Chapter 180

Rea​d o​n ​KatRe​a​dingC​a​f​e​

Crack. 

The sound of something breaking echoed.

Fragments of skin scattered like dust.

Pieces of skin, cracked like shattered glass, crumbled away.

Belial glanced indifferently at the scattering flesh.

He brushed his broken cheek with his palm.

As if it had never happened, the cracks disappeared.

The collapse of the body.

A phenomenon Belial had been experiencing for the past five years.

His soul was shattered, causing his power to leak.

The leaking power eroded his body.

As a result, his vessel was wearing away moment by moment.

When a Devil God inhabits a human body, it becomes a Devil.

While the other Devil Gods who crossed into this world had completed their transformation into Devils, Belial remained a Devil God.

The damage to his soul.

Uncontrolled power destroyed his body.

His body would break before he could complete his transformation into a Devil.

The human body would necrotize before it could ascend into a divine vessel.

Thus, Belial had to continuously transfer his soul to new bodies.

Since he had not completed his transformation into a Devil, there were also restrictions on the use of his power.

Every time his body deteriorated, Belial would close his eyes and recall that day.

The moment he first descended into this world.

And the moment he faced that human.

The moment his soul was shattered.

“I am Jin, captain of the 7th Division.”

Eyes that showed no sign of weakening, even as he was dying.

Forcing his broken arm to move, he pointed his sword.

He calmly spoke, filled with surging emotions.

“Even at the cost of my life, I will carve a scar into you that will never fade.”

And so it happened.

He left a scar on Belial that would never fade.

In the core of Belial’s soul and spirit, the most essential parts of his being, the wound left by that man remained.

Belial pressed his index finger to his chest. He had changed bodies several times, so there were no scars on this vessel. Yet, he felt a throbbing pain. It wasn’t an illusion. This pain was the scream of his soul. The scream of a wound that had never healed.

The difference in power was clear.

Belial was stronger than that man.

Though weakened after inhabiting a human body, he still surpassed the pinnacle of humanity. The outcome of the battle had been decided before it even began. 

Yet, the captain of the 7th Division stood against Belial. In the final moment, sacrificing his own life, he severed both Belial’s body and soul.

“How laughable.”

Jin let out a faint laugh.

Even as he collapsed, having exhausted all his strength.

The smile on his lips never faded.

“Are you afraid of me?”

It was never something the defeated should say to the victor.

Belial was the one standing.

Jin was the one lying cold on the ground.

Yet, why couldn’t Belial refute those words?

“I am afraid.”

The answer he couldn’t give that day.

Belial finally spoke it now.

“I am afraid of you, Jin.”

Ridiculously, just as Jin had said, it was truly laughable.

The victor feared the defeated.

Torn to shreds, blood splattering.

His abdomen split open, spilling his entrails.

With a chilling gaze, he charged forward.

Even as he was winning.

Even as he clearly held the advantage.

Belial still trembled with fear.

That day.

That moment.

For the first time in his life, Belial felt the fear of death.

He genuinely thought he might die at the hands of this human.

It wasn’t just his soul that was severed.

Belial’s spirit was also cut down.

Even the beliefs he had held were shattered.

By a mere human.

By a mere mortal.

The eternal Devil God felt fear.

Astaroth looks down on humans.

She considers them insects, insignificant and trivial.

Agares is wary of humans.

But that wariness is limited to the chosen few.

Murmur has no interest in humans.

Just as no one pays attention to a pebble on the road.

And Belial.

The Devil God who could not become a Devil.

“Marvelous.”

He never disregards humans.

Outwardly, he denounces them as mortals.

Yet, deep down, he acknowledges their potential.

“Humans are weak, useless mayflies.”

But within them lies infinite potential.

There is a possibility that a second Jin, a third Jin, could emerge.

For that reason alone, Belial holds humans in high regard.

And he truly longs for the emergence of a new Jin.

“Ah, I want to fight again.”

It is an eternal regret that he could not retrieve that man’s body.

At the time, he hadn’t even thought of it.

Even if his soul had departed, if only he had the body, he could have revived him somehow.

“I want to face you again.”

This time, without the penalties of that day.

With a complete body, at full strength.

I want to fight the human who dared to touch a Devil God.

“…I heard a new captain of the 7th Division has been appointed.”

Kaen. The one who succeeded Jin as the captain of the 7th Division.

He had thought of seeking her out, but it always remained just a thought.

Because his body was not complete.

Belial’s vessel was always corroding and wearing away.

In this state, he couldn’t even muster half his strength, let alone his full power.

If she was a worthy successor to Jin’s position.

Then he wanted to face her in a complete state, free of any restrictions.

And so, time passed as he waited for an uncertain future.

Belial’s consciousness, which had been wandering through memories, returned to the present.

His gaze turned downward. A rough stone altar. On it lay a sleeping girl. Her golden hair cascaded down the altar. The girl was handed over as part of the contract with Astaroth. In other words, she was Belial’s new vessel.

“It seems I will meet you soon. Jin’s successor.”

I hope you do not disappoint me.

Prove that you are worthy of filling Jin’s place.

I do not wish to kill something insignificant.

◈

The Family Subjugation War had begun.

As the operation commenced, the Celestial Corps moved in secrecy.

Everyone moved to their positions.

To fulfill their assigned tasks.

They became cogs in a machine, creating a massive flow.

Countless cogs interlocked and turned.

Drawing closer to the goal of eradicating the Family.

“…Haah.”

Eugene let out a deep sigh.

The operation was underway, but Eugene had nothing to do.

He had thought Karma brought him here because he had some role to play.

But all Eugene was doing was waiting in the rear.

Karma had said:

“Your role is to provide support.” Karma had said.

“If a request comes in, you’ll move out immediately.”

But Eugene couldn’t help but question that.

If that’s all there is to it, why was I even brought here?

Wasn’t there some reason the captain of the 4th Division personally brought me along?

While the other Celestial Corps members were busily moving around and doing something, Eugene was just sitting in a chair, spacing out.

He fidgeted nervously, shaking his leg. He was worried that the Family Subjugation War might end without him doing anything. Well, if no support requests came in, it would mean the operation was proceeding smoothly, so that should be a good thing… but still.

He might be able to save Lucia. It wasn’t certain whether Lucia was even with the Family, but clinging to the possibility of “maybe”, Eugene had followed Karma. 

He didn’t want to remain powerless any longer, so he had even refused Angelica’s advice and stayed with the 4th Division. But all he was doing now was waiting…

Eugene let out another sigh.

He leaned his sword against his shoulder and slightly hunched his back.

Closing his eyes, he tried to control the heat slowly seeping out.

Being anxious wouldn’t solve anything.

Eugene decided to focus on what he could do right now.

He kept his body tense, ready to move at any moment.

‘…What did she mean by that?’

He recalled a few days ago. The captain of the 5th Division, Azazel, had stormed into the 4th Division barracks. Her words echoed in his mind.

‘She called her… her sister, right?’

The perpetrator who had abducted Lucia.

The woman was wearing the same fox mask as Astaroth.

Presumably, a monster under Astaroth’s command.

Azazel had referred to her as her sister.

She had asked, almost accusingly, why her sister had become a monster.

‘The captain of the 5th Division’s younger sister?’

That woman?

Azazel’s sister?

No way.

That woman was undoubtedly a monster.

The distinct aura of a monster made it clear.

Monsters couldn’t disguise themselves as humans. Supernaturals—no, even non-supernaturals—would instinctively realize it the moment they saw one. 

The alien energy of a monster. It wasn’t something that could be hidden. It was a sensation that pierced the soul.

That’s why, at first, they had mistaken the Devils for supernaturals.

Because they couldn’t sense any monster-like aura from them.

It wasn’t until they revealed their true nature, controlling monsters and interfering with space-time rifts, that it became clear they weren’t human.

‘At first, I couldn’t sense any monster aura from her, but later, it became unmistakable.’

No matter how many times he thought about it, she was a monster.

She wasn’t human—she was a monster.

An enemy of humanity. An invader from another world.

‘But if what the captain of the 5th Division said is true…’

If it wasn’t Azazel’s delusion, and she really was her sister…

‘Does that mean… a human became a monster?’

Is that even possible?

Of course, there are similar cases.

Parasitic monsters infiltrating a human body.

A human corpse becoming corrupted and turning into a revenant.

In such cases, humans could transform into something resembling a monster.

‘If we assume that Astaroth’s subordinate really is the captain of the 5th Division’s sister, and that she became a monster for some reason…’

Then the reason Astaroth abducted Lucia…

“…”

A heat haze rose from Eugene’s body.

The sound of his teeth grinding echoed eerily.

He immediately dismissed the thought, but there was no logical reason for his denial.

It was just a desperate hope that it was all a baseless delusion.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Eugene has reached the right answer.

But don’t worry.

Humans won’t become monsters.

They will become something more than a monster.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
That thought process cost him all his brain cells.

Pay some respects to Eugene.