Fatal Flaw

——Hellion Territory, the southeast region of the continent.

The region, which had been maintained in somewhat of a balance despite its constant unrest, was now plunged into full-blown turmoil thanks to the Demon Lord.

Many monsters from Belphegor’s domain had survived the attack, their stories only fueling the chaos that swept up the rest of the devils’ realm. All of them corroborated that the Demon Lord had invaded with an army of Anima. Many also mentioned Firebrands and humans amidst the attackers. The devils in other territories had laughed them all off until news spread that Belphegor’s land had been desolated. While the inhabitants of Hellion Territory scrambled to discover the truth, some were quicker to action than others.

——Somewhere within Hellion Territory.

A vampire and a grand devil were facing off: one was clad in spotless, noble attire while the other was bleeding all over.

“I commend you for your efforts, Rookfell the Prideful.”

“Silence... A mere vampire...”

Rookfell, a grand devil with a lion’s head and six arms, had one of his enormous horns broken and had been beaten to a state unbecoming of his fearsome title. Evidently, the duel between him and the vampire was pitifully one-sided.

“Ever maintaining your prideful guise,” the vampire muttered. “Color me impressed.”

“A lowly beast that subsists on the blood of others... You will never take my territory from me!”

“I do not want for any territory. Only your proud strength.”

“What is the meaning of this, Allit...? You’ve been cowering in your coffin all this time!”

Allit answered with an icy snicker. He had never been afraid of the unrest among the grand devils—he was simply uninterested in fighting over land.

“I crave contest in its purest form. The child’s play you call war is a vile imitation of that.”

“Silence, you lowly leech! Mosquito!” The grand devil dashed faster than his large stature seemed it would allow, unleashing an onslaught with four weapons from all directions. A longsword, club, battleaxe, and spear all tore into or bludgeoned the vampire, but a rainbow glow immediately enveloped Allit and healed his wounds entirely.

“A storm-like attack that barely gives the opponent a chance to blink... A very prideful style of combat. It suits you well.”

“How dare you...!” Rookfell’s lion mane shook with rage at Allit’s perfect poise. No matter how many deadly attacks he unleashed, Allit’s wounds were healed in seconds. This one-sided mockery of combat was nothing short of blazing humiliation.

“I meant no offense by it. I do consider you a head above the rest, believe it or not. Just some decades ago, I’d heard you fancied a trip down to the human realm and enjoyed a few brawls.”

The lion-headed devil finally lowered his weapons. He knew not how, but he finally accepted that his attacks were accomplishing nothing. “Hmph... As much as I enjoy a formidable foe, I relish the pleasure of stomping out ants.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Allit grinned, his eyes narrowing.

The devil took the time to observe their surroundings: his grandiose palace had been reduced to rubble, smoke rising here and there. Countless corpses littered the scene.

“How did you gain such power...?” the lion asked.

“I do not owe you, the loser of our contest, an explanation.”

“Yes. You’re right about that.” He tossed his weapons aside and quietly approached Allit, clearly admitting his defeat. “Then answer me this: with my blood, what will you fight?”

“What if I told you...the dragon?”

“Gaw ha ha! Go on! Drink my blood, if you dare!”

Allit swiftly sunk his fangs into Rookfell’s neck, but just as he did, the lion clasped his jaw around the vampire’s neck, as if to tear it open with his teeth.

“Remember this, Allit: I stand undefeated. Watch as I devour you from within!”

A truly bizarre scene unfolded as the pair of enemies dug their fangs into the other’s neck. In a way, however, this was the essence of demonic contest.

The vampire drew out the grand devil’s blood with such vigor that it was as if he was inhaling Rookfell’s soul. Rookfell quickly shriveled up like a mummy and crumbled into black dust.

“Prideful to the end... You were similar to the dragon in that way.” With coldhearted content, Allit savored the hot new blood coursing through his veins, which gave him power he had not felt before. “Rather barbaric for my liking, but brute force may become necessary to kill him...”

With one last gaze at the obliterated palace, Allit flew high into the air. Black bats surrounded him, transforming the vampire into a giant bat himself. An ominous flutter of his wings, and he was gone.

——Meanwhile, elsewhere in Hellion Territory.

Another contest, or more accurately, a wicked feast, was nearing its conclusion.

“I feel power! I grow stronger!”

“That’s right. Don’t waste any of this delicious meat... Some of them are a bit well done, though!” Kale cackled as he floated in the air, holding his oversized scythe. The very picture of innocent cruelty.

“You gave me treasure too. I little full now...”

“That’s sissy talk! You call this gluttony? Chug, chug, chug!”

“Grm...”

“And you better finish all of the stuff I grabbed from the treasury too. I worked hard getting those.”

Kale was speaking to Beelzebub, the grand devil of gluttony. His appearance resembled a disfigured Frankenstein’s monster, except with an extra mouth on each palm and another on his gut with numerous jagged teeth. Beelzebub was going full-speed ahead, eating all he could with the mouths on his face, palms, and torso.

“Ha-Satan didn’t stand a chance against you, Bel. Oh, I might mix you up with the sloth one with that nickname... Oh, well! He’s dead, so who cares?” Kale laughed.

Beelzebub continued ingesting the treasure around him that Kale had stolen from Belphegor’s castle.

“Sloth dead? I didn’t know.”

“Don’t worry about it, you’re Bel Junior, now! Hurray!”

“Junior? I don’t know... I eat! Grmph.” The devil shoveled down more and more silver and gold, exquisite weapons, and priceless masterpieces of art as if they were all pig feed.

“Kale... What...are you...scheming at...?” Ha-Satan squeezed out as his lower body was slowly ingested by Beelzebub’s gut-mouth. A pitiful end to a grand devil with a graceful, wolf-like appearance, whose unstoppable wrath had terrorized his foes... Now a mere piece of meat waiting to be devoured.

Kale’s face split into a malicious grin. “You’re still alive, Ha? Just die already. Splish!” He swung his scythe down, delivering the fatal and silencing blow. “Oh no! It would have been so much funnier to watch you eat him alive! I did it again...”

“Funny no make me full. I smart, I know.”

“Aha ha ha! You know what, Bel? You’re the funniest!”

Even as the banter continued, Ha-Satan’s corpse disappeared as the pile of treasure around them rapidly diminished. With every bite, the gluttonous devil seemed to grow larger and more powerful.

“Come on, Bel Junior! Keep eating!”

“I like eat. No like move,” Gluttony replied without vigor. Even among the seven grand devils who each embodied an original sin, Beelzebub’s power was exceptional. He devoured anything in sight, and his strength increased proportionately. No ally or foe could withstand his hunger, and eventually he had devoured the entirety of his territory. He was left completely alone in the desolate land. Whether he was too lazy or too hungry to move, Beelzebub had been weakening by the day, steadily heading towards disintegration.

“Bel... Who saved you from the brink of death? Remember?”

“You...”

“You’re better now because I gave you a bunch of powerful treasures, right? So you’ll have to listen to me. Kill, kill, kill, and eat, eat, eat!” Kale cheerfully commanded.

“I full now. I stronger than you.” Beelzebub lifted his arm and recklessly swung it at Kale.

Kale dove out of the way, but the impact blew him back. “I strong. You weak. I no listen to you.”

“Shit, this is why I hate brainless dipshits. Why do I have to deal with this disgusting idiot...?”

“Brain...less? You call me stupid?!”

“No, no... More brains, more problems, I say. Put your fist down...” Kale lazily dusted himself off and produced an item he had been saving: a full set of armor. “If you promise to do what I say, I’ll let you eat this.”

“Shiny... Wow! I want eat!”

“It’s seen some use, but legend has it the War Maiden Valkyria wore this very armor.”

It gleamed mysteriously, made of a material unlike iron, steel, or any monster part. Kale had ventured into the human realm just to get his hands on it.

“I want! I eat!”

“You want to eat it? You know what you have to do.” Grinning, Kale tossed the armor onto the ground.

Beelzebub leapt onto it and felt a sharp pain in his right eye. Kale’s scythe was struck deep into his socket.

“Argh! My eye! Owww!”

“Yeah, I’d have a tough time fighting you head-on... So why would I ever do that? Don’t fuck with me, fatass. You hear me?” Kale snarled, twisting Beelzebub’s eye with the scythe.

Losing his will to fight, the gluttonous devil cried, “O-Okay! You say, I do! For now!”

“For now... Ugh, you really are brainless, Bel Junior...” Kale sighed and withdrew his scythe. Beelzebub was truthful and seemed to have no intention of following Kale’s orders for long. For better or worse, deception was not Beelzebub’s sin. “Now that you’ve had your fill, let’s look for our next prey!”

“I hate you! I kill you! I eat you tomorrow!”

“Come on, tomorrow? That’s a little too early, don’t you think?” Kale remarked and exited from the throne room, Beelzebub following. All that was left behind was deafening silence and table scraps.

With the fall of Belphegor, the delicate power balance of Hellion Territory had collapsed. Like breaking a cornerstone would lead to a building collapse, the status quo of the territory had crumbled. The collapse of Hellion Territory and its aftermath were sure to reach human civilization.