Chapter 114
Chapter 114
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 114
Chapter Title: Holy Spirit Festival
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I was momentarily entranced gazing at Belial, whose beauty and perfection made it impossible to recall her former self as the Demon King. Even as a soul, she had struck me as incredibly beautiful, but now that she had manifested in the flesh, an irresistible demonic allure emanated from her that I couldn't hope to escape.
Belial approached slowly and seductively, eyeing me with amusement and intrigue. She licked her lips in that signature move of hers before placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Hng~~! If our cute successor stares at this lowly servant so intensely, she's going to get all excited, you know?"
Her voice and touch sent chills racing across my skin, making my body shudder involuntarily.
As I felt her soft hand glide from my shoulder toward my face, I was once again reminded that this being before me leaned more toward evil than good on the scale of morality. I quickly pulled back.
"Ugh. Just drop the formal speech, please."
"Hehehehe. If that's what you want, I can do that anytime~~."
I shook my head vigorously, forcing my gaze away from her face, and checked her status window.
She's strong. No matter how I looked at it, she outclassed me. She'd sacrificed one card with the Descent of Sacrifice, but it didn't feel like a loss. No, the more I thought about it, the more it seemed like subjugating her was the bigger gain.
From now on, she wouldn't just aid me with knowledge alone. Bound as my subordinate, she was practically immortal. Even if her body was destroyed and she died, I could restore it and resurrect her using my power of Pride as many times as needed.
'The true starting point of an immortal legion.'
That was one reason I'd clung so stubbornly to this class. Before my regression, even the degraded version of the Emperor of Ten Thousand Spirits legion had been similar. The Lord of Myriad Demons undoubtedly had the same hidden ability.
I had no intention of killing her right after her revival just to test that, though.
Of course, it wasn't perfect immortality. If her soul was destroyed, the connection would sever, and the subordinate would die for good.
I checked the follow-up messages. The authorities from my class were making her, who was already formidable, even stronger.
Belial's D+ stats rose to C-. Her presence grew even more overwhelming as she closed her eyes, tilted her head toward the sky, and shuddered.
Knowing the ecstasy she was feeling, I ignored her maddeningly erotic and sexy display and focused on the power surging through me.
I'd gained a unique ability. No regrets or second thoughts about subjugating her now. Before I could check what it did, the next buff began applying to her.
Belial's form changed. Her eyes sharpened with recovered memories, and her body, once dominated by darkness over light, began to balance anew.
"Haaaang~~!"
Don't listen. It's the sound of evil. Damn fallen angel. You've regained some angelic power—show a little restraint, you fiend!!!
A foreboding sense that traveling with her would be tough crept in, but I pushed it aside. Having partially reclaimed her angelic power, she quickly adapted to her body and lunged at me.
I reflexively caught her as she flew into my arms. She gazed at me with a predator's eyes and flashed a bewitching smile.
"Following you really was the right choice. My instincts were spot on. Hahaha! Revival! I can get even stronger!"
Crazy bitch. But if she could act this insane and still seem beautiful and lovable, were my eyes the problem?
I shook off the thought, set her down, and left her fiddling with her system to grasp her new status. I turned to the cavern.
'There's an emergency passage.'
I planned to head straight to the first underground floor through it. Traversing floors 4 through 2 again would take too long, and more than that, I had no desire to revisit that horrific, nightmarish world.
I hadn't noticed it from the first underground floor, but now that I knew it existed, there were no issues.
The red sun blazed. But something had changed.
Whoosh!
Part of the Sun Eye transformed. The holy, radiant flames in my right eye shifted to cold, eerie ghostfire.
Another message appeared simultaneously.
My vision shifted. The world I saw changed. Light and darkness. Sunlit and shadowed realms. Good and evil. Living and dead. Everything filled my sight.
It was a field of view worthy of being called an authority. I swallowed hard and scanned the cavern.
Then I had no choice but to step back.
"Souls. No, malevolent spirits."
More precisely, pitiful souls doomed to become malevolent spirits. Ones robbed of everything by the puppeteer, enslaved, forced to commit countless sins.
They'd been freed when I destroyed the puppets, but tormented by their sins and seething with hatred toward the puppeteer, they lingered as vengeful spirits. I clicked my tongue at the sight.
"What utter fools."
The dead do not speak. The dead cannot easily harm the living. The dead cannot easily affect the mortal realm.
Fundamental truths. The worlds of the living and dead are separated for good reason.
I transformed Myriad Changes. Even if time was short, I wanted to finish this with my own hands. If I left, they'd be trapped here eternally, spewing malice.
I didn't want these souls, guilty only of crossing paths with the puppeteer, abandoned like that. It left a bad taste.
Myriad Changes shifted. The sword I'd used once before appeared in my hand.
The sword, capable of guiding these vengeful spirits not to oblivion but to enlightenment, swung forth.
-Kyaaaaak!!!
They're classified as monsters too? Didn't matter. Powerful, but no longer my match.
The Four Yin Sword arced beautifully. Stars embedded in the blade gleamed, its spell activated, and wounded spirits shrieked as light enveloped them.
Dozens of souls were cleaved by the Four Yin Sword. It wasn't hard. They harbored no malice toward me and didn't attack.
As if their kind nature persisted even amid the malice. Some even offered their forms, begging for the pain to end.
Light engulfed them, and when it faded, only purified, pure souls remained.
They couldn't speak. Whether due to their low rank or another reason, I didn't know.
But their eyes conveyed gratitude. I'd shattered the chains imposed by the puppeteer, allowing them to ascend.
No rewards. No hidden stage triggered. It was too easy for me. No regrets.
I'd never considered subjugating them anyway. Satisfied with cleansing my unease, that was enough.
I reverted Myriad Changes to a bracelet, ignored Belial's intrigued, hungry gaze, and began searching for the secret passage.
Soon, I found the one used by Cardinal Aoira, the puppeteer.
But it was already collapsed.
"Ah... that fucking bastard."
A true scourge on the world. Demonic humans and demons, those shitty bastards. Wait, no.
I'm the successor of the Demon God. I absorbed his avatar to gain this class, acquired his divine artifact, and subjugated a demon king.
"By that logic, aren't I basically their leader?"
I even held an absolute advantage in compatibility. I extended my hand and unleashed demon spirit power. Demonic force bending to my will and thoughts.
Thanks to the Demon God Body, I had an overwhelming edge against demon worshippers. Not quite the absolute resistance of the Noon Sun, but top-tier for sure.
'I could take guys like Deriax.'
Even in perfect descent or true form, not some unstable invocation.
'Nah, the physical disparity might make it tough.'
No way to know without clashing directly. Couldn't summon demons just to test.
With a demonic human to face soon anyway, I'd check then.
I sighed and withdrew the Pride stat from my eyes. Seeing the imperceptible exacted more mental strain than expected.
If it weren't an on-off skill... it would've been brutal. Well, not fully on-off since pupil color changed and basics lingered.
But I could adapt. I moved. No time for leisure now that the secret passage was gone.
Had to traverse these godforsaken floors 2, 3, and 4 again to reach the surface.
"Let's go. Steel yourself. Things up top won't be easy."
Well, with Belial's Mythic rank, she'd be fine. I needed the mental prep.
Saying that, I began heading back to the surface.
And so, a day later, as I was still climbing from the fourth floor, the Holy Spirit Festival finally began on the surface.