The White Whale
The 68th Floor. This place, also known as the Star Layer, was ruled by Decarabia, who had built an unrivaled force among the lowest-ranking Demon Kings. It was called the Star Layer for a simple reason: its skies glittered with more stars than anywhere else in the Demon Realm. Perhaps because of that, Decarabia had given many star-related names to his forces. His five most trusted generals, the Five Stars, bore such names, and the rare ore mined exclusively from the 68th Floor’s mines was called Nebula Stone.
Nebula Stones were treated as high-grade gems throughout the Demon Realm. They formed the entire financial backbone of the 68th Floor, bringing Decarabia immense wealth. And now, the master of those countless Nebula Stones was seething with rage.
“Baltazar is dead, Crowley has been captured… and even after losing most of our soldiers, we failed to conquer the 69th Floor?”
“…Yes.”
Decarabia let out a hollow laugh. This war had not been his unilateral decision. It had been decided only after he consulted his five most trusted generals, the Five Stars, and thoroughly discussed the matter. In other words, the very people who had pushed for war had returned in defeat. Decarabia had every right to be furious.
“I trusted and cherished you all so deeply, yet this is how you repay me.”
Decarabia’s voice dripped with fury as he rebuked the three remaining Five Stars generals.
“How dare you still call yourselves my finest generals after this!!!”
“…We have no excuse, Your Majesty.”
Decarabia snarled, issuing a dire threat.
“Bring me the heads of Seere von Devata and Dantalion at once. If you fail, it will be your own heads that roll. Now go—immediately!!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!!”
The three generals answered boldly and left the audience chamber. Once outside, they sighed heavily. The blue-haired man with fish-like webbed ears spoke first.
“Does anyone have a plan?”
He was Dahak, the third star of the Five Stars and a general of the Triton tribe.
Cruach, the silver-haired handsome man of the Drake tribe and the second star, replied.
“Who knows. If Baltazar fell, I’m not sure what options we have left.”
Rubia, the sole female general of the Harpy tribe and the fifth star, spoke up.
“How exactly did Baltazar die? We even armored him in demon steel so he wouldn’t lose to Dantalion.”
“By the Demon King of the 72nd Floor…”
“I know that much! I’m asking how Baltazar could possibly have been defeated by a mere 72nd Floor Demon King.”
Baltazar had been an extraordinary warrior—the strongest among the Five Stars. The shock of his death, rather than a mere retreat, was immense. And it had come at the hands of the lowest-ranked Demon King.
“You were there with him, Rubia. You should know better than anyone.”
“I don’t! I was in a completely different area! Suddenly Rin El Laza appeared and I barely managed to retreat.”
“Rin El Laza? Then she must have been the one who killed him.”
If Seir’s Sword had been the opponent, it was entirely possible for Baltazar to have fallen. Yet even if Rin El Laza had single-handedly dealt with him, the one who had ultimately subjugated the 69th Floor was still a single Demon King. Cruach spoke with honest admiration.
“Seere von Devata… I never imagined that young Demon King would have grown this strong already.”
“We may need to nip this in the bud now. There’s a chance Seir von Devata could be reborn through her.”
“But how? Honestly, with Baltazar gone, this has become far more difficult.”
“Even so, we still hold a massive numerical advantage. If we can force them into a pitched battle, we can crush them with sheer numbers.”
Dahak nodded in agreement with Cruach’s assessment.
“No matter how strong Seir’s Sword may be, she cannot face tens of thousands of troops at once. According to our intelligence, the 72nd Floor’s army numbers only twenty thousand. Even combined with their ally Sitri, they barely exceed one hundred thousand.”
“But Sitri won’t commit her entire force, and even as allies, she has no intention of clashing with us. Since the 72nd Floor is acting alone, she’ll likely stay out of it.”
After listening to Cruach and Dahak, Rubia summarized their words concisely.
“So in the end, we have to make the first move and force a pitched battle?”
“That would be best.”
“Then let’s depart at once—”
“Generals!”
A messenger came running toward them. Dahak, noting the urgency on the messenger’s face, asked what had happened. The reply was unexpected.
“The portal to the 69th Floor that was sealed has opened!”
“…What? It’s open?”
“Do they have a reason to open the portal from their side?”
“It’s a trap.”
Cruach spoke as if he had already discerned the enemy’s intent.
“They deliberately opened the portal to lure us in. There’s no reason to take the bait.”
“But His Majesty ordered us to conquer the 69th Floor as quickly as possible.”
“I’m saying there’s no need to go now, Rubia.”
After a brief explanation, Cruach gave orders to the messenger.
“All forces are to stand by. Do not play into their hands.”
“Yes, I will relay the order!”
The messenger turned to leave, but another set of frantic footsteps echoed from afar. A second messenger was sprinting down the corridor at full speed.
“Urgent report! Urgent report!!”
“What now?”
“Enemy attack! They opened a portal from the 69th Floor and their army is crossing over!!”
“……What?”
"Pierce through."
⟨ Spina ⟩
Rin narrowed her eyes slightly, feeling the crisp wind that swept across the Star Layer. She turned to the man beside her and asked,
“Lord Nahen, can we really do this without Sitri’s support?”
“Who knows.”
“Pardon?”
“I’m not certain either.”
Rin’s eyes widened in surprise. Nahen had always been meticulous, preparing countermeasures and moving with certainty. Yet now he was admitting, for the first time, that he lacked confidence. She looked at him questioningly.
“The situation got complicated. This wasn’t part of my plan. Thanks to Seere going on a rampage, everything has been thrown into disarray.”
Rin felt a pang of guilt at his words—she had been the one who couldn’t refuse Seere’s stubbornness. She lowered her head in apology.
“…I’m sorry.”
“No, I wasn’t trying to blame you. Seere’s stubbornness is what went wrong. In any case, the situation has deviated from my expectations…”
Nahen let out a self-deprecating chuckle.
“So I can’t accurately assess the risks or predict the outcome either.”
“Then why take such a bold risk?”
“Because it seemed like the fastest way with the least casualties.”
Nahen ran a hand through his hair. Rin flinched at the gesture before quickly looking away.
“Commander Rin.”
“…Yes.”
“Pull the soldiers back.”
“Pardon?”
“Farther… no, much farther away. Just don’t leave the 68th Floor.”
After fixing his hair with magic, Nahen’s golden eyes gleamed coldly as he gazed at his prey. Though Rin couldn’t understand the order, she felt compelled to obey—an instinctive certainty.
“…Understood.”
Rin bowed and withdrew. As she relayed the command, the army of the 72nd Floor began retreating in unison. Left alone, Nahen slowly turned his gaze toward the countless shadows appearing beyond the ridge. There were so many they resembled a swarm of ants. Decarabia’s army was emerging along the ridge—150,000 soldiers. Nahen could feel firsthand just how vast that number truly was.
“Quite a lot.”
Could he do it? He still didn’t know. Subduing Andromalius had been possible only because of the massive advantage of a surprise attack. Nahen was undoubtedly strong, but without knowing the exact level of the powers he had seen in his memories, he couldn’t be certain of the outcome. Uncertainty—this was the element Nahen feared most. It was also why he had kept Seere from participating in the battle. In his mind, this was the method that would minimize casualties, yet his own lack of confidence in his strength left his heart in turmoil.
“Lord Nahen.”
“They’ve arrived.”
After sending Rin and the soldiers away, Nahen had summoned only two people to his side—Dane and Eri, whom he had raised through vast support. Of course, it wasn’t because he trusted them more than Rin. They were pieces that could be sacrificed if necessary. Over the past five years, the two had grown rapidly, becoming an outstanding rogue and a proper mage. It was time to test their abilities.
“You are my limbs. If I die, you die. If I live, you live.”
“Yes.”
“We know.”
Unlike Rin, Baruna, or the soldiers of the 72nd Floor, they were expendable. Nahen spoke calmly.
“So if you want to increase my chances of survival even slightly, you’d better help me properly.”
“Understood.”
“Yes!”
Nahen closed his eyes for a moment. The crisp wind blew again, bringing a refreshing clarity to his complicated thoughts. He exhaled deeply and slowly opened his eyes.
“They’re swarming.”
When asked what determined the outcome of war, many would offer various answers: the experience of soldiers and commanders, the number of troops, the quality of equipment, the commanders’ leadership, excellent tactics and strategy, and even the soldiers’ condition and morale on the day. All of those were correct. War was usually lost by the side lacking in even one of these aspects. But there existed an element that could overturn all of them at once.
“Shall we begin?”
That element was overwhelming martial might.
Dahak, leading the vanguard of Decarabia’s army, questioned the messenger.
“Where is the enemy?”
“They arrived beyond that ridge and haven’t moved. For some reason, they’re not visible now…”
“It’s a trap. All forces, halt here. Form scouting parties and assess the enemy’s movements first.”
“Yes!!”
When Dahak’s vanguard stopped, Cruach and Rubia rode forward on horseback.
“Dahak, what’s going on?”
“Why did you stop?”
“The enemy isn’t visible. It would be better to send scouts ahead to observe their movements.”
“Hmm, you’re right.”
“They didn’t run away, did they?”
At Rubia’s guess, Cruach and Dahak replied in unison.
“Surely not.”
“Nonsense.”
Rubia snapped back angrily.
“Then what is it!? You two geniuses, enlighten me!”
“It’s obviously a trap.”
“Right. If we get too close, hidden soldiers will probably rain arrows and magic on us. Even with our numerical advantage, we’d suffer devastating losses…”
Even at Cruach’s reasonable assessment, Rubia snorted.
“Don’t be ridiculous. If they were preparing magic, I would have sensed it already!”
“…So you’re saying you don’t feel anything?”
“Exactly! That’s why I asked if they ran away!”
Dahak nodded, correcting himself.
“The enemy knows Rubia is among the Five Stars. They might have deliberately avoided preparing magic to counter that. They could compensate for the lack of firepower with artillery.”
“That makes sense.”
“…So the conclusion is that it’s a trap after all?”
Rubia snorted once more and spurred her horse forward. Dahak and Cruach sighed, calling after her.
“Come back quickly, Rubia.”
“Do you want to end up like Baltazar by acting on your own?”
“Hmph, you cowards just stay quiet. I’ll go check it out myself.”
“That idiot…”
Dahak and Cruach exhaled deeply. From the beginning, Rubia had never been the kind of talent worthy of being grouped with the Five Stars. Despite having secured her position through Decarabia’s favor, her behavior was utterly reckless. At least she had listened to Baltazar, but without him, she was nothing but a wild troublemaker. Watching Rubia ride off into the distance, Dahak shook his head.
“Cruach, we have no choice. We’ll have to prepare on our own.”
“Right. We should form our formation and wait until the scouting results arrive.”
Just as the two were about to issue orders to their troops, a thunderous sound echoed from beyond the ridge.
Crash! Crash! Crash!
Something was descending the slope at terrifying speed, tearing through the earth. The sound reached not only Rubia, who had approached the ridge, but also Dahak and Cruach.
“…What is that?”
“Rubia, fall back immediately!”
As the two shouted, Rubia also sensed something ominous and yanked her horse around. But the moment she turned, something grabbed her from behind—not her body, but her horse’s tail. Rubia’s body was flung into the sky.
“…Huh?”
The horse was swung upward, sending Rubia soaring. High in the air, she looked down with a bewildered expression. There stood a man.
“Pierce through.”
"Pierce through."
⟨ Spina ⟩
As the man uttered a single short word, a massive, razor-sharp spike erupted from the ground. Rubia desperately tried to chant a spell, but there was no time. Thud! The spike pierced her heart, stopping it instantly. Blood poured down like a waterfall. With a gaping hole in her chest, she convulsed, drooling and weeping as filth spilled from her body. The fifth star of the Five Stars had fallen with absurd ease. Her lifeless corpse slid down the spike. The man who had slain Rubia in an instant slowly raised his head. Black hair and golden eyes—an unfamiliar face.
Cruach and Dahak spoke warily.
“Who are you?”
“Are you Cruach and Dahak, the second and third stars of the Five Stars?”
“That’s right. Who are you?”
“I’m the one who came to wage war against you.”
“…What?”
At that moment, Cruach and Dahak doubted their eyes. Black mist swirled behind the man, and an enormous white whale materialized. It opened its massive jaws. The creature was hundreds of meters long—an immense whale. It let out a thunderous roar toward the front, then charged forward, beginning to devour everything in its path. The white whale surged toward Decarabia’s army at terrifying speed, swallowing the earth itself.
“What the—!”
Dahak was horrified by the sight, while Cruach quickly assessed the situation and issued orders.
“Evacuate immediately! Abandon the formation and retreat!!”
Dahak, Cruach, and their thirty thousand cavalry managed to escape safely. But the infantry, lacking mobility, could not outrun the charging white whale no matter how hard they ran. With jaws spanning dozens of meters, it was inevitable that heavily armed soldiers would take time to escape its range. Over one hundred thousand infantry were swallowed into the whale’s maw. Dahak and Cruach could only watch the horrific scene unfold. Having devoured everything, the white whale vanished like mist, leaving only the massive scars it had carved into the earth. Having lost the majority of their infantry in an instant, Dahak and Cruach stared in awe at the spectacle. That awe soon turned to fear. Cruach’s lips trembled as he finally spoke to the whale’s master.
“Y-you… just what the hell are you…?”
The man glanced at the trail left by the white whale and let out a hollow laugh. Then, with a faint smile, he posed a simple question.
“Who knows… Who could I be?”
As if he himself didn’t know.