Chapter 453: The Demons’ Past
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While the Heavenly Empress and her son struggled, the Fifth Demon King and Anna’s Demons continued battling Lucifer—or desperately trying to reach him—while fending off the endless Demonic Beasts.
“Lucifer! Is this truly who you are? A damned maniac?!” Astaroth snarled, swinging his draconic claws and ripping apart a three-headed, tiger-like demonic beast.
“Why are you pushing yourself this far?!” Aim roared, unleashing a devastating storm of lightning against the giant chimera-type beasts.
“This is ridiculous! There’s no need for this. You’re only going to exhaust yourself!” Bael roared, slicing through several bat-like demonic beasts with his swords.
“You’ve gone mad with power!” Agares shouted, rushing forward and impaling a blazing lion-like beast with his blade.
“FUCKING NUTJOB, CRAH!” Neberius cried, shredding multiple demonic beasts at once with his razor-sharp feathers.
The other Demons agreed, Lucifer had gone too far, consumed by revenge and the shattering of his superiority.
Every time he forced himself this far, he humiliated himself, shedding all grace and resembling nothing more than a mindless monster.
This was not the appearance of a King worthy of the Demons’ worship.
“SHUT UP! WHAT DO YOU KNOW, YOU DAMN TRAITORS?! I WANTED YOU ALL AS MY PETS, BUT YOU’RE BETTER OFF BURNING TO ASHES AND FEEDING MY FAR MORE LOYAL ONES!”
Lucifer laughed maniacally as the Demonic Beasts attacked the Demons with savage fury, jaws snapping, breath attacks roaring, and fangs tearing into their flesh. The Demons fought on, drenched in blood, refusing to fall.
The immense power they had gained from defeating and absorbing Beelzebub had elevated them to a new realm. Yet now, it was beginning to feel insufficient.
CRAAASH!
As Astaroth drove his claws through the chest of another monster, he saw the wolf-like demonic beast… cry. Tears streamed from its eyes as it groaned in pain.
“G-GRAAAGH…! S-SAVE… GRAA… MAS… TER… AS… TAROTH… SAVE…!”
“H-Huh?!”
Astaroth’s eyes widened. He sensed a demon’s presence inside the beast.
No…
It couldn’t be…
“Y-YOU FUCKING BASTARD…! WHAT DID YOU DO TO THESE DEMONS?!”
He roared in rage and horror, realizing these savage, mindless beasts were actually demons—living people.
“HAH?!”
“WHAT?!”
“N-NO…!”
“IT CAN’T BE?!”
The other Demons stared at Astaroth in disbelief, though some had already begun to suspect something deeply wrong about the beasts’ strange behavior.
“HAH… HAHAHAHA! SO YOU FOUND OUT, HUH?! NOTHING ESCAPES THE EYES OF ASTAROTH THE DEMONIC DRAGON! HAHAHAHAHA!”
Lucifer’s many monstrous heads laughed wildly as the Demons glared at him with unprecedented fury.
“THESE LOYAL PETS WERE ALL THE DEMONS WHO REFUSED TO JOIN ME! WHEN I VISITED THEIR HELL, DO YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAID?! THEY DIDN’T WANT TO FIGHT OR DIE FOR ME! HAHAHA! PREPOSTEROUS!”
Lucifer’s laughter boomed so loudly that his cursed words made the Demons’ ears bleed. The beasts approached him, licking his body with twisted affection.
“SO I FED THEM MY BLOOD. AND LOOK WHAT THEY BECAME! SUCH OBEDIENT, ADORABLE, CUTE PETS! I LOVE THEM NOW! AND THEY LOVE ME TOO! THEY LOVE ME SO MUCH THEY WOULD DIE FOR ME! ISN’T THAT BEAUTIFUL?! THIS IS… TRUE LOVE!”
“True love my ass, you fucking retard! You’re batshit insane! I’m going to tear your ass apart with my bloody claws!”
RUMBLE!
Astaroth exploded with fury. His body swelled to its maximum size, mirroring the monstrous form he had taken when invading Stronghold City.
“RAAAAAHHHH!!!”
He charged toward Lucifer, kicking and clawing through the demonic beasts, trying not to kill them—though his blind rage likely did so anyway.
“Wait, Astaroth, don’t be reckless!” Agares roared, trying to stop him.
“YES, COME TO ME, MY ADORABLE PET!”
Lucifer laughed, his jaws snapping open and clamping down on Astaroth’s back.
CRUNCH!
“UNNGH?!”
Astaroth vomited blood, stunned by Lucifer’s terrifying speed. He quickly opened his own jaws and unleashed a deadly breath attack.
BOOOM!
“Pathetic.”
Lucifer shrugged off the blast and began pummeling Astaroth’s face and body with his massive, muscular arms.
BAAAM!
“See now?!”
BAAAM!
“This is why you shouldn’t oppose your KING!”
BAAAM!
“Do you understand, Astaroth?!”
BAAAM!
The relentless punches crushed Astaroth’s head and face. Blood poured from his mouth and eyes as they swelled shut. Over half his teeth were shattered, and breathing grew agonizingly difficult.
“Haaahh… Haaahh… Haaah…!”
More punches hammered down, cracking scales and sending fangs flying. As the dragon screamed in agony, his comrades fought desperately to reach him, only to be blocked by wave after wave of Demonic Beasts.
“ASTAROTH!” Aim screamed, his closest friend.
“Let him go, you fucking bastard, CRAH!” Neberius roared.
“I told you not to charge in recklessly!” Agares shouted, carving through dozens of beasts.
“T-This is hopeless…” Bael muttered, his eyes dimming with growing despair.
“Now, tell me, Astaroth…”
Lucifer stared down at him with a mocking smile spread across his many faces.
“Will you be a good pet and kneel before me?”
“…”
Astaroth could barely lift his gaze, yet he still managed to spit on one of Lucifer’s faces.
“HUH…?!”
“Fuck off… I would rather die than serve a fucking nutjob like you. You don’t even see demons as people… If you can’t care about us… how do you think you can rule us?!”
“You’re dead.”
Lucifer’s jaws opened wide, ready to devour and tear Astaroth apart. Anna’s skill would fail if his soul was shredded along with his body.
“NOOOOO!”
Aim fought frantically, lightning exploding around him as he pushed forward with everything he had.
He moved as fast as he could.
And yet…
He couldn’t reach him in time.
Astaroth looked at Aim with his swollen, bloodied face and smiled weakly as Lucifer’s jaws closed around him.
“Protect… our people… Aim.”
One second from being torn apart…
Aim’s eyes blazed with light.
Memories of his friendship with Astaroth flooded his mind.
He could still see that desolate landscape.
Flames everywhere beneath a dark sky.
The corpses of countless demons scattered across the ground.
Aim sniffed the air with his leopard nose. The battlefield had become an early grave for hundreds of demon soldiers.
“Is there even anyone alive here?”
As he walked through the carnage, he sensed a presence.
“A-Ah…!”
His eyes widened.
An overwhelming, enormous presence.
The one who had likely slaughtered this entire Demonic Legion alone.
A giant dragon.
“You’re…”
“…”
The dragon turned, his sharp crimson eyes gleaming.
“You bastard…! You killed everyone…!”
“Yes, I did…”
“…?”
Aim’s brows furrowed. Something felt off about this monster.
This demon—or dragon, whatever he was—his voice carried no pride. No satisfaction.
Only deep sadness.
“Are you part of Lucifer’s forces?”
“I… am… I think.”
“…”
Sparks of lightning crackled across Aim’s body as he prepared for battle.
“We don’t obey him as our King around here…”
“I know…”
“…”
Aim felt strangely unsettled by this demon.
“You… don’t want to fight? You’re completely open! I could kill you right now!”
“Knock yourself out… Do it.”
“What?”
“I…”
The dragon gazed across the sea of blood, eyes filled with despair.
“I’m tired of everything…”
“…”
“Kill me…”
Silence hung heavy in the air.
Aim couldn’t understand why this demon wanted death.
“Why don’t you fight?!”
“I don’t want to fight anymore… Not like this. Not for this cause. I might look like a beast to you, but I’m a demon too. I’ll go to another world and do the job, but this? Killing my fellow demons? This isn’t right… Why am I even doing this?! I thought Lord Lucifer was… different… that he actually loved us…”
“Lucifer?! Love us?! He’s a wicked bastard! Look what he made you do! You were just another one of his pets! Like Beelzebub, Leviathan, Belphegor, and all the rest!”
“I swore to my clan that I would fight for us demons… that I would carve a future where we wouldn’t starve, where our children’s eggs would hatch instead of withering from lack of nutrients…”
“…”
“And now I’m slaughtering the very people I swore to protect… This is wrong… I… Kill me… please, just end it!”
As the dragon wept, Aim remained silent, studying him.
He was judging the demon’s character, his spirit.
“No.”
“What?!”
The dragon glared at him, furious.
“Why won’t you take me down?! Are you a pussy or something?! Well, you’re a damn cat, I guess…!”
“Shut up. Come with me.”
Aim turned and walked away. The dragon stood in stunned silence.
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