Invitation To You (3)
All Great Demons must sacrifice themselves.
It was something he had heard from his father since he was young, to the point where his magic was worn out.
Beelzebub had taken those words to heart and had never forgotten them for a single moment.
The meaning of those words was clear.
As a Great Demon chosen to be a strong leader, he had to bear a great responsibility.
······At least, that was what he had believed until he was young.
-Beelzebub. I have something to show you.-
On the day Beelzebub was given the name of Naatae as a Great Demon.
After the ceremony was over and things had quieted down, Satan took Beelzebub’s hand and led him somewhere.
A narrow crevice that had opened up in the ground.
He headed into that dark abyss, where not even a glimmer of light seemed to penetrate.
Beelzebub felt an ominous feeling, but he was not afraid.
Because his father was with him.
At the bottom of that deep abyss.
When he reached the bottom, Beelzebub could see five stone statues surrounding him.
Faces that seemed strangely familiar.
They were eerily elaborate stone statues.
-What is this, Father?-
-Let me introduce you. They are the Supreme Elders of the Demon Realm, the Great Demons.-
-······?!-
Only then did Beelzebub notice the strange aura emanating from within the statues.
They were not mere stone statues.
Beelzebub’s body froze as he realized that the eyes of the statues were following him.
He had heard that five of the seven Great Demons were not feeling well and would not be showing up.
He had never imagined that they would be sealed in such a place.
Then why?
Who?
As such questions arose, Beelzebub began to find his father’s back increasingly creepy.
-Remember. I told you that all Great Demons must sacrifice themselves.-
-Yes······?-
-Haven’t you ever thought about it? How twisted the Demon Realm is. Because they belong to the underworld, demons live with many more constraints than humans in the mortal world. So, is there no way to make demons as free as humans? I have been agonizing over this for hundreds of thousands of years, and I have finally devised a way to separate the Demon Realm from the underworld. To do that, we must first seal all seven Great Demons. I gave birth to you for this day.-
-······?!-
Beelzebub realized.
The meaning of the words his father had repeated so often.
-We will make the Demon Realm free!-
It was meant literally.
A grand ritual to sacrifice all seven Great Demons and separate the Demon Realm from the underworld.
To that end, he would seal the Great Demons and sacrifice them.
-W, what happens next?-
-What happens next?-
-After everything is over······. Will I be able to get out of the statue······?-
-What are you talking about? All Great Demons will be sacrificed and remain sealed in the underworld, earning the honor of being remembered by all the demons of the Demon Realm.-
-That’s······-
He couldn’t speak.
It was a story full of talk of responsibility and sacrifice that Beelzebub simply could not understand.
Why did the Demon Realm need to be separated from the underworld?
What good would it do to free the demons from the sight of the underworld gods?
Why did he have to sacrifice himself?
He didn’t understand a single one of them.
-Now, stand here. And try to imagine it. All the demons chanting our names. Life is fleeting, but glory is eternal.-
-······-
-Accept the seal.-However, as Belphegor, she could not even think of rebelling and had no choice but to follow her father’s words.
It was unimaginable to defy him.
Belphegor was led by her father’s hand and stood next to the stone statues.
And then, as she began to follow her father’s instructions, she began to slowly harden into stone from her toes.
-Ah······!-
No. I don’t like it. I’m scared. I’m terrified.
As her body hardened, Belphegor felt terror as she watched her father’s strange smile.
It was a matter of seconds.
Belphegor had become a perfect stone statue, unable to even scream.
-My dear daughter. Just wait a little longer. Once I finish all the preparations, I will be sealed next to you.-
After stroking the cheek of Belphegor, who had become a stone statue for a moment.
Satan escaped from hell and disappeared above.
Belphegor, who was left behind in hell, opened her eyes and felt like she was going to vomit from the confusion.
Inside the stone statue, only a limited field of vision was available.
She couldn’t move at all.
It’s only been a minute.
Belphegor felt suffocated and felt like she was going crazy.
-Has the daughter of wrath come in?-
-As a great demon, everyone should sacrifice themselves.-
-Don’t worry about not being able to speak yet. After about 10,000 years, you will be able to handle enough magic to speak.-
‘······!’
Creepy voices could be heard here and there.
The five great demons.
The elders who had chosen to seal themselves in the past were talking to Belphegor.
They were saying things like “good job” and “whatever,” but none of that entered Belphegor’s ears.
Voices that felt no life or passion.
They were already too inorganic to be called life.
‘I don’t want to be like them! I’m going out! I have to go out!’
This can’t be.
Belphegor didn’t care about separating the demon world from the underworld, freeing the demons, or whatever.
She hated being sealed like this more than death.
‘I have to get out somehow······!’
However, she couldn’t use magic or strength while sealed.
Time passed without incident.
She spent her years cultivating her desire to escape and her hatred for her father.
All the strategies and tricks Belphegor could think of failed.
Even the plan to persuade her father, who visited her occasionally, failed, and the word “give up” loomed before her eyes.
-Begbnaetdeopmyeonggwibeddokmankkyemgonbbalmyeongnyeonggwibdinggwangmyeongdeungnyeongmyeongbelggideobonbanbeomnyebellukgyeoeongilgeukbeomyeodetgwangbellbyeongyeogutneunggeombeomyeo-
‘He’ reached out to Belphegor.
An inexplicable will seeped into the stone statue.
She had no idea what it meant.
But she could clearly tell that ‘He’ wanted to help Belphegor.
An unknown power began to surge within the stone statue.
No, rather than power, it would be more accurate to call it authority.
At first, Belphegor was overwhelmed by how to use that authority.
But as time passed and she became accustomed to it, at some point, she felt like she could break the stone statue with this authority.
Gradually, cracks began to appear in the stone statue from the back, which was difficult to notice.
How much time had passed?
-Haaah······!-
Belphegor finally managed to smash the stone statue and escape.
She could breathe.
She could move her hands and feet.
She laughed for a moment, realizing that she had managed to escape the seal.Belphegor froze as she faced the five statues surrounding her, their eyes glaring at her mockingly.
To make matters worse, she began to feel something descending from above the abyss.
-I have to escape… I have to escape…-
She had to run away.
To a place where her father’s eyes could not reach her.
But where? How?
-The mortal world!-
At that moment, she remembered what her father had said.
The mortal world.
An independent world located outside the realm of the underworld.
A world inhabited by free souls who were unaware of the underworld.
If it was a paradise like that, even her father wouldn’t be able to follow her.
She had to escape to the mortal world somehow.
But the question of ‘how’ still remained.
-Belphegor! Where are you going?!-
-Waaah! Father…!-
-I will take away all of your identity as a demon!-
A thunderous sound echoed from above.
Belphegor felt all the magic being sucked out of her body.
Her strength was fading away.
All of Belphegor’s identity and power as a demon were being taken back.
But just before she became completely powerless.
Belphegor managed to squeeze out her last bit of magic and cut through space.
All she could see beyond was emptiness.
It was the other side of a dimension where there was nothing.
The chances of her accidentally falling into the mortal world, or rather, into a place that was not the void, were slim.
Belphegor didn’t have time to weigh the odds.
She didn’t care if she died or disappeared.
Anything was fine as long as she could escape this hell.
-Ugh!-
Belphegor closed her eyes and jumped inward.
Thanks to being stripped of most of her identity as a demon, she was not pulled into the demon world.
Instead, Belphegor was guided by an unknown force that seemed to be pushing her.
It felt like someone huge was leading Belphegor somewhere.
-This is…-
The rift in the dimension closed.
Satan’s hand, which had descended to the bottom of the abyss, swept through the void.
However, Satan soon regained his composure as if nothing had happened.
-It doesn’t matter. Soon, the seat of the Great Demon will be vacant when he perishes in the void.-
It was impossible to survive in the void.
Belphegor’s life would soon end.
Then, the seat of the Great Demon would become vacant, and a new Great Demon could be born.
It was a simple matter of having another child.
-Wait a minute. Why? How are you still alive?!-
But as time passed, no vacancy was created.
Belphegor was alive.
She was alive and well in a world other than the underworld.
She had crossed the rift in the dimension that was nothing but emptiness.
She had defied the impossible odds and reached a world where survival was possible.
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Satan felt a surge of anger as he touched the broken statue, sensing the faint power imbued in its fragments.
He seemed to know who had helped Belphegor escape.
Who had led her to another world.
-Draken!!!-
Satan’s scream echoed throughout the heavens.
.
.
.
-Gasp?!-
Belphegor finally regained consciousness and opened her eyes.
Unfamiliar air.
Unfamiliar ground.
And unfamiliar light.
She didn’t even have to look around to know.
This was the place Belphegor had longed for and wanted to go to.
A world that was only passed down in legends.
It was the mortal world.-Done! Done······! I’m alive! I’m alive!-
I was so happy I could jump.
I’m alive.
I don’t have to be trapped in that dark abyss anymore.
Belphegor was so overjoyed that tears streamed down his face.
-Beautiful······-
Belphegor was overwhelmed by the first sight of the present world.
Everywhere he looked, there were only green fields, trees, and flowers.
Vibrant life was everywhere.
Only Belphegor, surrounded by a faint magic, was out of place and alienated from his surroundings.
-People······!-
As he walked along, marveling at every step,
Belphegor suddenly stopped breathing when he saw a strange creature.
A sentient being of the present world.
It was a human.
Civilized humans.
A village that seemed alien to nature at first glance.
Belphegor rushed inside, excited.
I’ve heard of it.
Some demons make pacts with humans.
They trade power and life force across dimensions.
He had traveled that great distance and arrived before their eyes.
How would humans react to a demon?
Belphegor approached with a mixture of curiosity and anticipation.
“Huh, huh?! What is that!”
“It’s a demon! A demon has appeared!”
“Kill it!!!”
-Huh?-
I was met with pure malice.