Hell – 7

“How dare you shove that disgusting body of yours into my sight?”

Along with Kaikilia’s cold murmur, the golden sword energy that flew out split the head of the giant demon, which was just about to bring its fist down, in half.

Its contents gushed out through the severed surface, and the arm that had been raised above its head drooped powerlessly. The massive body toppled backward, crashing into the castle wall.

The castle wall vibrated. Like a puppet with its strings cut, the flailing mass of flesh slowly collapsed downwards, leaving slimy bloodstains and chunks of flesh on the wall. The soil beneath the body was stained dark red with blood.

Even as the giant demon’s body crumbled, other demons nearby were falling victim to the Holy Sword.

The Holy Sword never shone its light on one foe twice. With a single movement, heads were split, necks were severed, and bodies were cut in half. Once again, the difference in specs between Kaikilia and the demons became apparent.

Dozens of demons met their end by the golden blade, and hundreds more followed.

And I, in place of Margarita who had no means to deal with demons, was busy taking care of the ones rushing at the two of us.

The demons who underestimated me and charged met their end by holy pillars of light that struck down from the sky. Margarita, who had been timidly cheering from behind, subtly emerged once the vicinity felt clear.

“Did something else happen besides what happened last night? No matter how I look at it, it seems like she’s taking out her anger on the demons.”

Margarita, seeing the indiscriminate massacre unfolding in a space resembling a training ground inside the castle, whispered with a tense expression. She seemed afraid that Kaikilia might overhear her words.

“Well, I don’t know? I didn’t feel anything like that.”

Something did happen, but it was far from something I could tell others. And if she’s taking out her anger, it’s probably because of what happened last night.

After finishing clearing the vicinity, I watched Kaikilia fight from atop the castle wall. At first, I thought about helping, but given Kaikilia’s personality, she’d probably prefer to cut them down herself.

As the Holy Sword was swung from bottom to top, a holy field spread across the ground. The demons who stepped on it jumped as if they had stepped on a Lego brick. Soon, the field exploded, incinerating the demons in golden flames.

Kaikilia plunged the Holy Sword vertically into the ground. Centered on that spot, a golden barrier began to spread over an area wide enough to almost cover the entire castle.

After fully deploying the barrier, Kaikilia pulled out the Holy Sword again and cut a flailing demon in half from head to groin.

‘Ugh.’

I recoiled in disgust at the sight. It reminded me of when I used to grab the Emperor with my bare hands.

That was one of the patterns in the Emperor boss fight. It’s a self-buff; in the vanilla version, within the barrier, the Emperor gains a buff that increases their movement speed by 10% and prevents battle fatigue from accumulating.

In Dark Light Mode, it goes a step further: the movement speed increase rises to 30%, they gain permanent Super Armor, and battle fatigue not only doesn’t accumulate but actually decreases.

Furthermore, the duration doubles and the range becomes significantly wider, making it a change typical of Dark Light Mode, characterized by its unreasonableness.

That unreasonableness remained, and Margarita, seeing Kaikilia slaughtering demons left and right at a noticeably increased speed, muttered with a pale expression.

“……So that’s the level you need to be called the Emperor of the Empire.”

“Isn’t His Holiness the Pope also considered among the strongest in the Holy Nation, in terms of sheer power? He must be much stronger than the Inquisitors or the Interrogators.”

“That’s true, but His Holiness the Pope and His Majesty the Emperor are fundamentally different. When His Holiness the Pope is chosen, regardless of their previous abilities, the Sun and Moon themselves bestow power upon them. So, you could say it’s half thanks to the gods. But the Emperor’s power is entirely their own, isn’t it?”

To be honest, I don’t know much about the Emperor of the Empire either.

For one, it’s certain in the lore that the first Emperor of the Empire was an incredibly powerful individual, and I only know that the current Emperor, Kaikilia, is equally formidable.

It was unknown whether the Emperors in between were equally formidable, or if they simply ascended to the throne due to their lineage. There were no relevant documents either.

-Screeeech!

A tearing scream echoed. Kaikilia was indiscriminately slaughtering the few remaining demons. The surroundings were filled with dead, scattered chunks of flesh.

Half of the demons, having lost their minds, charged recklessly and died, while the other half tried to escape by climbing the castle walls and died. And the one that just moved was the last.

‘At this rate, who’s really trapped here…?’

Suddenly, I was reminded of a game where the protagonist in a green suit slaughters demons. Even then, it was said that the demons were trapped with the protagonist in hell, not the other way around.

Although there was no chainsaw, a magnificent means of communication, nor a double-barreled shotgun that bestows righteous glory and creates light, the current situation felt somewhat similar to that game.

Because it wasn’t humans avoiding demons, but demons avoiding humans.

-Ku-gu-gu-gung…

“Ah, it’s finally coming out.”

As the last demon was cut in half, the largest door inside the castle began to open.

The creature scheduled to appear from within was the second boss of the DLC, following the four-winged demon. All I had to do was defeat that guy and use the magic circle to move to the location where the remaining items were.

I did consider whether or not to fight the final boss, but I decided to just skip it, thinking it would be better to bring the Pope later to deal with it. Returning as quickly as possible was the top priority.

“…….”

Kaikilia plunged the Holy Sword vertically into the ground, crossed her arms below her chest, and stared intently at the new demon emerging from the opening door. The tip of her leather boot nervously tapped the ground.

The door fully opened. From within, a massive demon strode in majestically. It was a demon with a physique easily twice my height.

A pair of horns, practically a symbol of demons, sprouted from its head, and its entire body was covered in carapace-like scales. And even above the scales, its immense musculature was evident.

The demon glanced at us on the castle wall with its crimson eyes, then quickly lost interest and turned its gaze to Kaikilia. Its attention was solely focused on Kaikilia.

‘It was like that in the game too.’

According to the lore, that guy enjoyed fighting itself. They say the reason it obeys the current king of demons is because it challenged him and got utterly crushed.

Its very appearance condition was ‘eliminate all demons in this castle’. It was closer to appearing out of interest because the protagonist had killed all its subordinates.

Fortunately for the player, once it appears, it doesn’t disappear even if you die during the boss fight. So, there was no need to clear the castle every time to fight the boss.

“Is this the one you spoke of?”

“That’s right.”

While I answered Kaikilia’s question, a shield sprouted from its left arm.

It was literal. Scales erupted from the skin, from where the wrist was up to the elbow, forming a massive shield. It was a shield large enough to cover its entire body.

On its upper part, a carving in the shape of a demon’s head, with its mouth agape and staring straight ahead, was etched. It slammed the bottom of the shield onto the ground with a thud and then pounded on it with its other hand.

Soon after, a massive roar was let out. I merely frowned, but Margarita, who was beside me, covered her ears and cowered.

Kaikilia calmly aimed the Holy Sword without the slightest change in expression.

“If you have something to tell me, Delta, speak. I shall personally listen to it.”

“You should attack when the eyes of the demon carving on its shield glow. If you do so, you will be able to easily shatter that shield.”

The second boss of the Sanctuary of Demons DLC, commonly known as the ‘Gladiator Demon,’ was a boss that made strategies difficult because it blocked almost all attacks with its shield.

Unless it was an attack with Super Armor, any weapon hitting that shield would be deflected 100% of the time, causing the player to be stunned, which would then naturally allow the boss to attack.

Because of this, it received a lot of criticism for being cowardly. People would say, ‘Don’t talk nonsense about a guy who fights like that enjoying fighting itself.’

Of course, there was a way to counter it. If you attacked when the carving on its shield glowed, the shield would gradually break until it was completely shattered.

Once the shield shattered, it would enter a brief groggy state, providing an exciting free-damage window before transitioning to Phase 2. From then on, its aggressiveness would greatly increase, truly living up to its name as the Gladiator Demon.

It was possible to defeat it without breaking the shield, but it wasn’t a recommended method as it would turn into an extremely prolonged battle.

“I understand. Now, do your part.”

Kaikilia, who had answered simply, kicked off the ground and leaped up. In mid-air, she held the sword inverted, with the tip pointing towards the ground, and plunged it forcefully towards the demon.

The demon raised the shield on its left arm to block the attack. The Holy Sword collided with the shield first, and then her leather boot stepped onto the shield. With a ‘Ka-gang!’ sound, a circular shockwave spread out.

Perhaps the shield couldn’t fully absorb the impact, as the demon stumbled and bent one knee.

‘……That actually worked.’

Honestly, I was quite surprised.

After that, I left Kaikilia, who had begun to unilaterally push the demon back, and headed inside the castle. Because that guy’s appearance meant there were no more demons left in the castle.

Kaikilia glanced at me as I went inside, then pounded on the shield again. Instead, Margarita occasionally followed behind me. Her chest, encased in a yellow bikini, swayed with each step.

“Why into the castle?”

“Since His Majesty will win anyway, I’m going to activate the magic circle beforehand.”

Margarita also nodded. Neither of us had the slightest thought that Kaikilia would lose.

“How far down do we have to go?”

Instead of answering, I lightly nudged the ladder directly in front of me with my foot. Margarita, looking down below, flinched.

“……I’m surprised. It’s incredibly deep.”

“This isn’t even considered particularly large. You’d faint if you saw the castle where their king resides.”

Since it’s where the King of Demons resides, it’s almost as large as the Imperial Palace. Although there were many places that were completely collapsed or had broken paths in between, so there were only a few places you could actually go.

If the Imperial Palace-level size had truly been fully applied, clearing it with just one statue near the entrance would have certainly raised my blood pressure.

“You’re not going to take me to show me, are you?”

“Of course not. We’re in a position where we need to get out as quickly as possible too.”

-Kuooooooooh!

Suddenly, a massive roar was heard from outside. It was a roar completely different from before, one that continued for a very long time.

‘What? Already Phase 2?’

And it was also the roar the Gladiator Demon let out when entering Phase 2. I was bewildered, wondering how long it had been since we entered the castle for it to already be in Phase 2.

“It seems she’s about halfway done. Let’s hurry too.”

“Huh, already?”

“Yes. Already.”

We immediately went down into the basement via the ladder. I just grabbed the side of the ladder and slid down, but Margarita said she couldn’t do that and descended by stepping on each rung one by one.

Her buttocks, jiggling elastically with each step, and her hips swaying from side to side were a bonus. I averted my gaze from that sight and stood before the door leading to the altar.

‘……If Kaikilia sees this, there’ll be another huge fuss.’

Because, as the name suggests, it’s a place where demons offer humans as sacrifices to other high-ranking demons. There would probably be a statue of the Demon King, and for Kaikilia, it would be a sight she simply couldn’t tolerate.

Thinking I just needed to activate the altar and leave, I flung the door open.

“……Huh?”

And then, I froze in place, making a strange sound.

In the place where a statue of the King of Demons should have been, there was a statue carved with a dragon’s head.

A statue carved with the head of the World Eater.