Chapter 36 - Rise of the Demon King - Part 6

One of the many Hells:

Every single demon in this place was gathered in one place by the Dullahans.

Karla, a high-class demon was standing in front of the Demon King.

Karla was also standing with the rest of the demons.

“Prepare for your death, unworthy.”

A roar rang out of the Demon King’s mouth.

He spread his arms which created a powerful gust of wind.

“Ahh!”

“Wha...?”

“What?”

The demons were being thrown away like plastic bags in a typhoon.

No, that’s what should have happened.

The Dullahans created a barrier around them.

A dark energy barrier around every single person.

It kept them in one place.

“Kill them, my Dullahans.”

The Dullahans held their heads tightly in their arms.

“Kill the unworthy.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Yes, my lord.”

All of the Dullahan’s said in unison.

Hearing that, the restrained demons tried to break free but it seemed impossible.

“I shall--”

Suddenly, the Demon King trailed off.

Karla looked at him in confusion.

“What is he…?”

Not paying attention to anything, the Dullahans created weapons of dark energy.

The Demon King raised his right hand and held it to his ear.

“Wait!”

Hearing the Demon King, the weapons soon vanished.

It seems that the Demon King is communicating with someone via telepathy.

(“Don’t kill them!”)

A voice said in his head with an angry tone.

(“What do--”)

(“She did tell you not to kill them. So, why are you trying to kill them?”)

(“...”)

(“Pathetic. If you think you can go against her rule… Then you, my friend, can say goodbye to your life.”)

The Demon King could not even respond to the voice in his head.

(“I am currently in charge and she is not around… But don’t think that disobeying me will do you any good either. Do you even know who I am?”)

The Demon King has never met this person but he knows who he is.

("You are G--")

("Shut up!")

The Demon King gritted his teeth.

(“If you kill them right now, it will cause the universe... her troubles. Troubles which needs dealing with and it will cause delays in the plan.”)

He was feeling anger at being ordered around.

But deep down, he knew he shouldn’t mess around.

(“If it isn’t dealt with, things could go wrong for both the universe and her. And she doesn’t want that right now. Do you understand?”)

(“Yes...”)

(“I don’t understand, Demon King...”)

The voice started to sound a little angry.

It made the Demon King’s shoulders jerk.

(“If you kill them, Hell will be a mess. The dead will rise. And you will be the king of nothing. Demons or dead souls… Nothing will be left.”)

(“Yes, I understand.”)

(“There is a similar plan in motion, so don’t mess around the order of things. Got it!”)

(“Y-yes.”)

The telepathic connection was cut off.

Feeling anger, he slammed his foot on the ground.

The ground beneath the demons broke apart.

But it was soon restored.

“Leave them… Huh?”

Annoyed, the Demon King sensed something.

Something which he was not expecting right now.

“Tch.”

လလလ

Inside the dark place which had lighten up now, Nazar was hugging Solace.

“Can… Can you stop hugging me?”

Solace said as she struggled to break free.

“Hey, Solace...”

Hearing Nazar slow voice, she stopped struggling.

“I love you. Do you want to marry me?”

Narrowing her eyes, she punched Nazar in the stomach and he was thrown away.

“Ow, ow, ow. So, rejection, huh?”

“Yes!”

Nazar sighed.

“So, how did you find me? And why is there light? Am I not at the end of...”

Seeing Solace shook her head, Nazar stopped talking and listened to her.

"You are inside a [Dream Sphere]."

"Dream Sphere? I have never heard of it?"

Solace looked at him blankly.

"I…"

She sighed.

"I can't believe you don't know a Dream Sphere."

"I have never heard of it."

"It's a common move/trick used by the Angel of Dreams and anyone with dream-related powers. A lot of the demons have it too."

"Oh…"

Nazar still had no idea what it was.

"It makes you live your worst nightmares. It makes you believe you are living it. So, you can't tell if it's real or not. And then feeds of it."

"Oh."

He understood the concept of Dream Sphere a little.

"So, let's get you out of here."

Nazar smiled.

"Thanks, Solace."

"Do you remember when you first created me?"

Nazar nodded.

"I used to have an artificial brain. Then when I regrew my own… I couldn't even think at all. And so I created you to help me with that."

"But that was not all, was it?"

"Also to help me."

Solace smiled.

"So, you don't have to thank me. I am just doing my job."

"I see…"

The dark world was now replaced by a light one.

"Another reason for creating you was…"

"To stop you if you ever go too far."

"Yeah."

"I am not sure I can stop you. I will never be as powerful as you. But…"

She placed her hand on Nazar's shoulder and looked him in the eye.

"But I will do my best. And well, help you in any way I can."

Nazar smiled.

"Thanks."

She placed both of her hands on Nazar's face.

"Let's get out of here."

Just like that, the light vanished. And so did the darkness.

Standing on the red fiery ground of Hell, looking at the Demon King, Nazar clenched his fist.

"So, you escaped?"

The Demon King seemed very annoyed.

"Demon King--"

"Let's go, my Dullahans."

The dark energy which was restraining the demons vanished.

"Huh?"

Dumbfounded, Nazar let out an airheaded reply.

"I am not in the mood to mess around today. Not anymore."

The Dullahans vanished into thin air one by one.

The Demon King looked at Nazar.

"Next time we meet, it will not end well for you."

Nazar was not sure what was happening.

"You know what I meant by 'rival'?

"..."

"My physiology… I have [Anti-God Physiology]. I can kill you. And almost all of your powers are useless against me. Especially your Godly powers."

"What is-- Shit!"

The Demon King had vanished into thin air.

(Anti-God Physiology?) Nazar thought to himself as he looked at the empty place where the Demon King was standing. (If I recall correctly, it's basically like my Kryptonite. If he renders all of my powers useless, what am I even supposed to do against him?)

Nazar clicked his tongue.

"Nazar?"

"Sorry, Karla," Nazar said as he looked at Karla who was standing to his side in a dazed manner. "But thanks again."

Karla felt a little troubled.

"I thought we could take on him… but we are not a match for him, are we?"

Nazar shook his head.

"That's objectively wrong," Solace said as she landed next to Nazar. "We are more than a match for him."

"Solace. Don't."

"I am not suggesting you, Nazar."

Karla tilted her head in confusion.

But Nazar's eyes widened.

"No!"

"Just a suggestion," Solace said as she shrugged.

"I am not bringing her into this. What if she can't do anything against him? What if she dies?"

"Yeah, that is a possibility…"

Solace tried to recalculate her answer.

"Are you guys… By any chance, are you talking about the half-breed?"

Nazar and Solace looked at Karla in reflex.

Seeing their response, Karla knew who they were talking about.

"I see."

"We should get going, Solace."

Solace nodded as she prepared to teleport out.

Nazar looked at Karla and smiled.

"Thanks again. And sorry."

"No problems."

Both of them vanished into thin air.

Karla turned around and looked at Cira.

She was checking on the other demons to see if they were okay.

Seeing as how they were all fine, Karla let out a sigh of relief.

"We are safe…"

လလလ

Tuesday, 18th of May - Chias, Chochica Empire - Andromeda Galaxy:

Coming back to the castle, Nazar lied down on the large bed. He had been gone for many hours and it was early in the morning at the moment.

“Solace, how did you find me?”

“Remember how I gave you that chip? Some time ago?”

Nazar nodded.

“I tracked you using that. Your vitals were low.”

With a serious face, Nazar sat up.

“Do you know what happened on Saturday?”

Solace was confused.

She didn’t know what he meant.

“Do you know where I was?”

“Uh… You were right here.”

Nazar’s eyes slightly widened.

“For the whole day?”

Solace nodded.

“Are you telling me… Did Aarin come to this universe on that day?”

Solace went through her logs.

“I didn’t sense it.”

(Why are they manipulating Solace’s memories?) Nazar thought to himself. (And why let her notice me now? Why not the other day? I don’t get this at all.)

He scratched his head in confusion.

“You look very pale, you should go to sleep.”

“I can’t sleep.”

“Hm?”

“Every time I sleep, I see the memories of those days… I see it all over again. And her taunting.”

“...?”

“I do shut off my brain once in a while but it leaves me defenceless.”

“Ah.”

“When Emma was here… I somehow went to sleep and didn’t see her.“

“I shut off your brain. Well, not fully but just a little. It felt like you were sleeping but I had turned off your brain.”

“Oh...”

He lay back down on the bed.

“It’s been ten weeks and when I close my eyes for a few minutes, I see her. Well, not her face but her silhouette. And what she told me.”

Solace sat on the bed next to Nazar.

“On Saturday, I was put into sleep by her on planet Eir. And then… Well, some stuff happened.”

Solace looked at Nazar closely.

“Who is this ‘her’ you keep mentioning?”

“You… You don’t remember at all, huh?”

He was not surprised but he was disappointed.

(I wonder why they are doing this to her… Oh. I know.)

“Hey, Solace.”

(Solace can use every single power of mine. And has the same energies as me. That woman said she wanted my power, right? So, she is messing with her to ultimately take her power? It kind of makes sense but there are still some questions unanswered.)

“What?”

(Oh well… I don’t care. I have a plan.)

“I am going to rebuild you. Completely new.”

“Wait.”

Solace stood up with an alarming expression on her face.

“What? But why?”

“I am going to rebuild you even better. Same personality but you won’t remember anything.”

Solace was not sure what he was talking about.

Why would he want to rebuild her?

“I am going to rebuild using biotechnology, mixed with magic, cosmic energies, Usaium and others.”

“Huh?”

“Trust me, Solace. This for your own good. And of course, mine.”

Looking at Nazar’s serious face, she lowered his gaze.

“Your outer appearance and your personality will be the same… Other things will be different, though. Sorry, Solace, but th--”

“Okay.”

Nazar was caught by surprise.

He didn’t expect her to agree with him.

“I know my memories are manipulated and someone is manipulating me. So, you are trying to fix that, right?”

Nazar nodded.

“Then I don’t see a problem with this. Go ahead.”

Nazar stood up.

“I will keep your memories… or logs somewhere safe. When this is all over, you will have it back, okay?”

She smiled and nodded.

“It’s okay.”

Nazar placed his hands on her face.

“Don’t worry, it will be over soon.”

He felt pain in his chest as he dismantled her.

Solace was the first true friend of Nazar. She has been with him for decades.

Yes, she will start over.

But deep down, Nazar felt hurt.

To him, she was not an AI created by him. To him, she was a dear friend.

“Goodbye.”

လလလ

Unknown Dimension:

Two of the oldest beings sat opposite one another in a dimension that did not make sense.

"The Demon King..."

The Nameless One lowered his head a little.

"He is going to be a problem, is he not?"

"Why do you care, Nameless One?"

Hearing the Supreme One's question, he slightly raised his head.

"He is my creation. He has a lot of potential. I don't want a mere--"

"Potential? I don't see it."

"Hm?"

"He could have been a God. But instead? He turned himself into a lowly human. Pathetic, if you ask me."

"I do... agree with you on that."

He leaned back and sighed.

"If he had given it to any of us, things would have been different. I really hate how humane he is for someone who can become omnipotent."

"I wouldn't call him humane, Supremer."

They heard another voice in this weird dimension.

Looking at the man who came out of nowhere, the Nameless One narrowed his eyes.

They were looking at a tall man around 1.95 meters tall brown muscular man with shoulder-length green hair and green eyes.

He also had a scratch on his forehead.

"Aiht."

"Aiht."

Spreading his arms, Aiht smiled thinly.

"Yes, me."

The Nameless One sighed.

"What are you doing here?"

"I found out about your little meeting with your Lucifer. Kind of interested to see where it goes."

"Oh?"

"I have to ask, Aiht..."

Aiht looked at the Supreme One.

"I never created you and neither did the Nameless One..."

The Nameless One looked at the Supreme One in a confused manner.

He always believed that Aiht was created by the Supreme One.

"So, how did you come into existence?"

Placing his index finger on his mouth and smiling thinly, he said, "It's a secret."