After the Lord of the Abyss Awakens - Chapter 118.1

Only, the mighty and majestic golden tiger pressed down, almost burying the person underneath, its furry head rubbing and nuzzling close to the black-haired youth.

His body was enormous, with a length approaching three meters, his entire form wrapped in fierce and terrifying tiger stripes.

These were stripes that the black-haired youth had personally drawn. His father was single-mindedly devoted, both day and night, concentrating solely on wanting to shape Him into the best version in his mind, unknowingly exhausting his spiritual power and overdrawing his mental strength multiple times.

He was born from the black-haired youth’s full expectations, with a sole desire to fulfill his anticipation.

The other suffered from weakness, wandering helplessly in a strange world without support. So He wanted to become his powerful reliance, protecting him throughout his life from harm, letting him live peacefully and happily, enabling him to do everything his heart desired.

He existed solely to protect him.

—However, He had failed to do so.

The golden tiger, originally rubbing against the person, suddenly stiffened, lowering its head, a dark color flashing in its eyes.

The black-haired youth seemed to sense something, wrapping his hands around the massive tiger’s body, gently stroking its side, and said softly, “What happened back then was not your fault.”

The golden tiger’s pupils trembled, with lightning seeming to flicker between its brows, its body becoming even more rigid, as if its nerves were tensed.

The black-haired youth’s expression remained calm, his gaze gentle, soothing the golden tiger on him, and said, “Baal, you tried hard.”

“I caused you so much trouble. I’m clearly your father, yet I couldn’t protect you, couldn’t give you a safe and peaceful life, and instead required you to protect me.”

“I’m truly an incompetent father, and even today, it was you who found me.”

“I’m very sorry. I’ve never been able to do anything good for you.”

Perhaps moved by the cub’s inner feelings, Xiu Si couldn’t help but pour out his true emotions, his words growing increasingly bitter, his heart filled with guilt and self-blame.

The golden tiger responded by rubbing against his face, just like when it was first born, loving to be close and nuzzle, its furry face brushing against you, bringing warm body heat, seemingly able to heal your heart, making you forget all troubles, loosening your consciousness, involuntarily making you think in your mind: you only need to rely on Him, His strength will accomplish everything, you don’t need to worry about anything.

Xiu Si almost let his guard down, but he was no longer the person he used to be. He would not remain weak and bullied; he would become strong and protect his children.

He seemed to realize only now that his previous unconscious weakness might have burdened his children, making Them feel that since their father was fragile, They must be strong, because only then could they protect their vulnerable father.

Thinking this, Xiu Si’s gaze grew heavy, and he tightly hugged his eldest cub, “Baal, Father has always wanted to tell you, don’t push yourself too hard, don’t always fight, don’t always get injured. Father will now try to become strong and will no longer be your burden, understand?”

The golden tiger said nothing, but its actions were already responding, its head rubbing affectionately, warm and itchy, incredibly adorable.

Previously, He was restrained and would not be this intimate, and in front of His siblings, He had to maintain the eldest brother’s dignity. But now, after more than eight thousand years of separation, finally seeing His father, He had no intention of restraining Himself. Instinctive impulse overcame everything.

His paws surrounded the person, and the action of pressing down was like burying the person within His own body.

At that moment, the cats outside detected the movement.

The two cats witnessed the scene, shocked, and immediately rushed into the room, meowing continuously.

The golden tiger turned back, sweeping a glance at Them.

They were instantly terrified, their cat fur standing on end, but their acceleration didn’t stop, and due to inertia, they almost crashed into the bed.

And just then, the bed finally couldn’t bear the weight, with a cracking sound, about to break!

The short-legged cat, not daring to speak up, tried to gesture with its paw: Big Brother meow, you’re too heavy meow!

The golden tiger: “…”

He lowered His eyes and looked at His body. Indeed, He was quite large, occupying most of the bed. When He didn’t move, it was fine, but once He moved, the bed couldn’t support Him.

But, what problem could this be?

The next second, the bed was reinforced, its durability comparable to a god-level steel alloy. Not to mention moving, even a meteorite falling would not damage it.

At this, the two cats were dumbfounded, simultaneously thinking with the same mind: Big Brother meow, so awesome meow!

At this moment, Xiu Si was engulfed by the long-missed furry embrace, unable to suppress a light laugh, “Haha, still the same as before.”

The golden tiger blinked its eyes laden with lightning, slightly lowering its massive head, and affectionately rubbed against Xiu Si’s cheek.

He was so warm, like a cat-shaped heating pad.

Xiu Si reached out to stroke His back, thinking the texture felt good, just like before – fuzzy.

But this posture seemed inconvenient, so Xiu Si slowly sat up.

Perhaps sensing Xiu Si’s thoughts, the golden tiger cooperatively shifted space, obediently raising His paws. He would occasionally tilt His head in confusion because He was not yet accustomed to human bedding.

If the gods and demons outside saw this scene, they would likely be scared to death.

Who could have imagined that the Demon God Baal would be this affectionate, and even allow himself to be petted?

This was beyond shock – it was terrifying.

But no matter how mighty a child is outside, at home they are still a child who can freely act spoiled to their father!

The short-legged cat’s eyes sparkled, as if witnessing an unbelievable scene.

The Devon Rex cat then remembered that His Big Brother never slept on beds – or more accurately, did Big Brother ever have a normal sleeping time?

His memory was incomplete, but He knew that Big Brother would only rest briefly when near their father, and not even for His own rest, but to let Father rest – exactly like now, acting as a cushion, a big tiger cushion.

Hmm, Big Brother was actually a meticulous demon.

While they were lost in thought, the golden tiger extended a paw and actually scooped up the two cats from the floor, placing them beside His arm, continuing to lie on the bed, eyes slightly narrowed.

Both cats were stunned. When the golden tiger extended His paw, they thought they were about to die, because His paw could casually shatter stars – it was terrifying!

They closed their eyes in fear, but in the next instant, they felt a furry warmth, and when they opened their eyes, they saw the golden tiger’s strong arm.

Their pupils trembled, utterly disbelieving, their reactions completely synchronized.

At this moment, the golden tiger’s head allowed itself to be stroked, seeming to receive the greatest comfort, its demeanor lazy and relaxed, completely unwilling to move.

Xiu Si leaned near His ear, softly asking, “Are you tired?”

The golden tiger slightly nodded, extremely relaxed, its gaze softening.

Previously, He would never admit to being tired, but in front of His father, there was nothing He could not admit.

The two little cats had never seen Big Brother in such a state, shocked and pinned helplessly against the tiger’s chest.

Xiu Si turned to look and smiled. The big tiger with small cats in the same frame – wasn’t this scene inexplicably adorable? Like a large golden bread covering two small marshmallows, cute multiplied by three, no, thirty! If Uncle Wang was here, he might have already called the police to complain about being overwhelmed by cuteness.

Xiu Si laughed, feeling the scene was excessively heartwarming. However, he also noticed that His eldest cub seemed tired upon returning, with drooping eyelids, looking sleepy.

Perhaps… from exhaustion? He felt the cub seemed to have rushed back, experiencing who knows what along the way, so resting was good.

“Guarding your younger brothers and sisters for so many years must have been hard on you.”

Xiu Si stroked and smoothed His fur, his words seemingly carrying a power to comfort the demon’s heart.

The mighty golden tiger’s eyelids lowered further, breathing becoming more even, the cold and stern face flashing a hint of softness.

Xiu Si felt reassured, and then noticed that His eldest cub’s appearance hadn’t changed at all from before.

After more than eight thousand years, with His cub loving to train, it was impossible for His body not to change. So it seemed the cub deliberately returned to His previous form, rather than His current state.

A bit disappointing.

Xiu Si guessed that Baal must have a human form, just unwilling to appear in human form.

Why did his children prefer animal forms like cats more than human forms?

Not that it mattered – if the children liked it, that was fine. And their paws were so soft, subtly understanding Wang Chang’er’s furry enthusiast perspective. But he was also looking forward to seeing his cubs’ human forms…!

Xiu Si excitedly talked to himself.

Upon careful thought, he seemed to have only seen Aelioge’s human form, and after that, Aelioge never returned.

Was his fifteenth cub unhappy about being caught in human form, or something else? Otherwise, why hadn’t he come home for so long? Other children had returned later, but only Aelioge hadn’t returned after that…What happened?

Xiu Si felt worried, some thoughts flashing through his mind. Seeing the eldest cub almost asleep, he slowly got up from the bed.

Then checking the time, Xiu Si opened his eyes wide, thinking, Oh, how is it already afternoon? Did I sleep for so long?

Xiu Si paused, immediately checking the system. Without self-awareness, he saw the values and realized his character level had unexpectedly upgraded to level 60 overnight!

The experience value was clearly 230/3800, the profession matching value rose to 82%, the creation skill proficiency was 98%, seemingly about to evolve into a golden skill! Magic proficiency was 59%, alchemy proficiency 50%, with all values doubling and several new skills unlocked.

This progress was incredibly fast. Xiu Si found it hard to believe, taking a moment to finally comprehend it.

He reviewed: he had slept less than a day in reality but experienced ten years in the dream. The accumulated upgrade experience had blossomed, ultimately naturally becoming his progress. Unexpected, yet not unexpected.

Regardless, his eldest cub had returned home, he had upgraded, and recent events had been quite smooth. Very worth being happy about. Could his cub be his lucky star?

Xiu Si thought stupidly, his gaze full of maternal love. Then he calculated in his mind: children not yet returned home were probably just Sitri, Busson, Zepar, Paimon, and Ayni, right?

Zepar might be worrying. This child had a bit of a jumping personality. Just three months after birth, he had seen something in his memory, loving rap, even street dance, and would play with clothing coordination – a child who could entertain himself. He wondered if He could find his way home.

Xiu Si felt he had grown stronger and should find his children, but he didn’t have their information…

Xiu Si suddenly lowered his head, sitting on the bed’s edge, looking at the two cats under the golden tiger’s belly, softly asking, “Do you like your Big Brother’s embrace?”

The Devon Rex cat had already fallen asleep in the “loving embrace”. The tiger’s belly was warm, and once buried in it, one would get sleepy – how could one’s willpower resist?

The short-legged cat was still awake, struggling to raise its eyes, letting out a soft “meow”.

Xiu Si blinked, walked over, scooped up the short-legged cat, sat on the bed’s edge, held the cat in his arms, and gently asked. “What’s wrong?”

The short-legged cat was somewhat confused, unable to speak clearly.

Xiu Si patiently waited, suddenly noticing how quiet the house was today.

Turning his head, he saw the Siamese and silver cats that were enthusiastic about playing yesterday now sleeping very quietly, almost too quietly.

He felt a bit worried, walking to the cat nest pile, discovering everyone was asleep.

No, not quite. Xiu Si’s eyes narrowed.

Previously he couldn’t distinguish real from fake bodies, but after upgrading overnight, his vision had improved. He could see these were all fake bodies.

The real bodies had disappeared somewhere.

His many children… had they all left the nest and gone where?

Just as the eldest cub returned home, it was worth a family reunion celebration.

Xiu Si felt puzzled, asking the short-legged cat, “Where did They all go?”

The short-legged cat was shocked, glancing at the big tiger beside him who might or might not be asleep, trembling in fear, not daring to say it was Big Brother who had done this, that Big Brother had dispatched Them.

The short-legged cat clenched its paw, looking at Xiu Si seriously, “They went to – upgrade meow.”

This was the truth. Everyone knew you couldn’t exit the Infinite Trial without upgrading. Big Brother returning and seeing his younger siblings hadn’t progressed naturally meant proper training. For whatever reason, demons who went in wouldn’t easily come out.

“Hm? They all went to upgrade together?”

Xiu Si looked shocked.

“Yes, meow.”

The short-legged cat nodded.

“So many children upgrading together?”

It felt both reasonable and unreasonable.

But this wasn’t unprecedented. When They were young, Baal and Agares would take Them out to upgrade and train, and Samikina later took over this task.

Xiu Si thought about it and gradually found it reasonable, then asked the short-legged cat, “Will They encounter any danger?”

“No, meow.”

At most half-dead, meow?

The short-legged cat tilted its head, its pale green eyes clear as water.

Celerios was actually a demon who rarely entered the Infinite Trial, because of His pure nature. He wouldn’t cause trouble like other demons, especially Botis. Big Brother rarely caught Him. For Him, though the Infinite Trial was terrifying, as long as He honestly upgraded, Big Brother would always release Him.

So in a sense, He didn’t fear the Infinite Trial like Aelioge and the others.

“Is that so.”

Xiu Si felt somewhat reassured.

“Call Father immediately if anything happens.”

****