EP.4
Inside the cave, which was enormous, Jörmungandr, the serpent with a body as massive as the cave itself, stared into a small lake within while deep in thought.
‘Am I… really that frightening to look at?’
He hadn’t encountered humans very often.
When he first opened his eyes in this world, it was in the Otherworldly Realm, filled with dangerous Abominations that humans could not approach.
After defeating those Abominations and gradually growing, he had fallen asleep.
Then, upon waking briefly due to a commotion, he consumed a strange burning lizard, and thousands of years passed once more.
During that time, he had only encountered humans four times.
Once in the Otherworldly Realm, once when eating the lizard, and then twice just recently.
Out of those encounters, there had been only one human who showed him kindness, or at least didn’t flee in terror, which had been in the Otherworldly Realm.
In reality… the human he met in the Otherworldly Realm was merely a Polymorphed being, nevertheless.
Oh?
So did all the humans I encountered just run away?
Or were they trembling in fear?
[…….]
The surface of the lake rippled, revealing the massive serpent.
Jet-black scales and mysterious blue eyes that radiated an aura.
To be honest, he looked magnificent.
With beautifully shimmering dark scales and eyes that seemed capable of subduing any Abomination with just a gaze.
Was there any reason to be frightened of this appearance?
Of course… he was a bit large, but still.
He knew that he resembled those beings labeled as ‘Abominations’…
No matter how you looked at it, if they screamed in terror and ran away, it would be hurtful.
‘… How boring.’
There was nothing that could be considered entertainment for him.
Even in a fantasy world, it was just a medieval era filled with magic and swords.
There couldn’t possibly be any interesting amusements.
A sense of loneliness began to creep in.
No matter how much he now resembled a snake cloaked in armored scales, he was once human.
He hadn’t lost his human heart.
What he valued most throughout countless years spent as a serpent was maintaining his identity.
There had been a time when he pondered and wandered.
But that was a long time ago.
The adolescent angst of contemplating one’s identity had been resolved long ago in the Otherworldly Realm.
Regardless, thanks to that, he still maintained his identity as a human, and naturally felt the emotions that humans often experience.
Especially boredom and loneliness.
Those two were rather lethal.
That was the reason he had spent thousands of years sleeping, wasting time. Because awakening brought nothing but boredom and tedium. He had vaguely hoped that as time passed, interesting things would happen… but nothing much changed.
It was still boring and tedious.
If he could, he wanted to visit other civilizations.
But considering the reactions of the humans he had met thus far, it didn’t seem like a good choice. He could only imagine the sight of them trembling in fear and fleeing in disarray.
‘Guess I’ll just stay in this cave.’
Just as he thought that, he coiled himself up.
[Are you the one who killed my loyal subordinate?]
The Demon King appeared in the cave.
* * *
This world exists with both the Human Realm and the Demon Realm.
The Human Realm is a place created by goddesses, where beings including humans, elves, and beastkin reside. It’s the place commonly referenced in fantasy.
In contrast, the Demon Realm is home to beings created by the Demon God, including Demon Beasts, Abominations, the Demon Race, and the Demon King. It is where beings that exist in opposition to the Survivor Hero dwell.
At first, both worlds were completely isolated.
In the beginning, it was the two dragons created by the Goddess and the Demon God who were orchestrating the world.
The Demon Race did not covet the Human Realm, and humans did not challenge the Demon Realm.
They were peacefully coexisting within their respective domains.
However, the meaning of the dragons, the world’s orchestrators, gradually faded away.
As the boundaries between the two worlds became increasingly blurred, the Demon Realm began to encroach upon the Human Realm.
The beings of the Demon Realm were inherently combative.
They were creatures that sought to grow stronger by devouring one another.
Thus, there were occasions when particular entities within the Demon Realm became exceptionally powerful. Eventually, a being emerged who unified the Demon Realm entirely after endless ages.
The denizens of the Demon Realm, filled with awe, referred to this being as the “Demon King.”
The first action of the Demon King was to halt the infighting among them.
Naturally, discontent arose, but the Demon King paid little mind to it. Complaints voiced were merely the acts of insignificant creatures lacking even the courage to fight back.
Of course, he did not merely resort to coercion.
The Demon King persuaded the beings of the Demon Realm.
“Is this place not too barren?”
Not a blade of grass or a single tree grows, and all the flora and fauna emerging from the earth are decaying due to demonic influences.
Therefore, in order for the Demon Beasts to survive, they had to continuously devour their own kind.
They needed to fill their hungry bellies.
They had to grow stronger to consume more predators.
Using his power, the Demon King connected the two worlds, showcasing the abundant resources of the Human Realm.
A rich land and a paradise flowing with milk and honey.
The Demon Beasts viewed that place as a kind of “paradise.”
Through the portal opened by the Demon King’s power, the invasion of the Human Realm commenced.
Thus, the Demon King’s plans for invading the Human Realm progressed smoothly. The human realm, long softened by peace, was swiftly overrun by the Demon Realm, and as they gradually captured more territory, the conquest of the Human Realm seemed imminent.
The emergence of the “Survivor Hero” became the variable.
Fools buoyed by the blessings of the goddesses. The Survivor Hero, possessing the potential to surpass the limits of the human race, became the greatest obstacle to the Demon King.
[If possible, I would like to sweep them all away….]
Damn goddess.
Is it true that even rotten things can be tested?
Because of the laws she established, the Demon King could not surpass that portal.
At least, not until a Survivor Hero equivalent to the Demon King was born.
Thus, the actions available to the Demon King were limited.
Yet, he could still detach a part of his physical form to create new beings. He could forcibly implant his cells into strong Abominations and explosively increase their power under his control.
That entity wreaked havoc upon the Human Realm with ease, but still.
The Survivor Hero remained a problem.
[Still, now….]
He flicked his hand.
Soon, he would be able to gaze across that portal.
He felt assured about crossing into the Human Realm.
Although the goddess’s laws were incredibly potent, after thousands of years, they had diluted and weakened, reaching a point where he could analyze their nature.
[Even that goddess must be running low on resources.]
No matter how strong the Survivor Hero may be.
In the end, they were merely humans who confined themselves to their limits.
A few exceptional ones posed a danger, but other Survivor Heroes were no major threat to the Demon Realm.
At that moment, as the Demon King gauged the strength of the laws, he noticed something.
[Huh?]
His loyal subordinate, Cerberus, was dead.
Had it ended there, he wouldn’t have cared much.
No matter how resilient Cerberus had become by absorbing his own cells, he was still just a pawn in his long game. There was no need to concern himself over a mere Cerberus.
[So it seems.]
Thousands of years ago, the power that killed his masterpiece, the Evil Dragon Kellyaxis.
[I thought he was dead after all this time.]
No matter how formidable the Survivor Hero may be, they cannot escape their innate limitations. They could not possibly live for thousands of years, far beyond the lifespan bestowed upon them.
Thus, I had deemed the one who killed the Evil Dragon to also be a Survivor Hero, believing him to be dead.
Is that not the case?
Curiosity sparked within him.
Who, indeed, could be the one to slay two of his creations?
He severed one of his fingers.
That severed finger began to twitch on the floor, soon transforming into a perfect replica of the Demon King himself.
The total amount of power was not equal.
While it could potentially match, that would still mean he could not cross over that portal.
Just a tiny bit.
Merely a minuscule strength that barely registered, yet even that was perilously close to crossing the portal.
Had he not spent thousands of years analyzing and deconstructing the laws, even a mere avatar would find it challenging to breach the portal.
And then, he faced it.
In a vast cavern, a gigantic coiled dragon.
[Are you the one who killed my loyal subordinate?]
[…….]
The blue eyes turned towards the Demon King.
In an instant, feeling a jolt in his body from those alien and mysterious eyes, the Demon King was struck with profound shock.
‘Is it possible that I… felt fear?’
It was an unbelievable thought.
Yet, the deeper the creature’s gaze fixed upon him, the trembling fear rising from his instincts was undoubtedly not an illusion.
Even if it were a restrained avatar, it possessed the strength capable of killing his subordinates, the Evil Dragon and Cerberus, hundreds of times over. Moreover, it contained a fragment of his own consciousness, transcending the limits of mortals. And yet, feeling fear merely from their eyes meeting?
The Demon King denied it.
He convinced himself that it was merely this creature’s talent for instilling fear in others.
However——
[You reek of rot.]
[…What?]
The moment the displeasure was expressed in those eyes, and just a hint of the creature’s true power was revealed—
[Die.]
‘……!!’
His very existence was obliterated.
Without a trace, perfectly.
[cough…]
The avatar was annihilated.
The Demon King, coughing up blood from the aftershock, smiled grimly.
[I never expected such a being to remain in the Human Realm.]
For the first time, since the Demon King was born, his heart began to race violently.
Life had been utterly mundane.
No creature dared to challenge him, and in his lifetime, no being had even come close to offering a worthy contest, let alone a game.
However.
That dragon was different.
Even as an avatar, merely revealing a fraction of its true power had completely eradicated his avatar.
[At least equal to, or perhaps slightly above…]
It was astonishing.
That he, who had never been uncertain of victory, now found himself at a loss.
[A reason has emerged to break this law sooner rather than later.]
The Demon King’s mouth split into a wide grin.
[How exciting.]
The day he would devour you is drawing closer.
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