Chapter 519
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 519
Chapter Title: Lilith
The deepest depths of the Abyss, the thrones of the remaining six demon lords.
They had no choice but to be taken aback.
And they realized.
Park Chan-woo's authority had reached across the entire Abyss, even to their own thrones.
But at the same time, they refused to believe it.
The master of the Abyss? Of all things.
How dare he.
[Insolent fool!]
A fury that no lord's will could suppress surged forth.
[That lowly human scum, who was crawling like a bug not long ago, dares to call himself the master of the Abyss and declare war on us?]
[Arrogant.]
Their pride refused to accept this humiliation.
For eons untold, they had ruled this Abyss.
Park Chan-woo.
He was nothing more than an irregular who had suddenly appeared, a disastrous variable at best.
He might sow temporary chaos, but he could never become the ruler of this world.
[Don't fear that shallow authority of his!]
The Lord of Black Glory spoke coldly, steadying the confused wills of his kin.
[In the end, he's declared war. No more hiding—he's made it clear he'll face us head-on.]
His words rang true.
Regardless, all-out war had begun.
The vague terror that had been slyly tightening around their necks under the guise of peace was gone.
Now everything was clear.
They had to fight.
[The Lord of Darkness fell alone, but we are different.]
Cold resolve laced the voice of the Lord of Black Glory.
[If we six unite our strength and stake everything we have left, we can crush Park Chan-woo with ease. It's time for us to move as well.]
The problem was that "uniting their strength" was far from simple.
[...Our numbers are far too disadvantageous.]
[The alliance led by Park Chan-woo—what they call the 'New World Alliance'—will only grow larger without end.]
A vast map of forces unfolded before the six lords' eyes.
Centered around humanity and their new god, Park Chan-woo, fully half of the Twelve Clan Lords had sided with him.
Dragons, giants, dusk elves, qilins, golden lions—alliances forged in the Clan Wars.
Even the star spirits had joined.
Beings who could read the stars' tales and divine their futures.
They had initially rejected Park Chan-woo, but after the Clan Wars ended, they flipped their stance as if by magic.
Once transcendence became a possibility, they openly clung to his side.
Thus, six clan lords had gathered under Park Chan-woo's banner.
And that was not all.
Park Chan-woo's mercy during the Clan Wars, and the vision of coexistence shown at the festival.
It was more than enough to win the hearts of countless oppressed minor races.
Over eighty percent of the Abyss's races had already joined the New World Alliance or at least shown favor toward them.
Even the remaining six of the Twelve Clan Lords, who still maintained formal alliances with the demons.
[Even the other Twelve Clans are adopting a lukewarm attitude.]
After Park Chan-woo's declaration of war.
They offered only vague statements like "we'll monitor the situation," refusing any military commitments.
It was only natural.
Their alliances with the demons had been purely based on mutual interests, never loyalty.
Especially after Park Chan-woo's harsh words left them unable to take a firm stance.
-Those who cooperate with us will receive boundless grace, while those who do not must prepare to return to the primordial chaos.
...If you're against us, be ready to revert to nothingness.
It was an utterly absurd declaration.
But...
[...]
For the first time, silence fell among the six lords.
[Transcendents stand at Park Chan-woo's side.]
[The realm of the Creators... hasn't it been confirmed that he's conquered even that?]
[And now the Abyss depths too.]
Successive defeats.
Park Chan-woo's power only grew stronger with each passing day.
Meanwhile, the demons dwindled.
But the Lord of Black Glory shook his head.
[Are you suggesting we surrender? Do you think that bastard would accept us willingly? Even if he did, we'd live forever branded as losers, begging for mercy at that human's feet. Better to fight until everything turns to ash.]
Madness gleamed in his eyes.
[And it's not as if we have no chance.]
The other lords' wills turned back to him.
[Do you have some plan?]
Impatience colored one lord's will.
Coldly calculated, their odds in an all-out war were at best forty percent.
And that assumed all six lords united fully, with their allied clan lords providing active support.
But right now, those allies were just waiting for a chance to turn tail.
It was a battle with no hope of victory.
Yet the Lord of Black Glory brimmed with confidence.
[We still have one trump card left.]
The name that left his lips was enough to silence all the lords.
[The traitor, Gremory.]
The Demon God of Lamentation.
Once a peer standing shoulder-to-shoulder with them, but during the Clan Wars, she had sided with Park Chan-woo and turned her blade on her own kind.
After the Clan Wars, she had been stripped of all authority and divinity, imprisoned in the deepest heart of demon territory—the 'Eternal Prison,' where even time did not flow.
By rights, she should have been executed immediately for her crimes.
The other demons thought the same, and resentment had boiled over.
But they could not kill Gremory.
It was because of her very 'origin.'
Gremory of Lamentation was the only one among the demon gods called a 'queen.'
It was not merely because she was a powerful female demon god.
It was an inescapable title born of her bloodline.
[She is a blood relative of the first demon, 'Lilith.']
The Lord of Black Glory revealed one of the Abyss's oldest secrets.
The other lords fell silent.
They knew it, but it was a taboo they dared not speak aloud.
Gremory had originated as a succubus—one of the most lowly and weak low-tier demons in the Abyss.
The reason such a being had risen through eons, surpassing countless powerhouses to claim a seat as a demon god.
It was solely due to the primordial blood slumbering within her—Lilith's lineage.
A cruel smile curled the Lord of Black Glory's lips.
[Our task is simple. Force that dormant blood to 'awaken.']
In an instant, the lords' mental space stirred.
[...Have you lost your mind!]
[Resurrect Lilith? Have you forgotten what a dangerous gamble that is!]
Lilith.
The first demon.
A primordial being who existed at the dawn of the Abyss's history.
Almost no records of her remained.
As if someone had deliberately erased them.
But among the rare highest beings, her legend was passed down.
Lilith had appeared in the Abyss alongside the Creators.
Some even claimed they were more than allies—lovers, or perhaps husband and wife, who had shaped the world together.
She had created the Abyss's 'night' and become the 'mother' of the demon race.
The true Mother of Night.
The problem was that her existence was so absurdly powerful and vast that it threatened to collapse the Abyss itself.
[If the first demon revives, even the clans that turned from Park Chan-woo will return to us. Who would dare oppose the demons' progenitor?]
The Lord of Black Glory's logic was clear.
No matter if Park Chan-woo had become the dragons' new god and inherited the Creators' will.
The demons had Lilith—their founder with legitimacy rivaling or surpassing his.
Her descent would rally the scattered demons and provide the strongest justification to subjugate the wavering allied clans once more.
[Far more reliable than betting everything on a hopeless war.]
But.
[How?]
Deep skepticism laced one lord's will.
[How do we awaken the first demon, the Mother of Night? She merely inherited the blood—Gremory is not Lilith.]
His point was spot on.
Bloodline did not equate to the being itself.
Blood offered potential, but realizing it depended entirely on the individual's will and capabilities.
Moreover, Gremory was already a traitor.
Having chosen to serve the new master Park Chan-woo, she would never awaken as the demons' mother to fight against them.
[Even if a method exists, it's too late. Park Chan-woo has already turned the entire Abyss into his garden. By the time we prepare Lilith's revival, our territories will be completely overrun.]
But the Lord of Black Glory scoffed at their every rational doubt and fear.
[We can awaken her.]
The other lords' wills focused on him amid the absolute conviction in his voice.
[And time is no issue. All preparations are... essentially already complete.]
His words puzzled the others.
When had they made such preparations?
[Thanks to Aheta.]
Aheta?
The mention of that name sent ripples through the mental space.
The steward of night. The foolish, arrogant demon god who had been toyed with by Park Chan-woo during the Clan Wars, bankrupted, and pitifully erased.
[Didn't he die? His authority as night steward should have taken everything with him. How can a dead one help us?]
[Of course he died. Miserably so.]
The Lord of Black Glory chuckled.
His tone held not a shred of pity, as if reminiscing over the end of a mere pawn.
[But the legacy he left behind still remains.]
He recalled a time long ago, when Aheta still wielded his authority as night steward.
It was all part of a grand plan he alone knew, begun back then.
[I ordered Demon God Belial to entrust Aheta with the 'Temple of Eternity.']
Ripples spread through the lords' minds.
[I knew of his endless creative desires and obsession with life. So I dangled a bait before him. 'Create a new race, your perfect creation.']
His voice whispered slyly, like a serpent.
[Homunculus. The pinnacle of alchemy. I hid the true goal of resurrecting Lilith and let him chase the sweet dream of 'creating new life.' The fool never suspected my intentions, holing up in the deepest part of night's domain, the Temple of Eternity, devoting millennia to research.]
The results were dismal.
Aheta had never succeeded in creating new life.
But that was not what the Lord of Black Glory had truly sought.
[What I was truly researching were Lilith's 'cells.']
His voice sank low.
[I gave them to him. Aheta was captivated by their infinite vitality and proliferative power. Without knowing what they were, he cultured and multiplied the cells, trying to build his own legion from them. All failures, of course.]
Even the partial successes had been hidden by Belial out of shame.
A human named Han Shin had devoured one, gaining great power—but what he consumed was no homunculus made from Lilith's cells.
Merely a byproduct of the research process.
[But there was one success.]
There had been a success, separately.
A homunculus made from Lilith's cells.
However, it did not grow.
Like in Han Shin's case, it needed another vessel.
And the Lord of Black Glory had experimented with countless 'vessels,' all failures.
Their bodies burst apart, unable to endure.
Even most demon kings lasted less than three seconds.
But Gremory, a demon god, would be different.
She bore Lilith's blood.
And moreover.
'The authority of life is mine as well.'
If the Lord of Darkness had taken the 'Primordial Light,' then the 'Primordial Life' belonged to him.
With this, Lilith's revival could be made even more certain.
[Our mother will revive. And furthermore...]
The Lord of Black Glory murmured his final words.
[We will win this war.]
The Eternal Prison.
The Abyss's darkest, deepest place—a space of oblivion where even the flow of time had halted.
Inside the iron bars, a woman hung her head, bound in chains.
Ancient runes sealing her divinity were carved into her skin with blood.
Her limbs, shackled, could not so much as twitch.
Dark crimson blood dripped from her body, soaking the floor, yet not a single groan escaped her lips.
The Demon God of Lamentation, Gremory.
She had lost everything.
Branded a traitor, stripped of all authority and power.
A prisoner awaiting her end in this eternal solitude.
Creeeak.
The heavy iron door of the prison groaned open.
Gremory did not stir.
Torture, or perhaps her final moment had come.
Either way, it did not matter.
She had already let go of everything.
"It's been a while, Gremory."
A familiar voice.
Gremory slowly raised her head.
She knew all too well the owner of that sinister smile looking down at her.
The Lord of Black Glory.
"I don't like those eyes of yours."
The Lord of Black Glory clicked his tongue.
"But it's fine. You bear the blood of the great mother. I'll overlook that irreverent glare this time."
At his gesture, demons trailing behind him cautiously approached with a transparent container.
Inside the container, a small heart pulsed faintly amid red liquid.
It was the homunculus of Lilith that Aheta had devoted his life to creating.
"...What is that?"
"A new heart for you."
The Lord of Black Glory smiled.
"A gift."