After the Lord of the Abyss Awakens - Chapter 68.2

He wasn’t completely confident, unless He found His big brother and second brother…

Aelioge didn’t dwell on this, changing the subject, “Wisdom, what do you think is the reason it’s not Harmony?”

The Goddess of Wisdom said coolly, “Because She doesn’t kill.”

Aelioge: “But She’s the only one who has ever taken away the God of Darkness’ power.”

Hearing this, the little black bird nodded excitedly. That’s right!

Goddess of Wisdom: “For the sake of peace, Harmony has collected the powers of many gods to restrain them.”

Beelzebub blurted out. “Doesn’t this make Her even more suspicious?”

The Goddess of Wisdom shook her head, still rational and unchanged, continuing, “Harmony’s divine kingdom experienced a theft. It might have been lost at that time.”

Aelioge: “…”

Beelzebub impatiently: “Another dead end.”

At this point, the Goddess of Wisdom lowered her gaze, as if deep in thought, “The hint I can give you is… I don’t think the mastermind behind this is any being you currently know of.”

“What do you mean?”

“You need to look past appearances to see the truth. It might be no one you know, yet it could be anyone – god, human, or demon.”

“…”

Both demons were getting a bit agitated. It had to be said, the Goddess of Wisdom’s enigmatic quality was somewhat reminiscent of their second brother. The difference was that their second brother often spaced out, appearing foolish despite his wisdom, and was genuinely, truly naive.

The Goddess of Wisdom seemed to ponder for a moment, then added, “To be frank with you, after you left, I attempted to use my powers.”

“What?”

“I vaguely learned some intelligence.”

The Goddess of Wisdom spoke gently. “It could be a consciousness, it could be a thought. It is, yet it isn’t, like water that can’t be fixed in shape, able to take any form.”

The two demons had never considered this hypothesis. It was as if it had sprung from a blind spot in their thinking, making them feel that reasoning was actually meaningless, and that catching the culprit was the only true way.

“Hmm.” The Goddess of Wisdom suddenly paused, lowering her gaze as she said, “I’ve said too much. You haven’t helped me resolve the issue with the Kingdom of Destruction and prevent the revival of the God of Destruction yet. I have no reason to tell you too much.”

Hearing this, Aelioge’s gaze instantly turned cold. “You’re using information to bargain with us. Aren’t you afraid of dying?”

“Death is nothing more than falling asleep. Are you afraid of sleeping?”

From beginning to end, the Goddess of Wisdom’s tone remained flat, without a trace of fluctuation.

What an impeccable being. With nothing to care about, there was no way to get a hold on Her. Torture was out of the question, any method probably held no meaning for Her.

Aelioge suddenly said coldly, “You seem to care a lot about this country, even going so far as to save it. What if I were to destroy this country?”

“Can you? Destroy something cherished by the person you cherish,” the Goddess of Wisdom seemed to see through Aelioge, repeating, “Can you? Past history can be whitewashed, but what’s happening right before your eyes, how will you whitewash it, that person you cherish…”

“Sowing discord won’t work on me.”

Aelioge was getting angry.

Beelzebub stared at Him, increasingly feeling that something was off about Aelioge. Aelioge shouldn’t be losing his composure like this. What was He in a hurry about?

The Goddess of Wisdom wasn’t targeting anyone specifically, She was just excessively rational and cold like this, never having been friendly to any person, god, or demon.

However, She also explained. “It’s not discord, I just think that one should consider all aspects of everything.”

Aelioge stared at Her, lowering His eyes, lost in thought. After a few seconds, He said, “Preventing the revival of the God of Destruction is a human matter. I’ll see how things go.”

Goddess of Wisdom: “Is that so.”

Beelzebub remained silent, keeping an eye on Aelioge’s situation.

Aelioge continued, “We will find both Harmony and the Primordial God of Humans. As for your one-sided words, we will judge for ourselves.”

The Goddess of Wisdom nodded, “Thank you for your trouble.”

****

After leaving the Prime Minister’s mansion, they were met with the setting sun, the earth bathed in golden light, the shadows of buildings infinitely elongated.

Beelzebub suddenly stopped, staring at Aelioge’s back. “That’s about enough. What exactly are you hiding? Did you think I wouldn’t notice?”

Aelioge’s steps faltered. He slowly turned around, giving Beelzebub a sidelong glance.

Beelzebub listed directly. “Suspicious point one, you’ve repeatedly stopped me from going to the Kingdom of Destruction; suspicious point two, your reactions to certain things are off.”

“…”

Aelioge remained silent, His eyes tinged with the twilight, like a jade-colored lake reflecting the setting sun.

Beelzebub wasn’t Agares, He spoke His mind directly, “You think I’m connected to the God of Destruction, don’t you?”

The calm lake surface seemed to ripple.

Aelioge’s gaze changed slightly.

“Legend has it that when gods die, their consciousness sinks into the Abyss.”

Beelzebub suddenly revealed, “You think we are the consciousness of dead gods.”

Silence surrounded them. His sudden statement was like earth-shattering thunder, shaking the entire lake.

Aelioge’s pupils trembled, his fists clenched under his sleeves, seemingly acknowledging this fact.

Beelzebub narrowed his eyes and said arrogantly. “You’re not worrying about this kind of thing, are you?”

Aelioge stared at Him and actually admitted, “So what if I am? Don’t you think the timing of your consciousness awakening is startlingly close to the time of the God of Destruction’s demise?”

Beelzebub didn’t care at all, “So what if it is, so what if it isn’t, what does it affect? I don’t understand why you’re holding onto this issue.”

Aelioge seemed to become angry, the shadow behind him suddenly expanded, and magic power covered the entire area.

“Don’t you care at all?”

“What is there to care about?”

Beelzebub truly didn’t understand, his brow filled with indifference.

Aelioge finally couldn’t hold back and emphasized loudly, “It means we’re not pure anymore!”

The air inexplicably became still.

A flock of birds flew overhead, and noise could be heard from afar.

But here, it was as quiet as a vacuum.

Beelzebub’s eyes widened, his face full of incomprehension, “What’s not pure?”

Aelioge was about to explode with anger at Beelzebub, his gaze fierce as he said, “It means we’re not Father’s purest children anymore!”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Beelzebub paused, in disbelief, and blurted out. “You’re worrying about this kind of thing?”

Aelioge frowned deeply, “Is that not allowed? This matter is very important to me.”

Beelzebub was speechless. An over eight-thousand-year-old demon was actually obsessing over this kind of thing?

“Do you have some kind of purity obsessive-compulsive disorder? Fine, I give up.”

Beelzebub, unable to bear it any longer, turned to leave. This fellow Aelioge seemed smart, hah, but that was just on the surface. What was he really?

Amon was right, he was simply an extreme father complex!

His attitude undoubtedly shook Aelioge.

Aelioge thought, isn’t this something to care about? They were created by Father, had never lived before, had never been any god or demon, that’s what made them Father’s 100% pure good children!

He stood still, his mind in a storm.

As Beelzebub stepped into the spatial rift, He glanced at him as if looking at an idiot, and scolded, “You’re sick.”

Aelioge was scolded, his mood turned sour, he wavered a bit, but still stubbornly insisted. “Anyway, don’t go to the Kingdom of Destruction. What if you regain the memories of the God of Destruction or something, then you won’t be pure anymore!”

Beelzebub laughed, “You’re the only one going crazy. If I want to be Father’s child, I am Father’s child, regardless of the past, and even more regardless of the future. What does it have to do with memories?”

Aelioge was dumbfounded.

Beelzebub gave Aelioge a sidelong glance, “If you’re so obsessed, why don’t you ask Father? Stupid demon.”

After saying that, He left, and the spatial rift immediately closed, leaving behind a small black bird that didn’t know which side to stand on.

Aelioge stood still in place, stunned for a long time, watching as the sun completely sank below the horizon.

“Let me go ask Father…”

Aelioge repeated this, looking lost in thought. A few thousand years ago, He had fought with the God of War. The outcome was unclear to outsiders, but in reality, He had won. However, before the God of War sank into the starry sky, he said a meaningful sentence.

— [Only I can defeat myself.]

At that time, He thought the God of War had gone mad. What “I” and “myself”? What did that have to do with him?

But in recent days, watching Father resurrect the God of Light, then save the God of Darkness, and even revive the tiny light body with only a single thought left, He vaguely recalled that sentence from the God of War.

That is — He was very likely the divine consciousness of the previous God of War and Plague.

After perishing, He had sunk into the Abyss, then was reshaped by Father’s hand.

The reason He could use the authority of [War] was because He was originally the God of War and Plague.

Father had simply read His essence and written it as information into His fundamental settings.

This realization made Him very uneasy. He didn’t tell Beelzebub because He didn’t want Beelzebub to know either.

This unease was enough for one demon to bear, there was no need for other siblings to know.

But unexpectedly, Beelzebub, that heartless demon, what was his reaction after knowing? He mocked Him instead?

Shouldn’t he care? He was Father’s biological child, not adopted!

Aelioge showed a fierce expression, his demonic power acting up, even his clothes were floating, along with his earrings swaying and rattling.

But after being angry for a while, He calmed down again, pondering Beelzebub’s words in his heart.

“…Would Father really not care?”

****

At this time, in the bookstore.

The little ragdoll was beating up the little Munchkin.

Although it didn’t look like a fight, but more like two kittens playing rough.

Celerios whimpered for mercy, but the little ragdoll cat’s paws struck out, beating the little brother until he dared not disobey again.

On the other side, the two adults were chatting.

They had been apart for too long, and the two talked non-stop, chatting for almost two hours.

“Haha, so how did you escape from the evil dragon race’s old lair at that time?”

“We stole their eggs.”

“Dragon race cherish their cubs the most, unwilling to let anything happen to them.”

“I see, whose idea was it at the time?”

“Mingjie’s. He always has many ideas, though most of them are bad ones, very dangerous.”

Justin didn’t forget to tease his good friend.

“Mingjie, ah. Speaking of him, I miss him too.”

Xiu Si’s voice was full of nostalgia.

“We’ll find him.”

“We’ll find everyone.”

Justin’s tone was certain, but his face in the lamplight looked a bit pale.

Xiu Si glanced at Justin’s profile and nodded, “I also believe we’ll find them soon.”

At this time, it was almost six o’clock. Normally, Xiu Si should have closed the bookstore long ago, but they had lost track of time while chatting, until the evening glow from outside shone into the room, painting the entire bookstore in an orange-red light.

He noticed the sunset glow and said to Justin, “Wait a moment, I’ll go close the door.”

Justin nodded.

Xiu Si walked to the door. He was just about to close it casually, but for some reason, he suddenly had a feeling and unexpectedly stepped outside.

This action startled Aelioge, who had just returned and was preparing to transform into a cat.

Aelioge was still in human form, only four or five steps away from Xiu Si, about to be caught in the act.

Just as Aelioge thought this, Xiu Si suddenly turned his gaze and noticed this black-haired, green-eyed youth who had mysteriously appeared at the bookstore’s entrance.

The moment their eyes met, Aelioge nearly suffocated, cold sweat breaking out on His back.

But Xiu Si just stared at His eyes, with no other reaction, and only said after a few seconds, “Do you want to come in?”

Aelioge suddenly realized that He seemed to have been mistaken for a customer by Father.

He breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt hurt, because Father had once again failed to recognize Him.

–I’m clearly your child, why can’t you recognize me?

Aelioge knew this was because the other had never seen His human form. How could he recognize someone he’d never seen? But He couldn’t help feeling dejected, and dark patterns like venomous snakes surged under His sleeve.

“No need.”

He refused Father’s offer.

Xiu Si just blinked.

Aelioge’s heart was in turmoil. He mustered up courage to look into Xiu Si’s eyes and said, “Can I ask you a question?”

Xiu Si: “What question?”

This seemed like casual chat between two strangers who had met by chance, but for Aelioge, it was a matter of great importance in His demonic life.

Aelioge suppressed His inner nervousness and asked, “If one day you found out your child wasn’t your biological child, would you…”

After saying this, He just wanted to slap Himself. What did He mean by the child not being biological? That’s not how you make an analogy. He should have asked — if one day you found out your child suddenly awakened memories of a past life, that would be more appropriate, right?

But words spoken cannot be taken back, and Xiu Si had indeed heard them.

He lowered his gaze in thought, silent for a few seconds.

Aelioge was almost suffocating.

Finally, Xiu Si answered, “Whether there’s a blood relation or not, a child is a child. The parent-child relationship never changes.”

Aelioge’s pupils trembled, His whole body stiffened, and He stammered, “You don’t care?”

“I wouldn’t care.”

Xiu Si smiled faintly, as if comforting Aelioge.

“…”

Aelioge’s mind was in turmoil, and He didn’t even know how He managed to move His feet away.

Father doesn’t care… Father said He doesn’t care.

He was overjoyed, as if He just realized that Beelzebub was right. He had been worrying for nothing before; in reality, Father didn’t care at all!

He floated out of the alley, then immediately turned back, wanting to transform into a cat to nuzzle Father before attending to His actual business.

But just as He was about to enter, He faintly heard voices talking.

“Justin, let me ask you a question.”

It was Father’s voice, with a hint of confusion in his tone?

“Go ahead, as long as it’s something I know.”

Justin’s tone was relaxed, as if he was a bit drunk, with a wine glass indeed placed in front of him.

Aelioge was curious about what Father wanted to ask. His cat head rested on the edge of the door, looking up.

Then, the black-haired youth suddenly asked, “Can a demon of only thirty-something levels also transform into human form?”

Justin paused.

Aelioge’s pupils shook even more.

Father had recognized Him!!