LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 149
149. Declaration
A giant made entirely of stone—Victim, one of the Six Demon Generals—was advancing through the corridors of the Demon Lord’s castle.
Of course, at his original height of over twenty meters, it would have been impossible to fit. So, he used magic to temporarily shrink himself to about two meters tall.
He was heading to an audience with the Demon Lord.
In the previous sortie, General Meriel had betrayed them, and General Zarea had been slain.
Among the Six Demon Generals, the Demon Lord’s most trusted subordinates, only he and Io remained.
What, then, did the Demon Lord think about the invasion of the human world?
Was there some kind of strategy in place?
Would there be replacements for the generals, now that more than half of them were gone?
And above all, what was the plan to fulfill their long-held wish—to defeat the gods and the holy angels?
There were so many questions he wanted to ask.
(What concerns me most is how we are to be treated.)
Grinding his stone teeth, a harsh creaking sound echoed.
The Demon Lord had not reprimanded Victim for his failure and return.
But Victim didn’t think this was due to benevolence.
He could sense an attitude as if the Demon Lord no longer cared about his generals, his most trusted subordinates.
(Does he truly no longer care what happens to us? Could it be…?)
It felt as though the Demon Lord was using them like expendable pawns.
A seed of doubt had begun to sprout.
At the farthest end of the passage, Victim stopped before a massive door.
Beyond it lay the audience chamber of the Demon Lord.
“How did the activation experiment of the [Cocytus Gate] go?”
Just as the door cracked open slightly, the Demon Lord’s voice reached him.
Instinctively, Victim halted his hand and eavesdropped on the conversation.
“We sent demonkind and magical beasts, enhanced by the gate’s power, to the human world. However, their forces exceeded expectations—they were annihilated. Even phoenix-class magical beasts were repelled.”
The voice that responded was cool and composed—a girl’s.
It belonged to Io, one of the Six Demon Generals.
“With only a 30% operational rate, the effects are minimal… Raising it to full capacity may be extreme, but at least 70% seems necessary.”
“Understood. I leave the adjustments to you.”
“Yes, my lord.”
(So they’ve finally begun using the Nether Gate’s power, dormant for so long?)
Unlike Victim and the other combat generals, Io rarely showed herself publicly.
She specialized in working behind the scenes.
Her power—the “Nether Gate”—was rumored to amplify the strength of demons.
It supposedly had another feature, but only Io and the Demon Lord knew its details.
Victim had heard about the plan to strengthen mid- and high-level demons and send them into the human world.
The timing was apt, with numerous Cyregas—passages connecting this world to the human one—manifesting.
(But something doesn’t add up.)
Ordinarily, Cyregas appeared as natural phenomena.
Their frequent emergence wasn’t normal.
Though the Demon Lord could generate them with his power, there were limits.
(The recent frequency of Cyrega appearances is too high… Something is off.)
Something was stirring.
A sense of foreboding gnawed at him.
Uneasy, Victim decided to walk away.
The audience could wait.
He needed to investigate first.
Once he understood the situation, he would meet the Demon Lord again.
As he pondered his next moves, walking through the corridors—
“So, skulking about with that giant body of yours, are we? Lord Victim.”
A cold voice suddenly rang out above his head.
“—Io.”
The demon girl floated overhead.
“I was just on my way to meet the Demon Lord myself.”
When had she appeared?
Even Victim, a general, hadn’t sensed her approach.
Her unpredictable presence sent chills down his spine, but he remained composed.
“Since you were already in the middle of your audience, I chose to wait.”
“So you heard it, then? My conversation with the Demon Lord?”
“No, I left immediately. I would never disrespect the Demon Lord by eavesdropping.”
Victim’s tone was unshaken.
Yet unease flickered in his chest.
A bad feeling was growing.
“Then you missed the opening words, I take it.”
“The opening words?”
“From the Demon Lord—your lord and father.”
A sharp glint appeared in Io’s eyes.
The ominous feeling surged within Victim.
“‘Your efforts are appreciated. You are no longer needed,’ he said.”
“What…?!”
Staggered, Victim immediately activated body-strengthening magic.
His stone body leapt backward at supersonic speed.
Moments later—
A red gleam slashed through the space he’d occupied.
Sensing the attack had saved him from being cut in two, a fate that would have claimed most demons.
“This attack… Could it be…?”
Victim groaned.
The mere passage of the strike had warped the very space around it.
“You dodged… As expected of Victim.”
With a voice like grinding metal, a black silhouette emerged behind Io.
The strongest destructive force among the Six Demon Generals—the Black Knight—appeared.
And then—
“But don’t think you can survive unscathed, surrounded by us.”
Now hostile intent emerged from behind.
Victim used body-strengthening magic to move at supersonic speeds once more.
Dodging just in time, he saw the floor gouged out by the impact.
“Spatial compression attack…”
“Heheh, I missed my chance to kill you, huh?”
This time, from the side.
A beautiful boy wielding a massive scythe emerged from the shadows.
“You… You’re supposed to be dead—”
‘The Black Knight of Destruction,’ Gyrasvrim.
‘Master of Curses and Nihility,’ Dialva.
‘The Reaper,’ Zarea.
The other generals—all thought to be gone—stood before him.
“Allow me to declare it formally, ‘Titan of Iron,’ Victim.”
Io pointed directly at him.
“The generals’ role is complete. Thanks to your efforts, we have finished analyzing the gods’ abilities.
From now on, you will serve not as generals but as mere soldiers—until your deaths.”
In front of him, a rainbow-hued light appeared.
“No, even after your deaths—that is the Demon Lord’s will.”
“As mere soldiers? Am I… being discarded…?”
“[Cocytus Gate], [Full Open].”
Io spoke coldly to the groaning Victim.
A golden gate appeared behind her.
“[Absorb].”
With the incantation, the gate swung open.
“W-Wait, I—”
With the other generals surrounding him, escape was impossible.
One wrong move would spell his death—that much was clear from their presence alone.
“[Fusion].”
From beyond the opened gate, black mist poured out.
“S-Stop…”
The mist enveloped the retreating Victim.
“Ugh… Ghh… Ghh…”
The clinging mist weighed him down.
His thoughts dulled and faded.
And then.
“[Evolution].”
With Io’s final incantation, Victim’s consciousness dissolved into the mist.