Hell – 8

‘Why is *that*… here?’

Thinking I might have seen wrong, I approached the statue with trembling steps. It was a bust, depicting only the head above the neck, but even that alone was ridiculously huge.

Of course, that was only relatively speaking. Assuming it truly was the World-Eater, it was much smaller than the original, whose single eyeball was larger than my height.

A gem, presumed to be a ruby, was embedded where the eye should have been, perhaps symbolizing a red pupil. At a glance, it was a massive gem, easily twice the size of my head.

I stood before it. I tried hard to calm my churning stomach and retraced my memories. The memory of facing that bastard head-on in the Imperial Palace, and the memory of its modeling from the game. Meticulously, so as not to miss a single detail.

‘…….’

And then I was certain. This was indeed a statue depicting the head of the World-Eater. As the final boss, it had been crafted with far more care than other dragons, so there was no way I could mistake its appearance.

With its identity revealed, only one question remained.

Why had the demons placed a statue of the World-Eater here, especially in the spot where the statue of ‘Lucifer, the Guide of Evil,’ originally the final boss of the DLC, should have been?

Moreover, according to the setting, this was an altar where demons offered sacrifices to high-ranking demons. Placing this here was no ordinary matter.

“Why are you just standing there?”

While I was frozen in shock, Margarita, who had somehow entered the room, approached, asking if something was wrong, and then stopped just like me. Her eyes were fixed on the dragon statue, just like mine.

“……What is this? A dragon?”

“Yes. It’s a dragon.”

“Why is it here? This is Hell, isn’t it? Is there any reason for demons to put a dragon statue on an altar?”

Since Margarita reacted this way, it seemed the ‘mode’ wasn’t the cause. If it had been, she would have thought nothing of it, like Kaikilia, who saw His Holiness the Pope bestow a blessing upon me.

‘……No, even if it’s not the mode’s fault, that’s still a problem in itself.’

If this wasn’t due to the mode’s influence, it meant that something outside my knowledge had happened for some reason, without common sense being altered. For me, it was the worst-case scenario, and the one I wanted to avoid the most.

My head was a mess. Even when the World-Eater came directly to the Imperial Palace, I was so tense, wondering if I was going to die right then. It seemed nothing good ever came from getting entangled with that bastard.

Margarita and I stared blankly at the statue, not even thinking of activating the altar. Our points of surprise might have been slightly different, but at least the fact that we were both shocked was consistent.

How much time had passed since we froze like that? I heard the sound of someone landing on the ground a little distance away. Soon after, I heard footsteps, *thump-thump*.

It was obvious who it would be. Since we hadn’t come out even after the boss was defeated, they must have come to find us themselves.

I turned my head. Kaikilia was walking into the room, holding a brightly glowing Holy Sword in her right hand and the head of a Gladiator Demon, cleanly severed from the neck, in her left.

Dark red blood dripped from the severed neck, forming distorted circular patterns on the floor.

As soon as Kaikilia entered the room, she first looked at me, then at the statue in front of us, and finally at Margarita next to me.

*Thump*, the severed head rolled across the floor.

“Do your duty.”

“……Pardon?”

“I told you to do what you must.”

“Ah, yes! I understand!”

Grasping the atmosphere, Margarita grunted as she picked up the Gladiator Demon’s head that had just been thrown, and left the room. The sound of her sandals dragging on the ground gradually faded away.

Perhaps due to the Holy Sword’s effect, Kaikilia, despite having just held a head dripping with blood, locked the door with spotlessly clean hands and approached my side.

“What were you doing in a place like this? To make your sovereign come looking for you personally, you are truly a disloyal subject, are you not?”

“……Rather than listening to my explanation, it would be faster for Your Majesty to confirm it yourself.”

Her golden pupils swept over the statue. Her eyebrows, having confirmed the statue’s appearance, slightly curved into a crescent shape, revealing her displeasure.

“I ask you, Delta. Is that indeed the form of that accursed thing that I know?”

“You saw correctly, Your Majesty.”

“I do not understand. How can a statue modeled after that accursed thing exist in such a place?”

Kaikilia’s face grew grim in real-time, perhaps recalling how she had simply fainted from the aftershock of the Draconic language, let alone properly responded, when the World-Eater appeared in the Imperial Palace.

It looked as if she would chop that statue into pieces right now if I gave her permission to destroy it.

“That is what we must find out from now on.”

“Find out from now on?”

Instead of grimness, surprise and unexpectedness appeared on her face. It was as if she was wondering if there was anything I didn’t know.

Her understanding was quick. Perhaps thinking I wouldn’t lie about such a thing, Kaikilia cleanly gave up, clicking her tongue with a deeply displeased expression.

The World-Eater was a boss whose settings were mostly undisclosed.

Its origin was unknown, its genesis was unknown, and it was unknown why it specifically sought to destroy the world. It was simply powerful enough to literally devour worlds, and desired only that.

It didn’t actually have a good purpose, nor did it try to evoke sympathy by claiming it was once good but had a reason for its corruption. It was, in common terms, a boss of the ‘absolute evil’ type.

Therefore, it was virtually impossible for the World-Eater to be worshipped in Hell instead of the Demon King. To that bastard, Hell would be nothing more or less than just another world to be destroyed.

“I was certain upon seeing your expression. Surely, there must have originally been something else in this place, not the head of that accursed thing. Tell me. In your knowledge, what existed in this place?”

Kaikilia, who had instantly grasped the core of the matter, questioned me. It seemed she had read some different emotion from my expression.

“It is the statue of the king who rules this place, that is to say…… Hell.”

“The King of Demons, you say…….”

Kaikilia’s expression crumpled.

“Then, is it not also impossible to completely rule out the possibility that that accursed thing has taken the king’s place instead of the one you speak of? It is quite a displeasing matter, is it not?”

“…….”

The World-Eater as the ruler of Hell-it was a sight hard to imagine. I had never even imagined I would have to ponder such a thing.

If the main story had been twisted or skipped, I could have understood and moved on, despite the confusion. It wasn’t as if I had only messed up one or two things so far.

But the fact that the World-Eater was being worshipped in Hell instead of Lucifer was something I simply couldn’t overlook, no matter how hard I tried.

I cleared my complicated thoughts and stepped onto the platform. The sides of the altar hollowed out, and red blood began to flow from within.

I stared blankly at the blood, then suddenly opened my mouth.

“Your Majesty.”

“I am listening.”

“It seems we will have to ask about this matter directly.”

“Ask whom, pray tell?”

“Who else would it be?”

By now, the altar was filled with blood. Scarlet blood surged within it.

“The one who should have originally been in that place.”

“……Are you really sure you don’t need me to come with you?”

Margarita, wearing the completed transfer device on her arm, asked with a worried voice. I nodded, and Kaikilia said nothing.

“It’s fine. I’ve already prepared a separate way to go anyway. If you’re truly worried, couldn’t His Holiness the Popes come over here using that device?”

If there was a demon stronghold, it would be enough justification for His Holiness the Pope to act directly. He would try to purify this place by any means necessary.

Floretta and Luna would come here directly because of me, but I decided not to mention that.

“That’s true, but…….”

Even with my words, Margarita couldn’t easily be convinced and hesitated. Kaikilia, who was beside her, snapped sharply.

“If you are so worried about us, then be gone quickly. Do you truly not know that one who cannot even fight demons constantly lingering near me is truly a hindrance?”

This wasn’t Kaikilia using harsh words because she was worried about Margarita deep down but couldn’t express it properly; it literally meant for her to ‘be gone quickly.’

How could Kaikilia worry about anyone other than the few people she favored?

Margarita, looking thoroughly intimidated, nodded and then used the transfer device. A massive transfer gate opened centered around the bracelet on her wrist, and her body was sucked into it.

Soon, the transfer gate itself gradually shrank and disappeared.

“Is it done?”

“That’s right.”

Kaikilia, having confirmed Margarita’s disappearance once more, naturally embraced me and then kissed me. As soon as our lips met, a lukewarm tongue intertwined between them.

Since she had mentioned giving me a ‘punishment,’ Kaikilia had made this demand at least once a day. Sometimes it was two or even three times. And each time, she would tremble so much that her legs would give out, yet she still did it.

I wondered if she had sent Margarita away as quickly as possible just now because she wanted to do this.

I, too, was now able to silently caress various parts of her body and intertwine our tongues. My left hand casually went to her buttock and kneaded it, while my other hand reached for her side.

“Huuht…… Ahh…….”

Kaikilia’s moans, which echoed whenever I caressed her back or kneaded her buttock, became increasingly lewd with each repetition. At first, there was a sense of her trying to hold back her moans, but now even that was gone.

Thanks to that, my hand movements also became bolder. Instead of caressing over her shirt, I pulled up her shirt and directly touched her bare skin.

Of course, even amidst that, Kaikilia was thoroughly losing herself.

The first time was when our tongues intertwined and I kneaded her buttock. The second time was when my right hand pulled up her shirt and directly kneaded her side. Not stopping there, the third time was when I moved up along her spine and touched her ribs.

Only after losing herself three times did Kaikilia release her arms from around my neck. Her eyes were unfocused, her tongue was half-lolling out, and her breathing was ragged. Overall, she was a mess.

Perhaps trying to maintain her dignity even in this situation, she pushed my hand away, intending to stand up on her own, but with her expression so utterly relaxed, there was no way she could maintain any dignity.

Kaikilia, supporting her body with trembling legs, tucked her shirt back into her pants and stood up. Her breathing gradually returned to normal.

“May I move, Your Majesty?”

-Nod.

Kaikilia, seemingly without the strength to speak, answered by nodding her head.

I stepped onto the magic circle. As I had always done, I concentrated my thoughts, recalling the destination, and red light seemed to bloom before I found myself in front of a massive castle.

True to the setting that it rivaled the Imperial Palace in scale, its size was endless. Kaikilia, who had by now recovered from her ragged breathing, clicked her tongue softly, as if displeased by that fact.

I checked the location where the statue was placed in the game. Again, nothing was visible.

“The way to enter the interior is-”

Before Kaikilia could even ask how to enter, the castle gate began to open with a *thud*.

It meant to come in.