An Endless Playground
Eyes as blue as if carved from a glacier.
Eyes that felt as though they could freeze your entire body just by looking at them.
Silver hair that swayed like the waves of the North Sea.
An breathtakingly exquisite beauty, to the point where the word "angel" suited them far better than "demon."
The entity that stepped out of the shattered ice statue was the very being the white orcs had cried out for.
The ruler of the 69th floor.
The Demon of Frost.
It was Imir.
"Even the sacrifices are insufficient?"
Imir frowned, looking at the mountain of piled-up ice bears.
"We're short one ice bear, and there's a white orc instead."
Whoosh.
The corpse of the white orc floated into the air.
Crack, crackle...
It began to freeze in an instant.
Shatter!
Soon, it burst into countless tiny shards.
Imir turned his gaze.
"This isn't what we agreed o—"
His eyes met Lee Taepyeong's.
"...Wait, what is this human doing here?"
Why was there a human in this place?
Only the white orcs knew the location of this altar.
"..."
Imir's blue eyes flickered with brief confusion before filling with amusement.
"Is this a sacrifice too?"
Imir naturally glanced down at Lee Taepyeong's crotch.
He did so under the assumption that the human would be pissing himself, gripped by [Fear].
However...
"Are you Imir?"
Contrary to Imir's expectations, the human just stood there, staring blankly.
Naturally, he hadn't pissed himself.
In fact, he was speaking perfectly rationally.
Usually, any intelligent being facing a demon would be consumed by [Fear] and have their mental strength drained.
Yet this human seemed completely unaffected.
"..."
Imir was taken aback, but there were exceptions to everything.
Angels might be different, but demons were highly adaptable to "exceptions."
Thanks to that, Imir was able to calmly face the human.
"How did a human manage to reach my altar?"
"A white orc brought me here."
That was impossible.
The white orcs who served Imir were fiercely loyal.
Orcs who chose to contract with a demon to survive the tower would never reveal the location of his altar to a human.
If anything, they would have flayed the human alive and offered him as a sacrifice.
And yet...
It doesn't seem like that human is lying...
It was a situation that even a demon's mind couldn't comprehend.
Kiiiiii...
It was then.
That is...!
A bizarre energy emanated from the human's sword.
An overwhelming dread.
A densely concentrated scream of terror that made even him, a demon, break out in goosebumps.
Wrooooo...
The sticky, viscous scream of terror flowing from the void stone embedded in the [Sword of Calamity] was more intense than the eons of screams echoing from hell.
It was a delicious fear that any demon would naturally covet!
"I don't know where you crawled out from, human..."
"..."
"But you have something quite interesting!"
Whoosh!
Imir's cloak fluttered as an immense chill erupted from him.
"If you offer that to me..."
"You'll spare my life?"
The human smirked, cutting Imir off.
It was not the kind of behavior a mere human should have the guts to pull.
Imir wore a strange smile.
"Seeing you speak like that, you have no intention of offering it, do you?"
"Obviously."
He was a peculiar human.
Not only had he reached a demon's altar, but he had also slaughtered the entire elite force of white orcs.
He had dumped them on the altar as if to show off, and had even shattered Imir's statue—which was supposed to be indestructible and absolutely forbidden to be broken.
On top of that...
In a situation where anyone would normally piss themselves and faint just by making eye contact, he was smiling leisurely and talking back with sheer arrogance.
Could it be...?
Imir was a demon.
Contrary to popular prejudice, demons operated on logic, not desire.
Thus, Imir also thought logically.
This human in front of him was not insane.
There had to be a reason for this behavior.
Then, what was that reason?
Imir's logical circuits produced a fitting answer.
He has a backer.
Otherwise, it made no sense.
Even a member of a lowly race like humans could act this way in front of a demon if they had a powerful backer.
I feel something.
A special energy was flowing from the human.
It was hard to describe precisely.
It felt holy, yet terrifying.
An intense emotion, like staring at an ominously shining star!
For example...
It's definitely an angel...!
Yes.
There was no way he could act like this unless he was backed by an angel.
In that case, he had to proceed with caution.
If that human possessed the authority of an angel, it would be the natural counter to a demon like Imir.
Then, right from the start...
He would go all out from the very beginning!
Having formulated a perfect plan, Imir smiled, baring his fangs.
Killing a human chosen by an angel—what could be more thrilling for a demon?
Imir was already lost in ecstasy at the thought of killing the human, stuffing him, and showing him off to his fellow demons.
And so...
Flash!
Imir...
Flash! Flash! Flash!
...committed a terrible mistake.
A mistake that a demon—no, even a demon—should never make!
"Normally, I wouldn't go this far for a mere human, but..."
A coin-sized black object emerged from the tip of Imir's sharp claw.
This darkness, which could only be obtained from hell, possessed a very special ability.
The moment it touched someone, it swallowed them into the abyss.
Time did not flow within the abyss of hell.
If you locked someone in that horrific space and repeatedly tortured and killed them, any being would eventually submit to a demon.
Of course, if that human was receiving an angel's protection, making him submit wouldn't be easy.
But so what?
No matter how much angelic authority he possessed, a human was ultimately just a human.
"I will make you kneel in the eternal darkness..."
Hehehe.
With a sweet chuckle...
Snap!
Imir snapped his fingers.
Whoosh!
At the same time, the "darkness" shot forward.
The human—no, Lee Taepyeong—raised his sword.
Endless darkness.
"..."
It wasn't just "dark."
I was literally inside the darkness itself.
"Hehehe."
Appearing alongside the laughter was none other than Imir.
Imir's figure was crystal clear.
"How is it? Fascinating, isn't it?"
"..."
"The last one to enter this place was an Orc Paladin."
An Orc Paladin?
Can the words "orc" and "paladin" even exist in the same sentence?
"Yes, I know it sounds strange. But they really existed."
Imir smiled, curling the corners of his lips upward.
"Until I killed him right here."
"..."
"Of course, I didn't truly kill him. I stuffed his body, and I still have his soul stored away."
"..."
"Just so you know, he agreed to it! As a result, I've been taking care of the white orcs in his stead."
What the hell was he talking about?
Don't tell me...
The term "white orc" didn't just mean they lived in the polar regions.
It meant the opposite of a regular orc...
In other words, they were holy orcs?
To the point where there was an orc paladin?
But this demon bastard killed the Orc Paladin, and that's why the white orcs were serving this bastard?
What an absolute piece of shit.
"But since you interfered with that..."
Imir's fangs glinted.
"I'll have to get revenge for the dead white orcs."
"Is it because you're a demon that your way of thinking is so bizarre?"
"Is that a compliment?"
"It's an insult."
"Hahaha! Good! Excellent!"
Imir clapped and burst into laughter.
"You're just like that Orc Paladin. I guess that's just the taste of those angels!"
Angels?
Why was he suddenly bringing up angels?
"I don't care about the sword anymore."
What was he talking about? I wasn't going to give it to him anyway.
"I want to flay your skin off right now and see the light dwelling in your heart!"
Imir chattered in an excited voice, like a child in front of a present.
Crack, crackle!
His arms slowly froze over.
Clang!
They transformed into ice scythes.
"Oh..."
I hadn't seen something like this before.
I adjusted my grip on the [Sword of Calamity].
Kiiiiii...
The [Sword of Calamity] began to tremble, as if eager to slash Imir this very instant.
To quench its thirst...
Swish!
I dashed forward quickly.
Rip!
The sound of darkness tearing.
Imir didn't just stand there either.
Whoosh...!
An immense chill swept over me.
Slash!
Two scythes lunged forward, aiming precisely for my heart.
Fast.
But not to the point where I couldn't dodge it.
Maybe because there were no obstacles around, his movements were clean and straightforward, making it rather easy to read.
Thrust!
I pivoted and pierced Imir's heart directly.
Thump!
However...
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Despite being pierced, his heart did not stop beating.
"...?"
Our eyes met.
"Hehehe!"
Imir laughed.
"Surprised?"
"..."
"I forgot to mention it."
"What?"
"This is the 'Abyss'..."
"..."
"And in this place, I can never die."
"Huh."
"The only one who will 'die' here is you..."
The darkness wavered, then seeped into Imir's heart.
"I will make you taste eternal death until your soul rots away..."
Thump!
Imir's heart was perfectly healed once again.
"...Seriously?"
I stared intently at Imir's heart and asked.
"Hahaha! Yes, even if you pierce my heart hundreds of times, I will never die."
"You're sure?"
"Of course. This is the abyss of Imir, the Demon of Frost..."
"You said you're sure, right?"
Since I confirmed it three times, Imir's expression turned slightly odd.
But it didn't matter.
As long as it was certain that he 'couldn't die.'
"Man, I was worried I'd have to go back empty-handed."
"...What?"
"What a relief."
"Wh-what... What did you say?"
"I couldn't even kill an ice bear."
"..."
"And there were only a bunch of scrawny white orcs, so it didn't even feel satisfying to slice them up."
"...Huh?"
"Now I can finally relieve some stress."
"St... Stress?"
"Yeah. It's a human term. Don't worry about it."
Imir stared at me with a dumbfounded look.
Whether he did or not, I didn't care.
Schlip!
I pulled the sword out of Imir's heart.
Just as he said, Imir did not die.
Even though his heart had been pierced.
"Yeah, this is it."
It was really fun back in the tag map.
If it's just that much, I'd be so grateful.
Kiiiiii...!
The [Sword of Calamity] began to tremble violently.
The meaning behind that trembling was clear.
Urgency.
"Hehehe..."
Yeah, yeah.
I know how you feel.
But don't be too impatient.
Like that demon bastard said...
"We have plenty of time."
"W-wait..."
Imir began to take hesitant steps backward.
But there was nowhere to run.
Like he said, this was the "Abyss."
Since he's a demon, he must have plenty of abilities, right?
I'd probably be able to kill him in a shitload of different ways.
"You ready?"
"...!!!"
"Let's begin."
Demon of Frost?
You picked the wrong guy.
Let's see how many times you can die.