“B-Brother...! Please, spare—!” Baroque stammered, sounding almost like he was pleading. “Don’t you dare call me that with your filthy mouth,” Metatron cut him off. As soon as Baroque came back to his senses, Metatron’s usual composed and aloof demeanor disappeared completely. Metatron’s voice was as cold as ice and as sharp as a blade as he said, “You are a disgrace who committed a sin that not even a beast would commit. You’re no brother to me." “B-But brother...!” Baroque quickly grasped the situation and dropped to his knees, desperately pleading before Metatron.“I was wrong! Please, forgive me, brother!” “I must’ve lost my mind for a moment. I don’t know why I did what I had done! Ah, that’s right! It was Dantalion! That snake deceived me into doing something so foolish!” The tables had turned; Baroque, who had always looked down on his older brother, Metatron, as nothing more than a pushover, was now groveling at the latter's feet, begging for his life. However, Metatron felt neither joy nor satisfaction from watching Baroque groveling before him. Even though their place was swapped, Metatron didn't find being on the receiving end of it to be enjoyable at all. After meeting Siegfried, Metatron had gone through all sorts of things that he would have otherwise never experienced in the Demon Realm. Those harrowing experiences had forced him to grow up both mentally and emotionally, and he was now no longer the same aloof and shallow demon everyone shunned him for being. He once regarded becoming Siegfried’s slave as the biggest humiliation of his life, but ironically, that humiliating moment had become the turning point in his life that had reshaped his future. From becoming an immature demon that was considered a disgrace by his own father, Metatron slowly matured until he was finally worthy of being regarded as the Ruler of the Seventh Domain, the Demon Lord of Vengeance. Perhaps the old Metatron would have been shaken if Baroque had groveled and pleaded at his feet, but the new Metatron felt nothing even while watching the pitiful sight before him. “How far have you fallen, and how pitiful have you become? If you were prepared to commit this sin, then shouldn’t you at least be prepared for the consequences? How can you so easily grovel at someone else’s feet just to save yourself?” Metatron grumbled with a hint of disbelief in his voice. “B-Brother! T-That was—!” “You were so blinded by your ambition that you killed our father with your own hands. If you truly call yourself a demon, if you claim to be a son of a demon lord, then shouldn’t you at least face your end with some pride?” “You’re a disgrace.” Metatron spat those words and drew the Avenger. Then, he slowly walked toward Baroque and growled, “Do you not realize that your pathetic begging only brings further disgrace to our father’s name?” “Are you going to disgrace his name?! Do you plan to tarnish his name forever?!” Metatron roared, his voice laced with fury. Baroque froze as if struck by lightning. Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined that he would end up getting screamed at and reprimanded by none other than his foolish, incompetent, immature, and weak older brother. “I, as the son of the late Demon Lord of Vengeance, Vernas... As the new ruler of the Seventh Domain of the Demon Realm, and... as the successor to my father’s title as the new Demon Lord of Vengeance...” Metatron continued while walking toward Baroque. “B-Brother! P-Please! Please spare me!” Baroque cried out desperately. “I, Metatron, hereby sentence you... to death.” With that declaration, Metatron raised the Avenger and was about to strike Baroque down, but— “Y-You...!” Baroque clenched his teeth and let out a low growl. The moment he realized Metatron had no plans on forgiving him, his true nature emerged once again. “Do you think I’ll die ?! You think I’ll go down alone?!” Baroque roared. Before the echoes of his voice had even faded— A surge of ominous energy erupted from Baroque, engulfing him in a mixture of black and violet light. Everyone who saw the light instinctively knew what was about to happen, and their faces twisted in horror. Baroque had chosen to detonate his demonic power and drag everyone in the vicinity to the afterlife with him. “You bastard!” Metatron roared in anger and swiftly swung the Avenger. If he could slice Baroque in half before the explosion was triggered, then he could stop Baroque from exploding. At that moment, Metatron realized that he was a step too late. Baroque’s demonic power had already spiraled out of control, so the explosion couldn’t be stopped no matter what he did. ‘What do I do?! Damn it!’ Metatron panicked, not knowing what to do anymore. Unfortunately, there was no time to waste. Baroque swelled like an overinflated balloon and was merely seconds away from exploding. "Absorb it!" Siegfried’s voice echoed. "Absorb it! Don’t let it explode! Take it in and make it yours!” His words struck Metatron like a revelation from an enlightened sage. ‘T-That’s it!’ Metatron hurriedly listened to Siegfried’s advice and sheathed the Avenger. Then, he thrust both hands forward, pressing them toward Baroque’s chest. His fingers dug deep into Baroque’s flesh. He pushed his fingers in until he wrapped them around Baroque’s heart. ‘The power of the demon lord...! The immense power my father once wielded... I will claim it as my own!’ With that, Metatron began absorbing the overflowing demonic power from Baroque’s heart. No explosion occurred, proving that Siegfried’s judgement was correct. Metatron continued absorbing Baroque’s demonic power without much trouble. ‘I knew it.’ Siegfried smiled after confirming that he was right. The reason he advised Metatron to absorb the energy was that he had experienced something similar before, about a year ago, during the incident in the Arctic Pangea. The First Black Dragon, Inkarthus, rampaged after almost losing to Siegfried, and as a result, the Dragon Heart grew out of control. It was a catastrophic event that nearly led to the extermination of all life on the planet. Had the Dragon Heart exploded, the radioactive energy unleashed would have contaminated the entire world. To prevent the destruction of the world, Siegfried threw himself at the rampaging Dragon Heart. He believed in the body that Deus had modified, so he decided to absorb the mana within Inkarthus’ Dragon Heart. In the end, Siegfried miraculously absorbed the Dragon Heart and saved the world. Through that experience, Siegfried learned how to handle a rampaging clump of energy. ‘An explosion will occur when an overwhelming amount of energy breaks through its container. As long as you provide an outlet, you can stop it from exploding. Absorbing the rampaging demonic power is the right answer,’ Siegfried thought. Based on his logic, absorbing the energy before it detonated could prevent an explosion. However, absorbing the demon lord’s powers was not as easy as it sounded. Metatron was barely keeping himself conscious, struggling to absorb and control the raging demonic power. His body was already reaching its absolute limits after he had pushed it to its limits just to absorb the demonic power from those Soul Coins. “Y-Your Majesty! M-My heart...! Arghhhh!” At last, Metatron could no longer withstand the tremendous amount of demonic power surging into him and let out an agonized scream. “Kyuuuu! What do we do now, owner punk?! Metatron’s gonna die at this rate! He’s at his limits now!” Hamchi cried out in panic. “Damn it!” Siegfried cursed and clenched his teeth after realizing the situation was far more difficult than he had expected. ‘His vessel is too small. He can’t handle all that energy by himself.’ Metatron had already absorbed demonic power worth eight hundred forty-five million Soul Coins and was now absorbing the power Baroque absorbed from Vernas. The massive amount of demonic power was not something that Metatron’s heart was capable of handling. “Ggraaah! Y-Your Majesty! Hurry! Hurry and run! I... I cannot... hold on... any... longer...! Aaaack!” Metatron warned everyone. Even if it was too late for him, he wanted the others to escape. “Run! All of you! Quickly...! Gaaaah!” Just as Metatron let out that desperate cry— Siegfried appeared behind him out of nowhere and scolded him. “Are you really losing focus right now? Do you wanna die for real? You’re so close to becoming the demon lord, yet you’re giving up? Seriously?” “H-Huh? Arghhk!” Official source is novel-fire.ɴet “Focus, punk. I’ll help you.” “Just shut the fuck up and focus!” “Y-Yes, Your Majesty—!” Metatron was momentarily baffled after hearing that Siegfried was going to help him. He tried to ask how he planned to help, but he only got chewed out for asking. ‘W-What in the world is he thinking—’ Metatron was shocked when the demonic power surging into his heart dropped to just a third. ‘H-How the hell...?!’ He instinctively turned his head and— To his astonishment, Siegfried had his palms pressed on Metatron’s back and was absorbing the demonic power alongside him. [Type: Support Skill] [Effect: Allows the Lord of Despair to absorb a huge variety of energies and empower himself using it. An energy that cannot be absorbed will be stored or released.] Siegfried used Gluttony to absorb the demon lord’s demonic power, which reduced the burden on Metatron’s heart. Chae Hyung-Seok cursed inwardly after seeing the events unfold before him. Baroque was defeated, which meant his fate was basically sealed. As the Supreme Commander of the Seventh Domain of the Demon Realm, Chae Hyung-Seok enjoyed countless privileges and luxuries granted by Baroque. Soon, all of those would disappear. To make matters worse, Siegfried’s slave, Metatron, was now the new demon lord. In other words, Chae Hyung-Seok was, without a doubt, going to be cast out after losing his backing in the Seventh Domain. ‘Like hell I’m going to let that happen!’ Chae Hyung-Seok glared and gnashed his teeth at Siegfried and Metatron, who were busy absorbing the unstable demonic power of Baroque. Just then, a realization struck him. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him. If he could just interrupt them, then the demon lord’s rampaging demonic power would trigger a massive explosion. Once the explosion occurred, everyone present would be annihilated. Half of the City of Vengeance, the capital city of the Seventh Domain, would be wiped off the map in the resulting explosion. And if that ended up happening... ‘The new demon lord, Metatron? Dead. The elders? All wiped out. That meant only a handful of high-ranking demons would remain, so...' All he had to do was revive later and return amidst the chaos to claim the ownerless throne for himself. Badump! Badump! Badump! Chae Hyung-Seok's heart pounded violently in his chest. If everything went according to plan, then he, Chae Hyung-Seok—no, Hyungseokius, would become the first player in the history of BNW to ascend to the seat of a demon lord. He would achieve a feat no player had ever achieved before. ‘Haha! Is this why they say there’s an opportunity hiding behind every crisis?!’ he thought excitedly. A twisted grin spread across his face as he tightened his grip on the weapon he had inherited from Baroque. ‘All I have to do is give a little tap, and that should trigger the explosion, right? Hehehe...!’ Both Siegfried and Metatron were in an extremely vulnerable state, as their backs were wide open. Even a single basic attack would be enough to disrupt their focus, and once that happened... The catastrophic explosion that they were barely containing would erupt. With that explosion, Chae Hyung-Seok’s grand plan would be set into motion. The grand plan would make him the first player to become a demon lord. ‘Okay, let’s give it a shot.’ Wearing a devious grin, Chae Hyung-Seok crept forward. Like an expert predator hunting its prey, he moved ever so silently toward Siegfried and Metatron.