Chapter 263. Revelation (3)
Lucifer’s placenta was destroyed.
We severed the umbilical cord-like structures supplying it with energy and burned every last piece of flesh inside.
Bael and Ha Mina tried to stop us, but they were blocked by powerful fighters like Kang Yujin and Merlin.
Christina was eventually subdued as well and could do nothing.
“Is it over?”
“Yeah. The ending was surprisingly uneventful.”
I gave Kang Yujin a bitter smile as I answered.
Even after learning my true identity, Kang Yujin had said he would continue trusting me just as before.
I was happy about that.
At the same time...
I felt awkward.
“Kang Yujin.”
“What?”
“No. Nothing.”
I had no idea how I was supposed to treat him now.
Until recently, Kang Yujin had been the awkward one because he didn’t know how to treat me.
Now our positions had completely reversed.
“Princess Longji, why are you drooling?”
“When did I ever drool, Lee Gyu?”
“Then why are you wiping your mouth with your sleeve?”
“You should worry about wiping off your blood.”
"..."
Feeling Princess Longji’s gaze on me, I scratched my head.
Kang Yujin wasn’t the only problem.
Now that my identity had been exposed, I would also have to think about how I should interact with the other Constellations.
Our relationships would inevitably be redefined.
“Bael...”
At that moment, Christina spoke.
She was completely restrained by Merlin’s magic.
“What you prepared has completely failed.”
“It seems so.”
“Then...”
Christina’s eyes were still burning fiercely.
“I can do it now, right?”
“That was our agreement.”
“No helping it.”
“Do as you wish.”
Hearing that ominous exchange, I immediately raised my voice.
“Lee Gyu!”
“Got it!”
Lee Gyu raised his axe...
and cut off Christina’s head.
I wasn’t exactly comfortable ordering the execution of a teenage girl.
But this was an emergency.
We didn’t have a choice.
“Merlin, what’s the situation?”
“This entire area is saturated with spiritual energy.”
“If we hadn’t killed Christina, she might have absorbed it.”
Merlin looked around as he spoke.
“Our only option is to completely destroy this place and let the spiritual energy disperse.”
“It’ll take quite a while, though.”
“Is there no faster way?”
“If we had some kind of ‘vessel’ capable of absorbing and storing spiritual energy, then yes.”
“The Holy Grail, for example.”
“Or one of the Vessels.”
“Then there’s no choice.”
We couldn’t use the Holy Grail or a Vessel.
If something went wrong, it could create an even bigger disaster.
“Kang Yujin, be careful.”
“I know.”
Kang Yujin’s body was currently protected by Merlin’s magic and Princess Longji’s Mist-Dew Universe Net.
There was still a possibility that Ha Mina could try to control him the same way she had controlled Saionji Keito and Alexandros.
“Nameless King, the safest option would be to get outside and completely blow away this entire area.”
“So first...”
Merlin was still speaking when...
“Everyone, look at that!”
Alexei shouted.
Countless tentacles had erupted from the ground...
and pierced Christina’s severed head.
The same was happening to her torso lying a short distance away.
“Damn it...!”
We tried to completely destroy Christina’s body.
But...
we were already too late.
“What the hell?!”
Jason jumped in surprise when a massive explosion suddenly erupted near the base of the tree.
“What happened?”
The part of the tree above ground had already been completely destroyed by Heracles, Nezha, Arjuna, and the others.
Sylvia, who had fought surprisingly well against the Constellations, was also on the verge of death.
Jason had assumed that all that remained was for the Nameless King and Kang Yujin to finish things underground.
So what had gone wrong?
“What is... gah!”
The explosion grew even larger.
Eventually...
it swallowed even the gigantic tree above ground.
“What the hell is happening?!”
Achilles frowned as he protected the others with his shield.
“Nezha, what’s going on?”
“Damn it...!”
Nezha threw aside the blade in his hand and shouted.
“So we failed after all!”
“What?”
“Can’t you feel this ominous presence?!”
Nezha raised a hand and pointed.
“Look!”
“Lucifer has been resurrected!”
"...!"
Everyone looked upward in shock.
Within the flames...
a young girl was slowly rising into the air.
“Actually, it didn’t matter if it was a corpse.”
A woman’s voice rang out.
Ha Mina walked out from the flames.
“We could have used Alexandros’s corpse after he died earlier.”
“Even if all of you had completely burned Christina’s body to ash, there were still other methods.”
“If necessary, we could have used Kang Yujin instead.”
“Ha Mina...!”
“The reason we spent so long arguing with all of you...”
“was simply because we needed time to decide which method would be best.”
Ha Mina smiled calmly.
“In the end...”
“it was impossible for you to stop his resurrection.”
“You witch...!”
Arjuna shouted and fired an arrow.
But Bael appeared behind Ha Mina and blocked it.
“Do not make such a disturbance.”
“His Majesty has returned.”
“His Majesty?”
“Yes.”
“The true Demon King.”
“The one destined to rule this world...”
“His Majesty Lucifer.”
The roots that had once covered the entire area had already withered.
The gigantic tree before them was the same.
All the energy it had absorbed throughout Pandemonium...
had gathered in a single place.
Toward the girl floating majestically within the flames.
“Is that really... Lucifer?”
Jason swallowed dryly.
He knew little about this kind of thing.
But even he could sense it.
The being before them possessed an incredibly high ‘rank.’
“This has become troublesome.”
Even Heracles was watching with a tense expression.
“His Majesty Lucifer’s flesh and spirit have been completed!”
“And now his soul has descended as well!”
“His Majesty Lucifer has truly been resurrected!”
Bael spread his arms and raised his voice.
Then he knelt toward the silent girl floating in the air.
“Your Majesty.”
“Do you recognize me?”
The demon who had served as No. 1 of the Seventy-Two Demons and led Pandemonium after Lucifer’s death...
bowed his head with the utmost respect.
“I am Bael.”
“Your right hand.”
"..."
“After Your Majesty’s death... Pandemonium completely lost its way.”
Bael lowered his head even farther.
“We demons, descendants of Heaven and warriors of the celestial realm, lost our pride.”
“Even in barren Hell, we lived with honor.”
“But after obtaining this comfortable human world... we changed.”
"..."
“At last, I realized something.”
“We are beings who must struggle.”
Bael raised his head and stretched out both hands.
“O Lucifer!”
“What was it that made us who we were?”
“We were rebels who rose against Heaven!”
“Though we were defeated and cast into Hell, we never lost our pride.”
“Long ago, Moloch argued that we should fight Heaven again.”
“Belial said we should cultivate Hell and build a new life there.”
“Their opinions differed.”
“But they shared one truth.”
“They both understood that struggling against hardship was what made us great.”
"..."
“But Pandemonium after Your Majesty’s death did not.”
“We became intoxicated by this comfortable human world.”
“We settled for reality and lost our pride.”
“Where is greatness in any of that?”
“In that sense... this place was worse than Hell.”
Bael slammed his forehead against the ground again.
“So let us turn this world into Hell.”
“Let us create a harsh world for demons and humans alike.”
“A land where everyone must struggle with everything they have...”
“and where only those truly worthy of honor can survive.”
─ He’s completely insane!
