Contemplation was sufficient.
There was no more hesitation or doubt.
I feel the weight of the Great Judge of the Underworld settling in within me.
If this continues, my Inner World will eventually fill with the seat of the Judge, making any attempt to remove it impossible.
Judgment was swift.
|Ah, no······!|
The moment I snapped my fingers, my Inner World condensed infinitely.
It was an undeniably vast and colossal realm.
The high sky crumpled, and the expansive snowfield got all wrinkly.
It shrank and shrank until it condensed into a single point.
|H-how is that even possible?!|
“How is it possible, you ask?”
|The Inner World is just an independent microcosm······. As for overseeing the microcosm as its master, that might be possible, but destroying it at will is out of the question—|
“There’s no reason it can’t be done.”
Looks like Satan views ‘My Inner World’ as something too grand.
He believes only beings as mighty as God of Underworld can condense and destroy a world.
But that’s not the case.
“What significance does my Inner World hold? It’s simple. That world is also a part of me. A large part at that.”
It’s no different from wordplay.
Referring to it as ‘My Inner World’ makes it sound like ‘I’ and ‘My Inner World’ are independent, right?
But the two can never be separated.
When a person dies, the Inner World also perishes.
When a person is disturbed, the Inner World starts crumbling.
Unconsciously or consciously, we are always interacting with that Inner World.
So, it’s possible to infinitely expand it.
Even to infinitely condense and destroy it.
Of course, it seems I’m the only one who can manipulate that Inner World freely in such a short time.
‘My Inner World’ is ultimately a part of me.
Among those parts, it constitutes a significant aspect of my identity.
The moment I was appointed as the Great Judge of the Underworld and that seat entered my Inner World, such doubts turned into certainty.
The moment this world is eradicated,
What proves my existence will vanish.
And I will also be forgotten and perish in this world.
“The seat of the Judge clings to my identity, right? Then all I have to do is cut my soul, cut my mental image, and cut my existence. To be free!”
|B-but if you do that, you will be forgotten by everyone! Even if you go back, no one will remember or recognize you! Is that truly what you desire—|
“Someone will remember me.”
|······?!|
Gently.
When I raised my clasped hands with Mi Jeong, Satan’s eyes bulged.
I’m not the only one who makes up ‘me.’
I haven’t shared blood, soul, or anything with Mi Jeong.
But already, in the emptiness of nothingness, we hold onto each other and prove each other’s existence through our shared history.
With her, I won’t disappear.
My existence will be proven by Mi Jeong.
Even if everyone forgets, Mi Jeong will remember me until the end.
That’s enough.
As long as I don’t disappear, I can plan for the future as much as I want.
“I once thought I had no talent throughout my life, but arriving in the Demon World, I found unexpected talents and enjoyed it. But now I think it’s time to shed it all.”
|Wait! Wait, reconsider! I made a mistake!|
“What will change now that you admit it’s a mistake? It won’t get back the Judge’s seat.”
|But I will somehow—|
“There’s no time. I can’t leave my women as widows for long. It seems our connection ends here. I owe you a lot!”
Tap.
As my finger snapped, a loud sound echoed.
The Inner World, which had condensed into a point, exploded and was destroyed.
The Judge’s seat inside it.
The vast snowfield, battered by blizzards.
All the things that constituted me were scattered to pieces.
And my line of sight went dark.
.
.
.
|Hoo······|
In a corner of the devastated Demon World.
A tenth of the Demon World’s lands had dried up due to Demonic Energy.
At the center, there remained the soot of a massive explosion.
But from Satan, who had slumped down in the center, no injuries could be found.
|Someone came.|
Someone had passed by.
It was definitely no small influence.
Just their existence stirred the whole Demon World.
And Satan’s long-prepared plans had to be revised.
Yet, no matter how he retraced his memories, he couldn’t recall who it was.
As if someone had artificially taken away those memories.
Or, as if their very existence had been erased from this world······.
|Ugh······ Ughahahahaha!|
Satan slapped his forehead and burst into a strange laugh.
He still couldn’t remember the identity of ‘that’ person, but he deduced what had transpired.
‘They’ were a human, acquainted with death.
Having never exhibited any talents in the Current World, they first flourished in the Demon World.
They quickly gained enough power to command the entire Demon World like a Ruler.
Enough qualification to ensure they would never leave the Demon World was passed down along with the Judge’s seat······.
Yet ‘they’ made a choice that surpassed Satan’s imagination.
They threw everything away.
Without regret or hesitation.
They abandoned their near-omnipotent power.
Gave up on their own existence.
Even while smashing that Inner World they had just learned to handle, they left the Demon World.
The reason was simple.
So simple it was ridiculous.
For nothing else but freedom.
|Hahahahaha! Foolish! Foolish! Freedom is not something someone can just hand over!|
A part of the Demon World lay desolated, plans were disarrayed, and memories were wiped, and it should have been displeasing.
Yet, with a realization, Satan felt as if he had grasped the world in his hands.
He had long clung to his plan.
Realized his ideology was foolish.
The plan to have the seven Great Demons sacrifice themselves to grant freedom to all demons.
Might sound convincing, but in reality, he understood that wasn’t the case.
Happiness without hardship isn’t precious.
In the same vein, freedom gained for free holds no value.
Freedom is something earned through bloodshed and effort.
It was only after witnessing the desperate struggle of a single human that he recognized that obvious truth.
|I’ve become sorry for Belphegor······.|
He was blinded.
What he pursued was not a glamorous ideal at all.
He had believed he was performing a noble sacrifice bearing all the sins of the demons.
Yet nearly sacrificed his daughter, pushing the Demon World into chaos.
It was pure luck that he was stopped just in time.
With such thoughts, Satan gazed up at the sky.
The emptiness of nothingness spread.
He perhaps was waiting for obliteration, foolishly drifting through the void.
Or he might have successfully returned to the Current World.
No. Maybe he was looking at me scornfully from right next to me······.
|You grant me only enlightenment. I’ve yet to offer anything. I’m not sure if it will reach you here······. But as a Great Demon Lord, I will bestow you my blessing, Great Judge of the Underworld.|
From Satan’s fingertips, black Demonic Energy began to crawl up.
The Demonic Energy fluttered like smoke from an extinguished candle, soaring into the sky.
In an instant, it bent as if caught in some attraction.
|······!|
However, after that, the Demonic Energy showed no strange movements.
It only slowly rose into the emptiness of nothingness.
Whether it was properly heading toward the human beyond the void or simply scattering meaninglessly was something no one could know.
.
.
.
‘I’ am fading away.
My sight goes dark.
Sounds are cut off.
Except for the faint touch of my clasped hands with Mi Jeong, the sense of everything is fading, and it’s still something I can’t get accustomed to.
I’m scared.
I’m scared of disappearing.
I’m scared of failing to keep my promise with the heroines.
But because of that.
I must move forward.
In the pitch-blackness, where I can’t see a step ahead.
I gripped my sword.
I couldn’t tell whether I was holding a sword or Demonic Energy in my hand, but that’s not what mattered.
I cut through space. The means don’t matter.
Longinus’ Spear, the sword, and Demonic Energy.
These are all tools considered essential for rending space and opening a dimensional rift.
But that’s not really the case.
If I can get Belphegor’s string, there’s no need to rely on such tools anymore.
Slowly remembering my past,
I recreate the ‘me’ that ripped through the rift.
I want to move my feet, but I have no way to confirm if they actually move.
I can’t even tell if space is being cut.
I can only believe.
I can only pray that what I’ve learned wasn’t in vain.
Done!
And finally, I felt the taste of success.
The sensation of triumph flowed like electricity through my entire soul from my touchless hands.
I quickly grabbed each hand and jumped inward.
In that moment, my field of vision opened up.
A clear, bright light poured down.
But that was an illusion.
It wasn’t particularly bright light.
It was merely that I mistook it as bright because I emerged from a world of nothingness into a world where light existed.
Once my eyes adjusted, I saw it was an incredibly dark and pitch-black space.
And it seemed I had somehow been here before.
“Gah······!”
Thud!
With a sudden sinking sensation from within, blood spewed out.
I hurriedly covered the eyes and ears of the two people beside me and fixated my gaze upwards.
Darkness.
Endless pitch-black darkness.
The God of Underworld, the King of Hell, looked down upon us enshrined in a body stained with spirits.
|In the end, as I said, we meet again here in the Underworld.|
“I greet the God of Underworld······.”
|No need for formalities. It’s just you and me here. Isn’t that right?|
“······.”
Though it seemed devoid of emotion and mechanical in tone.
For some reason, I could vaguely sense a hint of anger from the God of Underworld’s words.
‘Damn. How was I discovered?’
I intended to erase my existence and slip away from the God of Underworld’s sight towards the Current World······.
But things got tangled.
Very thoroughly tangled.
