Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer-Novel

It's the 9th loop...

"Damn it!" The Demon God snarled as he abruptly swung his massive sword around.

He watched as Ashton casually waved his staff to create a solid barrier around him which stopped the sword dead in its tracks. The sword rebounded on the surface of the barrier, causing an opening to appear on the Demon God's stance, something that Ashton certainly exploited.

A condensed orb of swirling rainbow energy appeared on Ashton's palms. He launched it and blew a hole in the God's body. The damage didn't just leave a gaping hole, it also caused the Demon God's body to burst into agonizing white flames.

Just like that, the Demon God died.

***

"...and we're back!"

A twisted scowl appeared on the Demon God's face the moment he heard Ashton's irritating voice.

This is the 10th loop. Once again, he found his body intact and undamaged. The petulant Archfey stood in front of him with that shit-eating grin that just made the Demon God more furious.

They fought once more. This time, the Demon God managed to kill Ashton.

He wouldn't lie and say that killing the mage wasn't satisfying, because it truly was. However, his comfort and satisfaction were ruined the moment the 11th loop began.

...which was then followed by the 12th, 13th...

50th...

100th...

At some point, the Demon God lost count of how many loops it has been. To him, nothing made sense anymore.

It didn't matter what he did or how he did it. He doesn't when it started or where. He doesn't even know if there's an end to this at all.

His efforts of racking his mind, searching for a way to break this infuriating time loop were unsuccessful. Slowly but surely, he ran out of options and ideas.

Hope was slowly being drained out of him. His mind was also on the verge of breaking because of how helpless this situation was for him.

It didn't matter who died between them, the Demon God will always end up finding himself back at the starting point where the confrontation began. It was excruciatingly repetitive that his spirit was being broken down with each loop.

'...how is this possible?' The Demon God hollowly thought to himself.

He couldn't fathom what kind of power this was. Throughout the multiple loops he had experienced, he eventually discovered that this might've been a very elaborate illusion instead of a time loop. But honestly, that doesn't really give him any advantages at all.

So what if he discovered that he was inside an illusion? If he couldn't break it, then what could he possibly free himself?

Besides, it's not like he didn't try at all. He had tried all kinds of ways to break the illusion to no avail. He still found himself trapped in it no matter what he does.

200th loop...289th loop...

The Demon God is so close to begging. He already shed a few tears here and there due to how humiliated and frustrated he was with his situation.

'Had I known...if I only knew that it's going to be like this...I-'

300th loop...400th loop...

It was pure torture. He's not referring to the many ways he died up to this point, no. He's talking about the sheer hopelessness it brought to him. One that not even his Divinity could get rid of.

Nobody, and he meant nobody, has ever made him feel this way before. Not even the Celestial God came close to ever causing this much damage to his psyche. And that's saying a lot.

To think that he would kick a steel plate in this backward planet...fate sure is funny sometimes.

"I shouldn't have come here..." the Demon God hollowly uttered during the 565th loop.

"Yep, you shouldn't have." Ashton replied to him, still smiling smugly as he killed him yet again. Only for another loop to begin.

What was his original plan again?

Ah! Right. To kill the pest that had been spoiling their plans for this world. That's what.

He had received reports from his subordinates that their forces here were in dire need of backup. According to them, they were met with a rather fierce retaliation from the locals, and if the situation continues to develop this way, they would be expelled from this world in a blink of an eye.

At first, the Demon God didn't feel the need to respond to this. He just thought that it was just some slight setback, one that they will ultimately dismantle with their sheer numbers and strength.

But as time passed, the situation eventually evolved to an alarming degree and it reached a point where his children were left with no choice other than to invite him here.

Upon his arrival, he discovered just how bad the situation was and became disappointed. Throughout their history of conquest, they have never experienced such a close call as this.

The Netherworld was on the cusp of destruction. The demons had their spirits broken and their numbers dwindled so much.

The Demon God was shocked to be completely honest. He never expected a scene like this. He didn't know that a local from some backward planet had this kind of ability that reduced them like this.

His timing was also great since the moment he appeared, the culprit was also there. He caught him in the act and inwardly celebrated since he wouldn't be spending too much time in this world.

Since the culprit was already here, then he could just kill him and be done with his business here. The Demon God was even anticipating his return to Inferno after all of this.

But well...look at where that brought him.

"Who are you, truly?" The Demon God hollowly asked.

At this point, his spirit was already so close to breaking down. He looked at the pesky mage who was still grinning at him smugly.

"Nobody of importance, really." Ashton replied.

He casually sat on his staff as it levitated a few meters above the ground. He looked at the Demon God with a mischievous yet bored expression on his face.

"I'm just some random sage who was sent here to pay back a massive debt. That's all."

"What kind of debt?" The Demon God asked.

"A debt of blood," Ashton replied flatly. "Let's just say I owe these people a lot. Without their blessings, my life would've been way more difficult than it should be, but because they helped me, I became who I am now."

"To pay that favor back...to settle that Karmic Debt, I took it upon myself to eliminate your kind here," Ashton added. "Besides, you all were meant to be eliminated anyway, given what you guys did to this world? This little punishment is actually already mercy on my side."

"...mercy, huh?" The Demon God chuckled mirthlessly.

On any normal day, those words should've been sufficient to ignite his temper and cause him to lash out. But right now? He couldn't even muster up any kind of temper at all.

The Demon God was so drained of his fighting spirit and his arrogance. He was humbled enough by what he experienced that it made him a bit more rational.

Sadly, that rationality wouldn't help him in this situation.

"It's my loss. End it. You win." The Demon God forfeited.

It had to be known that this was already as far as the Demon God was willing to go. For an entity like him, someone who bears Divinity, admitting defeat to a lesser creature like Ashton was already touching the very depths of his bottom line.

A God admitting defeat to a Man? That's something that you wouldn't witness every day.

And if this was somebody else...they might just accept this and end this once and for all.

But just as stated, 'if' this was somebody else. Unfortunately, Ashton isn't somebody else...

"...did you honestly think that I will give you the chance to preserve even a shred of your dignity just because you said so?" Ashton raised a brow and asked.

The Demon God looked shell-shocked by those words. He looked at Ashton who was looking at him with nary a hint of sympathy in his eyes.

"Throughout your race's conquest of several worlds...when you annexed or outright slaughtered all manner of life you encountered...I'm pretty sure that at least some of them knelt in front of you and begged for mercy."

"Did you spare them?" Ashton's voice turned icy when he asked this question.

"Did you leave them any semblance of dignity? Honor? A shred of mercy?"

"Did you give them a chance?"

"..."

"Answer me. Did you?" Ashton pressed on.

In truth, the answer to his questions was already obvious. The Demon God could've just uttered his reply but for some reason, he couldn't.

"You and the Celestials caused too much destruction already." Ashton uttered, causing the Demon God to perk up.

'How the hell does he know about the Celestials?'

"When you all showed up uninvited to those worlds, you leave nothing but corruption and desolation. You didn't give them a chance, so why would I?" Ashton scoffed.

"I'm just a bit peeved honestly, because I thought that you would at least put up a decent fight."

Ashton looked at him like he was nothing more than a pest that was meant to be stomped.

"It's rather unfortunate, really. I expected so much from you, yet you didn't even manage to entertain me."