The Flame Hell Thunder God Spear

A sharp whistle cut through the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠air.

Thud-ding.

"Annoying little gnats…"

Belial swept a hand behind him. A roaring blast of force erupted, slamming into the barrier that had been shielding him. The elves had been loosing arrows without pause, and the constant barrage was starting to grate on his nerves.

"You damned demon!"

A massive elf hurled a stake-thick spear straight at Belial.

The weapon struck. Force exploded outward. The ground shook with a heavy boom.

"…Haa. I was trying to destroy the World Tree as quickly as possible."

Belial blocked the spear, but a cut opened along his arm. His brow furrowed. Ignoring them entirely was impossible—every so often a genuinely strong elf would break through the ranks. None of them could deal him a fatal wound, but if they started swarming him one after another, there would be no end to it.

"Fine. I'll slaughter every last elf first—then I'll destroy the World Tree."

A colossal blaze surged up from Belial's turned back. The earth split open, and lava began to pour forth.

"Fall back!"

The elves retreated as molten rock flooded the ground. This was no volcanic region—yet the demon's power alone was enough to make lava flow.

Belial's eyes narrowed as he watched the elves move. Even amid the sudden upheaval, they were rapidly reforming their lines. And just before each shift, they kept glancing toward someone.

So there's someone giving the orders.

He grasped the situation at once and smiled. Somewhere among them was an elf accustomed to this kind of chaos—someone who, without panicking, was already issuing commands suited to the transformed terrain.

"There you are!"

Belial thrust a hand toward a patch of forest. The writhing lava surged forward like a living thing, following the motion of his fingers, and crashed over the trees in a hissing wave of heat.

An elf burst free from the lava-smothered canopy.

"Oh-ho. Well, well. Look who it is."

Belial's smile turned vicious.

"Selenia. Of course it was you."

"Belial…"

Silver hair cascading to her waist, eyes glittering like starlight—Selenia ground her teeth and glared at him. They had clashed countless times during the old war against the Demon Realm, and that stubborn grudge had followed them all the way here.

"I should have killed you back then."

"I was thinking the exact same thing."

Belial flicked his hand. Lava erupted from beneath the tree Selenia stood on.

"Hmph. Crude."

She sprang higher, stepping lightly from leaf to leaf.

"I figured you'd do that."

Belial stretched out his hand. The rising column of lava that had been devouring the tree split apart, transforming into hundreds of writhing streams.

Selenia reached ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the treetop, launched herself into the open sky, and drew an empty bowstring. As she pulled, yellow motes of light gathered along the bare bow and shaped themselves into an arrow. She released.

The light-forged arrow shattered into hundreds of shafts, snuffing out every lava stream at once. Belial's brow twitched. She had once been called the Goddess of the Bow—an attack of that caliber would never touch her.

"But what are you going to do?" he said, eyes sliding sideways. "You've got so much to protect right now."

He thrust a hand toward the elves retreating on the left. She had almost certainly ordered the wounded to withdraw while she held him—but a pathetic little ploy like that would never work on him.

"No!"

Selenia stomped on empty air and rocketed toward her comrades at blistering speed, throwing both arms wide to intercept the oncoming lava.

"Kahahaha! Die!"

Belial roared with laughter. The attack wouldn't kill her—but it would deal enough damage to seize the momentum of the fight.

And then—

Hundreds of strands of sword-qi annihilated Belial's attack in an instant.

"This is…"

Selenia's pupils shook violently as she shielded her comrades. She knew this technique. She knew it far too well.

"…Do-ha-ssi."

She stared blankly into the distance, stunned.

Lightning crackled. Air tore.

"Who the hell do you think you're attacking, you insect bastard."

Closing the distance in a single instant with Noeryeongsinbo, Baek Do-ha drove the Extreme Demon Thunder Fist into Belial's gut, his own velocity amplifying the blow.

Lightning qi caved flesh inward. An explosion of force hurled Belial back as he screamed.

"Guaaagh!"

Even allowing the hit, something had actually wounded his body?!

Do-ha spun midair.

His heel smashed down onto Belial's skull. The enormous, heavy demon slammed into the earth like a meteor.

"Canteas. Protect Selenia."

"Okay!"

At Do-ha's command, Canteas—already back—shot to Selenia's side.

"Long time no see. Come on, we're getting out of here."

"W-wait, Canteas—let go of me."

She tried to shake free of his grip. She had to see for herself whether the man standing before her was truly Baek Do-ha. She needed to get close enough to touch his cheek and be certain.

"If you stay here, Do-ha can't fight freely. You pull back, and the rest of the elves will follow."

Canteas jerked his chin toward the elves still braced for battle nearby. Selenia was important enough among her people to be named the next queen. If she remained on the field, the wounded would fight to the death. That would only feed a vicious cycle.

Do-ha glanced back, met Selenia's eyes, and gave a slow nod.

She bit her lip hard—then turned away.

"You're going to explain every single thing that's going on."

"Got it."

Canteas nodded.

"Oh—and undead summoning is forbidden in Alfheim."

"Ugh… fine. Hey, watch our backs!"

At Canteas's order, Cheon Seol-gyeong dropped from the treetops to the ground.

"A Death Knight?"

"Look, cut me some slack on this one. Otherwise I can't protect the elves."

"Still alive, I see. Baek Do-ha's little wench."

"…You—Cheon ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Seol-gyeong???"

Selenia's eyes went wide. The only person who ever called her Baek Do-ha's wench was Cheon Seol-gyeong.

"You're going to have to explain this too."

"Aigoo… I never should've made that guy. Now I'm getting chewed out from every direction."

Canteas scratched furiously at his head.

Dirt rained down.

"Guaaaaagh! What bastard dares smash my head!!"

Belial wrenched his skull free of the earth and bellowed. Had Dimerof come all the way from the Western Continent?!

"I'll tear you to pie—ces…"

The murderous light in Belial's eyes began to tremble the moment they locked onto Do-ha. What was this? Was he hallucinating? Trapped in some dull, pointless dream? Why was the Absolute Being—who was supposed to be dead—standing right in front of him?

"Hey."

"B… Ba… Baek Do-ha…"

That ice-cold voice drove the truth home. Belial stumbled backward.

"I told you, didn't I? Act up one more time and I'd kill you."

This was not Belial's first summoning to Earth. Decades earlier, a cult had called him forth on the Southern Continent. Back then, Do-ha had spared him—as a warning to the Demon Realm.

"Y-you… they said you were dead. How…"

"Don't count on me letting you live this time. Attacking Alfheim has a price."

Power stirred around Do-ha. Belial felt it and bolted with a speed that had no business belonging to a body that size.

I have to run—I have to get away!

Fighting the Absolute Being was insanity. To kill that man, you needed a Demon King… no. You needed the Demon God himself.

A colossal arm formed behind Do-ha and seized the fleeing Belial by the head. At the same instant, the other arm drove into his side with a thunderous impact.

"Guaaaagh!"

"Where do you think you're going?"

"W-wait! I'll return to the Demon Realm! I'll never invade Alfheim again!"

"Too late."

Do-ha unleashed his water arts. A tidal wave crashed over Belial and swallowed him whole.

Belial lived with lava coiled inside his body. Others assumed he summoned it—but in truth, he forged it within his own gut.

Steam hissed. Strength drained from his limbs as the flood closed over him, and his hands began to shake. Decades ago, when Baek Do-ha had beaten him, it had been with water arts just like these.

"Don't just stand there."

A single colossal bolt of lightning crashed down. Belial's mouth fell open; his eyes rolled back.

"Gueeugh!"

Damn it… dying like this… wait?

He toppled backward—then his eyes snapped open and he caught himself. What? He'd taken Baek Do-ha's lightning head-on, and instead of being split in half, it just… hurt?

Ordinarily, a single bolt from that man would have melted his body to slag.

Belial ran his fingers through the water still clinging to him, eyes narrowing as he looked at Do-ha. The old trauma had clouded his judgment for a moment—but looking closer, even this water felt wrong. Normally the sheer force of it would bind him like chains. Right now it felt like nothing more than standing ankle-deep in a puddle.

"Keheheheheh. You… you've lost your power."

At last Belial understood, and a grotesque laugh tore out of him. Something had felt off from the start. A beating of this caliber from Baek Do-ha should have left him limbless or on the brink of death. Yet here he stood—wounded, yes, but nowhere near fatally.

"Kahahahaha! I knew it! Of course! There's no way you'd walk away from a fight with the Demon God unscathed!"

Belial charged, footsteps booming. Trauma had frozen him—nothing more. Now that he knew his opponent was weak, he had no reason left to fear Baek Do-ha.

"Killing a weakened version of you is going to be fun!!"

"Weakened? Who is?"

An overwhelming surge of power began to whirl around Do-ha. Every technique he had used until now had never been meant to injure Belial. They had been warm-up—nothing more than a way to thoroughly melt down the vast energy still settling inside his body.

"The Mi-ta-seong-su's finally been digested."

A massive bolt of lightning fell from the sky. Do-ha caught it barehanded. Dark crimson flame coiled up along his arm and wrapped the thunder in fire.

"…Huh?"

A chill raced down Belial's spine. That attack. That was the same attack that had once driven him to the very edge of death.

"Goodbye."

A single bolt of lightning, sheathed in dark crimson flame, punched straight through Belial's heart.