Demon King

The Devil’s Lord – 4

I wanted to watch Mireina’s evolution, but I had no time. I experienced several violent changes when I evolved before, like when I became a higher entity, but now I was experiencing an evolution unlike that. What could I say? The trajectory I was drawing was different from my past self; I wasn’t returning to the past Baal I had been, although that certainly affected me. I was the demon named Baal; after all, I had the same soul.

But that was being all mixed with my powers of Greed, Gluttony, and Jealousy. I formed a new self by blending everything I acquired with the name and power of Baal. What shouldn’t be mixed was cut out, where the remaining parts were united under one strong will. The evolution took place in a realm far beyond suffering. Or to be precise, pain no longer made sense to me. The pain was nothing more than an alert of dangers to the body, but I was far beyond that. I already had a lot more clear and usable alarms to danger.

[Ahh.]

My past body was completely broken, and I couldn’t see it. There was just mana. Boiling mana that let me know I still existed—enough mana to break even the sky. The power of my subordinates had already been returned to them, so it was all mine. The new mana and soul mana, divided into two branches, were twisted and stretched. They moved with a terrifying momentum as they ate at each other, finally uniting together and radiating a brilliant light.

Entities in the lower system had a purely physical body with little mana but eventually received more as they grew. A parent entity abandoned that body to form a body and soul purely based on mana. And now I, finding even that distinction to be burdensome, was putting all of it together. The boundary between the body and the soul was destroyed. The body was the soul, and the soul was the body. Now I knew why Lucifer had tasted so sweet- he was the only complete food I’ve ever eaten. A soul and body united, just like me.

But there was one thing that hadn’t completely melted into me: that mystery stat, covered in question marks. It had always been with me, under the name of luck. But perhaps it was destiny instead. I didn’t know how it would affect me, so I left it unattended, but now everything else was being revealed, that question mark that still hid from me was annoying.

I could tell now that I had recovered most of my memories as Baal. It was a concept. It was up to me to interpret it. That was still something missing. That power that bears the name of destiny, or perhaps it only bore that name because I named it, was still clearly hidden within me. But I didn’t have the key to unlock it. The moment I thought about it, the mana that had been swirling around me stopped and began to form a shape in the air.

It was me. All the powers I had devoured so far were coming together to form my image.

“Finally…!” I heard Belphegor’s voice, overwhelmed by emotion, and I smiled softly. My face was already complete, and I could feel the muscles in my face moving. In a short time, when I didn’t have an exact shape as a being, I felt an infinite sense of freedom and frustration. I was free, yet unable to come into contact with others without my physical form. Perhaps it was to interact with others that some beings became fixed in the form of matter. With such an irrelevant thought, I stepped into the air. For a being full of magic, it didn’t matter whether there was land or air below one’s feet.

[Baal (Fate)]

[Lv 101]

[Magic – 7,875, Destiny – ???]

[Skill – Predation Lv9, Jealousy Lv9, Reaper Lv9, Domination Lv10, Magic Lv10]

[Once a great symbol, the underground races grew under the name of Baal and wished to serve him. Belkatina, Belkena, and a few others all are derived from his blood and have inherited his strength.]

[You have succeeded in reaching the root of your race, the greatest bloodline under the moon. By throwing off both falsehoods and weakness, you have gained the strength to stand at the center of a new history.]

[But you have to hurry, as all great historical records may be erased.]

The hint had been around from the start: Belkena and Belkatina, beings with my name. Of course, just knowing it wouldn’t have been enough. Now I had nine levels in Jealousy and Predation, which were the core powers that defined me. Since Greed was operating on a more fundamental level, it wasn’t specified by the power of skills, but I could feel it in all my words, thoughts, and actions. Other than that, all I had left was the Reaper skill, Domination, and my Magic skill.

“Mireina?”

“Not yet. I don’t think her evolution will end in a couple of minutes.”

“I see…” Belphegor’s attitude toward Mireina was unchanged, despite her being a companion that would be around for a while, assuming we succeeded against Heaven. It was all because of Mireina’s origin as a descendant from the Battlefield. I thought of her origins, and of Lucifer’s life and death. As I did, the light surrounding Mireina began to fade gradually.

“I feel a little weird.” Mireina absorbed the light and walked towards us.

“It’s like there is another me inside of me.”

“That means you’re properly wielding the power. Calm your mind and control it.”

“Okay. I can do it.”

“Hm…?” I felt a small sense of incongruity in her. But I wasn’t sure if it was because of her violent change from her evolution, or because of the way she was speaking.

“Fate?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” It wasn’t important. I looked up at Belphegor, calling my name and reaching out. Everything went as planned, and we prevented the destruction of the underground.

“…” I lowered my hand silently, only now realizing the change to the Battlefield.

“Where are we now?”

“The Rookie’s Battlefield, of course…Master Fate?”

“Where was it located?”

Only

“Earth, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah.” Lucifer, that motherfucker. I thought I prevented the Battlefield from becoming an independent world, but that was my mistake. Lucifer broke the Battlefield away from Earth before anything else! It wouldn’t be restored even if he gave up the power of Jealousy.

“From now, the battlefield will return to the Earth…!”

“No, it’s impossible because this world is already collapsing…shit!” What I had achieved since becoming a goblin was now pointless. All for his desire to become the creator of a new world for that crappy desire! How fleeting it was, how pathetic. He would kill L, the only other person he cared for, with such a desire. What would we do? Could I use my strength to restore the Battlefield to its original state, and then force a connection with Earth?

“No, there is no way the heavens can leave this alone…!” We had three weeks originally, but now it was about two. If I were going to fail, it would be because of Heaven. Not this!

‘What do I do? What should I do?’ The connection between the two worlds was broken. The Battlefield would no longer be connected to the underground and would disappear within a few minutes. The underground would be gone; all the people I loved would disappear without a trace. A cold wind blew through the heart that had been enriched by evolution. My head was empty in the face of this unexpected event. Would everything end like this? To Lucifer, who had already died? Would I finally be brought to my knees?

It was then; a thought came to me in a flash of light.

There was a world that could be connected to the underground.

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