Chapter 810: Blessings

The first contract condition.

Stop the invasions until my challenge fails.

They accepted that condition.

Despite it being something connected to their own destruction, they agreed to that contract without much deliberation.

The reason was simple.

‘Because those bastards were convinced that my challenge would fail.’

If I did not postpone that challenge and continued running forward.

They were convinced that this contract would come to an end in the not-so-distant future.

Well...... it was quite damaging to my pride, but.

I would put that aside for now.

What that fact meant was simple.

‘The first condition I put forward...... was not a particularly significant matter to them.’

If I was going to fail soon anyway.

Stopping their invasions for a short while until then would be a trivial matter.

The reason they accepted that condition...... was because the price was absurdly cheap.

......And, naturally.

The price of the dish I had made.

There was no way Avaritia’s ransom could be that cheap.

“The challenge I will carry out from now on.”

What remained after paying the first price.

Most of that expensive price.......

“Until that challenge fails...... support me with your full strength.”

Was concentrated in the second price.

=......We are to support you?=

An enormous question filled the gazes looking down at me.

No matter that it was compensation for a transaction.

Their attitude made it clear that they found the idea deeply displeasing.

‘Well, that is understandable.’

It might have been different if we were on good terms.

But these were bastards who had just listened to me call them losers and all sorts of other things.

There was no way they could have good feelings toward me.

However.......

‘If we are talking about bad feelings, mine are worse.’

Those bastards were invaders who had tried to trample me.

If that had been all, it might still have been better.

Although we had been invaded, we had clearly defeated that invasion.

It might have felt unpleasant, but the damage had not been severe, so perhaps I could somehow have forgotten it and moved on.

The problem was.

‘The worlds they had already destroyed.’

Those worlds could never return.

Countless worlds that had committed no crime must have been destroyed by their hands.

When I thought about that, I could never forgive those bastards.

Even if not now, then someday in the distant future.

One way or another, I would make them pay for what they had done.

Even so.

“You must believe that my challenge will fail.”

Making them pay for those crimes was something for the distant future.

For now, in order to survive.

“But think about the possibility that I succeed. Even if it is only one in ten million.”

I needed their support.

“If, by even the slightest chance, my challenge succeeds.”

Those bastards were losers.

Those who had failed to overcome destruction and chosen another path.

However...... after seeing Avaritia’s memories, I knew.

“You will no longer need to invade other worlds either.”

At the time the Demon Realm was born.

Even though it had clearly been done by their own will.

‘Not a single demon welcomed its birth.’

They despised the birth of the Demon Realm.

Even though they were demons belonging to the Demon Realm.

Most of them regarded the world they belonged to with disgust.

That was why they refused to use the name Demon Realm and insisted on the name it had once possessed when it was great.

The Great Divine Alliance.

And.

“If something you believed was impossible is revealed to have never truly been impossible.”

The reason they had been forced to do such a thing.

Was because they believed it was impossible to overcome the destruction approaching them.

“If I succeed in discovering a way to overcome that impossibility.”

From the moment it was no longer impossible.

“You will be able to challenge it again.”

=.......=

“You will no longer have to do the things you consider hideous.”

The Demon Realm would stop invading.

Not because of the contract with me.......

But by their own will.

=.......=

What were they thinking after hearing my words?

The atmosphere within the gazes I could feel from the sky changed slightly.

The demons seemed to think about something for a long time.

What I could feel was...... disbelief and guilt.

Disbelief that such a thing could ever be possible.

And guilt over whether they, who had already given up and turned toward another path, had the right to challenge it again even if such an opportunity came.

And.

‘Expectation.’

Even though it was an impossible thing and they carried an enormous sense of guilt.

Now that even the faintest possibility had appeared.

They could not help imagining what it would be like if such a thing became reality.

=......One in ten million? Even that is far too generous.=

“Then think of it as a probability of one in an immeasurably vast number.”

What mattered was not whether that probability was one in a hundred million or one in a trillion.

The essential part was...... the ‘one’ attached after it.

“No matter how small and faint the probability may be, it is not 0.”

Then.

It was not impossible.

Even if it was infinitely close to impossible.......

Until I failed, it could not yet be called impossible.

“Not one of you sat upon those thrones because you wanted to.”

The thrones of enormous power created together with the birth of Hell.

Seven names derived from the concept of ‘evil.’

Even though they were positions that allowed their occupants to contain the immense power of yet another divine name.

The true nature of those thrones...... if anything, was closer to shackles or prisons.

The power of the Demon Realm that pushed back the approaching law of destruction.

Positions they had no choice but to occupy in order to keep that power functioning.

A restraint they could not escape even if they wanted to.

“I will free you from them.”

If there was a chance of escaping from those places.

No matter how small that chance might be.

“So support me with everything you have.”

......There was more than enough value.

In attempting it.

=......Everything we have.=

At my proposal.

The demons, who had deliberated for a long time, opened their mouths.

=That is.=

However, the answer that came from their mouths was.

How should I put it.......

=The price for the life of our brethren, Greed.=

=Even when considering the value of your cooking.......=

=It is...... slightly greater than an appropriate price.=

It was.

A slightly different answer from what I had expected.

‘......So it still will not work?’

That Great Divine Alliance, the Demon Realm, was an enormously vast world.

A dimension created not from a single world, but from the divinities of countless worlds gathered together.

I had mentioned the ‘full strength’ of such a world.

It was not enough for them to stop their invasions.

They would also have to fully support someone else while diminishing their own power.

Naturally, there was no way that could be easy.

It might even bring about the destruction of some among them.

Because I knew that as well, I had forced the first payment down to the cheapest price possible.

=......However.=

Even so.

I had not proposed this contract without anything to support it.

=That slightly excessive portion.=

The miracle I had caused, that dish.

It had become a definite portfolio proving my career.......

=We shall bear it through our own will.=

At that moment.

I once again felt a sensation as though my soul were burning.

[A contract has been established!]

The contract that had already been engraved into my soul.

One line was added to its contents.

[Obligations of Party B]

[While ‘Shin Youngjun’ continues his challenge against destruction, the ‘Demon Realm’ shall support him with all its power until the result of that challenge is definitively determined to be ‘failure.’]

And.

At that very moment.

FWAAAAASH!

“.......”

From the world beyond.

An enormous light poured down toward our land.

***

“S-Sergeant Shin.”

“This is.......”

Flustered voices leaked from the mouths of the soldiers looking at that light.

And understandably so.

This land where we lived.

That land had continued to grow desolate ever since the destruction.

As the land containing the fragments of the old god continued to be destroyed, the power of the System must also have been gradually consumed.

But now.

[The blessings of great divinities soak the land!]

The surface that had been destroyed by the battle with Avaritia.

The wounds of that world.......

“......Are regenerating.”

Were recovering at an incredible speed.

And that was not all.

=You are certainly arrogant.=

[The recognition of ‘Noble Honor’ envelops you.]

=Nevertheless, I acknowledge your honor.=

The one seated upon the throne of Pride.

That blessing enveloped my body.

=A fate that compels you to challenge something despite knowing you will fail. It is sorrowful and regrettable.=

[The rain of the ‘Merciful Heavens’ soaks your body!]

=For your mercy in seeking to save lives, I shall shed tears once more.=

The one seated upon the throne of Sorrow.

=You claim you will accomplish what even we could not?=

[The flames of ‘Blazing Passion’ remain at your side!]

=Whether it succeeds or fails, do as you wish. Even if you burn yourself away and disappear at the end of it.=

The one seated upon the throne of Envy.

=You dare provoke us!!!=

[The blessing of ‘Courage to Brave All’ remains with you!]

=If you intend to challenge it despite knowing that fear! Then try forcing your way through it!=

The one seated upon the throne of Wrath.

=It is regrettable that we cannot accompany you.=

[The unconditional affection of ‘Holy Love’ is directed toward you!]

=May the path you intend to walk become a beautiful journey.=

The one seated upon the throne of Lust.

=.......=

[‘Eternity’ wishes to watch over your endless journey!]

=.......=

And lastly, even the one seated upon the throne of Sloth.

‘This is.......’

At that moment.

I was able to notice the changes beginning to occur within me and this world.

‘Their blessings...... are entering my body.’

The countless divinities beyond the sky.

Those divinities were granting blessings to this land.

To the lives upon this land.

The destruction flowing into this land.

The possibility that we would be defeated by it...... was being reduced to an extreme degree.

And.

At that very moment.

-Ding.

[You have achieved an achievement!]

A message appeared before my eyes together with a familiar sound.

Even though quite some time had passed since the battle with Avaritia had ended.

Only now had the System message appeared.

[You have successfully protected the world from the invading beings of another world!]

[An invasion that countless worlds failed to overcome and were defeated by.]

[Furthermore, without the help of any transcendent whatsoever, you succeeded in overcoming the invasion through mortals alone.]

[This is an extremely rare achievement even across the entire universe!]

[A reward will be granted for the great achievement.]

The reason was simple.

[The scheduled reward has been canceled.]

[A pantheon wishes to support you.]

The barrier between worlds was thick.

It was not easy for them to pass something across that barrier.

Therefore.

[A special reward will be granted to you, who has obtained the support of Hell.]

Through the [System].

They intended to send that support.

And.

As I looked at those words, I thought.

The first payment.

When I told them to stop invading other worlds.

They entered the contract because they believed I would fail.

To them, the first payment must have been absurdly cheap.

It was something that would fail soon anyway.

It would not have been difficult to stop their invasions until then.

However.

‘My position is different.’

I would succeed no matter what.

Even if difficult enemies continued to appear.

I would advance without ever being defeated.

Even if countless trials and an immense amount of time passed, and even if I endured innumerable hardships.

In the end, I would overcome it.

If so.

‘They said demons were famous as swindlers.’

At that time.

That first payment would become far more expensive than they had expected.

And since they had also paid the excess portion of the second payment through their own will.

[The achievement reward has been upgraded to a new type of reward!]

I could be certain without even borrowing the power of foresight.

This contract.

‘They should experience being swindled too.’

Was a contract.

From which my side would gain an overwhelming advantage.