Chapter 183

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‘Indeed, this is a vessel worthy of Astaroth’s confidence.’

Belial let out a short sigh of admiration.

His gaze fell on the girl lying on the stone altar.

Her wavy golden hair covered her face.

She appeared to be in a deep sleep, but occasionally frowned and tossed in discomfort.

The girl he had received as part of the deal with Astaroth.

A vessel he had obtained in exchange for even offering his own spare vessel.

Belial truly believed he had made the right choice.

This girl was a far superior vessel compared to the one he had given to Astaroth.

‘No, it’s not just about that vessel.’

Out of all the humans he had inhabited, this was the most optimal vessel.

Humans capable of containing a Devil God were rare. 

Of course, how could a human possibly withstand a god? Those who could were exceptional, as it was originally an almost impossible feat. 

Even those capable humans could have their vessels shattered if handled carelessly. One had to proceed cautiously, very slowly, to contain the essence of a Devil God.

That’s why, five years ago, he couldn’t fully exert his power.

He had barely managed to inhabit a human body, so recklessly unleashing his full strength would have shattered the vessel.

In the end, he had to reveal his true self to the point of breaking the vessel, and even then, his soul had been severed.

‘But with this vessel…’

It could withstand his full power.

An ordinary human was like a well.

A special human was like a river.

And this girl was the whole ocean.

A natural vessel capable of fully containing a Devil God, no maybe even more.

‘The process of nurturing the vessel over time is unnecessary.’

This was truly the perfect vessel Belial had been searching for all this time.

Belial placed his hand on Lucia’s head and frowned slightly. Having a perfect vessel was a good thing. But where there were advantages, there were also disadvantages. 

Her mental strength was extraordinary, befitting such a powerful vessel. Well, that’s what made her such an exceptional vessel. An outstanding vessel was proof of an outstanding human.

‘Even without consciousness, she instinctively rejects me. She’s resisting.’

She was pushing back against Belial’s soul trying to inhabit her.

The girl’s instincts were fiercely resisting Belial’s intrusion.

This was a phenomenon he experienced every time he transferred vessels, but this time, it was incomparable.

“Hey, Belial.”

As Belial’s gaze lingered on Lucia, someone called out to him from behind. It was the voice of a child. The speaker approached with small steps, speaking in a bored tone.

“There’s chaos outside.”

“What do you mean?”

“The humans are attacking.”

“I see.”

Belial’s dry response made Murmur shrug. She hadn’t expected much, but shouldn’t he be at least a little surprised? 

All their efforts could go down the drain. If that happened, Agares would be furious. Murmur frowned as she recalled the quiet anger of the noble prince.

“We’ve moved everything important, so we can abandon this place now. But you, the so-called boss of the Family, what are you doing here while the Family is being slaughtered…”

Murmur trailed off.

The altar and the girl lying on it like a sacrifice.

That alone was more than enough to understand the situation.

The familiar girl was there.

Murmur let out a dry laugh.

“It’s her again. She’s really pitifully entangled with us. First, she gets beaten to a pulp, and now she’s losing her body…”

It was pitiful, but that was as far as her sympathy went. 

It wasn’t Murmur’s problem to worry about. She just had a slight headache thinking about facing Belial, who would now have Lucia’s face.

“Alright, I was planning to just leave because it’s annoying, but… it’d be troublesome if your concentration is disturbed, right? I’ll help a little.”

“Thank you.”

Before Belial’s gratitude could even reach her, Murmur had already disappeared from the spot. 

Warp. 

A power only Murmur, who ruled over the concept of space among the Devils, could wield.

“…Lucia, was it?”

Belial calmly spoke the girl’s name.

Belial, who never looked down on or belittled humans, spoke with sincerity.

“I will make your body, your everything, my nourishment.”

In return.

You will become a part of me.

I will become you, and you will become me.

Together, we will become the ‘complete Devil, Belial’.

A faint light emanated from the hand covering Lucia’s head. Lucia’s consciousness sank into the subconscious. 

Deeper and deeper. 

She fell toward the farthest edges of her memories, places even she wasn’t aware of. As a result, the resistance that had been rejecting Belial noticeably weakened. 

The human resistance that had been pushing back against the Devil God’s intrusion lost its strength and faltered.

The girl found herself reflecting on her life amidst the flood of memories.

Her past, her journey, the life she had lived.

She would relive and experience it all once more, marking the end of her life as a human.

That was the final mercy Belial would show her.

He could have peeked into her memories if he wanted, but Belial chose not to.

There were far more pressing matters to attend to, so he had no intention of being distracted.

Crack, crack.

Belial’s body began to crack.

His face, neck, chest, arms, legs…

Cracks appeared all over his body.

The collapse of the vessel.

Until now, he had deliberately held it back.

He had done everything to prevent the vessel from breaking.

But now, he let go of that effort.

No, he even accelerated the collapse.

Pieces of his body turned to dust and scattered. They became smoke and dispersed. Belial’s expression remained unchanged. He stared straight ahead with deeply sunken eyes. 

Eventually, the cracks reached their limit. The collapse peaked.

Crash. 

Belial’s body shattered into pieces. Not even fragments remained, only a thick cloud of smoke that exploded outward before settling into silence.

A profound stillness descended.

Lucia, in a deep sleep, let out only quiet breaths.

◈

Something feels off.

When did I start feeling this way?

I wandered through the dream, unable to escape the lucid dream.

At first, I thought it was just a dream I was having. Seeing the dream version of myself completely infatuated with a boy, I panicked, wondering if I had subconsciously desired something like this.

No, even though I’m a pervert, my gender identity is male, right? There’s no way I’d fall for a guy. It’s not just about enjoying the thrill of immorality and humiliation, but genuinely falling for a guy? That’s absolutely impossible.

But the dream version of me was undeniably infatuated with the boy.

Lucia, who’s quick to notice, could tell just by looking at the expression.

How could I not notice when this pink, romantic feeling was overwhelming me?

That’s why it was strange. Very strange. So strange that it was hard to pinpoint exactly where the strangeness began.

I don’t fall for guys.

But the dream version of me is infatuated.

To the point where the feeling of affection is transferring to me.

Is this really a dream?

It’s too vivid for a dream.

This feeling isn’t just a delusion.

Everything before my eyes was real.

Yes, real.

This isn’t a dream conjured by my subconscious.

Reality.

To be more precise, it was something that had been reality.

‘Memories. Lucia’s memories.’

Memories of ‘me,’ but not the current ‘me.’

Memories of ‘Lucia,’ but not the current ‘Lucia.’

Looking back now.

I had no memories of Lucia.

From the moment I opened my eyes, there were no memories of being Lucia.

That’s why I acted like Lucia based on the information from the ‘novel’.

And now.

Only after several months of being Lucia.

I was facing Lucia’s memories.

[Eu■]

She called out to the boy with a bright smile.

But I couldn’t see the boy’s face clearly.

It was blurry, as if covered in a mosaic.

The only thing that was clear was his clean, blue eyes.

A fragment of his name.

Eyes like a cloudless blue sky.

And the person Lucia loved.

I didn’t have much trouble guessing the boy’s identity.

Eugene.

But there’s no way the past Lucia met Eugene and fell in love.

In the ‘novel’, Lucia and Eugene first met at the academy and only became close around summer break.

Summer break hasn’t even arrived yet, let alone the first semester ending.

The timeline is off.

Am I seeing the future?

Is the future me going to become Eugene’s love-struck girl?

Will I turn into a love-struck puppy every time I see Eugene?

‘Iteration.’

I recalled that word.

This world wasn’t the first.

The Devils had reversed time over and over.

‘So, this is the memory of Lucia from a previous iteration…?’

If I think of it that way, everything makes sense.

What’s happening to me in reality that I’m seeing memories from a previous iteration? 

I tried to recall the situation I was in before falling into this dream. I remember being captured by Astaroth, enduring all sorts of torture, enjoying some ‘happy time’… and then… so…

‘Ah.’

The thought didn’t go any further.

My head started to ache.

The surroundings rapidly changed.

I gasped and opened my eyes wide.

In truth, everything in the dream was hazy.

Like a stain had been smeared over it.

As if something was obscuring my vision.

So the only thing I could clearly perceive was the dream version of Lucia.

Everything else was just barely recognizable, like a blurred outline.

But now, that misaligned focus was coming into place.

The blurred background gained clear colors, and the voices that had been muffled became clearer.

[Eu■, hey, um, you know…]

The dream version of Lucia awkwardly smiled.

Her cheeks flushed as if she was embarrassed to speak.

A girl in love asked the boy she loved.

[What do you think of me?]

It was practically a confession, but the oblivious boy asked back, confused.

[Huh? What are you talking about all of a sudden?]

See, this is why Eugene is so clueless.

This is why, in the ‘novel’, even when other heroines blatantly showed their feelings, he never noticed.

It seems the Eugene from the previous iteration wasn’t much different.

[What do I think of you? That’s obvious. You’re my most precious friend.]

Oh, great. Now he’s driving the nail deeper into her heart.

Can’t you see the dream version of Lucia is disappointed?

She’s visibly sulking, pouting her lips.

[Your most precious ‘friend’… is that it?]

[Yeah.]

And he even confirms it.

I let out a deep sigh.

The Lucia from the previous iteration must have suffered a lot.

Falling for such an oblivious guy.

And with a main heroine already in place, it was a love that could never be realized.

I looked at the dream version of Lucia with pity.

I wanted to say something comforting, but this was just a memory.

I couldn’t interfere. I reached out to the dream version of Lucia, knowing I couldn’t touch her, and smiled bitterly.

[Lucille. No matter what anyone says, you’re my one and only precious friend.]

…What?

What did he just say?

[…Yeah, I’m glad.]

The dream version of Lucia forced a smile.

[Yoo-seong. You’re also a really precious friend to me.]

What.

What’s going on?

I stared at the two of them, speechless.

The stain obscuring the boy’s face completely disappeared.

Revealing jet-black hair like obsidian.

Golden eyes that sparkled like stars in the night sky.

Eyes as blue as the sky and as calm as a lake.

It wasn’t Eugene.

It was a boy I had never seen before.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Murmur doesn’t pay attention to humans, but surprisingly, she cares about Lucia.

She doesn’t like her, but is interested to the extent of “Oh, it’s you again?”

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Identity crisis is very bad.

Unless you are a sloppy translator.