Chapter 14. The Birth of a New God

 

Kalifax was a demon.

 

From a very long time ago, he was a being who was born in the Demon Realm, defeating everyone and taking control.

 

He was immensely strong from the moment he was born.

 

He was a powerhouse that couldn’t be compared to other monsters and beasts.

 

Cerberus, the Hellhound?

 

That kind of creature was nothing but beneath him.

 

He was on a different level from those beasts from the start.

 

He was a noble being who could think and develop on his own.

 

It had been hundreds of years since he took control of the Demon Realm.

 

Kalifax found the Demon Realm to be gradually boring.

 

This was because mere monsters, beasts, and other demons couldn’t even scratch, let alone harm him.

 

It was a tedious life.

 

Until ‘the Demon King’ appeared.

 

He was different from everything that had been born in the Demon Realm until then.

 

The moment he was born, he tore apart a gigantic beast nearby. He shattered mountains, turning colossal mountain ranges into flat plains, and the ground where he lightly swung his arm became a vast canyon that altered the terrain for thousands of years.

 

Yes.

 

He was a man born with the destiny of a ‘Conqueror’.

 

Kalifax was utterly defeated by him.

 

He was tossed around like a bug played with by a child, limbs torn off without any resistance.

 

He thought he would surely die if this continued.

 

In the Demon Realm, it was common sense and daily life for the loser to be eaten by the victor.

 

But he was different.

 

[You, become my subordinate.]

 

The hand extended towards him as he said that.

 

To Kalifax, it was an offer that seemed so radiant, strong, and at the same time, so sweet and attractive that he accepted it.

 

Thus, becoming his right hand, he invaded the Demon Realm for decades.

 

Then, news came from the Demon King.

 

A certain being he met in a cave had killed his avatar with a single strike.

 

Simply by revealing his presence.

 

It was unbelievable, but he had to believe it.

 

Because it was the Demon King himself who said it.

 

From that moment, Kalifax thought about how to restrain that being.

 

He didn’t entertain the arrogant thought of killing him.

 

If he could kill the Demon King’s avatar merely by revealing his presence, there was a high possibility that his black magic wouldn’t work in any way.

 

But unexpectedly, it was solved easily.

 

The princess, Elyserede.

 

The being seemed to cherish her, who was offered as a sacrifice to him.

 

Using that as leverage, he bound the being.

 

It was merely a performance, not even a proper leash, but he was satisfied.

 

After all, there was no way to kill him.

 

If there existed any means to restrain him even for a moment, that was enough.

 

[It would have been enough…]

 

Kalifax stared blankly at the sky.

 

The sky was splitting apart.

 

Like ancient mythology, cracks appeared in the blue sky as dark clouds gathered.

 

Before he knew it, the sky was filled with black clouds,

 

Drip, drop.

 

Rain began to fall.

 

It wasn’t a very bright day.

 

But because of that, it was even more intense and powerful.

 

As if my existence couldn’t even be accepted by the sky.

 

An endless, colossal figure leisurely broke through the sky and stood above it.

 

That being, he, that existence.

 

He was silently floating in the sky, calmly looking down at the battlefield.

 

Wherever his gaze reached, everything vanished in an instant.

 

More precisely, it was only the forces of the Calibargo Kingdom, monsters, and beasts that disappeared as if they had never existed there.

 

It was distinctly different from his previous crude method.

 

Previously, just revealing his presence caused everyone to fall into chaos and attempt to harm themselves, but this time, they simply vanished as if they never existed.

 

[He can control his presence…?]

 

It was absurd.

 

Presence was an achievement accumulated by the existence from the moment they were born.

 

Therefore, it naturally permeated the existence itself.

 

How much presence to reveal was simple.

 

Presence itself was the potential and path the existence was born with.

 

But to control that presence.

 

To precisely adjust and release the amount of presence among insignificant bugs that would die with just a little revelation, no one could do that.

 

Not even the Demon King could do that.

 

No matter how great he was, he had an immense total amount of presence but couldn’t manage such delicate control.

 

His gaze turned.

 

With just that, all the enemies adjacent to the Kingdom of Trelinia died.

 

Kalifax feared that gaze might be directed at him.

 

If the presence was fully unleashed onto a single demon, what would happen to that demon?

 

However, he seemed not to care at all.

 

He slowly roamed the sky and approached the princess.

 

“Jörmungandr…”

 

The princess’s hand reached towards Jörmungandr’s head.

 

Somehow, that scene looked like a very slow motion.

 

I had an instinct that no matter what, I mustn’t let the princess touch him.

 

I raised my staff.

 

I intended to trigger the curse placed on the princess.

 

[You must die here.]

 

A curse filled with dark malice.

 

It aimed at the princess’s heart.

 

And then.

 

[Death is not permitted.]

 

The curse that was in the princess’s heart completely dissipated, its existence annihilated.

 

Only then did Kalifax realize.

 

No matter what he did, he couldn’t stop those two.

 

The contract had already been made.

 

The princess was a priestess who offered everything to him, and the death of such a priestess was impossible, even if the heavens tried to kill her.

 

Because.

 

All of the priestess’s existence and everything else belonged solely to him.

 

A pure white hand touched Jörmungandr.

 

There was no loud noise.

 

Only a quiet silence filled the battlefield.

 

Therefore, it was even more solemn.

 

The moment the priestess’s hand touched her master, a tranquil energy spread across the world.

 

Even the rampaging presence that had been running wild slowly subsided.

 

As if nothing existed there, a suffocating stillness.

 

And when he opened his eyes.

 

[……Ah.]

 

The demons.

 

They regretted being born into this world.

 

* * *

 

It was endlessly quiet.

 

The wall that had constantly tormented me was no longer visible.

 

A new horizon, endlessly blue.

 

The body that stepped into that place was different from before.

 

It had grown larger.

 

Now, it was easy to wrap around the planet twice, let alone once.

 

Considering that this planet’s size was vastly different from Earth’s, I thought it might have even surpassed the size of Jörmungandr from Norse mythology.

 

Jörmungandr quietly gazed at Elyserede, who had become a priestess.

 

She had changed.

 

Her eyes, which had sparkled like obsidian, turned into blue eyes imbued with a mysterious aura, just like mine.

 

Moreover, she was exuding a faint presence.

 

By becoming Jörmungandr’s priestess, she naturally gained an overwhelming amount of presence.

 

Now, assessing the situation should be enough.

 

I reduced my size a little.

 

To be honest, I was so large that the demon looked less than a bug.

 

He was so small.

 

I was sure that even if I swallowed him in one bite, I wouldn’t feel anything.

 

‘What should I do?’

 

It wasn’t about how to kill him.

 

It was about how to kill him more horribly.

 

I was thinking about that.

 

As I closed my eyes for a moment and thought, I made a decision.

 

[I will take everything from you.]

 

I looked at the demon.

 

As I concentrated my gaze, intending to dissect everything about him.

 

Everything about him began to scatter.

 

The powerful magic surrounding his body.

 

The karma of the things he killed since birth.

 

The presence that allowed him to exist.

 

All the things he accumulated over thousands of years were disappearing in an instant, like bubbles bursting.

 

[No, no!!]

 

The demon squirmed.

 

He desperately writhed, trying to grab onto the energy leaving him.

 

He rubbed his body on the ground, reaching out his hands, and desperately tried to grasp the particles flying towards the sky, shouting and screaming.

 

But it was all meaningless.

 

When all the particles finally disappeared, the demon collapsed on the ground with empty eyes.

 

He couldn’t even be considered a demon anymore.

 

He was just a worm, worse than trash, with all his existence annihilated.

 

[Are you satisfied now…? You’ve taken everything from me!! Finally!!]

 

[No.]

 

[What…?]

 

[This is just the beginning.]

 

I devoured him.

 

He couldn’t resist at all and was eaten by me.

 

But that didn’t mean it was over.

 

The place I sent him was not my stomach but a completely different dimension.

 

There was no death in that place.

 

Therefore, no living creatures died, and those who should have died naturally due to their lifespan couldn’t die, even if their skin rotted and festered, or their legs were smashed and eaten.

 

In that world full of pain.

 

He would have to live for thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of years.

 

In pain.

 

[Hmmm…]

 

Jörmungandr’s gaze turned to the ground.

 

The land trampled by monsters and beasts had lost its vitality and was blackened and polluted.

 

———Hissssss.

 

He gathered blue energy in his mouth.

 

The moment he shot it towards the ground.

 

The land turned green.

 

The blackened ground regained its former color, blue flowers and grass grew, and trees sprouted, quickly forming a vast forest.

 

And everything that existed within it.

 

Among them, all those with malice perished instantly. They felt an excruciating pain as if their bodies were being torn apart piece by piece.

 

“No, no, no no no no!!!”

 

Cal Lediums screamed as he melted away.

 

He disappeared without leaving any trace in this world.

 

A quiet silence existed on the battlefield.

 

Then.

 

“Worship… the god.”

 

The voice of Lesbeligo, the King of Trelinia, who had been watching all the scenes.

 

The echo that spread across the battlefield.

 

Soon, it spread to everyone in an instant.

 

“Ah, ah… O God…!!”

 

“We worship, we revere.”

 

“O God who has granted us salvation…! My faith…!”

 

Reverence spread across the battlefield like a wave.

 

Everyone knelt, gazing up at the divine, sacred being.

 

In the Kingdom of Trelinia, where no religion had ever existed, a new religion was established at that moment.