I Entered an Academy in a Ruined Game

Chapter 309 : The One Who Yearns (3)

The second-ranked Great Overlord Belred.

It was 200 years ago that he came to be called by such a title.

And that happened more than a thousand and one hundred years after Belred was born as the third son of a prominent family in Nastrond.

Nastrond.

A world filled with magical energy where life struggled to survive, and those that did survive had no choice but to become fierce and strong.

Therefore, it was also a world of struggle where demons and demonic beasts killed and devoured each other.

While human civilization grew through endless struggle, exploration, trade, and competition, abandoning superstition and magic to create a civilization that could send people beyond the planet through extreme science and scholarship.

Demons, who once crossed dimensions to make contracts with humans, transfer knowledge, and take lives, remained in the same place even as time passed.

Despite having lifespans nearly ten or even more than a dozen times longer than humans, and innate strength.

The curse of unbearable murderous instinct and bellicosity made their resources scarce, creating a culture where only strength was revered.

Thus, in a world where even agriculture or trade couldn't develop enough to effectively increase the population.

Demons studied martial arts, black magic, strategies, and tactics.

They grew stronger through killing and being killed.

And were killed by stronger individuals.

Meanwhile, the victors who conquered regions rose to positions of terror and reverence among ten thousand demons, called by the name "Overlord."

For thousands, no, tens of thousands of years.

The inhabitants born on the demonic planet called Nastrond ran in an eternal wheel, killing each other, attempting unification and failing, dividing and allying.

Belred was born in such a world as the son of a legion commander who served an overlord of the eastern region.

Even for demons, there exist family bonds, love, and blood ties.

Belred was a promising talent, the pride of his family, and an incomparably excellent warrior.

Honorably, he elevated his family's status through an arranged marriage with the overlord's youngest daughter and served as the overlord's trusted aide.

As a result, among the overlords who divided the east, the one Belred served became one of the strongest, counted on one hand.

Belred made a name for himself as a legion commander controlling fifteen legions and one of the most exceptional powers in Nastrond.

Struggle, trust from above and respect from below. Public reputation.

A body full of strength, overflowing talent, continuous achievement.

Even a wife who, though met through arrangement, became an unparalleled lover and companion.

He lacked nothing.

But all that daily life collapsed in an instant.

Belphegor.

The Transcendent who appeared suddenly one day without any fame or precursor.

Nastrond completely changed due to his emergence.

He was a living disaster, a calamity, a new phenomenon and law.

According to his will, tidal waves, volcanic eruptions, downpours and droughts, heat waves and ice ages swept through.

First, the overlords of the north were annihilated, the south was decimated.

The west challenged him but surrendered, and the center raised the white flag.

And the east.

Before the Transcendent who controlled 80% of the world, the eastern overlords formed an alliance, and Belred honorably stood at the forefront to challenge Belphegor.

And lost everything.

Belphegor was truly an entity impossible to oppose.

Transcendent.

It didn't even take a full day to painfully realize what that meant.

In that battle, Belred lost his lord, wife, children, and all his family.

But only Belred survived.

-Become stronger and come find me again. I'll give you a chance for revenge.

That was both Belphegor's mercy and curse.

Though given a chance for revenge.

He realized that no matter what he did, revenge was impossible.

After that day, Belred began to yearn for transcendence.

To reach a state where he would no longer be bound by personal emotions and become detached from sorrow?

No.

It seems that at some point he had told Su-hyeon that.

But he knew.

As long as he was mortal, such detachment was impossible, and paradoxically, it would be difficult to reach transcendence with such imperfection.

'At this point, I don't even know what my purpose is or what I want to do.'

That was Belred's honest feeling.

Now he just wanted to obtain the power of a Transcendent.

Whether he could take revenge or not.

He just wanted to reach that realm, that perspective.

"Understand? When revenge, hatred, and frustration mix, you become like me."

Belred who had roughly finished his story, self-deprecatingly said.

"...So my feelings toward you are complicated. I envy you, you seem distant, and I also feel relieved."

"Relieved about what?"

"You're asking that."

Belred muttered.

"One is the relief that with your advice, I might someday reach transcendence. The other is..."

"Revenge?"

"Yes. I can't help but feel relieved that someone who might be able to take revenge on him in my place has appeared."

Belred moved his lips as if finding it difficult to speak.

"As you know, to stand before Belphegor, you must first defeat the first-ranked Great Overlord Eligoss."

"Yes."

"And he guards the highest floor of the [Celestial Tower], which has taken over Belphegor's entire floating castle."

Belphegor's Celestial Tower.

That was also another name for Belphegor's floating castle.

"Do you know? That the ranking of us Great Overlords was determined by how high we could climb his Celestial Tower."

"...I vaguely suspected that."

Belred leaned forward as if about to tell everything.

"Great Overlord was a title newly created by Belphegor. After losing everything in the battle with him, I wandered for over a hundred years, indulging in occult arts and acquiring alchemy. I went through endless struggles. I, who was already strong, lived focusing only on strength for over a hundred years."

"Yes. You probably became stronger than anyone you remember."

"Except for Belphegor."

Belred affirmed Su-hyeon's guess.

"One day suddenly, I challenged his Celestial Tower. Because I heard that becoming a Great Overlord would grant special powers."

"Authority?"

"Yes, that's right. By that time, I felt I couldn't get any stronger. Whether it was power bestowed by him or whatever, I didn't care as long as I could become stronger. That's how obsessed I was."

"Madness makes both humans and demons stronger, it seems."

"At that time, there were seven Great Overlords in total. Back then, Furcas was ranked second, and Crosell was third. They had lived longer than me and were great demons who had been famous before me."

"Indeed."

"But even they couldn't reach the tower guarded by Eligoss. It was an achievement only I succeeded in."

"I see."

"And then I was miserably defeated. Thus, I became the second-ranked Great Overlord."

Belred's fist trembled.

"At the ceremony created to bestow authority and confer title, Belphegor acted as if he didn't even know he had killed my family."

Thinking about it, it was only natural, Belred grumbled.

"All Great Overlords and all demons were also victims who barely survived him. But they feared the overwhelmingly powerful Belphegor to the point of submission, and sincerely followed him. Only I chose the path of seclusion instead of submitting to him."

"And Belphegor didn't interfere with you at all?"

"Yes. Miserably so."

"..."

"I suppose that's the extent of my struggles, no matter how much I thrash about. But you're different. There's not a single being he pays attention to like you."

Belred said, looking straight into Su-hyeon's eyes.

"But even you couldn't overcome Eligoss, you said?"

"That's right."

"It's surprising, yet also makes sense that it would be Eligoss."

Belred clicked his tongue.

"Eligoss is 'the one who has climbed the highest' excluding Belphegor, and is Belphegor's most devout follower and his only one who understands him."

"In a word, he was a monster."

"Yes. A monster. No matter what I tried, I couldn't defeat him. No, I couldn't even touch a hair on him!"

Kwang!

When Belred struck the solid table, it immediately shattered.

"To borrow your expression, Eligoss is probably a being who has reached the limit of his species as a demon. He must be in a state with only one wall left before transcendence."

In other words, Eligoss was the strongest quasi-transcendent.

"Even if you are a Transcendent, the power and wisdom he has accumulated are not ordinary. The aura you showed when intimidating me was certainly impressive, but..."

"Eligoss's power was also formidable?"

"Yes. Moreover, your real enemy isn't Eligoss but Belphegor, right?"

Therefore, Belred continued.

"Conserve your strength as much as possible. Don't expose your tactics. You'll need to have many hidden cards."

"I agree with that."

"While I was climbing the tower with my newly gathered subordinates, Eligoss watched my battles. By the time I reached him, my fighting style had already been deciphered."

Belred sighed.

"An opponent who already has an advantage in power and skill, also knows all my tactics. What do you think happened?"

"The fight itself would have been impossible."

"Yes. It was a complete defeat."

Su-hyeon nodded.

"It was the same for me. The problem is, even with the power of allies, the tower is too treacherous to climb."

"Yes. That's the dilemma."

Belred nodded heavily.

"I too had no choice but to fight together if I didn't want to see all my subordinates die."

But.

"Nevertheless, when I arrived before him, I was alone."

At this point, Belred's eyes were looking straight into Su-hyeon's.

"So I ask you. Your comrades, how much help will they really be to you?"

"...Definitely."

Su-hyeon said with certainty.

"They will be more helpful than I can imagine."

The reason Su-hyeon had been raising cadets and growing together with them, and even came to recruit Belred, was ultimately for this battle.

And Su-hyeon believed in his comrades' potential.

"I sincerely hope so."

Belred wished.

"I don't know how much Eligoss knows about you. But as his only confidant, he must know quite a lot."

"I agree."

"Moreover, now that you have different powers and tactics than before. How well you can hide them will determine the outcome of this battle."

Because.

"We still don't know Eligoss's true nature or about his authority."

❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀

It had been two days since Su-hyeon left, saying he would persuade none other than the second-ranked Great Overlord Belred.

Su-hyeon still hadn't returned.

The Execution Force captains dispatched to various countries were busily visiting shelters that had responded in order to recruit as many allies as possible.

"Let's stay here tonight."

"Understood."

Lee Yu-jin, who was welcomed at a prominent shelter in Russia, laid her tired body in a shabby but clearly best-effort private room.

'...Everyone is in a miserable situation. If just a few more months had passed, I wonder how many of the people in this shelter would have survived...'

Before the power of the Great Overlords and the demons following them.

Before the fear of them and internal conflicts.

Or before insufficient food and resources.

People were pushed to their limits.

'It's only natural.'

Even she, who had power reaching S-rank.

Even she, who fought alongside Su-hyeon who had reached the realm of a Transcendent.

Almost had her will crumble momentarily before Great Overlord Allocer's demonic eye that "shows one's own death."

The death it showed was not only vivid but was in the form she feared most.

'It was terrible.'

That's what demons were.

They evoked instinctive fear.

And shook humans' strong will with damp, sticky sensations.

Without the resistance against Great Overlord Andromalius and the training with Su-hyeon, her mind might have collapsed.

'So it's only natural for other ordinary humans to crumble in fear before demons.'

Even she had to struggle with the fear that raised its head every time in moments like this when silence came.

Would she still be able to hold her position in the upcoming battle?

Could she fulfill her role without breaking down?

She wasn't certain.

The only clear thing was the absolute proposition that 'she must.'

"If I don't."

On a sleepless night.

Yu-jin, lying in a shelter in a distant foreign land and staring into the darkness, muttered.

"I won't be able to be with Su-hyeon 'afterwards.'"

The peace that would come after all battles ended.

The desire to share that peace with Su-hyeon.

As long as she had that desire, she couldn't fall apart.

'...Ji-su is openly showing it. Hae-na sunbae, Seung-yeon, and A-yun are also quite anxious but...'

Anyway, that was something to think about when the time came, wasn't it?

What was important was surviving and winning together with Su-hyeon.

'When that time comes, Su-hyeon will probably tell us the secrets he's been hiding all this time.'

The Prophet of the End.

The special power to see fragments of the future in dreams.

That alone was not enough to explain many points in Su-hyeon's actions.

But out of respect for Su-hyeon's will, she wasn't asking anything...