Ch.85The Demon Lord and Lilith (11)

The Demon King and Lilith (11)

Extra jumped down from Indra’s back and attacked Esmeralda, swinging an unfamiliar spear.

However, the moment Extra, who had leaped from mid-air, saw Esmeralda’s eyes, he knew.

‘I can’t win this.’

The Hero is a monster.

She had become incomparably stronger than when he last saw her.

He was certain that even without her deliberately letting him win, he couldn’t withstand a single strike from the Hero.

She was beyond his ability to test.

“Heh…”

Yet, the more certain he became of this fact, the more Extra found himself smiling.

When had it ever been different?

The man who once dreamed grand dreams had already been crushed by reality.

A demon who bowed his head to a dragon.

Could such humiliation have been easy to bear?

“HEROOOO!!”

Crack!

The spear Extra thrust forward was cut in half by Esmeralda’s strike.

An unfamiliar weapon. The resulting difference in skill. There were plenty of excuses.

But Extra, as if refusing to make any excuses, continued thrusting with his half-broken spear.

Despite such bold determination…

“I’m sorry… but you’re no match for me.”

“Kuk!”

Thud!

Esmeralda’s sword completely knocked away Extra’s spear before piercing straight through his heart.

Yet even in the face of such overwhelming defeat, Extra was smiling.

Had he managed to buy time?

‘No, it’s different.’

Esmeralda could tell that the smile on her opponent’s face wasn’t one of resignation or satisfaction, but closer to that of a warrior who had seized an advantage.

“I knew from the start that I was no match for you!”

Extra, whose heart should have been pierced, showed no signs of weakening. Instead, as if growing even stronger, he twisted Esmeralda’s wrist in his grip.

“To you people, those like us are just extras to kill and forget! I know that well! That’s why you didn’t even care who I was! Isn’t that right? Hero!”

Extra has no heart.

More precisely, the demon’s heart had already been pierced and destroyed.

And by none other than the person standing before him.

Yes, this was Esmeralda’s mistake—she couldn’t recognize who he was despite only a slight change in appearance.

Whoosh!

Extra’s throat bulged noticeably, and flames began to sprout from his mouth.

“No way…!”

“Go back down. And try crawling back up again! Hero!”

KWAAAA!

A breath attack at close range.

Esmeralda had no choice but to retreat from the distance she had worked so hard to close.

“If you can, that is!”

Extra was coughing up blood as if injured by his own breath attack.

The limitation of a half-dragon.

But he was smiling as if he had won.

Despite being stabbed where his heart should have been, though it was already gone.

And though his ultimate breath attack had been easily avoided.

“I’ve bought enough time.”

“Excellent.”

The thunder dragon Indra had finished preparing his full-power spell.

The magic circle that had been appearing and disappearing finally stabilized into one massive formation.

Lightning branches growing in the dark clouds formed buds.

Like flowers about to bloom, countless buds pointed toward the ground.

And the moment those tightly closed petals bloomed like lightning taking form.

“Vajrapani (वज्रपाणि).”

Petals of light began to fall.

***

This is impossible.

Esmeralda stared blankly at the sky, thinking exactly that.

The number of flower petals falling to the ground was beyond counting.

And the power contained in each petal was unbearable.

The moment one small petal touched her steel sword floating in the air, it melted away as if swallowed by light.

The high-quality steel sword that had withstood even lightning couldn’t withstand a single petal and melted away.

And the moment the slowly falling petals finally reached the ground.

“Ah…”

Not from the sky to the ground, but the opposite.

Lightning rose silently from below.

***

“Kuhak…”

When Esmeralda regained consciousness, the Hero’s party had already suffered near-annihilation.

Eirene, Millia, and Tina were sprawled on the ground, seemingly unconscious, while Lug was gasping for breath above Lilith with his back severely burned, as if he had shielded her as mentioned earlier.

It wasn’t that Lug was sturdy enough to endure. He had managed to stay conscious through sheer willpower alone.

And Lilith, whom Lug had protected at the risk of his life, was lying there with her eyes wide open as if she couldn’t believe the situation.

“Urgh…”

Esmeralda was unable to get up from her prone position, repeatedly crawling on the ground.

The enemy had been formidable from the start. The chances of victory were infinitesimally small. Still, she hadn’t expected to be overwhelmed so completely.

And above all…

‘Lug couldn’t do anything.’

Esmeralda had looked toward Lug first when the petals fell.

Because there were two people who seemed least likely to withstand this.

But at that moment, Esmeralda could see blue flames.

The power Lug usually showed when cornered. She thought there would be no problem once he unleashed that power.

‘I was too complacent.’

But she was wrong.

Even Lug couldn’t withstand it. Come to think of it, Lug had been unconscious when facing Eleven too.

At minimum, that fight had been evenly matched or won by the narrowest margin.

Such a Lug couldn’t possibly withstand Indra’s attack while embracing Lilith as an additional burden.

‘Damn it…’

Her body wouldn’t move.

Beyond the numbness, she seemed to have reached her limit.

Esmeralda could only watch the two of them without being able to get up.

“Ugh…”

Lilith, who had been holding Lug who had collapsed on top of her, was startled by the blood wetting her hands, then held back tears.

She realized that Lug had ended up like this while protecting her.

It must have been shocking for Lilith, who had been fond of Lug despite her suspicions.

Guilt and gratitude.

But before she could properly feel either…

Step.

Despair arrived.

“Tsk… I really don’t understand what this guy is thinking.”

It was Extra.

Protected by Indra, he had survived the lightning and was now trying to retrieve Lilith to achieve his original goal.

But seeing Lug who had thrown himself to protect Lilith made him quite uncomfortable.

Lug had definitely said the heavenly energy was bad. That’s why Extra thought they might lose this fight.

Or that something might happen due to Lug’s intervention.

But Lug had collapsed after using his power to protect Lilith without putting up much resistance.

Who could have known that the opponent he feared most would fall so pathetically?

“Hey, didn’t you say the heavenly energy was bad?”

Extra grumbled as if talking to a former subordinate.

Being tense had been a waste. With that thought, Extra pointed his broken spear tip at Lilith.

“Move aside.”

“What?”

BANG!

Extra flew through the air.

More precisely, he was sent flying.

What he hadn’t anticipated was that Lilith was still in good condition.

No matter how much of a parachute appointment she might have been, she couldn’t have reached the position of lieutenant general without at least some ability.

Yes, Lilith…

[Comprehensive Estimate Lv. 611]

…possessed military power befitting a general-grade officer, if not quite matching her lieutenant general position.

Moreover, thanks to Lug’s protection, she was uninjured.

“Well, what do we have here.”

Being sent flying by Lilith was surprising, but not particularly shocking.

After all, Lilith had left her ceremonial weapon behind. Without her greatsword, she couldn’t launch a proper attack, making her not much different from Extra who lacked his proper weapon.

“Hmm…”

But Extra couldn’t move carelessly.

A strange fighting spirit emanated from Lilith, who was holding out her palm toward him while embracing Lug.

As if she had completely forgotten her infiltration mission into the Hero’s party, she revealed her hidden horns and wings, exuding murderous intent.

“Lord Indra. May I ask for your assistance?”

“No problem.”

Indra, who had been watching from the sky with a noble appearance as if he were a god, didn’t find Extra’s appearance unsightly.

That was the level of her fighting spirit.

The fighting spirit of a woman who had lost her loved one can be quite threatening.

The reason Extra backed away from Lilith’s fighting spirit was because he wondered why Lilith seemed to have feelings for someone like Lug.

“I’ll handle this.”

RUMBLE!

Indra spread his wings wide and once again manipulated the sky.

Dark clouds gathered at a single point, and at their center, a massive lightning flower bloomed.

“We’re not supposed to kill…”

“I know. But without an attack of that caliber, we won’t be able to stop her.”

So he wouldn’t hold back.

Indra made a cold judgment and was about to strike with the gathered lightning.

And right at that moment.

FLASH!

“Wh…at…?”

The dark clouds that had been converging in the sky scattered as if exploding.

The lightning that had gathered at their center vanished, and blue sky spread out.

No, it wasn’t a blue sky.

Dawn had arrived, but it wasn’t bright enough for the sky to be blue.

“Holy shit, so this is what ‘bad heavenly energy’ meant…”

Extra could see a hole at the center of the suddenly daylit sky.

The place where lightning had been gathering.

Though invisible, there was a presence exuding an overwhelming aura.

“The Demon King…”

It was the presence of the Demon King, Belphegor.

***

Esmeralda saw it.

The source of what had been in the darkness that no one else could confirm.

Even to her eyes, she could barely make out cold blue eyes, but her power was telling her much more information.

“What is that…”

Among all the opponents Esmeralda had met, she feared La•Pa the most.

After all, wasn’t he a being who could openly deceive the Emerald Tablet?

A being whose fragments she couldn’t even glimpse with her eyes.

Of course she would be afraid.

But what was reflected in her eyes now?

Unlike La•Pa, this opponent was revealing everything about himself plainly.

[Name: Belphegor]

[Race: Demon] [Titles: Demon King of Sloth, Usurper, Devourer of the Sky]

[Trait List]

Blue Blood Lv. 13

.

.

.

She had taken up the sword to defeat the Demon King. She had set out on a journey.

Yes, the thing in the darkness.

The being who appeared with a blue sky and brought down a heavenly god.

She had thought she could do anything to defeat the Demon King Belphegor.

But…

[Comprehensive Estimate Lv. 15042]

It was not a being that someone like Esmeralda could ever hope to defeat.