Baal was different from the Absolutes of heaven. He couldn’t transcend the concept of time and was bound to it. It was because he became stronger as time passed.

Baal was aware that the current him wasn’t perfect. This wasn’t meant in a negative way. He was constantly evolving. He might not be perfect now, but he had the certainty that he could reach the peak one day. The more that jealousy and suspicion sprouted on the surface and the more that quarrels and wars were repeated, the more Baal was completed...

So there was always room for relaxation. It was to the extent that he accepted it easily even when he was first killed by Grid. He thought it would be different next time.

Then what about today’s outcome? Grid’s growth rate exceeded Baal’s predictions. This was even though his prediction accounted for Grid’s explosive growth. He even grew stronger in real time while fighting Baal. It seemed to have a superior advantage over Baal and made Baal’s strengths meaningless.

‘It is because the Old Dragons helped.’

Fire Dragon Trauka—everything went awry from the moment he gave an arm to Grid. A certain emotion started to boil deep in Baal’s heart as he analyzed the cause.

It was anger.

Wrath.

It was an emotion that was only felt by insignificant beings who couldn’t solve things as they wished. It didn’t suit the king of hell, who had ridiculed countless fates and manipulated them to his liking.

[...Kukuk.]

It was while being trampled on his chest and repeatedly cut by Grid—Baal realized that he had lost his composure from the start.

‘It was a defeat.’

The data of the dragon weapons and armor brought to him by his clones—ever since he was defeated by Grid’s swords and armor, which far exceeded their power, he grew impatient and this made him reach this point. Like an insignificant being...

He didn’t deserve to win.

The gray ash symbolizing death—Baal remained silent even as the souls he accumulated for a long time were escaping from his body. He didn’t bother trying to hold onto them. He didn’t even let out a single breath as he stared at Grid swinging his sword. Then he spoke words with difficulty.

[I can’t… if I am alone.]

“......?’

It was a situation where the duration of Nefelina’s Transcendent Dragon had passed. The Dragon Knight’s effect was lifted. Grid, who was alone, had become impatient.

At this time, Baal’s meaningful words were enough to make him feel uneasy. An unidentified noise was heard. It was like the sound of a clock’s hour hand moving. The problem was that it came all of a sudden. He felt something special that was similar to Chiyou’s bell.

It was a portent. The ultimate of an Absolute.

Grid noticed and let out his stopped breath. He soared into the air and flew far away from Baal. It was to control the distance, but it was a pointless act. The ultimate move of an Absolute couldn’t be bound by the concept of distance.

Flash!

The identity of the noise was revealed. A pocket watch floated between Baal on the ground and the flying Grid. It was a watch decorated with bizarre patterns. The indicated unit of time was also far from common sense. The hour hand spun furiously.

The surrounding landscape changed accordingly. The desolate wilderness of hell changed to a plain with lush vegetation and the green earth became scorching red dozens of times a second. It was an incomprehensible change from Grid’s position. It was the landscape of hell’s past, present, and future.

‘I didn’t know I would use this power.’

The underlying cause of Baal’s anger was fear. It was a fear that rose from the judgment that he couldn’t win against Grid. He felt like he was going to lose everything. It clearly meant that he was on the defensive. This made him regain his original appearance, but it wasn’t enough to reverse the situation.

Therefore, he relied on this will. The power of his father, Yatan.

I hope you will embrace those who died and fell here with that big body, relieving their sorrow by crossing time and space with this watch...

It was a power that was received along with this nonsense. Baal didn’t want to rely on this disgusting power.

One day, Yatan suddenly turned into a mess. He died a humble death like the weak, and Baal buried him in the Abyss with great difficulty. He had intended for Yatan to be forgotten in hell, apart from a few neutral areas where Yatan’s will still remained. Amoract established the irreversible religion called the Yatan Church, so those on the surface were clearly aware of Yatan. However, that was just a situation on the surface.

Baal hoped that Yatan would be forgotten in hell. Of course, a God of the Beginning wouldn’t perish just because he was forgotten. In order for Baal to rule and reign over hell, Yatan shouldn’t be allowed to surface. That power that had been suppressed—

[Grid, you brought this on yourself.]

He took it out.

The earth shook. It was due to the steps of a giant who appeared from the continuously changing landscape. A giant walked out from the green plain. His identity was Baal. To be precise, it was Baal of the past. He had an infinitely gentle expression compared to the present day Baal.

[The me in the past.]

Stagger.

A distorted smile spread across Baal’s face as he barely raised his large body.

[Along with the future me, he will slaughter you with me.]

The Baal of the future—it was his ultimate self that even Baal couldn’t fathom. It was the future him, who would’ve become extremely strong every time humanity experienced fights, wars, and destruction. He probably would’ve destroyed the Old Dragons on the surface and conquered heaven.

As he imagined it, Baal waited for his future self.

Grid’s eyes darkened rapidly as he noticed the situation.

The past, present, and future Baal had to be confronted at the same time? It was a ridiculous power. It felt like the victory he thought he had barely won was getting further away. The words defeat and failure were etched into Grid’s mind one after another.

“No...”

Nefelina was frustrated as she watched the situation from a distance.

Squeak squeak!

Bunhelier, who had been looking for an opportunity, also sat down. The mouse leaned against the wall and sighed as he slumped down.

“We can’t beat this. Squeak.”Bunhelier had existed since the beginning of time. Even so, Baal’s power came as quite a shock to him. He was overwhelmed with a sense of helplessness after discovering that he had fallen into Baal’s trap.

What could Grid do? The preparations for the past few months and today’s fierce struggle had all been for naught...

Wouldn’t it be hard to stand back up again? Bunhelier thought that Grid would be finished like this. He thought it would make Grid give up on his vain dream of purifying hell and saving humanity.

The atmosphere became extremely gloomy.

“...It’s okay.” However, Grid didn’t collapse. There was no sign of despair on his face. The will in his eyes was too intense for him to pretend to be calm. “I’ve been through more trials than this. I can get over it.”

Originally, Grid was nothing. He was a substandard human being who only watched and envied people who studied and worked normally. Yet he had reached this point. No matter what type of despair he faced now, it was better than it was in the past.

[......?]

Baal found something strange. He showed signs of anxiety that went beyond the level of confusion. It wasn’t because he was intimidated by Grid’s unexpected attitude. It was because the future him didn’t respond.

[...This damn guy?!]

A scene popped into Baal’s mind. It was a scene of his future self sitting atop Rebecca’s throne and laughing at his present self with glee.

[...Two is enough.]

Baal gritted his teeth and glanced at his past self.

Grid, who was alone without any dragons—it was a signal to attack and kill this guy who had consumed many things throughout the battle and was weakened.

[......]

However, the past Baal didn’t cooperate. He looked at the present day Baal and took a step back. He disappeared into the landscape of vegetation. It was natural for him to not cooperate. The Baal of the past was still pure. It was a time when he accepted the obligations given to him by Yatan without questions.

Tick.

Finally, the pocket watch stopped. The landscape also returned to its original state.

“You betray even yourself.”

Grid approached and thrust his sword into Baal’s heart. It was the best blow of the day. All the movements of the six fusion sword dance were smoothly linked. It was a perfect embodiment of the ideals that Grid had envisioned. The weak point hits and critical hits were applied to all strikes.

[Kuek....! Kuaaaaaaack!!!]

Baal couldn’t contain it and let out a scream. It was a scream of suppressed emotions.

Death—he intuitively felt that the concept he had been playing with all his life was descending toward him.

‘Mistake... It was a mistake.’

Baal overcame death because he was the source of fear. In the beginning, Baal wasn’t an object of fear. It was all because he was afraid of Grid. In order to get rid of Grid without fail, Baal needed more strength and returned to his original form, only to be caught by this.

Now he couldn’t overcome death. Death really was the end. He couldn’t die.

Baal was more persistent than imagined. He proved the reason why he regained his original form by enduring without dying, even though he had already been hit several times by the six fusion sword dance. The fists he swung viciously and the rays of magic power that rained down every time he screamed turned Grid into rags.

This absolute defense and the Shock Mitigation effect of the Fire Dragon’s Armor couldn’t cope with the shock and it was gradually exceeding the limit.

‘Endure. Endure it.’

He was in the middle of enemy territory. There were variables such as Asura and Amoract remaining, so his immortality shouldn’t be consumed.

Grid was just as desperate as Baal. He was focused, not once blinking his eyes stained red with his and Baal’s blood. He was actively using his artificial senses and using his brain nonstop in order to somehow get hit less. This made Baal even more desperate.

Death—a concept that he had only vaguely imagined through indirect experience was right in front of him.

He was starting to realize death, extinction...

At this moment—

“My Liege...! Lord Baal! Croak!”

A bipedal toad came waddling toward him.

Chepardea, Baal’s closest subordinate—he was the most loyal one among the loyalists. He spat out sticky bodily fluids toward Grid, who was in the air. He stretched out his long tongue and tried to somehow grab onto Grid’s ankles.

‘This idiot...!’

Grid was on the verge of chaos due to Baal’s offense that struck in all directions. There were so many signals from his artificial senses that it was difficult to respond to all of them. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he was walking a tightrope.

The intrusion of an intruder at this time was a great headache.

Chepardea’s sticky fluids restricted the target’s movements and were judged by the God Hands as a real danger. They even communicated all the directions it was flying in to Grid, causing Grid’s brain to be on the verge of exploding. Eventually, a gap was exposed. It allowed Baal to fight back. The one who was afraid to die and was being attacked non-stop was given a chance to breathe.

“Lord Baal! I will buy you some time, so please leave this place...! You need to regain your initial form!” Chepardea shouted as he arrived before Baal.

Hundreds of times—no, the one who had been toyed with and killed by Baal tens of thousands of times was loyal to Baal without knowing the truth.

[Chepardea...]

Baal glimpsed hope thanks to this and he gave Chepardea a look of great affection.

Chepardea was thrilled. He was smaller than a speck of dust compared to Baal, but he stood with his arms outstretched as if to protect Baal.

“Only One God Grid...! I won’t let you take a single step forward!”

“You...” It was the moment when Grid was about to say something...Baal’s large fingers formed claws, grabbed Chepardea’s chubby body, and lifted him up.

“Eh? Ehh?” Chepardea rose up and reached Baal’s face in an instant.

“My Liege...! Don’t worry about me! Get rid of me and run away...!” he shouted while flailing his short limbs.

He even had tears in his eyes. He was moved by Baal’s unwillingness to turn away from him in a moment of crisis.

Baal grinned at him.

[I laugh every time because of you.]

“...Haha? I-I’m glad...”

Chepardea’s face swelled like a balloon as he was responding without understanding what was going on. It was because Baal increased the strength of his fingers grabbing Chepardea’s belly. Chepardea’s face started to turn red from the unbearable pressure and this was starkly projected into Baal’s big eyes.

[Poor and foolish henchman of Yatan. I truly like you, who has been betrayed and killed tens of thousands of times, but still entertains me every time.]

“......!”

Tears of blood flowed from Chepardea’s swollen eyes just before they popped out. It wasn’t just the shock of his flesh and guts being crushed, but the aftermath of remembering the truth. It was a truth that always appeared when he was on the verge of death.

“...Yes... You...”

[This will be goodbye forever. It is too bad.]

Baal said goodbye and threw Chepardea into his mouth. From his perspective, he was chewing and gulping down something smaller than a grain of rice. It was to thoroughly digest Chepardea.

The demon who shared his soul, magic power, and body with the thousands of eggs he laid—he was powerful enough to proclaim to be Yatan’s guardian and Baal dreamed of evolving the moment they merged into one after ingesting him completely. He activated the spells hanging in the spawning grounds and all the eggs were transferred to Chepardea and digested at once.

[...Hah.]

Surprisingly, the signs of evolution didn’t come immediately. Still, it was enough to get through the immediate crisis. His wounds healed quickly. He had secured enough health and magic power to defeat the damn Grid and flee to the river of reincarnation.

[It was worth keeping that worthless guy by my side.]

“You disgusting bastard...”

Grid was no longer aware of the epics. He felt extreme disgust for Baal and let out insults.

It was something Baal was familiar with. He snorted and started to fly with his back toward Grid. It was toward the river of reincarnation. He was going to reach it in a flash.

...This was what he thought until a thunderous sound came from his stomach.

[What...]

The warrior who escorted Yatan when he left heaven—Baal’s worst mistake was to transfer over the eggs in order to fully absorb Chepardea’s power. Chepardea had unknowingly dispersed his magic power to thousands of eggs. At this moment, he embraced the eggs and regained his former power. He released magic power into Baal’s belly and shook all his organs. He was also being dissolved in gastric juices in real time, but he didn’t care.

[Sinner who terribly destroyed the shelter of those who lost their place after death, you will surely receive divine punishment today.]

[It has been a long time since your god disappeared...!]

Baal shouted to Chepardea, who was talking in his stomach. His voice cracked. He could barely feel the squeezing. There was a faint sense of joy that didn’t fit.

Pure evil. Even at this moment, Baal was delighted that he had informed Chepardea of the desperate news.

Surprisingly, Chepardea didn’t despair. Instead, he laughed. He said in a fading voice as he melted in Baal’s gastric juices.

[Don’t turn away from the god in front of you...]

He was referring to God Grid of the surface.

Baal came to his senses and looked back.

Grid stood on top of Bunhelier, who had reappeared like a rat, and yellow divinity was fluttering around him. It was the image of divine punishment that Chepardea had just talked about.

“Baaaaaaaaaal!”

[...You are like a cockroach...]

Baal’s will was insignificant. It was to the point where it wasn’t suitable to be called the source of all evil. It felt more suitable for Grid. This bastard, who was worse than a speck of dust, should die as the most insignificant thing in the world and be ridiculed forever.

The sword that would bring down the sky—

[The 1st Great Demon, ‘Baal,’ has died.]

He first cut through the dark clouds that covered hell and the surface. It wasn’t until his death that Baal understood.

The reason why his future self didn’t respond—it was because it didn’t exist.

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