The New King of the Balrogs
“Mm, mm-hm- hmm-.”
Behind Yoon Sang-hyuk, who walked along humming under his breath, a handsome man with red hair followed at a respectful distance.
“Are we heading to a battlefield or something? Why are you leaking killing intent all over the place?”
“Ah... sorry.”
“Don’t apologize for that. I was just saying. It’s this way, right?”
Baront bowed his head deeply.
“Let’s go.”
They walked down a corridor overlooking a garden that was so barren and searing it was impossible to call it beautiful. It was filled only with a dry, oppressive heat.
“There are a lot of them. In such a short time, your brothers must have completely taken control of their subordinates.”
Balrogs lay collapsed everywhere, all of them in their enormous true forms.
Passing through the corridor, they stopped before a massive door.
“This is it?”
“Yes.”
“Open it.”
Baront stepped forward and shoved the tightly shut doors with both hands. Despite their size, they yielded without much resistance, opening soundlessly. Through the gap, the grand hall came into view.
The hall was much the same as the places they had passed through so far. Countless Balrogs were sprawled across the floor, groaning in pain.
At the center of the hall stood Ibrahmut. Crimson flames rippled over his entire body, making it clear that he was utterly furious. Beside him stood Valender von Graus in black full plate mail.
Three men lay defeated before them.
“Those are your brothers?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
Baront answered through clenched teeth. He, too, seemed to have a great deal of resentment toward them.
“You’ve arrived?”
Ibrahmut bowed his head slightly to Yoon Sang-hyuk, but his eyes were already fixed on Baront standing behind him. A bright smile spread across his face at the sight of his most cherished son.
“What’s with all this noise?”
“They were fiercely rebellious once they became kings.”
Thud-
“Ugh-.”
As he spoke, Ibrahmut kicked one of the sons lying on the floor in the ribs.
“This one is the eldest. He’s also the one who lured his foolish younger brothers into this mess.”
“So he’s the chief culprit behind all the rotten things they did.”
With a chuckle, Yoon Sang-hyuk walked over to the three sons sprawled on the ground.
“Wasn’t that a bit too harsh?”
“Considering what they did, they probably don’t feel wronged. If it were up to me, I’d cut their heads off, but I’ve already shown more restraint than I wanted to.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk pulled a chair from his subspace and sat down.
That was when it happened.
“Father! Did you really side with a human on top of a Death Knight? Have you forgotten the pride of our race?”
Crack-!
“Kraaaagh-!”
A scream louder and more painful than before echoed through the entire hall. This time, it was Yoon Sang-hyuk who had kicked Ibrahmut’s eldest son in the ribs.
“I know better than anyone that your father asking Valender or me for help goes against the pride of your race. But if anyone else says that, I could maybe let it slide. You don’t get to say it. You filthy little unfilial brat.”
He was the one who had driven Ibrahmut out through schemes and collusion, joining forces with his brothers all the while.
“My brothers and I only corrected our father’s mistake.”
Even in pain, he still had the nerve to speak his mind. His convictions, at least, were certainly firm.
Smack-!
“Guh-!”
Unfortunately, convictions born from twisted logic only invited a beating.
“A mistake? Who decided your father’s choice was a mistake? Even if you’re not some lesser fool than your younger brother, even if your father had passed the throne to that supposedly inferior son, you should have obeyed that decision. If the outcome turned out wrong, that could have been corrected later.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk glanced at Baront.
“And clearly, your father’s choice wasn’t wrong. All three of you together still aren’t a match for that one.”
“Bullshit...!”
Crack-!
“Kgh-.”
“You really do have an uncanny talent for begging to be hit. I think I know why your father beat you more than the others. Are you saying I’m talking nonsense? You think you’re better than Baront? Just because he was born later? So you’re one of those idiots who thinks the eldest brother is always superior to the younger one?”
The eldest son couldn’t bring himself to answer, too frightened by Yoon Sang-hyuk’s kicks, but his glare was full of resentment.
“You want to make a bet with me?”
“...”
He shot a glance at Baront standing a little way off.
“Fight your younger brother properly, since you think he’s beneath you. No rules. You fight until one side is erased. If you win, I’ll keep my promise and leave this place with your father. What do you say?”
Ibrahmut’s eldest son, Taramont, couldn’t answer right away. He knew very well that he was weaker than Baront. That was precisely why their father had once intended to pass the throne to Baront.
“Not confident?”
“...”
“Hmm. Then how about this? You and the other two fight together. Baront.”
“Yes.”
“You okay with that?”
“Of course.”
At Baront’s answer, Taramont’s brows twitched. He knew perfectly well that he was no match for Baront alone, but if the three brothers joined forces, the situation changed.
It had taken a bit of scheming, but hadn’t the three brothers joined together to drag their father, Ibrahmut, the first Balrog, off the throne?
“Um... hyung-nim?”
“You don’t even trust the son you wanted as your heir that much?”
“That’s not it, but even so, wouldn’t it be difficult for him to take on all three of us at once?”
“He says he’s fine with it.”
Ibrahmut nodded as though there was nothing he could do. If Yoon Sang-hyuk was saying that much, he figured there had to be something prepared.
“All right. Since he agreed too, shall we start the bet? Ah, right. I just remembered that you’ve put something on the line on your end, but you three haven’t offered anything yet. You, as the representative, tell me. What’s your stake?”
“...”
Taramont couldn’t answer. Yoon Sang-hyuk looked at him with a mocking smile, as though he’d expected that. Then Taramont shouted in a burst of defiance.
“Anything is fine.”
“Really? Just because it comes out of your mouth doesn’t mean it’s true. So you’re saying anything is fine, no matter what?”
“Yes. Anything.”
By now, he seemed to have abandoned the idea that the three of them together still couldn’t beat Baront.
“Good. Baront.”
“Yes.”
“Can I decide the bet’s reward?”
“Yes. Please do.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk addressed the three brothers still lying on the hall floor.
“If you lose, swear loyalty to Baront.”
“...”
“Not just a loyalty oath you shout with your mouths. Swear it in the name of fire, the thing you deem sacred.”
“Th-that...”
For a Balrog, once an oath was sworn in the name of fire, it could never be taken back. But after a moment, all three brothers nodded.
“Fine.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk smirked and snapped his fingers.
“Good. The bet is set.”
---
In a grand, dignified room that wasn’t exactly lavish but carried an old, stately weight, Yoon Sang-hyuk, Valender von Graus, and Ibrahmut sat across from one another at a table.
“What in the world did you feed that kid?”
“Why do you need to know that?”
“How does Baront end up stronger than me?”
“Why wouldn’t he? Isn’t it a good thing if your heir is strong?”
“It is, but still... what exactly did you give him that had those brothers dropping like flies so fast?”
“It was something good. Why go digging if it’ll only hurt your stomach? Better not to know.”
Yoon Sang-hyuk chuckled and drained the wine in his glass.
Baront’s fight with his three brothers had ended exactly as Ibrahmut had said it would: in no time at all. Having absorbed the essence of the spirit king Ifrit, Baront had become stronger than even his father. He had already been taught powerful techniques by Ibrahmut, who had favored him from the beginning. On top of that, his origin energy had grown stronger as well, so there was no way the three brothers could stand against him.
Taramont and his brothers swore loyalty to Baront in the name of fire. They had expected Baront to punish them for what they had done to him, and to their father, but Baront had generously forgiven them.
Perhaps moved by his mercy, the three brothers submitted to him sincerely.
“If you’ve got something good, shouldn’t you share it?”
“Let’s be honest here, even if your mouth is crooked. Share it? I’m the one dumping things on you one-sidedly. Do you think I’m a charity worker? Why should I keep feeding you all the hard-to-get treasures just because you happen to be cute? Where did your conscience run off to? If you still had one, you wouldn’t be saying that to me.”
“We may not share blood, but aren’t we brothers?”
“When a child backstabs his parent, do you really think the word brother means much? And while you’re at it, go out and find something good sometime and share it with me too. Let me enjoy your generosity for once.”
“Ugh.”
Ibrahmut sprang to his feet.
“Where are you going?”
“To Baront. He’s king in name now, so I have to teach him what he needs to know, don’t I?”
Grumbling under his breath, Ibrahmut headed outside.
Yoon Sang-hyuk snorted and looked to Valender von Graus.
“How are you feeling?”
He had summoned Valender von Graus and still hadn’t dismissed him.
“Not bad. No, perhaps I should say it is good. The energies of the Demon Realm are helping.”
Since he was a Death Knight, and thus a monster, that made sense.
“You’re not quite the same man I knew.”
“And what was I like, in your eyes?”
Yoon Sang-hyuk asked with interest.
“A little lighter, perhaps. Or perhaps cruder. But I do not think that change is a bad one.”
Valender von Graus knew exactly what he meant. Yoon Sang-hyuk emptied the last of his wine in one swallow.
“I guess so. Back on Earth, I always had to carry myself like I was made of stone because of the people who knew me. You know how it was. The shield of humanity, humanity’s last hope. Everyone had gone insane, and they all clung to me like their lives depended on it. I never said it out loud, but the pressure was no joke. Then I came here, and all that pressure just vanished. A place where nobody knows me. A place where I don’t have to keep weighing myself down anymore. I think I finally understand why celebrities go out of their way to travel to overseas destinations where nobody recognizes them.”
“Then I am glad.”
“Should we just forget about Satan and all that, the two of us smash every Demon Lord into the ground, and conquer the Demon Realm ourselves? I’ll be the Demon King, and you can be the Archdemon of the Demon Realm. How about it? Not bad, right?”
“Stop saying things you do not mean, finish your drink, and go to bed early. You want to get rid of Satan and return to Earth as soon as possible, do you not?”
Yoon Sang-hyuk leaned back in his chair and put his feet up on the table. Beneath Valender von Graus’s helmet, it felt as if the darkness inside was reading him from the inside out.
He didn’t feel as though his thoughts had been exposed.
Valender von Graus might think otherwise, but Yoon Sang-hyuk considered him a true friend.
And because he was a true friend, perhaps he understood exactly what Yoon Sang-hyuk longed for right now.
Slowly closing his eyes, Yoon Sang-hyuk murmured, “I have to go back.”