Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Chapter 11
Demon Sword, Diablo (2)
-Be strong, human! This is the encouragement of I, Diablo, the Primordial Demon King. Don't be defeated by a mere curse!
"......"
The Demon King's encouragement continued.
After being dumbfounded for a while, Rudian relaxed his expression and spoke to the sword's spirit.
"Hey."
-You can do it! Hang in there... Huh?
"Stop it. You're being noisy."
-Uuuh?
A surprised voice was heard from the sword.
Diablo, startled by Rudian's words, maintained silence for a while as if trying to assess the situation.
Then, after about a minute had passed, he let out a gasp.
-Y-you're alive?
For Diablo, this was an earth-shattering event.
It had been more than five digits worth of years since he fell into Archangel Uriel's trap and was sealed in this sword.
During that time, countless beings who were considered powerful in the middle realm had come and gone, but all were defeated by the curse and disappeared without even leaving a corpse.
Only the Red Dragon Lord Calesta managed to preserve his body 5,000 years ago, but even he couldn't overcome the curse and went mad. Since then, almost no beings dared to approach.
Diablo asked in a bewildered voice.
-A-are you alright?
No human had ever held this sword and survived for more than 30 seconds.
Most just screamed and died within 10 seconds, and even those considered the strongest of their era barely managed to last a few seconds longer.
"I'm fine though?"
-...Really?
Rudian would be the first human from the beginning of time to the present to receive the Great Demon King's concern.
Rudian scratched his head slightly and answered.
"Yeah, I'm really fine."
-T-that can't be! This curse was designed by the celestial archangels themselves to cause maximum pain to whoever wields the sword! Even gods couldn't be unharmed!
"......"
Did these angel bastards go crazy...?
As Rudian couldn't hide his bewilderment, Diablo's words continued.
-Then have you overcome demonization? No, no, if that were the case, the magnitude of power I sense would be different.... Then... You were never affected by the curse to begin with!
Diablo mumbled to himself, rambling somewhat incoherently.
Then, as if making a grand decision, he raised his voice to Rudian.
-AHEM! Human, you are worthy! Worthy of receiving assistance from me, Diablo, the Primordial Demon King! Come, let us form a contract. Not in the form of a curse, but a direct blood contract! You will gain power to ravage the world without any cost! This is truly an offer I have not made to anyone since the genesis!
No cost.
It was certainly a pleasing thing to hear.
Yes, if right now, before the main story begins, he could obtain this being's power, he could do virtually anything.
A truly overwhelming status that no one could challenge unless a god directly descended.
But Rudian, who knew the original story, wasn't fooled.
Rudian cleared his throat calmly and responded to Diablo in a voice like King Sejong.
"What bullshit."
Diablo's voice flowed with surprise at the unexpected, crisp insult.
-W-what!
"It might be true that you'd give power without any cost. But you've left out this fact, haven't you?"
The contract Diablo had offered to Sword Saint Crux in the original work was indeed transparent and fair.
But Rudian, knowing what would happen later, was well aware that forming a contract with this guy would eventually lead to betrayal.
"Why aren't you mentioning the fact that 'when the War of Myths returns,' you can escape from that sword without any restrictions?"
-......!
"The subject of the contract you're offering is only 'the sealed Demon King Diablo.' Once you escape from the seal, all contracts become null and void."
The final chapter of , 'War of Myths.'
Diablo, who appeared in the middle to late part of the novel and served as an external battery for the protagonist's party, had only shown faithfulness in lending power to Sword Saint Crux until then.
On the surface, Crux accepted the seemingly normal contract with Diablo, but after about one volume worth of story progression, he was backstabbed and killed by Diablo who had freed himself from the sword's shackles.
-Y-you. What is your identity?
"Never mind who I am."
Rudian looked at the black jewel embedded in the center of the sword, which resembled a black pearl, and said.
"Let's make a bet."
-...A bet?
Diablo expressed suspicion at Rudian's sudden proposal of a bet, but soon began to chuckle as if finding the following content of the bet ridiculous.
"Try to dominate me with all your might. If you succeed, I'll gladly become your slave."
-H-hehehe...!
"But if you fail, devote all your power and wisdom to me for the next 100 years. Even if the Age of Myths arrives and you can escape from the sword!"
-Hehehe, HAHAHA!
As Diablo's maniacal laughter flowed directly into his mind, Rudian squinted his eyes, feeling a slight dizziness.
-You're a fool who doesn't know your place. You seem to be an ordinary human with no exceptional power.... Even if you were lucky enough to survive, you're too arrogant. That impertinence alone is worthy of being called a Demon King of Pride.
Diablo was attributing Rudian's survival purely to luck.
Despite being sealed in the sword, he could sufficiently discern Rudian's capabilities flowing from the handle, which allowed him to make such a judgment.
-Very well, 100 years. 100 years...? I've waited 10,000 years, so there's no reason I can't cooperate for a mere 100 years.
'Got him.'
If there had been no time limit on the bet's conditions, the suspicious Diablo would have rejected this proposal.
Since he would naturally be released in about 10 years anyway, there would be no reason to accept it.
But with a time limit in place, Diablo would 100% take this bait – that was the calculation!
-If you can escape my domination, that is!
WHOOSH!
With Diablo's declaration, smoke-like demonic energy began to explosively burst from the sword.
The demonic energy instantly engulfed Rudian's entire body and began to consume the entire altar where the sword had been embedded.
'...I believe in you, Adi!'
The sword's curse couldn't penetrate Adi's protection.
Normally, it would be safer to use it in this state and then clean up and discard other variables, but Rudian decided to take a bigger risk here.
'If I can fully use Diablo's power here, I can reduce the tremendous sacrifices that will happen during the Heaven Demon Great War part!'
The moment he had that thought, Rudian's vision turned gray.
FLASH!
And shortly after, Rudian's vision blacked out again.
***
When Rudian regained consciousness.
'...This is.'
Rudian looked around, examining the gray-colored world while turning his head.
The black world that had rushed in when he first grabbed the sword, and the white world he had glimpsed momentarily due to Adi's protection.
But this gray world, a mixture of white and black, was giving Rudian a strange sense of unease.
'What is this? Did Adi fail?'
He couldn't be thinking like this if his mind had been taken over, and if Adi's protection had succeeded, such a scene shouldn't appear.
-Hehehe...!
"......!"
Diablo's trailing laughter was heard from the gray land.
That laughter came from just a few meters in front of Rudian's line of sight, and soon after, black demonic energy began to form a shape while creating a small vortex.
That shape soon stood before Rudian in human form.
'Too small to be... His main body.'
The main body of Diablo described in was enormous enough to cover mountains and reach for the clouds.
But the current Diablo was roughly human-sized, not much different in comparison to Rudian.
-Truly amazing.
A pair of eyes formed from the black shape focused on Rudian.
-To think that a human blessed by a Secret God existed....
'...Secret God? Is he talking about Adi?'
Adi had introduced himself as an artificial intelligence created by civilization, not specifically mentioning being a god.
Of course, considering Adi's power that could even block a Demon King's authority, it wouldn't be strange to mistake him for a god.
-But even that blessing couldn't perfectly protect you. Such an imperfect tributary has been created.
"......"
The appearance of this scene meant this was neither success nor failure, but an ambiguous situation.
-Now, what will you do? All my powers have been sealed, and in return, you have temporarily lost the protection of the Secret God.
"What am I going to do?"
If time continues like this, no one can predict what will happen.
Rather than that, it's better to take a gamble, for better or worse, before that happens.
"Bring it on."
The characteristically arrogant gesture beckoning him to come first was a universal gesture even in different worlds.
-Oh?
"I was once known as Bruce Lee in my neighborhood."
-...? I don't know who that is, but you have impressive guts.
"What are you going to do, fight or not?"
-No, I'll pass.
"...Huh?"
Rudian, who had been prepared for a battle.
At Diablo's unexpected words, his posture momentarily faltered.
-Hahaha! To be so shaken by mere words, yet you dare propose combat against me.
"...S-shut up."
Rudian's expression reddened at Diablo's barrage of facts.
-I sense an unusual current of fate from you. Very interesting.
"What are you getting at?"
-I mean I'll cooperate willingly, youngster.
"What?"
-Following you seems like it would be quite entertaining, I have that intuition.
Though called the Primordial Demon King, when it came to his status, he was no different from a top-tier god.
Such a god's intuition could never be ignored, and indeed, Diablo saw something in Rudian that would satisfy his amusement.
-And there's no reason for me to antagonize that by dominating you now....
CRACK!
A massive crack appeared in the gray world's sky, and between it, a black eye with a single pupil appeared.
Rudian looked at that eye and was terrified.
'Damn! That's scary as hell!'
To actually see an eyeball moving back and forth in the sky!
The eyeball monster... No, Adi soon discovered Rudian and sent a message.
-I apologize, Master. His power was greater than expected, which delayed processing.
"I-is that so?"
-I will immediately terminate the tributary of the boundary.
POP!
Rudian felt a short spark flashing in his vision.
Soon after, his vision inverted, and he realized he had returned to reality without any particular discomfort.
"......"
In Rudian's right hand was the demon sword Diablo, now cleanly purged of demonic energy.
Diablo greeted him with a sinister laugh.
-Hehehe, I look forward to working with you.
Diablo had willingly accepted the 100-year contract that Rudian had initially proposed.
Of course, due to the sword's nature, the power output would vary according to the owner, Rudian's capabilities.
But at the very least, Rudian breathed a quiet sigh of relief at the fact that he had now secured the basics to prepare for the minimum calamities to come.