Endless Debt

As the man left, the cinema became quiet once again. Belphegor stretched his body forcefully, allowing himself to completely relax in the chair.

"Ha..."

He looked at the screen and skillfully stuffed a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

Belphegor tried to immerse himself again in the movie story, but the man’s figure, like a nightmare, lingered in his mind, annoying him.

"Just like Samuel."

A brief phrase hovered like a curse, and Belphegor understood its meaning.

Samuel was a guy who advocated violence, but in the end, he was dominated by it, longing for peace.

Belphegor was not sure if Samuel had found true peace now. He was only thankful that, compared to his blood relatives, Belphegor’s desire was not as strong.

He was such a person, an ordinary one, neither having the obsessive desires of other blood relatives nor the noble self-sacrifice of that person.

Neither up nor down, this was the best portrayal of Belphegor and an inescapable curse.

"Sometimes I feel like I’ve already gotten what I want."

Belphegor casually picked up a reel, which recorded someone’s life. He gently stroked it, and in his memories, the mocking laughter of his blood relatives echoed.

They called him a pathetic idealist, a filthy peeper...

Belphegor was just in pursuit of a "story," just like his wish back then.

"I long for..."

In the memory, a child held a wrinkled and turned-over book, murmuring, "More immersive stories, another life to invest in."

On this point, the man’s evaluation was indeed accurate. Belphegor was a coward. Before becoming the Devil, he endured bitterness; the real world had given him too many hardships, so Belphegor could only escape into the spiritual world. Even after becoming the Devil, he remained the same.

Belphegor shook his head vigorously, throwing away those noises. As if pretending to be strong, he revealed a nonchalant smile, his gaze falling on the screen. He knew at this moment, elsewhere in the world, another great play was unfolding.

"Mammon, what exactly is holding you back?"

Belphegor curiously waved his hand, and the picture on the screen switched to different perspectives, showing the vision of poets scattered around the world.

The Unfettered Poetry Society was now essentially in name only, but a few poets still believed in Belphegor. They no longer fought in battles; instead, like minstrels, traveled the countries under Belphegor’s guidance, chasing the turning points of the world.

With continuous switching, Belphegor noticed one of the visions, which projected her observations onto the screen.

First, there was a deep rumbling, like engine hearts burning fuel, moving heavy steel bodies, trudging across the land, followed by a series of dense explosions, roars, and screams approaching.

The picture gradually cleared. Amidst rising dust and thick smoke, a burning battlefield appeared before Belphegor.

The land once covered with grass had become scorching scorched earth, blood and waste piled together, soaking bodies and severed limbs like a desecrated swamp. Charred tank wrecks sank here like giant monster corpses.

"This is within the Kagader Empire, Eastern Region."

The female voice sounded, perceiving Belphegor’s arrival, narrating the events happening here as if it were a commentary.

Far away, on the other side of the world, the woman stood on a high hill, secretly observing this local war.

"The warring sides are the King’s Shield Guard and the King’s Secret Sword. Under Overlord Xilin’s personal command, they have recently captured several towns. To prevent unrest, the Pillar of Royal Authority has completely sealed off the current area, with intelligence strictly controlled."

A terrifying ether reaction burst forth at the center of the battlefield. From the thick smoke came a whistling sound, followed by several twisted tanks breaking through the air, crashing like cannonballs into a line of advancing soldiers, turning flesh into pulp, mixing with the earth.

Air currents surged, the thick smoke dispersed abruptly, and at the end of the woman’s vision, a solitary figure rose from the ground, with a circle of sword rings revolving behind him like a descending celestial god.

"Xilin is putting too much pressure on the King’s Secret Sword. To ease the battle, the King’s Secret Sword has already dispatched mortal troops to join the fight," the woman continued, "but these mortal troops differ from regular military units, as they have undergone various degrees of extraordinary armament."

Before the words fell, a series of pillars of fire rose from the ground; the strike was unleashed by the Fire-Calling Staff. Through mass industrial production, these cheap consumption-type Alchemy Armaments could now equip large-scale troops, subtly changing the way war was waged over time.

After the intense blaze, numerous fallen soldiers unexpectedly stood up again. According to reason, these injuries should be severe enough to kill them or at least incapacitate them, yet they seemed to ignore the pain and picked up their weapons again.

"While the King’s Secret Sword deals with Xilin, they are also experimenting with new ways of warfare; they equipped soldiers with Alchemy Armaments and Enhancement Potions... truly a bloody experiment."

The woman coldly commented, "But it’s still not enough to bridge the gap between Condensers and mortals."

Ether erupted fiercely; the soldiers stood like sculptures on the spot, and then their bodies began to collapse inward, each exploding into a sky full of blood mist.

In the presence of the Seeker of Glory’s power, the soldiers’ frail bodies couldn’t stop the penetration of Ether. When they saw Xilin, Xilin had already seen them and mastered their bodies.

The immense power disparity of the Seeker of Glory over mortals was fully revealed, prompting visions of the terrifying disaster that would occur if such a Seeker of Glory charged into a city’s core and commenced indiscriminate slaughter.

Belphegor quietly watched these scenes, munching on popcorn with interest. If he forgot this was reality unfolding, Belphegor felt this was a meticulously crafted war film.

"I heard Leviathan say he’s recently been reading newspapers; they report humanity’s recent discovery of some radioactive metal. After research, it is said that merely dozens of kilograms of that substance, through a special atomic reaction, can generate an extremely terrifying explosion capable of destroying a city."

"He jokingly asked me, if humans mastered this power, could it bridge the gap with the Extraordinary."

Belphegor didn’t continue; the answer was obvious.

Compared to the Seeker of Glory, all human self-destruction means appeared too inefficient.

A series of booming sounds arose; the earth cracked open, rocks jutted forth, Xilin commanded this land, forcibly splitting it apart. Swathes of soldiers were like ants, falling into the cracked darkness, disappearing, leaving only screams echoing.

"Keep going, Canary, I want to see more."

Upon hearing Belphegor’s command, Canary took a deep breath; despite the heavy pressure, she moved forward silently, praying she wouldn’t be noticed by Xilin.

The dreadful war continued.

In the heights above, Xilin overlooked the situation from on high. Under his control, the scales of victory tipped toward him, yet he didn’t let his guard down, knowing that the present wasn’t the full might of the King’s Secret Sword.

This was a suppression of Xilin, as well as a bloody drill; the King’s Secret Sword aimed to verify the feasibility of arming mortal troops through Xilin.

Even this mighty force crumbled under Xilin’s grasp.

Xilin didn’t feel pleased by this; he understood clearly that, in fact, the King’s Secret Sword had succeeded.

In the smoke swirling on the ground, silvery figures sped by; they skipped over blood-soaked muddy terrain, over rift-ridden ravines, with steel blades swiftly slashing down, beheading one soldier after another.

Amid the splattering blood, the figures of the Silver Knights emerged.

During the Decaying Epidemic Event, Xilin didn’t lose all Shield Guards; the Third Seat was one of the survivors. After gaining respite, he flawlessly showcased his talent, forging a troop of Silver Knight Guards for Xilin. However, these Alchemy Puppets required the Third Seat’s personal control, which spread across them diluted Ether intensity, weakening each Silver Knight’s speed, reaction, and strength, though it sufficed for dealing with mortal troops.

At least before this battle erupted today, the Silver Knights could easily crush the enemy.

Pillars of fire suddenly appeared, interspersed with a volley of Alchemy Warheads. Even as solid as the Silver Knights were, facing this deluge of bullets, alongside the diluted Ether strength due to the Third Seat controlling so many, the Silver Knights were still staggering and about to fall after the continual impacts.

The soldiers who had injected Enhancing Potions swarmed forward, thrusting gun muzzles into Armor’s gaps, firing multiple shots consecutively or wildly stabbing out with daggers, scratching the ornate Armor.

They buried one Silver Knight after another, like a dense swarm of rats.

Quantitative change stirred qualitative change. Although mortal troops couldn’t threaten Seeker of Glories like Xilin, against Condensers below Seeker of Glories and Defenders, they had acquired some power.

Xilin tore open a patch of turf, raising rubble and corpses together; after a brief flight, they smashed a tank that had just emerged from the smoke.

The exploding fire reflected in Xilin’s eyes; he saw more soldiers thrown into battle, flanking the tank’s sides, shadowed figures secretly concealing the King’s Secret Sword.

The engine roared from the skies above; several fighters burst from the clouds. Before they could drop bombs below, Xilin waved his hand lightly, and the fighters tore apart mid-air, like flies with their wings yanked off.

The slaughter continued.