A slow and sluggish tone...

Lean flesh without muscles...

Only walking a short amount before needing to gasp...

A fragile heart that couldn’t even trample on a single ant...

People hated every aspect of me. Between those who ignored me and those who mocked me for being pathetic, I always felt guilty. I thought I was wrong. I thought my existence was a nuisance.

Then I met her.

“You’re not wrong.”

She told me.

You are cautious, not slow. You aren’t weak. You’re just different from others. The reason you can’t hurt an ant is that you know how to be considerate and respectful.

“You aren’t guilty. It is the other people around you who are mean.”

She was my lighthouse. She was my only home. I relied on her arms, and she protected me. Even when those beasts humiliated her, she smiled and assured me that she was fine. A hundred times, a thousand times... 

No, she would’ve been a million times more scared and pained, but she...

“Ah...”

He couldn’t reach again. His arms and legs were too slow, unable to stop her from flying from the window. His dull mouth couldn’t speak, and he couldn’t apologize to her—the one who was sad. Like his heart, the arrow was already piercing Euphemina’s heart. Her appearance resembled that of his former lover falling from the window.

“Ahh...!”

He already knew. Reality and the game were different. Death in a game was trivial and different from death in reality. In the first place, they were different. Even so—

Even so, why was he...

“Kuaaaaak!” Agnus’ scream echoed in the burning forest. He recalled the end of his former lover through the collapsing Euphemina and completely lost his mind.

“Human... I won’t forgive you.” It was the person who fired the arrow at Euphemina. The voice of the dark elf Beniyaru, whom Agnus had been searching so desperately for, permeated Agnus’ ears.

“You...! You!!” Agnus’ eyes filled with hatred was drawn to Beniyaru. At this moment, Agnus was blaming himself, not someone else. Why did he keep repeating the same mistake? Why did he give her leeway? Even though he knew there shouldn’t be anybody sacrificing for a trash like him, why?

He was a plague. No one should come close to him.

“Die!” Agnus roared like a beast as he flew to Beniyaru. However, Agnus’ current status was less than that of a normal player because he had reached his limits facing Marie Rose and Zibal in succession. Beniyaru escaped from his slow attack and fired an arrow that shattered Agnus’ ribs.

Stagger. Agnus’ unseemly body bent forward. Beniyaru’s dagger aimed at his face. 

“Agnus!!”

Agnus pulled out the dagger stuck in his forehead and growled at Zibal, “Get lost!” 

He wanted to be alone. There was no need for a new relationship. He just wanted to resurrect his old lover and atone for her life. As his vision flashed red, he recalled a skill he had always ignored.

[Assimilation]

[Part of the ego of the 1st great demon, Baal will descend to your body.

At this time, your class will be converted to Great Demon’ and control of the flesh will be transferred to Baal.

Skill Trigger Conditions: Enter a new contract.

Skill Duration: 2 minutes

Skill Cooldown: Reset every time 3,000 human lives are taken.]

Agnus had to turn away from it. He felt a great reluctance to give others control of his body. Who in the world would transfer their body to someone else? It was only a very stupid or crazy person. Furthermore, there was a bigger problem. The real problem was the contents of the ‘contract’ needed to activate the skill.

(Slaughter 100 humans every day for the rest of your life. Your level will drop by one every time the contract is violated.)

Harming 100 humans every day wasn’t an easy task. In particular, the stronger the opponent, the easier it was to harm him. Therefore, he didn’t have time to run and hunt humans every day. Of course, a solution existed. He could slaughter the relatively weak. Visit a small village and destroy it or drop a spell at a hunting ground where novice players gathered. He would take 100 lives in an instant.

However, Agnus didn’t have the hobby of bullying the weak. In particular, he was extremely reluctant to harm innocent children. It wasn’t because he was particularly kind, but it was the nature of humans. This was the decisive reason why Agnus turned away from the Assimilation skill.

Now things had changed. Agnus lost his temper and was no longer bound by his previous conscience. He had lost everything because he was weak. Even the last dignity had been trampled on. He had the right to pay back the same thing to the world.

Agnus awakened in a negative manner and shouted, “Baal!”

[Assimilation has been used.]

[Baal, the absolute ruler of hell, is laughing cheerfully.]

-Eung~? Agnus, what is this? I didn’t know you would make this choice?

“Don’t be sarcastic!”

-Kukukuk, I’m not being sarcastic. I’m trying to compliment you. Very well done. In rare cases, you make the right decision.

[Part of Baal’s ego has entered your body.]

Clouds filled the sky. They were red clouds like blood. All the plants in the forest quickly rotted, and the area was blackened. The nasty air not only harmed the hurt and collapsed Euphemina but also Zibal and Beniyaru. Every breath of poison they took in caused blood to flow out.

“What...”

What was happening all of a sudden? The confused gazes of Euphemina and Zibal turned to Agnus. They could see that Agnus’ entire body was covered in demonic energy. The blackened whites of his eyes made his cold, gold pupils stand out even more.

“Kukuk, kuhahahat!” Agnus laughed loudly. The piece of Baal’s ego that had descended to Agnus’ body pulled out a horn rising from his forehead and held it like a sword. At the same time, Beniyaru fell. There was a big hole in her chest. The horn that Baal pulled out and held had suddenly pierced her chest.

“Fallen? Can this be called fallen when you are hiding like a rat in the forest?” Baal ridiculed Beniyaru as he narrowed the distance to her. He held Beniyaru’s hair in a vicious grip and whispered in her ear, “Keep this in mind, elf who is as timid as an adolescent boy. The only duty that the fallen must commit is revenge, destruction, and chaos.”

Bang!

“Well, you won't have a chance to do that.”

“...”

Beniyaru was beaten by Baal’s fists, and she flinched. Her bloodied and bulging eyes were so horrendous that Zibal couldn’t bear to look. Euphemina, who had been stunned because of the critical hit to her heart, finally shouted, “Agnus, calm down! I’m fine!”

“Hrmm.”

Baal’s gaze turned to Euphemina. “You are her.” Step. Step. Baal smiled as he approached Euphemina. It was a really refreshing smile, but his fingertips were turning into daggers. “The one who often showed ridiculous goodwill to my toy.”

“Agnus...?”

The dagger was inserted into Euphemina’s delicate neck. Her blue eyes lost their light, and her small body collapsed like a broken doll in Baal’s arms.

“My head is ringing. Stop shouting. Now, now. Calm down. I’m going to make your dream come true from now on,” Baal said to himself as he threw away Euphemina who was beginning to turn to gray. Then he inserted the dagger drenched with Euphemina’s blood into Beniyaru, who was still lying against a huge tree.

Suddenly, a black-gold hand covered his face. The dagger struck the hand, but there were still three more hands remaining. Every one of them unleashed a sword technique. Link, Kill, Pinnacle—it was a familiar swordsmanship to Baal’s. It was from his previous contractor.

“Kuhahat! This is fun!” Baal noticed who appeared and was excited. He turned his head to the sky as he blocked the three sword techniques from the God Hands with a dagger. Lightning was falling.

“Agnus!!”

“Pagma’s Descendant!”

The Enlightenment Sword and Baal’s dagger collided and caused a shockwave. Grid’s eyes that peeked through the gaps in his hair were full of anger and hatred. “Son of a bitch! What did you...! What did you do to Euphemina?”

The reason that Grid flew here was due to the world tree’s request. He was asked to save Beniyaru. The first sight that Grid saw after arriving here was Euphemina’s death. His colleague faced a lonely death while he was caring about others.

“XX!” Grid swung the Enlightenment Sword again. He was a transcendent—a player. Grid judged that Agnus, who was relatively weak in melee, could easily be overpowered. Agnus easily blocked Grid’s attacks with a small dagger. The black flames and red lightning that exploded were easily extinguished by the demon energy.

‘So strong?’

Time was fair to everyone. As he grew and developed, other people would also grow and develop. Grid was naturally aware of this. Still, wasn’t there something called a gap? Grid wasn’t convinced this was due to Agnus’ growth, considering he had yet to even summon his death knights and lich.

“Blackening!”

Did he get a special skill like Bentao’s Mockery? Grid thought as he gathered his demonic energy. Although he was filled with great anger, he was surprisingly sober. He decided to rescue the seriously injured Beniyaru and end the fight there.

“...?”

The demonic energy created by Blackening was destroyed like it was a lie. Blackening stopped, and the skill effect didn’t occur. Baal grinned at the baffled Grid. “It is stupid to rely on demonic energy in front of me.”

“...?”

“Hahat! You haven’t even noticed? Unlike Pagma, you have a stupid side.”

What was this nonsense? The frowning Grid, who didn’t understand Agnus’ ridiculous babble, belatedly realized something. With white skin and long fangs as well as eyes which had blackened whites, Agnus’ appearance was different from usual. It was reminiscent of Grid in his Blackening state...

[Fighting energy has reached the maximum!]

“...!?”

His fighting energy was already full...? This was the fastest speed ever.

“Who are you?!” Grid got goosebumps. The feeling of cold sweat flowing down his back was unpleasant.

Baal replied to the trembling Grid’s question, “I sit on the throne of hell."

“It is fun to watch the pretensions of the gods and the humans."

“Ah~ I’m a very free person.”

This would be enough for an explanation. What would Pagma’s Descendant’s look like when he learned Baal’s identity?

“Kukuk...?” Baal was expecting to see despair fill Grid’s face, but he ended up stiffening. There was no change in Grid’s expression. He didn’t look too surprised in the first place.

‘He isn’t afraid of me...?’

Grid urged Baal, who was in a state of discomfort for an unknown reason, “So who are you?”

“...” Baal was someone huge. He was like the final boss who protagonists always dreamed about fighting. Baal had met many heroes and saw something in common among all the heroes he had seen. They were wise, regardless of their ability. The heroes of Baal’s time were as intelligent as him. It was possible to exchange 10 meanings with a single conversation, so sometimes there was even a rapport.

‘Yet why this person...?’

Baffled by the unexpected reaction, Baal was stiff for a moment before shouting, “You are truly Pagma’s Descendant! More intelligent and despicable than any hero I’ve ever seen. It is exactly like Pagma.” 

“...?”

“You immediately noticed that I have no time and decided to waste time... Huhu, it is a bit disappointing. I will have to postpone seeing your skills until the next time.”

“...?”

What did this person keep saying? It happened when Grid was cocking his head with confusion. Baal moved at a speed that was hard to catch even with Grid’s transcendent senses and reached Beniyaru’s side in an instant.

“I’m glad I still have time to finish the job.”

“Wait!”Grid hurriedly rushed through a sword dance. The four fusion sword dance was completed in an instant, threatening Baal.

However, Baal was already reaping Beniyaru’s breath. “Haha, I’ll see you again next time.”

The moment that Grid’s sword was inserted into Baal’s torso...

[The duration of Assimilation is over.]

Baal’s ego returned to hell, and Agnus regained control of his physical body. Death was in front of him. Agnus, who reflexively attempted to use Bentao’s Mockery, quickly stopped and gathered Beniyaru’s body into his corpse inventory. Then Agnus turned to ash.

“I was told Beniyaru had to die anyway. So what was the point of the rescue attempt...? Huh?” Grid remained in the rotten forest and suddenly closed his mouth. He belatedly found Zibal.

Zibal was admiring him in many ways. “You are truly great.”

“What? No, wait.” Grid was surprised. “The grandmaster? Why is he here?”

Was he a sleeping prince in the woods? Why was he sleeping here? Grid clicked his tongue and tried to reach for Zikfrector, but he was blocked by Zibal.

“It is no use trying to wake him up because it doesn’t work. Shouldn’t your priority be avoiding him? The Neo Red Knights will be coming soon, and it will be hard for you to deal with them alone.”

“Yes, I will call Piaro.”

“That unlucky person... In any case, the grandmaster will come to visit you when the time comes.”

“Hmm... Are you acting with the grandmaster?”

“That’s what happened.”

“It is a good side to stand on.” Grid grinned. The Red Knights finished up and were coming. Since they were exhausted, the battle against the Yatan Church must’ve been hard. “Since you said so, I will step back today. I’m busy.”

Grid pulled out a return scroll and ripped it without hesitation. Before meeting the world tree again, he wanted to look at Euphemina’s status.

As Grid disappeared, Zibal shook his head. “What a scary guy...”

It might not be the main body, but he was amazed that Grid could be so calm despite meeting 1st Great Demon Baal.

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