407. Daybreak (4)
407. Daybreak (4)
- 1 -
『Bad guys!』
Behemoth felt a gradually welling irritation.
Normally, a single swipe would kill dozens of ordinary bugs, and if he expressed annoyance, hundreds would die.
No matter how strong they were, even the tough ones were guaranteed to die from a single powered-up swipe.
But these small, fast things—even his belly flop had no effect on them.
Neither did lifting his body and pressing down.
In other words.
The bugs before his eyes were just too strong.
『So annoying...!』
Absolutely nothing was working.
It was only natural that his eyes turned to other means of relieving that irritation.
『Bugs!!』
Far in the distance, he saw a swarm of bugs positioned ahead.
The annoying ones who had been pouring out heavy attacks for a while now, continuously shaking his body.
He could also see the bug with the most unusual energy at their head, but that didn't register to him now.
After all, there was a limit to how much bugs could protect other bugs.
Weren't these strong bugs also failing to stop him from going over there?
If so...
- Kuuuuur...!!!
With a low growl, Behemoth's front paw clawed at the earth.
Kudeudeudeuk —
The massive front paw overturned the ground, leaving deep furrows behind.
The precursor to the rampage that had already erased several cities since he awoke in this world.
The moment she saw that familiar behavior, Saya shouted.
"It's rampaging!!"
Kwang —— !!!
Before the voice had even finished, the tremendous mass moved.
The three retainers immediately dodged from the beast's path.
"What the—!!"
But at the sight that unfolded immediately after, everyone could only be shocked.
Behemoth's body, which had been charging forward, subtly changed its angle and then aimed precisely at the army Libertas had brought.
Libertas's army was already in a dispersed formation at an appropriate distance.
Centered on mages capable of delivering powerful strikes and alchemists able to utilize artillery, elite defensive mages were arranged in formation to protect them.
A formation designed to resist any attack from Behemoth as much as possible, but even if that resistance failed, to minimize casualties.
- Kuoooo——!!
Behemoth's head targeted one of those formations precisely.
"Dodge!!"
Shue's shout rang out, but they didn't dodge.
It was only natural.
The army Libertas led were all elites.
Even by simple grade, they were all elite-class or higher, superhumans whose experience surpassed even that.
No one among them didn't know that if they dodged, the formation behind them would be utterly crushed.
Even if they themselves died, they had to slow the monster's charge, even a little.
They had already prepared themselves for that.
"「Earth Formation!!」"
"'Ranslat'!!"
The earth rose to form a giant wall, and an intangible barrier raised by spirits was placed at an angle to deflect Behemoth's charge.
Their response, their resolve—none of it was lacking in the slightest.
Kwachang —— !!!
It was simply that Behemoth was too strong.
The barrier shattered powerlessly, and the towering rock mountain was smashed to dust.
"Just die — !!"
Kwakwang!!
"Goddamn it...!"
With Shue's rage-filled cry, the attacks of three people simultaneously struck the massive body.
Saya, Shue, Evangeline.
Though the three people's attacks shook the gigantic body, they couldn't fully divert the trajectory of the determined Behemoth.
It was a charge delivered by a colossal frame with a width and mass exceeding 50 meters. The power of that immense mass.
However, thanks to their resistance, the speed was indeed slowed, even if only by a little.
That opening brought about a significant result.
"「The will to——!!」"
Kung —— !!
A spoken law echoing between Behemoth and the encampment.
Esther, who had preemptively occupied the exact location through short-range spatial movement, raised her voice.
Her barrier, summoned by sacrificing area for maximized defense.
It managed to properly block Behemoth's ferocious charge, if only for a moment.
- Ku-oaaaa!!
But that, too, was only for a moment.
Behemoth was learning, through battle, how to utilize his power more efficiently.
His magic power concentrated terrifyingly onto the horn on his forehead.
Kiiiiing——!!
"Dodge, Esther!!"
Evangeline, who had soared into the sky holding Saya's hand, descended upon Behemoth's head.
Kwakakakak —— !!
A greatsword forged of magic power tore through the massive back armor and magic, biting into muscle and bone.
But Behemoth merely blinked his eyes once.
He didn't turn his body, nor did he release the concentration of his magic power.
"Keuk — "
The one who knew best what would happen when the magic power concentrating in front of him was fired was the defender herself.
Just as Esther clenched her teeth and braced for the coming impact.
A gentle voice echoed out.
"That's enough."
Libertas, who had flown over cradled princess-style in Shue's arms.
She lightly landed atop Behemoth's head, right where he was concentrating his power.
『Kueu?!』
This time, Behemoth was genuinely shaken.
There was something on his head.
Light, yet heavy. Warm, yet cold.
It was absurdly deep. So lofty that one could only feel awe.
An eerie, yet overwhelming presence.
"「Ash, and Dust」 — "
『!!』
It was dangerous.
When something spilled from that Existence's lips, space warped.
Something terrible was about to be born.
Behemoth felt it.
- Kuwaaak!!!
He thrashed his body wildly to escape.
But Libertas showed no mercy.
" — 「Eye of Fomalhaut」."
At her fingertip, power gathered.
A sphere darker than darkness, deeper than the void.
Within it, crimson flames and blue lightning danced, devouring each other.
A power so intense it warped the surrounding space.
Libertas slowly brought her fingertip, where the sphere had coalesced, to Behemoth's forehead.
Peok!
A killing intent thrust in so slowly it appeared elegant.
A somewhat anticlimactic sound echoed, given the scale of the power behind it.
But in that instant, Behemoth felt as if his surroundings were being torn apart.
Kwadeudeudeuk —— !!!
Because the very center of her head was forcibly opened from the outside.
- 2 -
"Damn it..."
Astaroth bit her lip.
Her gaze was fixed on the sky.
To be precise, at the Existences rampaging through that sky.
"Why on earth... why on earth is the Goddess intervening at a time like this...?"
She was angry. She couldn't help but be.
She had clearly been the one who set this whole board up.
Even if things had gone out of control at the very end, it meant everything before that had proceeded within her grasp.
'But now, these sudden interlopers are trying to swoop in and steal the credit...!'
Even though she had gathered only her most elite forces and rushed here as fast as possible the moment the situation arose, she had still ended up this late.
In just a single day.
This couldn't be happening.
- What will... you do?
The lion-headed man, dressed in the robes of an ashen priest, asked.
It was Purson, the Marquis of Humiliation, one of her loyal subordinates.
"What will I do?! Obviously...!"
Astaroth ground her teeth, about to shout.
That she had to jump in right now, either assist Tiamat or stab her in the back to seize the core.
That was the only way to obtain anything.
But just then.
"There! Please look over there, my lady!"
Another subordinate, Stolas, a male demon in the form of a beautiful silver-haired woman, pointed a finger toward the sky.
"What is it now?!"
Astaroth, her face twisted into a scowl, followed his fingertip. And immediately after.
"No way...!"
Her eyes were stained with shock.
In the direction Stolas's fingertip pointed, there stood a pair, a man and a woman.
Astaroth's attention was fixed on the woman.
She had the appearance of a woman gracefully swaying nine lush golden tails.
If there were successors of the White-faced Golden-furred Nine-tailed Fox on the continent, then in the Demon Realm, there had historically been Nine-tailed Foxes who occupied the position of Duke of Lust.
And that name was usually an Existence inheriting the title of Asmodeus.
She saw the other, who had noticed her, smiling leisurely with her eyes.
"Asmodeus...!!!"
Astaroth's face, as she chewed out her half-sister's name, twisted even more grotesquely.
A woman who was always more beautiful than her, always more loved than her.
Unbearable jealousy blazed through her veins.
Her already long nails pierced through her palms and blood trickled down, but Astaroth felt none of it.
Her hatred and fury had already burned away all sensation of touch.
- 3 -
"Was there something?"
At Leviathan's question, Asmodeus slowly shook her head.
"Just some filthy little thing tangled up there."
Hearing that answer, Leviathan's gaze briefly turned downward.
Astaroth's army, who must have heard rumors somewhere, had picked out only elites and were positioned there.
It was a sight that allowed him to guess the circumstances behind this incident.
He shook his head, clicked his tongue, and spoke.
"Wouldn't it be better to just resolve it quickly? The longer a justification for a peerage title sits, the more troublesome it becomes."
"Oh my, are you worried about me?"
At Asmodeus's shameless response, Leviathan frowned, crossed his arms, and turned away.
"It was unwarranted meddling. Forget it."
"Huhu."
After a short laugh, Asmodeus's gaze brushed past Astaroth once more.
Her half-sister. The younger sister she had personally sent off to the surface.
'It was an unavoidable decision.'
She and her direct younger sister Layanelias could afford to have no background.
Both their paternal and maternal lines were of pure Gumiho bloodline.
But Astaroth was different.
Her mother had been a nameless prostitute in the Demon Realm.
On top of that, Astaroth was exceptionally prone to jealousy, obsession, and possessiveness.
She possessed conditions perfectly suited for someone to instigate from behind the scenes.
So, Asmodeus had decided to gamble on the possibility of Astaroth living even a little bit longer.
She didn't want to leave her to die.
Even so, the blood of the same father as her own flowed within her.
It was an enormous gamble, but in the end, it had succeeded like this.
Because that sister had become a magnificent Surface Demon Territory Grand Duke.
Even if she had grown insolent and hostile toward her.
'Of course, it wasn't entirely for her sake.'
A past conversation suddenly came to mind.
[Why do you leave her alone, sister?]
The words Layanelias, still young back then, had asked.
Back then, that child was young and unable to understand the complexities of the world.
[If you wanted to kill her, you could kill her anytime. She's just a Demon Realm Archduke, after all.]
[She's a fool who chose complacency over progress, so why not just leave her be? We can just let her enjoy power on the surface and live out her life there.]
That was the end of the sisters' conversation by the window.
The brilliantly sharp Laya had understood her meaning instantly.
If Astaroth were ever swayed by someone's instigation and fractured the family even slightly, that would be an annoyance in its own way.
The balance of demon realm politics would break, and ultimately it would be themselves who suffered damage in that chaos.
In other words, the reason for sending the current Duke of Obsession to the surface was.
Partially for Astaroth's longevity, but more importantly, it was largely for her own and Laya's safety and prosperity.
So, Astaroth had a justifiable reason to hate her.
That was why Asmodeus deliberately left the ridiculous hatred of her half-sister unattended.
That was all there was to it.
"Focus. They are no simple foes."
Leviathan's cold voice cut through her thoughts.
"Yeah, yeah. I got it."
Asmodeus answered leisurely and shrugged her shoulders.
She immediately pushed Astaroth out of a corner of her mind.
After all, that half-breed was merely an Existence of that level.
- 4 -
『Kreuk!』
Kwadeuk — !
Between her tightly clenched jaws, Tiamat's teeth shattered.
She tried to push them away with all her might, but the pincer attack of the two angels constricted her like chains.
The body of the giant dragon tottered in the air.
'Goddamn it...!'
She could feel her life slowly draining away.
She had expected it to be difficult.
Even a single high-ranking angel would have been troublesome, but now there were two of them.
Edenish's deadly poison. Morr'is's two divine spears.
When she tried to counter one, the other exploited her weak points.
But this was truly, truly...
『Looks like all that's left for you now is to lie quietly in bed, isn't it? You monstrous lizard.』
Morr'is's mocking voice rang out.
A cruel smile hung on his face, and the spear in his hand gleamed with divine light.
At this rate, she would die. No, she would suffer a humiliation worse than death.
If she was defeated by these devilish bastards wearing the masks of angels, it was obvious how they would cook her.
'I have no choice.'
She had to do it.
She had never imagined she would have to use this power so soon after awakening, but power was never something that did any good when hoarded.
Hadn't she felt it bone-deep even when she was sealed?
The sensation when she, confident in her own invincibility, toyed with human heroes for sport, only for those heroes to plunge their blades into the heart she had hidden away.
The despair of having her most vulnerable part stabbed.
The shock and pain of that moment were still vividly alive.
Now that the heart was inside her body, the same thing wouldn't happen...
But in exchange, if she lost here and now.
'It's over. So...'
Do it. She had to do it now.
But right at that moment.
"That's enough."
"Isn't this a bit too much? Two of you cornering a poor, helpless woman."
Two leisurely, cold voices cut across the battlefield.
Swaak —— !
Something sliced through the space between Tiamat and the two angels.
A massive black pillar, stained with green power.