The Return of the Iron-blood Sword Hound
chapter-287

Chapter 287: Power Inflation (5)

[Hehehehehehehe-]

With a grin wide enough to reach his chest, Belial laughed heartily.

It was a laughter so immense that the surrounding golden mountains seemed to crumble down.

[Bankruptcy? Is that really what you’re saying in front of my wealth?]

Various treasures, piles of gold coins, and precious gems extended beyond one mountain range to another.

Every time Belial suffered a wound, he absorbed those treasures to regain strength.

Treasures tightly filled almost half of the vast treasure vault. As long as he had this tremendous wealth, Belial’s life was eternal.

Dekarabia, situated on Vikir’s chest, blinked its external eyes and spoke.

[When Belial has no money, he’s endlessly weak, but with wealth, he becomes an infinitely powerful demon. Well, isn’t it a common thing among humans? In human society, there’s a saying, ‘With money, even ghosts can be commanded.’ A similar logic applies in the demon realm.]

“An inconvenient ability, it seems.”

[It’s not just inconvenient; as I mentioned before…]

Dekarabia began introducing Belial’s abilities one by one.

[Belial’s main abilities are ‘Jealousy,’ ‘Destruction,’ ‘Oppression,’ ‘Exile,’ ‘Famine,’ ‘Conflict,’ and ‘Desolation.’]

Dark energy emitted from his body disturbs the enemy’s vision with ‘Jealousy,’ transforming wealth into strength and releasing it as punches with ‘Destruction,’ blocking the movements of enemies and separating them with a whirlwind of gold coins with ‘Exile,’ draining the opponent’s wealth by spreading ‘Famine,’ emitting powerful waves from his mouth with ‘Conflict,’ and annihilating the surroundings with ‘Desolation’…

Kuoooooo!

Vikir had to constantly retreat to avoid the destructive power that swept over.

At that moment,

Whack-

Dolores embraced Vikir strongly from behind.

Vikir turned to look back, intending to say something, but Dolores’ shout was faster.

“Dodge it, Night Hound!”

As Vikir collapsed to the ground, Dolores, too, fell flat on her face as if knocked down.

Simultaneously,

…Quaquaquakung! Squeak!

Belial’s fist, narrowly missing, shattered the distant hill of gold, causing it to collapse and sink.

Then,

“Kyaaaaaah!”

Dolores, struck by Belial, began screaming.

While she avoided ‘Destruction,’ she couldn’t escape ‘Famine.’

Tsutsutsutsu…

All the buttons, pins, golden threads, and everything made of gold attached to her elegant saintess attire turned into debris and were sucked into Belial’s body.

Belial’s ability ‘Famine’ allowed him to plunder and absorb all the wealth of others, turning it into his own strength.

Eventually, as buttons, pins, golden threads disappeared, her clothes lost their form and crumbled down.

Dolores was horrified.

There had been no exposure at all, but as the saintess’ attire was torn, her bare skin became conspicuously visible.

“Uh, Night Hound d-don’t look!”

Her face and ears turned an intense shade of red.

…But Dolores’s ordeal did not end here.

“Your body and clan, both shall boil with anguish!”

The power of ‘Famine’ that Belial possessed wasn’t merely about seizing the opponent’s wealth.

There’s a saying that health is the most valuable thing, and one’s body is their asset.

It wasn’t just about devouring the opponent’s wealth; it was the ability to consume their body and lifeblood as well.

That was the true nature of the grotesque power that Belial wielded.

Bubbling sounds echoed…

Soon, these things began crawling around Dolores’s body.

These white bloodsuckers burrowed into Dolores’s fair and soft skin, sucking blood with their sharp fangs.

“Uh, uwaah!”

Dolores involuntarily scratched her body with her hands.

A distressed expression.

With one hand desperately clutching her falling clothes and the other scratching her body, Dolores’s appearance made Vikir momentarily think:

‘She looks eerie.’

As Vikir remained silent for a moment, Dolores shouted.

“I-I feel unjust! I definitely bathe and shower every day, so why are their lice…!”

“Alright, I get it.”

“W-wait! Did you say ‘alright’!? Just ‘alright’!?”

Ignoring Dolores’s mixture of confusion and injustice, Vikir neatly dismissed her defense.

Since she ended up in this state trying to protect herself from Belial’s attack, it was only natural to help her.

‘Go and help her.’

Vikir asked with his friend perched on his shoulder.

[Hap!]

Baby Madam. The little one, with crooked eyebrows, saluted in a playful manner.

This reliable fellow bounced energetically and attached himself to Dolores’s back.

And then,

Ku-oooo!

As the absolute ruler at the pinnacle of the insect ecosystem, he began emitting a terrifying aura.

Trembling…

Spiders are their natural enemies.

In front of the formidable aura, they trembled as they began to escape from Dolores’s body.

Regardless of being in Belial’s presence, the orders of the Spider species were absolute.

At least within the insect realm.

‘Madam EightLegs was a formidable creature that even high-ranking demons like the Demon lords would have to contend with….’

Vikir nodded his head.

Although the baby madam was young, it undoubtedly possessed the potential to become a ‘Demon lord’ in the future.

If raised well, it would undoubtedly be a great help in battles against the demon race.

Meanwhile,

…Thud! …Thump! …Whoosh!

Belial was recklessly unleashing his immense wealth and strength, rampaging around.

[Hehehehe! Guilty without money, innocent with money! Who dares to oppose the power of infinite wealth!]

The vast treasury was filled to the brim with riches.

Belial, looking at the golden horizon forming the mountain range, shouted as if intoxicated.

[You’ve killed quite a lot! When this vault is full, I might as well open the ‘gate’ by myself! I don’t need any mediocre companions!]

Belial shamelessly insulted the other demons without hesitation.

Money. More precisely, the value of money. Even more precisely, the ‘greed of humans who desire money.’

The importance of money lies in its value, and its value exists because of human greed.

As long as the human world overflows with greed, Belial’s power is infinite, and his growth potential is boundless.

While Belial wore the mask of a bourgeois in the human world, how much wealth and greed had he accumulated so far?

[Die, you bugs!]

Belial successfully cornered Vikir into the corner of the treasury and immediately swung his massive fist.

Buuuuuuung-

It was a spectacle akin to a falling meteor.

However, the unique difference was that the meteor’s tail burned not in red, but in black.

At that very moment,

“The demons are on this land, attempting to swallow us!”

Dolores once again stood in front of Vikir.

“Do not be afraid, stand firm, for truth will prevail! Even if relatives, wealth, honor, and life are all taken away, truth will live on, eternal in that land! Rune will protect us!”

White flames rose, creating a barrier.

Kurururur! Teuong!

The firewall of the Holy Fire immediately deflected Belial’s fist upon contact.

Cheeeeeek…

Soon, the ultra-high-temperature flames, burning with a brilliant white light, began consuming Belial’s fist.

[…Ugh!]

Belial, who had been forcefully pushing forward, stepped back ever so slightly.

In front of the pure flames untouched by greed, even a tiny bit, Belial’s power was neutralized.

However, having withdrawn his fist, Belial began to mockingly wag his tongue.

[Saintess. What did I say? I told you money isn’t a bad thing, right?]

In an instant, Dolores recalled Belial borrowing Bartolomeo’s mouth to convey a message.

‘In truth, “wealth” is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless existence. It has no form, no taste, and no smell. It’s incredibly neutral in value. Whether it’s used for good or ill depends on the wielder. It’s like fire, which can either burn down an entire mountain or save a dying matchstick girl in a winter alley.’

At the same time, Belial, with his torn mouth, twisted it into an even more grotesque smile.

[That’s right, isn’t it? Money is neither good nor bad. It’s inherently neutral in value.]

Having said that, Belial spread his massive fists and pressed his palms against the ground.

…Walgrrr! Kigigig-

Gradually, Belial clenched an enormous amount of gold coins in his hands.

“So, your shield that blocks extraordinary things won’t be of any use, will it?”

In the face of Belial’s towering giant hand, Dolores broke into a cold sweat.

Eventually,

Pachachachacha!

A torrential downpour of an immense number of gold coins began to descend.

Each coin carried a destructive power capable of piercing through several people with ease.

They effortlessly tore through the holy maiden’s shield and deeply penetrated inside.

“Oh no! The Holy Fire’s wall has low physical defense!”

Dolores retreated, looking dismayed.

However, escaping from the widespread shower of gold coins was impossible.

Soon,

Quaquaquakung!

The surroundings were entirely devastated. The hills of gold coins collapsed, and the terrain underwent a drastic change.

A thick cloud of gold dust scattered through the air.

…But.

[Huh!?]

Belial couldn’t achieve what he desired.

Vikir stood upright, holding Dolores, whose legs had lost strength, with a vacant expression.

And in front of Vikir floated a translucent, reddish inverted pentagram shield.

‘The Wall of Lamentation.’

[…It’s been a while, Belial.]

Dekarabia, the seventh corpse, blinked its external eyes, and that was the moment.