Ch.98Chapter 98 – Belphegor (2)

As Belphegor’s laughter subsided, Iscariot inquired of his king.

“My lord. I apologize, but I’ve depleted all my magical energy… May I withdraw now?”

“Ah, Iscariot. Then record the battle between those two. I’ll need to watch it later. You all may go.”

With a casual wave of Belphegor’s hand, Iscariot, Kyle, and the Sword Ghost were teleported to a corner of Pyongyang. Now only Belphegor and Shin Jaehyuk remained before the gate.

Belphegor fidgeted with his hands, his expression eager like a child about to unwrap a present.

“Well… finally we can talk alone. Ask me anything! I quite enjoyed the story you showed me, so I’m feeling generous enough to satisfy your curiosity.”

“…I have nothing to discuss with a demon!”

“Oh, come now… Aren’t you curious about many things? For instance, this wheelchair.”

Whirr, whirr. Belphegor playfully moved his electric wheelchair back and forth. He boasted:

“This, you see, was a gift from the previous Demon King. Said he got it from a new material plane called Earth. He had the power to go anywhere as the Demon King.”

“…The previous Demon King, you mean Satan?”

“Though he symbolized wrath, he was quite a sweet demon. He often brought me various creative works from Earth—movies, novels, animations, games, and such—knowing I couldn’t stand boredom.”

Did this mean the previous Demon King had been eyeing Earth for a long time? This was new information.

“A few years ago, he was killed by that damned hero, cutting off my supply of entertainment… But thanks to the current Demon King’s decision to launch a full-scale invasion of Earth, I’ve got a new opportunity. Though it’s bothersome to move myself, I wouldn’t pass up the chance to enjoy a new civilization’s culture!”

He rambled on about his feelings regarding this troublesome expedition and how much he was looking forward to new animations. Shin Jaehyuk interrupted:

“Why meet with me privately? I don’t understand why you, a demon, haven’t attacked me and instead keep me alive.”

“Hmm… good question. There are several reasons. To name two major ones: first, I’m curious why Beelzebub is so obsessed with you, as if you’re coated in honey.”

Beelzebub. A Four Heavenly King with deep enmity toward Shin Jaehyuk. The demon who attacked the Vatican when Jaehyuk was young, slaughtering everyone who had been like family to him, and later took his life. Jaehyuk could guess the reason.

‘Probably… after the divine blood. That must be it.’

Divine blood was a substance more strongly connected to Eloah than any holy relic. It was, quite literally, blood that flowed from God’s body. There was reason for Beelzebub’s burning desire for it. However, Beelzebub seemed to have kept the existence of divine blood secret from the other Heavenly Kings, as Belphegor appeared clueless.

“The second reason is… my whim.”

“!”

Belphegor hated the god who created him. He equally despised the maggots who believed in that disgusting god. That’s why he enjoyed venting his anger by resurrecting followers of the Light Order as undead through necromancy. Contracting with Iscariot, once a promising priest of light, was part of that.

“Turning the supposedly greatest holy knight into an undead. Imagine how hilarious that would be! And the reactions from those Vatican humans would be even more amusing. Keheheh.”

Unable to harm God directly, he sought revenge indirectly. Trampling His pets, spitting on them, desecrating their corpses. Through this, he hoped God would react somehow—whether in anger or punishment. But never once had God responded to the corruption and suffering of His followers.

As if it were none of His concern.

“From what I see, God doesn’t love you. If God truly loved humans, wouldn’t He directly save humanity from demons with His own hands? He has the power. So why doesn’t He?”

“That’s… because the Lord wants us to overcome trials with our own strength…”

“Do you really believe that nonsense? Sincerely?”

Shin Jaehyuk couldn’t answer clearly. This question had secretly circulated even among the Order’s followers, a question they tried to deny and hush up. Belphegor, who had been laughing, suddenly erupted in anger like someone with bipolar disorder.

“God is not merciful! He loves selectively according to His needs! He took the firstborn angels into heaven because they were defective but obedient, but demons—equally failed creations but rebellious—He dumped in hell like garbage! Without showing the slightest concern! And then to the third-born humans, He hides His previous mistakes and failed parenting, spouting nonsense like ‘love everyone’ and ‘believe in me and I will save you’—!!”

Rage erupted like a volcano from the pot-bellied deformity’s body. The volume made Jaehyuk’s body tingle. The sound waves exploded like mortar shells, causing the surrounding concrete floor to sink. Jaehyuk stood frozen before this anger that had festered for hundreds of millions of years.

‘This pressure…!’

“If those worthless humans are too insignificant to receive your attention, then I’ll destroy what matters to you! I’ll break those you love more specially than others! Will you still remain silent then? We shall see!”

With a crimson face, Belphegor pointed accusingly at the clouds. Was it Jaehyuk’s imagination, or did the clouds seem to scatter? As if afraid of the demon’s wrath.

Belphegor’s tantrum resembled a child breaking toys to get parental attention. But the intensity of his emotions was on another level. Time, which had been a blessing to him at life’s beginning, had since become a constant curse. The ancient emotions of a cursed being who had existed for trillions of years were unfathomably deep and heavy.

Having vented his hatred, Belphegor urged in a more subdued voice:

“So I ask you, mortal. Won’t you please die quietly? Bow down at my feet, not the light’s, and kiss my instep. Then I shall teach you that death is merely the beginning, not the end. Through death, you shall share eternal glory with me.”

Belphegor whispered sweetly. Like a true demonic temptation, each syllable was filled with persuasive sweetness. But from the moment he’d heard that Belphegor had ordered Iscariot’s betrayal, Jaehyuk’s heart had hardened.

“It is not you who decides life after death. It is the Lord in heaven who determines my life, so I willingly entrust my end to His hands.”

“…So you insist on troubling me, mortal?”

The battle began with Belphegor’s gesture. As he traced his finger downward, chains of magical energy moved like snakes trying to capture Jaehyuk. Shin Jaehyuk spun his spear in a circle to deflect them and tried to counterattack.

But he couldn’t. Dozens of magical arrows immediately tried to pierce him. Jaehyuk broke into a sweat as he parried and dodged the arrows.

‘His casting is too fast…!’

Belphegor was a deformity living in a different timeline from ordinary beings. Even now, Belphegor was experiencing time ten times slower than Jaehyuk. A mage who experiences ten times more time can cast ten times more spells.

“Radiance!”

The shockwave deflected the spells. Belphegor frowned deeply, seemingly uncomfortable with the divine power that grazed his skin.

“What an unpleasant energy…”

His discomfort transformed into motivation to finish his opponent quickly. Belphegor raised his fat finger and swept it through the air in a circle. Magic circles formed in the direction his fingertip pointed. Thousands of ominously blazing magic circles covered the sky. When he flicked his hand, the magic circles activated with a mechanical sound.

“Burn.”

9th Tier, Hellfire.

This was the highest-level black magic that could never be used so simply. The title “Progenitor of Black Magic” wasn’t given lightly. Hellfire balls generated from thousands of magic circles obscured the sky. Thousands of suns descended upon the earth.

‘…Fuck.’

This was on a completely different level from any black mage Jaehyuk had faced before. Compared to Belphegor, all the black mages he’d encountered were mere worms unworthy of even calling themselves mages. With just a slight show of sincerity from one of the Four Heavenly Kings, Jaehyuk was instantly cornered. He abandoned any thought of attack and raised a protective barrier.

“Oh… trying to endure?”

What followed that remark was a barrage of magical attacks. From 1st Tier Dark Arrow to 9th Tier Hellfire. Various types of attacks formed without delay. His casting was so fast it seemed like he was using all spells simultaneously.

KWAGWAGWAGWANG-!!

The spells slammed into the barrier with a thunderous roar. Damage that would have caused internal injuries from recoil to any mage poured in every second. Thanks to divine power being harmless to humans unlike mana, there was no worry about internal injuries, but the rate at which his divine power was depleting was concerning.

‘I won’t last even an hour…’

The situation was hopeless. The fighter jets and hunters had been sent away somewhere by Belphegor, and the Sword Ghost would be busy dealing with Kyle. With no help to expect, he was struggling just to block the absurd barrage of magic raining down on him.

What made him even more desperate was knowing this wasn’t even Belphegor’s full power. People don’t try their hardest to kill an insect. They just put in a bit more effort to squash something annoying. That’s exactly how Belphegor was treating Jaehyuk.

“Lord…”

As Jaehyuk unconsciously began to pray, Belphegor burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! Calling for your God? Too bad! He’s too busy sleeping in His palace to do anything! If you want help, don’t look to God but to demons. Take my hand!”

“Ugh! Those who rely on the light shall overcome their adversaries and trample those who rise against them in the name of the Lord…”

“That damn scripture… why do all clergy recite Bible verses when cornered? Do you think it has some great power? You know it’s all fabrication, right? Propaganda. No matter how much you read, it won’t help—huh?”

Shuuuuung-

The sound of a jet from the sky interrupted his words.

‘Fighter jets?’

Belphegor seemed surprised by their appearance too.

“Hmm? I sent those metal chunks to the opposite side of the planet. Did I miscalculate the coordinates?”

The soldiers who had been teleported to Argentina had urgently requested additional support from their authorities. Shocked by the news of a Four Heavenly King’s appearance, the higher-ups had hastily assembled a strike force, leaving only the minimum forces needed to maintain defensive lines.

After carefully observing the aircraft, Belphegor noticed subtle differences from the previous ones.

“They just look the same, but they’re different individuals. Of course I wouldn’t make a mistake with my spell.”

Dozens of fighter jets opened fire without hesitation, ignoring survivors on the ground. They had orders to deal with the Four Heavenly King by any means necessary.

Belphegor spread his palm wide, deploying a circular magical shield that blocked bullets and missiles.

“Tsk, how annoying… They keep swarming like flies…”

Belphegor was irritated by the situation. He hated being bothered. Killing that many insects one by one was truly a bothersome task.

He suddenly asked Jaehyuk, who was focusing all his energy on maintaining his barrier:

“Do you know why I like necromancy?”

Of course, Jaehyuk had no leisure to answer. But Belphegor wasn’t expecting a response. Massive magical energy rose from him. As he moved his finger, a glowing magic circle began forming on the ground where his fingernail pointed. A massive summoning circle.

“You see, undead take care of all the bothersome tasks for me.”

Flash-

Something emerged from the summoning circle with a blinding light. It soared into the sky, and its body was truly enormous. So enormous that when it perched on the roof of Pyongyang’s tallest building, its tail still reached the ground.

The creature had a pair of hind legs, a pair of forelegs, a tail, a head, and a pair of wings. Like an undead, it was made entirely of bones, but peculiarly, where its heart should be, a massive, blackened, rotting piece of flesh pulsated, emitting magical energy.

Shin Jaehyuk referred to this being as:

“Fuck, a bone dragon…”

The strongest undead. An entity that no other undead could possibly match, the undisputed strongest.

Jaehyuk recalled an anecdote from an ancient manuscript. The content had seemed so absurd that he’d thought it must be exaggerated.

‘One day, Belphegor, unable to bear his boredom, came to the middle realm for a visit. Dragons, who considered themselves guardians of the middle realm, mobilized to stop him. A mythical battle ensued, and all dragons, including the strongest dragon lord known as the Storm Dragon King Kalsten, were annihilated by a single demon.’

Afterward, dragons became extinct, never to be found anywhere in Eden’s lands. As a child, he’d believed this ridiculous story was merely an exaggeration by the author of the ancient text. Now, facing the bone dragon, Jaehyuk understood that the story was true.

‘That size, that magical power… if the records are correct, this dragon is Lord-class.’

G̸̡̧̞̭͈̠͍̙͚̣̔́̊̒͝Ẅ̸̢̛̹̞͌̽͛̈̄̆͠͝Ą̵̢̟̰̥̦͈͕̻͍̭̍̋͛́̅̀̇̈́̌̂͆̉̽̑̈́̀͂͗͛͆̆͂͋̀̉͝A̷͍͈͈̥͈̼̖͍͗̈́͊Ā̴̪̺̬̞͈̦͖̖̫̼͇́̓͊̽̓̈́̽̏̀̓̏̍̔͗̎̎͋͊̔̕͠͝͝A̶̢͚̤̼͈̥͖̲̲̩̞̙̲̰̩̥͛̃͊̋́̾̉̑̃͆̓̆̋̓̿͐̃͑̚̕͜Ă̶̧̡̛̖͈͚̻̯̖͓̼̟̬̝̣̹̯̇̐͂̂A̶̢̼̰̜͙͖̘̞̦̘͖̙͎̥̪̬̞̽͘͜A̶̧͉̟̼͉̦̠̲͉̗̜͈͈͑̌͐̏̊̓̔͝͝ͅĀ̶̢̧̯̼͇̳̖͓̭̠̥̤̤͙̱̬̙̝͑̉͑̈͑́̒̍͒̀͠͠͝ͅÂ̵̢̯̝̥̙͍͔̌̂̉͗̅̎A̷̛͙̗͖̳̺͉͖̬̣̻̲̼̣̼͓̩̻̖͙̻̘͍͙̜̿̐͆̏̃̾͋̈͆͛̌̿͑͆̂͊̉̚̚̚̕̚͠ͅǍ̶̢̤̥̺̫͙̩̹̥̦͔̟̬̭͔͖̙̬͎̮̰͍̝̤͜͜A̴̢̓͗̇̉̐̓̊͘A̵̢̨̧͙̖̣͉͍͍͈̘͉̰̥̙͙̋͊́̐́̊͂̆͌̅̈̎̿͋̃͌́̇͘̕͝͠͠ -!!!!!!!

Belphegor gazed fondly at the bone dragon as it roared powerfully.

“What do you think of my pet doggy? Cute, isn’t it? I got it when I visited the middle realm. What was its name again? Tungsten?”

“Don’t tell me it’s really the Storm Dragon King Kalsten?”

“Ah right, that was the name. Well, whatever, now it’s just my doggy.”

Belphegor shrugged his shoulders. Then, pointing at the flies buzzing in the sky, he commanded:

“Doggy, intruders. Go bite them.”