Chapter 792: The Demon Realm

CLANG, clang.......

The moment the Prince’s light touched me.

The first thing I heard was the sound of metal colliding.

BOOOOOOOM.......

That was only the beginning.

The scene visible within someone’s memory.

The sky was burning red, and explosions continued everywhere.

And

-N-No.......

-It hurts, save me.......

-S-Someone...... please.......

The voices of those writhing in pain filled that vast battlefield.

-......Why?

And at that moment.

A miserable voice came from somewhere.

The viewpoint of the memory moved toward that voice.

SWISH.......

The body of the memory’s owner moved.

What appeared was a brilliantly shining hand.

Held in that hand...... was a beautiful golden spear containing immense power.

CRUNCH-!

The golden spear thrust forward.

A battlefield where countless beings were entangled in combat.

THUUUUD.......

The largest being there.

Collapsed after being pierced by that spear.

-Why, exactly?

The being pierced by the spear.

The one who had been the ruler of an entire world looked at the memory’s owner with a face full of questions even as it faded away.

-What...... did we do wrong?

CRACK.......

Then.

The memory’s owner spoke while violently twisting the spear embedded in the enemy.

-The crime of refusing to stand together.

And countless angels flew in behind him.

The light emitted from their bodies filled the surroundings.

The form of the world touched by that light changed, and many objects that had existed on the ground were seized by new physical laws and floated into the sky.

Precious objects.

Valuable resources.

Unique technologies.

And.

Even the souls of living beings.

FLASH.......

While the angels collected every precious thing from the surface.

The memory’s owner, having ended the war, rose into the sky without any lingering attachment.

The barrier of the world visible far away.

When he passed outside through the wall that had been half destroyed and breached.

'The void.'

An enormous universe whose end could not be seen.

The appearance of an infinite void emerged.

And.

RUMMMMMMBLE.......

Something was approaching from across that void.

An absurdly enormous world...... no.

A land created from countless worlds joined together.

FWAAAAASH.......

Something emerged from that land.

A red wasteland.

That desolate land stretched out like a long tentacle and approached the world.......

THUD!

The world the memory’s owner had left.

It was forcibly connected through the breached barrier.

CRRRRACK.......

Through the land connected in that manner.

The angels, each carrying objects from the surface, moved toward the larger world.

What remained was a world with only its framework left.

That world.

CRACK, crack...... CRRRRACK.......

Was thoroughly destroyed and crushed by the desolate wasteland.

And then.

It was ‘absorbed’ by that wasteland.

'......Just a little.'

And soon.

When not even the shape of that world remained.

'It grew larger.'

The red wasteland.

Had become slightly wider.

After confirming that one world had disappeared in that manner.

The memory’s owner moved somewhere else.

The absurdly vast void.

The countless universes existing within that void.

Among them was a universe glowing red.

When he approached it.

The forms of beings clinging to the barrier of that world became visible.

'Insects.'

Countless insects clung to the barrier of the world, gnawing away at it.

Toward the barrier weakened in that manner.

BOOM!

The memory’s owner.

Thrust that spear once again.

***

“......Keurgh!”

The memory ended in that manner.

The memory that the Prince had somehow tried to deliver to me.

The most shocking thing within it was...... the screams.

A world facing destruction.

Those who screamed for someone to save them within that world.

And the being who asked why.

'Urgh.......'

Remembering them made me feel like vomiting.

My insides churned so badly that it was difficult even to breathe properly.

That was only natural.

Because I had clearly realized what was happening within that memory.

“You.......”

And.

After barely pulling myself together, I looked at that giant of radiance and spoke.

“You said the Divine Realm Alliance was an alliance of those who wished to live together.”

=That is so.=

“An alliance of those who wished to fight together against the destruction that would someday come!”

=Precisely as you say.=

“Then.”

Suppressing the revulsion rising from within me, I spoke.

“What happens to those who do not wish to stand together?”

=.......=

At my words.

Avaritia seemed to think for a moment, then opened his mouth.

=You do not know what kind of destruction we must fight.=

“What?”

=At first, we believed it would be enough for several worlds to join forces. To recognize one another’s crises and lend strength when necessary...... an alliance in the purest sense. We believed that alone would allow us to overcome destruction together.=

Avaritia was a being who possessed immense power and displayed dignity befitting that power.

But now.

=We were wrong.=

A brilliant giant of radiance.

Such a thing should have been impossible for a being that emitted its own light.

=Such optimistic thoughts...... were nothing more than our absurd delusion.=

Now.

It seemed as though a shadow had fallen over his face.

Like someone afraid of something.

'......Just what kind of destruction are they preparing for?'

For a being of that magnitude.

To harbor such fear.

=An alliance of only a few worlds was absurdly insufficient. We needed an endless number of allies. It may be impossible even if every universe within that void joins forces.=

“.......”

=Even afterward, the Alliance continued searching for those who would stand together. We wished to unite our strength and resist this destruction. But as I said...... those who are born complete from the moment of their creation often fail to understand the concept of standing together.=

A destruction that might not be overcome even if the entire universe joined forces.

And amid all that, worlds that refused to cooperate had appeared.

=......For the Alliance to survive, we needed power.=

And at that moment.

The method they chose...... was quite simple.

=More power from those willing to stand together.=

When I refused his invitation to the Alliance.

The bastard, who had appeared favorable toward me, began treating me as an enemy from that moment onward.

I had thought that was because the position I would reach in the future posed a threat to them.

=And...... the power of those who refuse to stand together is no different.=

But I had been wrong.

=Even if they say they will not stand together with the Alliance.=

The invitation had not been a lie. His goodwill toward me had undoubtedly been sincere.

At the moment he descended upon this land.

He had surely been looking forward to my joining them.

But in the event that invitation was refused.

=The Alliance still needs their power.=

......Even if it had to obtain it through another method.

It would have tried to acquire our world and the power I possessed.

That was right.

“......Plunder.”

Putting aside his regret that we could not become allies.

He had intended to plunder us.

And.

At the exact moment I reached that realization.

FWAAAAASH.......

Another scene began appearing before my eyes.

***

The expanded vision I had obtained after reaching a higher rank.

Within that vision.

'The empty universe.......'

That was right.

The scenery of the ‘outside’ began to appear.

'This is the past.'

The universe visible within my sight was not the universe of the present.

It was further in the past.

Events that had taken place within that empty universe.

I could see countless stars and countless worlds floating in space.

And...... far away.

I saw several stars gathering in one place.

[The first alliance in the universe has been formed.]

The first alliance.

Stars that had begun gathering because they wished to stand together.

[A new concept has been born in the universe.]

The stars were beings that could influence the concepts of the universe through their very existence.

When they resolved for the first time to live together.

At that moment, a new concept was born in the universe.

Their great decision sent an enormous ripple throughout the universe.

[The concept of ‘together’ takes root throughout the universe.]

The stars that had come together in that manner.

It was the moment the first galaxy in the universe appeared.

At first, they were merely gathered together.

A very, very small galaxy, so unimpressive that it hardly seemed worthy of being called the first galaxy.

But even that was enough.

They helped one another and sensed one another’s crises.

Even amid countless threats of destruction, the stars were able to survive while protecting one another.

The stars united as one, the galaxy, survived together for longer than any other stars.

But...... then, one day.

BOOOOOOOM.......

One of those stars.

One of the greatest worlds among the original alliance met its destruction.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.......

After another long period of time had passed.

Another world was also unable to escape its approaching end and disappeared.

No matter how enormous the world.

No matter how great the star.

No matter how powerful the divinities.

Everything had an end.

The allies devoted everything they had to avoiding that end.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.......

Even so.

The stars continued to disappear.

Only then.

Those stars realized one fact.

'It is not enough.'

This amount alone.

The power of a mere small galaxy was not enough to overcome the end that existed within all things...... destruction.

'More stars.'

More stars gathered toward them.

The galaxy...... the ‘Divine Realm Alliance’ grew larger and larger.

But even then.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM.......

It was still not enough.

Even though so many stars had gathered in one place.

They were still unable to avoid destruction.

'If the stars that gathered are not enough.'

At that time.

The gathered stars made a decision.

'Then let us gather the stars that did not come willingly.'

And in that manner.

'We want to live.'

The stars outside the galaxy, the stars that did not belong to it.

'Even if.'

Toward those stars.......

'......We must destroy other worlds.'

A meteor shower began to fall.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A star that did not belong to the galaxy was destroyed.

Countless stars.

Stars that had merely existed peacefully were unable to withstand the invasion of the enormous galaxy and were destroyed one after another.

The worlds destroyed in that manner.

The remains of shattered stars.

When those remnants became cosmic dust and drifted through the void.

SWIRRRRL.......

The gravity of the galaxy reached them.

The dust that had become the remains of stars was drawn toward the enormous galaxy by its gravity and became one with it.

By doing so, the once-small galaxy was able to become slightly larger.

......And was able to survive slightly longer.

When the stars first gathered.

The concept of ‘standing together’ was born within the universe.

And after a far longer period had passed.

The moment the gathered stars decided to gather even the stars that refused to gather.

They destroyed other lives for the sake of their own.

The moment they made that decision.

[A new concept has been born in the universe.]

Within the world.

Another new concept was born.

[The concept of ‘evil’ is born in the universe.]

The first concept to be born.

That concept caused many changes throughout the universe.

One representative example was.

[A new dimension has appeared.]

The great Alliance.

The Divine Realm Alliance of those who wished to stand together.......

The dust of destroyed stars.

The remnants of worlds that had met their destruction.

A land where those who had suffered unwanted deaths gathered.

[A new dimension, ‘Hell,’ has been born!]

Hell.......

Or the world known as the Demon Realm.

[The birth of a new race has occurred in the universe.]

The leaders of the Divine Realm Alliance.

The great divinities who had resolved to stand together so they could survive.......

[Demons]

[Demons are the inhabitants of Hell, one of the most powerful dimensions in the entire universe.]

[They are the concept of evil itself and life-forms derived from it, a race possessing immense power that allows them to interfere with every dimension in which that concept exists.]

Came to be called demons.