Demon King

Lord of Pride – 1

The world began to shake.

No, the underground and my very existence was shaking. Lucifer declared he would create an entire world by himself, but that would destroy the relationship between the underground and the Rookie’s Battlefield. If that happened, they would disappear without leaving a trace. It would undo all I had done to prepare for the Great Fusion, killing all inhabitants of the underground.

“Lucifer, you…!”

“Fate, you can’t.”

“…I want to kill you.”

[My bride, you are the only one in this world worth salvaging. You, who monopolize the beauty of this entire world. I was delayed in preparing your gift, but please forgive me.]

The giant sphere that carried his message expanded for a moment, creating a black gate in the air that only one could pass through. It was a gate made solely for L. What would happen to any other than her who tried to pass was too horrible to try and imagine.

[Come on, come on. It’s been so long since I’ve seen your face.]

“If you don’t want to die, be silent. That is the worst proposal I’ve heard in my life.” L spat out the words with an expression of disgust, but Lucifer replied without missing a beat.

[Between Fate, who has no strength to protect you, and I, who can create an entire world, isn’t the answer clear? I see no issue with my words.]

“It’s your existence that’s the problem.”

[The weak are instinctively attracted to the strong. To survive, you chose Fate, the strongest one you know, and he protected you. Isn’t that it?]

Slowly, but steadily, the tremors increased in magnitude. We still had time; giving his new world any independence would be no easy feat. There was only one thing I could do now, whether I liked it or not. I began to increase the mana around my body, surrounding myself with the power of Domination. L turned her gaze from me to the floating sphere in the air, her eyes piercing through it as if she were looking at Lucifer himself.

“You don’t know anything. I don’t even need to tell you anything about me. You just assume you are the best in the world, and as such must have the most beautiful woman by your side.”

[…]

Unlike Lucifer, I knew her answer from the beginning. Arrogant as he was, he thought the best thing for him was the best for others, but it wasn’t. He didn’t understand the reason behind the Great Fusion or why L was here like this.

“I will stay with Fate. I can’t lie to my own heart even if I’m erased. Lucifer, it is a fact among the demons of the world that the most emotional one is none other than me. My feelings will never be moved with such cheap threats.” The sphere shook unusually at her rant. The mana inside showed signs of losing control, but I noticed what he was trying to do.

[I see. After you disappear from the world, no one with your beauty will ever be born again in the new world.]

It was nothing but full agreement with her words.

[Foolish. You can’t see the obvious before your very eyes. I will erase you without leaving anything.]

“You are more disgusting and filthy than a rotting carcass filled with maggots!” The sphere exploded as L’s cry rang out. Dozens of chains sent out by Rain momentarily suppressed the explosion, but only for a few seconds. Nevertheless, it was enough time for me to exert the energy of Predation.

“Finally.” I encased Lucifer’s exploding energy with a dark gray cloud. Violent power slammed into me as I struggled to absorb it. The magic that was trying to open the gate to the battlefield raged around me.

[I know what you’re trying to do, but it’s in vain. There’s nothing left for you! All you can do is count the time left until your destruction.]

Lucifer’s consciousness remained connected to this place through the mana that made up the sphere. I was too busy focusing on the magic to listen to his hateful words. My mana was slowly eating away at it and soothing me.

[No…why?]

More specifically, it wasn’t magic. Rather, I was preparing to activate the abilities of my Domination skill. I could call out to my subordinates through my original skill, but now I could move to them as much as possible. Even if I were no longer an elf, I could go to the battlefield so long as one of my subordinates was there. What I prepared now was that very skill. I didn’t know what Lucifer was thinking, but I had already predicted he would behave beyond my expectations, which was why I dared to place Mireina on the battlefield in advance.

I needed to infiltrate it. I wanted to gather information in advance, of course, but my main purpose had always been that. I wanted to take all of the troops I commanded there, but I could only take one or two in reality.

[There is something there…hm?]

Then Lucifer noticed. Anyone who knew that I could command and nurture the corps would quickly catch on to my plan.

[Fate, I’ve been caught!]

“It’s okay, it’s over now!” Mireina sent me a panicked message, but I responded confidently to her as I raised my mana.

[You…oh!]

At the moment, his message disappeared neatly with his exploding mana, a door of mana appearing in their place. It was a door that only two could pass through, and I didn’t know if they’d be able to return.

“This.” I twisted the doorknob as Rain let out a groan at his realization. But L laughed and slapped his back.

“Rain.”

“Of course I would like to assist Fate. But L, perhaps…”

“My power won’t work on him. But you are different, that’s why Fate brought you.” L already caught on to everything.

“Fate, come back after trampling on that arrogant trash that won’t admit you’re king. Don’t dilly-dally though, or you won’t be able to see me again.” L was confident in my victory even against this strong foe. I had to admit. Whether or not we had a past together, I had to fall in love with her. But she was right, if I took too long, the world would end completely, and the underground would disappear. I had no time to say goodbye.

“I’ll be back.”

“I’ll be waiting.” I nodded firmly at her and swung the door open.

“Rain, let’s go.”

“…Alright, Fate. We’ll fight together again after a long time.” We jumped through together, our surroundings changing. We went from bloody clouds to white light, from a brown wasteland to green meadows. Countless souls rose in the air, fiercely rotating around the huge castle where Lucifer awaited. I saw Mireina right away, enduring against an enemy offensive.

“Fate!” Mireina ran desperately to cling onto me. We didn’t take long, but it must’ve been a matter of life or death for her. I was convinced she wouldn’t die, but checking her safety was enough to let me fully relax. I gently stroked her hair while summoning magic to fight the enemy. I believed that L would be able to forgive me for this much.

“Hey, he’s here!”

“Such a filthy thing in this beautiful world!”

All of the elite legions of the battlefield were gathered before us. The fallen legion, led by Lucifer. They hated the Heavens just like the demons, but they tried to solve it by creating a new world, fully participating in Lucifer’s plan to eradicate the demons.

[You fool, Fate. You must’ve already realized the difference between us.]

His voice resonated throughout the world. He was already assimilated into the battlefield; it was as if he was now the world. Just standing there was enough to make me feel the burden of it weighing down on me. However, there were two who didn’t feel it. Rain, who never lost himself anywhere, and Mireina, who could deny anything to maintain the purity of her soul.

“You are the fool. You must be well aware you didn’t create this place alone. Wasn’t that why you didn’t want me here?” Now was the moment of my counterattack.

“Kill him!”

“He is the dirty demon who betrayed us and tried to sacrifice us! He made this all happen, he made us fall!”

“Kill him!” The fallen angels flooded toward me, but Lucifer already knew what I was going to do. I clicked my tongue, slowly calling out their names.

“Beled, Berid, Basin, Gamigin, Valepor…”

As soon as the fallen angels’ names filled the air, the war began to change dramatically.