Before that, I briefly raised my left hand and activated Anti Magic. The bastard claimed he was only using about 70% of his power, but beings like him were never to be trusted.
A white light shot out from my ring, colliding with the dark blue inferno rushing toward me. The flames twisted and mixed with the light before ultimately vanishing. However, the demonfire that Belphegor had unleashed merely faltered for a brief moment before continuing its relentless charge at me.
When I first cast Anti Magic, the demon's eyes widened in intrigue. But once he saw the result, he let out a mocking laugh.
"Foolish mongrel. If you truly believed that mere human magic could block the flames of a great demon, then you are gravely mistaken. This fire is an eternal burning hellfire, permitted only to those of Duke rank or higher—"
"Shut up, you idiot."
"You dare—"
I stopped listening. No, it would be more accurate to say that I chose to block him out because I had no interest in hearing any more.
The demonfire was already closing in. Gripping my sword tightly, I raised it and aimed straight ahead. Then, I closed my eyes.
Rise, Hwajung.
Awaken and show this worthless creature what true eternal fire really is.
At the call of my inner voice, I felt the ancient priestess's tattoo engraved on my heart flare to life. Along with it, I sensed Hwajung, the pure embodiment of fire, answering my call. Channeling its power into my sword, I swung.
To any ordinary onlooker, it might have seemed like a simple horizontal slash. But in truth, it was an unparalleled strike—flawless, without even the slightest miscalculation or waste.
With a swift motion, I spun my sword in a full circle. The moment the blade completed its arc, I felt a faint resistance at its tip—followed by the sharp crackle of fireworks echoing in all directions.
The demonfire that Belphegor had sent hurtling toward me was split cleanly in two, so effortlessly that it was almost anticlimactic. The flames, now severed, remained suspended in the air for a fleeting moment before burning away into nothingness.
Lowering my sword, I let it hang at my side. Around me, my comrades—who had just begun chanting defensive spells—froze mid-incantation. Even Belphegor, who had been smirking with absolute confidence, audibly sucked in a breath.
This brief exchange had been more than enough for me to gauge his true strength.
"Seems like I overestimated you. Are you sure you were using 70%? Feels more like… 50%? No, maybe 60%?"
At my mocking remark, the demon's face twisted for the first time. But he quickly composed himself, his expression hardening as he demanded in a grave tone:
"You… What did you do?!"
"You saw it with your own eyes."
"Impossible! That flame is reserved only for the highest-ranking demons! There is no way a mere human could extinguish it!"
"And yet, here we are." I scoffed. "You saw it happen, and you're still talking nonsense? Are all these so-called 'high-ranking demons' as stupid as you? Thanks for the intel, by the way."
"Ghh…!"
Belphegor seethed, barely restraining his fury, before summoning another massive demonfire. Above his outstretched right hand, a sphere of seething black flames began to take form.
Seeing this, I too raised my sword once more, gathering pure crimson aura around its edge.
"I'll make sure you never run that arrogant mouth again."
Belphegor gritted his teeth as he spat out those words. Watching him, I maintained a calm, serious expression before speaking.
"You've already seen that your so-called 'demon flames' don't work on me. Rather than wasting time, why don't you show me a new trick?"
"Silence!"
With a furious roar, he swung his arm again.
A massive fireball—easily ten times the size of a soccer ball—hurtled toward me. In the past, I might have charged straight through it in a reckless head-on assault. But I no longer needed to fight that way.
Taking a deep breath, I focused on the two powers within me:
The authority of a Sword Specialist, capable of cutting through anything.
The authority of Hwajung, capable of burning anything to ash.
The moment those two forces aligned, I swung my sword without hesitation.
Boom!
Fwoosh…!
"I-It can't be…!"
Belphegor stared ahead in stunned disbelief, his eyes wide as if possessed by something.
His enormous fireball—his strongest attack thus far—had been sliced cleanly in half. And from the point of severance, a single brilliant flame ignited, consuming the remnants of his attack entirely.
Finally, the expression I had been waiting for appeared on Belphegor's face. It is fun. I wanted to step on him. Tear him into a million pieces. And kill him.
I tried to steady myself, to stay calm—but the more I tried, the harder it was to suppress the excitement surging within me. My breathing had already turned rough, so I took a moment to compose myself before speaking slowly.
"Got anything else to show me?"
"W-What are you saying…?"
"Summoning the Cursed Sword Sculepf? Calling forth the Colossus of Ruin? Or maybe…"
I paused for a moment before curling my lips into a smirk.
"…preparing to flee using Dark Fairytale?"
Listing off his trump cards one by one, I watched as Belphegor's expression twisted into sheer confusion. He stammered, his voice laced with disbelief.
"H-How…?! Who the hell are you?!"
"Whoa, relax. Is this how Lilith taught you to act in situations like this?"
At the mention of Lilith, I saw it—Belphegor's face twisted into barely contained rage.
The Demon Realm was ruled by the law of the strong. Pride ran deep, but once a demon submitted to a superior force, they swore absolute loyalty. That was their nature—but only among demons.
The moment I brought up Lilith, his face contorted once more, this time in barely restrained fury.
"Watch your mouth…! She is not someone a mere mongrel like you should speak of so carelessly!"
"Why not? Lilith? You mean the one known as the Whore of the Demon Realm?"
I grinned.
"Everyone knows how she got utterly destroyed by Astaroth and ended up as his personal plaything. Oh? Wait—don't tell me you didn't know?"
This was something I had only discovered by pure chance in my first life. By then, a lot of time had already passed, but I had heard that this incident occurred long before I even entered Hall Plain. And when it came to provoking the fiercely loyal demons under Lilith, there was no better weapon than this truth.
As expected, my taunt finally pushed Belphegor over the edge.
"KRAAAAAAH!!"
With a monstrous roar, Belphegor raised both hands toward the sky. At that moment, the very space around him twisted violently, and an ominous, suffocating energy spread through the air.
For the first time, my party—who had remained silent until now—visibly tensed, glancing around with uneasy expressions.
I turned to them and spoke in a firm voice.
"An-Hyun, Yun-Jung—stay where you are. Mages and priests, use every defensive spell you know and protect the party."
"Kim Su-Hyeon! What the hell are you talking about?!"
Vivienne shouted at me. The others wore the same concerned expressions, but they remained silent, suppressed under the sheer weight of my killing intent.
Vivienne, at least, was strong enough to resist it and still speak—but barely.
I exhaled sharply and gave my final order.
"I'm not going to repeat myself. I don't care about the others, but this one—I'll handle him myself. Stay back."
Even as I spoke, Belphegor's aura only grew more intense.
I stole a quick glance at him—his hair was standing completely on end, as if gravity had abandoned it. His lips moved in a constant murmur, clearly preparing an enormous spell.
This spell… it had to be Colossus of Ruin. I scoffed. Only an absolute idiot would actually try to cast that in a real fight—and yet, here he was, doing exactly that.
"Su-Hyeon! Are you kidding?! No matter how strong you are, he's a high-ranking—"
Vivienne's constant nagging grated on my nerves.
I clenched my teeth. Right now, I don't have the luxury of indulging others.
"I know, so shut up and stand back!"
"Wh—?"
At my sharp outburst, Vivienne flinched, stepping back with a wounded expression.
But I had no time to comfort her.
Gripping my sword tightly, I shifted into position.
What I was about to use wasn't just a simple technique. It was an Ability, classified as a Player Skill.
Back in my first life, I hadn't possessed enough magic power to wield it properly. But now? With my overwhelming magic power, its true potential would finally be unleashed.
Colossus of Ruin was a large-scale destruction spell.
I might be able to survive it alone, but my party? They would be annihilated—shredded apart in seconds beneath a rain of burning meteors.
Which meant I had no choice. I needed to pull out something equally devastating.
A technique I had originally developed to counter her.
"...Never thought I'd have to use this so soon."
Muttering bitterly, I raised my foot and stomped the ground once.
*
Belphegor's Perspective
I could not accept this.
I am a Great Demon. A being of unmatched power.
And yet—am I feeling fear toward a mere human?
Impossible.
And yet, it was happening.
That overwhelming sense of dread was suffocating, pressing down on me like an unseen force. It left me with no choice but to unleash my trump card.
My body was not yet fully recovered, and casting a spell of this magnitude would place a tremendous strain on me.
But if it meant securing absolute victory— If it meant crushing this human beyond recognition—
Then it was worth it.
I did not understand how this human had erased my demonic flames, but at best, he could counter one or two of my spells.
But against hundreds of blazing meteors, infused with the very essence of Infernal Darkness—
He would be reduced to nothing.
Not even ashes would remain.
…It is a shame I won't be able to claim his women. But compared to the humiliation of Lilith's name being tarnished, that is insignificant.
My heart thundered in my chest, straining under the immense burden of my magic.
No matter.
The spell was complete.
All that remained was to unleash it.
I lowered my gaze toward that insolent human, intending to witness his final, pathetic expression before his obliteration—
And in that instant—
"Hhhrk—!"
A foreign sensation crashed over me like a tidal wave.
It was so alien—so unnerving—that I almost lost control of my spell entirely.
Death.
I could feel it.
The cold, merciless hands of oblivion reaching for me.
For the first time in centuries, my instincts screamed in warning.
You will die.
You must flee.
You must escape.
"M-Me? Die?"
A human—killing me?
It was unthinkable.
Unacceptable.
I threw my head back and roared, a desperate, primal outcry—
A last-ditch effort to silence the fear surging through my veins.
Forcing courage into my trembling limbs, I swung both hands downward with every ounce of my strength.
A storm of demonic flames erupted into the sky, converging with the hundreds of meteors that swirled above.
The name of this ultimate spell—
"HRAAAAAA!!! COLOSSUS OF RUIN!!!!"
My mind was blank. The only thought that remained was erasing this human— Crushing him, obliterating him— Reclaiming my lost dignity as a Great Demon.
And yet, deep down, I could not deny the truth.
The root of my desperation— The source of my rage—
It was fear.
Then—
I saw him move.
A single step.
That was all.
His foot struck the ground—nothing more than a simple motion—
And yet, the earth rippled like disturbed water.
For just a moment, the very foundation of this space wavered—as if reality itself struggled to accommodate his presence.
But then—silence.
As if nothing had happened.
I swallowed hard.
What… is this?
A shattering sound broke through my thoughts—
I turned my gaze upward—
And there it was.
The ceiling collapsed, breaking apart beneath the descent of my meteor storm.
I could feel them.
I could sense my Colossus of Ruin, the hundreds of flaming meteors streaking down from the sky—
And finally, at last—
A smile curled upon my lips.
"Hah… hahaha! Fool. You gave me time—that was your fatal mistake!"
Relief flooded through me.
Forcing this spell out of my incomplete body would come with a severe penalty—
I would face repercussions, possibly even punishment for the destruction I had caused—
And yet, none of it mattered.
Because in the end, I would live.
Or so I thought.
Until—
He moved again.
Lifting his sword—
Calmly, effortlessly, as if none of this concerned him in the slightest.
Then—
Flames ignited.
Not ordinary flames.
A pure, brilliant crimson, wrapping around the blade like a living entity.
And at that moment—
A familiar feeling surged within me once more.
Dread.
I knew—instinctively—that if those flames touched me, it would be over.
Then—
A low, humming vibration filled the air.
Rumble… Rumble…
Something… unfathomable stirred beneath the ground.
That force surged upward—
Merging with the flames—
And then—
My mind shattered in horror.
The sword burned, radiating its crimson inferno—
Then, as I watched—
Its numbers multiplied.
One.
Two.
Four.
Eight.
Sixteen.
Thirty-two.
More.
More.
More.
A sea of blazing swords, filling every corner of the space—
Too many to count—
Too many to escape—
And I finally understood.
I had made a mistake.
A fatal one.
"Ha…"
A hollow laugh escaped my lips. Lowering my head, I met the human's gaze. The moment he saw my smile, chills ran down my entire body. Why? Why does he hate me so much?
The flow of magic sustaining the Colossus of Ruin nearly faltered, but I managed to hold onto it.
I never liked him from the start. From the very first time he laid eyes on me, he harbored endless hostility. And the way he spoke, as if he knew something… It only fueled my defiance, making me pour even more magic into my spell.
His face was eerily calm, as if mocking me—You think you can defeat me? With a composed expression, the human crossed his arms and let out a faint smile. Then, still keeping his arms folded, he slowly raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.
At that moment, a loud snap rang through the air, loud enough for even my ears to catch. And with it, the countless swords surrounding him all shot toward me at once.
For a split second, I felt the instinct to dodge. But as I watched the meteor shower streak past my side, I steeled my resolve.
Countless meteors hurtling toward him.
Countless blazing swords soaring toward me.
Like two raging storms colliding, the battlefield became a torrential downpour of destruction. Gritting my teeth, I braced myself for the clash.
.
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