Leveling with the Gods

C434

Beeeeeeh-.

Beeh-.

The Rankers lost their heads to the roar of thousands of goats.

Odin fell into the hands of Shub-Niggurath. At the same time, the morale that was on the rise sank even further due to his fall.

And among those Rankers...

"Tsk-."

Diablo clicked his tongue and shook his head as if he were disgusted.

He stopped the punch he was about to throw and stood up.

He heard the cries from the battlefield.

"Aaaah!"

"My shoulder-!"

"Get away, get away...!"

"Uwaaaah-!"

The fight between the demoralized Rankers and the goats was one-sided.

No.

No one would call this a "fight."

This was a "hunt."

"It's not fun at all."

He didn't like it.

The confrontation he had been eagerly waiting for was unfolding so unevenly.

Pak-.

A muscle on Diablo's forehead tensed.

The Deva Rankers, who were fleeing in terror from the goats, came into view.

The Valkyries, who at first were at least willing to fight to the death, seemed to shake and retreat even before the confrontation.

It was pathetic.

What he couldn't bear more than anything was...

Pweok-!

The Demons weren't any different.

"Kh!"

A Demon Ranker who had been hit in the arm by Diablo fell to the ground. A moment ago, he was trying to run to survive from the goats.

"Are you so afraid of dying?"

"D-D-Di-Diablo-nim..."

"Are you afraid?"

"N-No, no, no, I'm not!"

In response to Diablo's question, the Demon lowered his head and closed his eyes tightly.

He knew it was absurd even to think about it. What does it mean to flee instead of fighting while saying you're not afraid of dying?

It was like running into a tiger while fleeing from a fox.

'My reputation ends here...'

"That's right. It's natural to be afraid."

The Demon carefully opened the eyes he had been closing tightly.

"Is it?"

Diablo didn't reach out to him.

Instead, his gaze was directed at Shub-Niggurath, who was riding on the goats' back.

"Because if you die, you won't be able to keep fighting."

Being afraid of not being able to keep fighting.

The Demons, even if they understood it in their heads, couldn't fully comprehend it.

Even though their race was obsessed with fighting, they hadn't overcome the fear of death.

But the Diablo now was as if...

"So, I'm afraid too."

It was a display of how that fear was overcoming him.

He thought his head would explode at any moment, but Diablo turned his body and took a step toward the group of goats.

And over Diablo's head.

Ziiii-.

He saw the horns that protruded grow even longer.

"Could it be...?"

The Demons' eyes widened.

But that idea of "it can't be" lasted only for a moment.

In this situation, there was no way Diablo wouldn't reveal his true form.

Beeeh-!

A goat bared its teeth at Diablo, who was approaching its mother.

Chug-.

An abnormally large mouth. The goat opened its mouth wide as if it was about to swallow Diablo and ran towards him.

And at that moment...

Buuung-.

Chug-!

The red tail flying from behind Diablo hit the goat's body and threw it to the ground. Diablo raised the arm with scales that had grown much larger than before, leaving the staggering goat aside after the impact.

His size had increased at least twice from the beginning.

"Don't hide among the children; come here."

Duduk-.

As he waved his long red tail, Diablo's eyes, which had turned completely red, shone.

"Damn goat."

Plaf-!

Diablo's tail hit the ground.

The broken ground displayed the expression of Diablo's rising anger. Ignoring the goats, Diablo strode toward Shub-Niggurath.

And following Diablo's actions, Shub-Niggurath also bit into the goats surrounding him.

"The reaction of those who are terrified is usually similar. Drowning in fear, either by strangulation or fleeing."

Jeobeok-.

As he approached Diablo, Shub-Niggurath had an interesting expression.

"But your reaction is neither. Even though you know you're about to die..."

Diablo smiled.

"You're enjoying it."

Unbeknownst to anyone, Diablo had completely transformed into the form of a full-fledged Demon. He was covered in red scales and had eight horns protruding from his head, revealing the figure of the Demon Lord and the most powerful of Demons.

Diablo.

The supreme Demon and Lord of the Demon Realm.

He had revealed his true form.

Gugugugu-.

-Exactly.

Diablo, who had shown his true form, lifted his head.

The purple of the sky mixed with the red. The Demonic Energy emanating from Diablo covered the world.

Crack, crack-.

The ground beneath his feet cracked, and heat similar to that of lava rose from within.

His mouth opened slowly.

"It's fun. So much fun that I feel like I'm going mad."

Diablo wasn't consumed by fear.

Instead, he was enjoying this moment in which he didn't know when he would die.

Thousands of years ago.

Ba'al, who had come to visit Diablo, the Demon Lord, asked him:

"It must be boring."

It was a statement that had been carefully thought out.

But Diablo, who was bored yawning in his throne, responded as if he knew it all.

"Yes. It's boring."

"You must have seen enough blood on your way here. Isn't it enough yet?"

Diablo had shed a lot of blood on his way to becoming the Lord of the Demon Kings.

He had overcome more than half of the Demons who crossed his path, killing some by cutting their throats and tearing out their hearts. Then, Diablo had subdued the entire group by himself and stopped the flow of blood.

"I can't say it's not enough."

"What do you mean?"

"My thirst is unending. No matter how much I drink, it's never satisfied, so I've stopped trying to fill it."

Those were terrifying words.

It was because he was not trying to satisfy a thirst that could never be quenched from the beginning.

"Do you plan to endure it forever?"

"I have no choice. I can't kill all my comrades with my own hands."

"It must be difficult."

"Even so, I have expectations."

"Expectations?"

Diablo nodded.

His expression was more excited than ever at the following words.

"Someday, someone stronger than me will appear. We probably won't be able to avoid a fight."

Just by imagining it, he began to sweat. His voice became more passionate, and the seat on which he was leaning trembled.

"The only way to satisfy this thirst is for me to die. It took me too long to realize that."

Diablo said that and closed his eyes completely. He did so because he feared that otherwise, even Ba'al, who was in front of him at that moment, might be killed.

"So I'm willing to endure it, at least for the pleasure of that moment."

Diablo had been enduring for thousands of years.

And now...

He finally faced the opponent who would quench the thirst he had been holding back all this time.

Fwoosh!

Flames enveloped Shub-Niggurath's body.

Blazing red flames that obstructed the view. The goats bleated in response to the heat hotter than lava.

Shub-Niggurath gazed at the brilliant flames. Due to the flames that completely enveloped him, he couldn't see anything else.

Hwaaak-!

Within the flames, Diablo's figure materialized.

-I've been waiting for this day.

Kwang-.

The hand that shot out from the flames gripped Shub-Niggurath's neck.

--The day I die.

Sueeeuuuu-.

Diablo's figure drew near to Shub-Niggurath.

Facing the approaching face, Shub-Niggurath opened his mouth.

"There are many interesting people in this world."

Kwang-.

He gripped Diablo's arm that had his throat.

"It's a reward for your long wait."

Ziiiiing-.

Shub-Niggurath also started extending the horns on his head, gradually revealing his original form.

"I'll make you my allied goat so you can fight forever."

Fwoosh!

Flames erupted.

The place where Diablo stood had already disappeared as the ground had completely melted. The surroundings had transformed into a sea of flames, and the sky was dyed red.

It was Diablo's power revealing his true form.

"Get away from the flames! Hurry!"

Hwaaaa-!

A strong wind swept away the flames spreading in all directions. Diablo's flames didn't discriminate, and to prevent them from spreading, Michael protected his allies from them.

Under Michael's command, demons and angels moved frantically.

And beyond this chaos...

"What's happening...?"

"The battlefield suddenly turned into Muspelheim."

"With such intense flames, could it be...?"

In the hearts of the rankers, the hope that Diablo's flames could make a difference ignited once more.

Look at these flames.

They were flames that didn't fall behind Surt, the King of Muspelheim, and Odin's rival. They wondered how many living beings could survive such flames.

It didn't have to be a massacre.

There were still many rankers and high-rankers in this place.

No matter how monstrous their opponents were, as long as they could inflict mortal wounds, they could change the course of the battle.

Even Diablo's true body, which had never been revealed in the Great Heaven Demon War, seemed to be enough to confront Shub-Niggurath.

However...

"...That fool."

Even Susanoo, who was fighting on the front lines alongside him, found Diablo's actions quite foolish.

"Doesn't he realize he's running to his death?"

Diablo's presence was a complete shock to Susanoo.

He too had sought the fight and death for himself as he traveled through the battlefield.

However, Diablo yearned for an even greater value than Susanoo.

Susanoo felt the desire for battle that Diablo had been repressing until now, now emanating from his true form.

A fight for life. Susanoo had already experienced such a battle, and as a result, he found death as he is now.

But the battle with Yamata-no-Orochi and the presence in front of him were of a different dimension from the beginning.

Above all...

If Diablo were to be defeated so overwhelmingly at this moment, the morale of the allies could collapse completely, and they might permanently lose the advantage.

"There's no other choice."

There was no time to hesitate.

He had to move before those flames went out.

Although he wasn't sure if Diablo could achieve anything, but if he joined...

Crackle-.

But the moment Susanoo took a step forward...

Flash-!

A Golden Lightning Bolt shot from the ground to the sky.

Susanoo turned his head toward the wall of lightning blocking his path.

He nearly became a kebab by the Lightning Bolt. Only a ranker who could handle such a powerful Golden Lightning Bolt existed in the Tower.

"Don't do something foolish."

Even without looking at the voice's owner, it seemed like he knew who it was.

Susanoo turned his head.

Before he could identify the owner of the Lightning Bolt, the surrounding crowd was already in an uproar.

"Zeus!"

"Zeus has arrived!"

A high-ranker with an especially radiant appearance, even among all these rankers.

Referred to as the King who leads this Tower along with Odin.

"...The battlefield is in chaos."

Zeus, the God of the Sky.

He arrived on the battlefield along with Hercules.