Chapter 340

R̂éâd́ ̀öǹ ̀Ḱât́R̈ẽäd́ĩn̈ĝ​C̀àf̂​ê​

“…A futile end.”

Due to the acceleration of time, not even a corpse remained intact.

A handful of flesh and lingering bloodstains corroded and vanished. A piece of the Devil God. It was a rather pathetic end for a Devil God who had reigned for thousands of years. 

Murmur clicked her tongue and shook her head.

Excessive greed harms oneself. In the end, Astaroth brought about her own demise. Moreover, it was a result she chose voluntarily, even after being given a chance, so she couldn’t even complain about injustice.

“Still, out of a shred of affection, I’ll pray for your soul.”

Humans believe that when they die, their souls go to the afterlife. What about us? 

For a Devil God, death is the annihilation of the soul. Can we go to the world after death if our souls are annihilated? 

Murmur pondered for a moment but soon decided it was a pointless worry. 

‘If the day comes, we’ll find out. Unless that day is today, what’s the point of worrying now?’

“A monster that is the husk of the old Chosen One, a traitor, and even the current Chosen One… You’ve eliminated all future threats. The captains are troublesome, but not to the extent that they can hinder our great cause. 

What is this? In fact, the war is over. Is it time to put an end to this long-standing feud? Agares, let’s go back. If you interfere too much with the mortal realm, your confinement time will increase. That much our great cause will be postponed… 

What’s wrong?”

Murmur stared at Agares, who remained silent. She couldn’t see what expression she was making behind the Blue Rakshasa mask. But Murmur felt like she knew a little. He probably had a face as cold as the mask. Until now, there have been conflicts between Devil Gods, but this was the first time they had directly murdered a fellow being. Even Agares must have been somewhat shocked.

“…There’s no need to poke the hornet’s nest.”

“What?”

“Cornering someone only invites disaster.”

“?”

There are still remaining threats.

Astaroth’s body.

More precisely, the vessel she used before stealing the chosen one’s body.

Astaroth couldn’t have devoured everything about the chosen one. Even if she planned meticulously, established laws, and paid the price, it was impossible with Astaroth’s power alone. 

He could say it definitively. Even if they hadn’t awakened, the fact that they were the Chosen One didn’t change. Even Agares couldn’t steal the Chosen One’s body with everything she sacrificed.

‘If you can’t take it, exchange it. She must have obtained the chosen one’s body in exchange for giving up her own.’

In other words, there was a high probability that the chosen one’s soul was in Astaroth’s previous body. Supernatural abilities are based on mental strength. The important thing is not the body but the mind. If the mind is intact, the ability is also fine.

However, the mind is bound to be affected by the body.

The mind changes depending on the state of the body.

Even the Devil Gods were unconsciously affected by the body.

Even the ‘Chosen One’ is still a human who has not undergone incarnation.

It was unclear what changes would occur due to the changed body.

‘Astaroth stole and used the Chosen One’s abilities, so there must have been considerable errors in the mechanism of the abilities.’

Supernatural abilities are the manifestation of mental strength.

A problem with supernatural abilities means a problem with the mind.

If they were lucky, they would adapt to the Devil God’s vessel and be elevated to a higher level.

But, to put it differently, if they were unlucky…

‘When designing the future, you must always consider the worst, not the best. Eliminating the chosen one now would be a way to cut off future troubles, but…’

Too much greed is sometimes poison.

Cause and effect are still fixed.

If they were about to lose all the cards in their hand, the Four Seasons would no longer stand idly by.

The descent of the Four Seasons.

That was the one thing they had to avoid.

“The goal has been achieved. Staying in the mortal realm any longer would only distort the timeline.”

He could feel it even at this moment.

The shackles that tightened every moment.

A feeling as if invisible chains were suppressing his whole body.

The misaligned time axis had confined Agares to the outside of the world.

There wasn’t much left.

The ticking of the clock of time that would soon return to normal.

They were getting messed up and broken.

Creak. Squeak. Creeeaaak.

The gears of time were not meshing and began to protrude.

It was the karma of tampering with time, the price of reversing time, and the curse of the gods as a result.

As Astaroth said, it was like kicking away the moment of liberation that was not far away.

Agares couldn’t calculate how much longer he would have to be confined.

‘But it was worth it.’

The Commander of the Celestial Corps.

The God of War.

His strength is unmatched.

The golden light that hasn’t faded even though its prime has long passed.

The Honored One.

Truly, the king of humans.

Astaroth, who had obtained the body of the chosen one, was also a formidable enemy. He defeated her easily, but that was because Astaroth had been exhausted from the battle with the God of War. If the Chosen One’s supernatural abilities had been intact, Agares would not have won so easily.

Using barbarians to control barbarians.

The best victory is to capture an enemy with an enemy without any losses.

Now, with the two powerful enemies exhausted from fighting, it was the only opportunity to obtain the maximum results with minimal damage.

‘It’s okay to be cowardly. It’s okay to be servile. It’s okay to be despicable. It’s okay to be petty. It’s okay to be base. I will definitely win by using everything given to me.’

The Four Seasons.

Humans.

Invaders.

He would drive them out and reclaim paradise.

It had been an eternity for that one thing alone…

“I’m returning. I will confine myself again.”

Misaligned clock hands.

Twisted gears.

Until the day the time axis is aligned.

“Okay. I’ll connect the space, so go ahead. I remembered something I need to do, so I’ll start with that… Huh?”

Murmur tilted her head as she raised her hand to activate her power. A tingling sensation stimulated her skin. It was a familiar energy. That’s why questions arose. A familiar name flowed out through her slightly parted lips.

“Belial?”

He was definitely sealed in Lucia’s body, right?

Why do I feel his energy so intensely?

Dumbfounded, Murmur snapped her fingers as an idea suddenly came to mind.

“Ah, is that so? It would be strange if Belial couldn’t steal a human body even if his core was broken. Someone must have been suppressing Belial all along. The only one who could do that was that monster… Now that that monster is gone, there’s no way to stop Belial…”

Murmur’s complexion, which had been slightly brightened, soon darkened again.

Unlike Astaroth, Belial was a diligent fellow.

He did his best in his duties and didn’t spare himself for the great cause.

But after entering Lucia’s body, he acted as if something was missing…

By now, he should have returned to normal, right? He wouldn’t be swayed by Lucia’s body, would he? 

If he’s still acting arbitrarily like Astaroth, it’ll be really troublesome. Astaroth alone is enough of a troublemaker… Ah, that guy just died. So what is it? Is it the law of conservation of troublemakers? When one troublemaker disappears, the next one appears?

No, I haven’t confirmed Belial’s condition yet. No matter how strong Lucia’s ego is, enough time has passed for Belial to take firm control. Or he might have left Lucia’s body altogether and nested in another vessel.

The presence approached in an instant.

A girl landed in the ruined cemetery.

Lustrous hair, as if weaving threads with sunlight, fluttered in the wind.

Her eyes, like blooming cherry blossoms, were dimly sunken and felt eerie.

Murmur frowned.

It didn’t seem like she had transferred to another body.

Then all that was left was to hope that she had come to her senses.

“Murmur.”

The girl stared at the child in the White Cloud mask.

With a low word, Murmur let out a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, she didn’t seem to be swayed by Lucia’s ego like before.

“Agares.”

“…”

“You’ve made a mess. Can you clean it up? If the Four Seasons catch your tail, all your efforts will be in vain.”

“The Four Seasons cannot easily intervene. If they could, they would have done so already.”

“That’s true too. Neglecting it while rampaging like this means there must be a reason.”

The girl looked around.

She squinted her eyes as if looking for something, then frowned.

“Where did Astaroth go? I definitely felt her presence. The Commander of the Celestial Corps must have been there too?”

“Isn’t it a sufficient answer that they’re not here?”

“…Did you seal them?”

“Why do you think so?”

“That man is strong. He is definitely the strongest supernatural at this point. No matter how strong you are, you couldn’t have been safe if you fought him. It’s a reasonable guess that you trapped him in a trap and sealed him. Isn’t it?”

“That’s right. He’s strong. He’s a warrior who fought our king. If he weren’t strong, it would be an insult to our king. I seized the opportunity and sealed him. I confined him to the gap in the dimension, so even that man won’t have a way to deal with it.”

“Then Astaroth is…”

“Are you worried? About Astaroth?”

“That’s…”

“Or are you worried about Astaroth’s ‘body’?”

“…What?”

“Your acting is clumsy. If you were going to deceive me, you should have been more thorough.”

“…”

At Agares’ words, the girl bit her lip.

Murmur, who couldn’t keep up with the situation, looked back and forth between Agares and the girl.

Clumsy acting? What does that mean? Is she not Belial? But this energy is definitely Belial’s. You can imitate the appearance, but you can’t imitate the power of the Devil God. She is Belial, but…?

“It’s the first time we’ve met like this. The needle of causality.”

“Could you not call me by that title~? It’s incredibly unpleasant. Lucia points are deducted by 100 points~”

“Then would you prefer to be called this?”

The Blessed Saintess.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
(Omitted)

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
At least say something this time you brat!!!

Anyway, ignoring the author being noob, Lucia makes her late debut after sweet talking a young ‘girl’ in love~ How cruel~ 

Crush her heart as punishment!