After the Lord of the Abyss Awakens - Chapter 114.1

“Bachin, aaah—”

“I’m going to kill you, aaah!!”

The demon group suddenly let out a miserable scream.

Those who had leisure to pay attention to the mental shared domain were startled.

They opened a look and discovered that the screaming fellow was none other than Zepar.

“What was happening? What did Bachin do to Him?”

“Who knows. Weren’t They supposed to have a good relationship? Why would He suddenly want to kill Bachin?”

The demons looked puzzled, but after Zepar’s scream, everything went silent.

The one being shouted at, Bachin, did not appear to say anything.

What exactly… was going on?

The demons were completely confused.

****

At the same time, in the subspace, inside the main monitoring room.

Bachin, who was drinking coffee, wiped the sweat from His forehead, His voice slightly trembling. “Ah, Big Brother indeed found out.”

Morax, beside Him, looked confused about the mental shared domain and turned to ask Bachin. “What happened to Zepar? What did You do to Him? Why does He want to kill You?”

Bachin nodded, collected Himself, took a small sip of coffee, lowered His eyes, and slowly said, “About an hour ago, Zepar sent me several photos, saying it was His latest trendy cat outfit, and asked me to evaluate how stylish it was.”

What a situation. It was indeed Zepar’s stylish demon style.

Morax had an ominous feeling and pressed, “And then?”

Bachin put down His coffee cup, squinted His eyes, as if sharing something very wonderful.

“I told Him it was very good, that the outfit was too stylish. He was excitedly happy and even asked if I knew any suitable place for sunbathing, as His photosynthesis had been insufficient lately. So—”

At this point, Bachin’s mouth corner involuntarily lifted, revealing a somewhat schadenfreude expression.

Morax widened His eyes. “So what did You do?”

Bachin smiled and confessed His terrifying scheme.

“I directed Him to the cosmic domain where Big Brother was about to arrive.”

Morax took a sharp breath.

Dressed in a kitty outfit, He would coincidentally bump into the Big Brother who was probably very angry. The outcome was easily imaginable.

Bachin spread His hands. “I didn’t mean it on purpose. I just wanted to probe Big Brother’s reaction. And now it seems Big Brother already knows the ‘Cat Head’s’ little tricks. Now all the Cat Heads are probably considered accomplices in Big Brother’s eyes.”

How could it not be intentional!

Morax was dumbfounded and exclaimed. “You actually used Zepar as bait!”

What a wicked demon, what a demon without brotherly love.

Bachin’s gaze barely mustered some sympathy, saying to Morax, “Can’t be helped. This was a necessary sacrifice. We must know how much Big Brother currently knows. Thanks to Zepar for contributing to our intelligence exploration. And now, well, Big Brother is very angry. All Cat Heads are doomed, haha. Big Brother indeed doesn’t like jokes.”

Morax thought that perhaps a sacrifice was indeed necessary, but You’re still so insidious!

“What great hatred and resentment made You treat Zepar like this?”

Bachin snorted, His face suddenly darkening. “That fellow Zepar came to my house last year, smashed all my figurines. Not only that, He also made me reset my ten-year game progress, my entire ten-year game record! Do you know how excessive this was? Unforgivable. He deserved it!”

He grew more excited, even smashing the table with a punch.

Turns out this was just personal revenge! 2D is terrifying.

Morax was incredulous.

“In any case,” Bachin squinted His eyes and analyzed calmly, “The first victim demon has appeared. The situation is not looking good. If we don’t prepare well, we’ll be the next ones flattened and thrown into the Infinite Trial.”

As He spoke, He turned to look at the silent Valefor.

Valefor was typically an emotionally stable demon, but at this moment, She couldn’t help but laugh, trying hard to suppress the corners of Her mouth, yet completely unable to do so.

It was well-known that Zepar was a careless and straightforward demon with a fiery temper, even more volatile than Morax. Morax might be rough, but would still consider others’ feelings, whereas Zepar was utterly heartless, bringing destruction wherever He went, extremely rude, simply unbearable.

Ayni often caused trouble intentionally, and you could severely punish Her, but Zepar? He was unintentionally destructive! Every time He caused trouble, it made the other demons grit their teeth, unable to even properly vent their anger. Although Zepar would apologize and often drop to His knees, what use was an apology?

Three years ago, Valefor had brought Zepar home, and in the hallway, Zepar suddenly sneezed and exploded all of Valefor’s treasured porcelain, infuriating Valefor.

Due to Her “intellectual sister” demon persona, Valefor couldn’t take action against Zepar, but everyone knew the anger burning in Valefor’s heart.

Using Big Brother’s hand to teach Zepar a lesson, how wonderful!

Good job, Bachin.

Valefor covered Her mouth with a folding fan, but the laughter in Her eyes was too obvious.

“No, I’m saying, this is not the time to be leisurely,” Morax looked left and right at the two demons, unable to help but remind them.

He shouldn’t have been the one to remind the calm-analyzing demons, but for some reason, he seemed to be the most reliable one present.

“Hehe.”

Upon hearing this, Bachin wore an expression of everything going according to plan, thinking there was nothing to be afraid of. Who would directly confront Big Brother like Aelioge? When the time comes, He would hang onto His father, and no matter how angry Big Brother was, He couldn’t possibly hit Him in front of His father.

But He wouldn’t tell Morax, just as other demons who had thought of this method wouldn’t tell anyone else.

Demons had their own thoughts, and demons were taking action.

Valefor said to Morax, “Don’t be anxious. We still have more than two days.”

Morax: “…”

He was about to speak but stopped, already wondering whether to go home, though it might be the last time he saw his father.

Additionally, at this moment, Bachin’s monitor clearly displayed a countdown: 50:34:13.

This countdown was none other than the time needed for Big Brother to return to the continent.

Now, only a bit over 50 hours remained. Perhaps surrendering now would still be possible.

But Morax only thought about it before immediately abandoning the idea of deserting at the last moment.

He agreed with Aelioge’s proposition – they must have a battle with Big Brother!

****

“Big Brother is getting closer,” Ayni sat on a bench by the river, occasionally casting Her gaze toward the distant sky, a faint smile at the corner of Her mouth.

Paimon stood quietly beside Her, also raising Her eyes to gaze at that distant sky.

Ayni turned Her head, looking at Paimon, curiosity sparkling in Her eyes, and asked, ” Sister Paimon, are you really going to fight Big Brother?”

Paimon responded faintly, “Isn’t that obvious?”

Ayni raised an eyebrow slightly, “I always feel that Aelioge and the others gathering together is not simply about resisting Big Brother. There must be other reasons. Sister Paimon should have noticed too. Why not ask about it?”

Her tone carried a hint of confusion.

Paimon was silent for a moment, then slowly spoke. “Because the situation is complicated. Perhaps it would be something that disturbs my heart.”

A warrior practices heart-cultivation. Before a contest, one must confirm one’s own heart, create fewer complications, fewer waves, and prepare thoroughly.

The enemy demon was not an ordinary demon, but the demon feared by gods and demons on this continent – the ruler among demons, the peak strong being beyond history, bearing numerous titles that made gods and demons fearful. Yet for them, the Demon God Baal was simply their Big Brother.

Thinking this, Paimon’s eyes darkened, and Her fists unconsciously clenched, as if making some kind of resolution.

****

On the other side, in the Oedipus Imperial City, night fell, and the hour hand pointed to nine.

Several cats at home had already rolled over and were fast asleep.

In the study, the light was still bright, and the sound of page-turning occasionally broke the night’s silence.

A little dark cloud lingered around the person at the desk.

Xiu Si sat beside the desk, one hand supporting his chin, gazing tenderly at the scene before him.

The little light body was grabbing a milk bottle, gulping down milk. Looking at the increasingly bright halo above Its head, one could tell It was slowly and healthily growing.

It seemed to be trying to learn human language recently, occasionally consulting the big orange cat.

The big orange cat was a good brother, patient and loving, and even more caring when It was a younger sister.

He wanted to take care of the little dark cloud, but the little dark cloud was foolishly brainless, currently in the process of growing a brain, not understanding whatever was said. The little dark cloud would occasionally look at nothing and run around Its father, doing nothing but making it rain.

This rain was naturally not a curse rain, but… just ordinary rainwater?

The big orange cat looked at the little dark cloud, eyes full of confusion.

The little dark cloud seemed to sense the big orange cat’s gaze, suddenly stopping Its rotation, slowly drifting towards the big orange, as if meeting Its gaze.

If the little dark cloud had eyes, It would probably be blinking in response.

The big orange cat had an impulse, raising Its fluffy paw, wanting to gently touch this cotton candy-like new sibling.

However, just as the paw was about to touch the little dark cloud, the little dark cloud suddenly collapsed.

The big orange cat was stunned, pupils filled with shock and incomprehension.

Huh? What was happening?

Frightened, He quickly withdrew His paw.

Fortunately, a few seconds later, the little dark cloud expanded again, drawing close affectionately.

The big orange cat was relieved.

By the way, their other two little brothers, the black and white birds, had been upgrading in the system box recently, seemingly stimulated by their high levels and wanting to become strong and useful as soon as possible.

The big orange cat hadn’t expected the God of Light and the God of Darkness to become their siblings. He was slightly surprised when He first found out, but quickly accepted it, having been accustomed to siblings increasing since the abyss.

Thankfully, their father hadn’t been thinking about making new babies recently, currently focused on career upgrading! In any case, there couldn’t be more demon babies in the family.

The big orange cat thought gently, suddenly seeing the cat head demon’s information update.

Information created by demon Bachin.

Latest News 1: “Zepar was dealt with by Big Brother”

Latest News 2: “Big Brother discovered the cat’s tricks, cat avatars will likely be deemed accomplices”

Latest News 3: “Big Brother is very angry, consequences are severe”

The big orange cat was internally shocked. Wait, what did this have to do with Zepar?

Bachin immediately posted the first half of Zepar’s miserable encounter with Big Brother.

In the empty subspace, Zepar, dressed in a fashionable cat outfit, was floating in mid-air sunbathing.

The next second, the sun was blasted apart.

Immediately after, violent fire and lightning intertwined, and a tremendously mighty man walked out of the distorted spacetime.

The man suddenly stopped, glanced at Zepar, and the scene abruptly froze, emitting a terrifying sizzling sound, followed by Zepar’s consecutive miserable screams in the group.

Reasonable speculation suggested Zepar was probably flattened and thrown into the Infinite Trial by Big Brother.

Although very miserable and innocent, everyone couldn’t help but laugh when it happened to Zepar.

A lesson well taught!

But after laughing, They couldn’t help but turn serious.

Because it looked like— Big Brother was truly angry.

Not wasting words, directly taking action to clean up.

The big orange cat suddenly felt a bit guilty, turning to look at the learning Father.

The big orange cat knew that Aelioge and the others had reasons to challenge Big Brother’s authority. They feared Big Brother would take their father away, so with arrows on the bowstring, they would definitely have a confrontation with Big Brother.

This was a battle about family status, and also an inevitable stage of Aelioge’s growth. Big Brother had once been Their backing, making Them extremely dependent, but over time, the overly powerful Big Brother gradually transformed from a reliable support to a mountain pressing down on Them.

The growth of demons inevitably involves challenges. Even if not confronted today, conflict will surely arise tomorrow. The small Aelioge, who used to hide behind His father and tremble in front of Big Brother, was finally about to face that day.

This was unavoidable.

And the one who could eventually calm Big Brother’s anger and end this family conflict would certainly be their father.

The big orange cat looked at the black-haired youth, thinking back and forth, feeling nervous inside, but also with an inexplicable anticipation.

But if asked about His stance, He… naturally stood on Aelioge’s side.

Because no matter what, He didn’t want to enter the Infinite Trial either.

****

Two hours later, Xiu Si finished a day of learning, picked up several sleeping cats, and returned to the bedroom, placing each of them back in their cat beds.

Some were easily laid down, while others were mischievous, clutching His clothes and not wanting to be put down, murmuring meows or calling their father in cat language, which Xiu Si couldn’t quite understand.

During the day, the Siamese cat and the silver cat seemed to have played until exhausted, almost falling asleep as soon as they touched their cat beds.

Xiu Si had actually noticed something – the children seemed to have something on their minds lately, worrying about something.

Xiu Si half-squatted beside the cat bed, gently stroking the big orange cat’s face with His fingers, His gaze soft, silently saying, “You can tell Father about your worries.”

The big orange cat drowsily meowed “Meow~”.

They didn’t hear, already asleep and snoring, some quiet, some restless, each with their own sleeping personality.

So adorable.

Xiu Si couldn’t help but smile, his mind involuntarily recalling the question Gusin had asked him during the day.

To be honest, when Gusin asked, he truly didn’t know how to answer.

Although he had spoken then, he actually felt those words were somewhat empty.

Now, with the night deep and cats quiet, he finally had time and leisure to reflect on this question: Was he too dependent on the first and second cubs, to the point of neglecting the others?

Before this, he had never deeply considered this question, but couldn’t deny its potential existence.

Mainly, in those years, the other children were still young, needing more care and attention, and as an adult, he should have shouldered this responsibility.