586
Chapter 586
The entire conference hall froze at Zeke's words.
The Demon lords silently stared at Zeke.
They were originally the constellations with the strongest power and influence among the celestial realm.
Having rebelled against the primordial light that endlessly destroyed civilizations and sought to perfect the world, they fell and became demons making the celestial realm their home that they could never return to.
It wasn't that they hadn't dreamed of ascending to the celestial realm.
But even for Demon lords of the demon realm with powerful strength, returning to the celestial realm was impossible.
It was none other than Demon Lord Mephistopheles who broke the frozen atmosphere.
CLANG!
As he dropped the wine glass he was holding, the Demon lords finally moved as if time had begun flowing again.
Mephistopheles created a new wine glass and said to Zeke.
"Very interesting words, Zeke Draker. But you know, that's quite a sensitive issue for us, so you shouldn't speak so carelessly."
Mephistopheles, who had maintained a favorable attitude toward Zeke, now spoke sharply with considerable hostility.
Zeke responded to Mephistopheles.
"You lot are nothing but defeated dogs who tucked their tails and ran away, nothing more, nothing less."
At Zeke's words, a cold light wavered in the eyes of the five Demon lords including Mephistopheles.
Mephistopheles spoke to Zeke with a voice filled with killing intent.
"You'd better watch yourself. You might become the record holder for shortest tenure as a Demon lords."
The other Demon lords were also exuding strong killing intent toward Zeke.
An ordinary human would have gone mad just from receiving the killing intent of the Demon lords, but Zeke calmly withstood it.
Simultaneously, he activated his unique authority, Absolute Dominion.
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
The energy of the Absolute Ruler surged from Zeke's body, pressing down the killing intent of the Demon lords.
In that moment, the Demon lords sensed a familiar being's shadow behind Zeke.
'The Demon King?'
The absolute ruler who oversees everything and places even the arrogant constellations beneath his feet.
They felt the presence of the Demon King from Zeke, a human.
While overwhelming the Demon lords with the energy of the Absolute Dominion, Zeke opened his mouth.
"The Sun God, or should I say, ‘The Most Noble One Above the Sky’?"
The Demon lords' pupils dilated at the constellation name he mentioned.
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
At the same time, the Demon lords' appearances changed.
Baal transformed into a complete beast-demon, Agarres into a dragon-being, Asmodeus into a beast like a chimera, and Beelzebub into a death knight wearing armor entwined with thorny vines.
Only Mephistopheles maintained his automaton appearance without transforming.
Their oversensitive reaction to the mere mention of the constellation name revealed what the Sun God meant to them.
They glared at Zeke as if to kill him, pouring out killing intent.
But Zeke still spoke with a composed expression.
"The arrogant savior said that I am the only being who can destroy the wheel of fate held by the celestial realm's Sun God."
He slowly rose from his seat.
"I will destroy all the constellations, including the celestial realm's Sun God, and liberate the phenomenal world. I will annihilate anyone who interferes with me as soon as they ascend to the phenomenal world."
Then he looked carefully at each arch duke and said.
"But if you help me, I'll push out those damned celestial constellations and put you back in their place. Think carefully about which choice is more advantageous for you."
Despite the extremely arrogant statement, the eyes of the Demon lords who were emitting killing intent changed slightly as they watched Zeke's still confident attitude.
At that moment, Mephistopheles, who had been listening, suddenly grabbed his stomach and began laughing.
"KUHAHAHAHAHA!"
He pointed at Zeke and said.
"Good! Very good! A new Demon lord should have this kind of spirit!"
Laughing heartily, Mephistopheles looked at the other Demon lords and said.
"Guide of Fair Pain. Don't you think it's a perfectly fitting constellation name? Everyone should prepare well. If you're careless, you might end up being eaten by that guy."
At Mephistopheles' words, the Demon lords glared at Zeke, then gathered their energy and returned to their original forms.
Zeke looked at the Demon lords and sat back down.
As the conference hall's atmosphere settled, Mephistopheles stood up and shouted.
"No, no! On such a joyful day, the mood shouldn't be so gloomy! Let's have a party, a fun party!"
Mephistopheles unfolded a fan and made a fuss about having a party.
Simultaneously, as he snapped his fingers, the surroundings changed the conference hall disappeared and a banquet hall appeared.
The tables were filled with all kinds of delicacies and rare wines that were difficult to obtain nowadays.
The other Demon lords still had displeased looks on their faces, but since it was difficult to leave their own territories except at times like this, they reluctantly began to enjoy the party prepared by Mephistopheles.
Baal brought a keg and drank excessively, Agares chewed on whole carcasses of unidentifiable magical beasts, and Asmodeus tasted delicacies one bite at a time before immediately discarding the rest.
The Administrator of the depths was quietly watching the multi-colored flames rising from the brazier without the slightest movement.
Mephistopheles, the host of the party, danced freely to the music while jesters danced around him, shouting cheers in his direction.
Zeke clicked his tongue unconsciously as he watched this bizarre party of Demon lords.
'They're truly demons, doing completely as they please.'
Watching the Demon lords enjoying the party according to their own desires without any interaction with each other, he thought this might be the true nature of the Constellations.
Just then, someone approached Zeke.
"My lord."
It was the head butler Shamos, whom he had seen when he first arrived.
Seeing Shamos in his employee's attire, Zeke was once again impressed by the energy he sensed from him.
'By human standards, he's at least Black Knight level. Strange that such a powerful being is just serving drinks.'
Shamos looked at Zeke and said:
"What can I prepare for you? Here, we can prepare anything the lord desires. If needed, we can even prepare subjects to inflict enjoyable pain upon..."
Zeke squeezed his eyes shut upon hearing Shamos's words.
It seemed there was a major misunderstanding because of his new Constellation name.
Zeke spoke to Shamos while trying to maintain his composure:
"It's fine. I don't need anything right now."
Shamos looked surprised at his words.
Demons were beings that lived by desire.
Although the types varied, they all had a desire that symbolized themselves.
Especially in this castle where the Grand Duke meeting was taking place, everything was thoroughly prepared to allow them to express their desires more freely than usual, so the Demon lords comfortably ordered what they wanted and enjoyed it.
But Zeke was showing a markedly different aspect from the other Demon lords.
"Understood, Demon lord. Please call whenever you need anything."
Shamos bowed to Zeke and withdrew.
Zeke stuck out his tongue at the other Demon lords who were eagerly satisfying their desires without getting tired.
Just as he was wondering if he had to spend time like this with nothing to do, a voice rang in Zeke's mind.
—Guide of Fair Pain, I speak with all due respect. Could you spare a moment?
Looking at the other lords, they were still satisfying their desires as before. The voice had been transmitted while avoiding their eyes.
Zeke asked the voice in his mind:
'Who are you?'
The reply came back:
—I am a faithful servant who once served the Arrogant Savior.
Zeke was wary of the person who had secretly sent him a message.
'A faithful servant, you say. But why speak to me while hiding instead of showing yourself?'
The voice was transmitted to him again:
—Forgive my rudeness. Being confined in this space, I could not directly greet the Demon lords.
The voice continued:
—My name is Lilith. I am the first creature made by the Arrogant Savior and a divine incarnation who received godhood.
* * *
After leaving the party, Zeke followed the head butler Shamos down the castle corridor.
The dark corridor was constructed in the style of the long-fallen Babel.
Zeke remembered that this was the old castle where the Arrogant Savior's throne had once been.
After he was sealed in the physical world, Babel was torn apart by other Demon lords, causing the Tower of Babel to collapse.
Mephistopheles had taken the torn castle of the Arrogant Savior and made it into a space for holding Grand Duke meetings.
The powerful servants of the Arrogant Savior who had not chosen new territories seemed to have become employees guarding this castle, eternally confined.
Shamos led Zeke to the deepest underground part of the castle, and soon a massive door appeared before him.
The image of the Arrogant Savior, who had settled those who fell from heaven in the lowest place, was engraved on the door.
As Shamos approached the door and extended his hand, the seal reacted and the thick door slowly opened.
KUGUGUGUGUGU!
Shamos guided Zeke inside the door.
As he entered, the sound of rattling chains was heard from inside.
Simultaneously, a delicate voice leaked out from the darkness.
"Shamos, light the candles, please."
Following the voice's command, Shamos lit the candles placed around.
A bed hidden behind curtains appeared from the darkness.
The delicate voice flowed from behind the curtains.
"Demon lord, forgive my rudeness. Since karma doesn't reach the confined area where I am, there's the inconvenience of having to do everything directly."
The sound of chains rattling was heard again.
Zeke slowly approached the curtained bedroom.
He looked inside, illuminated by the dim candlelight.
Surprisingly, on the bed sat a young girl with mysterious energy, her hands and feet bound by chains.
The frail girl with platinum blonde hair long enough to cover her entire body looked up at Zeke while restrained by cold chains.
She bowed her head toward Zeke and said:
"Please forgive me for not properly greeting you."
Zeke nodded at the girl's words and spoke:
"Are you Lilith?"
"Yes, Demon lord."
"Drop that embarrassing talk."
She flinched momentarily at Zeke's words but then nodded.
"Understood. Then may I call you Lord Zeke?"
Zeke nodded.
Soon Shamos brought a chair from behind for Zeke to sit on.
He sat on the chair, bringing himself to eye level with Lilith.
Then Lilith looked at Zeke and said,
"You must be curious why I called you here."
Zeke responded with an indifferent expression:
"It's obvious. You want me, as the successor of the Arrogant Savior, to take you in and end this confinement, don't you?"
Lilith remained silent at Zeke's blunt words, then shook her head and spoke:
"Lord Zeke, what I want to ask of you is... to end our lives."
Zeke's eyes widened at Lilith's unexpected request.
'End your lives?'
CHARRRRK!
The chains restraining Lilith made noise again.
The heavy, cold chains seemed ill-suited for her delicate limbs.
Though he started to feel concern since she was a servant of the Arrogant Savior, Zeke tried not to be deceived by appearances.
Lilith, a demon strong enough to command the head butler Shamos, clearly possessed power at or above Constellation level.
Her confinement here suggested that other Demon lords, like Arataso, feared her power and had sealed her.
Zeke looked at Lilith and said:
"Termination rather than salvation. Do you no longer have the will to live ?"
At his words, Lilith gave a bitter smile that didn't match her delicate appearance.
She looked at Zeke and said,
"From the beginning, we were beings living false lives created by the Arrogant Savior. It's laughable to have attachment to such a life."
Zeke expressed doubt at Lilith's self-deprecating words.
"What do you mean by 'false life'?"
She looked at Zeke and said:
"Though you're the successor of the Arrogant Savior, you haven't truly seen his essence."
CHARRRRK!
Lilith extended her hand toward Zeke.
"Take my hand. Then you will know what kind of false life the Arrogant Savior gave us."