Side Story Chapter 161
Maetri, the Burning Demon, covered his face with his arms to protect himself from sharp gusts of wind that clawed at his flesh. They’d begun right after the silver-haired human woman had snatched away the Demon Spirit’s spear.
The real problem was what happened next.
-What in the world...?
Maetri stared in blank amazement. The ground literally split in half, as if an earthquake had struck, creating a crevice dozens of meters deep. At the starting point of the crevice stood Paetri, Maetri’s twin brother.
-...Ugh!
Paetri looked up and coughed up a fountain of blood. Maetri's eyes widened upon realizing that the silver-haired woman split his brother in half using the spear.
-Pa-Paetri...?
All demons of their rank had supernatural healing abilities, but that meant nothing here. Demonic power continued to seep out of the edges of the wound, persistently preventing Paetri from recovering.
-More demonic power than Paetri’s...? Wh-Who are you, woman?
Maetri’s eyes were glued on Lilith.
“Longin is as greedy as me or Greed,” Joshua said through Lilith.
-...What?
“You might be one of the top twenty demons, but it hurts Longin’s pride to let a demon who isn’t even a Demon King handle it.”
Although Maetri would have lost his temper right away if the human woman said that ten minutes ago, what she had said before cutting Paetri in two suddenly flashed across Maetri’s mind.
-You bitch... you said some bullshit about being the Shining Darkness.
“Why is it bullshit?” Joshua shrugged.
-Of course it's bullshit! Are you telling me that he has manifested in a human as an authority?
“Humans acquired the Evil Sins' powers and the abilities of the Four Great Angels, so why not the Shining Darkness?”
Maetri shook his head vehemently. The Shining Darkness wasn’t someone who could be casually mentioned like this. Besides, the Shining Darkness had vanished long before the Demon Realm’s destruction, so why would he...
-...Wait, Joshua Sanders?
Maetri’s lips trembled.
-Unbelievable!
“See for yourself if it’s believable or not.” Joshua pointed Longin at Maetri and loosed a barrage of mighty bursts of red demonic power.
-Don’t be ridiculous! Yo-you’re dying with the Demon Spirit, so how—!? In the body of a human woman no less...!
Lava began to seep out of the crevice. The fact that his brother hadn’t lasted a second shocked Maetri, but when he saw what Joshua had in store for him, “dismay” would be an understatement for what he felt.
-...I get it now. You vermin. How dare you mock a demon of my position with your wicked tongue?
Maetri sent a torrent of flames at Joshua.
And then a sudden burning sensation in his right arm made him flinch.
-Argghhhh!
Maetri screamed in pain and grabbed his right shoulder—his right arm had been neatly cut off. It was clear who did the deed.
Joshua twirled his spear before leveling it at Maetri again.
“Surrender. I’ve recovered some of my power, so even one of the twenty strongest demons won’t be able to hold me down very long.”
-Y-You’re really... the Shining Darkness?
Maetri had to believe Joshua now. He had cleaved Maetri’s brother in half with a single strike, and his demonic power was incredible; in addition, he seemed to radiate an air of authority that was compelling Maetri to bow.
-If you’re truly him... how can you do this to us?
“What do you mean?” Joshua asked.
-You’re a hero for us demons from the lower part of the Demon Realm. The demons from the upper part of the Demon Realm were born noble—the remaining ninety percent of demons adore you.
“So you’re from the lower part of the Demon Realm, huh?” Joshua leaned his spear against his shoulder.
-I also looked up to you. I believed without a doubt that you would crush the Angel Realm and lead us to a new world.
“Why should I do that?”
-You’ve been betrayed. Isn’t it only right for you to get revenge?
“Revenge...” Joshua smiled bitterly. What word could describe his life better than “revenge”? He had been betrayed, so he got payback. However, he had been stabbed in the back by the one he used to trust once again, starting another vendetta. That simpleminded cycle had repeated again and again.
-You’re a traitor! You can’t do this to us demons from the lower realm! We were cheering for you—
“You gotta be kidding me.”
-...What?
“You demons kissed the ground and begged someone else to grant your wishes because you weren’t strong enough. No one calls that ‘cheering’,” Joshua snapped. “Humans call people like that ‘parasites’.”
-Parasites...? Are you calling me a parasite?
“Are you saying you’re not?” Joshua sarcastically asked.
Maetri seethed with murderous energy.
-In all of the long history of the Demon Realm, only five demons from the lower part of the Demon Realm rose to the top, including you! But what? A parasite?
“Let’s get one thing straight: I’m not exactly from the lower parts of the Demon Realm. Perhaps the Angel Realm?” Joshua shrugged.
-Shut the hell up!
Maetri’s demonic power and murderous energy mixed and then shot toward Joshua in a primal expression of rage.
-I’ll get revenge for my brother and make you suffer for mocking our dream.
“Do you think you can do it?”
-Don’t be too arrogant. I’ve already begun.
Joshua tilted his head, confused. Clarification quickly arrived. The ground started to sizzle, and abruptly became bright scarlet in a radius a dozen meters wide.
-Heatfire Wave.
The area cracked open and spat red hot lava, which turned into a wave and rushed toward Joshua.
“This reminds me of someone,” Joshua remarked with a little smile as he adjusted his grip on his spear.
Ulabis, the Knight of Red Flame, used a similar kind of ability in the Masters' Battle in Reinhardt decades ago.
‘Is this really the time to reminisce?’ Lilith snapped.
-Are you still anxious?
‘I’m not anxious, but we’re on the clock. How long are you going to let a mere demon hold you down?’ Lilith scoffed.
Calling Maetri a “mere” demon finally got a reaction out of Joshua.
-You know, he’s one of the most powerful demons out there...
‘Strength is always a relative quality. Just finish this, quickly. Otherwise, your father will start something.’
Joshua glanced to the side at Kireua—Aden—who was driving a demon just as powerful as Maetri into a corner using the ill-gotten body of Joshua’s son. However, Aden’s opponent was the ninth strongest demon, one of the strongest demons one could find short of a Demon King.
-Why are you unscathed by my Heatfire Wave? Why?!
Maetri’s wave of lava had surrounded Joshua while he was talking to Lilith, but he wasn’t affected by the heat at all.
“I’m sorry,” Joshua apologized.
-What...?
“I can’t deny that I unintentionally hurt the low-ranking demons.”
-Are you... pitying us?
“I mean it.”
Joshua slowly walked forward.
His presence had instilled false hope in those who lacked ambitions. The Demon Realm was like a jungle in the Human Realm. The weak got eaten, and only the strong survived. Demons’ wicked nature had never changed; they stayed true to their primal instincts, so they fought, extorted, and ate each other. It was difficult for such people to change their nature.
They were very different from humans. Although many humans were wicked, quite a lot of them were good. Some philosophers asserted that humans weren’t born good or evil, all they had were their base desires, just like animals. Joshua had to admit that their theory held some credence.
“I should stop you all from dreaming in the first place,” Joshua said.
-What nonsense are you talking about?
“You demons are different from humans. All you know is stealing, destroying, and fighting. You don’t exactly have principles.”
-So what? Isn’t it only right for the strong to take everything?
“It’s that kind of belief that makes you demons irredeemable.”
Joshua stepped through the fire and unleashed his power.
Out of all of creation, only demons deserved to be eradicated. Were Joshua to let these demons settle in the Human Realm, the other races in the realm would suffer. Joshua felt responsible for the current situation because everything started because of him.
“Join your brother. When you’re reborn as a new kind of being, think about what I said—because I know it’s impossible for you demons to understand what I’m saying.” Joshua smiled bitterly.
-I won’t go down easily!
Maetri’s demonic power exploded outward, sending the monsters nearby staggering away from him in a panicked attempt to escape. All eyes were on their battle as Maetri squeezed out every drop of the demonic power that sustained his life so he could hurl it at Joshua.
Joshua’s response, in contrast, was a very simple thing.
Maetri tilted his head, confused, because Maetri had blinked and then Joshua was gone.
He felt a burning sensation in his nape.
“No, it’s easy.”
Whatever Maetri was thinking was cut short as Joshua’s sharp red spear sliced through the demon’s neck, leaving behind a leaving a bright crescent trail behind it.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢