Chapter 234
Chapter 234
Chapter 234
New Order (2)
"Are you saying we should place a mere human... at our pinnacle?"
Naturally, fierce opposition immediately erupted from many.
"How strong could a human who can't even live 50 years possibly be!"
"I agree. Even if they're a different race, they must at least reach the level of the Seven Seats to stand above us."
"I'm also against supporting Diablo. Isn't he the same type as Agares?"
Balefor's opinion caused a fierce response.
However, surprisingly, there were also many voices of support.
"Diablo and Agares are similar but different. If he were a battle-crazed maniac like Agares, he never would have built up such power."
"That's right. Unlike the greedy Mammon, who only cared for himself and had no one by his side."
Mammon of the Seven Seats of Greed.
A symbol of foolishness who had built the most powerful force of all, but lost everything due to his characteristic greed.
Compared to such a Mammon, Diablo could truly be called a demon among demons.
"But that doesn't mean it's the same as when the Seven Seats were interlocked with each other. Making that tyrant the sole Demon King still has dangerous elements."
"Also, though Archangel Uriel who sealed him has been freed, he's still sealed. It wouldn't be possible without a separate contract with the human called Rudian."
"Hmm...!"
If offered the position of Demon King, Diablo would certainly accept with enthusiasm.
But separately from that, the possibility that the human called Rudian wouldn't allow it was very high.
"Then there's only one thing we need to confirm."
Balefor clapped his hands to organize the atmosphere.
"Whether Rebecca Bloodrain has power befitting the Seven Seats or not."
There were still many dissatisfied looks, but they were silenced by Balefor's next words.
"If you're dissatisfied with this, gather your forces and return to the demon realm. Or feel free to become independent."
"......"
"Well, I can't guarantee how long those independent forces will last."
The Demon Kings' mouths immediately shut.
'The power of the middle realm, with even dragons joining, is currently too much to handle.'
'Especially those who attacked Baal and other Demon Kings were also humans...'
'For now, bowing down is the answer.'
Several who had quickly finished their calculations threw their support to Balefor.
"If that human is capable of leading us, I agree."
"What if she rejects us?"
"Then a great disaster will befall this middle realm. Unable to unite, we'll scatter and each will cause trouble for our own survival."
She absolutely cannot refuse this proposal.
A meaningful smile formed on Balefor's lips.
***
And so, Balefor, who had confidently appointed himself as an envoy and come to Nevan...
"No."
"...Pardon?"
"I said no."
"......"
From the start, he faced Rebecca's strong refusal.
"If you have nothing more to say, go back now."
"N-no. W-wait!"
Queen of the demon realm, existing at the pinnacle above the 72 Demon Kings.
Dozens of Demon Kings and millions of troops.
And the position where hundreds of millions of demons remaining in the demon realm offer blind loyalty.
Rebecca had thrown away such a position with the look of someone viewing trash.
"P-Princess, do you understand how important this situation is..."
"Important or not, what you want is for me to live apart from Rudian, right?"
"As a result, that would be..."
"I don't like that."
At Rebecca's unexpectedly stubborn attitude, Balefor was internally furious.
'This, this stupid woman with nothing but flowers in her head...!'
To reject the proposal without even hearing the details, just because she wants to stay close to one man!
Then Rebecca glared at Balefor with annoyance.
"So, this time you're establishing an autonomous city with Rudian's cooperation, right?"
"...That's correct. Only demons with intelligence will enter the city, but that number alone will be close to 50,000."
That would create the most vicious and powerful variable on the continent.
'Just being able to control that variable would absolutely not be a loss...'
Though Rebecca had glossed over this explanation, this was absolutely not a benefit to be taken lightly.
But unexpectedly, Rebecca's mind worked much better than Balefor had thought.
"That control only works if I don't forget my identity as belonging to the 'Morian Empire', right?"
GASP!
Rebecca glared at the wide-eyed Balefor with slight anger.
"But if I stand above you, I'll inevitably have to move for your interests. You came looking for me because you want that too."
"...!"
"It might be fine now. You just need to bow down and endure for about a hundred years. But after that? When all the connections I knew disappear? Where will my identity go, if not as a 'noble' of the Morian Empire?"
'How did she...'
Rebecca's words pierced through Balefor's scheme.
Certainly, Rebecca was no different from a noble of the Morian Empire, but she hadn't actually received a noble title.
Also, she just had strong solidarity with Rudian and his companions, but was completely strangers with other figures.
If they somehow brought her over, in just 500 years the relationship between her and the Morian Empire would completely disappear.
Baal had understood all these facts and had his own plan, but he was eliminated by Abel before that.
'She's much more clever than I thought. I heard she was definitely from commoner human origins...'
It was true that Balefor, as well as most Demon Kings, had seen Rebecca as just a strong idiot.
But Rebecca's insight, having awakened her blood and embraced even the red world to fully bloom, was definitely approaching the realm of gods.
There just hadn't been events to reveal her true worth until now; her ability itself had far exceeded the human realm.
"If you want to cause trouble, go ahead. Rudian has already grasped all your movements and is ready to sweep you away anytime. Even if there's some damage, it's much easier later to cut it off before it rots."
SWOOOSH!
Vivid red magic began to rise from Rebecca's entire body.
'T-tremendous!'
Balefor's eyes widened seeing Rebecca's magic.
It might look shabby compared to the majesty of the Seven Seats covering the entire sky.
But Balefor recognized the enormous power and potential sleeping within Rebecca and held his breath slightly.
'Even though that flower hasn't fully bloomed yet, to this extent...'
Above all, he was even more amazed that despite emanating such enormous power, it had no effect on the surroundings.
Now it might be lacking compared to the Seven Seats.
But what would happen if 500 years, 1,000 years passed in this state?
'Really, there might be the possibility of surpassing the Seven Seats...!'
A thousand years.
For humans, it would be a time long enough for several kingdoms to appear and disappear, but for demons, about a thousand years is time that can be endured for a purpose.
Moreover, if that majesty could be fully wielded in the middle realm...
'It would be fully possible to overturn the current power structure pushed back by heaven.'
They must obtain her at all costs.
Having made up his mind, Balefor began to gradually build up his momentum.
"...What, are you really planning to have a match?"
It wasn't just Balefor.
Before she knew it, four other Demon Kings had appeared to test Rebecca, surrounding her.
Barbatos, Aamon, Beleth, and even Leraje.
All were high-ranking Demon Kings competing for rankings within the top 10.
"We humbly request to test you."
"If you're truly capable of leading us..."
"We'll follow you to the end whatever path you take."
They didn't seem to consider Rebecca's will very important.
Only whether she had the qualifications or not mattered.
Rebecca sighed.
"Haah... I wondered why you called me to such a secluded place..."
They had invited her so politely that she had accepted the invitation with the mindset of hearing what they had to say.
But as a result, they were just pushing their own opinions all along.
Rebecca slowly stood up and said:
"As expected, Rudian's words were right. He said they'd come looking for me to make me a figurehead..."
Actually, Rebecca had received some hints from Rudian before arriving here... no, more precisely, before Balefor came looking for her.
-Baal schemed to make you the new queen of the demon realm. Now that Baal has disappeared, it wouldn't be strange for the demons in chaos to reach out to you.
Rudian had muttered that Baal might have hidden himself to induce such a situation... but that wasn't very important to Rebecca.
"Right, that's not important."
SHING!
"...!"
"...!"
The five Demon Kings were startled to see the small dagger Rebecca pulled from her clothes.
"T-that's definitely...!"
Though the form was different... the distinctive magic emanating from that black blade was absolutely not something they could forget.
"...D-Diablo! How do you have that!"
The dagger Rebecca had drawn.
It was none other than the demon sword Diablo that had been Rudian's strength all along.
Rebecca said triumphantly while holding the dagger:
"Rudian lent it to me. He told me to beat you all down and make you submit completely."
SWOOSH!
When Rebecca lightly swung the dagger, a massive slash spanning hundreds of meters appeared and swept across the area.
CRASH!
"Dodge!"
"Nothing changes! Maintain formation and coordinate! Attack with resolve to die!"
Balefor and the other Demon Kings, showing their high-ranking titles weren't just for show, immediately collected themselves and began responding to Rebecca's attack.
Five against one.
It was truly a decisive battle of Demon King-level beings that shook heaven and earth.
***
"Wow, amazing."
Dragon-fist winds pierced the sky, and mountain ranges that had stood firm for thousands of years crumbled like sandcastles.
If this weren't a remote area where no one lived, easily hundreds of thousands of casualties would have occurred.
"Will it be alright, not helping?"
Elvin, summoned by Rudian, expressed admiration at the apocalyptic surrounding scenery.
"Actually, it's ideal for Rebecca to handle it alone. I've also finished consulting with Diablo for that."
The reason Diablo had been silent until now was nothing else.
Though he had contracted with Rudian, after Uriel's seal was broken, Diablo had regained some freedom.
Diablo had focused his consciousness on observing the demons' situation and discovered that the demons' recent movements were unusual.
...Or so Diablo claimed.
'...There seems to be something else besides that... but since such a thing actually happened, I can't really interrogate him separately...'
While Rudian was thinking such thoughts, Elvin groaned and pointed at the battlefield.
"Hmm... Though I don't know much about demon swords... no matter how I look at it, Rebecca and that thing seem to match incredibly well?"
"...Yes, I see that too."
The only demon sword Elvin had encountered was the crude demon sword that Karen had previously received from Pruna Silent.
Karen couldn't properly handle even that demon sword's power and ended up going berserk, but there was no such sign in Rebecca now.
"There seem to be no side effects either, and the power amplification rate is tremendous... it makes Aerop's bow look weak."
Elvin tapped the bow of Aelop Rizan, who had taught him in the Hall of Heroes, and smiled bitterly.
"Well, Rebecca is the only one who can handle that like that. There's no need to feel inferior."
"No, well... I'm just saying."
Even Rudian, in the early days of obtaining Diablo, had handled Diablo while prepared for his lifespan to be shortened.
And even that had only minimal penalties, so Rebecca and Diablo's current combination was truly in the realm of cheats.
'Well, I need to clean up all the remaining anxiety factors before going to heaven.'
That the demons would approach Rebecca was something that could be predicted even without Diablo's report.
However, if Rebecca simply accepted the demons' proposal and went over, she would just become a puppet, and controlling the demons would become a distant dream.
It could be considered praiseworthy that they had come to Rebecca after reaching some consensus among themselves...
Without Baal, the demons are just a time bomb that could explode at any moment.
"Beat them thoroughly, Rebecca."
Rudian quietly smiled toward Rebecca, who was driving back the five Demon Kings.