After the Lord of the Abyss Awakens - Chapter 83.1

The orange cat’s form was orange with hints of white. Its neck, chest, belly, and upper limbs were all covered with snow-white fur, like a patch of white clouds dotting an orange sky. From the side, He looked just like a fluffy little sun, warm and bright.

Although His body was somewhat large, appearing slightly inconvenient to move, His eyes were exceptionally lively.

He quickly scanned the room’s interior, then with a push of His hind legs, He slipped in silently. When landing, His four paws touched the ground lightly, making no sound at all, just like a large cotton candy falling gently and noiselessly.

Next, He crept softly to the bedside, His paws obediently placed in front of Him, His round head slightly extended, His gaze fixed intently on the person in the bed, as if afraid to miss even the slightest movement.

In just a few seconds, His eyes filled with glistening tears. Tear after tear rolled down His cheeks, falling onto His paws, wetting His fluffy, soft cat fur.

When He was young, He was very quiet when quiet, but when active, He loved to talk, sharing all kinds of stories. Some of His siblings were willing to listen, while others were not, calling Him a noisy demon, even louder than Buer, saying His mind was always wandering, and He loved to make noise by tapping things.

He felt troubled, so He decided to confide in His father. That day, His father gently stroked His head and softly comforted Him: “It’s okay, you just need to stick to your own choices. If your brothers and sisters don’t want to listen, you can tell me. I’ll always be here to listen to your stories.”

He believed His father’s words, but then His father disappeared for over eight thousand years.

“…”

The room was dark, with no lighting. The only light source was the bright moon outside, its radiance shining through the window, bringing a faint glow into the room.

The soft moonlight fell on the orange cat’s back, as if draping Him in a silver halo.

The orange cat’s expression was solemn, His eyes reflecting deep worry and concern.

What had happened? He had no idea.

He felt that His father had been using His power, so He followed this connection all the way, finally arriving here.

He hadn’t held any hope initially, but His father’s real person shattered all doubts.

He had just been quietly observing the situation inside from the window, lost in deep thought. After half an hour of pondering, He finally understood their strategy, so He too transformed into a cat and appeared silently.

He lowered His gaze. His twenty-first brother’s tail was still outside the blanket, and His nineteenth brother’s cowlick was visible too.

These two brothers, along with a bunch of siblings, all knew father had returned, but remained silent, because this way they could monopolize father’s time a little longer.

Some naughty demons.

The orange cat’s gaze was deep. He raised His paw, about to type out a few words in the mental shared domain to tell all the demons, especially the eldest brother. However, just as He was about to press His cat paw to send the message, He suddenly paused. His paw hovered in the air, tapping back and forth, never quite deciding to press down.

If they knew, wouldn’t this place become lively? Their family had too many members, so many that each demon felt they didn’t get enough love.

The orange cat was a gentle demon, so His heart was conflicted, but what worried Him most was His father’s condition.

Father had collapsed from exhaustion. These naughty demons, what exactly did they make Father do? Or rather, what did they do to Father?

The orange cat gnashed His teeth, but ultimately held back. He carefully approached His father, gently nuzzling him with His fluffy face, then softly stroking him with His paws, as if checking if he was alright.

Only after confirming that His father was safe and sound, just a bit tired, did the orange cat finally feel relieved.

Father had returned, Father was alright! Meow-wu-wu, that was truly wonderful.

****

On another side, in Duke Luo Ke’s bedroom.

The old magicians checked again and again, finally confirming that Duke Luo Ke’s body was normal.

“He’s fine now.”

“Duke Luo Ke has fully recovered.”

Francis finally breathed a sigh of relief, as if a thousand-pound weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He almost lost his balance and nearly fell to the ground.

Their memories were somewhat hazy. They could only vaguely recall the scene when a powerful curse force suddenly erupted from within Duke Luo Ke, and the magic array was almost unable to suppress it. As for the subsequent events, they were not quite clear.

When they woke up, they saw the figure of Great Mentor Matros.

At that time, Great Mentor Matros said he had taken care of everything, and told them not to let his student take risks in the future.

As he spoke, Great Mentor Matros’s eyes revealed an unprecedented terror.

Faced with his intimidating gaze, they were filled with awe and fear, not daring to show even the slightest disobedience or disrespect.

Afterwards, Great Mentor Matros disappeared, leaving them still somewhat confused.

Mr. Yi Xiusi was Great Mentor Matros’s student, so it wasn’t strange for Great Mentor Matros to come for Mr. Yi Xiusi.

It was just a bit sudden. Perhaps he had sensed his student was in danger.

The old magician said with lingering fear. “We really troubled Great Mentor Matros.”

Francis sat at the bedside, confirming that Duke Luo Ke had regained his breath. Just as he relaxed, his expression immediately became serious again. He asked the old magician. “How did an accident happen? Wasn’t it checked? Confirmed?”

The old magician immediately became nervous and replied truthfully. “We did a comprehensive check to the best of our ability, but if it was done by means beyond our knowledge and abilities, we… wouldn’t know.”

These magicians were all experts above level 85. They were all senior court magicians in the imperial palace, loyal to the royal family and sincere to the country. They knew well the importance of family honor, so they would never lie or tamper with such a crucial matter.

Their loyalty was beyond doubt.

Francis didn’t doubt them, but this incident was too strange.

The entity capable of planting a curse seed in a human would have to be at least at the level of a deity.

Was a god trying to harm Luo Ke? No, if a god wanted to act, Luo Ke wouldn’t have survived until now. The mastermind’s target wasn’t Luo Ke, but—

Mr. Yi Xiusi?!

Francis lowered his gaze, his brow deeply furrowed.

Mr. Yi Xiusi’s demeanor when breaking the curse was solemn and sacred, his eyes majestic and serious, completely setting him apart from ordinary humans. This transcendent quality he displayed was certainly not something a normal human at level 40-odd could possess.

But Mr. Yi Xiusi’s attitude towards humans, as well as his words and actions, didn’t have that sense of superiority or detachment typical of deities at all. He seemed like a local-born human, yet not entirely so.

— Deep-rooted humanity, with a flower of divinity blooming from its roots.

Such a bizarre metaphor suddenly popped into Francis’s mind. Although metaphors were a traditional art of the Romans, but…

It didn’t seem wrong either? Francis was stunned.

At this moment, the old magician stepped forward and asked, “Mr. Francis, should we inform His Majesty the King about this matter?”

They had only told others that Duke Luo Ke had returned from a subspace expedition injured and needed rest. They hadn’t disclosed that it was a matter of life and death for the Duke. They had done the same with King Luo Si. This was what Duke Luo Ke had instructed before he fell unconscious. King Luo Si was a well-known fool; letting Luo Si know was equivalent to letting the whole country and world know.

Although the King was pure-hearted, his abilities were limited. Only Duke Luo Ke had always been willing to tolerate and protect him. However, that simple-minded King might not have even noticed the life-and-death struggle his brother had been through these past few days.

Francis’s eyes were deep as he glanced at the still unconscious Duke Luo Ke and said, “Let’s wait until Luo Ke wakes up to decide. Without the curse’s influence, he should recover quickly.”

The old magicians looked at each other, having no objections. It was well-known that Mr. Francis and Duke Luo Ke had an extraordinary relationship. They had grown up together as childhood friends.

As soon as Duke Luo Ke returned to the kingdom, he immediately sought out Mr. Francis, clearly showing their close relationship.

However, this was not something they should be concerned about.

In any case, Duke Luo Ke was safe and sound, the kingdom’s shield remained impenetrable, and this series of events seemed to have come to a temporary end.

That’s what they thought. Until the Alliance suddenly announced the latest observation.

[Otherworld God No. 002 has disappeared, no trace found in the space near the continent]

After Duke Luo Ke’s incident, news of the mysterious disappearance of Otherworld God No. 002 followed closely.

Could there be some connection between these events?

They couldn’t help but speculate.

****

Meanwhile, at the Imperial Library of the Aust Empire.

Inpos said impatiently. “Botis, can you stop watching? Is it really that hard to tell me your history honestly?”

Even honest demons have their tempers. Inpos was usually a good demon, but what Botis was doing was too much. He had opened a large screen, projecting the situation in Father’s room.

Botis must be a divine metal!

In the image, the large orange cat was very noticeable. He was quietly curled up next to the pillow, His slightly opened cat eyes surely noticing their gaze.

Sure enough, the private message channel in the mental shared domain was calling.

Big Orange Beleth: “What’s the situation now? You have ten minutes to explain, or I’ll report to big brother.”

Inpos’s mouth twitched. Big brother was the ultimate threat card. Whichever one came, they could all play the big brother card. Were they all card game experts?

Amon sighed and casually created a group chat.

It had to be said, their mental shared domain was quite modern, designed by Bachin over 6,000 years ago. It was similar to a certain micro-social software on their father’s original planet, with a family circle besides the chat area.

Few demons updated the family circle though.

They rarely communicated with each other, so they didn’t bother with profile pictures and such.

But now…

Amon had a sudden idea. He transformed into a cat, took a selfie, then uploaded it. There, a profile picture.

Inpos next door saw this and thought it was a good idea, so he followed suit.

Botis was shocked. Then in the blink of an eye, all the demons in the group chat had changed to cat avatars.

If other demons saw this, they would probably be dumbfounded, wondering what had gotten into them, changing to cat avatars collectively?

It’s too shameful for old great demon to act cute!

However, seeing this, the big orange cat on the other side immediately changed to his own cat avatar.

His cat transformation speed was comparable to the speed of light.

Amon typed out the text, recounting everything from beginning to end, then sent it to the orange cat to read.

The orange cat reviewed it, his expression changing inadvertently, his eyes sometimes widening like copper bells, sometimes narrowing to slits. Then, He assumed the pose of the famous sculpture “The Thinker”, His cat paw lightly touching His not-so-obvious cat chin, His gaze lowered, as if staring into the depths of the sea.

Amon said calmly, “That’s about it. It’s good for you to know, because we need you to retell our revised history. Don’t you agree, world’s top-ranked wandering poet?”

Inpos paused, thinking this was also part of your plan?

But the big orange cat fell silent, His gaze solemn.

Inpos couldn’t help but feel nervous. Could it be that Beleth didn’t agree with the history revision? It made sense, as Beleth was a wandering poet around the world, He must place great importance on history.

But a few seconds later, the big orange cat looked up, His emerald eyes seeming to emanate wisdom, “You write the historical materials first, I have my own approach.”

His words seemed to indicate agreement.

Inpos breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at Amon.

Amon and Botis, as well-known demons with black histories, would certainly find it difficult to narrate.

But Beleth was a professional demon, and His power was [Word Spirit]. No one was more suitable for this task than Him.

Amon said to Beleth. “Anyway, you should understand the current situation first.”

A few minutes later, the three demons temporarily convinced Beleth.

Half an hour later, Inpos was still preoccupied with a certain matter. He finally couldn’t resist opening the mental shared domain and making a private call to Bachin.

Bachin was drinking oatmeal at the time. Seeing Inpos’s private call, a hint of disbelief flashed in His eyes. Then He opened it, surprised. Why did Inpos change His avatar to a gray cat for no reason?

Was this some kind of dare?

Bachin checked the other demons and found that, goodness, several of them had turned into cats. Was this some kind of trending activity?

Wait, why did Beleth join in too, and as a big orange cat?

Inpos didn’t know Bachin was thinking so much and asked directly. “Did Father ever talk about an anime before, where the villain could freely transfer consciousness and control other people’s bodies?”

Bachin had an extremely strong memory and immediately answered. “Yes, that anime was called ‘K’.”

Inpos thought, sure enough, He hadn’t remembered wrong.

Bachin raised an eyebrow. “What’s the matter?”

Inpos: “Nothing, we’re investigating some past events recently, just asking you for some clues. Thanks.”

“…Is that so.”

Bachin seemed lost in thought.

After getting the answer, Inpos turned to ask Vassago.

At that time, Vassago had just woken up from sleep, His eyelids still heavy, His cat paws yawning, seeming a bit drowsy, “Ah… what did you say?”

Inpos asked directly again. “Did Father ever mention the anime ‘K’ when chatting with people before?”

Vassago’s mind was still a bit foggy. It took a few minutes for Him to gradually come to His senses and start recalling past events.

“I think so, Father often talked about these things, especially when chatting with other heroes.”

“I knew it!”

Inpos had a sudden realization. Without waiting for Vassago to ask what was going on, He turned to tell Amon.

After explaining, Inpos speculated. “Amon, is it possible that when Father was talking about that anime villain, that thing happened to be present and heard it. It might have mistakenly thought Father was hinting at its true identity, because the power it possessed was very similar to the villain in the story. Because of this, it developed resentment and hostility towards Father.”

Amon snorted, “If that’s the motive, it’s really laughable.”

Botis’s eyes were extremely cold, “Even if this isn’t the real motive, it must be a factor that contributed to the formation of the motive. Deep in its heart, the worry that Father might see through its true identity lingered like a shadow, haunting it, and eventually prompted it to take action!”

Inpos nodded and said, “Back then, Father was just an ordinary human. It wouldn’t have needed complex methods to end Father’s life. So, it used its power of luck, leading to Father’s fall into the abyss.”

The demons exchanged information and came to a similar conclusion in less than a few minutes.

No wonder the mastermind was so hard to find. If its power really was [Consciousness], able to freely transfer to any body, then how could you find it?

You might find its temporary body here and set up an inescapable net, but the next moment it could slip to the edge of the universe. It would take tens of thousands of years just to catch up, so how could you find it?

Such a hard-to-catch mouse, no wonder it could hide for thousands of years.