Demon King

A cheerful notification window that didn’t match the current situation informed me that I had reached level 100 as a higher entity. I stood there for a while, leaving Lucifer’s body floating in the air as I considered how I could’ve lost my life. I regained my name and my power that was tied to the battlefield, but that didn’t mean I fully recovered the power of Baal.

The power that had been permanently consumed in creating the battlefield was no joke. If I called myself the demon king right now, everyone would laugh at me. However, that would be a different story if I devoured Lucifer’s body. That body, which embodied a part of the heavenly spirit, wouldn’t be enough to restore all of my strength instantly, but it would make me significantly stronger. I wondered what sort of taste a body full of pure divinity might have. It must be a delicacy I had never tasted before.

“Fate, now…” A voice filled with struggle brought me away from my thoughts. Only then did I remember others were here with me. Both Belphegor and Mireina floated in the air with a look of death about them, supported only by the mana at their feet. Even with the world exploding around them, Belphegor had succeeded in protecting himself and Mireina.

“Mireina, wait a moment.”

“I will wait…until…!” I had almost forgotten about Mireina. My habit of letting food go to my mind had remained. With a bitter smile, I pulled Lucifer’s body to me and opened my mouth wide.

“Hold on for another thirty seconds, it’ll be over soon.” I said so confidently to her. Now that I could use Predation without eating it physically, I hadn’t in quite some time. But such rudeness wouldn’t do with Lucifer’s body, the brightest star that was once my enemy. There were other reasons, of course, but that was the primary one. The other being that it would be difficult for me to deal with all that energy if I consumed it at once. I also had a desire to enjoy the delicacy I had encountered for the first time in my life seriously. I was a bit resentful that I didn’t have more time to enjoy it.

“Thank you for this meal.” His body was nonsensically hard despite him being dead. I chewed through the resistance left in his corpse, swallowing the strong magical power.

“!” It was as sweet as honey yet had the sourness of a tart fruit but the texture of meat. It had a strange feeling like I was eating meat while drinking a strong wine. Various textures and emotions hit me at once. I hadn’t expected him to be sweet. Despite all the contrasting flavors, there was an odd harmony to it all. It was the best delicacy on Earth, perhaps even in heaven or the underground. I was stunned but couldn’t stop eating.

“Fate, why are you crying…?”

“Don’t disturb his meal.” Mireina sounded sad as she asked me, but Belphegor held her back. I didn’t really know why I was crying myself; it was something I couldn’t understand. As I had assured Mireina, my meal ended in thirty seconds. I regretted that fact, but I couldn’t help it. I turned to Belphegor, who appeared concerned.

“Fate.”

“Yes…”

“… I’m really sorry.” I smiled and approached Mireina, grabbing her hand.

“Fate…”

“Don’t worry, leave it to me.” She regarded me with an anxious gaze, but there was also relief and joy in the corner of her eyes. Perhaps it was because I was holding her hand. I held onto it as I slowly activated my power. Her eyes widened as she recognized it, but I only smiled.

“Now you know.”

“But…am I…?”

“Yes.” Greed, Gluttony, Jealously, and Pride. Those four powers overflowed from my being, yet I hadn’t evolved. It wasn’t a matter of lack of ability, but because I wasn’t digesting Lucifer’s body. Lucifer couldn’t be the strongest underground because he had both Pride and Jealousy, which were ill-fitted to each other. They could never go together. That wasn’t different for me. Even the demon king couldn’t change his feelings so quickly. Greed, Gluttony, and Jealousy could merge together, but not Pride. The moment I tried to embrace it, there would be a violent reaction.

So I didn’t. I had Gluttony and Greed, and a strong desire for what others had, but I knew well about what would hurt me. Letting your emotions and power control you, you would gain power, but what awaited you at the end was ruin. Lucifer proved it. In conclusion, the power I was raising was his power of Pride.

“That’s impossible! I was never good as he was…and that was your power originally!”

“I have two things to tell you. First, this is a power that cannot be my strength…” Mireina’s eyes widened, and she turned away. Belphegor nodded.

“That’s why Lucifer died in vain. I wanted Fate to take Pride rather than Jealousy.”

“Pride is the power that cannot be the best, Rain. Somewhere in the world, there will be something stronger than me. As the master of Greed, I assure you of that. So, in order to deal with it, either I close my eyes, or I exert it in a different direction. Unless you’re an easy-to-understand fool like Lucifer, it can’t be used.”

“Well, that is true.”

“Uh, huh?” As Mireina was perplexed by the discussion over her future ability, Belphegor nodded at me.

“An easy-to-understand fool. I remember seeing such a person recently.”

“Is that right?”

“Hey!” That particular part of Mireina, to be able to shout so lively, might really go well with arrogance. I tapped her head lightly.

“It’s a joke. The second thing I wanted to say…” Light spewed out from both Mireina’s and my bodies. She was preparing to evolve with my magic.

“I’m not expecting you to be strong. You’ve done your part. Thanks to you, I was saved, and from now on, it will be my fight. So I give you the power not to fight…”

“No?”

“I wanted you to live.” I did my best to convey my honest heart to her.

“…” Her face turned red, and she shut her mouth.

Only

“There’s only one way to save you, and that’s through evolution. It’s harder to evolve now that you’re a higher entity, but if you embrace Lucifer’s power, it’s possible.”

“If you do well enough, you may evolve twice even.” Belphegor added after the fact. I had been considering that as an option too. It was unclear if she would be able to deal with the power, but her abilities that emerged when she evolved before marked her as a superior individual.

“With that, you can certainly survive. I don’t know how you’ll change, but you can live. So live, okay?”

“Are you going to do this regardless of my will?”

“Of course.” Her face was still red as she digested my words before responding.

“Yes, then I see.” After all, she was still cute. I infused Mireina with the power of Pride as all of Lucifer’s physical power melted into me.

Two beams of light erupted from a world that wasn’t lost.

Mireina and I; our evolution had begun.