Thump Thump
His heart pounded fiercely.
Feeling it, the Demon Dragon Duke… no, the being that was once the Demon Dragon Duke, sank deeper within himself. The days he had lived so fiercely flashed through his mind like fragments. How he, an ordinary dragon, ended up in the Demon Realm and reached its pinnacle. He had faced countless hardships and trials throughout the millennia. And after enduring and overcoming them all, he finally reached this point. Driven by the desire to take revenge on those who didn't acknowledge him and forced him to flee here. To become the Demon King with his own power, conquer the Demon Realm, and then devour the continent, proving that he was right.
'I wasn't wrong.'
No, it wasn't him who was wrong, but this world. He was the strongest in the world, superior to everyone in every aspect. Wasn't it natural for him to rule the world?
Crushire believed that. And he was certain it would soon come true.
"Hmph— I was wondering where you went, and you were hiding here? In that state, no less."
Until he heard that voice.
Rumble
The massive body, curled up underground, twisted violently. It was an instinctive reaction before he even registered anything. A familiar, feminine voice laced with laughter. A hateful voice that had suddenly appeared and ruined all his smoothly progressing plans.
The loud pounding of his heart subsided. …No, it was just his imagination. His heart was still pounding fiercely. He just couldn't perceive it properly, his consciousness focused on the intruder.
"My, my, I was wondering how you were churning out all those monsters…"
Rumble!
Ignoring the exasperated words, Crushire slowly rose. The ground crumbled, and dust clouds billowed. The surrounding air, filled with demonic energy, shook, and an earthquake occurred, but he didn't care about such trivial matters.
"…To think you turned your entire body into a gateway to the abyss."
Hela stared up at the massive monster that had risen. A being standing tall in the middle of the most desolate wasteland in the Demon Realm. But he looked nothing like he did during their previous encounter. Not to mention his size, which seemed to have increased tenfold, his body alone exceeding a kilometer—.
"Hmm, this is a bit much to look at. I feel like I'm going to puke. Could you lie back down?"
It was a being that embodied disgust rather than majesty. His three pairs of wings, seemingly ornamental, were crudely patched together with writhing humanoid monsters, and the rest of his body wasn't much different. Countless eyes stared at her.
'Ugh— How disgusting.'
Hela frowned at the grotesque creature. Monsters endlessly poured out from the massive body, as if being shed, and new monsters emerged from within, filling the gaps.
It was literally a factory endlessly churning out monsters.
"Freshly produced and shipped nationwide. What excellent service…"
Of course, no one wanted such direct delivery. Hela frowned as she watched the monsters emerging from Crushire's body, tearing through space and disappearing.
'That's why there's no end to them, even if we keep killing them.'
Her judgment was correct. The fastest and only way to resolve this situation was to eliminate Crushire, the source of the monsters. He must have been hiding here, knowing that.
"Well, perhaps this is better."
If the power struggle had continued as originally planned, who knows how long it would have taken? Wasn't the current situation, where everything would end with eliminating this single, insane Demon Dragon, much cleaner? Besides…
"I have a lot to do; I can't be held back by you forever. So, I hope you understand."
She had boasted to her subordinates that she would finish this quickly. And since he crossed the line first, she would use everything at her disposal. Hela shrugged lightly and winked.
[—————!]
Immediately after, the monsters clinging to Crushire's body roared in unison. And countless eyes on his massive body glared fiercely. Towards the group surrounding him.
It was an instinctive reaction to danger. Even the monsters that had been disappearing after emerging from his body stopped and assumed combat stances. But Hela continued, unfazed.
"So—"
Channeling the power of 「Demon King」, which was growing stronger with time,
"Stop messing with my food and just die!"
The unified 'world' pierced the massive body.
High in the sky, where everything on the ground looked small,
Rumble
Hesperon, hovering with his boosters, looked down. At the white monster—Crushire—whose size had doubled due to the explosively increasing number of monsters, as analyzed and displayed by 「Mechanical Eye: Calicas」.
'That's no longer a single lifeform, but a collective. I need to target the core somewhere… but its size is troublesome.'
Although they seemed like small fry, swarming like ants, each monster wasn't to be underestimated. There was no way the Demon Realm's balance, maintained by such powerful beings, would be disrupted by weaklings. And with their characteristic of growing stronger as they gathered, most attacks were ineffective against Crushire, who had become a collective entity.
'Even if it works, he instantly recovers with newly spawned individuals.'
Since the dead individuals were replaced by new ones, rather than the wounds regenerating, Hela's 「Annihilator」, which suppressed regeneration, was useless. Well, she could probably eliminate him on her own if she took her time…
'There's no need to do it that way.'
Hesperon shrugged and slowly extended his left arm. He came all the way here after the search, specifically for this.
He couldn't use the Dark Soul used for the search. It was too powerful for him to handle, requiring a cooldown period for stabilization.
'But this is enough for now.'
The current problem was that the sheer number of clustered monsters made it impossible to pinpoint the core's location. Therefore, he needed to reduce their numbers…
'This is the best in terms of sheer firepower!'
A crosshair appeared in 「Mechanical Eye: Calicas」, and various values, such as distance, wind speed, and humidity, flashed by. The dragon heart, the core of the titanium suit, heated up, and energy began to build.
"Ion Cannon, Load."
And that wasn't the end.
As soon as he finished speaking, a large metal structure emerged from near his left shoulder. A large barrel, retrieved from 「Subspace Storage」, combined with the titanium on his left arm.
Click Whirr!
The dragon heart at the core of the decisive weapon—'Ion Cannon'—recently completed by Howard using all his abilities, connected with the titanium suit's circuits and began to resonate.
Hum
A weapon that shouldn't exist in this world, combining compliance and defiance of Auterica's laws, imbued with the power of 「Technological Revolution」. Immense energy converged within it, and a destructive light, capable of annihilating civilizations, leaked from the large muzzle.
And finally,
"Fire!"
From the sky to the ground,
A massive pillar of light descended.
Rumble!
Hesperon wasn't the only one attacking. A domain of death unfolded, melting all the monsters touching the ground. A chilling blood storm swept through, turning everything into puddles of blood as soon as they were replenished. With a giant monster consumed by madness and a dragon spewing breaths joining the fray, Crushire's massive body, unable to keep up with the regeneration, began to shrink.
[—————!]
Of course, he didn't just stand still. As if to prove that producing monsters wasn't the only ability he gained, he countered the waves of attacks with various methods. Simultaneously activating his six enhanced demonic eyes, distorting space, and spreading abyssal contamination through the monsters' self-destruction.
But.
[Keuh huh huh… To use the death gaze where I am. You really underestimated me.]
"Future sight… It's not just peeking into causality. It's certainly a troublesome power."
"Kahahaha! It tickles! It tickles!"
[Cough cough! The air is bad enough, why are you so persistent?!]
Their opponents were far too formidable. Each one a difficult opponent to face one-on-one. And they were joining forces… beings connected by a single mind, moving as one. He couldn't withstand it.
[—————!]
Crushire, now reduced to his original size, roared in frustration. As if demanding a fair, one-on-one fight instead of a cowardly ganging up. Of course, Hela, who had nothing to fear, didn't even flinch.
"What's wrong? Is that all? After sacrificing even yourself?"
Her mocking words enraged him, and he glared at her fiercely. His eyes, burning with even greater fury and hatred than before, gleamed with killing intent.
[…Alright! Even if it means sacrificing my last fragment, I'll tear you to shreds!]
And a roar, unlike his previous growls, erupted from him. The change occurred immediately after.
Whoosh
As if waiting for it, his presence changed.
[Hmm? This is…]
The Lich King, Hans, was the first to react. An energy deeper than the abyss, darker than the blackest night, began to emanate from him, an energy he had encountered once before. An ominous energy that stimulated the 「Undying Heart」 within him. Harley, who possessed the 「Seed of Madness」, also felt it.
————!
He felt a gaze. An incomprehensible gaze from beyond Crushire's body, now a gateway to the abyss. The atmosphere distorted, and a force pushed back as if the world itself was trying to repel the being, but it wasn't enough to stop it.
'…I see. Of course, someone who wants to rule the world wouldn't sacrifice everything.'
But that was until a moment ago. Driven to the edge, he had finally given up and thrown everything away. With the sole desire to take Hela, the cause of all this, with him. And that must have been a wish that aligned with 'that being's' interests.
Ssst
The connection grew stronger. It was impossible to interfere before it was complete. As if it was predestined.
'This is dangerous.'
Of course, it wouldn't last long. But the opponent was a being who had defied even the Main God, a highest-ranking divinity. Even weakened and sealed, that short time would be enough to deal with those who had just begun to cultivate their seeds of divinity.
'Tsk, it would be better to escape until the time limit is up…'
Just as she was seriously considering a solution,
She flinched.
'Wait, perhaps…'
Her heterochromatic eyes moved rapidly, as if reading something floating in the air. A faint smile touched her lips.
"Influence as the Demon King expands. The individual's existence becomes clearer."
"The individual's karma has reached a critical point."
She felt it.
That she had just crossed a certain threshold.
Messages popped up one after another, as if to prove it.
"Achievement Unlocked! You have become the 'Demon King', the demonic ruler of the Demon Realm."
"You have ended the long war and become the undisputed ruler of the Demon Realm. You are awarded the perk 「World Invasion」."
"You have achieved an achievement and greatly influenced the world. Karma increases further."
Helheim's influence continued to expand while Hela was here. No, it could be said that it solidified its position even faster because of this crisis. Since all the other Demon King candidates were eliminated, this outcome was practically inevitable. The demons of the Demon Realm just needed time to realize it.
'Perhaps the Demon God gave me an advance because I was a little short.'
It was a highly likely guess, considering the timing. Of course, that wasn't important now. Now that she had officially become the Demon King, wasn't it more important what she could do?
'Ah, I understand now. Why the Demon God hasn't reacted.'
Now that she was a Demon King, she understood. What the Demon God had given up and for what purpose. Why the position of Demon King was so important in the Demon Realm.
'The Demon King is the beginning and the end of the Demon Realm's governance.'
Gods couldn't interfere directly in the affairs of the lower realms. Although less so than the Main God, the Demon God was also subject to such restrictions. But feeling the need to actively intervene to check the sealed god, he created a way to circumvent the restrictions.
"I am Hela, the 16th Demon King of the Demon Realm."
That being was the Demon King.
The Demon God's messenger, entrusted with most of the authority to manage the Demon Realm.
'Well, there seem to be limitations. Like the 15th, who ruined everything with his greed.'
The 'world' was in Hela's grasp. Not just the surrounding area she had controlled until now. The entire Demon Realm converged into a giant sword according to her will. It was perfect control, unbelievable considering she had just obtained the qualification. She had already been accustomed to the power of 「Demon King」.
"Crushire, you who disrupt the order of the Demon Realm, I—"
Her target was Crushire, whose descent wasn't yet complete. It was only natural. No matter how much you reserved something, you couldn't buy it without the money to pay for it.
"—sentence you to death."
And immediately after the world was swung,
————!
A new scar appeared, intersecting with the existing scar across the Demon Realm's sky.