The King of Hell [2]
“I engrave the law anew. My sword cannot be blocked by any means, and my steps shall not be hindered by any barrier.”
Crimson chains of causality wrapped around her blade, stirring up an eerie resonance.
……No, wait a second. That can't be real.
Attacks laced with hostility don't land? And now her own strikes can't be guarded against either? In game terms, this was like running both 'invincibility' and 'guard break' cheats at the same time.
“……Fuck, you cheating bastard!”
The curse burst from my lips. Pride stung worse than any laziness or bullshit. That nuclear fusion from before, the event horizon—all of it was getting tossed straight into the trash every time she murmured one of her 'laws.' Was the throne of Hell's king always this absurd?
Swoosh—.
Baelzahar took a step forward. Just as she said, the Sloth Force barrier I reflexively threw up split apart like water before her blade even touched it. An attack that rendered the very concept of defense invalid.
If I can't defend…… no, if both attacks and defenses are nullified, what then?
My mental library flipped through pages like mad. [Flaws in Laws], [Reverse Scales of Causality], [Asymmetric Tactics]. As tens of thousands of books flashed by, a bizarre concept lodged in a corner of my past-life memories brushed my mind.
No hostility means it lands, and non-defensive means block it……?
Then there was only one way. Abandon any intent to harm her entirely and just induce a 'phenomenon' itself.
The instant Baelzahar's blade tip surged toward my throat, I scattered Sloth Force into space instead of condensing it. This time, it wasn't for destruction through fusion.
Absolute Zero
“……?”
Baelzahar's sword slowed ever so slightly right before my eyes. It wasn't an attack laced with hostility toward her. I'd merely halted every particle around her. A world of absolute zero that stopped molecular motion and stole all energy.
This wasn't an attack. Just an environmental shift lazily freezing this space still.
Baelzahar's blade tip halted before my throat. No—'fixed' was more accurate. The crimson-black flames enveloping her turned to transparent crystals and shattered, her graceful steps locked as if trapped in eons of time.
“……!”
Her eyes widened visibly. The first flicker of 'bewilderment' from the woman armed with laws.
She tore through the frozen air with Sloth Force and leaped back. In her wake lingered only vacuum traces laced with frost.
“This cold stillness…… it resembles Satan's.”
Baelzahar regripped her sword, murmuring low. Her gaze held more intrigue and familiarity than wariness.
“Art thou connected to Satan? In this Hell, only he wields 'cold wrath.' Dost thou also touch the same origin?”
I furrowed my brow at her.
“Satan? Who's that?”
Her eyebrow twitched at my reply. No hint of deceit, but the shock of anyone stepping into Hell not knowing that name hit her harder.
I really didn't know. No helpful guide explained Satan or Hell's hierarchy. The first demon to speak to me was this woman, Baelzahar.
Well, guess this Satan guy's got ice powers too. Of all people, why'd it have to overlap with a guy like that.
I clicked my tongue inwardly. Not a great feeling. If Satan wielded something like the 'chill' I'd just manifested, things got messy. If she was close to him, she'd likely know exactly how to counter stasis phenomena like this.
No way my trump card is already familiar territory for her?
Not perfectly read, but her sensing 'familiarity' with my alien power was an unwelcome variable. Truth was, I wasn't an ice-type. I'd just gripped particle motion with Sloth Force to drain heat—my power's essence was far vaster, heavier: stasis itself.
But it looked similar to this Satan guy's from the outside, so boss fight difficulty might spike beyond expectations.
Feels like I got countered before we even started properly.
But right now, fretting over counters to some unknown absolute wasn't priority. Dodging that blade aimed at my neck was.
“Think whatever. It's how I fight.”
I snapped my fingers lightly. Beginner physics from the library rode my Sloth Force into space. Forcibly slowing molecular motion to suppress all thermal activity. Crude and unfinished, but effective.
Crackle—!
Baelzahar moved again. To probe this Satan-like power firsthand, she swung her sword with far sharper momentum.
Unguardable blade. But I didn't block. Instead, I stole the air's kinetic energy along every arc she slashed, freezing it solid. Crimson flashes bloomed with each swing, but the heat died cold against near-absolute zero before it could touch.
“If the flames of order won't die, I'll chill them till order itself stops.”
I raised the hand braced on the ground. Thousands of razor-sharp icicles formed around me.
“……Go.”
With a flick, tens of thousands of cold silences rained toward Baelzahar. Hell's pinnacle clashed with sloth's origin, painting Hell's sky in red and blue shards.
Tens of thousands of icicles poured down, but Baelzahar didn't panic. She twisted gracefully midair, her blade whipping at invisible speeds to deflect the stasis blades surging at her.
Clang, claaang—!
Not mere speed. Her sword warped Hell's physics, finding the shortest path. Facing that momentum—like exchanging thousands of blows in an instant—I got chills.
……Insane. Can't track with eyes anymore.
Baelzahar kicked off the air, straight at me. Speed leaving no afterimage. I reflexively poured Sloth Force into my body.
High-Density Compression & Neural Acceleration
Not just bulking muscles. I finely tuned Sloth Force to explosively boost my muscle fiber density and forcibly cut neural signal resistance.
MAXIMIZED
The world slowed. In vision splintered into hundreds of frames per second, Baelzahar's blade traced a red arc toward my throat.
Claaang—!
I parried her sword with my Sloth Force blade. Shockwave swept the surface, cratering hundreds of meters around.
My peak body screamed under Sloth Force acceleration but endured. High-pressure Sloth Force surged through joints, forging terrifying reflexes. Baelzahar noticed my enhanced reaction speed, a faint smile curling as she upped her swordplay another notch.
She didn't even need to dodge. Every instinctive counter I threw dissolved into nothing before reaching her. Her 'hostility-proof' law was that arrogant, that ironclad.
Whoosh, flash—!
Even maxed dynamic vision made her blade tip a dot. I retreated, still scattering Sloth Force into space.
Can't block, so evade—but evasion's hitting limits too.
Mere acceleration wouldn't touch her. I needed another 'physical variable' beyond speed.
Sweat evaporated off my cheek before it fell. Facing Hell's pinnacle's merciless barrage, I ransacked the library again amid her spinning sword dance.
Beyond speed—another 'physical variable.'
[Activated]
I exploded repulsive force outward from my center. No killing intent. Pure physical expansion of distance between us—a rebound solely for 'pushing away.'
Rumble—!
Her blade halted midair like slamming an invisible wall, rebounding. In that split-second gap, I held the Sloth Force barrier and scanned her.
……Weird.
Beyond enhanced vision, a strange texture. The flame-clothing wrapping her. Once vivid crimson, it darkened to deep black with every law she set and causality she burned.
Is the flame itself causality residue? Or color shift from energy compression.
[Forced Maximum Entropy] flashed in my mental library. Beyond my current level, but the principle was clear: drive all energy to chaotic extreme, ending phenomena.
If that garb's just flame, I can snuff it.
Thermodynamically, flame's just energy release. Force-quench it—what happens? Does causality flow cut? Or the sustaining law crumble?
“Hoo……”
I exhaled roughly, holding repulsion. Still just particle-slowing chill for now, but a strange certainty bloomed: someday, I'd chill Hell's vast arrogant inferno entirely.
Baelzahar, unperturbed despite the push, leveled her sword horizontally. Her garb now rippled abyssal black-red, less flame, more void.
……Now.
Sloth Force scraped bottom. Body boost and repulsion had squeezed all but one burst. I reversed repulsion to max attraction toward her.
Vwooom—!
Distance closed instantly. As her eyes widened slightly, I voiced the forbidden page deepest in my library. Sloth's origin uttering world-heat-ending incantation.
“All order to disorder, all energy to useless equilibrium.”
My final Sloth Force poured toward her black flame garb.
Forced Maximization
Flame is energy flow. No flow, no flame. My injected chaos waves shoved her causality flames to equilibrium instantly. Roaring heat screamed and died.
Sizzle, fwoosh—!
Not just extinguished. The protecting 'law' itself collapsed, energy source lost. And then, beyond the smoke-scattering flame garb, Baelzahar's bare white skin exposed. Hell's king's authority raiment fully vanished.
“……Huh?”
I, Sloth Force blade to her throat, blanked out. Beyond the tip: no majestic ruler, just one naked woman.
“……!!”
Baelzahar's face twisted in lifetime-first shame and shock. Simultaneously, her causality-forged sword began shattering like glass, masterless.
But she was Hell's pinnacle. Recovery from fluster faster than a blink. Baelzahar gripped the crumbling blade shards, suppressing shame, and plunged deep into my side.
Stab—!
“Guhk……!”
Hot pain raced nerves to brain. Instinctively, I swung my Sloth Force blade through her abdomen.
Slash—!
Blades buried in each other, we locked eyes briefly.
One: stark naked, flushed face mixing bewilderment and unfamiliar shyness. The other: side torn open, eyes full of 'this ain't my fault' grievance.
Boom—!
Clashing energies inside us exploded, hurling us opposite ways.
In fading consciousness, I thought: Hey, admin. Making clothes from pure causality? What the hell. This ain't on me.
My body crashed into Hell's shredded earth.
“Haa…… haa……”
Spread-eagled, I heaved ragged breaths. Side burned, but worse was Sloth Force depletion—lazy helplessness, not even a finger twitching. Tilting my head, Hell's red sky scattered black ash from blast aftermath.
Step, step—.
Footsteps broke silence. I focused blurry vision. Through dust clouds approached stone-faced Baelzahar.
Stark naked, yet her gait retained Hell's pinnacle poise. No—raw, overwhelming presence poured out, unmasked by artificial garb.
She stopped at my head, gazing down. Flushed cheeks now coldly settled, but her eyes held a new current.
“……Splendid.”
Low, chill voice. But clear respect laced it.
“Thou art the first to breach my laws and wound my flesh. I acknowledge thy name and thy authority's rank. O Root of Sloth.”
Short decree done, she turned. Black-red flames, once vanished, misted up again, veiling her retreating form—shame transcended in regal poise.
Toward that black back, I squeezed last strength to speak.
“……Hey, queen.”
Her step faltered. Grievance thick in my voice, I landed the final barb.
“Put some…… clothes on when you talk. Don't know where to look, seriously.”
“……!”
Her rekindling flames flickered oddly. Glancing back glare, her ear tips seemed red again—but no time to confirm.
Tension snapped; deep darkness engulfed me. I plunged into Hell's first proper sleep—or rather, blackout.