[You have suffered catastrophic damage!]

[You have died.]

[A legend doesn’t die easily.]

[The duration of immortality is over.]

[Your race has changed into an undead. Some resources will be changed to health.]

[You have suffered catastrophic damage!]

[You have died.]

[You are in an infinite return state.]

[You will be resurrected immediately and the cooldown of all skills will be reset.]

[The penalty of infinite return has doubled experience loss.]

[Your level has decreased.]

[28 hours have passed since the connection timeout has elapsed.]

[This is based on reality time.]

[We believe that the player’s life is very dangerous.]

[According to Satisfy’s operating provisions that the player agreed to, the player’s safety and rescue arrangements...]

“Gasp... Gasp... Gasp...!” Agnus ignored the intermittent, buzzing notifications. No, it was more accurate to say he wasn’t aware of it. How many days had he spent in this world? Agnus didn’t remember. He couldn’t afford to count it.

Marbas—Agnus only moved forward to approach the individual who was a great power in hell, who infinitely brought together the army. The quest restricted skill that he temporarily received from Baal, Infinite Return, made it possible.

[You have died.]

[You have died.]

[30 hours have passed since the connection timeout has elapsed.]

“You are the worst Baal’s Contractor ever.” A green-haired male individual broke through the army of demonic creatures in just seven days and night and was approaching him. Marbas nonchalantly faced these golden eyes that were shining like a beast and placed a hand on his hat. He lifted his staff slightly and a sharp light flashed, cutting at Agnus. The wavelength of sword energy stretching out was very noisy.

Agnus’ robe fluttered like there was a storm and the skeleton guards turned to powder and scattered. There was a reason why Marbas had held his hat in advance.

“It might be different if it was a contractor who died like Pagma and the soul was mortgaged, but I have never seen a contractor who moved according to Baal’s will before. All the contractors have suffered from madness, but you seem to be especially twisted.”

‘This guy...’ Agnus’ eyes widened. In the week of mental and physical exhaustion, he had a good grasp of Marbas. He thought Marbas was a summoner. Otherwise, there was no way to explain his ability to constantly summon tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of demonic creatures.

However, even his swordsmanship wasn’t at an ordinary level. The speed and power of the sword was far beyond the level of a high ranker. It was the most powerful person Agnus knew. It was reminiscent of Grid’s swordsmanship, the person who caused the outbreak of the great human and demon war.

“Lantier!” Agnus overcame the crisis thanks to Bentao’s Mockery, where only 30% of the power applied to named NPCs, and shouted urgently.

The reaction came immediately. Death Knight Lantier had been carrying out a slaughter in the shadows of the army of demonic creatures. During the time when Agnus suffered hundreds of deaths, he had gained dozens of levels. He quickly appeared in an instant between Agnus and Marbas.

“Hup...!” Marbas tried to hit back with his short sword, only to take a breath and raise his sword. Four shocks rang through the sword and were transmitted to his fingertips. It was proof that Lantier’s power and techniques were returning to their prime.

A light shone in Marbas’ slightly widened eyes. The lich, who was slaughtering the demonic creatures in the middle of the battlefield, had fired a sniping magic at him. The power was several times stronger than what was seen on the first day.

‘Was this Baal’s intention?’

In the last week, Baal’s Contractor had weakened sharply while his lich and death knights had made rapid progress. They grew using the death of their master as a nutrient. The army of demonic creatures that protected Marbas was now grabbing Marbas by the throat.

‘The path of retreat is blocked.’

Marbas frowned as he felt the barrier of Baal’s subordinates, including Chepardea, spread out behind his back. He knew it intuitively. This barrier was the stage for declaring death. It was a place where specters were infinitely revived no matter how many times they died.

‘Disgraceful.’ Baal’s playfulness exceeded the limit. So far, it had been just a nuisance, but now he was openly trying to overturn the situation.

‘I didn’t expect him to target me. Is he really going to turn his back on God’s wishes? He is a son...’ Marbas clicked his tongue and took off his hat. Then the appearance of the handsome, old gentleman was gone. The head covered with horns looked monstrous. Marbas broke one of the horns with his hands and pulled it off. Black blood started to flow and demonic energy fluctuated.

-Croak?

Chepardea had regained his strength and authority after returning to hell. He had been watching over the situation calmly and proudly. Now he showed a fool’s expression like when he was on the ground. It didn’t match his size. He forgot he was the subordinate of the 1st Great Demon, Baal, and showed signs of fluster. He was surprised. He never dreamed that Marbas would be so strong.

-We need to strengthen the barrier...!

“It is too late,” Marbas said as if it was futile. He gathered the black demonic energy at the tip of his sword and raised it over his head. The target was the barrier, not Agnus. He intended to break the barrier. It was what Baal had made and used for entertainment. It was designed to prevent damage from any being other than a single digit great demon and the barrier was a stage where countless killings had been carried out so far. Even a great demon was put here like a beast and died in front of Baal.

Now Marbas had the power to destroy the stage that was made of madness and malice. It was power gained in exchange for abandoning one horn and he only had three left.

‘Don’t waste it. First of all, survive...’ Marbas’ thoughts stopped. His body was stiff. He couldn’t lower the sword that was raised high.

“Running away? Where are you looking?”

It wasn’t the feeling of fear or terror. It was disgust. He could only feel it when facing something terrible enough to escape the natural nature of things. Originally, it was something he should’ve never experienced in his lifetime.

“Come and see me?”

Like the lines of the ocean, the swirling eyes moved separately. They looked up, down, and to the side. They persistently looked around. It was like they were looking for a fun toy, but they never missed Marbas.

“......”

Marbas gulped and quietly lowered his raised sword. He turned to Agnus and pointed to the monster beyond the barrier. “That... it is a void. It is a curse that will surely lead you to ruin.”

-You! You dare to say such things about His Majesty!

Baal, who rarely came to the scene, and Chepardea, who was yelling.

In the dizzying turmoil, Agnus set his mind straight. “I am already broken.”

“I will tell you the truth of hell.”

“I don’t care about that. I just want to be strong.”

Strength. If he could accumulate a unique strength and look down on everything, the world would become boring. Would this vague lingering emotion toward the irreversible past disappear completely? Only then would he be free...

He thought so and longed for it.

Agnus stuck to Marbas like a hungry ghost. He repeatedly gave up running away and was killed by Marbas. According to Marbas’ assertion, he was destroyed in real time.

[You have died.]

[Your level has decreased.]

[You have died.]

[You have...]

......

…

[34 hours have passed since the connection timeout has elapsed.]

It was a painful time. Agnus’ mind faded again. He felt like he had become a sandcastle. He realized that he was collapsing. However, his power became stronger and gradually formed a greater unity. His real power was strengthening compared to his level that could be restored at any time.

Yes, levels could be recovered at any time. The great human and demon war would be the best hunting ground. The class effect and various title effects that had grown to the legendary rating dramatically increased the stat points gained when he leveled up, so it was a good thing...

A smile gradually appeared on Agnus’ face that was distorted by fatigue and pain.

“Baaaal!” The relaxed look was completely gone from Marbas’ face. He felt Baal’s eyes on his back and struggled desperately. He postponed his death by defeating the lich and death knights, not Agnus.

It was just a postponement. From the time Marbas’ sword no longer aimed at Agnus, Agnus repeatedly killed himself. The battle was accelerated. His death reset the cooldown time of all skills and he summoned the lich and death knights again. He hunted an endless army of demonic creatures and took them as food. He was going to eat even Marbas in the end.

***

The reason for the lack of imperial forces wasn’t just the demonic humans.

The Abyss—the end of the world and a boundary. The empire needed to be vigilant as this location in the capital, Titan, was likely to be the starting point of the war. A considerable number of troops were gathered at the Abyss to prepare for the invasion of the demons.

There was less support from the allies. Most of the allied forces were watching the Behen Archipelago which was predicted to be another starting point. The choice to disperse the troops itself might be arrogant.

“Who...?!” The guards around the entrance of the Abyss reacted unanimously. As if to prove the result of the training they had received, they immediately prepared to fire signal bullets after shouting. The reaction speed, judgment, and action were as fast as possible.

Unfortunately, their voices weren’t turned into cries. Dozens of signal bullets fell to the ground without being fired. It was because a sword light cut their throats.

Vicious silence dominated the world, but the deaths of the guards weren’t in vain. The watchtowers everywhere reacted. The soldiers witnessed the deaths of their colleagues from a high place and started to blow the trumpets with the veins of their necks bulging.

“It is surprisingly fun.”

The movement of the humans was in perfect order. The overall level seemed high. Zepar smiled pleasantly and drew an arc with the sword. It was the ultimate swordsmanship that broke the boundaries of the world. It contained a profound law. Long rays of sword lights stretched out and destroyed dozens of watchtowers. Some of the leading mounted troops, who were hurriedly making preparations, were cut and turned to ash.

“XX... What is that?” The players from the empire, who received the boundary protection quest, were mesmerized. It felt that something was terribly wrong.

There was a loud shockwave at the entrance of the Abyss that made them forget the passage of time. It was the precursor of the world that lost its boundaries mixing together.