After Ten Millennia in Hell

Belphegor frowned and rested his chin on his hand, leisurely leaning back on his chair. He narrowed his eyes.

Balrog was the vice commander of the demon king's army, as well as one of the demons who had received the demon king's favor. He was far above the level of regular archdemons and was known to be on par with the princes of Hell.

However…

[You dare face me, Belphegor, by yourself?]

Balrog was ultimately not a prince of Hell. There was an insurmountable gap between the princes and other demons, so even if he'd received the demon king's power and was considered the strongest among the archdemons, that was all there was to it.

Balrog couldn't defeat a prince of Hell.

The princes of Hell had been born to become absolute rules. There was no being in the far and wide Nine Hells, other than the ancient demonic beasts, who could fight a prince of Hell by themselves.

[Why? Are you scared?] Balrog asked, a smirk on his face.

[Hah.] Bephegor feigned laughter once again. He lowered his head and tried to hold back his laughter. [You must have lost your mind after winning the thousand-year war.]

Belphegor extended his hands toward Balrog and continued, [Remember this, Balrog: it was the demon king who won, not you.]

[You could not be more right.]

Balrog waved his hand, and a whip covered in dark-red flames appeared from a black Rift. He grabbed the whip, and the tips of his mouth went up.

[And you lost.]

[…]

Belphegor remained silent and glared at Balrog. The memories of the bitter defeat in the thousand-year war returned to him.

It was extremely unpleasant.

[You must have forgotten how scary the world is from being under the demon king for so long.] Belphegor mockingly added, [A mere remnant who could not even protect his master.]

[…]

A remnant… Balrog's eyebrows twitched.

[Have you completely forgotten about Beelzebub? He used to be your master, had he not?] Belphegor snickered.

Beelzebub, the Prince of Gluttony.

Among the princes, he was the only one who had his seat stolen by another demon. Bael had killed Beelzebub and taken his place.

The largest battle before the thousand-year war had been the war between Bael and Beelzebub. Beelzebub had lost, his position as prince of Hell had been stolen, and even his Hell Armament had acknowledged Bael as its new master.

Bael had devoured Beelzebub's retainers. All of them, save one, had died in immense pain. Only one demon managed to survive Bael. At the time, Beelzebub's most loyal subordinate was Balrog.

[Aah, I still remember how you looked when you lost your master. You made a fitting image of a loser who had lost his master and had been plundered of desire. Your dead eyes were truly a sight to behold.]

[…]

[Kekeke. And you went to the demon king to die in the most wretched way possible, did you not?]

The first meeting between Balrog and the demon king was quite a famous tale even in the Nine Hells. At the time, Balrog considered the most wretched death for a demon was to die at the hands of a human, so he had gone to the demon king and begged for the demon king to kill him. He yearned to be freed from the guilt of having been unable to protect his master by his side.

[… I am sure no one had expected that human to become the demon king.]

No one could have possibly imagined that the person Balrog had visited to die a most wretched death would become the demon king.

Belphegor shook his head as if he didn't even want to think about the demon king.

[But I am curious about it, even now. I am sure the demon king at the time was still weaker than you, so why did you serve him? Hm? Were you that desperate for a new master? It is truly something to lament. Have you imagined how much Beelzebub would grieve if he saw you right now?]

[Belphegor.]

[Pfft, hahahaha!! I cannot believe you forgot about the master that you had been so loyal to as soon as he died and switched to a new one.]

Tsk tsk.

Belphegor clicked his tongue.

[This is why raising a mutt to be loyal is pointless.]

Slam!

The giant Balrog shot up into the air. He swung his whip, which was covered in dark-red flames, with blinding speed.

[Hmph,] Belphegor snorted.

His Authority activated from his outstretched hand.

Authority of Stillness.

This Authority, which could drastically slow down the time in a certain area, restrained the whip.

The whip, which had been moving at supersonic speed, stopped in midair as if an invisible hand had grabbed it.

Tap!

Balrog let go of the whip without hesitation and shot down toward the ground while flapping his wings. He clasped his fingers together and swung his fists down on the ground.

Rumble!!

Rocks scattered in all directions like cannon fire, momentarily obstructing Belphegor's vision.

Belphegor's expression crumpled.

His Authority of Stillness had a condition—it could only drastically slow time in areas within his field of vision.

Since his vision was obstructed, the Authority of Stillness was dismissed.

Balrog appeared from between the rocks, and a huge fist resembling a boulder smashed Belphegor's head.

BOOM!!

The chair that Belphegor was in rolled backward quickly. Before the fist had touched him, Belphegor had narrowly managed to use the Authority of Stillness to protect his face.

[Kuh!]

Still, he wasn't able to fully mitigate the blow. Black blood dripped from Belphegor's mouth after he was hit by the demonic energy exuding from Balrog's fist.

With his back straight, Balrog said in a deep voice, [You talk too much. Is your mouth not as lazy as your body?]

[…]

Belphegor grimaced. He was humiliated by the fact that the likes of Balrog, who wasn't the demon king or a prince of Hell, had managed to deal the first blow.

[Worthless remnant!]

Belphegor extended both hands and, with the Authority of Stillness, created blades of time that couldn't be seen or heard. The formless blades, which would twist time in a fixed space to slash a target, poured down on Balrog.

Slash!

Balrog crouched down.

As the formless sword made contact with his demonic energy, the flow of demonic energy in that area slowed down drastically.

Balrog closed his eyes.

Belphegor's attacks couldn't be seen, so using his eyes would only hinder him.

He needed to dodge the formless attacks using only the demonic energy that he could sense from them. Using rapid movements that were hard to believe were performed by someone with his giant physique, Balrog dodged the blades and approached Belphegor.

He clenched his right hand into a fist, and his whip, which had been on the floor, flew toward him as if it were alive and wrapped around his fist. He twisted his body and pulled back his fist, which was blazing with dark-red flames.

[Do you seriously believe that will work on me?!]

Belphegor mockingly laughed at him. He created a barrier that wrapped around his body with the Authority of Stillness. Everything that entered the area five centimeters from his skin was put at a standstill due to the drastically inhibited flow of time.

It was an absolute barrier.

[Sky…]

Balrog stretched his left foot forward and stepped firmly on the ground, pulling his shoulder back and lowering himself. He concentrated all of his strength on a single point before unleashing his fist in a display of explosive power.

[… Breaker.]

BOOOOM!

It was a technique of his master, Oh Kang-Woo.

Although it was just a simple punch, the principle behind it was extremely complex. One needed to have perfect control over the demonic energy that flowed from one's hips to the shoulder and to the fist, and let it burst the moment one punched. But of course, even Balrog would be met with immense recoil if he used such a technique.

However, Balrog had a characteristic no other demon had: Demonic Armor. Balrog possessed a barrier of demonic energy above his skin that he did not even need to consciously maintain.

That unique characteristic protected his fist, and…

[Kurgh!!!]

Belphegor's body bent over like a bow. He was blown away along with his chair and rolled over the ground violently. He coughed up a massive amount of black blood.

[H-How?]

Belphegor looked at Balrog in confusion.

Even if the strength in Balrog's fist was powerful, it shouldn't have been able to pass through his Authority, which controlled the flow of time. It wasn't possible.

[Shit, shit, shit!!]

Belphegor cursed with his hands on the ground. Balrog slowly walked toward him.

Remnant.

That sad nickname echoed through his head.

"Stop shitting around being a fucking drama queen and screw off."

Memories of the past came back to him like a flashback.

"I was not able to protect my master."

"Who asked?"

"I came to you to pay for my sins."

"The fuck are you on about?"

Balrog explained to Kang-Woo, who did not seem to understand, the humiliation of dying by a human's hand. Kang-Woo feigned laughter after listening to the explanation.

"Oh, so you came here to die?"

"Yes."

"Haaa. I should've known from your dead-ass eyes."

He laughed from the absurdity and walked away, ignoring Balrog.

"Save the pity show for TV, dickhead."

"…"

"Stop being a bother and fuck off. I'm busy."

"You… are not afraid."

"What?"

"This is the Ninth Hell. It is ruled by the princes of Hell. It is completely different from the Hells that you have been in."

"I've heard it all before coming here, man."

"No, you do not know. You… have no idea how terrifying the princes are. If you did, there is no way that you would not be afraid."

"Fucking hell, you're so damn nosy."

Kang-Woo lightly stomped on the ground and flew toward him; then he grabbed his collar.

Balrog was finally able to see his eyes.

His white eyes and black irises stared at Balrog.

"Ah…"

Chills went down Balrog's spine.

Kang-Woo's eyes were shining with a desire stronger than that of any demon. His desires were burning to the point of madness.

Balrog already knew the name of the desire reflected in his eyes.

"I don't give a fuck about the princes or whatever else is here," Kang-woo said. "It doesn't change what I have to do."

Answer to evil with greater evil, and return bloodlust with even greater bloodlust. Keep moving forward while devouring everything in the world.

"If you're done talking, then fuck off. I have no time to waste on a fucking remnant like you. If you want a humiliating death, stick your head into a demonic beast's ass or something."

[HAHAHAHA!]

Balrog, who had been walking toward Belphegor, suddenly burst into laughter after walking down memory lane.

[Balrog…!]

[Aah, my apologies. I just thought of something from the past.]

Balrog smiled. He raised his fist, which was covered in dark-red flames, and beckoned Belphegor with the other hand to taunt him.

[Stand up, Belphegor. The battle has only just begun.]

[Kuh.]

Belphegor glared at Balrog intensely before placing his hands on the ground and pushing himself up. He placed his hand on the chair he had been sitting in.

[Balrog.]

Thick demonic energy swept away the surroundings.

Crack, Crunch!

The wheelchair changed form. The fragments of the broken chair gathered back together to create armor, which was white as if it had been made from bone.

[I will make you regret making me stand.]

Sloth, the Hell Armament in the form of armor emitting drearily evil energy, wrapped around Belphegor.