NOVEL NEXT At the deep deep depths of the sea, a semi-transparent pillar was standing.
It is the Water Mother Monster, Strobi Laguna.
Created by the Water God Coacervate, it is a giant gelatin-property mass that possesses the function of infinitely giving birth to water element monsters.
The main body that is as if it were a giant pillar had several thousands of semi-transparent plates piled up. The plate that is at the very top was isolated from the rest, and by leaving itself to the sea current, it flows here and there, and in the time it is doing that, it steadily changes shape into a marine creature and becomes a water element monster.
The length of this Mother Monster is -as common of a Mother Monster- classified as one of the biggest in the world, but by hiding inside the very depths of the sea that is far bigger than it, humans have not caught sight of it for the hundred years since it was born.
After finishing its release of water element monster larvas to a certain extent, only the jellyfish-shaped core of the pillar remains, then, it itself will flow with the sea current and move to a different location for spawning.
This process has continued for a hundred years without humans knowing; the Mother of Disastrous Floods.
But it was about to reach its end.
The Strobi Laguna, that only has the function of division, gave birth to an egg.
That egg shone faintly like a pear as it drifted about in the sea current, and it soon hatched. What came out from inside the egg…had the shape of a human.
The surface of his body was transparent like that of a sea creature, but it still was a human-like body that had all extremities.
Its eyes held intelligence.
Transparent wings that looked like the fins of a fish spread from its back.
On the other hand, the main body of the Strobi Laguna steadily withered even when in the sea, and in the end, its body dissolved and disappeared.
The ultimate water element monster that was given birth with the sacrifice of its mother.
Water Demon Lord, Gabriel.
Was born at this moment.
***
At the Earth capital, Ishtar Blaze, there’s still the remains of what was once called ‘Great Pillar-sama’.
Normally, monsters that die would disappear without leaving a corpse, but no one suspected anything about this exception.
It must have stemmed from how out of standard Grandma Wood was.
The upper part that was swallowed by the gravity of the black hole has already disappeared. Only the lower part, that was left there at that time in order to save the people that were assimilated by it, had been removed from the attack range. Right now, there’s only a stump left and still remains in the center of Ishtar Blaze.
Below that stump, at the underground part that is buried in earth, there’s a round-shaped tuberous root surrounded by the roots that are freely running all the way down as if trying to protect it.
It had an irregular spherical shape, making it look like it was molded by hand.
But the size was that of a human.
That tuberous root began to crack as if giving birth, and from inside, a human appeared.
It looked like an old person with wrinkles all over its skin, but that wasn’t the case.
It was a human-shaped being that had all its body made of tree bark.
When that ‘human’ crept out of the earth, branches came out from his back, and leaves grew abundantly from it.
The silhouette of those branches that grew thickly from both sides were like wings.
The ultimate earth element monster that was birthed by the Earth Mother Monster that was supposed to have died.
Earth Demon Lord, Uriel.
After he flew away, the stump of the giant tree, that was thought to remain there forever, had dried at incredible speed, returned to the earth, and disappeared.
In the next morning, the people of Ishtar Blaze were surprised by its sudden disappearance.
***
Each Mother Monster was at a faraway place, but as if their wills had converged, they all gave birth to Demon Lords with their lives in exchange.
Whether this was a coincidence, a natural course of events, or maybe a twist of fate; no one knew.
The Demon Lords that had been born used their divine power to fly and were heading to a certain location. And that location was the same for all the Demon Lords.
The place where the Demon Lord Gabriel and the Demon Lord Uriel landed at was a place among the mountains that was far apart from human habitat.
At that place, there was someone in the middle of its meal.
“…So you have already come. What an impatient bunch.”
Even so, the man continued eating.
What he was eating was the corpse of a bird. Piercing the neck of the bird with his teeth, he crunches it off.
The corpse of the bird was covered in flames and was burning red. It looked like it would get someone severely burned just by touching it, and yet, he continued eating as if normal.
Grabbing hold of his Mother, Phoenix, he chews it up completely.
The one having a meal was the very ultimate fire element monster that the Fire Mother Monster, Phoenix, had given birth to.
Fire Demon Lord, Michael.
In order to give birth to him, his mother had given all of its life force.
And its body was being eaten by the Fire Demon Lord.
In time, the Demon Lord Michael had finished eating all including the bones and stands up. From his back, there were burning crimson fire wings just like those of his mother.
“Is this all of us?” (Michael)
Michael looks at Gabriel and Uriel who had gathered below him.
“…Looks like there’s one more.” (Michael)
“Yeah, it is me.”
The fourth voice that could be heard with no figure in sight.
It was the voice of the Wind Demon Lord Raphael.
“Different from you guys who were born peacefully, I ended up meeting a powerful enemy right in the moment I was born, you see. Practically all of my body was destroyed.” (Raphael)
Changing each and every single cell that composes his body into insects, breaking them up, and combining them after, the Demon Lord Raphael is able to appear again.
Because of this ability, Haine and Shiva cooperated to imprison him without letting a single one of his cells escape, and erased him completely.
However, Raphael’s move for survival had already been made before all of that happened.
When the light bullet shot by the combination of Karen and Hyue connected, the head of Raphael had been blown to pieces and meat scattered about, and with his ability, it all turned to insects and returned to his body to safely regenerate.
However, at that time, there were several small insects that didn’t actually return.
Due to how weak his enemies were, he was certain of his victory, so he didn’t think there was any need to hurry and return, and a few of them were left loitering around.
Before they all returned, Haine had arrived, and the main body of Raphael was destroyed.
Raphael lost because of underestimating them, yet ironically, he survived due to underestimating them.
“It was a terrifying enemy. He was using a power that didn’t fall into any of the categories earth, fire, wind, water, and light. He will definitely become the biggest obstacle in creating our desired monster paradise.” (Raphael)
The voice of the bodiless Raphael.
Right now, the several small flies are his very being, and due to them being so small, it was impossible to catch them with the naked eye.
“Stop with the lame excuses. What an unsightly fellow you are.” (Uriel)
“Right. Losing against a mere human, looks like the Wind Demon Lord was quite the failure. If trash like this was born in exchange of its own life, the Wind Mother was probably not that big of a deal either.” (Gabriel)
The tone of Uriel and Gabriel towards Raphael was filled with contempt.
Even if they are fellow Demon Lords, fellow monsters, they were seeds that were born from completely different creators.
The only thing that is binding them is their prejudice towards humans.
The four of them had the same objective of eradicating humans and bringing up their own race into supremacy. However, the other three aside from themselves were enemies that are fighting for that spot. They are by no means allies.
And yet, what is the reason of them gathering in one place like this?
“We are comrades.” (Michael)
Shaking its fire wings, the Fire Demon Lord Michael spoke.
“You all must have seen it too. You must have seen it the moment your own mother reached understanding; the moment the thing called self-consciousness was gained. That being’s shining figure.” (Michael)
Uriel and Gabriel fall silent.
Raphael may be bodiless right now, but it could be felt that he had fallen silent as well.
“That Being said: ‘We are the ones who should become the next rulers of this surface world. Destroy the foolish and greedy humans. In order to grasp this world in your hands, you should work together’. If you are going to go against that Being, I will kill you.” (Michael)
Michael’s fist was pushed out.
“…I understand. I don’t have any intentions of going against that Being.” (Uriel)
“We were born for that sake after all. Let’s all get along.” (Gabriel)
“In order to challenge that man again, I need the help of you guys.” (Raphael)
The fist that Michael pushed out was met with two other fists, and in the end, one small fly had landed on top of them.
“”””All for the sake of eradicating humans.””””
Earth, water, fire, and wind; the heart of these four Demon Lords overlapped.
“First, let’s gather strength. We have barely hatched out, so our strength is lacking. Our body is still not completed yet. Especially Raphael. Until you regain your body, you won’t be able to do anything flashy.” (Michael)
Just as Michael said, the Demon Lords that had just been born have taken the appearance of humans and their appearance was that of children.
Their height was small and their face was childish. Just like the Raphael before he was defeated by Kuromiya Haine.
In other words, they will grow from now on.
“We will hide and wait for time to pass. In time, it will begin. Let’s wait until the prelude of destruction. At that time, that Being will most likely descend as well. That Being that has only allowed us to hear its voice, will definitely let us see its figure once everything is over.” (Michael)
“Right.” (Uriel)
“I am looking forward to it.” (Gabriel)
“Before then, I will make sure to vindicate my honor.” (Raphael)
The one who gathered all four Demon Lords and guided them.
“…The Demon Lord among Demon Lords; the Great Demon Lord, Lucifer-sama.” (Michael)