Chapter 258
Chapter 258
Chapter 258
Demon God (2)
Even before meeting Rudian, Baal was already at his limit.
In the first place, all the other Demon Kings except Agares had died.
On the other hand, Abel's group was all intact, but the fact that only Baal, who had faced them together with the other Demon Kings, had survived in perfect condition was certainly strange.
Rudian's body was suddenly swallowed and disappeared by darkness that burst forth.
This darkness was a passage that only Baal, who now had the only remaining connection to the Demon God, could use.
And it was also the power that would take Baal's last life.
"Are you satisfied now, Bael?"
"...It's been a long time since I was called by that name."
Baal's real name came out of Metatron's mouth for the first time in tens of thousands of years.
"Do you regret it? If you had lent your power to Mars back then, something like this wouldn't have happened."
"I didn't expect such words to come from your mouth."
"It's this kind of situation. There's no need to maintain neutrality."
Baal calmly watched his collapsing body and tilted his head.
"I don't regret it. Everything was my choice."
"I see."
CRACK!
His legs shattered and Baal's body crashed to the floor.
Haniel of Mercy closed her eyes as it was hard to watch, but Metatron silently watched Baal's final moments.
"Many things... will change."
"...I suppose so."
"I won't be in that changed world... but still..."
Baal started to continue speaking but closed his mouth slightly.
Then he let out a hollow laugh and smiled like this:
"As expected, mumbling with regret dripping isn't my style."
"...I'll take care of the demon race for a while. I don't know how many of the Seven Great Gods and Demon Kings will be revived... but it's better than having no protector."
"That's reassuring."
By extending his life even slightly through a contract with the Demon God, Baal's fate had now escaped from this world's framework.
In other words, no matter what he did now, there was no way for Baal to return alive.
"Well then, please take good care of the final arrangements."
"Ah, yes..."
WHOOSH!
A sound like air escaping was heard, and Baal's body crumbled like a sandcastle.
Metatron gazed at Baal's corpse for a long time.
"...Metatron, we must gather the remaining forces until he returns."
Feeling there was no time, Haniel urged Metatron.
"Yes, let's do that. Who among our current surviving forces is there?"
"The only surviving Seven Great Gods-level force is Death King Tartian Lil. Among those of lower rank, there are Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Uriel."
Death King Tartian Lil was able to preserve his life because the underworld was the dimension most distant from heaven.
But the three archangels were unexpected - it was quite surprising that they survived even when Seven Great Gods Ruura and Garganta were swept up and annihilated.
"Weren't they also in the Creator God's temple? How were they able to survive?"
It wasn't an interrogating tone asking why they survived, but a voice that seemed genuinely curious.
"I heard that Luciel left them a message at the last moment."
"...Luciel, you say?"
Just as intermediate gods and above in the Pantheon have domains and titles they govern, the twelve archangels also have titles befitting their abilities.
Michael of Phantom Flames, Gabriel of Water Flow, Samael of Dark Moon, etc...
Among such archangels, the name given to Luciel was none other than Prophecy.
Though not at the level of the three goddesses of fate, Luciel could intermittently read the flow of causality and pinpoint one of the specific future branches.
Because of that ability, she was suitable for the mission of being confined indefinitely in the Creator God's temple to seal the Avatar of Destruction.
"Metatron, as you know, Berus killed Medaiel and Luciel and seized their power."
"......"
And when Luciel was killed, the Avatar of Destruction’s body awakened from its seal, and unlike in the original, Berus used Abel's group to subdue even that Avatar of Destruction.
And he bestowed all that power upon Abel's group that he had summoned, creating an unprecedented monster that even divine power couldn't properly affect.
"Luciel read the future that she would be killed and left a message as a seal for those who would come, telling them to prepare for what would follow."
"...I see."
It was desertion during battle - an inexcusable worst act - but they boldly left the battlefield trusting Luciel's message.
The result was that they preserved their lives.
"There are quite many survivors among the powerful beings of dimensional realms far from heaven, like the Death King. If we gather them all..."
"We must move without Berus noticing. If he realizes... he'll certainly send those five."
If two of them cooperated in an attack, even Seven Great Gods would find it hard to preserve their lives.
"Let's go to the Death King's domain first. Having lost his contractor and the black world, the Death King is probably burning with revenge against Berus right now... gaining his cooperation will be very easy."
"But even in the Death King's domain, if all five of them come together, we'll have no choice but to be defeated. Their power will ignore even the laws of the underworld..."
Haniel nodded at Metatron's concern.
"Yes, after gathering forces in the Death King's domain, we must hide in the safest place until Lord Rudian returns."
"The safest place would be..."
"We'll go to Lord Shub's domain."
"...!"
No matter how much Berus had destroyed all dimensional realms, there was a high possibility that Outer God Shub's domain remained intact.
Shub was an existence equal to Berus and would certainly still maintain that power and authority...
Metatron let out a contemplative sound.
"This will be a race against time then."
Berus would certainly invade Shub's domain.
Metatron looked at Haniel and said:
"There's one thing I'd like to ask, Lord Haniel."
"Please speak."
"Even if we somehow obtain the fragment of the Machine God Shambhala from the Demon God... would Shambhala alone really give us a chance of victory?"
No matter how outstanding a Machine God might be, having a chance of victory with just one fragment seemed questionable no matter what.
The current Berus truly possessed the power to become a new Creator God.
Haniel answered with a calm expression:
"It would probably be impossible."
"...! What do you mean?"
Metatron glared at Haniel with wide eyes.
But her face showed no wavering.
"Shambhala isn't what's important. To truly discuss chances of victory, he must be granted the Creator God's causality. He must awaken the power to return this world's distortion to proper history."
Shambhala was merely an excuse.
Of course, there was no room for disagreement that Shambhala's power itself was truly tremendous.
If found and unable to be used, it would display enough power to bring the war situation to their advantage.
"The question is whether he can truly awaken as Berus' archenemy."
"...Archenemy."
A nemesis, or mortal enemy.
Originally, Rudian didn't have such intense feelings toward Berus, but losing all his connections through this incident had given birth to that emotion.
"Is it possible?"
"That's what the meeting with the Demon God is for."
Rudian's visit to the Demon God wasn't just to obtain Shambhala.
Haniel bowed her head quietly, offering prayers not as the Avatar of Destruction but as the Goddess of Mercy.
"May the Demon God please guide him to hope..."
***
Rudian grumbled that he'd been losing consciousness frequently lately and opened his eyes.
"...Where is this place now?"
A field where all kinds of rare flowers and plants bloomed luxuriantly.
At the sight that seemed like he had arrived at some place in heaven, Rudian let out a slight contemplative sound.
"Oh, you're awake."
"...!"
At the voice of a young man reaching his ears, Rudian instinctively whipped his head around.
Even though he couldn't sense any human presence at all, the voice touched Rudian's ears as if it had been there from the beginning.
"Rather than a Demon God..."
A young man playing around, picking flowers in the wide field.
His age... looked to be only in his early to mid-twenties.
But what surprised Rudian wasn't the matter of young or old.
'Something familiar.'
Hair as long as a woman's tied back like a ponytail.
Black hair, black eyes, black eyebrows.
And even black martial robes.
Moreover, at his waist was even a black longsword that resembled Diablo...
'He looks like he'd appear in a historical drama or martial arts novel.'
Rudian finally realized what this feeling was.
Familiarity as an East Asian.
It was because he felt the familiarity that was distinctly East Asian - not Middle Eastern or Southeast Asian - still alive in the other person.
The other person said:
"Baal told me that Berus' archenemy would come here someday, so please take good care of him."
"...Are you the Demon God?"
At Rudian's question, the other person shook his head.
"No, I'm the Demon God's past."
"...Past?"
A Demon God is a Demon God, but what is the Demon God's past?
"To be precise... you could say I'm an administrator who grants causality so you can reach the Demon God."
"...!"
"Just call me Administrator."
Rudian slowly rose from his position and began to be wary of the other person.
The other person seemed to find Rudian's attitude cute and let out a subtle laugh.
"Hehehe..."
"How can I receive that causality?"
"The method is simple."
The Administrator raised one finger.
Then he lightly tapped his heart with that finger.
"Just defeat me."
It was a very simple and crude test.
"You can use any method. You can launch a surprise attack, you can use tools. But remember this one thing."
One of the Administrator's eyes flashed slightly.
"No power brought from the 'outside' can be used here."
"...!"
At that moment, Rudian remembered Baal's advice.
That this task must be accomplished by one's own power alone.
'Adi.'
-......
'Adi!'
-......
'...Damn.'
It was the same as when the connection with Adi was severed before.
'I have to defeat him without any weapons...'
Grandia and Daylight had been destroyed long ago in the Creator God's temple.
In other words, the current situation meant all of Rudian's psychological safety nets had collapsed.
'...Shit.'
It felt like his confidence was mercilessly crumbling.
But he couldn't refuse to take on the challenge because of that.
GRIN!
The Administrator wiggled his hand with a "Come on, come on" gesture.
Rudian prepared to rush at his opponent, drawing up all his body's strength.
But then.
'...No, wait.'
Rudian desperately restrained himself from jumping up and released the tension in his toes.
'Baal definitely said I'd die if I failed.'
The task's purpose was to defeat that Administrator with the ponytail.
'If I rush at him now and lose... what happens to me?'
Rudian was unconsciously assuming the current situation was similar to Leviathan's Tomb.
'What if... that's not it?'
With Leviathan's Tomb, he could utilize infinite knowledge of the original's information.
But the current task was entirely separate.
-The Demon God is quite fond of the word 'growth' as well. Of course, it won't be the main thing, so it will be quite difficult for you.
Right before coming here, the hint Baal had thrown his way.
"...Why? Won't you attack?"
"......"
Rudian quietly, carefully shared his assumption with the Administrator.
"Is there really... a need to attack right now?"
"Oho?"
Rudian sat down right there.
And as expected, there was no attack from the other person.
"You use your head a bit?"
"The only rule you mentioned was defeating you. You didn't mention any other rules. You said I was free to use any method."
"Hahaha, that's right."
The Administrator burst into pleasant laughter.
"Then determining the timing, method, and timing for the challenge would also fall under 'any method.'"
"Correct. Quite a sharp fellow has entered."
Rudian glared at the Administrator while inwardly letting out a sigh of relief.
He was certain that if he had rushed at that Administrator in the current situation, Rudian would have died 100%.
'So that's what growth meant.'