The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound

Chapter 285: Power inflation (5)

[Gahahahahahaha-]

Belial laughed, his mouth open so wide that his lower jaw sank into his chest.

It was a mockery so loud that the golden mountains around him crumbled.

[Bankruptcy? Is that really what you're saying in the face of my wealth?]

Mountains and mountains of gold, jewelry, and other priceless treasures.

Each time Belial is wounded, he draws upon these treasures to restore his vitality.

These treasures fill nearly half of the vast vault, and as long as they are there, Belial will live forever.

Decarabia on Vikir's chest, blinked his single eye, said.

[Belial is a weak demon when he has no money, but a powerful demon when he has a lot of money. It's not so strange to humans, isn't it? There's a saying in human society: 'Money brings in demons'. The same logic applies in the demonic world].

"It's a nuisance ability."

[It's not a nuisance. As I said before....]

Decarabia began to list Belial's powers.

[Belial's main powers are 'Jealousy', 'Destruction', 'Oppression', 'Exile', 'Famine', 'Disturbance', and 'Desolation'].

Jealousy, which disrupts the enemy's vision with a dark aura emanating from his body; Destruction, which replaces gold power with muscle power and unleashes it with his fists; Exile, which blocks the enemy's movement and keeps them away at a distance with a vortex of gold coins; Famine, which scatters them and gnaws away at the opponent's gold; Disturbance, which emits powerful waves from his mouth; and Desolation, which devastates the surroundings with its enormous weight....

Kuoooooooooooo!

Vikir had to retreat again and again to avoid the power of destruction swirling everywhere.

at that time.

Whiss-

Dolores hugged Vikir hard from behind.

Vikir looked back and tried to say something, but Dolores' shout was faster.

"Dodge, Night Hound!"

As Vikir fell to the ground, Dolores fell on top of him.

At the same time.

... Quack-quack-quack-quack-quack! Jzzzzzzz!

Belial's fist narrowly missed, smashing the gold coin hill on the other side and collapsing it.

Then.

"Kyaaah!"

Dolores, who was attacked by Belial, began to scream.

'Destruction' was avoided, but 'Famine' could not be avoided.

Dzzzzzzzzzzz...

Everything made of gold, including buttons, pins, and gold thread, attached to her luxurious nun's clothes turned into crumbs and were sucked into Belial's body.

This is Famine, Belial's ability to rob and suck out all the wealth of others and use it for his own power.

It dries up the other person's wealth, no matter how much they have.

Then, as the buttons, pins, and gold threads disappeared, the garment lost its shape and fell apart.

Dolores was horrified.

The nun's clothes, which had not been exposed at all, were torn in several places, exposing her bare skin.

'Wha, Night Hound is watching!'

Her face and ears were redder than ever.

... However, Dolores's suffering did not end there.

[Your body and your barns will boil with lice.]

Belial's famine powers don't just take away the wealth of others.

It is said that health is the most valuable thing, and the body is an asset.

The ability to devour an opponent's wealth, but also their body and blood.

That's the nature of the ugly power that Belial wields.

Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle...

Soon, they started crawling on Dolores' body.

The white bloodsuckers burrowed into every inch of her white, soft skin, sucking out blood with their sharp teeth.

"Ugh, ouch!"

Dolores couldn't help but scratch all over her body with her hands without realizing it.

Her expression is grim.

The sight of Dolores desperately holding on to her flowing clothes with one hand and scratching various parts of her body with the other made Vikir think, even if only for a moment.

'Grotesque.'

Dolores exclaimed as Vikir stood still, speechless for a moment.

"I mean, it's not fair, I bathe and shower every day, obviously, so why do I have lice...!"

"I see, for now."

"Now, wait! What do you mean, for now? What does that mean?"

Vikir neatly ignored Dolores's excuses as she cried out in embarrassment and frustration.

Dolores was trying to defend against Belial's attack and ended up in that shape, so of course he should help her.

'You go help her.'

Vikir called to his friend on his shoulder.

[Hack!]

Little Madame. The little creature arched a bushy eyebrow and struck a salute pose.

The trusty little fellow bounced across the floor with a snap and clung to Dolores's back.

And then,

KOOOOOOO!

It began to exude its pride as an absolute leader standing at the pinnacle of the insect ecosystem.

Shivering...

Spiders. The natural enemy.

In front of that fearsome peer, they began to tremble and escape from Dolores' body.

Even though it was in front of Belial, the orders of the Madame race were absolute.

At least in the insect world.

'The Madame of Eightlegs was a force to be reckoned with, even by the high ranking demons of demon king level....'

Vikir nodded,

'Although she is young, she certainly has the qualities of a Monster King.'

If she is raised well, she will be a great help in the fight against demons in the future.

Meanwhile.

...Bang! ...BANG! ...DZZZZZZ!

Belial was on a rampage, using up all of his tremendous funds and strength.

[Hahahahaha! Guilty if you don't have money, no guilty if you have money! Who can stand against this boundless power of money!]

The vast vault is full of riches.

Belial gazed at the golden horizon of the mountain range and exclaimed as if drunk.

[When this vault is full, I'll be able to open the Gate all by myself! I don't need those generous companions!]

Belial did not hesitate to blaspheme the other Ten Commandments.

He was extremely self-righteous and equally strong.

Money. The value of money, to be precise. Or more accurately, the greed of men for money.

Money is important because it has value, and value is human greed.

As long as there is greed in the human world, Belial's power is limitless and its potential for growth is limitless.

How much wealth and how much greed has Belial accumulated while wearing the mask of the Bourgeois family patriarch?

[Die, insects!]

Belial succeeds in cornering Vikir in the vault and swings his massive fist.

Boom!

It was as if a meteorite was falling.

The only difference was that its tail burned black instead of red.

Just then.

"There is a demon in this land, trying to devour us!"

Dolores stepped in front of Vikir once more.

"Do not be afraid, stand, and with truth you shall win! Relatives, riches, honor, and life may be taken from you, but the truth shall live, and the kingdom will last forever! Lun!"

White flames rose and formed a wall.

Rumbling, boom!

The firewall of holy fire knocked Belial's fist back as soon as it touched.

Chiiiiiiiizzzzz...

Soon, the ultra-high temperature burning white light began to burn Belial's fist.

[...Kughh!]

Belial, who had been pushing forward in a ferocious manner, stepped back, though only slightly.

Belial's power had been neutralized by the pure flame, which lacked even a hint of greed.

But. With his fist drawn back, Belial's cunning tongue began to tease.

[Saint. What did I tell you, money is not a bad thing?]

Suddenly, Dolores' mind flashed back to the words Belial had once put into Bartolomeo's mouth.

'In fact, wealth is a colorless, scentless, tasteless thing. It has no form, no taste, no scent. It's extremely value-neutral. It's good when it's used for good and bad when it's used for bad. It's like a fire that can burn a whole mountain, but it can also save a dying little match girl in a winter alley.'

At the same time. Belial grinned, twisting his gruesome mouth even more hideously.

[That's right, money is neither right nor wrong, it's value-neutral].

With that, Belial stretched out his massive fists and slammed his palms into the ground.

... Grack, zizizizizi!

With that, Belial clutched an enormous amount of gold coins in his hands.

[So your shields against the bad things will be useless, eh?]

Dolores broke out in a cold sweat at the sight of Belial's massive, surging hand.

And then.

Clang, clang, clang!

An enormous amount of gold coins began to fly down.

Each piece of money contains enough destructive power to pierce several people.

They tear apart the saint's defense shield so easily and dig deep into it.

'Oh no, the Wall of Holy Fire has low physical defense!'

Dolores stumbled back in panic.

But it was impossible to escape the shower of gold coins that rained down over a vast area.

And then.

Clang, clang, clang!

The entire area was devastated. The hills of gold collapsed and the landscape changed dramatically.

The smoke of gold dust fluttering in the air.

...But.

[Hmm!?]

Belial hadn't gotten what he wanted.

Vikir stands tall, holding Dolores, whose legs are weak, with a mesmerized expression.

Floating in front of Vikir is a translucent red inverted pentagram shield.

The Wailing Wall.

[...It's been a while, Belial.]

The 7th Corpse Decarabia flashed his single eye.