After the Lord of the Abyss Awakens - Chapter 92.2

Meanwhile, Inpos also came closer, carefully examining Vassago’s condition while rapidly searching through all historical knowledge and experience in His mind.

However, He couldn’t find any precedent matching the current situation, and was filled with confusion, “What exactly happened to Third Brother?”

The situation before them was completely beyond the knowledge scope of all four demons – probably only Second Brother would know what was going on.

Amon was silent for a few seconds, “Let’s wait a bit, maybe He really just fell into a deep sleep.”

Unable to think of a solution, Aelioge supported the sleeping youth, looking down and saying, “This is all we can do for now.”

Buer was silent, then suddenly said, “Why don’t we…” Her eyes looked toward the other three demons.

They understood immediately, all thinking of one demon.

Aelioge pondered, “You mean finding Him?”

Him, referring to their eleventh-ranked sibling Gusin.

A very peculiar fellow who traveled all over the world. His lifestyle was somewhat similar to the wandering poet-demon Beleth, but wherever Beleth went, he was always enthusiastically pursued by crowds. Gusin, on the other hand, preferred solitary travels, as if the world was a stage play and He was its only audience.

Gusin had been a loner since childhood, with very different interests from others – He actually enjoyed reading a bunch of obscure philosophical and literary books.

If one had to evaluate him, that fellow’s personality was quite similar to their father’s – calm and gentle, accommodating, never easily angered, always wearing a smile. His level of slowness was not just a little bit – his delayed reactions were so extreme that it amazed the demons. The whole demon was practically becoming an immortal, about to transform into a demon-immortal.

He had almost perfectly inherited their father’s insensitivity. The difference was that their father’s insensitivity was partly developed later in life – Father had to “evolve” this trait to live relatively comfortably under high-pressure survival conditions, while Gusin’s was mostly innate.

They privately called Gusin the Philosophy Demon and Immortal Demon. Whether it was his personality, daily lifestyle, or even his dress style, everything about him had an ethereal quality, seeming very detached from worldly matters.

The reason they thought of finding Gusin was mainly because of His authority – [Truth].

The specific description of this authority was: the ability to reveal the results and meaning of all problems.

In other words, [Must Know].

His authority seemed similar to Botis’s [Sin] and [Punishment], both being abstract authorities of causality – where there’s a question, there must be an answer. But His authority wasn’t omnipotent; not all questions could be answered, that would be too overpowered.

He had once admitted that situations He couldn’t answer were due to His demon power being insufficient to support the authority. As long as there was enough demon power, there would be no question in this world He couldn’t answer.

It sounded exaggerated, but authority was the most special power in this world – what if it really could?

The [Truth] authority sounded somewhat similar to their second brother’s [Omniscience] authority, but actually the latter’s scope was larger. [Omniscience] included infinite illusions based on reality, while [Truth] didn’t include illusions. However, besides [Truth], Gusin had another authority.

For a time, they had helped Gusin improve his demon power, but unfortunately, Gusin’s power advancement was the most difficult among them. It seemed to be constrained by some force – every improvement was extremely difficult and full of uncertainty. If pushed too hard, it might even regress. There was no way to force it.

No matter how much they tried to activate it, and no matter how much Gusin himself cooperated, it was still very difficult to perfectly activate His authority.

Later, what did Gusin say?

— “Let nature take its course. Sometimes relying too much on authority isn’t necessarily a good thing. After answers become too easy to know, problem-solving ability will decline.”

This statement was very much in Gusin’s style, right?

Thinking of this, Inpos said seriously, “I think Gusin’s authority should be able to answer about Third Brother’s situation.”

The mystery of Third Brother’s sleep shouldn’t be too difficult to solve, it should be within the scope of Gusin’s authority.

Amon agreed with Inpos’s opinion. He tapped his fingers on the table and looked up. “But being able to contact Him is a problem.”

Buer worried. “Yes indeed.”

Gusin had been out of contact for over a thousand years. He didn’t come to family meetings and didn’t reply to anyone’s calls. But strangely, His family circle would update regularly, posting a nine-grid photo of the sky every ten years.

So… what should they do?

Should they prioritize finding Gusin to wake up their sleeping Third Brother, or think of other ways to find the mastermind behind this?

This was a matter of choice.

They all thought of the same thing – if it were Father, how would Father choose?

The answer was obviously that Third Brother’s situation would take priority, because Father would naturally prioritize his children’s safety.

“We need to find a way to locate Gusin quickly,” Amon sat on the sofa, gently swinging his legs, his expression serious as he slowly said, “Even if not for Vassago, I have other things I need to ask Him.”

Inpos nodded.

Buer agreed.

Aelioge paused, then also expressed agreement with this.

Actually, Aelioge had wanted to find Gusin before and had indeed tried, but Gusin hadn’t replied. Messages sent to Him remained unread.

What else could He do?

As they were chatting, the little white bird flew down gracefully and landed on Vassago, its bean-sized eyes revealing deep worry, as if also feeling anxious about their Third Brother’s condition.

The little black bird on Aelioge’s head also lowered its head, deep in thought.

“Let’s split up into several routes.”

Amon counted on his fingers. “Inpos, Botis and I will stay in the library to find ways to locate the mastermind. Celerios and Beleth will stay in the Roman Kingdom to protect Father. Barbatos is busy digesting memories right now, and Beelzebub’s investigation is halfway done so let’s not mention that yet. The rest of the demons will go look for Gusin. Any problems?”

“Gusin’s last family circle update was three years ago. Should we try to locate which sky He photographed? What do you all think?”

Aelioge had no objections, and at the same time, a spatial portal opened and Valefor walked out, also agreeing to this plan.

Bachin was following behind Valefor.

Bachin swept His gaze over them, His expression somewhat complicated.

Many of them hadn’t seen each other for a long time, how could they not be shocked seeing each other?

Speaking of which, acting together to help a sibling – how long had it been since they’d done something like this?

Their memories were unclear.

They remembered when Father was still in the abyss, there was one time when Lelagin was kidnapped by a Wisdom Giant. They were extremely angry. To find Lelagin and prevent Father from being sad, they searched the entire abyss for Lelagin, determined to dig three feet deep to find that giant.

Their family had an enormous number of members, and once they decided to act, it was on a grand scale, unstoppable, whether searching for missing siblings or battling abyss giants.

Of course, to put it simply, “unity is strength.”

Although they usually found each other quite bothersome, they had to admit that for the vast majority of things, as long as the siblings acted together, nothing was impossible.

Bachin withdrew His gaze and said flatly. “I know everything now. Third Brother won’t wake up from his sleep, and we need to find Gusin, right? Leave the spatial movement to me.”

Amon smiled slightly, “Counting on you, since Barbatos is busy now.”

Bachin snorted, His gaze fixed on the sleeping Vassago, looking for a while before couldn’t help but wonder, “Third Brother’s demon power disappeared… what’s really going on?”

Buer, unusually serious, analyzed, “It couldn’t possibly be from using too much power. Third Brother has always been energy-conscious, His demon power is at least ten times mine, and He hasn’t done anything, just sleeping every day. How could it be exhausted? Must be another reason.”

Valefor agreed, “Let’s do this – I’ll take Him back to Father’s side. He’ll definitely be better off there than outside, although it will inevitably worry Father. Everything else will proceed as Amon said.”

The other demons had no objections.

Amon added, “I’ll also tell the other demons about this, so they can help too.”

Although whether they would take it seriously was another matter.

Besides Big Brother and Second Brother, there were only a few demons who hadn’t joined the group yet, and they were all difficult to contact.

Although they rarely or never used the mental domain before…well.

****

Before leaving, Buer seemed to remember something and asked Valefor, “By the way, where did our sister Paimon go?”

Paimon hadn’t appeared since the Sisters’ Meeting, but She had said earlier that She would make it to the meeting.

Valefor paused, thinking. “I don’t know, She seemed to say She went wrestling with the Dragon God.”

Sister Paimon was a combat enthusiast, Her love for fighting no less than Big Brother’s. The difference was that Big Brother liked to conquer, while Sister Paimon liked martial arts.

Buer thought for a moment and said, “Is that so.”

Valefor smiled, seeming to see through Buer’s thoughts, “Do you want to tell everyone?”

Buer paused for a moment, nodded, and said softly, “Sister Paimon, Sister Ayni… everyone misses Father and wants to know that Father is safe and sound. Most importantly, Father hopes to see us well, we can’t just think about our own feelings.”

Her mindset had been changing recently. Seeing the joy of Father’s reunion with Bachin, how could She not be moved inside?

She wanted to make Father happy, even if this would mean the space She could occupy would become smaller and smaller.

Valefor smiled, “That’s why we’re setting out now to find our sibling brother Gusin.”

Buer was stunned for a moment, “But…”

Valefor shook Her head, “Father is working hard to level up, I don’t want Father to spend too much energy on us. One by one, let’s take it slowly, don’t be too hasty.”

Timing was also very important. If they all rushed over at once, Father would be exhausted just taking care of them. However, this sister of Hers had repeatedly advanced the timing…

Buer’s pupils contracted slightly, as if She had never thought of this point.

“Besides, I think Father has more or less sensed it.”

Valefor slowly turned around, facing the spatial portal, then turned Her eyes back to Buer and said, “No matter how thick the filter is, Father probably knows that many things about us aren’t right.”

Obvious surprise flashed in Buer’s eyes.

Is… is that so!

Had Father already known a bit?

****

Almost simultaneously, Roman Kingdom, 8 PM.

By the window curtain, the wind rustled.

The large orange cat was explaining the situation to the little short-legged cat.

“Listen carefully, Cele, what’s our current situation? First, Big Brother is conquering the universe, probably will soon reach the God of the Universe’s palace.”

“Then, our Second Brother is in Father’s dream, seemingly hosting a world-class magic, and then there’s our Third Brother, He won’t wake up from His sleep, we’re looking for Gusin, your Eleventh Sister, to wake Him up.”

At this point, the large orange cat paused, seemingly unsure whether to say sister or brother, because Gusin’s gender was somewhat fluid, not caring about image or gender, appearing different each time.

Never mind.

The large orange cat continued, “Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother haven’t returned from finding Lelagin. Sixth Sister Valefor just said, She went to find Gusin, taking Tenth Sister Buer, Aelioge, Bachin, and Morax. Seventh Brother Amon is searching for the mastermind, Eighth Sister Barbatos is digesting memories, Ninth Sister Paimon is who knows where…”

The little short-legged cat listened seriously, but it was still too overwhelming, his head swam, and he sat down again, his big eyes deeply confused.

The large orange cat didn’t pressure his brother, rubbed the little short-legged cat’s face, and instead said, “Anyway, you don’t need to worry about any of this, you just need to stay by Father’s side, accompany Father while studying, understand?”

The little short-legged cat finally understood, nodding.

The large orange cat then put the little short-legged cat down, pointing at the study, “Go on.”

“Meow!”

The little short-legged cat obediently ran over.

Meanwhile, the large orange cat smiled behind him, then sat down by the curtain, taking out the historical draft given by Inpos and carefully reading through it.

The beginning was fine, written very close to history, but after the Demons Era began, the history became…

A few minutes later, even the good-tempered large orange cat couldn’t stand it anymore, angrily throwing the book. “What are they writing?! Every day they say it’s hard to write, making such a fuss, and this is what they come up with?”

As a wandering poet-demon, the large orange cat couldn’t allow himself to recite such stories!

****

At the same time, in the study next door.

Xiu Si placed the large white cat in the cat bed, checked his breathing, then put his right hand on the large white cat’s forehead to feel His temperature, while his left hand gently rubbed His fluffy belly, as if comforting Him.

The little short-legged cat worried, watching Xiu Si nervously.

A few seconds later, Xiu Si stared at the large white cat and suddenly said, “Is it an authority awakening?”

In an instant, the little short-legged cat’s ears perked up.

Is… is it an authority awakening?

He was dazed for a moment before realizing – that’s right, their Third Brother had never had an essential authority before. So this sudden abnormality was because of authority awakening!

But after being excited for a while, He felt something wasn’t quite right, because none of their authority awakenings had been like this, with not even a trace of demon power in the body.

Xiu Si seemed to know what He was confused about and continued. “The prerequisites for awakening vary from demon to demon. Perhaps the initial manifestation of His authority awakening is different from yours.”

The little short-legged cat paused, suddenly realizing something – although his brothers and sisters were very smart and capable, with lots of knowledge and experience, when it came to matters about themselves, none of them understood as much as their father did.

Why was that?

The little short-legged cat lifted his head, staring at his father in a daze, and an answer naturally came to his mind.

Father understood them best because Father cared about them the most.

The little short-legged cat seemed to feel happy again, his eyes shining brightly, and then another question appeared in his mind.

Oh right, speaking of which, what was their Third Brother’s essential authority anyway?