The Sneering Devil.

“I am The Walking Devil!”

One slash.

“You’re facing The Snoring Devil!”

Two slashes.

“Kneel before the—”

Three slashes.
No matter how much I slashed, no devil stood a chance against me in the Underworld.

I first roamed through the white desert of golden rivers. All kind of devils faced me, thinking that they could devour me so easily—so I devoured them instead.

At a certain point, I reached a village. Every single one of the devils lurking there got out and faced me in battle. They didn’t say anything, but their eyes were fixed on the black chains I snatched from my previous victims, a rare treasure in the Underground. All at once they came at me—so I robbed their whole village instead.

Leaving the desert, a chasm without end was before my eyes. A single bridge connected to the other side, but a staggering amount of devils were in line to fight me—so I threw them out of the bridge, one by one.

From days to weeks, I slayed so many of them that I already forgot most of their names. The devils that humanity fears were weaklings—all they had for themselves was being superior magicians to any mage in the Overworld.

At the end, I reached a gray wheat field. In the distance, I saw it.
The Capital of the Underworld, where The Felled Devil, the one that tried to destroy humanity before The Living Devil rested.

“Halt.”

And again, someone stood in my way.

“I have heard of a monster that’s terrorizing the Underworld, slashing man and woman alike to pieces and advancing alone toward the capital as she mercilessly killed everyone on her way. I came to see what kind of psycho would dare stand against His Majesty, but… Ku ku ku! If that isn’t a human?”

Looking at me, he was laughing ominously, fitting of a devil.
But even I the hardened Champion couldn’t help but fear that man.
Red skin, white hair, broken horns, but his tail was cut.
It was a devil just like The Living Devil—a rare kind of devil that had grown horns.

‘Something isn’t right with that guy.’ I thought as I instinctively drew out my swords.

“A human… a human?” He repeated, eyes slightly open. “You look more like a mad dog to me. But I guess only a mad dog would be capable of causing this much slaughter and mayhem. You’ve made yourself quite the reputation in the Underworld you know?”

“Already? I’ve been only here for two weeks.”

“A small world we live in isn’t it?”

Hands wide open, his swords sheathed on his belt, he kept walking toward me.
The more he walked, the more dread I felt.
In that moment, for the first time in a long time I was a prey to a greater being.

“Ha! So you want to be my next victim? Fine then! Jokesters like you are always buried in nameless graves!”

But being a prey never suited me, so I attacked first.

“…Prostrate yourself.”

I prostrated myself.

“What the? What did you do?!”

“Well I’ll be.” The devil sneered. “I thought you would put some resistance, but you obeyed immediately.”

“Bastard, who are you?”

“Asking my name when you didn’t introduce yourself? How devilish of you!”

“I told you to—”

“Introduce yourself.” He ordered.

“My name is Kuu Oonami.” I obeyed. “A warrior of the Overworld and the Champion of the Armed Martial Arts tournament.”

“So you are a Champion, ku ku ku! No wonder you could kill my kind without mercy. Every Champion so far has always been a brute. But you? You take the cake!”

The devil laughed, and crouched in front of me.

“I am The Sneering Devil, and I am your enemy. But, I’ll rather see you as a business partner.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Let’s keep it simple: Betray humankind, destroy the world, and I’ll train you in the one weakness that stops you from becoming strong—that is, your lack of magic resistance against devils.”

“…”

I couldn’t believe it.
Finally, after many days of looking for someone strong enough to face the might of humanity, I had found someone that would make me even stronger—stronger than I am, so that I could upend that ridiculous law of the strong, the rule that caused me so much suffering.
Someone with the same goals as me.

“So, your answer?”

“This is what I’ve always wanted.”

Released from the grip of his magic, I stood up and looked him in the eyes.

“Let’s do it, Sneering Devil.”

“Ku ku ku!”

◊・◊・◊

Together—not so much together but in partnership—Sneering and I trained at magic. He taught me that a warrior like me who relies solely on her blades didn’t need to learn magic. With raw strength I was able to break barriers and slash spells in two, to the point where I even specialized in hunting magicians.

However, the people of the Underworld are all masters at using magic, and some even have special abilities that cannot be resisted against. Those are a devil’s special magic. Namely, one that Living and Sneering share—the obedience spell was extremely dangerous.

Even if I could fight my way out against master magicians, I was too weak against mental attacks.
And the only way to resist was to learn magic myself.

“DAMN IT!”

I thought that when I would’ve learned magic, I thought that when I would’ve been able to resist mental attacks, no one could ever stand in my way.
Sneering taught me that he wouldn’t let that happen.

“Why I can’t beat him?!”

Tattered and bloodied, I was laid down on the gray wheat field by his powerful strike.
He was using two swords like me.
He was even using the same techniques I did.
I could even resist his mental suggestions.
But I couldn’t win.

“Ku ku ku! How unsightly Champion of the Overworld. Tell me, when was the last time you were beaten to a pulp?”

“I’ll kill you!!”

“Try to stand up with your two feet first, ku ku!”

“GNHHAAAAAAHH!!!!”

By sheer force of will I launched myself at him again. Faster, stronger, I swung my swords like I never did before. For two more weeks, all I did was fighting him again and again. And each time, I would lose.

Each time, I would be humiliated by The Sneering Devil.
It pushed me to blind madness, to the point where all I had in mind was to kill him.

But it wasn’t all in vain—I knew from long ago that being weak is never meaningless.
I learned that to endure my father’s beatings, I had to stay silent and play dead.
I learned that to survive in the forest, I had to be merciless and hunt my prey.
I learned that to become the strongest in the world, I would have to abandon my humanity.
And right then and there, I learned that to surpass someone in equal strength, someone like me, I would need to surpass myself.

In other words—I have to hunt me, and use my own weaknesses.

“…?!”

For once, I stopped taking the initiative.
I didn’t launch myself at the enemy like a wild beast, but stayed in place, waiting for my prey to come at me.
And when it was too late for him to stop, using that moment of surprise, I thrust my sword into his chest.

“Kuhff! Ku ku, how surprising.” The devil smiled at the turn of events, coughing out blood. “Your sword style bases itself on taking the initiative to control the flow of battle. If anything to perturb that flow were to happen a weakness would appear. And then, well, it ends up like that. Seems like the mad dog has become a sly fox.”

“Shut your trap, and die already.”

“What now, not even a word of thanks?”

“I always saw you as my enemy. At the end, you’re just another name on my list of victims.”

“Ku ku ku! As expected of a Champion. No, you’re different from any ruthless Champion aren’t you? Tell me Kuu, how many people in the Overworld have you killed? How many lives from the common men did you take?”

“I don’t know. I don’t see the point in counting.”

“Then, have you ever killed a child?”

“…”

Noticing my wandering gaze, he sneered again.

“I heard of it, how you left the children that stood in your way harmless. And this, is what I am talking about. You are monster wearing the skin of a human, but you could never bear to harm even the most wicked of children. You wish to destroy the world, but even with your sufficient strength you’re looking for someone to do it in your stead. You want to revoke the law of the strong, but in both worlds, you’re the one making the most use of it.”

“Shut up.”

“Kuu Oonami. You are a walking contradiction—and ironically, that sole quality is what makes you human still. Egoist, delusional, hypocritical, and aware of it all.”

“Shut up!!!”

“And because of this, I knew that I couldn’t let a human like you go any further toward the capital. I knew I had to stop you from facing His Majesty as you were. And now, before you get back to your endeavors with my teachings, let me say a few words to you.”

“I don’t care! I’ll kill anyone that pisses me off, and I’ll kill anyone that stands in my way—just like you, Sneering!!”

“My my what an honor, ku ku.” He sneered, weakly. “But tell me, will you really find someone to destroy the world for you?”

“…”

“You’ve gone far enough, wake up from your madness.”

Sneering ordered so, and I obeyed without noticing it.
At that moment, I thought about what he had said.

‘Would I find someone?’
‘What would I do if no one wanted to?’
‘If I end up leaving an Underworld drenched in blood, would have any of my struggles been worth it?’

Awakened the insanity that possessed me, I realized how senseless I was acting.
The only world I wanted to destroy was the Overworld. Devils, were not my enemy at all.

“Kuu Oonami, you truly are naive. The ideals that you’ve entertained your entire life will inevitably lead all existence to end. But ultimately, I don’t care what you’ll do further ahead. If—kohl! If it can help fulfill our ambition, then I’d gladly sacrifice my life, and everything in both worlds.”

He grabbed my blade with his hands, and took it out of his body, letting himself die as his blood tainted the fields red.

“And when humankind falls… I’ll sneer at them from the grave…”

“…”

Those were his last words.
The Sneering Devil died with a smile, his eyes closed, and a mocking grin.
He was buried under a gravestone with his name written in stone.

“Sneering. For you to hate humans so much, did you live the same kind of life as me?”

I couldn’t help but ask myself the same question. He was the first person I encountered who shared my goal, the first person I could have learned more from—and he died of my sword.

“…I’ll do it, Sneering Devil.”

Taking his swords with me, I walked toward the capital.
There, I planned to demonstrate to the Underworld that the greatest warrior in both worlds has come, to ring the bells of war and conquest that had long gone silent.

The next person to see was the first devil who dared to invade the Overworld.
The one we call The Felled Devil—the one they call The Conquering Devil.