550

 [Chapter 149]

[Belphegor (2)]

─As I thought, I was right.

Actually, I had expected it to some extent.

In his previous life, Eunha had strong resistance to mental attacks.

Temptation, delusion, illusion, brainwashing. And even Demon Lord Lilith's magic.

He was hardly affected.

There was one reason.

It's because of the Gift.

In the previous life, it was the Gift <Berserk >.

And in this life, it's the Gift <Unknown >.

When exposed to magic that interferes with the self, the Gift forcibly awakens and breaks the magic.

Boom!!

So Eunha wasn't flustered.

Even if Belphegor woke up, he was confident he could resist him.

"...Kuk...!"

Winter Crawling with Snow.

The giant snake rushed at him and literally bit mercilessly.

For the first time, bewilderment appeared on his face.

The mana in the shape of a giant with mountain goat horns shook violently.

Invisible Tracker

Extreme Piercer

Eunha didn't miss this moment.

He designated coordinates on the trace made by Winter Crawling with Snow.

Then he threw Winter Blooming Coldly.

Swoosh!

The sword covered in blue mana changes into a long, thin spear.

It digs into the giant's body that's recovering its wounds without wavering.

"Do you think you can do anything with just that?"

Of course, the opponent was a half-demon.

Belphegor's bewilderment was only for a moment.

He soon regained his composure and snorted.

"─Too slow. I'll deflect this with one wave of my han─!?"

A sword flying in front of his eyes.

Belphegor tried to block the attack by waving his hand.

He had enough power to do so.

But─

─Uboshin

Eunha predicted his action.

That's why he used Uboshin.

With Gift <Unknown > activated now, he could stably use Uboshin via Invisible Tracker.

"...!!"

Just before Winter Blooming Coldly completely reached the coordinates,

Eunha who moved to the designated coordinates through Uboshin grabbed Winter Blooming Coldly that was about to bounce off his arm.

Immediately mana writhing in his grasp covered the blade.

Violent Venom

Dark, murky, black.

A blade that seemed to contain all the impure energy in the world.

Eunha swung down the sword that was about to bounce back from Belphegor's power with all his might.

Crack─!!

The sound of something breaking.

Belphegor's protective magic shattered too easily.

The black blade flashed.

Poison spreading radially engulfed his entire body.

"...Ku... ku... hek...!"

Violent Venom, an extreme poison that threatens beings with blood flowing.

The effect appeared immediately.

He coughed up blood.

"What did you... kuhek...!"

Bloody tears flow down his cheeks, and he shouts something.

But his words can't even complete one sentence.

Just gagging and retching.

He bent over to cough up blood.

─Platinum Cross

Though Violent Venom alone would have been a fatal attack,

Eunha didn't overestimate.

He was clearly resisting.

Until it's completely over─

─A Demon Lord isn't dead.

A Mayin is a disaster just by existing.

Until the disaster disappears before your eyes, the disaster isn't completely over.

Eunha swung down the sword flashing platinum right next to him.

──!!

Light devours the world.

Even in the world that turned pure white, Eunha didn't close his eyes.

Desperately keeping his eyes open, though it felt like he would go blind from the intense light,

He tried to confirm whether he was dead or alive in the light.

Eventually the intensity of light weakened─

"─..."

The world returned to normal.

There was nothing in front of Eunha.

Just traces on the floor of something desperately trying to block magic.

Except for where he was standing,

The surrounding area was completely annihilated.

"Damn it..."

A one-hit kill created by compressing mana to the limit, adding the power of the Gift.

Nevertheless, Eunha couldn't be simply happy.

The mana stone wasn't visible.

The fact that the mana stone isn't visible means─

"─I had a good dream."

He could be alive.

Sure enough,

His anxiety became reality.

A presence suddenly felt behind him.

Belphegor was there.

In a perfectly fine state.

"I thought I might really die from that magic. That was dangerous." "..."

"Ah, maybe it would have been better to just die. Then I could have fallen into a deep sleep." "You should have done that."

"But still I couldn't do that. What use is a dream dreamt while dead? A dream should be dreamt while alive. I don't want to be lazy after death, I want to be lazy while alive."

He is the demon who rules dreams.

If there's a being dreaming nearby, he can subdue that being and move to the dream world.

A girl with her abdomen cut open, eyes closed in a glass tube.

The demon who came out of the girl's head and landed on the floor giggled.

"So please. Can't you just pretend you didn't see me?"

Soon politely,

The demon, in the form of a boy, pleaded earnestly.

"I'm tired of experiments like this. I just want to go out to the outside world and live happily."

"..."

"Please... I beg you."

In a place no one knows, quietly.

He said his dream was to live lazily.

The boy spoke as if about to cry.

Nevertheless, Eunha─

─Mana Crasher

Swung Winter Crawling with Snow.

He bent the mana gathered on the sword like a whip and grabbed Belphegor.

"...Kuk...! Why... what on earth did I do wrong for you to do this!"

As if wronged,

Belphegor screamed as he was constricted by the sharp whip.

But the blade like a whip tightened as if to cut him in half.

Eunha─

"─Where do you think you're lying?"

"What?"

"Do you think I don't know what you'll do when you go outside?"

"..." "You're planning to subdue all the people." "...!"

"Then you'll make them experience the experiments you underwent in dreams." "..."

"You want to live quietly in a place no one knows? Don't make me laugh."

"..."

"Locking all people in dreams and living quietly alone, what nonsense..." "...!"

You have to be careful of a demon's tongue.

They act nonchalantly and deceive humans with sweet words.

He was like that in the previous life too.

Outwardly spouting lazy words,

While harboring hatred for humans in his heart and revealing his vicious nature when given the chance.

Above all─

"─You cleverly deceived the researchers." "...!"

"You brainwashed them without them knowing and made them experiment to strengthen your power?" "..."

He himself said in the previous life.

From some point on, not by force but by his own will,

He made the researchers strengthen him while anticipating the day he would go out into the world.

Of course, I don't know from when he started pulling such tricks...

Nevertheless, Eunha played with words.

He had to buy time.

His internal mana was bottoming out after using consecutive mana-intensive magic.

Moreover, with his Gift activated,

Mana Drain

He couldn't show an opening.

The moment he shows an opening, the situation could be reversed at any time.

Without Belphegor noticing,

Eunha recovered his internal mana while using Mana Drain.

But─

"─I've been found out?"

Contrary to Eunha's wishes,

Belphegor admitted his true feelings too easily.

"Is that not allowed? I think I have the right to do such things to you."

The boy wasn't there.

The being there was just a demon.

He grinned from ear to ear and cackled.

Then he suddenly stops laughing.

"You're able to live like this now because of me." "..."

"Because I sacrificed for you, you were able to live lazily enjoying the benefits of medicine and science."

"..."

"But I'm not allowed to do that? After suffering so much for you, shouldn't you do the same for me now?"

The demon's appeal.

Eunha couldn't answer Belphegor's words.

No, he didn't.

"─How funny. You just want to live quietly alone."

You have to be careful of a demon's tongue.

In the previous life, Players were deceived by their sweet talk many times.

That's why Eunha didn't listen to his appeal.

"─You have no dreams. Shouldn't a person waver a little?"

"Why would I waver at obvious lies."

Without changing his expression at all,

Belphegor expressed dissatisfaction with the same pleading face.

"Yes, you're right. I want to live in a quiet world. Quietly in a world where not even an ant crawls around."

"See."

"You really know too much about me. But do you know this?" "...?" "Just as you did that to buy time, I too was trying to buy time."

"...!"

Suddenly Belphegor giggles.

Meanwhile Eunha closed his mouth with an expression of realization.

The detection net informed him.

Something was approaching.

"Whether I was lucky or not, there happened to be many people dreaming nearby. So I quickly called them to come here."

"..."

"But it seems they can't move their bodies, so it's taking quite some time to come. So I tried to buy some time."

With those words from Belphegor,

The door to the laboratory opened wide.

Eunha raised his head to the people who appeared at the top of the stairs.

""""...."""

They were all Slayers whose minds had been collapsed by him.

And now puppets dominated by Belphegor's dreams.

"─Dreams always show you a world you could never imagine."

"Damn it..."

Whether injured or not,

The Slayers rush down.

They charge with weapons in hand.

Eunha clicked his tongue.

☆

Though he pretended to be calm on the outside,

He was extremely displeased inside.

Because he knew too much about himself.

Belphegor suppressed his displeasure and glared at the young man fighting the Slayers.

Just what kind of guy is he?

Front, back, left, right.

Slayers attacking from all directions.

Nevertheless, the young man was neutralizing them one by one without showing an opening.

Belphegor couldn't help but be curious seeing his combat skills.

Above all, he was curious why he knew about himself in detail.

I'll find out about that gradually.

Anyway, I can find out if I just enter his dream.

Soon Belphegor organized his thoughts with an indifferent face.

I just need to see his dream.

So there was no need to be hasty.

Heavenly Step

Madness

Meanwhile, the young man's combat skills were truly amazing.

But no matter how amazing,

In the end, he's just human.

As long as he's human, there are limits.

While undergoing over a hundred human experiments, and watching those undergoing human experiments,

Belphegor could gauge the limits of humans at some point.

Moon Dance

Violen... kuk...!

The young man's skills were certainly at a level where even he couldn't be careless.

In fact, he wasn't showing any signs of being pushed back even against the Slayers, to the point of wondering if he was human.

But as long as he's human─

"─...Kuk...!"

He too is bound to get tired.

Moreover, the young man didn't seem to have much internal mana.

As the intense battle continued,

The young man kept getting tired, and his internal mana was gradually reaching its limit.

His movements became dull.

Belphegor seized this moment.

─Now.

For some reason,

The young man didn't allow him to enter his dream world.

But can he shake off his magic even when so exhausted?

"...!"

Belphegor who had been slowly sapping his stamina seized this moment.

He can move anywhere through dreams.

Belphegor who came out of the dream of a Slayer approaching the young man immediately reached out his hand towards the young man.

The exhausted young man's response was half a beat late this time.

"─Now, it's time to dream."

Bewilderment appearing on the young man's face.

Belphegor giggled and touched his dream.

Swoosh

The world changes in an instant.

The demon set foot in another's dream.

"...It's dark."

A world so dark as if tomorrow will never come.

In a world he's never seen before,

Belphegor frowned.