the power levels of the demons who dominated Devore varied greatly.
They started as low-level entities, far from transcendence, and grew into beings just below a great demon.
Demons gained power from karma and the fear associated with their titles.
So both innate ability and effort were crucial for developing their capabilities.
For a demon with a title like 'Theft,' there was a limit to how powerful they could become, no matter how hard they worked.
In that sense, a land completely devastated and overflowing with negative emotions was a land of opportunity for those low-ranking demons who hadn't received recognition.
A hundred years ago, when the gates of hell opened in this world, all the low-level demons who had been confined to the depths of hell and received small payments through petty temporal contractors surged to the surface.
In a world like this, they no longer needed to rely on contractors they didn't like. Demons roamed the world, savoring their freedom to their heart's content, and the karma and fear they gained from this became their strength.
This was the everyday landscape of the current, ruined world: a playground for demons and a Animal farm to squeeze nutrients from.
In fact, they could have wiped out humanity at any time if they wanted to, but they didn't. The punishments they endured when they first came to the surface, such as the loss of immortality, were no longer a major issue. While it might have been a concern in the early days when the gates of hell had just opened or during the height of the final resistance, now that every human was little more than livestock, no one was left who dared to resist a demon.
Hiss—!
"Ugh!"
Therefore, the phenomenon currently occurring across the entire world was a tremendous shock that no one in this world could have predicted. One by one, demons were dying from the sudden assault of a Immortal army.
"Kaaagh! What is this? What the hell! How are these undead this powerful?!"
And, of course, the list of victims included not only low-tier entities like the 'Fraud Ghost,' but also higher-ranked beings who were well-regarded within demon society.
"I had some high hopes for a 'Sword Demon'... but it's very disappointing. I was hoping for a break after a long time."
The Sword Demon, wearing the guise of a healthy adult man, furiously gnashed its teeth, glaring at the unwelcome intruder muttering lowly in front of it.
The middle-aged man was dressed in a strange style of black gi and carried a long sword. He looked remarkably peaceful for someone who had just severed one of its arms.
'Me? Cut by a sword? I'm the Sword Demon !?'
He gripped his sword tightly and looked down at his severed right arm lying on the floor, its face contorted. It was absolutely impossible for a Sword Demon to be defeated by a sword from an opponent, no matter how much it fought with a sword while disguised as a human. If other demons found out, it would be a subject of ridicule for centuries to come. And if its opponent wasn't even human but undead...
[THIS IS ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE! I WILL TEAR YOU TO SHREDS!]
As he unleashed his raw mental power, a sharp sense of anticipation burst from his body. Right after that, a massive blade erupted from his severed wrist.
The transformation didn't stop there.
Fwooosh—! Tsssk!
His body swelled, and all sorts of swords protruded from it. Greatswords, longswords, daggers, even deformed swords shaped like sawblades or scythes. Before long, his healthy left hand had five sharp blades instead of fingers, and his hair had become a collection of long, thin swords that reflected light everywhere.
[This body is the Sword Demon! The sword is everything that points to me! Your attacks will never reach me!]
The enormous monster, over six meters tall with a body made entirely of pointed blades, roared as it looked down at the ground. No matter what anyone said, its title was 'Sword Demon.' While he himself was a master of the sword, the swordsmanship he gained from it was only a secondary element. This was because the element that symbolized him was the sword itself. And aren't swords weapons that have been with us since the dawn of human history, accumulating fear over a long, long time?
The Sword Demon, who used swords as its weapon and armor, was an experienced figure who ranked at the top among demons, unlike the other simpletons.
"Hmm."
However, despite such overwhelming majesty, the middle-aged warrior still wore a look of confusion.
"If the Sword Demon looks like this... then the 'Weapon Demon' above it wouldn't be much different either. It's a shame."
He merely clicked his tongue and glanced at the massive figure shouting with excitement.
[ARROGANT! I WILL GRIND YOU INTO DUST SO YOU CAN NEVER BE REBORN!]
The enraged Sword Demon charged forward violently, tearing through space.
'I was careless just now! Swords will never be able to harm this body!'
The swords that made up his body were all intertwined with unique traditions. They were impervious to damage, with the belief that a wound from one would be fatal and a firm defense that even a transcendent being could not cut through. And all of those abilities became his power.
It was the majestic power of the Sword Demon, which had frustrated countless heroes over the years.
As long as he was a swordsman, the situation wouldn't be much different from that arrogant undead.
"Tsk, there's no such beast. I think it was better before."
It should have been...
Hiss—
The rampaging body of the Sword Demon came to a halt. Its gaze, without its own will, slowly went downward.
[Huh?]
A strange diagonal cut across his torso that hadn't been there before.
Crunch—Clatter!
The severed blades fell one by one along the crack. Finally, unable to bear its own weight, his upper body collapsed to the ground.
Clang! Crash—!
A match so short that it was decided in a single blow. But that wasn't the only thing that mattered to him right now.
[H-How... HOW COULD YOU KILL ME WITH A SWORD?!]
The Sword Demon was cut by a sword. He couldn't help but be confused by this unbelievable situation. A blow that defied his authority? It was something that, according to his common sense, could simply not happen.
"I don't know why I have to explain such a basic thing."
In response, the great warrior Heavenly demon, who had once surpassed the supreme realm and reached the mythical realm, lightly touched the beloved sword in his hand—the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword—and answered angrily.
"This body is the sword, and the sword is this body. There is no question whether the subject of the cut, the sword, is actually made of a sword or not."
It was simply a straightforward application of the Body-Sword Oneness (身劍合一) and Heart-Sword (心劍). He would never understand that monster, which only considered the fundamentals of the sword, over a martial artist who sought the ultimate in martial arts through discipline.
[Kuaaaaaagh! No! This makes no sense! I am...!]
Those were the Sword Demon's last words. With a subsequent flash of light, the countless remnants of swords were soon reduced to scattered fragments. Heavenly demon turned away from him and slowly rotated his wrist.
"Hmm, but it wasn't completely meaningless."
The match itself ended quickly, but the process was not easy. Whatever the truth about the opposite side was, he had to give it his all and strike a blow so close to his limit.
In the process, his memory was damaged, and he was able to recover some of his lost state.
The level itself might still be lower than when he was alive, but with the help of all sorts of modifications, he wouldn't be that far behind in terms of power output.
As the undead subordinates who had arrived late were gathering the demon's remnants as spoils of war, a woman slowly approached him and spoke.
"It looks like you're done. I heard the Sword Demon was a pretty strong individual, and you are truly great."
The female warrior was clad in armor that seemed to form an abyss with no light shining on it and carried a jet-black shield and a war hammer.
Heavenly demon saw the black aura rising from her body slowly seeping into her surroundings and slowly nodded.
"It seems to have ended without any problems."
She is the Scribe, former Saintess, who could also be called his comrade-in-arms. The undead who followed her had also fought fiercely, with traces of their battle left all over the place.
"The opponent wasn't such a strong demon. Thanks to that, I was able to instill proper teachings. Our Lord has come to this world himself, and yet you proudly flaunt such sacrilegious names like 'Demon of Unbelief'?"
She shrugged her shoulders and smiled brightly, saying that there was only death for heretics. She proudly wore a huge hammer on her shoulder, soaked in an unidentified red liquid.
"Good. Anyway, is this about the end of this sector?"
The surprise operation of the Immortal Army was still in progress. Like cancer cells spreading through a body, the death army was scattered across the world, continuously targeting demons. Of course, there were quite a few losses in the process, but considering the nature of the undead race, it wasn't a big deal. Anyway, in this world filled with resentful death, there were plenty of materials to replenish their power.
"That's right. Then next time..."
The Scribe, who was answering his words, stopped for a moment and stared blankly into the air. Heavenly demon had the same reaction. In a faraway place that could not be observed with the naked eye, he felt one of two gigantic powers collide, roughly swallowing and suppressing the other.
And after a while.
"...Looks like it's over."
"It's over."
A short sentence came out of both of their mouths at the same time.
"Then there's only one thing left?"
"That's right. We can actually consider that the main course."
"I'm looking forward to it. I hope there are more useful people there."
After exchanging a few light words, they turned and walked away. Toward the direction of the moving magic circle that the undead mages had just completed.
Swoosh—
Such a large-scale movement was a common sight not only for them but for most of the undead in this world. A huge flow that could suddenly shake even the already solidified fate of the world.
Just like this, following the Archdemon of Sorrow and the Archdemon of Ruin, the Immortal Army, which had swept through under their command, was now on the move.
They all turned their heads toward the last remaining great demon force. The strongest demon who dominated the peak of Devore.
To the place where the Infinite Evil dominated.
Hans slowly nodded, checking his physical condition by rotating every bone in his body.
'Now I see why the great demons are called the peak of this world.'
The first to be successfully hunted was Sorrow, and the second was Ruin, who was defeated. Both were strong enemies with difficult powers.
Sorrow's power was to neutralize enemies in its area while nullifying any hostile attacks directed at it. It was a great power in a large-scale battle, but it was also an ability that specialized in self-defense. The moment energy got close to him, it became ineffective and vanished, making it impossible to launch a proper attack at all.
[There is no absolute being in this world.]
The same was true for the Archdemon of Ruin, who had the power to destroy everything in its area. If it had been the undead under his command, they would have all melted without even getting close, but it was meaningless to him, who had no intention of receiving help from his subordinates from the start anyway. A person who was nominally the ruler of death could not be defeated by those Archdemon, could he?
'Anyway, that's a shame. If the Archdemon of Death had still been around, it would have been a great help to me.'
In the process of defeating the two Archdemon, he was able to achieve some of his original goals. Just in case, as he had expected, there were traces of the Heaven-turn society's Leader visit to this Devore.
'The one who destroyed the walls of heaven, opened the gates of hell, and hunted down absolutes, including the Archdemon of Death. The only one who could do such a thing is the Heaven-turn society's leader.'
Unfortunately, he couldn't get all the information he wanted. Because Sorrow and Ruin had been promoted after the gates of hell opened, there was a lot they didn't know about the situation before that.
[Hahaha, it's most certain that we will strike the Infinite Demon.]
The only ones who were lucky enough to survive the Heavenly Battle and maintain their status as a Archdemon to this day were the Infinite demon.
In addition, he heard that the surviving Slaughter and Terror had already killed by the Executioner about a hundred years ago.
'Is the world's destruction eaten by them because the Archdemon of hell disappeared?'
In other words, the balance of the world was first broken in hell, not on land. Since the weight of the scales was tilted so heavily, the barrier separating the two worlds collapsed, and it was only natural for the demons to be pushed out and roam the land. In fact, the basic design of the Devore dimension itself was almost completely destroyed.
'If I get rid of all the demons that came to the surface, won't an escape route open up somehow? The rest will be taken care of by the administrator of this world.'
Before making any arrangements, the first thing to do was to clean up the filth that had spilled out. The demons of Devore were beings born from the negative elements that make up the world. Even if they were all destroyed now, they would naturally reappear in hell after a long time, but by then, the walls of the world would have recovered to some extent. He knew he had done enough just by buying that time.
'Of course, to do that, I first have to get rid of things like that.'
Hans looked straight ahead with his burning black eyes. A massive army filled the plain.
That force was not his Immortal Army.
[Truly infinite....]
The legion of hell summoned by the demon. It wasn't just a matter of making up the numbers. It was because there were many high-level demons that he considered quite tricky.
'There are a lot of guys that look the same. Even those who have already died and disappeared. An ability that can even copy dead demons.'
Perhaps that isn't the whole extent of the ability. Isn't the concept of 'infinite' a word with infinite possibilities that can be used in any way?
'It doesn't matter.'
But Hans didn't care in the slightest.
That's right.
"Kaaaaaaagh—!"
[For the King of Death! Slaughter everything that gets in the way!]
"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"
[Woooh—!]
He was the pinnacle of a necromancer,
a master of large-scale operations like this, more than anyone else.
Because he was—
the King of the Undead.