Episode 234. To Hell (4)
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Two days ago, in the Soul Tree Forest near the seventh fortress of Belcashium, the abyss of the Demon Realm.
"Haa, ha...!"
Basset gasped for breath.
Suddenly, a great war broke out in the Demon Realm three days ago. Because of this, Visebs' suicide squad members, who had come out of hiding to prepare for the final battle with Zito, were caught up in the war and were struggling day by day.
"Are you okay, brother?"
"Basset, your wounds are severe. It would be better to get treatment from Silkyia."
Tillias and Misol said, standing beside Basset.
Basset had been injured while protecting the non-combatants in the process of moving. He had protected nearly a million people almost by himself. From ten Demon Kings, over fifty generals, and countless soldiers.
The only reason Basset could handle so many enemies alone was because they were not just targeting Visebs as they used to.
The followers of Zito. No, the demons who had been followers, showed a tendency to kill everything in sight. They even waged a slaughter war among their own allies in the same unit, not to mention the enemies.
The members nearby watched Basset from afar, with a sense of guilt and respect. Basset believed that protecting them from Zito was the very reason for his existence.
"Silkyia can't. Her power should not be wasted on things like this."
"But Basset..."
"I said no. I have a few hours of respite anyway, so I just need to take care of myself until then..."
As the members expressed their respect for Basset, they spat or hurled curses at the countless bodies spread out nearby.
Until now, all the armies of the Demon Realm were nothing but brutal oppressors to Visebs. Visebs' members had always lived a life on the run for survival, and every single one of them had lost a loved one to Zito's subordinates.
So, they had to hate them. If they didn't hate them, and if they forgot even a little bit of accumulated hatred every time they forgot, they would have gone mad.
Basset barely suppressed a grim feeling as he watched his members trampling on corpses and cursing.
"Tillias. How can we tell them the truth?"
"Brother..."
"We couldn't easily believe the story we heard from the real Rucandel either. But Zito has opened a horrifying scene of slaughter unlike anything else in the world, and those we've believed to be our enemies until now... they were just more victims of Zito."
The brainwashing was not only applied to high-ranking demons including the Demon King and the generals.
Zito had brainwashed the 'entire' demon army. The reason this fact was not revealed in Valeria's recorded magic was because the ordinary demons Zito first brainwashed had all died.
The ordinary soldiers of the current demon army had all grown up under brainwashed parents, brainwashed superiors, from birth.
Therefore, there was no need to brainwash separately. In that absolute environment, all the demons had no choice but to become Zito's dogs.
Only Visebs was not brainwashed by Zito. That's why they have been resisting the oppressors until now.
"Haa."
"We all have occasionally thought that it could happen. Perhaps Zito would use even his most loyal relatives as expendable items for his own pleasure."
But no one expected him to use even the most loyal like Paelito and Sakiel.
'Ruling' is naturally a concept that requires administrators, and first and foremost, there must be people for it to be possible.
However, what Zito is doing now does not match that at all. He drives the people mad to kill each other, and throws away those who should become administrators like trash.
"This isn't right. We thought he wanted to rule the world. But what he wanted was just... destruction. Or perhaps a conclusion where only a handful chosen by Zito survive. The whole demon realm is engulfed in war, hundreds of millions must have already died..."
Now Visebs had to protect not only their own members but also Zito's subordinates.
What Visebs so desperately hoped for was not the safety and freedom of those affiliated with Visebs, but the peace of the world of the Demon Realm itself.
But the members are cursing the dead subordinates of Zito and there's no way to stop the hatred.
"How can the members, and they, accept the fact that everyone in the Demon Realm was a victim... The blood stained on their hands won't wash off, and the dead can't come back."
Basset was heartbroken.
He had killed countless of the demon army, and spies including Tillias had tortured and killed the members they captured to maintain secrecy.
Now, no matter how the ending turns out, Visebs could not face a bright future. Only a cruel truth heavier than life itself and a gigantic wound that will never heal awaited the demons.
"We still have to tell them. Also, we have to fight. Even if we fall apart because we can't accept the truth, we have no choice but to move forward. Brother."
"Yes... I guess so."
"By now, Jin Runkandel should have arrived in the demon world to fight ZitoZito. What we need to do is somehow stop the artificial sun before he meets ZitoZito."
The artificial sun, a gigantic machine created for the survival of the demon world after the death of the sun god.
This machine drew power from the 'Land of the Sun', left in the deepest parts of the demon world. Viseps believed that, as long as the artificial sun existed, even the risen Jin would never be able to kill Zito.
The day when Tilius first met Jin, she said that without forming an alliance with Viseps, it would be impossible to kill ZitoZito. That was why.
Near the current Land of the Sun was Viseps' spy, Ridolos Trinac.
"Meet Ridolos as soon as the Belgashium army passes through the battlefield. If you hand him this key that Paelleto copied into the abyss in the past, the artificial sun will be destroyed, and Jin Runkandel will be victorious..."
"Yes, brother. We start again from then. Somehow, again. You're saving Silky's power for that, aren't you? Liberation is at hand, just focus on recovery. I'll take care of the members."
Basset treated his injuries for five hours. The reconnaissance teams started to return and reported that the Belgashium army had left the battlefield.
"Captain Basset, the Belgashium army has left the outskirts of the abyss."
"Got it. Now we need to prepare to leave."
"But, Captain Basset. Unlike other troops, the Belgashium army did not kill each other."
"...What?"
"They were moving somewhere under the command of Leila Belgashium. Even though there were conflicts with other units in between, only the Belgashium army was fighting as if they were not mad. They didn't even flinch when they saw their allies, who had transformed into killers, attacking them."
"Then you're saying Leila Belgashium knew this would happen. Where is the army headed?"
"It didn't seem to be near Zito's place. According to our estimate, it was Dokmaseong."
"Dokmaseong, then. It seems she also went under Kelliark Zipple. Those who betrayed Zito and joined Kelliark are not subjected to Zito's mind control."
After contemplating for a moment, Basset nodded.
"Go to Dokmaseong immediately and figure out their situation. If she has captured someone of Leila's caliber, there's a high chance she's already gained more than 10% of the demon army. And she will try to oppress and use us like Zito."
Even if high-ranking demons conspired with Kelliark, ordinary people, without knowing why, had to be prevented from falling into someone else's war again.
"Understood, Captain Basset."
Viseps started moving again. In about ten hours, they should reach the entrance to the Land of the Sun.
Everywhere they walked, they stepped on corpses. Instead of roads that should have been there, more mountains of bodies and rivers of blood appeared.
"And now, once the artificial sun is destroyed, the demonic realm can start anew.
Although it will be a world without even a fake light, a world filled with irreversible sadness, it is incomparable to the rule of Gito.
"Brother, something is odd."
As they approached the solar road, Tilias began to look around and spoke.
"What is it?"
"Since a while ago, the traces of the corpses have changed. There are not without traces of ordinary soldiers killing each other, but it seems like one strong individual has intruded into the battlefield."
"I've been aware of it too. It seems like a demon king who lost his sanity due to mind control was mixed in our troops. Or a demon king who survived alone after annihilating other troops happened to encounter another troop while wandering in hell."
Although the answer was given, the executives of Biseps felt uneasy.
They had seen many battlefields where demon kings intruded indiscriminately and slaughtered. However, it was the first time that the traces of one person were so overwhelmingly left.
The traces were left by a transcendental strongman, at least equivalent to Reila.
"You've observed well, Tilias."
At the sudden voice, the executives looked around in surprise. It was Ridolros Trinak, a demon with one particularly long horn and a great sword as big as himself slung over his shoulder.
"Commander Ridolros?"
"Whoa, it's Commander Ridolros!"
"Ridolros? When did you mix with our ranks? Why without any presence....."
"There were too many demons passing by, so I was hidden among the corpses. I apologize if I startled you. Now, give me the key. I'll go and destroy my artificial sun."
Basset and the executives stared at the hand Ridolros stretched out for a while.
That hand was covered with the blood of the demons, along with broken bones and flesh. It looked as if he had just squeezed and burst someone's head.
"Ridolros... You didn't... Did you kill these demons here?"
Ridolros didn't seem to intend to hide it.
He immediately nodded.
"That's right. Just give me the key. Then, thinking about the affection we had, I'll give the executives a chance to live."
"Ridolros! What the...!"
When Basset shouted, Ridolros chuckled as if it was ridiculous.
"You do know that even if you, Basset, and all the scraps try, you can't harm me, right? Anyway, you seem quite shocked. It seems like you don't intend to hand it over nicely, so then, I'll start by slaughtering you all and take the key."