Ch.37Chapter 37 – Belial (1)

# Warning: Graphic Content

Eight legs pierced the cave floor, targeting Shin Jaehyuk. He swallowed hard as he deflected one leg aiming for his side with his mace.

‘What should I do? I have no effective means of attack!’

His only weapon, the mace, was unsuitable against Belial. While good for fighting swarms of imps or humanoid enemies, against a massive creature like Belial, strikes would just be absorbed by its bulky flesh.

Even his best ranged attack, the lightning spear, couldn’t inflict damage. The situation was hopelessly grim.

‘Should I just give up on defeating it and try to buy time…?’

How long would he need to hold out before reinforcements arrived? The gate’s mountain location meant urban detection systems might not have registered the anomaly. And in the middle of the night, response would be even slower. Jaehyuk steeled himself to contain Belial for as long as necessary, even all day if needed.

= You dodge well!

Frustrated that its prey evaded attacks so effectively, Belial changed tactics. The spider leapt upward, attaching itself upside down to the cave ceiling. From its abdomen facing downward, it sprayed web-like corpse threads to ensnare Jaehyuk.

“Whoa!”

Jaehyuk threw himself aside. His skin scraped painfully against the stone floor.

= Hahaha- try dodging this!

Mocking its tumbling prey, Belial fired webs in rapid succession.

Jaehyuk struck the floor forcefully with his mace. The stone floor shattered, sending rock fragments upward to shield him. The incoming webs struck the stone barrier and deflected uselessly.

Belial moved erratically in three dimensions, using stalactites as footholds. Even while moving at high speed, it continued firing webs at Jaehyuk. Its sharp feet sliced through stalactites cleanly as it passed, sending stone spears raining down.

Jaehyuk circled his rock shield to stay covered while avoiding the webs. With massive stone chunks falling from the ceiling too, he had to keep moving without rest.

Belial increased the difficulty. Its webs became more intricate, the falling stalactites more densely packed, and now it hurled pointed stalactites with both hands. As its demonic energy agitated the air, the ceiling cracked further, sending down a hail of stone.

It was impossible to dodge everything. Jaehyuk evaded the lethal shots and constraining webs while accepting hits from the blunter rocks as he fled deeper into the cave. With precarious but skilled movements, the holy knight lured the demon onward.

This pattern repeated for 30 minutes.

= This little rat…

Belial grew increasingly irritated pursuing Jaehyuk. The small holy knight kept slipping through its grasp. At every promising moment, lightning spears struck its joints, disrupting its movements.

The human boldly risked his life to keep Belial away from the gate. The demon could launch a major attack, but might lose its carefully stalked prey.

How to capture him without injury… Ah, yes.

The demon smiled wickedly as it thought of a solution.

= I’ll just go eat those outside instead.

Belial stopped chasing Jaehyuk. Instead, it began returning the way it came—toward the gate to the mortal realm.

‘Is it really retreating so easily?’

Momentary relief washed over Jaehyuk. His legs weakened, and he staggered. He could survive.

Then came bitter self-loathing.

Relieved to survive? A holy knight meant to protect people, feeling relief while using others’ lives as bait?

No, that’s not it. If he didn’t survive, who would check on Eden’s safety…?

Would he sacrifice living citizens for humanity that might already be doomed? Is that Eloah’s teaching?

While Jaehyuk agonized, the demon was already moving away. If he didn’t stop it immediately, it would escape through the gate. Countless questions stabbed at his conscience.

Caught in this dilemma, Jaehyuk’s breathing grew rapid. Should he stop it? But if he did, he would certainly die. Should he do nothing? Then hundreds or thousands of citizens would die. What to do, what to do?

Conscience and reason tore at each other. Neither would yield, each asserting its legitimacy. With each clash of questions, his mental strength eroded. As his mind deteriorated, he heard hallucinations—his master’s voice whispering, stimulating his guilt.

A holy knight’s virtues: indomitability. And sacrifice.

You are unworthy.

You’ll lose someone precious again.

Jaehyuk unconsciously kicked the ground. Before his feet moved, his mind had already recalled Yoo Sungha and Lee Yujin. Maximally enhancing his body, he pursued Belial with all his might. The demon had already nearly reached the gate. He had to stop it! To divert Belial’s attention, he let out a fierce battle cry.

“AAAAAAHHHHH!!!”

It sounded like a scream of despair. Yoo Sungha, and Lee Yujin. He lacked the courage to face such loss again.

Jaehyuk resolved to die instead.

Hearing the approaching battle cry, Belial turned around. Pleased that events unfolded according to plan, it smiled brightly.

= You never deviate from my expectations!

Belial swung its hand to catch the rat rushing into its trap. Charging at full speed, Jaehyuk missed his chance to dodge. Instead, he chose another option.

“The Lord is faithful and will strengthen me; protect this soul from evil!”

A celestial barrier deployed in a sphere, protecting its caster. Belial grabbed the barrier. Despite the smell of burning flesh from its palm, Belial showed no sign of pain and increased its grip. Under overwhelming demonic energy, the barrier began to collapse.

‘This can’t be! The celestial barrier…!’

Finally, the barrier shattered into pieces.

= Hahaha! Finally caught you-!

Teeth protruded from the hand holding Jaehyuk and bit into the human’s tender flesh.

“AAAAARGH!”

The sensation of his entire body being devoured alive. The feeling of hundreds of piranhas dismembering his body forced an agonized scream from him. As tendons and muscle fibers were gnawed away, he felt his strength failing, about to drop his mace.

Jaehyuk desperately gripped tighter. Losing his final weapon would eliminate his last chance. He must not drop it…!

Belial trembled in ecstasy after tasting the holy knight’s body.

= Amazing! Such a deep, rich flavor from a mere human…!

This wasn’t ordinary despair. Like aged wine, it was properly matured fear and despair. Belial read the holy knight’s eyes to identify the emotion’s nature.

That defiant gaze! Yet deep in those pupils lurked a trace of anxiety. The cunning Belial could glimpse the darkness within—dark emotions accumulated over decades.

It salivated involuntarily. It eagerly anticipated the moment when these old emotions would fully bloom in harmony. It was dying of curiosity about what flavor would emerge when a noble holy knight’s heart completely broke.

Though a demon of gluttony, Belial knew how to wait for a more delicious meal.

= You’re too precious to be just an appetizer. I’ll make you my dessert after the main course. Please despair sufficiently until then!

Holding Jaehyuk, Belial passed through the gate. Cruelly, the gate transported the demon to the mortal realm without any resistance.

***

Belial descended the mountain nimbly. It moved faster than most cars.

= Hahaha! Finally in the material world!

Even while running, mouths all over its body crunched through trees, grass, and stones. With each digested material, Belial’s demonic energy grew slightly denser.

“They still haven’t responded…!”

No hunters appeared to stop Belial. Being an unregistered gate hidden in the mountains, and with everyone asleep, nobody had noticed the gate anomaly. Incheon was completely defenseless. Jaehyuk groaned as he realized the worst-case scenario was unfolding.

Reaching the trailhead without interference, Belial looked around for a feast to satisfy its hungry stomach. In the distance stood tall skyscrapers and Incheon’s downtown. A rich scent wafted from there.

= The smell of humans! That way!

Belial leapt toward the sweet-smelling location. With astonishing jumping power disproportionate to its massive body, it soared through the sky. Viewed from above, the midnight city looked truly peaceful and quiet.

Unaware of the impending disaster.

CRASH!!!

As the heavy weight landed on asphalt, the road cracked and cars parked along the street shuddered. Finally, the cars simultaneously triggered their theft alarms, warning sleeping citizens of the anomaly.

= Looks delicious!

A large mouth opened in its torso and swallowed a passenger car whole. True to its nature as a demon of gluttony, its digestion time was extremely short. Within seconds, digestion completed, and Belial’s body grew slightly larger.

= Hehehe. Strange flavor. Not as delicious as humans, but not bad for recovering strength.

Belial continued gulping down cars one after another. Its bulk kept expanding.

“AAAH! Monster!”

A truck driver passing through the empty street spotted the monster blocking the road and panicked. He frantically tried to turn his truck around to escape the terrifying monster.

= Oh, we shouldn’t waste food. No, we shouldn’t.

Belial grabbed the dump truck’s rear with its free hand. The cargo truck couldn’t move forward, its wheels spinning uselessly. When Belial pulled its arm, the ten-ton truck was dragged backward. Dozens of mouths devoured the truck along with its driver.

Each time Belial consumed objects with the mouths all over its body, its bulk increased, and more mouths formed on the new flesh. The cursed cycle continued insatiably, greedily expanding its body.

= Hahaha, my strength is gradually returning!

So much food! Belial was happy. Unlike hell’s barren land, the material world was incredibly abundant. In human terms, it felt like a starving beggar who had gone hungry for three months receiving an all-you-can-eat buffet pass. Coming to the material world despite weakened power had been worth it.

Humans awakened by the noise began emerging from their homes. The scene outside their doors was unfamiliar—cracked roads, crushed cars, and a massive alien creature. Even in their half-asleep state, they could tell something was seriously wrong.

Now fully awake, citizens screamed and fled. Belial shot spider webs at the fleeing crowds. The escapees were caught before taking more than a few steps.

Some stray webs hit cars. Loud explosions rang out as flames erupted. Lights in apartment windows turned on like spreading infection. As the dark city brightened, disaster sirens began to wail.

EEENG— EEENG— EEENG—

The city’s commotion didn’t cause Belial the slightest tension. Rather, it excited him that more prey would walk into his trap. He was a powerful being capable of destroying an entire nation alone.

Belial grabbed a handful of the fresh prey it had captured and tossed them into its mouth.

“L-Lord in heaven, hallowed be thy n-name…”

“Mommy! Where are you, mommy—”

“Help! Please save me—gkbkgkjk”

CRUNCH, CRUNCH!

Blood juice burst, filling its mouth with fresh blood fragrance. The adorably crunching bone fragments were lovely.

Ah, beautiful world.

Jaehyuk witnessed all these atrocities up close. Even using holy explosion spells to escape Belial’s grasp, the fingers holding him firmly didn’t budge. Whenever he recovered with holy power, teeth rushed in to sever tendons and devour muscle.

Before his eyes, men and women, the elderly and children met equal deaths.

He could do nothing.

“AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!”

Suddenly Jaehyuk let out a scream. Not to escape his moment of pain, but to make people hear his screams and flee. Even in this bleak situation, he tried to do what little he could.

= Small one with a good voice… too noisy.

Belial frowned at the squawking holy knight. The loud screams were causing humans to move away. He chose a simple, easy method to silence the holy knight.

Fingers forcibly opened Jaehyuk’s mouth. A fingernail entered the wide-open mouth, grabbed his tongue, and—

RIP—tore it out.

“GAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!”

Flesh that shouldn’t be torn came out with the tongue. Blood filled his mouth in waves. Jaehyuk screamed—no longer a warning scream but one of pure agony.

Belial didn’t recognize the difference. Who could distinguish a bug’s screams? He thought the holy knight was still causing a disturbance for his kind.

= Not that… then this?

Belial scratched Jaehyuk’s throat with its nail. Flesh was gouged out along the nail’s path. The furrow passed through his vocal cords.

“—!!!”

As the nail carved out his vocal cords, Jaehyuk finally fell silent. Air escaping from his lungs could no longer make sound. Only bloody bubbles gurgled where vocal cords had been.

= Finally quiet!

Licking the blood from its hand, Belial thought. Fighting while holding this one meant it could only hunt humans with one hand. But if left alone, he might recover and escape. It needed somewhere to keep him until its hunt was complete.

Belial looked up at a high-rise building—Sujung Corporation headquarters. It recalled the rooftop structure explored by its familiar. A place difficult for others to reach and hard to escape from. A fairly good prison.

Having decided the prisoner’s accommodation, the demon drove its spider legs into the exterior wall and climbed the building vertically. 10 floors, 20 floors, 30 floors… As the altitude increased, the urban chaos became visible at a glance.

= Ah, so much food. Prepared for me!

Reaching the building’s roof, Belial rambled as it pleased. Jaehyuk twitched, blood pouring from his mouth. Even now, somehow—

= Stay still. Good boy.

Belial grabbed Jaehyuk’s arms and pulled. As his shoulders dislocated, intense pain overwhelmed him. Unable to withstand the tension, his skin tore, revealing muscle strands breaking beneath the dermis. Belial didn’t stop. The tendons and muscle fibers connecting shoulder and arm kept separating one by one.

Then suddenly, the arm was ripped off.

“——!!!”

Jaehyuk wanted to scream. It hurt too much. Without screaming, without straining his vocal cords, he didn’t think he could endure the pain. But he couldn’t.

The weak have no voice.

The weak cannot even scream.

Belial mercilessly tore off Jaehyuk’s two legs as well. The soundless air escaping his throat grew rougher. The mace dropped from his torn-off arm rolled on the rooftop floor. Belial swallowed the limbs like snacks and mocked Jaehyuk, now reduced to just torso and head.

= After devouring this entire city, I’ll savor you last!

The demon grinned. The demon raised its arm. The demon was looking at the lightning rod.

= Until then, wait here!

“——!!!!!!!!!!!”

Belial slammed Jaehyuk’s torso down. The long lightning rod completely impaled Jaehyuk’s chest. Like meat on a skewer, Jaehyuk writhed in midair. But he could do nothing. Change nothing.

In this state, he couldn’t escape, let alone recover his body anytime soon. Satisfied with storing its most anticipated delicacy in a safe place, Belial was pleased. Now both hands were free.

It couldn’t hold back any longer.

= Hu, huha, huhaha hahahahahaha, it’s hunting time—!!

Belial jumped from the rooftop.

Toward the feast prepared for it below.