Chapter 288

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“Is this the fox mask?”

Yoo-seong said, examining the red fox mask.

He ran his fingertips over the surface of the mask, then scrunched up his face.

He shook his hand as if he had touched something filthy, and sighed.

“A nasty cursed object. It interferes with the body and mind, and even the soul.”

Yoo-seong, as if he had grasped the mask’s function with just one look, began to explain in a complaining tone. It was mostly information I already knew, but I quietly listened to Yoo-seong’s words. There might be information I didn’t know.

Lucille had accumulated knowledge close to omniscience after repeated regressions, but I was Lucia, not Lucille.

As I had compared it many times, Lucille’s memories were a kind of book.

I was the librarian of the ‘Lucille’s Memories’ library.

I had the key to open the door to a library filled with infinite knowledge.

I could find the knowledge I wanted among the endless books, but I needed to put in the effort to find the desired content among books that weren’t properly categorized. In short, it required a lot of time. It also required concentration. I needed to be careful because if I made a mistake, the bookshelves could collapse and I could be buried under the books.

I knew a lot, but I didn’t know everything.

It’s just that I know what I know.

“A mechanism that erodes the soul… Is it an application of mental corruption? Surprisingly, the side effects won’t be severe. The aftereffects of the erosion will last a long time, but there won’t be any particular harm to health. Rather…”

Yoo-seong trailed off. He glanced at Seri. He seemed reluctant to speak, but soon he confessed honestly.

“If she was eroded for a long time, there’s a high probability that the power doped by the mask won’t disappear and will remain as it is.”

“You mean…”

“It helped her grow. The price was terribly high, though.”

It was a very small consolation in misfortune.

But Seri didn’t seem happy at all.

She stuck to me with a sulky face.

Was it because I comforted and soothed her when her mind was messed up due to the aftereffects?

For some reason, she didn’t think of leaving my side, like an affectionate cat.

“This small mask has many functions compressed into it. Brainwashing. Enhancement. Tracking… What exactly is Astaroth’s authority? Is it creation-related?”

A devil god is a versatile being.

Well, of course, since they’re gods.

The embodiment of omnipotence, capable of everything.

Even for such devil gods, there were specialized fields.

The core ability of the devil gods.

In fact, the source of the devil gods’ transcendent strength.

Authority.

If a supernatural ability is like ‘it worked because it was done this way according to this principle.’

Authority is an ability that transcends providence, saying ‘I do it because I have the right to do so.’

It was the difference between supernatural abilities that followed the rules set by the four seasons, and authority that set the rules themselves. That was why authority was a higher-level ability than supernatural abilities. 

Of course, when supernatural abilities exceed their limits, the superiority between authority disappears. Just looking at Yoo-seong, he easily chews up the authority of the devil gods, right? The closer a supernatural becomes to ‘one who is close to God’, the more they set their own rules.

Each devil god has their own specialty authority.

Agares is time.

Belial is life.

Murmur is space.

And Astaroth is…

“Similar, but different.”

I shook my head slightly. It was true that Astaroth’s authority was closely related to creation, but fundamentally, it was completely different.

“Astaroth’s authority is ‘Law’.”

“Law… you said?”

“Giving her own laws to reality. That’s Astaroth’s ability.”

I pointed to the red fox mask that Yoo-seong was holding.

A terrifying ability was embedded in the seemingly ordinary mask.

It was because Astaroth had given it such laws.

“The person who wears the mask obeys Astaroth. The abilities of the person wearing the mask are enhanced. She has a bird’s-eye view of the state of the person wearing the mask… She created rules like that. Would it be easier to understand if I said she created the laws she wanted anew?”

“A reality manipulation type… Tsk, it reminded me of a bad memory.”

Yoo-seong frowned as if he had a headache. To others, it might just seem like he was annoyed, but I could tell. A faint fear hidden in the blatant annoyance. It wasn’t that he feared Astaroth. 

Yoo-seong was much stronger than Astaroth, so what would he be afraid of? Yoo-seong’s emotion was a sequel of the past. A trauma that hadn’t been forgotten even after 150 years. 

“Don’t worry. She’s different from that guy.”

Astaroth’s authority was a reality manipulation type of authority similar to that of the King of the Devil Gods, but Astaroth was much inferior to Baal. The difference in class was significant. Strictly speaking, it wasn’t that Astaroth was lacking, but Baal was too outstanding.

“If you give your own rules, there must be conditions attached. You can’t make a law without reasonable conditions.”

So the mask also had a way to break it.

If you break the mask, the brainwashing is released.

You can’t use the mask twice on the same person.

You can’t set rules unless such ‘conditions’ are attached.

Astaroth’s authority was a kind of scale.

If you put the law you want on one side of the scale, the scale will tilt to that side.

The authority was not activated unless the scale was level.

So, she put reasonable conditions on the other side.

If the weights were the same, the scale would be level.

Because it was level, a new law was engraved.

If the weights were not the same, it was still tilted.

Since it was tilted, of course, the authority could not be activated.

Her authority was very powerful, but there was a penalty to match it. In theory, she could do anything. She was infinitely close to omnipotence, as long as she could pay the price. Of course, the modifier ‘in theory’ was not attached for no reason. If she wanted a powerful law, a comparable condition followed.

“I see. She’s definitely different from Baal. That guy didn’t need conditions…”

Yoo-seong, who was muttering with a sigh of relief, suddenly shut his mouth. His gaze turned to Seri. He seemed to be wondering if it was information he could tell Seri.

There was a good reason why Yoo-seong had been hiding the existence of the devil gods all along. To hide the origin of the devil gods. The cosmic existence called the ‘Ancient One’. 

Humans are negatively affected just by knowing of ‘it’s’ existence. The origin of the mental corruption of monsters was the ‘Ancient One’.

Baal is different from other devil gods.

The Lord of Purgatory, who even the gods of the four seasons are wary of and fear.

He is the King of the Devil Gods, who is evaluated as being comparable to the ‘Ancient One’.

In other words, Baal’s existence may induce mental corruption, like the ‘Ancient One’.

“…So, what are you going to do?”

Yoo-seong coughed dryly and awkwardly changed the subject. He held out the mask and spoke to Seri.

“I’ll leave the disposal of this to your will. It must be an unpleasant object for you just to look at, so if you want, I’ll destroy it without a trace.”

The red fox mask we were examining was the mask that had brainwashed Seri. Until now, even if we knew of the mask’s existence, we hadn’t been able to obtain a perfect sample, but we were able to recover the mask while freeing Seri. 

Had he judged that it was no longer needed since the analysis was over? Yoo-seong held a golden light in his hand as if he would break the mask at any moment.

“…Yes, please get rid of it. So that not even dust remains.”

Seri glared at the mask with a look of disgust.

Her eyes were filled with grief as she recalled the hardships she had experienced because of that mask.

As soon as her request fell, Yoo-seong crushed the mask in one go.

Light engulfed the mask. Grotesque flesh swelled from the red fox mask, but it was neatly annihilated by Yoo-seong’s gesture.

“I’m going to be even busier from now on. I barely finished one thing, and then the next item is pouring in like a flood.”

It hadn’t been long since he cleaned up the aftermath of the Family subjugation war.

Before the lingering emotions could fade, the next mission was given.

It was to find Astaroth’s spies who were lurking throughout society. No matter how many he found, they would multiply as long as Astaroth was alive, but he couldn’t just leave them alone. There was nothing as troublesome as an internal enemy.

“Lucia, you should come to me with the two of them from now on. I’ll teach you whenever I have time. That alone will be helpful.”

“Yes, please take care of me. Master!”

From today, I was also Yoo-seong’s disciple, like Eugene and Alice. The goal was the captain level. It was a prerequisite to separate Belial’s soul from me, and it was the minimum requirement to participate in the upcoming war with the devil gods.

The captain-level is a realm that only a very small number of people can reach, to the point of being called the pinnacle of humanity… but it didn’t seem that difficult. I wasn’t just banging my head against the ground, but I had indirectly experienced it through Lucille’s memories, right?

Lucille had accumulated realms by repeating infinite regressions. Everything was reset when she regressed, so she started over from the beginning each time. If I diligently tried using those memories as textbooks, wouldn’t I be able to do it? Well, I’m confident in my efforts!

‘And…’

I smiled brightly as I looked at Yoo-seong.

Through his blue eyes, I recalled someone else.

Eugene, Yoo-seong’s descendant, who inherited the blue eyes.

‘As the successor of the Blessed Saintess, I must lead the hero of the era.’

In the end, it is the role of the protagonist, not the heroine, to end the war.

The only one who can solve the devil gods’ schemes.

It is only the heavenly god who surpasses the God of War.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Astaroth has been around since the beginning, but her abilities are only being revealed just now.

She first appeared in chapter 27, so it took about 261 chapters.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
I mean it makes sense no? Now let’s use some textbook guides to reach noob Eugene and Alice level fast!

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