“Argh...! Aghhh! Aaaaack!” Meanwhile, Metatron was writing in agony inside the capsule. It was only natural for him to be in agony, as an immense amount of demonic power was extracted from the more than eight hundred forty-five million Soul Coins. Absorbing the ridiculous amount of demonic power all at once was an agonizing process that not even the son of the Demon Lord of Vengeance, Vernas, could withstand. Badump! Badump! Badump! On top of that, his heart pounded violently as if it was about to either burst or stop at any second. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel·fiɾe·net ‘I... I have to endure this! I have to endure this no matter what... If I don’t endure this... Arghh! I will... be a failure... forever...! Just this once, please...! Endure it, Metatron!’ Metatron gnashed his teeth and desperately fought to stay conscious. He knew that blacking out now meant losing control over the demonic power surging into his body. Turning into a mindless beast driven by bloodlust was the least of his concerns. In the worst-case scenario, the rampaging demonic power within him could trigger a massive explosion that would shatter his body into a thousand pieces. Metatron held onto his fading consciousness and absorbed every bit of the demonic power surging into his body. However, his resolve could only last for so long. ‘A-Arghh... I-I’m blacking out...’ His vision blurred, and his eyelids grew heavy. ‘No, I have to focus. If I lose control now, then...’ He fought to keep his eyes open, but it was to no avail. The more he fought to stay awake, the heavier his eyelids grew. An unstoppable wave of exhaustion overtook him. And then, Metatron’s consciousness faded. He succumbed to the demonic power surging into his body, completely overwhelmed by them. Metatron opened his eyes and looked around his surroundings. He gasped after realizing that he was right in the middle of Vernas’ personal garden. Only the rarest plants from across the Demon Realm were planted here, and this was one of Vernas’ most cherished places... Metatron couldn’t understand what was happening. Just moments ago, he was inside the capsule at the Demon Bank, struggling to control the demonic power surging into his body. Upon opening his eyes, he suddenly found himself standing in Vernas’ garden. “Did I... die?” he muttered, thinking that this could be the afterlife. “No, you’re not dead yet, my son.” A familiar voice rang out just then. Metatron instinctively turned to the familiar voice, and he gasped after seeing the figure standing before him. His father, who had been slain by Baroque, now stood before him with a smile. “Hello, my son,” Vernas said, smiling warmly. “H-How are you here, Father...?” “It brings me great joy to see you once more.” “I never thought that my last words to you would be such harsh words.” “But it’s fine now. At the very least, I can say goodbye to you at least. This is more than enough for me.” “I... I am so glad... I thought I would never see you again, Father....!” “You foolish child,” Vernas said with a warm, gentle smile. “I have always felt bad,” Vernas said, flashing a remorseful expression and admitting his past mistakes. “I have placed great expectations on you, and I ended up pushing you too hard. All because of my greed and ambition.” Tears welled up in Metatron’s eyes. “I am sorry, my son. It's too late, but I want you to know that I am truly sorry.” Metatron finally broke down. The words he had longed to hear his entire life and the warmth that he so desired from his father caused the bottled-up emotions inside him to burst out. “N-No! Father! I was a failure for being unable to meet your expectations!” The father and son chatted for quite a while, mending the emotional wounds that festered and caused a rift between them for so long. “It is now time for us to part, my son.” “N-No! Father! Please don’t go!” Metatron tried to reach for him, but it was futile. Vernas was already too far away for him to catch. As Vernas faded away, he said, “You still have work to do, my son. Have you forgotten about my vengeance?” “Return, child. Return and claim your rightful place on the throne. Avenge me and become the Demon Lord of Vengeance.” “My beloved son, Metatron. You can do it,” Vernas said with a smile. “You are my son, Metatron. What are you scared of? I believe in you.” “D-Do you truly mean that? Do you truly believe in this worthless fool?” “I certainly do. The son of Vernas would never fall over something . Will you make me proud, my son?” “Y-Yes! I will do it! I swear that I will make you proud!” Metatron exclaimed, clenching his fists. “And I will be watching over you.” With those final words, Vernas faded into the distance. Metatron called out to him, but it was in vain. When Metatron lost sight of Vernas... The scenery changed once again. The garden vanished, and Metatron found himself inside the capsule once again. His eyes snapped wide open. A stream of demonic power was still being injected into him. Badump! Badump! Badump! His heart thumped like crazy as he tried to absorb the torrent of power. ‘I must endure this.’ Metatron gnashed his teeth and focused with every ounce of his will to absorb the demonic power. “I can do this...! I am the son of the Demon Lord of Vengeance, Vernas! I will make my father proud! I can do this–!” A blinding flash of light erupted from Metatron. Meanwhile, Siegfried and Baroque were locked inside the World of Despair. Baroque immediately sensed that he had been transported to an entirely different realm, and it was proven by how he frantically scanned his surroundings. Not that looking around would help him, as they were surrounded by pitch-black darkness that stretched infinitely in all directions. In this darkness, where nothing else was visible, only two beings existed—Siegfried and Baroque. Realizing that there was no other prey aside from the human standing in front of him, Baroque bared his fangs and growled like a savage beast. “Whoa! Whoa! Easy there, buddy. Let’s not get so impatient,” Siegfried said, raising his hands in surrender and trying to calm the demon down. ‘I just have to buy time. There’s no way I can win against this guy, so stalling for time is the best I can do.’ His sole objective was to stall until Metatron was done absorbing the demonic power from the Soul Coins. He knew he couldn't win against Baroque, so fighting was not even an option. No matter how strong he was, he had yet to reach the realm of Grandmasters. Even if Baroque was an incomplete demon lord, he was still a demon lord, so defeating him was simply outright impossible. Thus, Siegfried amplified his Embrace of Despair using Discharge to shred Baroque’s Movement Speed. He immediately followed it up by summoning hundreds of aura blades with freezing energy, raining them down on Baroque to further slow him down. Baroque thrashed violently and roared as he tried to shake off the debilitating slow debuffs. However, his raw strength was futile this time. Within the realm governed by the Lord of Despair, all of the Lord of Despair's debuffs were amplified to their maximum potential. Even though Baroque was in a berserk state, he still could not break through the debuffs as easily as he did earlier. To make things even more frustrating, Siegfried activated his title, "Pesky Brat," and darted around the place at extreme speeds. The World of Despair stretched endlessly for Siegfried while shrinking in other places, which meant that Siegfried could freely run away while the slowing debuffs tied down Baroque. ‘Good. I just have to keep this up. I’ll throw a few dozen aura swords at him and freeze him up with Absolute Zero right before World of Despair ends,’ Siegfried planned to maintain the chase for as long as he could. He was convinced that he could continue stalling until the World of Despair expired, but... Baroque suddenly vanished. Baroque slammed both fists into Siegfried’s back, nearly breaking him in half. It turned out that despite his monstrous size, Baroque could use teleportation, which was how he had suddenly appeared behind Siegfried. Siegfried spat a fountain of blood as he crashed into the ground. Seizing the opportunity, Baroque roared and clasped both of his fists together. He then brought them down in a relentless barrage. Each impact sent shockwaves through the air, and blood spurted out from Siegfried’s mouth with each hit. His health plummeted in an instant from the brutal pounding. Siegfried refused to go down , so he activated Absolute Zero. He had been hoping to save it until the end of the World of Despair. A brilliant white light flashed, freezing Baroque’s movements momentarily. “Eat this, you freak!” Siegfried exclaimed. He charged up Touch of Death into his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp and struck the side of Baroque’s head with it. A massive explosion erupted. When the World of Despair dissipated... “Kyuuu! Owner punk!” Hamchi cried out and ran forward in a panic. Siegfried had reappeared from the darkness, but his condition was dire. “Ughh...” Siegfried groaned as blood was smeared all over his face and body. He was hung limp in the air, grabbed in a chokehold by Baroque with one hand. [Demon Lord of Vengeance: Baroque] Baroque had seventy percent HP remaining. He had lost only thirty percent of his HP despite taking a direct hit to the head from the Touch of Death. He was the first opponent Siegfried had ever faced who could take that skill head-on and survive. ‘Ah, damn it... So is this how strong a demon lord is...?’ Siegfried thought, experiencing firsthand the strength of the most powerful beings in the Demon Realm. However, Baroque wasn't even a fully-fledged demon lord. Not only did he lose control over his demonic power, but he did not even have the Avenger with him. Despite being in such a weakened state, he shrugged off Siegfried’s strongest skill as if it were nothing. If this was the power of an incomplete demon lord, then it made sense to assume that a true demon lord was far more powerful. Even the most powerful being in the human world, the Dragon Lord, Gerog, probably stood no chance against a true demon lord. Thus, the fact that Siegfried managed to shave off thirty percent of Baroque’s HP was, in itself, an astounding feat. It was all because reducing Baroque’s HP by even ten percent in a single blow could already be considered a miracle. ‘I thought I’d gotten stronger, but this is just...’ Siegfried could only grit his teeth in frustration. He held himself to absurdly high standards, so he couldn’t help but be frustrated. Meanwhile, Baroque prepared to tear Siegfried apart to vent the anger raging inside of him after taking significant damage from his prey, but before he could do so— His instincts flared, causing him to turn his gaze toward the Demon Bank. The older brother whom he had always loathed was standing at the entrance of the Demon Bank. Metatron, the older brother whom he had always regarded as a fool, was standing there, looking straight at him with a smug grin.