‘What is this?’
The Demon Dragon Duke, who had been preparing an attack to finish off his opponent, unconsciously twitched his six eyes.
Because he possessed an exceedingly keen perception far beyond the realm of ordinary senses, he could tell.
‘The flow...’
Just now.
For some unknown reason, the air in the area had changed completely in an instant.
The current that had deviated from the channel he had laid out was no longer merely trickling away, but had begun to race headlong into unknown territory!
[Ha! It seems you’re making one last desperate struggle! But it’s already too late to flail about now!]
But he paid it no mind and pressed on even harder with what he had been doing.
His opponent had allowed even the “instant death” that he himself could not use often, and had suffered fatal damage.
No matter how much she had minimized the damage through her lofty rank, there was no way she could properly respond to the attack that followed.
Goooooo—
The pitch-black energy gathered in the Demon Dragon Duke’s mouth writhed.
At the same time, countless magic circles began to rise throughout his entire domain, covering several kilometers of the sky above.
An original spell formula of his own, linked to his breath.
It was a strategic weapon in itself, pouring down breath-class bombardment over the entire designated area.
‘This will end you! If you can block it again, then go ahead and try!’
The surrounding mana surged violently, being sucked in like a vortex.
At that ominous current, the demons fighting fiercely on the ground found themselves looking up at the sky without realizing it.
Because space had converged and phase had twisted, there was nowhere to flee and no way to evade.
A torrent of destruction covering every possible area Hella might take.
Before the essence of that overwhelming violence, she wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth while suffering from internal injuries, and...
“Pfft! I’ll admit what should be admitted. You really are impressive, aren’t you?”
...still burst into an untroubled laugh.
Even though she was facing head-on the flow of destructive energy about to pour down upon her, not the slightest hint of unease showed in her attitude.
Wooooong—
Even in the meantime, the great magic circle covering the area advanced little by little toward completion, as though extremely intricate parts were fitting into place one by one.
At this point, even if one tried to interfere with the construction of mana belatedly, it would be meaningless.
That enormous magic circle, half-alive in its own right—if any part in the middle were disrupted, it would simply complete a new picture suited to that disruption.
“Heh, but compared to you, who failed several times already and are venting your anger like this, I still seem to be the more impressive one. Sadly for you, that is.”
Of course, even such a precise spell formula was not without weaknesses.
It was just that, in the current situation, aiming for that weakness was so difficult as to be nearly impossible.
“I’ll gladly accept your gift. So now, why don’t you—”
Hella’s red inverted eyes began to waver.
The pupils at their center transformed endlessly, beginning with red, then turning blue, yellow, and pure white.
That change only stopped when they became the same black as her eyeballs.
The eyes, now indistinguishable from the pupils and resembling nothing more than pitch-black beads, faced forward.
Toward the center of the changes occurring around them, the most important core, and at the same time the fatal weakness—
“[Would you die for me?]”
—toward the Demon Dragon Duke, Krushire.
[What?! Kgh! Cough! Gaaah! This is... don’t tell me...!]
Blood poured from the Demon Dragon’s massive body.
Pwaak—! Spatter!
The power of “instant death” dug into his body and mind.
Because of it, the breath that had filled his mouth and continued to compress scattered vainly.
As the energy that had slipped from his control in that instant began to destroy him from within, the enormous magic circle that had been meshing together like gears also began to creak all at once, then slowly collapse.
‘How in the world...!’
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
No, in this case, it would be more accurate to say he had given a little and received a lot in return.
The Demon Dragon, who had been dealt back even greater damage than he had inflicted, glared at his opponent with six bloodied eyes wide open.
‘A Mystic Eye of Instant Death? Her Mystic Eye changed? Instant death, after domination?’
His mind fell into chaos.
A member of the Mystic Eye clan possessed only the single Mystic Eye they were born with in their lifetime.
He had never heard or seen anything about someone awakening a new Mystic Eye after birth.
And there was no possibility that she had received something from another member of the Mystic Eye clan, either.
After all.
He had already uprooted every last remnant of the Mystic Eye clan himself!
‘And yet, even though that should be the case...!’
The past he had thought buried had revived and once again stood in his way.
***
The Demon Dragon Duke, Krushire.
He was, in name and reality, the being currently called the strongest in the Demon Realm, but of course, he had not been so strong from the beginning.
On the contrary, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the countless brushes with death he had experienced before reaching his current position had made him what he was now.
As Hella had pointed out, he was originally a fugitive who had violated the laws of dragons and fled into the Demon Realm.
A very long time ago, during the Juvenile period of a dragon’s adolescence.
At some point, he realized that the treatment he and the other dragons received was utterly unreasonable.
‘Why must we dragons, the greatest beings in the world, live so quietly and restrain ourselves like this? Even those worthless insects build civilizations of their own, receive the worship of their inferiors, and live as they please, so why am I, who am far superior to them, unable to move as I wish?’
Dragons were beings so remarkable that they could not even be compared to other inferior races.
Even at the moment of birth, they could crush most opponents with their innate power alone, and merely growing older caused their mana and bodies to develop endlessly.
Even the gate of transcendence, which other races challenged at the risk of their lives and which only a handful could pass through, was nothing more than a rite of passage to them.
However, they had one decisive problem that offset all those advantages.
They were bound by as many restrictions as their power was great, and could not use that power as they pleased.
Krushire was dissatisfied not only with those stifling laws, but also with the entire old-fashioned clan that meekly followed them.
‘We are the ones—no, I am the one most suited to be ruler of the world! And yet why! Why in the world!’
...In truth, he naturally knew the reason.
To maintain harmony and moderation, and to protect the balance of the world.
All the abilities they possessed existed solely for that purpose, and in the first place, that was the background behind the birth of the race called dragons, as well as the meaning of their existence.
The instinct for it had been embedded in his mind from the moment he was born, so how could he not know?
‘A destiny as a dragon? A predetermined fate? What nonsense!’
But he, who possessed a way of thinking different in nature from other dragons, could not accept it at all.
That was a problem on an entirely different level from intelligence.
Just because he had been born that way from the start, he was supposed to follow it as a matter of course!
Even now, when he was not yet a thousand years old, he felt as though he were suffocating.
He could not accept the fact that he would have to endure such a dragon’s life for thousands of years or more to come.
And so time passed as he pressed those dark emotions deep into his heart.
Before long, he became a proper adult dragon and gained his independence.
And finally, when there was no longer anyone to interfere with him, he immediately put into action a certain task he had only been planning all along.
[It is to break the restrictions that bind my existence and surpass my limits. Ordinary methods would not even come close.]
As one who was well-versed in all the magic of the world, he already knew exactly what mystery best suited those conditions.
A power that defied heaven, twisted the predetermined flow, and compelled the demonic.
—It was “black magic.”
‘In any case, I have plenty of time. I must proceed step by step so I don’t get caught by the tail through rash movement... If I advance little by little, someday I will surely reach the end.’
Unlike other easygoing dragons, he possessed an intensity almost like that of a human, and he carried out his work with utmost thoroughness by mobilizing all of his abilities.
He offered entire villages and cities as sacrifices, instigated wars in the human world to collect negative energy, and even created a continent-scale terrorist organization to shake the world from behind the scenes.
Even so, he always kept his true body one step removed, doing his utmost to avoid suspicion.
Had about a thousand years passed that way?
[...What are you? How did you know of this place and come here?]
“Please do not be so wary. I have come to help you. No, to be more precise, should I say our interests align?”
[Ha! A mere insignificant creature dares to act arrogant. Fine. I’ll search your brain while you’re still alive!]
“Oh dear, it seems my introduction will have to wait until a little later.”
Their first meeting was not very pleasant, but the bond with the “Apostle” who suddenly came to him became a considerable help in carrying out his great task.
Thanks to that, he even succeeded in hunting several dragons of his own clan and secretly offering their spirits and flesh as sacrifices.
‘Pigs who have settled down in complacency! Be grateful that you can be of use to me, even like this.’
But a long tail is bound to be stepped on.
No matter how careful he was, he could not remain perfect for thousands upon thousands of years.
One day, after roughly another thousand years had passed, his actions were finally exposed, and he found himself being hunted by the other dragons.
[Krushire, you wretch! In the end, you laid your hands upon the taboo!]
[The laws you have violated until now are not just one or two. Just how long have you been hiding your true nature and disturbing order...? Atone for those sins with death.]
At the time, thanks to actively using black magic and sacrifices, he possessed military power unfitting for his age. But when the entire dragon race began to move in order to eliminate the impurity known as Krushire, there was nothing he could do but flee.
‘Vermin who have abandoned freedom and become slaves of god! I swear I will return and chew you alive!’
Fortunately, with the Apostle’s help, he was able to take refuge in the Demon Realm. For the time being, he treated his injured body and began to gradually modify it to suit the surrounding environment.
Thanks to the results of his research thus far, which he had carried out to surpass the limits of the species called dragons, that task was not particularly difficult.
He took the energy of the Demon Realm into his body, used the demons he hunted to transform his flesh, and slowly turned his own body into that of a demon.
‘Yes, in a sense, isn’t this actually an opportunity? Here in the Demon Realm, I will cast off the limits of dragons and become a higher being! Not merely an Ancient Dragon... not even merely at the level of a Dragon Lord...!’
At that point, he had only one goal.
To ascend to the seat of the Demon King, the pinnacle of the Demon Realm.
If he could accomplish that, what he would do next was already decided.
Not as a dragon, but as the Demon King, he would return to the land from which he had been chased like a fugitive and force the entire world to its knees!
He endured and endured, with only the single-minded resolve to become the Demon King, even as he faced not only high-ranking demons who came rushing in to hunt him, but entire armies as well.
The ceaseless struggle that continued for more than a thousand years without rest made him grow rapidly.
He absorbed the foundations of the opponents he defeated, stole the knowledge they had accumulated, and devoured the essence that formed the basis of their power.
And yet—
‘Why...!’
Although there was no doubt that he continued to grow stronger, he could not draw any closer to his goal.
During the selection of the Twelfth Demon King, when he was still a marquis-class demon, he had not even held any expectations.
Knowing that he was still lacking, he voluntarily placed himself under the command of the most likely Demon King candidate, and ultimately, under the one who smoothly seized the Demon King’s throne, he quietly cultivated his strength.
However, after the Twelfth Demon King set out to invade the continent and returned with fatal injuries.
From that point onward, he began to step forward in earnest and reveal his presence.
And after steadily building his power, the Demon Dragon Krushire finally rose to become a duke-class demon, confidently participated in the selection battle for the Thirteenth Demon King, and...
‘Damn it, I was so close! To think there were so many who had fallen to that sinister bastard’s Mystic Eye of Domination? Not a single thing is going according to plan!’
After holding the advantage from beginning to end, at the very moment when the Demon King’s seat was right before his eyes.
By the narrowest of margins, he had yielded the victor’s position to his rival, a candidate of the Mystic Eye clan.
‘...Hoo, hoo. It can’t be helped. Still, it’s all right. With this much, next time I’ll be certain to claim the seat.’
Though his insides burned bitterly, he quickly gathered himself and, grinding his teeth harder than ever, prepared for the next selection.
The cultivation he had accumulated over the years was not insignificant, so he was able not to cling to what had passed for long.
But after more time had gone by.
When the selection for the 14th Demon King was held once again...
[Graaaah! R’lyeh—! You mongrel, again!]
Even he could not easily maintain his composure the moment the Demon King’s seat was snatched away from him by the narrowest of margins yet again.
What left an even deeper wound on his pride was the fact that his opponent was the daughter—barely a few hundred years old—of his rival, the 13th Demon King, who had not even been born at the time of the previous Demon King selection.
Of course, there were excuses.
It was true that his faction, painstakingly nurtured while preparing for the Demon King selection for so long, was formidable. But it was not enough to surpass the union of the old Demon King faction, the followers of the 13th, the Mystic Eye clan, and Dream Walker, the faction of the Succubus Queen, another duke-class demon.
Furthermore, R’lyeh’s demonic allure, bearing that irritating Mystic Eye inherited from the 13th Demon King, was so extraordinary that it captivated not only the neutral faction, who had yet to choose a side and were merely watching for an opportunity, but even members of hostile forces. In a way, it was not strange that things had turned out that way.
‘The Mystic Eye of Domination! Because of that again!’
The Mystic Eye race was classified as a small tribe, with not many of them remaining in the Demon Realm, but thanks to the mighty Mystic Eyes they were born with, their combat prowess was widely known.
And the power of “Domination” was considered the greatest ability among all Mystic Eyes throughout history—
[.........]
At some emotion boiling up from deep within his chest, his insides burned pitch-black.
The wicked demonic dragon felt no need to suppress that emotion.
Then, one day.
“Phee-hee, greetings, sir. I heard a great deal about you from my predecessor, hehe. I’ll be in your care from now on, sir.”
An unidentified apostle of a god, constantly letting out a frivolous laugh, came to find him, though how he had set foot upon the soil of the Demon Realm was a mystery.
“...By the way, it seems you do have some sort of concern, sir? Kkilkkilkkil! I believe I may be able to offer you a bit of help?”
He took the other party’s hand without hesitation.
As expected, enough to remind him of the apostle he had once worked with before, the fellow was exceedingly capable and possessed a highly useful ability.
So much so that he thought even this suffocating situation could be unraveled somehow with that help.
Based on such assistance, he began preparing a revolution that would overturn the Demon Realm.
He devised all sorts of plans and brought them to success.
Using the fact that little time remained until the invasion of the continent, he incited the dukes’ sense of crisis and set himself in opposition to R’lyeh.
Meanwhile, he actively guided the situation so that the Demon Realm’s invasion of the continent would fail, and after the expedition finally ended in failure, he threw himself into eliminating the remaining remnants.
‘Because the other dukes sensed something was off and interfered, I couldn’t completely finish off Dream Walker as well, but...’
They must have intended to use them to keep him in check, as he had become the strongest force.
Fortunately, he had been able to thoroughly deal with the Mystic Eye clan, who had been the highest-priority target for eradication.
They were by no means weak, but the heavy damage they had suffered while supporting the continental expedition proved fatal.
‘Thanks to that, I gained quite a bit as well.’
The demonic dragon Krushire carried out all manner of experiments and research on those he had captured.
At last, he not only uncovered the mechanism behind their abilities, but, based on the results of that research, succeeded in selecting the six Mystic Eyes he liked best and transplanting them into himself.
And the moment he saw the owner of the “Mystic Eye of Instant Death,” who had been nothing more than a child at the time—he immediately realized one fact.
If he had not acted this time... if he had simply prepared for the next generation’s Demon King selection as he always had until now.
Then the next Demon King’s throne would not have been his either.
That starting a revolution had been the absolutely correct decision.
‘And yet.’
The power of instant death wielded by a mere child had not worked on him.
That insolent little brat, who had glared straight at him even as the members of the same clan died around them—that being who had been a promising candidate for the next Demon King—had fallen miserably into despair upon facing the reality that their power did not work on him, and perished.
“Mm, is this how it feels? It’ll take a little time to get used to it.”
But now.
A half-blood demon with an atmosphere remarkably similar to R’lyeh, who had already died and vanished.
Was using the power he had thought he had completely uprooted and stolen with his own hands back then.
Just like that little brat from that time.
While looking straight at him.
“Well, I’m sure I’ll get used to it if I use it often enough. Now then, shall I use the others while I’m at it?”
No, perhaps what he had felt back then had been a misconception.
Even if that child with the Mystic Eye of Instant Death had grown up, there was no way they could have surpassed such an incomprehensible being.
‘It isn’t just instant death. Don’t tell me, all the Mystic Eyes I possessed...!’
Hella’s eyes began to shine in a multitude of colors once more.
The End