Chapter 7: Superbia, Part 1: To the Supreme Demon Lord
When compared to the human race, a Demon’s life is horribly long.
Their lifespans equate to eternity, and aging from the passage of time is a concept foreign to them.
The shape of their soul, the shape of their will, and the shape of their desires is what resolves their being, and seeds of that resolute way of being are the greatest factors that influence this absurdly large Demon World.
At the same time, as Demons continue to utilize their endless lives to delve into their desires, their power can grow with no limit in sight… once they become Demon Lords, they have enough strength to defile the very Heavens that would once be their natural enemy.
The first thing that entered my eyes the moment I was awakened, was a vigor-less man in slovenly garb. His artlessly cut hair fell over dirty clothing stained with dust. Supporting his body was a creaking armchair of faded color.
No life, energy or will, but what he did have was a vast amount of power.
Even for my immature senses, I could feel it fill the world, simple deep and dark, as if it were the air, a natural and quiet magic.
… The King of Depravity.
Survival of the fittest. In a world where Demon Lords elegantly competed with one another, there existed but one who did not interfere, and just by being there, he had climbed the ranks to Demon Lord. A mighty Demon.
Without making any blood flow, a pitiful Demon who had even been left behind by the flow of time.
Leigie the 『Depraved』.
It wasn’t certain that he could grant power to those who desired it.
But the inverse also stood true.
Even if he had power, it wasn’t certain if he could put it to practical use, and as Sloth, it wasn’t even certain if he could use it at all.
The Demon Lord who pursued 『Acedia』 looked at me. Without saying anything, without thinking anything.
No, while his eyes were directed in my direction, perhaps he wasn’t even looking at me. His hollow and shifting gaze held no meaning, and all I was certain of was that the thoughts that dwelled in those eyes were ones that someone like me wouldn’t possibly be able to comprehend.
Perhaps… my origin was a miracle.
As a game, he had tried to use the power he had gotten his hands on for the first time, and for a reason as simple as that, I was born.
Of course, I only realized that after much time had passed… After, without meaning, and never once having been ordered from my birth, I continued to suck up the Mana the Demon named Leigie emitted unconsciously. After I gained my own self-awareness, and even my own desires.
Even after seeing me start moving without his orders, Leigie didn’t say anything.
The reason for my existence, the reason for my birth were something I couldn’t understand.
It wasn’t even the Demon Lord’s will. His goal was only to use his power, and he didn’t even hold any interest towards the result.
I simply looked at my master.
Relieving his will of Sloth,
Looking at the pitiful legion of the Demon Lord who had not a single follower,
Who didn’t even eat food, and who simply moved back and forth between a squalid chair he arbitrarily picked up somewhere and a damp bed. I looked at the form of my lord.
Even so, any and all sorts of Heroes, Sages, Demons, Angels, and even Demon Lords didn’t pique his interest when they came for him. Looking at his way of life…
“… Hm… so this is how a 『Ruler』 should be…”
Even now, I can remember it clearly.
That was, those were the first words I ever vocalized.
How useless. How pointless.
Without any goal, his long life of nothingness merely built unto itself, and changed into a massive power.
Just how unsightly, how unbearable.
That was the Longing I governed.
As such, I gained the Original Sin of 『Superbia』.
My deplorable creator’s form and the form of the growing number of challengers that faced defeat by his hand, had long surpassed any comedy.
And at the same time, I harbored an intense jealousy.
His massive power that grew in proportion to the flow of time was never even polished with any form of training, but the other seeds… the other Demon Lords were simply driven away with overwhelming might.
That power alone was suited to my creator, and at the same time, if I could 『Overrule』 it, I wondered if I would truly become the supreme being, able to stand above not only people, but everything in existence.
That’s what I thought.
That’s what I couldn’t help but think.
There is no ranks among power.
But even in my mostly-stagnant head, I felt it. His power higher and nobler than all.
At the rate I was going, I knew I would never surpass it.
I gained life as a Demon. Having spent a lifetime longer than I could even imagine, the being that reached Demon Lord level was, lifestyle aside, too strong.
I can 『Overrule』. Those slovenly gestures, personality, and a way unbefitting a supreme ruler, it was easy enough to think of them as below me.
But I couldn’t win. It wasn’t on a level where good affinity or anything mattered, but a gap in life, experience, even existence.
Overruling can increase battle ability, and bring about enough power to overturn the gap between the Demon Ranks 『General』 and 『Lord』. It’s a superior skill, but even that wasn’t enough
I understood by instinct. The insurmountable gap was simply so great, I couldn’t help but understand by instinct.
… Not yet.
Even while watching me look down on him, the Lord of Sloth doesn’t say anything. It’s always silent.
“… Hm. But if my master is like this, then people will start to see me as the same.”
“… I see.”
The Lazy King let out a bored voice from under the covers. He displays not the tone variation of emotion.
His eyes look up at me, but even now, he holds not the slightest will.
I declare. It is all for my own sake.
It was also like an oath. In order to carve my existence into the world.
“Nominally and virtually, I shall make Father into the Supreme Demon Lord.”
“… Do not want.”
“… Hm, I’ll have you become one, Lazy King. Of all else, for… my sake.”
“… I see.”
Just do whatever you want.
Without letting out his voice, the Lazy King mouthed those words, before he sunk into his covers with sluggish movements.
I was always watching. From back when I didn’t have any decent awareness.
It was his evident reaction.
But so be it.
… As a start, let’s subjugate this region.
I suppressed all the foolish Demon who judged, looked down on, and ignored my Master as harmless, all to make this vast land into my exalted master’s mausoleum.
And by the time I have Overruled everything, perhaps I’ll have become an existence that surpasses even the Demon Lords of this hell.