matter what energy approached it, the moment it tried, it would falter and dissipate, making it impossible to land a proper attack.
[There’s no such thing as absolutes in this world.]
That was also true for the great demon of Destruction, endowed with the power to annihilate everything in its domain.
If his undead subordinates had approached, they would have all melted away without ever reaching him, but since he had never intended to receive help from his subordinates, it mattered not.
As the ruler of death, there was no way he would be outdone by those great demons, right?
‘Well, that’s a pity. If the great demon of death were still around, it would have been quite helpful for me.’
In the process of taking down both great demons, he managed to achieve certain parts of his original objectives.
Just as he had suspected, traces of the Head of the Buncheon Society were present in Devour.
‘They were the one to break down the barriers of worlds, open the gates of hell, and hunt the absolute beings, including the great demon of death. Only the Head of the Buncheon Society could pull off such deeds.’
Unfortunately, he hadn’t been able to obtain all the desired information.
The two, Despair and Destruction, seemed to have advanced only after the gates of hell opened, so they knew relatively little about the circumstances prior.
[Heheh, hunting down the Infinite Great Demon is the most certain path forward.]
Now, the only being left alive to have survived the Head of the Buncheon Society and maintained the position of a great demon was the Infinite.
He had also heard that notable figures like the great demon of Slaughter and Fear perished at the hands of the Executioner over a hundred years ago.
‘The great demons of hell being consumed by him triggered the world’s downfall, huh.’
In other words, the unbalancing of the world began not at the surface but initially from hell.
With the scales tipped so drastically, and with the barriers that distinguished the two worlds pierced, it was only natural for demons to spill out onto the surface and roam freely.
In fact, the basic design of the dimension of Devour had completely collapsed.
‘If I clean up all the demons that crossed over to the surface, maybe a path will open somehow? The rest can be managed by the overseer of this world.’
First and foremost, it was time to clear the backflow of refuse.
The demons of Devour were entities born from the negative elements constituting the world.
Even if he were to eliminate them all now, given enough time, they would likely reemerge from hell naturally.
But by then, the barriers of the world would have somewhat recovered.
Simply by buying that time, he could consider he has done enough.
‘Of course, for that, I first need to tackle those things.’
Hans’s dark-eyed gaze burned fiercely ahead.
An enormous army filled the plains.
That force wasn’t the army of the undead under his command.
[Indeed, the Infinite… ]
The legion of hell the demons had summoned.
This wasn’t just a simple inflation of numbers.
It was filled with high-ranking demons whom he had previously found quite troublesome.
‘There are so many identical ones. Many of them should already be dead. To think he possesses the ability to copy even the demons that have already perished…’
That probably wasn’t all his powers either.
The concept of ‘Infinite’ was something that could be utilized in so many ways; it was a word brimming with limitless possibilities.
‘Well, it doesn’t matter.’
However, Hans showed no concern whatsoever.
That was only natural.
“Kyyaaaah—!”
[For the King of Death! Cut down everything that obstructs our path!]
“Grrr!”
[Woooooo—!]
He was the pinnacle of a necromancer, specifically specialized for such large-scale skirmishes.
The King of the Undead.
