Chapter 352

Ｒҽ​ɑ​ｄ ​оｎ Κаţ​ṚеɑｄίɴｇϹ​а​ｆε

“Tsk, what a mess. A complete mess.”

Amethyst-like hair fluttered in the wind.

Despite being quite a distance away, the scorching heat grazed her skin.

The girl, with her eyes half-open and flames flickering within, clicked her tongue.

Crackling. 

An ominous sound came from the rabbit doll clutched in her arms. It was burning up, unable to withstand the murderous heat. The girl frowned, flicking away the embers. Her cherished doll, which she had meticulously cared for, now bore unsightly marks.

Dolls are so fragile.

A little force is all it takes to burst their insides (cotton fluff) and kill them.

That’s why I was so careful with it…

The girl’s eyes narrowed further in annoyance.

A petite frame.

Pouting cheeks.

An adorable doll in her arms.

She looked like she had just graduated from elementary school.

She seemed far too harmless to be at the site of a spatial rift.

But if anyone saw her, they wouldn’t tell her to evacuate or run away.

After all, the girl was one of humanity’s apex beings.

The most needed person in a situation like this.

“Haa, that Kallad guy. If he’s the one who summoned all the division captains, shouldn’t he be the first one to arrive out of courtesy? How am I the first captain to arrive? Seriously, everyone’s slacking off. Slower than even me, who’s lazy. At this rate, I might have to give up the title of the Lazy Pinnacle, right?”

Captain of the 5th Division.

The Lazy Pinnacle.

Azazel.

Her black coat, barely touching the ground, hung on her shoulders, making her look like a mischievous child imitating an adult. 

She glanced around with a nonchalant expression. Left and right. Hell was unfolding in different directions. 

The only saving grace was that the two hells hadn’t met. One alone was a disaster, but if they had unfolded simultaneously in the same place, it would have been a real headache.

“No, wait. Wouldn’t it have been easier to minimize the damage and resolve it if they were all in one place?”

The problem was that she wasn’t confident in taking them on at the same time.

It would be more advantageous to take them down one by one.

“No matter how I look at it, both are demonic beasts, right?”

It was a hell of fire. The earth was burning. The city was melting in the literal sense. The terrifying heat equally consumed everything. Ashes piled up, resembling a heap of corpses. 

She already felt like her lungs were burning. Azazel fanned herself with her hand, trying to cool down, and turned her gaze to the other side.

It was a hell of death. It was as if the word ‘death’ had taken shape. If the other side was burning and melting, this side was rotting and decaying. The city was rotting. The direction was different, but it was a magnificent hell. 

It was transforming into an environment where people could no longer live. Azazel shuddered at the eerie chill. Hot and cold. Couldn’t it just be one or the other?

Two demonic beasts had descended.

The world had become truly harsh.

The embodiment of death. A demonic beast that had already been witnessed and registered in the Celestial Corps’ database.

But that destructive fire giant was a newly emerged demonic beast.

Once a demonic beast descended, there was a period of several decades before the next descent. It had only been five years since the 6th demonic beast, Medusa, was defeated, and already two demonic beasts had appeared. 

What was happening to the world? 

Moreover, there was the threat of a Devil God, a threat greater than a demonic beast. Azazel let out a deep sigh, unbecoming of her appearance.

“In this situation, the Commander is sealed… is what you’re saying?”

Kallad was spouting some truly ridiculous nonsense.

The Commander of the Celestial Corps…

The invincible God of War was sealed.

Azazel realized today for the first time that Kallad was capable of joking. She laughed it off lightly, telling him not to be ridiculous, but the answer she received was indifferent. 

The gathering of all captains. Only then did Azazel realize it wasn’t a joke. No, Kallad would never make such a joke in the first place. 

In fact, she had known it from the beginning. It was just too unbelievable, so she had reflexively denied it.

“The Commander is sealed, and two demonic beasts are rampaging… What is this? Great Catastrophe Season 2? And on this day of all days?”

Such a disaster struck on the day of commemorating the victims of the Great Catastrophe. Even the heavens were heartless. But thinking about it, the gods had always been indifferent. There was nothing particularly new about it.

Azazel took out a white stick from her pocket. She took out a lighter and lit the end of the stick. She blew out a breath, and white smoke billowed out. It was a smoking candy that Karma had given her as a gift. 

When she received this as a birthday present, she had thrown a fit, asking if he was treating her like a child, but it was surprisingly addictive. It was frustrating for some reason.

“Which side should I intervene in first…”

The fire giant, despite its overwhelming firepower, was surprisingly causing little damage. Someone was holding the giant back. They were binding the giant with plants, hindering its movements. A strange light flickered in Azazel’s black eyes. She had never seen a Supernatural with such abilities. 

Strictly speaking, there were Supernaturals with similar abilities, but she had never heard of a Supernatural who could use them on such a scale. Anyone could tell they were captain-level. Who could it be? Did they have such a promising talent?

“It’s similar to the Devil God’s abilities that I read in the report… uh, could it be.”

There was no way a demonic beast would fight a Devil God. They were on the same side, right? Maybe they had an internal conflict? Even if they did, would they fight in human territory? Unless they were desperate to be defeated.

“If someone is holding back the giant… then it should be okay to prioritize that side, right? It seems like there won’t be any problems for the time being.”

Azazel’s gaze slid. In fact, all along. She couldn’t stand being concerned about that place. If it weren’t for the fire giant, she would have jumped in without hesitation. She couldn’t have been mistaken. The swordswoman from that time was definitely there. The woman who called herself Ereshkigal.

“Riel…”

What on earth had happened?

What had she gone through during her disappearance?

Azazel hadn’t stopped thinking about it for days and nights.

From the day she lost sight of her in front of her eyes until today.

Why was that child, who couldn’t even catch a bug, holding such a hideous sword?

Why had her eyes become so cold, and why had the lips that always held a smile hardened?

Why? Why?

“Wait for me, Riel.”

Azazel was lazy.

It wasn’t for nothing that her title was the Lazy Pinnacle.

It was both praise for her reaching the pinnacle and contempt for her.

It was envy and ridicule towards Azazel, who was always negligent despite having such power.

She didn’t care.

Let them laugh if they wanted.

She wouldn’t even bother with such petty jealousy.

What was the point of living diligently? Those kinds of guys died early. No thanks. Sacrificing herself for someone she didn’t even know. Just because she was a captain didn’t mean she was the strongest. Just because she was at the pinnacle didn’t mean she was invincible. Captains were still human. They died.

Unwanted abilities. Unwanted talents. Unwanted missions. She had taken them on because she had no choice, but it was literally because she had no choice. 

Lazily. Negligently. Idly. Comfortably. Wearily. For herself. That was how she had decided to live. As the Lazy Pinnacle.

“Your sister is coming!”

But she couldn’t be the Lazy Pinnacle right now.

If there was a moment when she would abandon her laziness.

It was when she kicked the back of that bastard with the slit eyes.

And when she was looking out for her one and only precious family.

“I won’t let you go this time. I’ll definitely save you…!”

According to the Commander, Devil Gods could possess human bodies.

If Devil Gods could do it, then demonic beasts might be able to as well.

If that was the case. If that was really the case.

Then what was moving the body of that child over there right now.

Was a monster that she wouldn’t even feel sorry for chewing to bits.

“Ability, release.”

Her black coat began to flutter.

Pure white haze swirled around her.

The rabbit doll trembled.

Its head was crushed, unable to withstand the immense pressure.

Azazel stabbed her index finger into the half-crushed doll.

Then, a faint light flowed from the doll’s eyes, and it began to twitch and shake.

Up, down, left, right. Like a living creature. The doll rolled its pupils around.

“Come here.”

No sooner had she finished speaking than the doll kicked off from Azazel’s arms and jumped up. It landed on its fluffy legs and looked around. The rabbit doll’s head tilted up. The doll looked at Azazel and pointed its finger at her.

「●▲○■▲★○☆★★◀◀▶!」

“What? I can’t hear you.”

「★○○○☆☆◇□○■○◀◀▶!」

“Yeah, I can’t hear you.”

The doll flailed its arms around and then hung its head low.

Azazel frowned and said.

“You think I’m crazy enough to give you my body from the start? Who are you? Who summoned you this time?”

「◎◇◎!」

“I can’t hear you. Dolls don’t have mouths.”

This was always a hassle whenever she used her ability.

Not knowing who would be summoned.

【Divine Descent (降神)】

Azazel’s Supernatural Ability.

The ability to summon and possess a ‘God’ (神).

Who would be summoned was a gamble every time she used the ability.

In normal cases, it was the soul of a Supernatural so outstanding that they were called a god, but sometimes bizarre things would be summoned. Since she didn’t know what kind of being would come, Azazel was always extremely careful. There were cases where they tried to take over her body after being summoned. That was why she always judged the summoned soul by first possessing it in a medium.

‘The aura of the soul… thankfully, it’s clean. Very clean. It seems like it’s not an evil spirit or a monster this time.’

At least it wasn’t a dud.

Whether it was a jackpot or not remained to be seen.

All the souls summoned by Divine Descent were one of a kind, but naturally, there were differences.

Even if it was a good soul, if it was weak, it was a zero.

She would have no choice but to try Divine Descent again.

“Who are you? Write your name on the ground.”

The doll nodded and squatted down on the ground.

With a body that had no bones or muscles, it scribbled letters on the ground.

“…This is quite an old script.”

Due to the nature of the ability, ancient figures sometimes came. For those times, Azazel studied ancient languages… not really, but she became somewhat proficient through repeated possession. This was because some of the memories of the possessed were etched into her mind.

Azazel frowned and carefully examined the letters. Fortunately, it wasn’t too ancient. The characters from that era looked like earthworms dancing. This was at most a few hundred years ago. It wasn’t too difficult to read. Azazel read the letters written on the ground one by one.

“Mi, cha, el?”

Nod nod.

“Is that your name?”

Nod nod nod.

“Hmph, Michael, huh? I’ve heard that name somewhere before. That, the one who was active before the United Nations were founded…”

Nod nod nod nod.

“There’s no way. I heard that Michael was the strongest swordsman of his time. You don’t seem that strong.”

Shake shake shake shake shake.

“Oh, no? You’re saying you are that Michael.”

Nod nod nod nod nod.

“For someone like that, your soul’s aura is weak? Don’t lie, tell me your real name…”

[That must be because my soul is fragmented.]

“Heeh?!”

Did it speak?

The rabbit doll?!

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
As I used Lucia’s self harm as a story, I had an idea.

How would self-harm actually feel?

What if I had blood covering my wrist?

How would it feel for my blood to flow through my wrist and soak the floor?

Lucia liked it.

But what if you actually did it?

But I only thought of it and never tried.

If you have a wound, it would be hard to recover.

If I had been a regenerator?

It would’ve been easy.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Self harm is fun, though not very sustainable.

No? Well, I did it a lot! And it’s comforting!

Oh yeah, noob idiot got summoned, how rare.