A gloomy hue dominated my vision.
I saw a green sky I had never seen before, and below it a dead city.
The buildings that rose uncomfortably into the sky had odd shapes, and... how could I put this...
It was as if someone had stretched and twisted them.
Even so, the buildings didn’t show any sign of crumbling; instead, they stood upright.
Kwoosh.
The winds that passed by were as disgusting as a monster’s belch. Even though we were outside, it felt as dank and suffocating as the inside of a cave.
A red light flashed from the window of a twisted building, and a chilling laugh was heard.
Ket, khehe...
I could feel the eyes of things looking at me.The number of beings I could sense continued to bloat like a snowball, and my heart sank as I realized that not one of them felt like a small fry.
So Eldest Senior Brother is in this kind of place.
I had felt something similar to this before.
Right after the Demon Lord of the Black Swamp had been summoned.
The faces of demons had been embedded in the barks of the trees, and ominous winds had been blowing about.
The worst part was that the pressure I felt now was dozens of times more intense than then.
[Inheritor, are you... out of your mind?]
The Martial God spoke, sounding baffled.
[Do you realize where you are? This is Hell! The birthplace and the homeland of demons! A place riddled with death!]
It certainly feels like it.
Maybe it was because of the demonic energy, but my body already felt numb.
When demonic energies had been unleashed in the Forest of the Butterfly—when that place had turned into something trying to resemble Hell—I hadn’t been able to hold on for long and had nearly died.
With that in mind... how long would my body last in true Hell?
Half a day?
An hour?
More importantly, you’re sure that I can return to my original world, right?
[...From the beginning of time, it has been a rule that one cannot reside in another world for long. If that were not the case, the gods of disaster wouldn’t be restricted to using demon-lord summoning rituals to enter the real world. It is the same for you, Inheritor. No matter how long it may be, when the time comes, you will be forced back to your world.]
When the time comes? Can I get a precise timeframe—
[The recall time is different for each person! It’s dangerous because we don’t know!]
It was a rare moment when the Martial God showed his anger.
[There is no guarantee that you can survive until that time! I don’t know why you took such a reckless—]
Suddenly, the Martial God’s voice vanished.
Martial God?
[...]
He didn’t reply.
It felt different from usual.
It didn’t feel like he had fallen asleep; it felt as if my connection to him had been forcibly cut.
“...”
To explain my situation, I hadn’t thrown myself into Hell without a plan.
I’d known it would be dangerous, but I’d concluded that the risk was worth taking.
By the way, where is Juan?
We’d been together before, but I couldn’t see him anywhere anymore.
It was at this point that I heard an odd sound.
Tang... tang...
I heard what sounded like a ball being bounced in the field beyond the buildings, and with it, I also heard an unpleasant laugh.
I felt the presences gazing at me quickly hide, as if they were frightened.
At this moment, I felt an absurdly large presence quickly approaching me.
There was a familiar sense of pressure I had felt before as well.
The same pressure I’d felt when facing the Demon Lord of the Black Swamp, Ahop, before my regression.
A demon lord.
The moment those words crossed my mind, my breathing accelerated a little.
Would I finally be able to meet my Eldest Senior Brother?
[Heup...! Heup...!]
Finally, from beyond the road that didn’t harbor any other presence, the being I sensed revealed itself.
With the darkness as a backdrop, I saw something with a bloated body running toward me.
While kicking a ball.
[Heup...! Heup...!]
With the way he wobbled and shook from side to side as he ran, I felt like I was looking at a clown, and the way he panted for air was disgusting...
But for some reason, I didn’t find any of it funny.
Finally, the creature arrived in front of me.
[Ho, hohoho...]
He looked to be about three meters tall.
Although he was much larger than a human, he was walking on two legs and even had two arms.
He was even wearing clothes.
Of course, that didn’t mean I could treat this entity as a human.
[Ah, hello...! Human! I-it’s nice to meet you.]
To put it simply, he was a green tongue wearing clothes.
The clothes were too small for his fat body and made him look bloated, and his additional fat and skin were oozing out from between his ripped clothes.
Naturally, this wasn’t my eldest senior brother.
“...Who are you?”
[Ah! So... I’m... in your language, uh...]
The monster took out a notepad.
He then flipped through a few pages before letting out an “Ah!”
[Tang, ta, ta, is my name...!]
“...”
From what I remembered, that was the name of the Demon Lord of the Green Tongue.
I didn’t think this thing just coincidentally shared that name.
The pressure I had felt was emanating from him, and the perverse gazes I’d noticed earlier had disappeared right after this monster revealed himself.
I had a lot of questions I wanted to ask this entity that was called a demon lord, but I shook my head.
“I am Luan Bednicker.”
[I see. Oh, ohoho! L-Luan...]
Tangtata spoke with a stutter, and he took out a rag from within his clothes.
He used it to wipe away the disgusting liquid—I didn’t know if I should call it sweat or something else—that was being produced all over his body.
Maybe it was a handkerchief, not a rag?
Although I had only seen two demon lords in my life, this thing’s first impression was completely different from Ahop’s.
Of course, that didn’t mean I could let my guard down.
Tang... tang...
Tangtata played by himself, kicking the ball around.
Considering how fat his body was, he handled the ball pretty well.
He didn’t use his hands, instead juggling the ball with his foot, knee, and even his head. While watching that, I had a question that I just needed to ask.
“Could I ask what that is?”
Since this was a godly being, I was trying to be a bit more polite.
But I didn’t think he really cared whether or not I spoke casually.
[E-eh? A-are you interested in my ball?]
Tangtata seemed glad for some reason and rolled the ball toward me.
[H-here...! P-pass...! Ohoho...]
Roll...
The ball rolled and stopped upon touching my foot.
“...”
I looked at Juan’s empty eyes.
* * * * *
* * * * *
“Did you do this?”
[Yes!]
“Why? This human was your servant...”
[S-servant? N-no! H-he was my... uh...]
Tangtata took out his notebook again and flipped through it quite a bit before responding.
[Associate!]
“Associate?”
[Or... partner...? E-ehm. The language of the continent... is too difficult...]
“...”
[Anyway, I made a ‘trade’ with th-that human...]
“A trade... you and Juan did?”
[Yes...! I-I... respect the creatures of the continent...! I’m j-jealous!]
Tangtata continued to wipe away his sweat with the drenched rag.
[I-isn’t it great? Respect... and trust... among humans...! If that isn’t present, a trade... can never happen...! Wh-why would they give something up if they couldn’t trust? Ho, hohoho...]
“...”
[Trade... is a good system...! A system... we need to take up as well...]
He wasn’t something I could continue conversing with.
I clicked my tongue before asking, “What trade did you make with Juan?”
[I-it was simple.... Th-this human... said it would entertain me...! Said it would do... what I wanted...! And with that, it borrowed my authority—]
Tangtata was practically giggling as he spoke.
[S-so... recently... I learned about toys, and I wanted one... so I created ‘Juan Ball’.]
“...”
[L-Luan? Could you pass... Juan Ball to me?]
I didn’t do it.
When I just stood there and sighed, Tangtata immediately became saddened.
[H-hmm... this game... you don’t seem to like it... I will respect... your t-tastes...]
“Where am I?”
[This is m-my territory...! I-I call this a city... and I gave it a name as well...!]
Tangtata spread its arms wide in ecstasy and shouted, [Hell’s Heart...! Hell’s only, biggest city...!]
I had a question about that.
“...If it’s the only city, isn’t it naturally the biggest? There’s nothing else to compare to.”
[Cough...!]
In response, Tangtata seemed to clear his throat before changing the topic.
[D-don’t worry...! Luan Bednicker... I know that you people... call this place Hell...! But this place... at least here... isn’t dangerous...!]
“...”
A city in Hell.
I let out a laugh at the absurdity.
Seeing me laugh, Tangtata also laughed.
With how close together his face was, his laugh was disgusting to look at.
[L-Luan Bednicker. Follow me...! I-I yearned to invite a guest...!]
“Guest?”
[Yes...! Guest...!]
Tangtata smiled.
Within the mouth I saw open, I saw countless teeth, sharp like the teeth of a gear.
“I’m not your guest.”
[Eh...?]
“I was trying to meet the Demon Lord of Black and White.”
[Black, and, White... uh...]
After thinking for a while, an exclamation mark appeared above Tangtata’s head.
[Ah...! I s-see...!]
“From what Juan said, I was the one who could decide on the destination... so how did I end up in your area?”
[Th-that... was Juan’s misunderstanding... The moment he used the authority he borrowed from me... the destination was set to here...]
“...Hmm.”
So that was the case.
I felt a bit bitter.
I didn’t like that this situation had ended up exactly as the Martial God had told me it would.
[But... you are... really... an entertaining human...]
Tangtata spoke as he looked at me.
[When a human sees me... they either... lower their heads... or go insane... yes...]
“...”
[A h-human... who can talk with me... is a first... ohoho... f-fun...]
I felt a sense of favor in Tangtata’s eyes, but it only put me off. The favor of a demon lord...
[H-how about it? Luan Bednicker... w-would you like to become my partner?]
“Partner?”
[Y-yes... instead of that human... from before.]
I reacted with a nod.
“It’s an honor that someone on the level of a demon lord sees me favorably. What happens if I become a partner?”
[N-nothing much. You just need to entertain me once in a while.]
“Entertain you?”
[Yes...! The human from before... said it loved another person...]
Tangtata suddenly gripped his two hands.
[L-love...! I-I long for... that emotion...!]
“...”
[Th-that human... got an illness... and didn’t have long to live... ah...! This... humans... what a fragile species...]
Tangtata let out an exaggerated sigh.
[S-so... I told him... to give me... that human’s... heart... Th-the face I saw from that human back then... s-so delicious...! Ssp, e-excuse me...]
Tangtata wiped away the liquid that continued to flow down his body.
[Wh-when I requested the heart, the human screamed... s-saying it could give me anything else... b-but that wouldn’t do. Th-the face of someone who loses something of theirs... is the most entertaining... right...?]
“...”
[In the end... Th-that human brought me... a lot of entertainment... even as he died...]
I looked at Juan, near my feet.
This was only a possibility...
But when Juan had first begun worshiping the cult... the human named Juan might not have been so corrupt.
Maybe he had truly cherished his love for that woman and had tried his best even after becoming a cultist.
Maybe her death was the point at which he’d truly gone mad and become a high priest.
I could no longer find out.
The one person who knew the truth was now dead.
“I want to ask you something.”
[Ho, hoho... Ask me anything...! I-I have a duty to answer... everything that my part-ner... might be curious about...!]
Tangtata clapped as he spoke.
Seeing how pleased he looked, I felt I could ask him candidly.
I looked at Juan’s head, lying next to my feet, and asked, “Do you remember this man’s name?”
[Pardon?]
Tangtata’s one tiny eye blinked.
“The name of the person you turned into a ball.”
[Uh... n-not really...]
I let out a dry laugh.
Despite giving it a disgusting name like “Juan Ball” or whatever, this thing had already forgotten Juan’s existence.
It was proof that this creature didn’t treat people as people.
Honestly, when this demon Tangtata had first spoken to me, I’d had a thought.
If he was capable of talking, couldn’t I communicate with him?
Maybe turning Juan into a ball had just been a difference in common sense.
But that wasn’t the case.
Just because he felt emotions and could talk, that didn’t mean we were similar in any way.
Humans and demons were created in a way that meant we could never understand each other.
For some reason, at this moment, I understood a bit of the unending rage the Lord of Blood and Iron felt toward these demons.
Then... what shall I do?
As I pondered, I rubbed the coin in my pocket.