Fifty Percent of Heaven
“Well then, shall we continue our conversation?”
“…….”
At Do-ha’s words, a bead of sweat rolled down Metatron’s forehead.
Of all people, to hand such leverage to Baek Do-ha—someone more demonic than any demon.
Yet Metatron’s expression soon shifted.
“Heh heh.”
“Have you lost your mind?”
Metatron’s sudden laughter made Do-ha tilt his head.
Had he finally snapped?
Why was he laughing out of nowhere?
“Damage compensation, was it? But what a shame. We’re the ones who should be filing the claim.”
Still smiling, Metatron raised a thumb and pointed behind him—toward the ranks of angels arrayed at his back.
“The angels you injured. And it wasn’t just one or two.”
The Four Great Angels, of course, plus the entire complement of Left Angels whose building had been blown away. Countless more had been wounded by the wide-area attacks.
Baek Do-ha. That belligerent nature of his made him slip up.
If he wanted to press the matter of Silchemis, he never should have attacked the angels in the first place.
He had inflicted catastrophic damage on Heaven itself, and now he was demanding compensation?
From what Metatron had heard, Do-ha had even stopped Silchemis before the angel could deal any direct harm.
Which meant Do-ha had suffered no actual damage.
Heaven, on the other hand?
Countless angels lay injured.
“Silchemis’s attempt ended in failure. Ours did not. Completely different stories.”
“Ah, so that’s why you suddenly started laughing like a lunatic?”
Do-ha nodded at Metatron’s words.
He had been wondering why the archangel, sweating with panic a moment ago, had abruptly broken into laughter.
“But here’s the thing.”
“?”
“Who got hurt?”
“Are you trying to wriggle out of it?”
“No, I’m not wriggling. I’m asking who got hurt. I don’t see anyone.”
“Those angels collapsed behind me—surely you can see them…….”
Metatron turned as he spoke—and froze solid.
Every single angel had been fully healed.
“Wh-what is this…….”
“They’re all perfectly fine. Who exactly got hurt?”
“…….”
Watching Do-ha shrug, Metatron reeled.
Do-ha had healed the angels.
But when……?
I was standing right in front of him the entire time…… How did he cast healing magic without me noticing?
If Do-ha’s power had moved, Metatron should have sensed it.
No—he should have seen it.
They weren’t far apart; they were practically nose to nose.
“You look suddenly confused. Heaven’s workload must be brutal. Seeing hallucinations now?”
Metatron ground his teeth at Do-ha’s mockery.
If things continued this way, he would truly be dancing in the palm of Baek Do-ha’s hand.
“Even if no angels are injured, the fact remains that you attacked Heaven first.”
That alone could keep events from flowing entirely according to Baek Do-ha’s will.
This was Heaven.
No matter how thoroughly he had erased the wounds, every angel present knew he had attacked. He might wipe the injuries from their bodies, but he could not erase their memories.
“That’s because the angels attacked me first. I was defending myself. Legitimate self-defense.”
“……What?”
“From the start I only asked them to call you. The ones who struck first were the angels. From the moment I crossed into Heaven until now, I have never once initiated an attack. And more importantly…… Silchemis attacked the Middle Realm first, didn’t he?”
Do-ha shrugged.
That was precisely why he had refrained from killing any angels and kept demanding they summon Metatron with words alone.
If he had struck first, they would seize on exactly this kind of pretext.
“You’re not thinking I’m lying, are you? Go check the First Sphere or the Second Sphere and you’ll have your answer immediately.”
“…….”
Metatron bit his lip.
No excuse would work against the Absolute Being.
From the very beginning, Do-ha had left himself no openings to escape through.
After watching what Heaven did to the Martial Alliance, there’s no way I would have come here unprepared.
As he had said earlier, Heaven had once used every possible pretext and stretch of logic to demand compensation from the Martial Alliance—implying threats if the payment was insufficient.
With Heaven’s power behind them, even the Martial Alliance Leader could do nothing.
Now the power balance was reversed.
Rumble—rumble—rumble—!
“Why so quiet? Want me to use a little force?”
As the entire district shook, Metatron let out a long sigh.
No matter how hard he racked his brains, there seemed no way to slip free of that cunning Baek Do-ha.
“Haa…… State what you want.”
“For starters, lightly hand over fifty percent of all the treasures Heaven possesses.”
“That’s absurd!!”
Metatron exploded at Do-ha’s demand.
Had the man truly gone mad?
There was no way such an outrageous demand would be accepted!
Fifty percent.
This wasn’t even the spoils of a victorious war. No one would pay that much for mere damage compensation.
“In the past you demanded twenty percent from the Martial Alliance just because a few angel wings got torn.”
“Th-that was because angels actually got hurt! The Middle Realm is perfectly fine, isn’t it?! Since Silchemis’s attack ended in failure, you only need compensation for the fact that he attacked!”
If people had died in droves it would be understandable, but the reality was that no one had died.
“Ah, I can let that part slide out of the goodness of my heart.”
“Let it slide? Then why the fifty percent…….”
Swoosh.
In answer to Metatron’s question, Do-ha grabbed the hem of his upper garment and lifted it.
“See these wounds? The angels attacked me all the way from the First Sphere to here.”
Do-ha wore a thin smile.
They were currently in the Fifth Sphere. How many angels had he encountered along the way?
Every single time they had struck first, leaving him covered in injuries.
“You…… bastard…….”
Seeing Do-ha’s wounds, Metatron’s fists trembled violently.
Wounds of that degree could easily have been healed, yet Do-ha had left them alone.
No—he had deliberately taken the hits.
If Baek Do-ha had properly defended himself, the angels of the lower spheres could never have left a mark.
“You demanded twenty percent over a few torn angel wings. So how many wounds do I have?”
Do-ha looked down at his own abdomen.
“One, two, three, four…… Ugh, I can’t even count them all.”
“…….”
“Now you understand? Fifty percent is me being extremely generous.”
In the end, Metatron’s head drooped low.
An entirely pure-white space.
Sssss.
“Drink. This is Heaven’s tea—something humans can never taste.”
Seated across a massive table, Metatron offered Do-ha a cup.
“You’re not thinking this settles everything, are you?”
Grind.
Do-ha, sitting opposite him, eyed the tea and tilted his head. Metatron ground his teeth.
As if he would ever try that!
If he had, the man would go on a genuine rampage!
“Haa. Ever since you appeared, my composure has been constantly shaken.”
“Hey, I don’t think it’s me. It’s this space…….”
Sipping the tea, Do-ha pointed around them.
Not a single speck of impurity, not a single other color. Pure, unbroken white.
Even the chairs they sat on and the enormous table before them were entirely white.
Without the shadows, one might easily believe nothing existed at all.
“Being in a place like this would drive anyone insane.”
“The human perspective differs from ours.”
“No wonder. Looking at you angel bastards, you always seemed a little unhinged. So this is why.”
“…….”
At those words Metatron clenched his fists again and trembled.
Ah, why did irritation surge every single time Baek Do-ha opened his mouth?
“By the way, you’ve grown weaker.”
Metatron narrowed his eyes and studied Do-ha.
He could tell whether an opponent was concealing power or was simply weak.
And watching carefully, Baek Do-ha was clearly in a weakened state.
“Aftereffects from fighting the Demon God?”
“Not aftereffects. I lost all my power completely.”
“The power you have now isn’t yours? What a dull joke…….”
“This is what I rebuilt.”
Slurp.
“……What?”
Watching Do-ha sip tea as if it were nothing, Metatron’s eyebrows twitched.
Rebuilt……?
The battle with the Demon God had been only a short while ago.
This truly was a dull joke.
“I’m not joking. Fighting the Demon God shattered my vessel and I lost everything. What I have now is what I rebuilt. When I met you before, I was in the Life-or-Death Realm. Now I’m in the Profound Realm.”
“…….”
This was impossible.
The fight with the Demon God had been so recent, yet in that brief span he had recovered this much power?
No one could do that.
Even gods could not.
For a mere human to accumulate power this quickly……
Just what is Baek Do-ha?
His very existence defied reason.
Even right now.
The Profound Realm?
That level of power could never reach the Fifth Sphere.
Metatron knew martial artists well enough.
These days he no longer descended to Belhart, but in the past he had resided there.
Even then there had been martial artists at the Profound Realm.
But none of them were as strong as Baek Do-ha.
Even at the Life-or-Death Realm, fighting the Demon God itself should have been impossible.
The Life-or-Death Realm was merely the level of Taoist Immortals, was it not?
“You’ve been staring at me in a creepy way for a while.”
“I was merely thinking.”
“Why? Because I’m different from other Profound Realm masters?”
“…….”
When Do-ha read his thoughts, Metatron coughed awkwardly.
That damned bastard.
Then and now, he was still a slippery snake.
“Comparing me to other Profound Realm masters is unfair. I’m outside the standard, after all.”
“Your self-praise is excessive. Aren’t you embarrassed?”
“Embarrassed? Heaven, which demanded twenty percent over a few torn wings, is far more embarrassing.”
“Why do you keep bringing up the past!”
Metatron shot to his feet and shouted.
In truth, that incident had not been his plan.
It might sound like an excuse, but it had been another angel’s scheme.
He himself had only received the report after everything was already over.
“I only received the report after the fact, so why do you keep throwing it at me!”
“When the Heavenly God is absent, you’re the acting Heavenly God, aren’t you? The Heavenly God is Heaven itself, right? So Heaven’s mistakes are ultimately your mistakes too.”
“That serpent tongue of yours is utterly hopeless.”
“So hurry up and hand over the treasures. You invited me inside to talk, yet all you’ve done is chatter.”
Do-ha waved a hand.
He clearly hated the idea of paying compensation, so he had been stalling with endless talk.
“Even so, fifty percent is far too much.”
“Sixty percent.”
“Wh-what?! Why did it jump another ten percent!”
“You keep spouting nonsense, so I have no choice, dear customer.”
“Why am I a customer…….”
“Seventy percent.”
“You dare threaten me!”
“Threaten?”
Sssssss.
As Do-ha tilted his head, dense killing intent poured from him.
“If I had actually threatened you, do you think I would still be sitting here this quietly? Want me to show you a real threat?”
“I…… I understand. It was a slip of the tongue. Calm yourself.”
Metatron sighed and tried to soothe Do-ha.
If they fought, Heaven would certainly win.
Baek Do-ha would die.
But Heaven would also suffer irreparable damage.
And if that happened, the forces of the Demon Realm would attack—as clear as day.
“You just yelled at me, so eighty percent.”
“W-wait! Didn’t I already apologize! Eighty percent is truly impossible. Even if you kill me, I cannot give it.”
“Want me to lower it?”
“……P-please lower it.”
“All right, then seventy percent.”
“Just a little more…….”
“Ah, this pigeon bastard is seriously pathetic. Fine, I’ll drop it to sixty percent.”
“Listen here, Absolute Being. For the ruler of an entire world to be so stingy…….”
Before he realized it, Metatron was addressing Baek Do-ha as the Absolute Being and using honorifics.
“Fine, I’m in a good mood. Let’s make it a clean fifty percent. I’m being extremely generous here.”
“Thank you. We’ll do that.”
When the figure dropped to fifty percent, Metatron’s expression brightened.
Creak.
“All right, let’s go.”
“Yes!”
As Do-ha rose from his seat, Metatron smiled and stood as well.
And in the same instant, Metatron’s face went blank with shock.
What?
Why had he been happy when the number was fifty percent???
“You already said, ‘We’ll do that,’ didn’t you?”
“…….”
Watching Do-ha hum a tune as he walked out of the building, Metatron stood frozen with a dazed expression.