After the Lord of the Abyss Awakens - Chapter 138.1

Father suddenly disappeared! They immediately showed panic on their faces.

However, Vassago saw at a glance that Father had gone into the deeper layers of the dreams.

“Father went to find Agares.”

Vassago walked to where Xiu Si had just been, stroking the empty air, and faintly felt a trace of energy.

Without doubt, Father had gone down.

Marbas also sensed it and lowered His head, saying, “This is Agares’ territory, so Father should be fine, right?”

Amon nodded, instinctively trusting Agares.

Lelagin’s brows slightly furrowed.

Vassago said, “Right…”

But Sitri expressed worry, frowning as He said, “It’s hard to say.”

“What do you mean?”

The four demons all looked toward Sitri.

Actually, they all had vague worries in their hearts, but Agares was their most trusted elder brother. Everything that had happened so far had been orchestrated by Agares, and Father being able to go down should also have been facilitated by Agares.

A strange wind arose in the dream, blowing through Sitri’s long hair.

Sitri looked at them and said in a deep voice, “Agares always guides Father’s direction, and like Big Brother, is most relied upon by Father.”

Marbas couldn’t help asking. “So what are you trying to say?”

Sitri’s eyes dimmed slightly as He enunciated each word, “Control. I worry that Agares unconsciously controls Father.”

The words shocked the demons. They were stunned for a moment.

Amon stared steadily at Sitri, “How could Agares do such a thing?”

“That’s why I said unconsciously.”

Sitri emphasized, and used Himself as an example, “You all have powers, you should understand what I mean. Like me, back then, after losing Father, I was particularly grieved for a time. I unconsciously yearned to be loved, and my power went out of control unconsciously, making everything around me fall in love with me.”

They listened, furrowing their brows one after another, exchanging glances with each other.

Sitri’s power was emotion, so when it went out of control, it was unconscious emotion manipulation. But what about Agares?

Agares was omniscient and omnipotent – what would be the consequences if His power went out of control?

Sitri continued. “Agares is very wise. He always tells us what things should be done and what shouldn’t be done. Everything right and wrong is extremely clear in His eyes, so naturally He hopes Father will do the ‘right’ things.”

Vassago raised His eyes, seeming to have realized something following Sitri’s line of thought, and said in a deep voice, “And above that, He possesses recognition-altering abilities that could be called a bug.”

Sitri nodded. “You’ve all noticed it too, right? My worry is – Agares will unconsciously control Father to walk on the ‘right’ path.”

Right meant never making mistakes, meant never failing, meant never doubting oneself due to failure, never feeling sad or troubled, never giving up on oneself.

From any angle, this would absolutely be a good thing, right?

But Sitri didn’t think so.

Being absolutely right was as easy as breathing for Agares – it was Agares’ way of existing, and was also His divinity, demonic nature, and transcendent existence.

But Father wasn’t Agares. Agares’ way of existing wasn’t suitable for Father who was human.

In Sitri’s view, free will was one of the most important things for an individual. Anything that affected free will, even parents or spouses, was worth questioning and being vigilant about. Even if that external will only wants to guide you toward being right.

However, Father would unconsciously rely on Agares.

Such a relationship… it was hard to say there weren’t problems. Sitri lowered His head, His gaze fixed on the deep dream realm beneath His feet, His expression darkening slightly.

“…Maybe you’re overthinking it.”

Marbas’ thinking was relatively simpler, He didn’t feel this was such a serious matter.

Vassago had never thought about this problem before. In the past, He probably wouldn’t have bothered to think about it, but now that Sitri suddenly brought it up… damn it, it made Him start caring too.

Moreover, He thought of something even more important – were Father’s choices and decisions up until now truly Father’s personal thoughts? Could they have been subtly influenced by Agares’ thinking? Agares didn’t want Father to worry or suffer, so He might well make decisions for Father in matters where Father should decide for himself.

Speaking seriously about this kind of thing, it meant that – Agares might have been unconsciously manipulating Father all along.

Compared to the other demons, Amon was probably the one who could understand this matter the most easily.

Amon understood Sitri’s concerns.

After all, their second brother was truly too powerful. After His omniscience and omnipotence truly awakened, they didn’t dare assert what He would become.

Amon turned His head to look beside Him and asked, “Lelagin, what do you think?”

Lelagin paused, His elven pupils contracting slightly.

“You were the last demon to see Agares, right? Did He reveal anything to you?”

Amon asked.

The other three demons also looked over at the same time.

Lelagin recalled for a moment.

In His memory, Agares had looked out the window with an indifferent expression, staying silent for a long time.

Before saying goodbye, His last words were –

“I hope this is the best choice for Father.”

The key word was “hope.” It seemed He couldn’t be certain either.

Lelagin recalled the conversation from that time completely and told them everything exactly as it had happened.

“He said ‘hope,’ huh.”

They each had different expressions, not knowing quite what to make of it.

Sitri lowered His gaze, watching the endless changes in the dream realm, and said in a complex tone. “In any case, we can’t really interfere with what happens next.”

They stood here, with what looked like an ocean reflecting starlight beneath their feet, though it was called a dream realm.

In their childhood, the abyss had no sea, even the river water was murky black. He had thought the whole world was like that – barren, ugly, unbearable to look at. But Father had smiled and told them there were places much more beautiful than the abyss outside, with skies and seas, especially the seas.

He had said they were incredibly beautiful places, unforgettable even after just one glance.

He was still young then, and hearing Father describe it so wonderfully, He became filled with longing and kept asking Father about many things from the outside world.

The abyss was a cruel place, where the strong preyed on the weak, where strength ruled supreme, filled everywhere with very despicable emotions. He was originally sensitive, with strong perception, and particularly loathed such a world, always feeling restless and anxious, His mind frantically wanting to attack something, otherwise He couldn’t settle down. And for Him at that time, His only healing was His Father. No matter how agitated He became, His Father was always calm, as if everything appeared trivial to him, or was something that could be tolerated. Being highly sensitive to emotions, He could of course see that Father’s calmness was half natural disposition, half forced. For their sake, Father always controlled his emotions, never letting them feel unsettled.

Such persistence made Him unable to look away.

He liked steadfast things, and staying by Father’s side, it seemed He too could become calm, unaffected by the restless emotions of the abyss. At that time, Father was His only treasure.

Although He had twenty-three siblings, He never cared about them. He only needed Father, that was enough, and even now, His thoughts hadn’t changed at all.

“Hey, Sitri, what are you thinking about?”

Halfway through Sitri’s thoughts, suddenly His straightforward fifth brother walked in front of Him, looking at Him with a peculiar expression.

Sitri’s brows furrowed.

But before He could respond, Marbas reached out and unexpectedly flicked His forehead.

Sitri stepped back, His expression instantly darkening as He coldly said, “What are you doing?”

“Being gloomy outside is fine, but at home you should be a kitty.”

Marbas smiled brilliantly, His whole body gleaming with golden light, excessively dazzling.

Sitri’s brows furrowed even more. Could His fifth brother ever break this bad habit of flicking demons’ foreheads?

Vassago, who was on the side, said, “All in all, while we’re worried, at this stage we can only trust Agares and Father.”

“Yes.”

Lelagin nodded, “I just tried, but without Agares’ permission, we probably can’t get in.”

“In that case, Sitri, you stay here as a precautionary measure. You said your power works on Agares.”

Marbas looked into Sitri’s eyes, unhesitatingly ordering His younger brother around.

Put that way, Sitri had no objections either. He had already planned to stay here on guard.

Most importantly, unlike them, He who had trained before could now skip the training phase.

Vassago saw sparks flying between them and said to Sitri, “Our family has many siblings. If you have any difficulties, just say so. Perhaps we’ll have a solution. Why not rely on your older brothers more?”

Sitri paused subtly, finally realizing they had all changed. “You weren’t like this before.”

Except for Barbatos, there weren’t many demons who had proper family love.

“Demons can change, of course.”

Marbas said righteously.

“Didn’t change for over eight thousand years, but changed in these one or two months?”

“Haha, it’s not really related to the length of time.”

Watching the two demons’ back and forth, Amon suddenly said to Sitri, “What, are you afraid of family warmth now?”

From an outsider’s perspective, Marbas’ enthusiasm seemed to make Sitri somewhat unable to handle it.

What a good combination of the airhead and the grumpy one – when they got together, they could probably do a comedy routine, right? Very good, the family meeting’s performance program was decided then.

Hearing this, Sitri immediately denied it, saying dismissively: “What’s there to be afraid of about warmth? Brother Amon, you’ve changed too.”

Amon smiled, not opposing this point. After associating with these demons for over eight thousand years, even without brotherly love there was familiar demon love.

He looked left and found Vassago had already laid down to sleep on the spot, taking up a posture of one about to stand guard here.

Vassago said, “Since that’s the case, I’ll continue guarding here. Sitri can’t leave anyway. Marbas, Amon, and Lelagin, see if you have anything else to do.”

Marbas turned His head, sensing His main body in the Infinite Trial, then said, “I also need to enter the next stage. Can I leave this to you, Third Brother?”

“Sure, sure, go ahead.”

Vassago waved His hand.

Marbas smiled, and so turned to open a space portal, but suddenly seemed to think of something and turned His head to look at Sitri.

Sitri glared coldly.

Marbas narrowed His eyes and said, “Smile more. It’s because you always have this stern face that everyone thinks you’ll summon the Calabash Brothers.”

Sitri was stunned for a moment, wondering what Calabash Brothers meant.

But before He could snark back, Marbas had already walked through the space portal and left, leaving only His final words: “Let me know if anything happens to Father.”

Vassago nodded, but His yawning motion seemed somewhat unreliable.

Amon chose to stay, simultaneously digesting the chaos power while watching how things developed.

Doing two things at once would certainly not be very efficient, but Amon insisted on doing so.

Lelagin had also wanted to stay, but He needed to stabilize His power.

While Lelagin was hesitating, Vassago adjusted from lying down to sitting up, pinched His brow and said, “Hmm, many gods have come to the Creator God’s side.”

Lelagin was instantly startled.

Sitri suddenly said, “Worried you can’t win?”

Vassago shook His head, smiling slightly as He said, “How could that be possible? There are many methods, I’ve already found helpers.”

“Oh?”

Before the words finished, the “helpers” suddenly appeared.

A circular space portal opened, and two deities walked out from it.

They were the Little Light Body and the Big Light Body.

To be precise, it was the Little Light Body leading the Big Light Body by the hand. The Little Light Body who could only crawl on the ground like a baby a month ago could now walk, and was walking through the void holding Her birth father’s hand.

Seeing the five demons, the Little Light Body even affectionately called them brothers one by one.

The five demon brothers’ expressions were each fascinating in their own way.

How to put it – well-behaved little sisters were too rare.

Lelagin watched them appear with some surprise in His heart.

Vassago looked at the Big Light Body and got straight to the point, “It’s time to speed things up.”

Hearing this, the Big Light Body transformed, becoming a handsome man, and answered Vassago.

“Alright, I will help you all.”

When He spoke, His voice carried countless echoes, naturally containing a solemn and majestic religious quality.

Sitri then said, “Looks like you know quite a bit too.”

The God of Time turned His head to gaze at Sitri.

“Why did you choose to stand on our side?”

Sitri asked curiously.

The God of Time said, “My daughter received your care, I’m returning the favor.”

Sitri found this even more incredible, because He didn’t think gods from subspace would have this kind of parent-child warmth. According to the habits of subspace gods, eating their children or eating their fathers should be where their divine nature lay, right?

Vassago smiled and said, “That’s not all, right?”

Sitri paused.

The God of Time nodded, “Yes, I think you should win, that’s why I’m helping you.”

Amon couldn’t help asking, “What do you mean?”

The God of Time answered, “The Creator God is cruel and cold. I find Him detestable. Most creatures in subspace are like Him.”

Vassago interrupted, “You look down on Him that much, comparing Him to the common monsters in subspace?”

The God of Time’s expression remained unchanged as He said, “At least in my view, there isn’t much difference.”

“Haha.”

Amon couldn’t hold back His laughter.

The God of Time continued. “In any case, what kind of divine nature He has isn’t what I care about. What I care about is that He has too many flaws.”

“Oh? You’re not satisfied with the universe He created.”