Chapter 191

R̂èàd̃​ ̀ôn̈ ̀K̀àt́R̈ëäd̈ĩ​ǹ​ĝĈâf̃è

‘Much trickier than I expected.’

Shivering from the cold that seeped into her bones, Murmur thought to herself.

Even though she was bending space to protect herself, the cold still penetrated the distorted space. 

Moreover, it was so precise that it targeted only Murmur, concentrating the surrounding cold into a single point. Murmur had to shake her body to ward off the freezing sensation.

Ice particles and iron sand were scattered widely in the air.

They remained fixed in place, unaffected by the aftermath of the battle.

They served as jamming devices, disrupting Murmur’s coordinate calculations.

Of course, this wasn’t a major constraint for the child in the white cloud mask. 

However, it was undeniably annoying. It only interfered with her spatial manipulation for less than a second, but in a battle against a captain-level supernatural, even a second couldn’t be taken lightly.

‘They immediately countered my ability, and their coordination was seamless… ugh, it’s really irritating.’

Individually, they were no match for Murmur.

In terms of sheer power, a Devil far surpassed a captain.

But battles aren’t decided by strength alone.

Experience and skill honed through real combat.

The teamwork of master and disciple, perfectly in sync.

These factors narrowed the gap in power, hindering Murmur.

‘That white-haired woman is a captain candidate, right? So there are more than just seven of these powerful individuals.’

She could see why Agares had told her to eliminate them when the opportunity arose.

If there were several such powerful individuals, they could pose a significant obstacle to their plans.

‘If Agares could act directly, they wouldn’t be much of a threat…’

But for now, he was confined to his chamber.

Until the distorted timeline was corrected, Agares couldn’t interfere with the outside world.

Even if he could, it would only be for a very short time.

“Why so slow, little one? Has your movement become sluggish?”

Snowflakes fluttered.

Tiny ice particles fell like the first snow of winter.

Summer retreated, and winter arrived.

Clink! 

Chains of ice spread like spider webs. Chains of stone layered over them. Countless statues covered the ruins. 

Statues carved from ice and formed from gray stone surrounded Murmur. 

Golems. 

Their appearances varied, but their functions were similar. They closed in on Murmur, their shoulders heavy—not metaphorically, but literally. 

Gravity pressed down on Murmur.

‘Rather than trying to overpower me, they’re planning to wear me down over time.’

For such a strategy, the white-haired woman seemed impatient, but it wasn’t a bad plan. 

Murmur nodded a couple of times. 

‘Alright, I’ve roughly figured out their tactics and abilities. There’s no point in observing further, so let’s get serious now.’

Murmur touched the edge of her mask. 

Crack.

A part of the mask crumbled. The mask of a Devil was a tool to conceal their presence, a divine artifact that shielded them from the gaze of the four seasons. 

In the process, it also slightly suppressed the Devil’s power. Murmur felt her body grow lighter as she twisted her wrist.

“Let’s finish this quickly. I’m getting bored.”

Murmur spoke bluntly. She meant it. 

Unlike Astaroth or Belial, she didn’t enjoy fighting. If she dragged this out, more captains would arrive, right? 

Running away wasn’t a problem, but defeating them was a different story. 

If even one more captain-level supernatural joined the fray, things would go beyond just being ‘annoying.’

Her small, white hand grasped the air. 

Screech. 

As she pulled with all her might, the space distorted with an unnatural noise. The field of vision warped. Angelica’s expression turned icy. Gravity itself was being twisted.

“Angelica.”

“…I know.”

Isabella, sensing the change in Murmur’s demeanor, called out quietly. Until now, it had been little more than a warm-up. 

The real fight was about to begin. 

Angelica was growing impatient. Worried about her students fighting Ereshkigal, her movements became reckless. Isabella understood her feelings, but this was no time to be swayed by emotions.

Surprisingly, the kids were holding their own against the woman.

This fact surprised Isabella. The woman was far beyond what children could handle. A monster on par with, or perhaps even surpassing, a captain.

Yet, they were holding on.

Barely, but they were doing their part.

For some reason, the woman in the red fox mask was holding back. 

Seeing this, Isabella changed her mind about evacuating the children first. 

She didn’t know why, but this was undoubtedly an opportunity.

If Ereshkigal joined Murmur, the two of them wouldn’t be able to handle it.

Even if she was worried, she had to focus on the enemy in front of her.

Their role was to keep the Devil occupied until other captains arrived.

Still, she stationed some of the golems near the children.

If things got truly dangerous, the golems would autonomously assist the kids.

Since she wasn’t controlling them directly, their performance was significantly reduced.

But they could buy the children enough time to escape.

“…Huh?”

Gravity, after all, was also a form of spatial manipulation.

By crushing the space itself, she neutralized the gravity manipulation.

As the heavy pressure disappeared, Murmur, who had been wearing a satisfied expression, suddenly felt her hair stand on end.

“What’s this?”

The child in the white cloud mask turned her gaze to one side. She knew it was dangerous to take her eyes off the battle, but she reflexively turned her head. 

She saw the boy with jet-black hair. The boy holding a crimson sword. Lucia’s friend. 

The weakling fighting Astaroth’s subordinate. The boy she hadn’t paid much attention to now caused a small ripple in Murmur’s heart.

“…Divinity?”

It wasn’t strange for a supernatural to exude divinity.

After all, supernatural abilities were blessings bestowed upon humans by the gods of the four seasons.

Every supernatural had a latent divinity, though the degree varied.

“But this is too much…”

It’s almost like the four seasons.

Even ‘those close to gods’ aren’t like this.

Not even captains had such dense divinity.

Murmur’s mind was thrown into chaos.

She paused her offensive and accelerated her cognitive abilities.

She stretched a single second into a long moment. The world slowed down. As a result, Murmur also slowed down.

But her accelerated thought process still functioned properly within the slowed time.

Awakened ones, often called ‘those close to gods’, gain divine authority.

Those who take a step further, often referred to as ‘captain-level’, acquire divine majesty.

But divinity is separate.

Divinity not bestowed by the four seasons, but awakened by oneself.

Even if one gains divine authority and divine majesty, one cannot attain divine holiness.

To possess all three is not just to be close to a god.

Without reaching godhood, it’s impossible…

‘No way.’

Murmur’s pupils dilated in shock.

As her composure shattered, her accelerated thoughts became disordered.

The slowed time returned to its original pace.

But Murmur couldn’t move an inch.

She was doing her best just to process the thoughts flooding her mind.

“Haa… Astaroth you idiot, you knew didn’t you?”

Found you.

The Chosen One.

◈

“Lucia…?”

His Adam’s apple trembled.

The voice that escaped his lips felt unfamiliar.

The grip on the Scarlet Blade loosened.

Thud. 

The tip of the sword dug into the ground.

“What… are you saying?”

Even as he asked, Eugene already had an idea.

A few days ago. The words of Azazel, the captain of the 5th Division, echoed in his mind. 

‘Why is my sister a monster?’ she had said. She had glared at Eugene and shouted in anger. 

Azazel had called the woman in the red fox mask, who had kidnapped Lucia, her sister. She had insisted she wasn’t a monster, but a human.

But the culprit was undoubtedly a monster.

Not a misunderstanding or a mistake, but a confirmed monster.

If Azazel’s words were true.

It meant a human had become a monster.

Which meant the reason they kidnapped Lucia was…

“Lu… Lu-Lucia…”

At Alice’s tearful voice, Eugene snapped back to reality.

It was a purely reflexive action.

He grabbed Alice’s arm as she tried to run forward.

Her tear-filled eyes looked up at him.

Her trembling lips looked ready to burst into tears at any moment.

“Ehehe, what’s wrong? Didn’t you miss me?”

‘Lucia’ spread her arms wide. As if inviting them to run into her embrace. But Eugene didn’t move. 

His grip on Alice’s arm tightened. His ‘Danger Sense’ was ringing violently. It warned him that the girl in front of him was extremely dangerous.

“Le-let me go… Lucia… she’s right there…”

Her speech, which had improved, reverted to its old stutter.

Alice shouted in a voice that kept breaking.

It was the voice of someone desperately holding back tears.

That’s how Eugene realized.

She already knew too.

Because these were far from tears of joy.

Her expression, denying reality, said it all.

“Hey, Belial. What’s with the act? It doesn’t suit you.”

A small child’s figure appeared like a mirage in the air.

The child in the white cloud mask spoke annoyed beside ‘Lucia’.

Her attitude was as if she were talking to an old friend.

“It’s not an act, silly.”

‘Lucia’ smiled faintly in response to Murmur’s question.

“This ‘vessel’ has too strong a sense of self. I can’t help but act like this. Don’t worry. It’ll be fine soon.”

“Really? Well, Lucia did have a strong will.”

Murmur nodded as if convinced.

Then she pointed at Eugene with her finger.

“You noticed too, right?”

“Yeah, with that much divinity radiating from him, it’s impossible not to notice.”

“He hasn’t gone through the process of incarnation yet. It’s an incomplete awakening.”

“True. If he had truly awakened, it wouldn’t be just this much.”

‘Lucia’—no, the Devil, Belial—smiled slyly. 

A whirlwind of emotions churned in her chest. They weren’t hers. They were all emotions belonging to Lucia, the girl. 

Originally, they should have been absorbed by Belial and disappeared, but Lucia’s sense of self was beyond imagination. 

It seemed impossible to absorb her in just a day or two, so she decided to end the process here. Time would take care of the rest.

“Eugene. Eu’gene’…”

“What are you thinking? Provoking him will only accelerate his awakening. We should retreat for now…”

Murmur didn’t finish her sentence. Belial’s gentle hand stroked her head. 

Instantly, a shiver ran down her spine, and her body trembled. Had this guy finally lost it?

Belial suppressed the flood of Lucia’s memories. They weren’t useful right now. What mattered was the boy in front of her. 

The Chosen One named Eugene.

“You look alike. Yeah, you really do.”

To the former captain of the 7th Division.

She wasn’t talking about appearances.

What Belial found amusing was the name.

“…”

Belial slowly looked around. She took in Isabella, who was frowning, Angelica, who looked distraught, Alice, who was crying, and finally, the Chosen One. A faint heat haze rose. A scorching wave of heat swept away the biting cold.

“You…”

“Didn’t you hear? How dull, Murmur. I already told you.”

Her golden hair swayed. As if annoyed, Belial swept her hair back with both hands. Tying her hair above the nape of her neck, she spoke.

“I said I wanted to test this new ‘vessel’.”

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Belial likes the new vessel.

Though, if possible, don’t read the memories.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Fun fact: The Korean name for Eugene, 유진 is pronounced like Yu (or Yoo) and Jin.

The latter part sounds like the name of the former 7th division captain, which is why Belial said that. (The man’s name in Lucia’s memories also started with a Yu/Yoo.)

And no, I’m too lazy to go back to every chapter and change it to Yujin, it’s Eugene now for the sake of my laziness, smh.