Chapter 75. Kin, Radiation (1)
Kin?
Michael remembered that Marbas hadn't kept any kin in the past.
As kin who had to receive their master's Authority, there weren't many demons capable of enduring Marbas's diseases.
And yet he's managed to create five of them now?
Michael didn't know how Marbas had done it, but any demon capable of withstanding those diseases would be an exceptional individual, even among high-ranking demons. Mikhail was one such example.
Furthermore, there were five kin in total. Including this one, that meant three more still remained after Mikhail's death.
He feels even more disgusting than Mikhail.
Unlike Mikhail, who had been prepared specifically for Michael, the demon called Radiation possessed something filthy in addition to Marbas's Authority.
It was something Michael knew nothing about.
Hiss. Hoooh. Hiss. Hoooh.
Perhaps trying to suppress his excitement, Radiation released muffled breaths. Rather than a human breathing, it sounded like air being blown into and sucked out of an empty pipe.
"Toad. You don't have to hold back any longer. Eat."
Radiation, who was sitting on the toad's middle head, spoke in a deep voice and lightly patted its damp skin.
Pat, pat!
"Croak, croak."
A wet sound came from the contact, and the toad's enormous body turned halfway around to face the direction it had come from.
The toad's horizontal pupils, which provided an exceptionally wide field of vision, spotted the fleeing monkeys.
Normally, horizontal pupils were best suited to helping prey animals detect and avoid predators. But in the toad's case, they served the opposite purpose.
SLURP! SLURP! SLURP!
All three heads opened their mouths wide and shot out their slippery tongues.
Each tongue caught a demon.
The monkeys twisted and struggled as they were pulled toward the toad and forced into its three mouths.
"Kreek! KREEEK!!"
One of the monkeys, wearing a desperate expression inside the toad's mouth, stretched out its arm in an attempt to survive.
CHOMP!
Its wish went unfulfilled as the toad's mouth closed.
Crunch! Crunch! Gulp.
The monkey's exposed arm dangled for a moment before being violently sucked inside.
The force of the movement caused the arm to burst, spraying blood in every direction.
"What a disgustingly greedy eater."
Michael frowned as he watched the toad swallow its prey.
Its eating habits were enough to turn anyone's stomach.
"Greedy? I'd say it has a healthy appetite."
Radiation affectionately stroked the top of the toad's head.
"Croak, croak!"
The toad made a pleased sound and began looking for its next meal.
"Ah, that's right. You two should eat as well."
Remembering something he had forgotten, Radiation issued another order.
You two? Now that I think about it, there's something else deeper in the forest.
Michael could sense the presence of creatures other than the toad.
"KREEEEEEEK!!"
The frightened screams of monkeys rang out from within the forest.
CRRRRUNCH!
First came the sound of monkey bones being broken.
Crunch, crunch!
Then strange creatures emerged, chewing on the monkeys' flesh.
"..."
Living up to its appearance as a forest of death, the area quickly became silent.
Since the monkeys' screams could no longer be heard, they had either hidden themselves or all been eaten.
"Cluck, cluck, cluck."
"MEEEEH!"
Two creatures appeared, breaking through the trees. One was a chicken with four legs, while the other was a goat that crawled like a mollusk.
The goat in particular moved by wriggling its entire body. It resembled an octopus with four legs.
They're quite large too.
Whatever these two monsters had been eating, they had grown to an enormous size. Their bodies were as massive as two- or three-story houses.
There's another one underground.
Michael's senses detected movement beneath the ground.
Including the toad Radiation was riding, it was practically a festival of strange creatures.
Crunch, crunch!
Each creature had a monkey dangling from its mouth and continued enjoying its meal as though Michael wasn't even there.
"What is this, an animal farm?"
"A farm? Well, you're not entirely wrong."
No sooner had Radiation finished speaking than the still-hungry goat extended one of its tentacle-like legs and thrust it toward Michael.
WHOOOOSH!
The thick leg cut through the wind, rushing toward Michael with enough force to crush him.
"I forgot to warn you. I let them roam freely, you see. They're not very good at telling right from wrong. Hiss. Hoooh! Hiss. Hoooh!"
Radiation's voice grew slightly more excited as the goat attacked on its own.
It was the typical nature of a demon eager to see blood.
However, Radiation's wish wasn't fulfilled.
SLASH!
"MEEEEEEEEH!!!!!"
"Hm?"
Radiation's attention immediately shifted toward the goat when it let out a sudden cry of pain.
Thud! Twitch, twitch.
The goat's soft, wriggling leg that had been rushing toward Michael had been cut in half.
Whooooosh.
A sound like air escaping came from the severed leg before it rapidly dried up and shriveled away.
It can regenerate too?
Instead, the wound where the goat's leg had been cut off was slowly closing.
Radiation clicked his tongue as he looked at the shriveled leg.
"...Cell, you useless bastard."
"What?"
Hearing Radiation suddenly criticize Cell, Michael instinctively questioned him.
Radiation answered in a voice that had become unusually low.
"I'm talking about Cell, the one you killed. Even if he was only sent to provide the opening act, you're far too unharmed, aren't you?"
Feeling someone's gaze, Michael raised his head.
Radiation had already turned toward him and was leaning forward from his seat on the toad.
The first thing Michael saw was a mask that completely covered Radiation's face and resembled the head of a fly.
What made it unusual were the two glass-covered eyeholes and the cylindrical container attached over his mouth and nose. The cylinder had numerous small holes and appeared to serve as a breathing device.
Hiss. Hoooh! Hiss. Hoooh!
When their eyes met, a muffled breathing sound came from Radiation's cylindrical filter.
Is that what they call a gas mask?
Michael had asked Jungon about gas masks after watching the video he had shown him earlier.
He clearly remembered being told that they could protect someone from poisonous gases, diseases, and germs.
His clothes are just as bizarre as those monsters.
Michael's gaze moved from the gas mask to Radiation's outer garment.
He wore a black, cone-shaped cloth outfit that resembled a circus tent, as though its purpose was to shield him from the outside world.
"Haa. I should have known better from the moment someone so mediocre became one of the kin. What an idiot."
Noticing Michael's gaze, Radiation let out a sigh.
"This is why creatures with no proper background are hopeless. And that bastard Infection had to bring in such a worthless piece of trash..."
He seemed to have a great deal of dissatisfaction toward Mikhail.
The more Radiation insulted him, the stronger Michael's desire to kill the demon became. However, something else Radiation had said caught his attention.
"...You said Infection brought someone in?"
Radiation had casually mentioned something Michael couldn't simply ignore.
"Hm? Have your ears been contaminated too? I tell you something, and you still can't understand it. I'm talking about Cell. Cell."
There was no doubt. Michael hadn't misheard him.
"Ah, now that I think about it, I heard Infection came from the same place as Mikhail. What was it? Some kind of knight order?"
Judging by Radiation's words, Infection was a former member of the Twelve Knight Orders who had turned Mikhail into a demon.
Michael barely managed to steady his trembling hands.
Now wasn't the time to let his anger consume him.
He needed to calmly gather information and understand exactly what had happened.
"The Twelve Knight Orders."
Michael carefully mentioned the name of the orders.
He wanted to help Radiation remember it so their conversation would continue smoothly.
"Ah, right! That was the name. You really are connected to them, aren't you? It's strange enough that Lord Marbas is paying so much attention to you."
This demon knew absolutely nothing about Michael.
Most kin of Great Demons were high-ranking demons who had lived for a very long time.
In that case, they would probably have heard about Michael at some point. But Radiation apparently hadn't.
In other words, he must have become one of Marbas's kin fairly recently.
Although it looks like Marbas only started creating kin recently anyway.
Otherwise, he wouldn't be wasting them so carelessly as disposable pieces.
Of course, Michael could simply blame it on the fact that they were demons. There was no need to think too deeply about it.
Right now, he was more interested in Infection.
Who the hell is he?
Other than the fact that he was clearly a traitor from the Twelve Knight Orders, Michael had no information about him and couldn't even begin to guess his identity.
Since Radiation seemed inexperienced and rather loose-lipped, Michael decided to question him a little further.
"To become one of Marbas's kin, you'd have to endure his diseases... So how did this Infection fellow..."
"Ah, that's right! Exactly! That's why I can say that I'm the greatest of the five kin."
Just as Michael had expected, Radiation interrupted him and began talking at length, apparently having a great deal he wanted to say.
"I'm a demon who entered a radioactive environment and came back alive, after all."
Radioactivity?
It was a term that hadn't existed during the time Michael had been active.
"Even Lord Marbas is still researching this field. I'm probably the only one who can control it properly."
Filled with pride, Radiation raised his chin and assumed an arrogant posture.
A disease that Marbas is still researching...
Michael was once again reminded of how much had changed during the 250 years he had been absent.
If even Marbas, who governed all diseases, was still studying radioactivity, it had to be an extremely difficult condition to control.
The mere fact that Radiation could wield it might make him one of Marbas's most promising subordinates.
"Once this job is finished, my demonic energy will increase by at least twice as much. And if I raid a nuclear power plant and continue growing stronger..."
Just as Michael was beginning to revise his opinion of Radiation upward, the demon let out a sinister laugh.
"I'll challenge the authority of a Great Demon through a ranking battle."
A crease appeared between Michael's smooth eyebrows.
The moment Radiation uttered those foolish words, Michael completely revised his previous assessment of him.
He's just a delusional lunatic with nothing but flowers growing in his head.
It wasn't completely unheard of for a high-ranking demon to become a Great Demon.
However, Radiation's basic level of demonic energy was still nowhere near that of a Great Demon.
A high-ranking demon who lacked even the necessary experience was merely a lucky demon chasing an unrealistic dream.
"And once I take the position of a Great Demon, I'll start by turning Lord Marbas into something like my children."
A strange light appeared in Radiation's eyes as he revealed his intense ambition.
He was so utterly disloyal that it was difficult to believe he was one of Marbas's kin.
Well, he is a demon.
In a society where betraying one another was perfectly normal, this was exactly what one should expect of demons.
That was why Michael could state one thing with certainty.
"That's why Marbas threw you away, you idiot."
The best thing to do with a dog that was always preparing to bite its master was to abandon it.
It was even better if the dog could be reused as a disposable pawn first.
"Hm?"
Radiation tilted his head, still unable to understand his own situation.
He didn't realize that he had been discarded the moment Marbas sent him to face Michael.
"I'm saying that a bunch of small fry who aren't even Marbas himself can do nothing but fly into the flames like moths."
"What? Have you lost your mind, you bastard?!"
Michael had already heard all the information he needed. Radiation was no longer of any value to him.
If he kept listening, all he would get from this idiot would be more worthless nonsense.
STAB!
Michael drove Durandal into the ground first.
Through Durandal, he continuously sent aura deep beneath the earth.
Once it reached his intended location, he concentrated the aura and created a small candle flame.
It was a technique that had once caught even Hagenti off guard. By detonating the concentrated aura, Michael could maximize its destructive power.
"harmonía [Harmonia]."
No sooner had Michael finished speaking than the heat of Harmony, perceptible only to demons, surged upward from beneath the ground and tore through the earth.
FWOOOOOSH! BOOOOM!!
The heat broke through the ground and rose as a towering pillar of white fire.
Although it consumed a large amount of aura, nothing could detect the attack until the small candle flame reached its target.
The modified Harmonia had made its appearance once again.
"Goby!"
"Guuurk! Guuurk!"
Along with the pillar of fire, an enormous goby, just as large as the other strange creatures, leaped out of the ground.
FWOOOOOSH!!!
The goby, whose mouth was positioned around where a human's chin would be, was thoroughly roasted by Harmonia.
The creature gave off the smell of a burning sewer. Its round eyes had lost their focus, and its once-slippery scales were beginning to crumble into ash.
THUD!
Now resembling a roasted fish, the goby flopped around for a short while before finally dying and turning to ash.
"This bastard's just as damn noisy as the monkeys."
Michael retrieved Durandal and raised the sword once again.
Point!
Standing atop the toad's middle head, Radiation found Durandal pointed directly at him. Michael glared at him fiercely.
Through the glass lenses of the gas mask, Michael could see the panic in Radiation's eyes.
"If you want to keep chattering, come down here and do it, you moth."
