Chapter 214
Chapter 214
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 211
Chapter Title: Lucifer Who Leads Evil - 6
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The palm collided with the floor, unleashing a thunderous roar that seemed to shake the heavens and earth, along with a shockwave that spread outward. The atmosphere froze in an instant. It was so tense it felt like a fight could erupt at any moment.
“Hold on a moment, Popes.”
But no fight actually broke out. That was thanks to Cayquilia holding the popes back.
“……What is the reason for this?”
“In my view, that thing has no intention of fighting at all. So you can relax.”
Cayquilia said this as she lowered her holy sword. Floretta and Luna hesitated but slightly lowered the arms holding their holy relics, and Stella and Selene followed suit. The rest came last.
The result was immediate.
She was right. The hand covered in wooden roots ignored the stares fixed on it and raised its fingertips to stab into the floor. The tips of its finger joints dug forcefully into the ground.
The finger was yanked toward the twisted space, plowing up the floor in the process. A grinding *kwaduduk* echoed, leaving five long furrows behind.
Cayquilia watched with a stoic expression, while the others looked on with faint surprise. It looked exactly like something trying to flee.
“Trying to……flee from something?”
“That’s probably it, Pope of the Moon.”
Soon, even the figure beyond the forearm began to emerge.
A shoulder appeared from between the twisted space, followed by a neck, then a face. All of it was covered in dark red wooden roots, and the face had nothing but a single eye.
The thing that thrust out its face scanned the outside scenery every which way with its lone eye. Each time the pupil swiveled, the roots snapped and splintered, producing eerie sounds.
The horrific, repulsive aura emanating from its mere existence overwhelmed several holy knights and battle nuns, who couldn’t hold back dry heaves.
*Thud*. Floretta lightly tapped the floor with the tip of her holy relic. A golden barrier unfurled. The dry heaving from all around subsided.
Once the nausea ebbed, instinctive terror took hold. The battle nuns and holy knights unconsciously raised their weapons, then glanced at the popes and stealthily lowered them again.
The popes simply watched the repulsive thing in silence.
Its fingers pulled free from the floor. The gouged-up floor and the thick five furrows were visible.
Then it slammed the floor again, jamming its fingers in to haul its body upward. Its upper body emerged even further. It was just shy of exposing the left shoulder and ribs.
Now there was no doubt. That thing was fleeing from something inside.
“What’s with the surprised looks?”
Cayquilia chuckled as she spoke.
“……Aren’t you surprised, Your Majesty?”
“I’ll ask you the opposite. I know full well who’s inside there—so what reason do I have to be surprised?”
“Ah.”
The popes’ voices overlapped. Only then did their expressions melt away like snow in spring. Stella and Selene were much the same. The tension visibly drained from their bodies.
The others hadn’t caught it amid the bizarre thing’s noisy thrashing, though.
“Yes. The noble guest was in there. If it’s him, of course he could do that. We were too narrow-minded.”
Floretta spoke, and Luna nodded. They accepted it without issue. If the noble guest was handling that thing, of course it would flee at the sight of his power.
In stark contrast, Cayquilia—the one who had spoken—harbored some doubts. Delta didn’t possess holy power strong enough to reduce the demon king to that state. At least not as far as she’d seen.
What’s more, the thing was at least twice the size it had been at first sight. Had he crushed it so utterly that it discarded all pride and fled?
‘What are you hiding, Delta? Power? Abilities? Or something else?’
Cayquilia licked her lips, positively delighted. Another prime source of amusement had appeared. That man really kept things from ever getting dull.
As she grinned to herself with those thoughts, an alien sound reached Cayquilia’s ears.
Moments later, an immense surge of holy power erupted from beyond the space where the demon king had been struggling to escape.
“What is this……!”
It was holy power potent enough to make even Floretta and Luna flinch on instinct. Cayquilia raised her holy sword. The blade was resonating wildly with the power that had just burst forth.
The sun and moon charms at the ends of the holy relics did the same. They shook so violently it seemed they might shatter. Startled, Floretta and Luna gasped.
If the popes were reacting this way, the rest was a given. Stella and Selene, the battle nuns, and holy knights—all knelt without exception, heads bowed in prayer.
They simply couldn’t bear it otherwise.
The demon king’s reaction was no less dramatic. It glanced back toward the space still containing its lower ribs, then began crawling forward in desperate frenzy.
Right hand slammed the floor, left hand followed, dragging its body along. The sheer desperation was palpable to onlookers.
Of course, it was all for naught. The suction pulling it back grew faster. In a final act of defiance, the demon king jammed both hands into the floor—but that was the end of it.
It got sucked in just like that.
The twisted space sealed shut. The radiant holy power vanished, leaving only about ten long furrows on the floor.
Silence descended. No one could bring themselves to speak.
“…….”
“…….”
“…….”
But the silence didn’t last.
Before Cayquilia, Floretta, or Luna could speak, the space twisted once more. With the same overwhelming holy power from before, a familiar-faced man slowly stepped through.
Sword of half gold and half silver in his right hand. A face steeped in sentiment yet deeply conflicted. In his left, he dragged the demon king’s severed head by what remained of its neck.
A man with black hair, black eyes, and a black uniform.
It was Delta.
“I’ve arrived, Your Majesty…… Huh?”
Delta, on the verge of greeting Cayquilia right in front of him, blinked in confusion as he looked around.
His jet-black pupils took in Stella and Selene kneeling and praying while trembling, the battle nuns and holy knights doing the same, and then Floretta and Luna.
“…….”
His jet-black pupils quivered.
“So, the popes have been like that for a full day because of you, Delta?”
“They said they’d somehow drag you to the Holy Kingdom and make you a saint, so don’t worry.”
Lize giggled from behind, where she had me in a hug.
Laughter came from the side too—Claudia. Erika wore an incredulous expression, while Iris fidgeted restlessly.
A short distance away sat Aurora, legs crossed elegantly on the sofa as she sipped tea, stealing glances our way. It was practically the full original crew assembled.
“Then that means I was the first to claim the guy the emperor and popes are fighting over. Isn’t my eye for this just too good?”
“…….”
Lize met my gaze and cackled, yanking my head into her cleavage. My head sank in, the back of my skull met with soft, yielding warmth.
I was in the Silver Dawn Knight Commander’s quarters—specifically, Lize’s room. Apparently, commanders each had their own private space.
Even if they weren’t particularly favored, the treatment was top-notch; the room was impressively spacious for a personal one. There was plenty of room left over even with all six of us inside.
Claudia, who’d been smirking with arms crossed against the wall while mirroring Lize, sidled up beside me. She plopped onto the bed and tugged my body toward her. Our distance closed naturally.
“Man. Our Delta’s one hell of a sinful guy, huh?”
“Head’s already killing me, you wanna pile on too?”
“Did I say anything wrong? The popes are protesting right outside the audience chamber because of you, aren’t they?”
Claudia snickered, poking my cheek. She wasn’t wrong about a single thing, which only pissed me off more.
Ever since that incident, Floretta and Luna had insisted fiercely on taking me to the Holy Kingdom. Cayquilia had naturally snarled back that it was nonsense.
After dozens of rejections, they’d followed us all the way to the palace and were still protesting in front of the audience chamber, demanding they take me.
Of course, Cayquilia wasn’t about to yield an inch. A full day had passed since my return from hell, and my head was still a mess because of it.
Minerva and the Silver Dawn commanders—even Aurora, who’d rushed over upon hearing the news—had first bounced around in joy at my return, then stared in disbelief at the popes.
And I’d been right there with them, facepalming in disbelief.
“…….”
I tried to ignore the back of my head rubbing against her chest and eyed Aurora.
She seemed to be maintaining her composure, but her trembling fingers betrayed the truth plainly.
“Then quit holding back and come sit beside me if you want, my lord.”
“Uh, uh-huh?”
Evidently not expecting me to say that, a startled and flustered Aurora cleared her throat awkwardly before inching over to my side. It was her way of saying she wouldn’t refuse.
Aurora gently lifted my right arm and draped it over her shoulder. Then she pressed her body snug against mine and rested her head on my shoulder.
Claudia had simply sat beside me, so setting her aside—no one gave me odd looks despite me openly sandwiched between two women. If anything, it felt natural.
“Hey, Delta.”
Lize thrust her head in from the side. Her chest was so ample that her shoulder was the limit.
“Why?”
I turned my head slightly to look at Lize.
“Front’s looking empty, isn’t it?”
“Out of nowhere?”
“These things need balance. You’ve got back, right, left—front’s the only empty spot?”
“Huh? Me?”
Claudia, who’d unwittingly been assigned the left, blinked before grasping the implication. She grinned and plastered herself to my side. Her whole body felt like solid muscle—rock hard.
“Who says you gotta balance stuff like this?”
“Me.”
Lize grinned shamelessly, then lifted her head. Twitch. Iris, where her gaze landed, flinched.
“You get what I mean, right, Iris?”
The moment Iris heard that and looked at me, all five other pairs of eyes zeroed in on her too. Oh right—still needed to clear up that charm misunderstanding from last time.
Iris hesitated for a moment, then approached hesitantly like a skittish cat and slipped between my legs. *Tok*. Her silver hair brushed my chest.
Satisfied that every side was now filled, Lize nodded with a smug smile. Erika stared at her sister with the utmost look of pity.
“Now that balance is taken care of too, Delta.”
Lize poked my shoulder with her chin.
“What the hell happened to get the popes this desperate to take you?”
“Uh…….”
I hesitated for a moment. Wondering if I should even say.
‘Should be fine.’
We weren’t strangers. With our relationship, I could trust them enough to spill.
“I met their gods. Face-to-face.”
The poking chin froze in place.
