The King of Balrogs and the Death Knight
Ibrahmut shot Yoon Sang-hyuk a displeased look, but that was all. He couldn’t find a single rebuttal to what Yoon Sang-hyuk had said. In the end, all he could do was ask, “How did you know?”
“Because it’s obvious. A powerful clash of forces happened in the place you were supposed to be ruling. Did you really think some reckless bastard wouldn’t be crazy enough to pull something like that off? But this is the Demon Realm. It’s a world where the strong can challenge anyone stronger than themselves. So I figured someone had challenged you, the ruler of this territory. And then, the very next day, you showed up at the border of the outer perimeter looking practically dead. Anyone with half a brain could guess that much.”
“I see. I asked a foolish question.”
Zeronia’s eyes were filled with shock as she listened to Yoon Sang-hyuk and Ibrahmut talk. In truth, even when Ibrahmut had collapsed and spoken his own name, she hadn’t believed it.
She couldn’t possibly imagine a Balrog powerful enough to become a high-ranking demon lord being defeated by anyone. Moreover, if someone had challenged Ibrahmut, that meant the challenger had to be of Balrog blood as well. Was there even anyone among the Balrog clan stronger than Ibrahmut?
That was how legendary Ibrahmut, king of the Balrogs, was in the Demon Realm.
“For the one called the First Balrog, the King of Balrogs, you look rather pathetic.”
“Hah! I was merely caught in a cowardly scheme.”
Ibrahmut roared in anger.
“You do know that schemes are part of battle, don’t you?”
“Schemes are what weaklings use to hide their weakness.”
“Schemes are what you use to kill foolish enemies a little more efficiently.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk kept needling Ibrahmut. Ibrahmut’s face twisted more and more grotesquely with every word. Then, with a cold expression, Ibrahmut said, “Battle is sacred. A pure contest of strength against strength, with nothing else interfering. But those bastards dirtied the sanctity and purity of battle.”
The corners of Yoon Sang-hyuk’s mouth curled upward.
Ibrahmut had said “those bastards.” That meant the ones who had dragged him from the throne were not one person, but many. For the Balrog clan, known as a race of warriors, it was certainly a disgrace.
“But the result is what matters. You were stripped of your throne and driven out in rags, while the ones who ousted you are probably living like kings in your kingdom.”
For an instant, a murderous aura burst from Ibrahmut’s eyes.
Yoon Sang-hyuk pulled a bottle of liquor and a cup from his subspace.
“The result may be that way, but I’m curious about the process.”
* * *
Ibrahmut, king of the Balrogs, had four children.
Balrogs, too, supposedly had male and female forms. All four of the children he ruled over were male.
Ibrahmut had awakened not long after the Demon Realm was born. Since then, he had made the Scorched Earth his kingdom and ruled it ever since. The span of that time was so long it could scarcely be measured.
Even when Satan, the former master of the Demon Realm, was pushed aside by Baal and imprisoned in the Abyss of the Void, Ibrahmut still held one corner of the Demon Realm.
He ruled the Scorched Earth, the Balrogs’ sacred land, for ages so long that, like the former Demon King Satan and the current Demon King Baal, he too had come to feel boredom.
So Ibrahmut had begun thinking of passing his throne to one of his children. Once he handed it over, he intended to travel through the parts of the Demon Realm he had never seen before.
“It’s only natural to hand the throne to the most outstanding child. The youngest was born last, but he surpassed his brothers. I intended to give him the throne.”
But Ibrahmut’s fourth son, Baront, and his three older brothers did not agree. After learning that Ibrahmut meant to pass the throne to the youngest, they began plotting for a long time.
And one day ago, they had dragged Ibrahmut from the throne.
“They locked Baront away. In a state where he could neither live nor die. They were afraid I would come back. They told me that if I didn’t want to kill the youngest son I loved, I was never to return to the Scorched Earth again.”
After hearing that brief explanation, or rather that touching family story, Yoon Sang-hyuk let out a snort.
“I thought the companions who came with me were singing your praises as some incredible legend, but it turns out you’re just a guy who can’t even manage his own kids.”
“Shut up!”
The inside of the container box shook as though it had been hit by an earthquake. Yet strangely enough, not a single object inside lost its place.
“You shut up. If even one thing in here breaks, you’ll be the one breaking too.”
“Grrr...”
Ibrahmut groaned and drew back his power. He was strong, and because he was strong, he instinctively understood that Yoon Sang-hyuk was a power beyond even his own ability to handle.
“Hmm, this is troublesome.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk scratched his chin.
“What is, Lord?” Zeronia asked.
“I was expecting a lot.”
“Pardon?”
“You said it yourself. Ibrahmut, the First Balrog, loves wagers. So I was looking forward to seeing what kind of bet he’d use to entertain me. But what is this? The guy who loves wagers got chased out by his own children?”
Yoon Sang-hyuk looked at Ibrahmut.
“If I take that head back, do you think the new kings would just let me pass?”
“......”
“No, that’d be too boring. Hey, Ibrahmut. Want to make a bet with me?”
“A bet?”
At the word, Ibrahmut’s eyes gleamed. Being driven from the throne hadn’t changed his nature, and his love of wagers remained intact.
“A very simple bet. I’ll either put you back on the throne of the Scorched Earth kingdom or I won’t. Let’s wager on that. Naturally, I’ll bet on putting you back.”
“A wager whose outcome is already decided can hardly be called a wager.”
“Why not? Why do you think the outcome is already decided? You think I’m going to help you?”
“Is that not obvious? If I accept the wager, then naturally you will help me, and if I refuse, then you will not. Whichever you choose, the outcome is predetermined.”
“Well, now that you put it that way, sure. Then let’s change the bet. Fight my friend. If you win, I’ll return your throne to you. If not?”
Yoon Sang-hyuk raised one finger and drew it across his throat.
“I’ll cut off your head, give it to your children, and walk right through the Scorched Earth.”
* * *
“Valender, sorry for calling you after so long.”
“You know that the place I dwell has no concept of time.”
A towering knight clad in black full plate.
Valender von Graus, whom he met again after a long time, shrugged as if it were nothing. It was a remarkable improvement from the time he had first been summoned, when he hadn’t been able to express a single emotion.
“Do you know where this is?”
“The Demon Realm. Though I have never personally been here, the moment I became a Death Knight, I was, in effect, made part of the Demon Realm. So the instant you summoned me, I knew this was the Demon Realm.”
“I was being careful, in case the demon lords here tried to pull something if I called you.”
Death Knights were monsters.
Monsters could not escape the rule of Baal and the demon lords. In fact, Freydina, the Mirror Demon imprisoned in the Abyssal Prison, Heros the dimensional merchant, and Violeta the Vampire Queen had all been reluctant to join battles against the demon lords.
“It doesn’t matter. Thanks to you, I’ve already broken free of the shackles of being a Death Knight. If I meet the so-called demon lords you speak of, I’ll cut off their heads and hand them over as gifts.”
“Kek, my friend really is cool.”
“But who is that fellow over there, sneaking glances at us? His eyes are very unpleasant.”
Valender von Graus asked while looking at Ibrahmut.
“He’s the one you’re going to fight.”
“Is that so? Then he’s the enemy.”
“Not exactly. More like... I made a bet with him on whether he could beat you or not.”
“What a foolish wager. Did you make such a bet because you thought that fellow would be my match?”
“Not exactly that. I just wanted to see you after a long time, and besides, even you need to stretch your limbs once in a while.”
“Hmm. If that’s the reason...”
Valender von Graus turned around.
Ibrahmut frowned. When Yoon Sang-hyuk first summoned Valender von Graus, he had been shocked by the overwhelming presence. But once he learned the other side was a Death Knight, he had relaxed. In the Demon Realm, a Death Knight’s rank was far below that of the Balrogs.
Only poor demon lords who couldn’t afford to hire Balrogs would command Death Knights.
And yet...
When he faced Valender von Graus head-on, he came to a bitter realization of just how foolish his prejudice against Death Knights had been.
Ibrahmut shouted at Yoon Sang-hyuk, “That’s a being even stronger than you are!”
Yoon Sang-hyuk looked at him as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
“You really think that? Then should I change the wager? If you block my single sword strike, you win. If you can’t, you die. Want to change it to that?”
Ibrahmut stared at Yoon Sang-hyuk in shock. It had been a change in an instant. The Yoon Sang-hyuk before him now was a completely different being from the one he had seen just moments ago. He had vaguely thought he was strong, but now he was something that far exceeded even the faintest imagination.
“You’ve gotten stronger.”
Valender von Graus said the same thing, sounding equally astonished.
“I had to.”
“I see. And how did it turn out?”
“That bastard Baal backed out at the last second. That’s why I’m here in the Demon Realm now.”
“You were like that on Earth, and here too you’re still fighting.”
“Tell me about it. I don’t know how my life ended up so twisted. I went through the trouble of stopping Baal, and now they’re telling me to kill Satan?”
“Heh. Is it just my imagination, or do you seem strangely happy while saying it’s difficult?”
“Half and half, I guess.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk shrugged, then looked at Ibrahmut.
“So? What’ll it be? I’ll let you choose. My friend, the Death Knight Valender von Graus, or me?”
With an air of resignation, Ibrahmut let out a sigh and muttered, “I’ll choose the Death Knight.”
A fierce aura began pouring from Valender von Graus’s body. It was not a domineering aura capable of destroying anything it touched. For reasons impossible to explain, it was a warm aura utterly unlike what one would expect from a Death Knight.
Yoon Sang-hyuk looked at Valender von Graus and asked, “Don’t tell me you’re enjoying this?”