episode_0192

The Great Demon must sacrifice themselves.

It was a phrase that had been drilled into Belphagor since childhood by his father.

Belphagor never once forgot that phrase, always keeping it in mind.

The meaning behind the phrase was clear.

As a strong leader chosen as the Great Demon, one must bear a great responsibility.

…He used to believe that when he was young.

|Belphagor. I have something to show you.|

The day Belphagor was bestowed with the title of Sloth as the Great Demon.

After the ceremony ended and everything quieted down, Satan took Belphagor’s hand and led him somewhere.

A narrow crevice that opened up in the ground.

Heading into the dark abyss where no light seemed to penetrate.

Though he felt a sense of foreboding, Belphagor did not falter.

Because his father was with him.

As Belphagor reached the bottom, he discovered five statues surrounding him.

Faces that seemed vaguely familiar.

Incredibly intricate and eerie statues.

|What is this, Abamama?|

|Pay your respects. These are the highest councilors of the Demon Realm, the Great Demons.|

|…?!|

It was only then that Belphagor noticed the strange aura emanating from within the statues.

They were not just ordinary statues.

Realizing that the statues’ gazes were following him, Belphagor’s body stiffened.

He had heard that five of the seven Great Demons were sealed away and did not show themselves.

But he never expected to find them sealed in a place like this.

Why?

By whom?

As these questions arose, Belphagor began to feel increasingly uneasy about his father’s back.

|Remember. The Great Demon must sacrifice themselves.|

|Y-yes…?|

|Have you ever thought about it? How twisted the Demon Realm is. Due to being part of the Netherworld, demons live with many restrictions unlike humans in the mortal realm. So, is there a way to free demons like humans? After agonizing over it for tens of thousands of years, we finally devised a way to separate the Demon Realm from the Netherworld. To do that, we concluded that all seven Great Demons must be sealed. Even giving birth to you was for this day.|

|…?!|

Belphagor realized.

The meaning behind his father’s repetitive words.

|We are making the Demon Realm free!|

It was exactly as it sounded.

A grand ritual to sacrifice all seven Great Demons to separate the Demon Realm from the Netherworld.

To seal and sacrifice the Great Demons for this purpose.

|And then what?|

|What do you mean, ‘and then’?|

|After everything is over… Can they come out of the statues…?|

|What are you talking about? The Great Demons will be sealed and remain in the Netherworld, gaining eternal glory in the memories of all demons in the Demon Realm.|

|That’s…|

He couldn’t find the words.

The talk of responsibility and sacrifice was incomprehensible to Belphagor.

Why did they need to separate the Demon Realm from the Netherworld?

What good would it do for demons to be free from the sight of the Netherworld deity?

Why did he have to sacrifice himself?

He couldn’t understand a single thing.

|Look here. Imagine it. All demons chanting our names. Life is fleeting, but glory is eternal.|

|…|

|Accept the sealing.|

But Belphagor had no choice but to follow his father’s words without even considering rebellion.

Defiance was unimaginable.

Led by his father, Belphagor stood next to the statues.

And as he began to follow his father’s instructions, he felt himself slowly hardening like stone from his toes.

|Ah…!|

He hated it. He was afraid. He was terrified.

My body stiffened as I watched my father’s strange smile, feeling fear creeping in.

It happened in an instant.

Before I knew it, Velfegor had turned into a statue, frozen in a moment of silent horror.

“Our daughter is kind. Just wait a little longer. Once all preparations are complete, your father will be sealed by your side as well.”

He gently caressed Velfegor’s cheek, now turned to stone.

Satan vanished, retreating back to the abyss.

Velfegor, left behind in the abyss, opened her eyes and seemed on the verge of vomiting in confusion.

Inside the statue, only a limited view unfolded.

She couldn’t move at all.

It had only been a minute.

Velfegor felt suffocated, on the brink of losing her mind.

“Has the Daughter of Wrath arrived?”

“If you are a Great Demon, you must be sacrificed without question.”

“Do not worry about not being able to speak yet. In about ten thousand years, you will be able to handle enough magic to speak.”

Chilling voices echoed from all around.

The five Great Demons, who had long ago sealed themselves, were now speaking to Velfegor.

They praised her or said something, but none of it registered in Velfegor’s ears.

Lifeless voices devoid of any passion or enthusiasm.

They were too inert to be called living beings.

“I don’t want to become like them! I have to get out! I have to escape!”

But she couldn’t. Sealed, she couldn’t use magic or exert any strength.

Time passed endlessly.

Growing her desire to escape and her hatred towards her father, she spent the years.

Every scheme and trick Velfegor came up with failed.

Even her plan to persuade her father, who occasionally visited, failed, and the word “give up” loomed before her.

The figure reached out to Velfegor.

An incomprehensible will seeped into the statue.

Though she couldn’t understand its meaning, it was clear that “it” wanted to help Velfegor.

An unknown power began to fill the statue.

Or rather, it was more appropriate to call it authority.

At first, Velfegor was clueless about how to use this authority.

But as time passed, she grew accustomed to it, and at some point, she felt like she could shatter the statue with this authority.

Slowly, imperceptibly, cracks began to form on the statue from the back.

How long had it been?

“Haah…”

Velfegor finally succeeded in breaking the statue into pieces and escaping.

She breathed a sigh of relief.

Her limbs moved.

Realizing she had successfully escaped the seal, a smile briefly crossed her face.

However, as she faced the five statues surrounding her, glaring at her as if to attack, she froze.

To make matters worse, she felt something descending from above the abyss.

“I have to run… I have to escape…”

She had to flee.

To a place where her father’s eyes couldn’t reach.

But where? How?

“The mortal world!”

At that moment, her father’s words came to mind.

The mortal world.

An independent world located outside the sight of the divine realm.

A world where free souls who do not know the divine realm reside.

If it’s a paradise-like place, then Father won’t be able to follow.

I have to escape to the mortal world somehow.

But the problem of ‘how’ still remained.

|Velfegor! Where are you going!|

|Ah! Father······!|

|I will take away all of your demonic identity!|

From above, thunderous voices echoed.

Velfegor felt his magic being sucked out of his body.

His strength was fading.

His demonic identity and power were being taken back.

But just before becoming completely powerless,

Velfegor successfully squeezed out the last of his magic and tore open a space.

Beyond that, there was nothing but emptiness.

The possibility of it being the mortal world, or rather a place other than emptiness, was slim.

Velfegor had no chance to calculate the probability.

It was fine to die or disappear.

As long as he could escape this hell, anything was fine.

|Ugh!|

Velfegor closed his eyes and jumped inward.

Thanks to having most of his demonic identity taken away, there was no force pulling him towards the demon realm.

Instead, an unknown force seemed to be pushing and guiding Velfegor somewhere.

|This is······|

The dimensional gap closed, and Satan’s hand reached into the void.

But Satan remained indifferent, saying, “It doesn’t matter. Once you perish in the emptiness, the seat of the Archdemon will be vacant.”

Surviving in the emptiness was impossible.

Soon Velfegor’s breath would cease.

Then the seat of the Archdemon would be vacant, and a new Archdemon could be born by having another child.

|Wait. Why? How are you still alive?!|

However, as time passed, the seat remained vacant.

Velfegor was alive.

Surviving openly in a world other than the afterlife.

Crossing the dimensional gap of pure emptiness.

Against all odds, he had reached a world where survival was possible.

Satan, feeling the faint power buried in the fragments of the broken statue, was furious.

He helped Velfegor escape.

He seemed to know who guided her to another world.

|Draken!!!|

Satan’s cry echoed far and wide.

.

.

.

|Hah?!|

Finally regaining consciousness and opening his eyes, Velfegor.

A strange atmosphere.

A strange land.

And a strange light.

Without looking around, he immediately realized.

The place Velfegor had longed to go.

A world passed down only in legends.

The mortal world.

|It’s over! It’s done······! I’m alive! I’m alive!|

He was ecstatic as if he could leap.

He was alive.

He no longer had to be trapped in that dark abyss.

Overwhelmed with joy, Velfegor even shed tears.

|Beautiful······|

Seeing the unfamiliar scenery of the mortal world for the first time, Velfegor was overwhelmed.

Everywhere he looked, there were green fields, trees, and flowers.

Life was abundant everywhere.

With his weak magic surrounding him, Velfegor felt out of place and alienated from his surroundings.

|People······!|

As he repeated his admiration with each step he took.

At one moment, Velfegor discovered a strange life form and was breathless.

Intelligent beings of the mortal world.

Humans.

Civilized humans.

A village that seemed alien compared to nature.

Velfegor was excited and jumped inward.

He had heard of it before.

Some demons make contracts with humans.

They transcend dimensions to trade power and vitality.

Beyond the distant street, they arrived right in front of their eyes.

How would humans react to a demon?

Approaching with pure curiosity and anticipation, Velfegor muttered, “Huh, what’s that?!”

“A demon! A demon has appeared!”

“Kill it to death!!!”

|Huh?|

They were able to face pure malice head-on.