The Arena of Greed
The Arena of Greed.
This was the stadium where the Clash of Struggle took place. Built in a form reminiscent of ancient Rome’s Colosseum, the Arena of Greed was far larger by a margin anyone could see at a glance at least tenfold the scale of the Colosseum, if not more.
With a capacity to hold well over several hundred thousand spectators, not a single seat in the Arena of Greed was empty. In fact, outside, a long line of people who had failed to gain entry stretched on and on.
Yoon Sang-hyuk sat in the section prepared for Baal and the other high-ranking Demon Lords. To put it in modern terms, he had been given royal seating.
All around him, Baal and the Demon Lords ranked up to tenth place had each taken a seat of their own.
"This is impressive. But can the ones all the way over there even see the duel?"
"You worry about odd things. The power of magic can do what even the scientific technology of the Earth you lived on cannot. Those who enter the Arena of Greed can enjoy the battle on the stage as vividly as if they were standing right before it, no matter how far away they are. You needn't be concerned."
"That's a relief."
"Still, those children are quite remarkable."
The "children" Baal referred to were Zephyr's siblings, the ones who would step into the Clash of Struggle today.
"Of course. I put quite a bit of effort into them."
"Then, as you promised, it seems a new Demon Lord will be born."
"You're not bothered at the thought of parting with an old subordinate?"
"In the Demon Realm, destruction is not an eternal farewell."
Baal muttered as he pointed down at the lowest ring of the arena.
"Seems it's about to begin."
The gates at both ends of the arena rose upward.
From one side appeared the Demon Lord ranked seventy-second, Andromalius, riding atop a massive serpent. From the other, Zeronia stepped forward.
In an instant, the Arena of Greed overflowed with a roar of excitement.
"For something called the Arena of Greed, shouldn't there be betting too?"
"A bet would be nice."
Baal grinned.
"I'll place mine on that dark elf girl."
Yoon Sang-hyuk looked at Baal as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"You really have learned the wrong things. Maybe I don't care about the others, but at least you should believe in your subordinate."
"Everyone in the Demon Realm is my subordinate. That makes the dark elf girl my subordinate too. Will you wager or not?"
"If you bet on both sides the same way, then it isn't a wager."
* * *
Zeronia glared across the arena at Andromalius, who sat on the head of a giant serpent and looked down at her with arrogant eyes.
If this had been before, he would have been someone she could not even have dared to meet eye to eye. But in this moment, Andromalius was an enemy to be defeated, a mountain to be climbed.
Andromalius, Earl of Justice.
Zeronia knew enough about Andromalius to grasp what she was up against. Anyone living in the Demon Realm would have at least some knowledge of the Demon Lords. They were the ones everyone admired, the ones everyone wanted to become.
Yoon Sang-hyuk had given her a detailed explanation of Andromalius. What kind of power he wielded, how he fought, and what steps he would take in a crisis.
Normally, even with her strong dark power, Zeronia possessed no authority of her own, so a battle against Andromalius, who did have such authority, should have been brutally difficult.
But Yoon Sang-hyuk's precise advice had narrowed that gap. No, saying that he had erased it entirely would be more accurate.
As if to prove it, Zeronia's gaze fixed on Andromalius with confidence. The tension she had felt before entering the arena had vanished, replaced by a strange excitement.
At last, it was time to prove herself. After meeting Yoon Sang-hyuk, after meeting Ibrahmut and contracting with him, after fighting suffocating battles day after day where blood spattered and flesh split apart, the time had finally come to show everyone the strength she had gained.
And then...
Today, I become a Demon Lord.
As Zeronia steeled herself, the giant serpent lowered the head it had been rearing high to the arena floor, and Andromalius slid gracefully down.
"Sss- Take a brief rest."
He stroked the serpent's head. In response, the massive creature dissolved into a blood-red mist and vanished. In the Clash of Struggle, the use of subordinates was, in principle, prohibited.
Andromalius's authority governed serpents, blood, and the like. But the two giant serpents were not summoned through his authority; they were beasts he had personally tamed.
"I don't like your eyes. They look a lot like someone else's."
Andromalius flicked his gaze toward Yoon Sang-hyuk, seated far away with Baal.
"Lord Sang-hyuk told me something. He said he'd split your heart open twice."
"Bullshit!"
"And he also said this: that I could probably split your heart open too."
"You crazy son of a..."
Andromalius, frowning as he spat out the curse, suddenly gave a snort of laughter.
"Hah. How pathetic of me. To be baited by this level of provocation. The title Earl of Justice is wasted on you. Child of the dark elf clan, listen carefully. In the endless history of the Demon Realm, spanning ages upon ages, there have been a few instances where the seats of the Demon Lords changed hands. But they were exactly that few. Do you know why?"
"Do I need to?"
Andromalius was making a huge mistake right now.
The confidence in Zeronia's eyes and tone kept growing. To her, Andromalius had once been someone she would never even have dared to meet the gaze of. But now she was speaking to such a being from an equal position. As she talked with him, Zeronia realized in real time that she had become someone different from who she had been before.
If Andromalius had attacked immediately instead of talking, Zeronia might have been flustered. But he had thrown away that golden opportunity just to inflate his own self-worth.
"You don't need to know. I'll teach you myself. Though the price will be harsh."
"Then teach me properly, please. Nothing is more pathetic than a teacher losing to her student."
Zeronia's tongue was just as sharp.
Andromalius's face twisted violently. Long fangs pushed out past his lips.
"You've raised yourself high enough to challenge a lord's seat, yet in the end you'll be reborn as the lowliest of beings."
He shouted the words coldly, like a prophecy, and shook both hands. Long serpents coiled in his grip. Zeronia watched the snakes that wrapped around Andromalius's wrists and slithered up his legs with an icy stare.
Andromalius's snakes carry a poison so vicious that calling it deadly isn't enough. Be careful not to let the blood splash when you cut them. This will protect you three times. But if it happens a fourth time, you lose.
Yoon Sang-hyuk's words came back to her.
A bracelet he had given her rested around Zeronia's wrist. It was enchanted with high-grade Cure magic and could be used three times. Since Yoon Sang-hyuk had already charged it with mana, it would activate with nothing more than the trigger word. However, Zeronia had no mana of her own, so after three uses it would become nothing more than an ordinary bracelet.
Chrrk-
Coincidentally enough, Zeronia's weapon was also a whip, much like Andromalius's serpents. She struck the floor with the flame whip Ibrahmut had given her, hardening her resolve.
Flame is the natural enemy of poison. This is my fight to win.
Zeronia checked the two daggers slung across her back and let a faint smile form. In truth, daggers were the weapon she knew best. But familiarity did not necessarily mean strength. The whip technique she had learned from Ibrahmut was that powerful. On top of that, the flame whip forged with part of Ibrahmut's own authority was a weapon that made her daggers seem almost laughable by comparison.
Fapap!
Zeronia attacked first.
The twin flame whips lashed through the air, seeking to coil around Andromalius and strike him. But Andromalius was already gone.
Whoosh-
Two black points approached from the side. They quickly turned into snakes, mouths wide open, with sharp fangs dripping venom in advance.
One of the things Yoon Sang-hyuk had told her to watch for when speaking of Andromalius was his speed. That was how fast Andromalius was.
But...
"I'm not slow either."
The dark elf clan was born with agility. Through growth and training, she had pushed that agility to its limit. Zeronia had been trained brutally alongside her siblings so she could become a Demon Lord.
That was why, in terms of speed, she believed she wouldn't lose to anyone.
Zeronia's figure vanished as well. Instead, she took position behind Andromalius and drove her whip forward like a sword.
Shock flashed in Andromalius's eyes. He threw his serpents at her and approached while deftly evading the whip's arc. His red claws burst upward. Sharper and stronger than any sword, they aimed for Zeronia's throat and heart.
Sizzle-
The whip tore the lunging serpents to shreds. The venomous blood could not withstand the heat pouring from the flame whip and was instantly annihilated. As the poison blood vanished and left behind its poisonous smoke, Zeronia moved away and flailed the hand holding the whip.
In that instant, a wall of flame formed around her.
"You think you can stop me with something like this whip!"
Andromalius's claws reached to tear through it.
But...
"Kuh!"
Andromalius swallowed a breath and tried to pull his hand back. By then, though, the whip had already wrapped around both his wrists.
Bang!
Zeronia yanked Andromalius up with the whip, then slammed him back into the ground. It was a blow strong enough to shake the arena floor. Through the billowing cloud of dust, the flame whip lashed again and again.
Zeronia frowned slightly. She had struck exactly where Andromalius had fallen, yet something felt off, as if her blow had not met anything solid.
Even while reeling from the impact, Andromalius had pulled himself free.
Tssrit-
Feeling a searing pain in her shoulder, Zeronia sprinted forward in a hurry. She saw Andromalius licking blood from the tip of his claw.
"What a shame. If you'd been just a little deeper, I could have cut through your tendon and bone."
His once-neat hair was now a tangled mess.
"Kekeke. This is interesting. Ibrahmut, was it?"
Andromalius had figured out where Zeronia's whip had come from.
He stared at her with bloodshot eyes and said coldly,
"Since I've received a gift, I should give one in return. Look forward to it."