The Demon King of Greed
“Enemy!”
“We’re under attack!”
Rumble-rumble-rumble.
A single Meteor sent demons pouring out of the massive castle in a living flood. They looked exactly like a swarm of ants.
“Whoa. How many of them are there?”
In the space of only a few minutes more than ten thousand demons seemed to spill forth, and Baek Do-ha could not help but marvel. Looking closer, the ones now outside appeared to be the forces stationed on the first through third floors. Mammon’s castle rose roughly two hundred floors high. As he had noted before, the structure was built like a tower.
“They’re seriously endless.”
Most of the creatures that had emerged were ordinary demons, yet numbers like these could erase an entire nation in the blink of an eye.
“There’s a human standing over there?”
“Is it that guy?”
“Doesn’t look like much.”
“Ugh.”
As the swarming demons pointed and jabbered while simply standing there, Do-ha pressed a hand to his forehead. From the Demon Realm’s perspective more than fifteen years had passed since he vanished. Was that why they had grown so lax? Or had they simply dropped their guard the moment he disappeared, declaring the Absolute Being dead? Fifteen years might feel long, but for the Demon Realm it was truly a short span of time. And yet—what was this ridiculous display?
“If the castle’s under attack and I’m the only one standing here, of course I’m the culprit, you idiots.”
Wooooong!
Baek-bo Myeol-hwang Gong, First Step: Cheon-roe.
Crackle.
Flash!
KRA-KOOM!
“Gyaaaaah!”
“Ugh!”
With a sigh Do-ha unleashed Cheon-roe, and thousands of lightning bolts split the demons cleanly in half. If you decide someone is an enemy, you attack—what were they doing milling about in confusion?
“At this rate… I wonder if they’ll even be able to put up a decent fight against those pigeon bastards.”
Ssssss.
Drawing Un-jeop-bi-jang, Do-ha’s body began to rise slowly into the sky.
“There are way too many. I should thin them out a bit.”
Wooooong!
Myeol-hwang Sword Technique, Twelfth Form: Jin-hwa Cheon-geom.
Hundreds of formless swords materialized around the floating Do-ha. First he would block the demons’ movements while keeping the killing to a minimum.
Sss.
“Block the path.”
Shhhhhhhhhhk!
The moment Do-ha leveled Un-jeop-bi-jang, the hundreds of formless swords hurtled forward.
“Bl-block them!”
“Defend!”
“You should have done that while I was still rising.”
BOOM!
Crash!
The rushing formless swords punched straight through the demons’ defenses and began thrashing in every direction.
“Gah!”
“Khak!”
“Grrrkk…”
Demon blood and flesh sprayed, bones shattered, and screams piled atop one another. A fairly wide thoroughfare had stretched from the spot where Do-ha had been standing; now demon corpses stacked there like a mountain.
“Heh. Look at that pile of corpses. It’s art.”
When a corpse mountain more than three hundred meters high had formed, Do-ha clapped. In a mere ten minutes the demons’ bodies had stacked themselves into a mountain.
Ssssss.
Thud.
“But how long do they plan to keep this war of attrition going?”
Landing once more, Do-ha clicked his tongue and started walking. Mammon should have felt his energy by now, yet there was still no reaction.
“Hm?”
Tremble-tremble-tremble.
On his way toward the castle Do-ha locked eyes with a demon shivering in a corner. Somehow the creature had managed to dodge the formless swords and was still alive.
“You must not have been in the legion long.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
The demon stammered and nodded frantically. He had enlisted in Mammon’s army only five years ago. Just as he said, he was still little more than a raw recruit.
“I see.”
“Th-then… you’ll spare me…?”
When Do-ha nodded, the demon’s face brightened.
“Tsk tsk. Why become a demon? You should have just stayed a Demon Realm native.”
Yet Do-ha’s expression remained blank as he moved his sword without hesitation.
Slash!
Thud.
The recruit’s head dropped to the ground and blood fountained upward.
“Mammon… you greedy son of a bitch. How long are you going to keep cowering?”
Wooooong!
“Looks like you’re trying to buy time with a war of attrition, so I’ll split that castle you’re so proud of right down the middle.”
Myeol-hwang Sword Technique, Thirteenth Form: Nak-yeong.
Shhhhhhhhhhk!
The hundreds of formless swords that had been circling the castle shot skyward. Then—
Rumble-rumble-rumble-rumble.
—they began to gather, fusing into a single colossal blade as vast as Mammon’s castle itself. It was so enormous that the once-majestic tower now looked small.
“Should I rename Nak-yeong to Guillotine?”
Kuuuuuu!
As he muttered to himself, the giant sword that had formed above the castle began to fall. Because Mammon’s castle was shaped like a tower, a straight descent would split it in half in an instant.
At that moment—
Tap.
—a small figure leapt from the very peak of the castle into the sky.
BOOM!
Kwaaaaaaa!
“Finally crawling out, are we?”
One punch erased Nak-yeong completely, and Do-ha smiled. In this place only one being could erase his sword that way.
Whoosh.
Thud.
“Long time no see, Mammon.”
“……Absolute Being.”
Ranked sixth among the Demon Kings and master of the castle, Demon King Mammon glared at Do-ha.
“You really are the sturdiest of the Demon Kings. Fully recovered in just a few decades, I see.”
“…….”
At Do-ha’s words Mammon rubbed his throbbing chest. Decades earlier, when the Absolute Being first crossed into the Demon Realm, the first Demon King he had met was Mammon himself. And Mammon had been defeated in twenty minutes. A deep diagonal sword wound had been carved across his body; his left arm and both legs had been shattered.
“So you were alive.”
Mammon stared at Do-ha with a troubled expression. In truth he had sensed Baek Do-ha’s energy for some time already. He simply had not been able to believe it, and so had remained confused. After all, decades ago—just before the Demon God fell into slumber—the Demon God himself had declared that Baek Do-ha was dead.
Did the Demon God… lie to us? Why?
Baek Do-ha stood here perfectly fine, yet the Demon God had taken a grievous wound and gone to sleep. Looking at those facts alone, it seemed the Demon God had tried to hide his own defeat.
“?”
Seeing Mammon’s face, Do-ha tilted his head. The Demon King was not afraid of facing him; he was simply confused.
Why?
The fierce fighting spirit rolling off him proved he was not frightened. So why the confusion? Because Do-ha was alive? Or because he had invaded the Demon Realm once more?
“……Baek Do-ha. Let me ask one thing.”
“Were we ever on friendly enough terms to chat?”
“The Demon God……”
“?”
“Did he lose……”
“What?”
“If you acknowledge me as a rival, stop playing games and tell me straight. Did the Demon God lose?”
“…….”
Faced with Mammon’s utterly serious expression, Do-ha nodded. Now he understood why the Demon King had looked so confused.
Confirmed. The Demon God told the Demon Kings I was dead.
Lucifer’s remnant thoughts earlier, the other demons’ reactions—everything had been uncertain until now. At last it was certain.
He probably claimed I was dead because he wanted to kill me himself.
If word had spread that Do-ha still lived, the other Demon Kings would have scrambled over one another to hunt him down. How many times had they already been crushed by him? That was why the Demon God had lied to the Demon Kings—he refused to let anyone else snatch his prey.
And Mammon seems to think the Demon God lost and then hid the fact.
Originally Mammon possessed no loyalty toward the Demon God. More precisely, he served him out of pure admiration for his strength. One look at Mammon’s combat style showed he was a warrior through and through. Yet the thought that the Demon God he had admired had not only lost but tried to conceal that loss left him deeply unsettled.
Grin.
“That’s right. He lost to me.”
Do-ha answered with a bitter smile, lying through his teeth. Acknowledge me as a rival and speak honestly? What nonsense. Why should acknowledging someone as a rival force him to tell the truth?
“……Is that true.”
“Can’t you see me? I’m fine. Meanwhile the Demon God is currently sick and moaning. How badly hurt must he be to hide his form and collapse into sleep?”
“…….”
At Do-ha’s words Mammon clenched his fist until the knuckles whitened. The Demon God he had admired for thousands of years had done something so shameful. Losing was possible. A warrior grew stronger by reviewing defeat. But the moment one hid that defeat and claimed a false victory, one ceased to be a warrior.
“But…… you seem weaker than before……”
“I did lose a bit of power. Fighting that Demon God, how could there be no damage?”
“That’s true.”
As Do-ha lied without so much as blinking, Mammon nodded. It made sense. After clashing with that mighty Demon God, a complete lack of injury would have been the greater lie.
But in the end the victor was Baek Do-ha.
Stupid bastard.
Watching Mammon stare at the ground, Do-ha laughed inwardly. Thanks to that fight-crazy idiot’s denseness, he had managed to thoroughly scramble the Demon King’s thoughts.
“Huu……”
Sss.
“Huh? Hey, where are you going.”
Is he crazy……? He’s turning his back on me?
“I will leave.”
“……Huh?”
What? Leave? Uh…… this can’t be happening.
“To think the Demon God I admired was such a petty being…… I have lost the meaning of fighting.”
“I-I’ll kill every last one of the remaining forces!”
“Do as you please.”
“…….”
Do-ha, who almost never lost his composure, was thoroughly flustered. This ruined everything……
“Hey, actually it was a lie. I lost. The Demon God won.”
“Don’t lie.”
“No, I’m serious! I almost died and the Demon God spared me!”
“Ridiculous. The Demon God spare an enemy? And a rival aiming for his heart at that?”
“…….”
At Mammon’s words Do-ha’s mouth fell open. That was true as well…… yet the Demon God really had spared him……
“Would you spare a rival aiming for your heart after defeating him?”
“No.”
“See.”
“…….”
Damn it. I should have said yes. The denial had slipped out before he could stop it.
“Then just make me your goal.”
“What?”
“You said the one you admired and pursued was the Demon God. And I beat that Demon God.”
“You’re telling me to admire you?”
“Not admire—just pursue. Make me the goal. You already lost to me once anyway.”
“…….”
Mammon, who had been walking away, stopped and fell into deep thought at Do-ha’s words.
“Even better, right? You already lost once, and that being is stronger than the Demon God? Anyone can see he’s a perfect goal.”
“True.”
Only then did Mammon’s eyes begin to sparkle. Why hadn’t he thought of that?? The one who had defeated his goal was standing right in front of him!
Ssssss.
“Yes. Your words seem right.”
With a smile, demonic energy began to gather around Mammon.
Whew. Thank goodness.
Clench.
Seeing that, Do-ha activated the Fragment of Memories he had kept in his pocket.
“Thanks to you I’ve recovered my spirit. So I’ll give it my all from the very start.”
Kuo oooooooooo!
As Mammon raised his hand, suffocating demonic energy coalesced. Do-ha had seen the technique when they fought before, yet now it held far greater power than it had then.
“Baek Do-ha! From now on, let’s fight properly!”
Thud.
Kwaaaaaaaaaaaa!
The moment demonic energy erupted from Mammon’s hand, everything in the vicinity began to vanish.
“Go fight those pigeon bastards first.”
Whoosh.
Zaaaaaang!
Do-ha flung his body sideways, and behind him a massive portal radiating pure white light bloomed into existence.
Kwaaaaaang!
“Huh?”
When the attack he had unleashed destroyed some strange structure, Mammon tilted his head. What? Just now it had looked as though he had destroyed some kind of altar……
“Aaaah! The Demon King destroyed the Heavenly God’s altar!”
Whoosh!
Watching the scene, Do-ha shouted toward the interior of the portal and then vanished with a teleport.