Ch.117The Demon Lord Astaroth – 2

I debated briefly whether to draw out the divine spear. I had a rough idea of what that crimson energy Astaroth was using might be. The divine spear would certainly serve as an effective counter.

‘…No. It’s too early to bring it out now.’

I changed my mind. If this creature had survived once, who’s to say it couldn’t survive again? Until I understood how it had been resurrected, I needed to keep all possibilities open.

In the worst-case scenario, if I failed to kill it and it escaped, it might realize that the divine spear and holy sword possessed the same power. Then it could avoid direct confrontation while focusing solely on destroying the human world.

That would make things difficult for me. The right approach was to wait for an opportunity when Astaroth let its guard down, to completely annihilate it without leaving a trace of flesh behind.

‘Just a little longer. Just hold on a little longer.’

I massaged my trembling left hand, which had started quivering at the mere thought of the divine spear, forcing myself to calm down. I couldn’t afford to lose focus now. I couldn’t make the stupid mistake of getting lost in the past and losing sight of the present.

“What’s this, are you scared? Why are you trembling? Don’t worry, I was just joking. It wouldn’t be fun to destroy you so easily. I need to repay all my debts to you properly. Right?”

Thinking my demeanor was due to fear, Astaroth grinned and pulled out the demonic sword embedded in the crimson energy.

I ignored it and focused on massaging my left hand. The more it misunderstood, the better for me. By the time it realized the truth and understood it was too late, the divine spear would already be lodged in its body.

“But waiting is boring, so let me cut off both your arms first to keep you from doing anything foolish?”

Astaroth suddenly changed its attitude and charged at me. I stopped massaging my hand and parried the demonic sword with Eternal. As soon as Eternal collided with the demonic sword, my body was sent flying.

I had been overwhelmed by pure strength.

‘What power…’

While I was correcting my posture in mid-air, Astaroth closed the distance. The blade flashed. I tilted my head to dodge, and a sound like the heavens being torn apart rang out right beside me. A high-pitched ringing filled my ears.

When I blocked the demonic sword swinging down from above, my body was slammed straight into the ground. Before I could even feel the pain, I kicked off the solidified demonic energy and created distance. Astaroth immediately followed.

Dozens of exchanges occurred within seconds. The explosive sounds overlapped, creating thunderous booms.

—Extreme Distortion.

—Breath of Destruction.

I wielded Eternal with demonic swordsmanship while manifesting magic. Flames erupted from the sword’s tip and engulfed Astaroth, but it simply absorbed them and charged toward me.

It was only a slight opening, but enough to complete my preparations. Gritting my teeth, I altered my body structure. As mana began flowing through my veins instead of blood, pure mana flowed into my lungs instead of oxygen.

“Kugh?!”

I coughed up crimson blood fragments. I had transformed my body too rapidly, causing a backlash that twisted my organs and crushed part of my internal organs. I used healing magic to manage the wounds and gripped Eternal.

“What’s that now? Still have some tricks up your sleeve?”

Astaroth snickered mockingly at the sight of my skin turning deathly pale with blue veins protruding like spider webs. It wasn’t worth responding to.

I charged forward, exhaling refined mana. Hundreds of spells were exchanged on top of dozens of offensive and defensive maneuvers.

“Is this really all you’ve got?”

Astaroth grabbed the binding spell flying toward it, crushing it in its hand while bursting into maniacal laughter.

“It can’t be! You must be able to do more! You must have something else up your sleeve to defy me like this! Am I wrong? Tell me I’m wrong!”

With that howl, the demonic sword flashed. I blocked its path with Eternal.

—CRACK!

The space behind me split open.

A massive ravine formed, extending from exactly where I had blocked the attack all the way to the horizon, and the mountain that had been there split in two and collapsed.

With a thunderous roar, crimson demonic energy erupted from the ravine, creating a scene like a volcanic eruption. The ground touched by the demonic energy was engulfed in crimson and burned away.

Eternal was relatively intact, but both my arms and all the bones where the demonic sword should have passed through were completely shattered. This happened despite my seemingly perfect block.

‘Is this the power of Elysier?’

The claim in the original story that Elysier had been holding back was clearly not an exaggeration. With power like this, it made sense that the war had dragged on for centuries without resolution.

No matter how far humans pushed, Astaroth could settle everything by stepping in personally. When a casual sword swing could split mountains and tear the earth, what use were knights or mages?

It was also telling that despite Elysier and Nika being within a single leap’s distance, Astaroth completely ignored them and targeted only me.

It had clearly judged that Elysier, stripped of power and reduced to an ordinary demon, and Nika, a half-baked Succubus Queen who had just inherited her power, would be of no help in this fight whether they were present or not.

‘That works in my favor.’

I’m grateful for such arrogance. The more it overestimates its own power, the larger its blind spots will become.

I healed my wounds with magic and charged in first. Astaroth, momentarily surprised by the unfamiliar green light, quickly regained composure and swept its arm with a grotesque smile.

Thousands of refined mana particles expelled through my mana breathing technique were engulfed by the crimson demonic energy and burned away. But spells I could create with each exhale were expendable—nice if they worked, no matter if they didn’t.

The real attack was elsewhere.

—Swish!

“…Huh?”

In that opening, my thrust grazed Astaroth’s cheek. A trickle of blood flowed down.

Astaroth’s grotesque smile froze as it touched its cheek with a blank expression. It examined the scratch, staring at the crimson blood on its fingertips with widened eyes.

“I could have pierced your head and killed you, but I spared you this time. How’s that for gratitude?”

We both knew a head shot wouldn’t have killed it, but it was more than enough to provoke it. Its eyes twisted with rage.

“A mere human male who doesn’t know his place!”

In the blink of an eye, the figure rushed at me. When I blocked the demonic sword head-on, the impact broke my arm bones. I healed them with magic while exhaling refined mana for a counterattack.

—Mountain Leveling.

—Purgatory.

Different sword techniques and magic erupted simultaneously as the sword was swung.

“I told you it’s useless!”

The demonic sword flashed. Eternal, using Mountain Leveling, was deflected as if it were nothing, and the flames engulfing Astaroth scattered like mere fireworks.

My body, hit by the shockwave, coughed blood and was pushed back a considerable distance. Even with all my bones broken, I managed to plant Eternal in the ground to avoid rolling, but that was my limit.

“Are you alright, my lord?!”

“Are you okay, Master?!”

Elysier carefully supported my body, and Nika wiped the blood from my mouth with her sleeve. Both had turned pale, realizing that every bone in my body had been shattered.

I was overwhelmed by sheer power, but my life wasn’t in danger. If it had been, the divine spear would have emerged on its own, sensing the threat of death before I could even draw it.

“Lucky me. I flew toward you two.”

“Is this really the time for pointless jokes?!”

As I endured the tearful scolding while using healing magic on my broken body, Astaroth calmly walked out from the air that had been heated enough to create heat haze.

“Now you look more appropriate. Fools like you looking up at me while I reign from above. This is how it should have been from the start, if not for those meddling idiots!”

Those bulging eyes turned toward Elysier, who stared back unflinchingly.

“You speak such nonsense.”

“Nonsense?”

Astaroth’s expression contorted.

“You know nothing about the sacrifices I’ve made for our race! How much I’ve cared for the succubi! How dare you speak as if you know anything!”

“You speak of sacrifice after removing the wombs of thousands of succubi and throwing them to beasts? After killing every Queen candidate to maintain your position? Tell me, what sacrifice was there in your actions?”

“What sacrifice?! You ask what sacrifice?!”

Astaroth roared with a voice that sounded like it would devour everything.

A shockwave erupted, sweeping the area. If I hadn’t blocked it with defensive magic, both Nika and Elysier would have been torn to pieces by the powerful impact.

“Do you know how succubi were treated before I became Queen? We were no better than slaves! Because of that cursed spiritual energy, we had to endure treatment similar to monsters with a smile! Even for worthless, weak, useless males, just because they could give us spiritual energy!”

The whites of its eyes began turning black. I wasn’t seeing things. Its entire eyes were gradually being covered in darkness.

“The previous Queen! My supposed successor! My subordinates! All of them were fools who fawned over males for spiritual energy and panted with pleasure! I changed the succubi! Through my efforts, by rising to the position of Legion Commander, succubi became what they are today! Thanks to me!”

Finally, its eyes turned completely black. Even the pink-glowing pupils were slowly being consumed by blackness. It was a clear sign of abnormality.

“Tell me, Elysier! If that’s not sacrifice, what is? I’ve already proven it! I’ve proven with my own power that I’m not a fool who depends on borrowed power like you! That’s why everything should be mine! The Queen’s position, the Demon King’s position! If I do that, we will—”

“You’re telling lies so naturally, Astaroth.”

Nika cut in with a cold sneer. The gentle demeanor she had shown me was completely gone, replaced by sharp, gleaming eyes.

At Nika’s words, the demonic energy emanating from Astaroth intensified. More than half of its pink pupils had already been consumed by the black substance.

“I saw your memories when I inherited the Queen’s power. Was that the happiness you wanted for the succubi? Do you think they were happy being forcibly deployed to the battlefield and dying after having their wombs removed and thrown to goblins and orcs just because they didn’t want to fight?”

“I did what had to be done! I’ve been Queen for the past thousand years. What does someone who stole my position less than an hour ago know about succubi?!”

“Of course I know. I’m the current Queen. I know that only a handful of succubi agreed with your plan, and you pushed it through by killing all those who opposed you. The number of succubi you killed with your own hands exceeds ten thousand.”

“The weak are unnecessary! That’s how demons should be!”

“True. Succubi are weak. Even the Queen is clearly inferior to the strongest of other demon races. But you know what? That’s why we’re a race that inherently enjoys being dominated. Your desperate loyalty to the Demon King was because you couldn’t forget the pleasure of being dominated. Am I wrong?”

Nika chuckled.

“Oh, and one more thing. You were Queen and fawned over others plenty, but when succession time approached, you devoured the candidates because you were afraid to die. And then what? You claim you changed the succubi? No, you’ve got the order wrong. You didn’t refuse succession for the sake of the clan; you pretended to care for the clan after refusing succession.”

“What do you know!”

“I know everything. I’m the newly born Succubus Queen, and you’ve lost your qualification.”

That was the fatal blow. Astaroth’s eyes turned completely black. Not just that—its fingertips, toes, and even hair began turning black.

I didn’t know how the Demon God had revived Astaroth, but it clearly wasn’t without cost.

“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you all!”

There was no other explanation for such madness.