Chapter 96
Chapter 96
Chapter 96
The End of Asmodeus
"M-Marbas was defeated...!"
Asmodeus was healing her wounds in the depths of the dungeon.
Just a few hours ago, she had engaged in fierce battle with Maria Kepler within the sands of time.
But the result was defeat.
Not just any defeat, but such a devastating crushing that she had to worry about complete annihilation.
Fortunately, she was able to escape when the artifact's duration ended, but she suffered injuries that would require years of recovery, making any further combat unthinkable.
"No. I can't end like this...."
The situation was at its worst.
Marbas was dead, and the cause of that death was the core that had suddenly manifested in this dungeon.
The energy from a million people that she had carefully gathered over decades had been used to break Marbas' restraints, leaving her with absolutely nothing—like cooking porridge only to give it to a dog.
"I need to summon Baal. That's the only remaining hope...!"
Fortunately, thanks to the core's activation and Marbas' ritual being performed inside the dungeon, a considerable amount of residual magic remained in this place.
Asmodeus intended to use that magic not for her own healing, but to summon another Demon King.
"You lot block the intruders! Buy me time, even if it's just one minute!"
"Y-Yes, Lady Asmodeus!"
Fortunately, Marbas' subordinates who had been conducting the ritual and nearly five hundred demons remained in the dungeon.
Considering the dungeon's narrow entrance, they should be able to buy at least an hour of time.
But she realized that this expectation was futile when she witnessed a massive beam of light striking the entire dungeon from above.
"Kyaaaaaaah!"
KWARRRRRUNG! URRRRUNG!
With that single strike, all the demons and monsters heading toward the entrance were completely annihilated.
Only Asmodeus, who remained alone in the deepest part, barely avoided annihilation.
"Wh-What is that...!"
A massive hole had been punched through the ceiling, and light was streaming in.
She looked up to see the enormous battleship that had caused this destruction.
"H-How is that thing here...?"
A battleship she had seen only once before, when she served as an aide to Lilith of the Seven Seats, her former superior.
She trembled in fear, her teeth chattering.
"Th-That's it! That's what annihilated Marbas!"
Even at a glance, she could feel tremendous causality and energy.
That battleship, which had performed tremendously in past battles against extraterrestrial forces, had mysteriously disappeared afterward, with no one knowing its whereabouts.
"But that should have gone missing just before the Great War? Baal—could it be that Baal knows about this?"
Asmodeus quickly manipulated her magic to establish a connection gate to the demon realm.
If summoning magic was impossible, she at least needed to connect a mental path for communication.
But....
"What? Why won't it connect...?"
The path was severed.
This meant she couldn't even communicate, let alone summon.
Asmodeus continued attempting to connect with Baal with a dazed expression.
"Baal, why did you sever the path with me? Didn't you say you trusted me?"
Asmodeus burst into rage, grabbing her hair.
"Why! Why can't I sense his existence at all?"
There were only two cases where the path would be severed in such a situation.
Either Baal had been annihilated, or his very existence had already crossed to another dimension, making him absent from the demon realm.
"Did he... Did he deceive me? Could it be that from the beginning, Baal was...."
"That's enough, Asmodeus."
At the familiar voice from behind, Asmodeus turned her head blankly to look at the source of the sound.
"It's time to settle this."
"Rudian...!"
At the end of her gaze, the humans who had survived and won this final battle were gathered in great numbers.
And at their center stood Rudian.
***
As they faced each other, Asmodeus was the first to speak.
"So you killed Marbas."
"It wasn't easy."
"Damn Marbas, he spoke so confidently and this is the result...!"
Marbas' power had been sufficient to destroy humanity.
But somehow, the result ended in Marbas' defeat, and as a chain reaction, Asmodeus too faced destruction.
"Still, I can't end it like this."
She harbored malice and unleashed her power.
A mist with a strange churning quality flowed from Asmodeus' body.
'The Authority of Lust!'
"Kyahahaha! Pay the price for daring to come with such burdens!"
The Authority of Lust spread like a writhing snake.
Those behind cried out in shock at the magnitude of that power.
"Wh-What tremendous power!"
A rampage of power with no thought for consequences.
Everyone except Rudian and Maria tensed up at the enormous force suddenly flowing out.
Asmodeus' Authority of Lust displayed absolute power in battles against multiple opponents.
In the original work, soldiers who went to war fell victim to her authority and suffered terrible fates.
"Did you think I came without considering that?"
I refuse to recreate scenes that were cut after receiving countless complaints from male readers!
WHOOSH!
The Authority of Wrath in the form of flames directly collided with the Authority of Lust, neutralizing each other.
CRACK!
"As expected, it's Diablo's power!"
She couldn't have failed to recognize the identity of the magic that had clashed with Marbas.
The moment she confirmed it, she felt her head spinning, but even then she hadn't doubted that Marbas would be victorious.
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Of course, that faith was thoroughly betrayed.
"Authority devours authority. If all power restrictions had been lifted like Marbas', it might be different, but with your current level, it's impossible!"
"Grrr!"
In a situation where power was already lacking, with the added interference of the woman who had dealt a fatal blow to her, the situation deteriorated irreversibly to the worst.
THUD!
"Kyaaaaah!"
Asmodeus was pummeled all over by the telekinetic force Maria sent and crashed into the center of the altar where Eldorado had been.
With a crumbling sound, debris fell, and from within, Asmodeus let out a scream.
"Damn! If only I could summon my legion from the demon realm!"
Asmodeus' direct Legion of Lust.
Asmodeus' legion, boasting numbers exceeding a million, was a group characterized by corruption and domination rather than combat, reflecting their master's nature.
Particularly among all legions in the demon realm, they were highly contagious in a different sense from the Legion of Disease, making them one of the demon realm forces that caused the greatest damage to humans in the original work.
"Are you lamenting about your subordinates now? Haven't you heard the saying 'don't gamble unless you're certain'?"
Rudian quoted a certain gambler's line while pointing Diablo at his opponent's throat.
"Still, I'll give you the same treatment as Marbas. Do you have any last words?"
"Please spare me...."
Rudian's expression flickered slightly, not expecting such blatant begging for life.
Asmodeus immediately changed her attitude and approached Rudian.
"I'll be your slave for life. The information I possess can serve as very useful stepping stones for your future path. Not only will I provide all the information about the demon realm that you're curious about, but I'll also offer you my entire demon realm legion."
"......"
When Rudian remained quietly silent, Asmodeus' expression brightened slightly.
Conversely, Maria and the others looked worried.
"Don't waver, Rudian."
Maria stood beside Rudian and spoke firmly.
The desperate Asmodeus approached Rudian with a pleading yet seductive, and at the same time deadly smile.
"I can accommodate all your preferences. Whatever sexual tastes you have, day or night, I can provide the ultimate pleasure...."
"I can't listen to any more."
SWISH!
"...Huh?"
Asmodeus, who had been groping and clinging to Rudian's body, displayed a question mark for a moment when her vision suddenly rose high.
But soon realizing her neck had been severed, she completely changed her expression, contorting her face like a demon.
"I was sincere...! This time I was really sincere!"
"Well, I knew that."
It wasn't for nothing that she was the only Demon King among them to survive until Chapter 2, earning the nickname 'Survival King.'
'But I'm not about to keep her alive and invite trouble.'
Asmodeus had indeed approached with a genuinely submissive attitude without resorting to tricks like the Authority of Lust.
But the only person she promised to serve was Rudian alone—this didn't apply to other people.
"How do I know what tricks you might pull on my people?"
"......!"
"If you eliminate everyone around and create an environment you can manipulate at will, the master-servant relationship becomes meaningless. Isn't that right?"
"You… Bastard!"
"Stop these transparent schemes and now be eternally annihilated."
"Grr, grrrr! Graaaaaaah!"
Rudian unhesitatingly plunged Diablo into Asmodeus' forehead, absorbing the Authority of Lust.
—What excellent demonic nature! It seems little Asmo has fattened up quite well over ten thousand years!
Following Marbas, now Asmodeus too.
Having devoured two Demon Kings, Diablo expressed great satisfaction and cheered.
—Deciding to follow you, brat, was truly the best decision. I've never been happier than today!
'Is that so...?'
Rudian listened to Diablo's joy with mixed feelings.
In fact, while Diablo had been cooperating faithfully without any disturbance until now, considering his true nature, this guy was also a massive time bomb that could explode anytime, anywhere.
Then, as Asmodeus was gradually disappearing into dust, all her power stolen by Diablo, she left these final words:
"Ah, aah... Baal... How dare... You deceive me...."
"......?"
Did something I absolutely shouldn't ignore just slip out at the end?
"Never... Forgive...."
"W-Wait...!"
Rudian tried to reach toward Asmodeus, but with those words, she had already completely annihilated without leaving a single piece of flesh behind.
The massive bomb she dropped at the end made Rudian's expression serious.
'Baal deceived Asmodeus?'
What on earth does that mean?
But he couldn't question further.
Asmodeus had already annihilated.
'Damn, should I have extracted some information first?'
Anyway, the only remaining enemies at this point in time were the Kingdom of Rohans and the Ergon Kingdom , but Rudian, who knew the original work, was already thoroughly familiar with their circumstances.
That's why he unhesitatingly severed Asmodeus' neck, but to scatter such a plot hook before leaving!
'Is there even a reason for Baal to deceive her in the first place?'
By the time the original work began, most of the 72 Demon Kings had already crossed over from the demon realm.
Among them, naturally, the highest-ranking ones including Baal were largely included, and the Demon King trio of Morian, who had achieved the greatest merit, all made it into the top 10 thanks to their contributions being taken into account.
Given that, the relationship between the two Demon Kings shouldn't have been too bad....
'Is there something I don't know?'
If I had to guess, it would be that the relationship between the two Demon Kings was bad before the Demon Gate opened, which is now, and somehow they reconciled after the gate opened and the original timeline began.
But to ask Diablo if anything comes to mind....
—That bastard was black-hearted from the beginning. It wouldn't be strange if he had some scheme!
… That would be the obvious answer.
'Marbas also told me to be careful of Baal. There's definitely something....'
In the current situation, there's no physical or circumstantial evidence to confirm anything.
In the end, to find clues about Asmodeus' final words, whether I like it or not, I'd have to make contact with the Demon Kings in the Kingdom of Rohans....
'But they're enemies I'm about to wage war against—what contact...!'
Since I've overturned their grand plan, it wouldn't be enough to consider me a mortal enemy.
"Lord Rudian!"
"Brother!"
Just as Rudian was about to finish his thoughts and wrap up the affairs here, he felt a commotion from outside.
The owners of the voices calling him were Luciella and Gray.
For them, who had been assigned to handle the aftermath in the capital, to come all the way here....
'Is that side finished too? As expected, they're fast.'
I thought it would take at least half a day more, but as expected, Luciella's leadership verified through the original work seemed to be first-rate.
"Let's go out for now, Rudian."
"...Right."
Rudian sighed and followed Maria's words.
Having overcome such a major crisis, whatever happened, he wanted to rest first.