Demon King

Black Palace – 4

“What about the fallen…humans inhabiting the bodies of monsters?”

[It is Satan who laid the groundwork for the technique of injecting a soul into the body of a monster.]

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. It felt like I wouldn’t survive if I didn’t. Exhaling, I opened my eyes again.

“Why?” I couldn’t ask him to empathize with my humanity. He was doing as I commanded; I was the one who directed him. I wanted to let go of everything, but I still had to hold onto the string of consciousness. The sins I committed were plain before me. Not only to the farmer Fate, but many others I killed either directly or indirectly. I even created the beings called fallen and was behind the Rookie’s Battlefield. Which meant I influenced the creation of the Chaos Souls as well. It was too much for just an individual to achieve.

[Are you okay?]

“No…” I shook my head and pushed on.

“Why is the battlefield and the underground still around?”

[As I said, it is because of Satan and the arrogant one. The representatives of those two worlds have lost their power, and thus they could not be completely connected.]

That was the cause of the underworld’s issues—the dungeons connecting with Earth and the soul monsters being born on the battlefield. No doubt, more side effects were happening that I wasn’t aware of.

[If you leave it alone, both worlds will disappear sooner or later.]

The twisted connection of dull mana between the two remained.

“How do I correct this?”

[You can forcibly connect one of the two worlds with the other to merge them. You are already doing that.]

‘Alright, I’m already doing that.’ Perhaps the next battle would be the last, then.

[As you regain your strength, the arrogant one must also regain his. You must be careful, as the battlefield overflows with distorted human souls.]

“Ah, yes. Right.” Only after listening to him did a thought pop up in my mind. The purpose of developing the Chaos Souls. I thought they were meant to clean up humanity and fight demons, but now I knew. Learning that the arrogant one was as weak as I was, it became possible for me to think of a new line of reasoning. Perhaps the Chaos Soul was, from the start, studied to restore my adversary’s power. The Chaos Soul army was just a by-product.

“Hahaha…” He was annoyingly vicious, but I couldn’t fully blame him. I felt like I was a villain, no different from him. I had the sole purpose of surviving myself. I lived by trampling on everyone else. But, despite that, I still wanted to live. In this world, I wanted to survive. It’s not that I wouldn’t admit to my sins. To deny my past would be to deny myself. Even if I had to carry them all on my back, I wanted to survive. Even knowing how bad I was, how many died because of me, I still wanted to live.

It was a selfish and ugly desire, but I wanted to live with those precious to me. I knew now how precious and brilliant a life could be. But I would break those bright and beautiful lives if it meant protecting myself and those I cared for. I hated myself for thinking that way, but I couldn’t help it. I recalled the time I woke up as a goblin. When I moved with only the desire to survive. Nothing had changed since then. So I made up my mind. I accepted my ugly self and forged a new will that wouldn’t be broken by anyone.

“I will survive, Batsago.”

[Do that. Satan will reign over the underground.]

Even after calling his name, his power couldn’t be recovered since it was tied to the battlefield. However, he nodded, happy to have his name back.

[Then, I will tell you of the present and the future.]

“…” The real task I had entrusted to Batsago started now.

[Heaven has started to move. They realized that the Great Fusion might have a worse consequence for them.]

“…”

[It divided the underground in half, but at the same time, it provided them an opportunity. They had been unable to show their strength due to conflict, but whoever would win that fight would have access to enormous power above Heaven. They began to prepare troops to destroy each side individually.]

“What about a group of self-proclaimed warriors?”

[Little more than scouts. Heaven has already recovered those with outstanding abilities during the Great Fusion and gave them power. Soon, their threats will be realized.]

“What is Heaven?”

[It is an area separate from the physical world. It is thought to be different from the Earth or the underground, where individuals with a sense of self are gathered.]

“The fallen angels were just a part of it. Does it have a single sense of will?”

[Perhaps so.]

I could imagine a rough outline of what Heaven was like, though there was still much I didn’t know.

“The black moon…”

[That’s correct. It is similar]

A united will and a massive collection of power. It did resemble the black moon and that annoying voice that made itself known each Devil’s Night.

“I have a sense of it now.” My adversary, Lucifer, the master of arrogance. He was cast out of Heaven himself. It rejected the parts of it that were displayed; no doubt, the black moon was a part of that as well. A distant sense of despair and anger welled inside me. I was filled with the desire to get rid of that black moon somehow. As these emotions overwhelmed me, an explosion of mana rocked me from within.

[New Magic increased by 187.]

[Soul Magic increased by 284.]

[Predation became Lv8.]

[Reaper became Lv7.]

It was a growth so sudden, it felt like an explosion. I became more aware of myself and what stood before me, which caused me to grow. As the threads of memory recording in my soul were gradually untangling, its power was melding into me.

[Three weeks from now is when the heavens will draw their sword. Humans supported by them will arrogantly aim that sword at you. So, dear Satan, you have to hurry.]

“Ha, I see.” Corrupted angels, demons, humans, and the heavens. All beings who hated each other, facing off in this world. How exquisite. They would continue until either one or nothing was left, condemning and punishing one another while avoiding their sins. I couldn’t avoid it myself, and I had no intention of trying. I already decided to survive.

[The first thing you need to do is clean up the other Black Palaces.]

“Batsago, are there demons in the other areas of the Black Palace?”

Only

[There are demons with their purpose in the seven zones, but the most important are seven and one. From zone one to six, the most important thing is not the demon but the chain that binds them.]

“The chain?”

[Yes.]

Batsago pointed toward the chain that bound him. At that moment, I impulsively reached out to it. The moment my hand touched it, it stuck to me. Batsago, now freed, politely sat in front of me. The pocket watch I always carried shone a little. The chain hanging from the end of it stuck to the chain I now held in my hand.

[You have obtained a sealing chain.]

[5/6 of the sealing chain remains.]

Two notification windows popped up in front of me as I looked at the pocket watch. The chain hanging at the end of it reduced to a fraction of its former size as if it lost a sixth of itself. By releasing that chain, I had released part of the seal of this watch. If I collected the others, the seal on the watch would be fully broken.

As a vague guess, the watch had to contain a tremendous amount of power to require six sealing chains. What it would do, however, I wasn’t sure.