After the Lord of the Abyss Awakens - Chapter 65.1

“Brother Xiu… so many children already?”

Justin had a shocked expression on his face, as if he had been scared back to life from the dead.

T-twenty something, and they were all Abyss Lords. What exactly had happened to Brother Xiu in the Abyss all these years?

Justin’s mind exploded, jumping to a bunch of terrifying assumptions. No, it couldn’t be…

No no, how could that be possible? It was unbelievable!

Justin wore an expression like his world had collapsed, for the first time in his life so shocked.

The two demons next to him had already turned their gazes to the ceiling, with a sense of helplessness as if to say “I’m staying out of this.”

Buer tilted her head and asked Justin. “Is there a problem?”

“This…”

Justin choked up, almost at a loss for words, thinking, if you say there’s no problem, I suppose there isn’t one. After all, he disappeared for thousands of years. In such a long time, having twenty-some children doesn’t seem that strange.

But no, Brother Xiu didn’t seem like that kind of person…

Justin could hardly believe it, even doubting if he had misheard, or if he was dreaming. So he pinched himself, and it hurt like hell. Was it really true?!

Aelioge couldn’t stand it anymore. He pushed Buer aside, walked to the front and explained, “Don’t listen to Her nonsense. Have you forgotten Father has the Creator profession? We were all creatures made by Father.”

Justin was stunned, then suddenly realized, “Ah, I remember now. I’ve seen it before. So that’s how it is, that’s how it is.”

He unconsciously repeated himself, clearly still reeling from the shock.

“The ones you saw before were probably our eldest or second brother. Anyway, let’s not talk about that.”

Aelioge got straight to the point and asked, “Hero Justin, we revived you for only one thing – who exactly was it that schemed against you? Why were you imprisoned in such a place?”

“Who…?”

Justin’s expression changed at those words. He lowered his head, fragments of memories flashing in his eyes.

Beelzebub also said, “You should know the truth about who was behind the plot to kill the hero.”

“Who harmed me…”

Justin frowned in thought, his fingers curling to rub his brow, as if plunged into an agonizing headache.

“Let me think.”

The three demons and one god waited silently for him to speak.

It took Justin a full half hour of recollection before he slowly began.

He said with a heavy face. “My memories are very confused. They were eroded by a curse, so I can’t remember many things clearly.”

It sounded like the clue they had worked so hard to find was about to be cut off.

Aelioge frowned. This mastermind behind the scenes was really too much – they could even tamper with memories?

But Justin continued. “However, I can repair my mind and memories. Remembering shouldn’t be a big problem.”

Aelioge was pleasantly surprised. “Really?”

“Of course,” Buer nodded and said, “He is the Healing Grandmaster after all. It would be laughable if he couldn’t even heal himself.”

Justin’s mouth twitched slightly. Only now did he remember what the title “Abyss Lord Buer” meant.

Back in the Gods Era, the wars between deities never ceased, until it came to the collapse of the Divine Kingdom of Destruction.

After the Divine Kingdom of Destruction collapsed, a few hundred years later, the Abyss fell into chaos, demons emerged, and the continent entered the Demons Era.

The so-called “emergence of demons” referred to the advent of the Abyss Lords.

As a hero, Justin had of course learned about the Abyss Lords. He knew They were all max level and incredibly powerful. But he never imagined that the Abyss Lords would have this kind of relationship with Brother Xiu.

One was already enough, but all the Abyss Lords were Brother Xiu’s children? Wait, did that mean Brother Xiu was the legendary Lord of the Abyss?

Justin felt he had finally grasped the truth, his confused mind finally clearing up about what was going on. So when Brother Xiu fell into the Abyss back then, not only did he not die, but he created these terrifying beings that would later rampage across the continent one by one.

Even Baal the demon god who conquered the continent and Agares who shook human history were children personally created by his Brother Xiu!

Justin figured it out, but still found it hard to believe, inevitably feeling dazed for a moment.

Beelzebub, lacking patience, pressed, “So have you remembered?”

Justin thought to himself, you guys really should be more considerate of an old man. It seems you didn’t all inherit Brother Xiu’s gentle temperament!

However, with so many eyes staring at him, how could Justin, as an uncle by seniority, disappoint his niece and nephews?

Justin had been timid in his youth, but after thousands of years of tempering, he had become a steady and kind elder by the time he was over a thousand years old.

But Buer had given him too much resurrection potion at once, forcibly pulling his mental age back to when he was in his twenties or thirties.

Justin was unaware of this. He tried hard to recall his last memories, then his expression gradually became serious as he said solemnly, “I was ambushed. At the time I was in subspace fighting against Otherworld God No. 008. My comrades and I were exhausted and about to return to the alliance when we were suddenly attacked.”

Aelioge immediately asked: “By whom?”

The little black bird beside them also revealed a curious look.

Justin abruptly said, “The God of Darkness.”

The air fell silent for a moment. The three demons immediately turned to stare at the little black bird.

The little black bird looked bewildered, shaking its head vigorously. “It wasn’t me! I’ve never even met him before, how could I have ambushed him?”

Justin turned his gaze toward it, looking incredulous as if he’d seen a ghost, and said with a strange expression. “You’re the God of Darkness?”

The little black bird nodded. “I am, but you must be mistaken. Why would I ambush you for no reason? Besides, as the God of Darkness, would I need to resort to ambush to kill someone?”

Justin’s expression was complex. After a moment of silence, he said, “At the time, I recognized it as the power of the God of Darkness, but indeed, one who can use the God of Darkness’ power isn’t necessarily the God of Darkness himself.”

Buer paused. “You mean the mastermind deliberately used the God of Darkness’ power to disguise themselves?”

This mastermind was really quite clever.

Aelioge caught on and said, “This mastermind must have collected the powers of many gods, and usually uses these divine powers to disguise themselves.”

Beelzebub glanced at Aelioge. “In that case, when you were attacked and suffered repeated misfortunes, it was the mastermind using the Goddess of Fortune’s power.”

Aelioge: “No wonder that power felt somewhat weaker than the real thing.”

Thinking more carefully, weren’t there patched-up divine curses on the red coffin? Since the mastermind could collect curses from various gods, they probably could collect divine powers too.

Think about that antique shop of Priest Xilin, and that self-contradictory doctrine of the Church of Dawn.

This mastermind was really something else. How long had They been plotting? In these long thousands of years, just how many things had They done?

Laying plans for a thousand years like hidden snake lines in the grass – what exactly did this mastermind want to achieve? What did They want to obtain?

Aelioge, as a demon with deep thoughts, had also plotted some things over these thousands of years. But even He wouldn’t have the patience to plan for several millennia.

What kind of strong obsession was this?

This kind of relentless determination to never give up until the goal was achieved was quite terrifying no matter what it was applied to.

Aelioge felt conflicted. “This fellow is really quite extraordinary.”

“…”

Justin didn’t understand what They were talking about, but hearing that even the real God of Darkness denied this, he figured it must have been something else in disguise back then.

Aelioge looked up and continued asking, “Do you have any other information?”

Beelzebub followed up. “Did you hear anything while inside the red coffin?”

Here is my translation of the continuation:

Justin had barely had a moment to recover before being urged on again. He thought to himself, can’t you show some respect for the elderly? I’ve just recovered from being cursed for thousands of years.

But faced with the demands of his niece and nephews, how could Justin say no?

He had to be able to!

An uncle couldn’t lose face!

Justin endured his headache and recalled, “While in the red coffin, I felt I was placed in a very quiet place. There was almost no sound around, except every few hundred years I would hear some footsteps and voices.”

Aelioge: “Voices? What did they say?”

Justin nodded, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead, “It seemed like someone talking to themselves.”

Beelzebub asked in surprise. “Talking to themselves?”

Justin nodded, “Yes, like a madman, split personality… no, should I say split divinity?”

“What the hell?”

Buer’s eyes widened, already starting to lose comprehension.

Justin: “I couldn’t make out who it was specifically, only that it definitely wasn’t something normal. I couldn’t hear exactly what was being said either, I only remember something about ‘consciousness’ and ‘death’.”

The three demons exchanged glances. This bit of information alone wasn’t enough to pin down anyone.

However, the term “split divinity” did suggest something.

Aelioge thought for a moment, then asked a rather key question, “Were They very powerful?”

Justin paused, then considered, “I don’t think Their power was ultimate, but They probably had a way to temporarily reach ultimate level.”

This power range could narrow down some beings. If it was a god from the continent, that would be easier to deal with. The worry was if it was some kind of otherworld god.

But if it was narrowed down to the seven gods who summoned heroes… who was the most likely?

Several possibilities flashed through Aelioge’s mind, especially the possibility Amon had mentioned before.

— The Primordial God of Humans.

Beelzebub had thought of it too, and continued asking, “Do you know about the situation of the other heroes?”

“The other heroes…”

Before he went missing, Mingjie, Chen Lingxi, Wang Chang’er, and Ye Qingyi had disappeared one after another. He had searched for them, but there were no clues at all, until he too became a missing hero.

Justin supported his aching head and continued to recall, “I’m not very clear. That place was too quiet. They might have been there, or they might not have been.”

Beelzebub boldly deduced. “I think they were all there.”

Aelioge: “Yes, the missing heroes were probably cursed like him and locked in coffins.”

Buer asked in confusion. “Why not just kill them directly?”

Justin paused, thinking his niece’s words were really blunt.

Aelioge pondered. “Perhaps the timing wasn’t right. For example, They might need to kill them at a specific time.”

Beelzebub shook his head. “But They killed our Father in advance.”

Justin was stunned for a moment, only now realizing that Brother Xiu hadn’t accidentally fallen, but had been harmed by something?

Aelioge nodded. “That’s true. But in any case, They must have a reason for keeping the heroes alive.”

“Could it be They’re using the heroes as batteries?”

Buer suddenly pointed at the coffin and said, “That coffin looks like that kind of thing, right?”

Normally, She wouldn’t be able to say the word “battery”, but everyone present was a god or demon, unaffected by that rule, and Justin already knew this word.

With Buer’s comment, he realized it might really be the case. While in the red coffin, he had felt his magic power constantly draining.

It was just that the curse was so severe, he had only paid attention to the curse and forgotten about the loss of magic power.

Aelioge looked at the red coffin. “A battery, huh. That’s possible.”

And the reason for not keeping their Father might be because Father had almost no magic power at that time.

“They had to make thorough use of it, right?”

Beelzebub said impatiently, “Damn thing, going to such lengths. What exactly is Their purpose?”

Aelioge looked at Justin. “Don’t you have any suspects?”

Justin thought for a moment. “If we’re talking about suspicions…there are too many. Both the living and the dead are suspicious. But unlike my previous world where criminal investigations always left traces, this world is too magical. With enough divine power, not only can evidence be erased, but even events can be altered. Sometimes even one’s own memories can’t be trusted.”

Aelioge: “Just give us a few examples.”

“If I have to name suspects, the Goddess of Harmony and the Primordial God of Humans are quite suspicious.”

Justin paused, then added, “Oh right, there’s also the God of War, later known as the God of War and Plague? He could be possible too.”

Aelioge was slightly stunned, then immediately said, “It’s not Him, rule Him out.”

Beelzebub gave Aelioge a subtle glance.

Justin was a bit confused. “Is that so? The God of War and Plague is a god on par with the Goddess of Harmony, like Light and Darkness, they’re twin concepts. I suspect the God of War not because of any clues or evidence, but because He’s more likely to be capable of doing these things.”

Aelioge seemed to want to refute, but oddly paused, a dark light flashing in His eyes. He changed the subject, “No matter who we guess, it seems our clues have run out again.”

Justin pondered, “Not necessarily. Give me a few days. I need to sort through my memories again, there are many things I’ve forgotten.”

“Alright.”

Buer looked left and right, realizing they had been questioning for so long without making any progress.

The little black bird seemed lost in thought, its bird eyes fixed on Justin.

After finishing his account, Justin asked eagerly, “So where is your Father?”

Aelioge: “Outside. This is Celerios’ domain. Even if we wanted to leave, we couldn’t, let alone you. You think about it for now, we’ll find a way to open the domain.”

Justin paused, a flash of disappointment in his eyes. Knowing Brother Xiu was still alive was already good, but did he have to wait even longer to see him?

Seeing him like this, Buer laughed. “Don’t worry, I promise you’ll see Father! Oh right, there’s another fellow, Luo Jie, he’s been hanging on without disappearing, though he almost died too, haha.”

Justin was stunned repeatedly, it had been a long time since he had been so continuously shocked.

Anyway, he had finally gotten rid of that troublesome curse, thanks to his reliable niece and nephews.

****

A few minutes later, it seemed like a tea party had begun in the garden.

Tea was set out on a marble table, with magic automatically performing various actions like brewing tea, pouring water, and stirring.

The three demons sat on each side, exchanging glances.

Buer complained to the sky. “What should we do? Celerios is angry and won’t let us out for a while.”

Aelioge blew on the hot surface of his tea, saying calmly, “We were really careless. We shouldn’t have come to His domain.”

Beelzebub, not very patient, perhaps due to hunger, asked, “Are we just going to keep waiting? Who knows what’s happening outside.”

Aelioge’s hand holding the teacup froze in mid-air.

Buer shouted. “I miss Father, I want to see Father!”

While the three demons were talking, the little black bird seemed lost in thought, its small wing touching its chin.

Come to think of it, when had it lost its power?

As it was thinking this, Aelioge happened to look towards it.

In the era of constant wars between gods, snatching a bit of power from a deity might have gone unnoticed by the deity themselves.