BOOM-!!
The ground shook like an earthquake was happening.
A huge crack ran through the terrain.
Crack-.
A chilling sound could be heard from the surface, which was turned up and down. The split land began to rise to about 30 meters.
Hundreds of pillars appeared that you had to lift your head to see the end of.
"What the…?"
Anton looked around while making a confused expression.
The place had definitely been a field.
—One that was so plain you could even see the horizon.
That field had suddenly turned into a mountainous area.
'He changed the terrain?'
‘What kind of nonsense is this?’
They often said that when you fought against a world-ranker, the battle’s terrain changed.
But that was always something figurative.
In reality, no one could change a field into a mountainous area.
…No one except for the monster in front of him.
'Just what kind of attribute does he have…?'
Antoon looked at him cautiously.
Seeing how the surface had suddenly changed, there was a huge chance that his attribute was related to controlling the forces of nature.
'And earth on top of that…'
Anton opened his book. He looked at the demons with sharp eyes.
"What are you doing? The fight that you’ve been craving so much is finally here. Kill that bastard!" He screamed as if he were about to have a seizure.
The demons were also distracted by how the surface had suddenly changed. After they heard Anton's scream, they returned to their senses and picked up their weapons.
Anton cast magic and glared at KangWoo.
'The only thing that changed is the terrain.'
There was no big difference.
Although it was incredible that he could turn the surface upside down, it wasn't like that would make a huge difference.
'It's just a performance that looks fancy.'
There was no need to feel overwhelmed.
It wasn't like you could win a fight by changing the terrain.
The only difference was that the scenery he had to kill that guy in had changed.
"Zajas Zajas Nastanada Zajas."
Anton erased the uneasiness he was feeling and concentrated on casting.
* * *
[Hahaha! It's finally slaughter time!]
[Die, human!]
The demons charged toward him; KangWoo slowly raised his head.
They charged toward him while stepping on the pillars over the changed terrain.
"Haha."
KangWoo let out a short smile.
He raised his hand.
"Oh well…"
Hundreds of demons were charging toward him, and Anton was casting magic.
He thought he understood Anton’s thoughts.
What did he think while ordering such an attack?
He probably thought that it was only a change in the terrain, that it was a meaningless performance, and that it wouldn't affect the battle in any way.
"There's no way that's all it is."
The tips of his mouth went up.
There was no way that was true.
He wouldn't have changed the terrain if there wasn't a meaning behind it.
No, in the first place, it wasn't something done to change the terrain.
"Burn."
Fwoosh-!
Black flames spouted from the cracked surface.
The fire devoured the two demons that were charging toward him.
He raised his right hand and swung it from right to left.
Boom-!
A huge stone was cut, and fire as sticky as lava came out from the fragments.
[AAARRRGGGHHH!!!]
The screams of a demon spread. Half of its body had melted down.
[Move, you weaklings!]
A demon with four arms pushed the demon that was on the floor, twisting its body.
Eyes that were the size of a basketball focused on KangWoo.
[Hahaha! I'm Rakum of the 6th hell. With these four arms, I can perfectly use four weapons flawl—]
Slash-!
A black light flashed.
The Key of the Demonic Energy Sea had turned into a sword.
Another demon walked past the one that had just been split in two.
[I'm 5th hell’s…]
[I'm Scarta, overlord of the 6th hell!]
Crack-!
KangWoo flicked his finger. The Authority of Waves spreading from his finger made the bodies of the two demons explode.
"KIIEEKK!"
"KRRRR!"
Even demonic monsters that had come out of nowhere were being killed.
They weren't low-ranking monsters from the 1st hell, but they were at least creatures that lived in the 3rd hell.
It seemed like Anton had gathered the forces that were too great to waste in a war.
"Ahh."
* * *
KangWoo took a deep breath.
He grabbed the Key of the Demonic Energy Sea in reverse and increased the amount of demonic energy flowing in his blood.
He took a deep breath and combined four Authorities.
The main Authority was going to be the Authority of the Blade, which was the Authority of a demon called Sabnac. Among the different Authorities, it was often considered one of the weakest.
But even that useless Authority could become extremely dangerous when he used it.
Crack-!
He stabbed the ground with the sword, and a fissure exploded forward.
He sent some demonic energy into it.
Crack-!
[AAGGHH!]
[WH-WHAT THE…!]
A shadow grew in size from the fissure’s center.
It looked as if the night sky was being reflected on the ground. Sharp swords rose from within the shadow.
The demons were torn apart. Hundreds, thousands of swords appeared as if they were stars in the middle of the night.
Many demons started flying.
The entire surface became covered in swords.
KangWoo pulled the swords from the ground. The fissure disappeared, and the sharp swords became black fog and scattered away.
He turned around.
'Is there about half left?'
About half of the demons weren't able to fly and dodge the swords.
The other half had dodged the attacks and were flying away.
He pointed the swords upward toward the demons that were flying.
Demonic energy flowed out of his body as if it was stagnant water.
His head became cloudy for a moment.
'It's okay.'
It wasn't that he had run out of demonic energy or used the Ten Thousand Demon Core…
His head hurt a bit because he couldn't follow the calculations.
He was used to that much. It was just that there were so many variables that he was starting to feel bored.
[Escape!]
[Wh-What the?! Who's that monster?!]
[W-wait. Don't tell me…]
One of the demons that were trying to escape suddenly paled.
He turned his body around while making an expression that seemed he'd realized something.
[N-no way…]
He had heard of something before… The fight of a human against the seven archdukes. The tale of the Demon King who had swept them away and how he'd wiped out Belphegor's forces almost instantly.
Rising mountains… A shadow that covered the surface… Thousands of swords.
It all matched what he had heard.
[H-how could that be?]
He tried to deny it. It was something that shouldn’t be happening.
‘The Demon King. Why is the symbol of Hell here?’
A sword that was pointing toward the sky slowly made a cut.
At the same time, a stone over 30 meters tall in diameter started to tremble, and a breathtaking demonic energy filled the place.
"Sunset."
They heard a small mumble as if it were thunder.
A stone exploded, and black lava poured from the sky.
[A, aah…]
He let out an exclamation. The demon turned his head and looked around; he couldn't see the bright sun anymore.
The world was devoured by darkness.
* * *
Boil.
The land boiled, covered with black lava. Not even a single seed was able to survive.
The surface became distorted and burned.
The 9th hell…
It was the deepest hell—a place where the strongest demons gathered.
The fields of Manchuria resembled the distorted landscape of the 9th hell.
"Haa, Ahh!"
An old man ran through that distorted landscape.
Anton couldn't understand what was going on. He looked like he was having a terrible nightmare.
He threw the Book of Nightmares, half of which had been burned, away.
Half of his right arm had melted down, and his torso had been cut.
Dark red blood flowed out from the wound. He turned his head with trembling eyes.
He saw a demon there.
"Ah, aah…"
"I told you to not act as if you know me."
The demon spread his hand.
He grabbed the back of Anton’s head and looked at him with eyes full of madness.
"So, do you still know who I am?"
"Y-yyoouu. Just who…?"
He couldn't properly speak.
He felt pressure as if he'd come face to face with an absolute being—as if a deep Abyss with a floor that couldn't be touched was surrounding him.
It wasn't a foreign feeling. He'd felt something similar when he’d met those in the upper echelons of the Demon Cult.
'No.'
He shook his head. He tried to remember that time. He compared the energy he could feel from the demon in front of him to what he'd felt that day.
He hadn't felt a fear so deep that it reminded him of a sea when he met the beings that were in the upper echelons of the Demon Cult.
"Who… Are you?"
"Why do you want to know?"
The demon spread his hand.
A black fog flowed out from the demon and covered him. No, it wasn't just that. A black fog spread out from the burned and distorted surface.
"Is knowing who I am going to help you? If I tell you, will you willingly die without feeling any remorse? Hey, buddy, this isn't time to say stuff like that."
"…"
He remained silent. Those were words he couldn't deny.
There was only one thing he should be saying…
"S-save me…"
His body trembled.
A strong craving to live covered him.
It was the eternal life he had obtained after sacrificing too many people.
He didn't want to die in a desolate field.
"Yes. This is much better."
The demon nodded in satisfaction.
"But haven’t you also heard those very words quite a lot? To have so much demonic energy inside your body, you probably didn't kill only one or two people."
"…"
He couldn't say anything.
He remembered the past…
People begging for mercy…
He'd heard them a lot.
He had quite a lot of fun hearing the screams of the offerings begging for mercy before he killed them.
The demon laughed while looking at him.
A smile similar to his when he'd looked at the offerings was on the demon’s face.
"What did you do back then? Oh, I'm just asking this as a courtesy. I already know what you did."
Anton looked at him with a pale expression.
"Did you save anyone even once?"
"…"
No. There was no way that had been the case. To him, the offerings were just food he used to gain more demonic energy.
No lion stopped hunting if he saw the deer crying.
"Ah, aah…"
He extended his hand desperately.
The demon smiled and grabbed his hand.
"Haha. I feel similar to you because of this. Yes, you said that we were similar. Right? I'm going to accept that's true, at least partially."
You could feel a bit of shyness in the demon's voice.
He scratched his head while making a shy expression.
"Because I also never saved anyone."
Crunch-!
A black fog crushed and swallowed Anton's body.
