A Demon's Re-education
"*Gah!*"
Blue blood poured from Imir's mouth.
His mutilated body no longer obeyed him. His heart, pierced countless times, was already in tatters.
If this place hadn't been the Abyss, Imir would have died hundreds of times over.
*Squelch!*
Every time the Sword of Calamity was pulled from his chest, the very source of Imir's power was sucked out with it.
*Hummmm...*
Inside the void stone, which had previously only held the howls of monsters like Kappa and White Orcs...
*Aaaaaaargh...!!!*
The screams of a demon began to seep in.
'I-I'm being completely drained...!'
Imir trembled, seized by a profound sense of dread.
Even though the Abyss was a place where a demon should have been able to maintain peak condition, dying hundreds of times had stripped away most of his regenerative power.
His recovery speed simply couldn't keep up with the rate of destruction!
"Tsk..."
Lee Taepyeong looked down at the trembling Imir and slowly frowned.
"...This is kind of disappointing."
Just a single sentence.
But those words made Imir shudder to his core.
After slicing off every single finger joint, crushing every articulation, shattering his teeth, gouging out his eyes, and mincing his flesh to ribbons, the only thing he had to say was...
'Disappointing?'
He wanted to ask what on earth that meant, but...
"*Gurgle, wheeze...*"
His half-severed throat hadn't recovered enough to produce a voice.
Imir trembled violently, reaching out with broken fingers.
His arms were already destroyed to the point where he couldn't even shape them into ice scythes anymore.
*Squirm! Squirm!*
Yet, the only reason Imir squeezed out every ounce of his strength to wriggle his mangled body was simple.
"*Sob...*"
He wanted to beg.
To fall to his knees, clasp his hands, and beg a human for mercy!
"Arghhh!"
Imir channeled all his remaining regenerative power into his neck.
To beg for forgiveness, he needed a voice.
"*Gah! Cough!*"
Perhaps because of his desperate efforts, the wound that had torn his vocal cords slowly began to close.
His shattered jawbone gradually knit back together.
The moment he could finally move his tongue...
"I-I was wrong! Please forgive me!"
Imir slammed his head against the ground, begging for mercy.
For a demon, whose pride rivaled that of angels, this was an unthinkable humiliation.
But hundreds of deaths, and the promise of even greater pain and more deaths to come, had thoroughly pickled Imir's mind in terror.
"Please, spare my life...!" Imir wept and begged.
Unlike the desperate demon, Lee Taepyeong just stared blankly at the sight.
"Why should I?" Taepyeong asked back.
"...!"
Imir was left speechless.
"I've got plenty of time, you don't die, and you're really fun to slice up."
"...*Sob, hic, sob!*"
"Why on earth should I stop?"
From Taepyeong's perspective, this place was basically an amusement park with no closing time.
And he had a free pass.
Under those circumstances, wouldn't anyone stay and play until they got bored?
"Try to hold out until I get bored."
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."
"Who knows? Maybe I'll be touched and spare you."
"I... Please spare me. Spare me!"
"But here's the problem."
"Please spare me! Spare me! Spare me! Spare me!"
"I'm not the type to get bored easily."
"Please forgive me...!"
"We'll see how you behave."
*Shhh.*
Taepyeong raised the Sword of Calamity once more.
The weapon of the rightful successor to the Emperor.
A sword forged specifically for Lee Taepyeong.
A blade that had moved the Sword Spirit through overwhelming slaughter, earning the name Sword of Calamity.
Perfectly attuned to Taepyeong, the Sword of Calamity vibrated with joy every time he gripped it.
*Hummmm!*
Having hacked the demon apart hundreds, thousands of times, the sword grew sharper the more it drank of that near-infinite blood.
The void stone embedded in the hilt had absorbed so much of Imir's power that it now glowed with a deep blue hue.
'At this rate...!'
Imir gasped, watching the razor-sharp blade point toward him.
'My connection to the main body...!'
Indeed.
The reason Imir didn't die in the Abyss wasn't because demons were truly immortal.
Demons could be annihilated too.
Because of this, Imir's main body resided safely in his castle on the 69th floor of the Babel Tower.
Any Imir appearing outside the 69th floor was merely a clone.
That was why he could casually enter the time-stopped Abyss, and why he could confidently claim he wouldn't die.
Every iteration of Imir that wasn't the one on the 69th floor was just a clone, not the main body.
And that was why Imir—or rather, this clone of Imir—was feeling the cold grip of death more acutely than ever before.
If he lost any more power, his connection to the main body would sever.
Even the clone didn't know what would happen if that connection broke. It had never happened before.
That made it all the more terrifying.
If he were left trapped in this Abyss with this monster...!
*Splatter!*
"Your organs aren't vital spots, so this is fine, right?" Taepyeong asked with a smile, his face splattered with blue blood.
"Aaargh!" screamed Imir—the clone of Imir.
*Snap!*
He felt it. The warning signs of the connection to his main body snapping!
Despite the agony of his guts being skewered, Imir desperately clung to consciousness.
"O-Great One!"
Fortunately, since it was only his stomach that had been stabbed, his throat was intact enough to speak.
"I beg of you! If you spare me, I will surely...!"
*Thrust!*
This time, the blade pierced his heart.
"Why should I trust you and let you live?"
"*Cough...*"
"Even White Orcs betray people. Imagine how much worse a demon would be."
"*Sob...*"
"Put yourself in my shoes. Would you trust you?"
"I was wro—"
"Wait, why is your regeneration slowing down? I thought you couldn't die."
"I don't kno—"
"This is problematic."
"*Ugh...*"
"I'm specifically avoiding your vitals. What's wrong with you?"
Taepyeong clicked his tongue, looking genuinely disappointed.
"If I wait a bit, will you recover?"
'You absolute demon of a bastard!!!' Imir screamed internally.
"My recovery... cannot keep up..."
"Want a healing potion?"
'You crazy, psychotic demon bastard!!!!!'
Yet, Imir wept with a look of profound gratitude, replying politely, "Thank you..."
*Glug, glug.*
Imir lapped up the healing potion like a dog.
The wound splitting his stomach slowly began to close.
Imir's mind raced.
If this human was this dangerous, shouldn't the main body descend and eliminate him?
Nipping this threat in the bud was the only way to ensure the safety of the main body on the 69th floor.
However, with his heart currently in tatters, he couldn't even send a simple message.
He needed time for his heart to fully recover.
Fortunately, seeing how the monster gave him a healing potion after he begged, it seemed even this beast possessed a shred of pity.
Imir focused the healing energy from the potion onto his heart.
If he could just find an opening to send the message, the main body would descend and—
*Hummmm!*
At that moment, the Sword of Calamity wailed.
"Tsk..."
Taepyeong shook his head as if he had no choice.
"Yeah. Let's just kill you."
"W-Wait..."
Just a little more and he could have sent the message...!
*Slash!*
Imir's head was cleanly decapitated.
*Thrust!*
And before his head could even hit the ground, the Sword of Calamity pierced his heart.
"...Ah?"
By the time Imir realized what had happened...
*Vroooooom!*
It was already too late.
"One."
"Don't...!"
"Two."
"Get cocky...!"
"One."
"Don't...!"
"Two."
"Get cocky...!"
Imir, in a push-up position, was moving up and down to my count.
"Did you do a thousand?"
"Yes...!"
"Your eyes still look rebellious."
"N-No! Not at all!"
"Again. This time, when I say one, you say 'To Master.'"
"..."
"When I say two, you say 'Absolute obedience.'"
"...Understood!"
Though a bit slow, Imir answered in a bright voice.
Who cared what he was actually thinking inside?
"One."
"To Master!"
"Two."
"Absolute obedience!"
"One."
"To Master!"
"Two."
"Absolute obedience!"
Another thousand reps like that.
Whenever I asked him what count he was on and it felt off, I made him start over from the beginning.
He probably ended up doing about two thousand.
Did it finally clear his head?
All the venom had completely vanished from Imir's eyes.
"Stand up."
"Thank you, Master!"
"Hit the deck."
"Yes, sir!"
*Thud!*
"Roll over."
"Yes, sir!"
*Roll, roll.*
"Bang!"
"Aaargh!"
He even played dead perfectly.
Wow.
His brainwashing was complete.
He wasn't a demon anymore; he was a literal dog.
"Now you're finally listening."
"Yes, Master!"
"Behave, okay?"
"I will serve you with all my loyalty, Master!" Imir replied in a booming voice.
How did this happen, you ask?
*Hummmm...*
It was all thanks to the Sword of Calamity.
The void stone embedded in the hilt had completely swallowed Imir.
Of course, I hadn't expected this either.
'I thought he'd just die...'
After all, a demon is beyond rehabilitation. They can lie through their teeth all they want about being sorry and promising not to do it again.
Believing them would make me an absolute idiot.
So I killed him. Cleanly.
Beheaded him and stabbed his heart.
I thought that was the end of it, but what do you know?
Instead of dissipating, Imir was entirely sucked into the void stone.
"Demons are born of fear. That is why I was absorbed by the Sword of Calamity instead of being annihilated!"
That was Imir's explanation.
The Sword of Calamity, which devoured fear and dread.
And a 'demon', a being born from fear and dread.
The combination of the two had created this bizarre anomaly.
"Of course, if I were the main body and not a clone, this would never have happened! But Master's overwhelming power killed me thousands of times, weakening my connection to the main body. Your magnificent final blow severed it completely!"
Indeed.
Imir, severed from his main body, had been absorbed by the Sword of Calamity.
He was now bound to me, not the main body.
Annihilation might have been an option, but due to the nature of demons, his desire to survive was so strong that he chose to be bound instead.
It was pathetic, but what could he do? That was just the nature of a demon.
What if he betrays me, you ask?
That's why I gave him such intensive mental re-education.
"I am a completely different entity from Imir! I no longer follow the laws of Hell. The only one I serve is my great Master! I swear upon the Babel Tower! I will remain loyal to Master foreveeeeer!"
...And thus, Jjaby-mir was born.
Anyway.
With his re-education complete and an unexpected harvest in hand...
Shall we head out of the Abyss now?