After the Lord of the Abyss Awakens - Chapter 94.2

When he came back to his senses, he found he had already walked through the corridor and was quietly standing in front of the door.

Thinking really could make one forget time.

Xiu Si sighed inwardly, then placed his hand on the doorknob and slowly pushed it open, deliberately minimizing the sound. But like spring bamboo shoots, little cat heads still popped out from behind the door crack.

They stared at him, seemingly very anxious about his departure. Their beautiful green eyes showed worry, only feeling relieved after confirming their father had returned. Some couldn’t help scratching at him with Their paws, while others tried to climb up in just two or three moves.

“Father meow~”

The little short-legged cat, lacking their siblings’ special skills, could only gaze longingly.

“Father meow, where did you go meow!”

The gray cat raised its head, its tone seemingly a bit anxious.

“I just said goodbye to Mr. Francis. Let’s pack up and head home tomorrow morning.”

Xiu Si bent down, slowly crouching, wanting to pick Them all up, but the orange cat was too big – one look and he knew he couldn’t lift them.

However, the orange cat was also a clever child. In two or three moves, it had climbed up by itself, using some unknown method that madeit almost weightless this time.

So Xiu Si easily picked Them up, letting Them hang on his shoulder.

Whether it was from sunbathing or not, They all had the scent of sunshine on Them.

But it wasn’t until Xiu Si walked back to the room that he realized it was because little white bird Paldr had returned.

The authority of [Light] was the warmest authority, naturally bringing spring-like warmth wherever it went.

The little white bird gazed foolishly at Xiu Si, perched on the sofa armrest with wings folded and head slightly raised.

Xiu Si sat beside It, only feeling relieved after confirming It was still safe and sound after going out with Its siblings.

His Paldr wasn’t even a month old, still young and weak, yet already able to go out with Its siblings. That was truly remarkable.

But after playing, one needed to rest.

Xiu Si asked the little white bird if It was tired.

The little white bird paused, then nodded, as if It would say It was tired in front of Its father even if It wasn’t.

Xiu Si said, “Return to the system box first. Growth needs to happen gradually.”

The little white bird obediently nodded, then its form disappeared.

The three cats watched without speaking, at most meowing three times. The gray cat nestled beside Its father, nearly falling asleep in comfort.

Then Xiu Si told Them about the preparations to return home.

They were overjoyed, meowing throughout the entire room.

Hooray! Father was going back to Their home. There were too many human gazes here, which They hadn’t liked much anyway!

****

Meanwhile, in the Aust Empire.

Amon looked everywhere but couldn’t find Inpos, his gaze instantly darkening as he said coldly, “That fellow Inpos ran away.”

Although he was a lower-ranked sibling, he was quite bold to just run off like that.

In comparison, Botis, who was the most likely to run away among their siblings, hadn’t run away yet, which in some sense…

Amon walked a few steps, suddenly stopping to look toward the adjacent sofa.

There, in a dimly lit shadowy corner, a youth with delicate and beautiful features was fully concentrated, painstakingly crafting figurines.

Their craftsmanship was probably learned from Bachin. It wasn’t too good, but His love for Father surpassed everything, so He crafted with intense passion, almost losing himself in it.

Amon couldn’t judge this.

Even Him, a pervert, thought it was perverted.

Though it was fortunate that while Botis was a pervert, He wasn’t the type of pervert who completely disregarded demonic gazes.

Noticing Amon’s gaze, Botis turned his head, hiding the figurine in his domain. With a lazy demeanor, He placed His feet on the table, one hand resting on the sofa, and said casually, “How’s the situation with the otherworld god?”

Amon replied concisely. “Chaos is expanding.”

Botis wasn’t surprised at all, “I can see the approach of chaos from my end too. Humans are scared, some even regret purging the seven great magic families, thinking that without them, humans won’t be able to survive this crisis.”

Amon was quite indifferent, “Fools will always exist, just like there will inevitably be foolish demons among our siblings.”

Botis let out a snort, glancing at Amon from the corner of His eye, “Well, let’s see how they resolve it. Whether human or non-human, those who repay kindness with hatred all deserve death.”

Amon sat down calmly on the sofa opposite Botis.

They had renovated the library, filling the originally empty space with numerous bookshelves.

These bookshelves weren’t just for historical books, but also acted like walls, cleverly dividing the space and creating the atmosphere of a house within books.

They placed several tables and sofas in the slightly wider areas, making it a spacious and comfortable hall.

Just right, the ceiling above this area had religious-styled stained glass windows, allowing sunlight to filter through the lattice, coating the area below with a layer of light. The brightness was moderate but just enough to clearly see each other’s faces.

Botis’s snake eyes were dark and cold. Even when He had no intention of targeting anyone, His gaze couldn’t show any trace of innocence when looking at anything.

Amon was about to tell Botis about the historical re-editing.

Suddenly, He seemed to sense something, His expressions slightly changing as He simultaneously looked toward the dark area beside them.

There, the bookshelves were densely interwoven, almost no light penetrating through, and unsurprisingly, the space opened up.

Accompanied by several footsteps, Barbatos stepped out of the domain, Her expression serious, gaze profound, lips slightly pressed together, as if She had already grasped crucial memories.

Barbatos emerging from the domain meant She had likely fully processed Her memories.

Amon had been waiting for a long time. Seeing Barbatos approach, without many words, He asked directly. “Have you remembered everything?”

Barbatos nodded slightly, Her expression somewhat heavy.

“It’s a long story. Let me answer the most important questions first.”

Botis sat up, His demeanor becoming more serious, “Wait, Inpos hasn’t returned yet.”

A few seconds later, Inpos, having learned of Barbatos’s memory recovery, hurried back.

The three demons were all waiting for Barbatos to narrate the history of the Goddess of Harmony.

Barbatos drew a timeline in the void, extending the time scale to ten thousand years.

Inpos’s eyes showed shock, thinking, do we need to trace back that far?

After recovering Her memories, Barbatos’s demeanor seemed to have changed somewhat. The previously harmonious demon now had more of a solemn divine quality, becoming even more unfathomable.

However, Her essence probably hadn’t changed. Barbatos was the most meddlesome and pure-hearted demon among them.

Barbatos seemed to understand Inpos’s confusion. She stopped drawing the timeline, slowly turned around, and explained:,”Because this began ten thousand years ago.”

“Ten thousand years ago” corresponded to the Gods Era on the timeline, before the heroes were summoned.

It sounded like it would be a long-term scheme of light and darkness.

Amon pondered deeply.

Barbatos continued. “The matter is somewhat complicated. I need to start with the history of the Goddess of Harmony.”

“‘The Goddess of Harmony,’ as the concept implies, was a deity who pursued harmony. Since ancient times, She had always been dedicated to creating harmony, appearing wherever there was conflict. Sometimes, She would soothe conflicts with words, making both sides reconcile. When words failed to work, She would use thunderous means of war to end war with war, suppressing peace. In Her eyes, both words and war were different paths leading to peace.”

The divine nature of harmony was unsurprising.

The three demons could all understand and accept this, without questioning it.

“During the Gods Era, She had always been dedicated to quelling wars between gods. At the same time, She also paid attention to the weak races affected by the wars between gods, including humans.”

At this point, Barbatos added, “Because humans’ form was similar to the gods, they were more likely to evoke Her sympathy.”

Inpos’s eyes flickered, showing obvious surprise. Did the Goddess of Harmony help humans purely out of supporting the weak?

Barbatos continued. “But humans were too fragile at that time, so weak that a single troll could easily destroy their entire country. Even the strongest human warriors were powerless against the weakest gods. Born lacking talents, compared to other intelligent beings of the same era, they were undoubtedly the weakest race. More troublesome was that humans were restricted by mysterious forces from developing upward. In the dangerous environment of the war between gods, humans could hardly survive.”

“So the Goddess of Harmony thought of uniting with six other gods, using a year’s worth of national fortune from human countries to perform the hero summoning magic.”

At this point, Amon asked deliberately: “How did She come up with this magic? Did She devise it Herself, or did it exist before?”

Barbatos pressed her fingers to her temple and replied, “It wasn’t the Goddess of Harmony’s idea. She accidentally learned about this approach from cosmic information.”

Botis was surprised – could it work like that?

Barbatos said, “That cosmic information very likely came from Father’s original world. Put it this way, the situation then was that the Goddess of Harmony was wandering in subspace when suddenly an information hit Her, letting Her know that there was actually this method of summoning heroes from other worlds.”

Inpos was dumbfounded. If the beginning of things was attributed to “chance,” then there was nothing more to say.

Barbatos: “The main reason for summoning heroes was that otherworlders weren’t restricted from growing stronger, they could become infinitely powerful, which was crucial for humans at that time.”

“The Goddess of Harmony strongly promoted this matter, and after the hero summoning succeeded, She also silently protected the heroes’ adventures, until She became too busy with various matters and had to leave.”

Hearing this, the three demons exchanged glances.

Incredible – they thought She had some scheming plot, might even be the mastermind, but unexpectedly She really did it for humans.

The Goddess of Harmony couldn’t be said to have an absolutely righteous stance, using any means to achieve Her goals, but perhaps was the deity most aligned with the concept and most actively fighting against the forces of conflict among all gods.

All these actions were quite similar to Barbatos’s actually.

At this moment, Amon suddenly asked, “How did the Goddess of Harmony view Father back then?”

The key question had come.

In the eyes of the Goddess of Harmony back then, what image did their Father have?

Barbatos pondered for a moment, seemingly trying her best to dig up related memories, but the memories were blurry.

She could vaguely see some scenes, feel the Goddess of Harmony’s thoughts and feelings at that time, but couldn’t get more specific than that. She didn’t know if chaos had chaotified the memories, or if there were other reasons.

Amon pondered. “Back then, the Goddess of Fortune blessed six heroes, but uniquely didn’t bless Father. I suspect all seven gods had different views about Father at that time.”

Barbatos fell silent, “I also find it suspicious, but the memories of specific individuals are too blurry.”

Botis: “If you can’t figure it out, let’s skip it for now. What happened to the Goddess of Harmony afterwards?”

Barbatos continued. “After the hero summoning, the war between gods continued, and She ran all over the continent, unable to take care of humans and heroes.”

Inpos raised his hand to ask, “In that case, She had nothing to do with the mastermind?”

Before Barbatos could answer, Amon continued, “Wait, did the Goddess of Harmony know about the conspiracy behind the hero summoning? According to Beelzebub’s reasoning, the hero summoning was actually a hero sacrifice – did the Goddess of Harmony know nothing about this?”

Barbatos froze, recalling, “There’s nothing in the memories. She thought hero summoning was a salvation magic exclusive to humans.”

Botis listened with some dissatisfaction, “Then are there any other clues? I really didn’t expect even the Goddess of Harmony to know nothing, or was the mastermind so good at pretending back then that even the Goddess of Harmony couldn’t discover the situation?”

Barbatos shook her head, “She didn’t discover it at the time, but later found some problems and also believed the hero summoning magic was suspicious, so She investigated the Primordial God of Humans.”

The three demons were suddenly surprised.

Amon: “The Goddess of Harmony suspected the Primordial God of Humans? Why?”

Barbatos: “Heroes kept disappearing one after another, and the Goddess of Harmony felt something was wrong, thinking of the only god who could tamper with the magic, which was the Primordial God of Humans.”

“He had the motive, means, and reason to kill the foreigners one by one after humans gradually rose up, to strengthen His power to deal with gods stronger than Him.”

Amon seemed thoughtful.

Botis frowned. “But the Primordial God of Humans was eaten by the God of Chaos.”

Inpos also added. “He died early back then, didn’t make it to the Demons Era. When He died, none of the heroes besides Father had met with trouble.”

Barbatos nodded, “Yes, this matter was full of suspicious points. The Goddess of Harmony was swallowed by the God of Chaos while investigating the truth.”

Things seemed to make more sense now, but there were also more questions.

First, if the mastermind was the Primordial God of Humans… wait, the Primordial God of Humans’ power didn’t have much to do with “consciousness”, right?

Barbatos: “Yes, according to historical records and the Goddess of Harmony firsthand witness, the Primordial God of Humans had one and only one power – [Humans], and the effect of this power was to inspire and unite the strength of humans.”

The three demons looked at each other, still finding some parts difficult to understand.

But several points were very clear.

Amon: “We must find the Primordial God of Humans, or find human sages who might know about His conspiracy.”

Botis: “That depends on Beelzebub then.”

Inpos thought for a moment, then turned to look at Barbatos.

Having shared so much information at once, Barbatos was clearly tired. Searching through memories had consumed not only mental but also physical energy.

Barbatos said in a somewhat weak tone. “This is all I can think of now. There are still many memories I haven’t processed. I’ll process more when I get back.”

“Alright.”

The three demons certainly wouldn’t push Barbatos too hard, because they all knew this wasn’t an easy task, and Barbatos had already done her best.

Seeing Barbatos return to her domain, Inpos fell into deep thought.

Among all the information Barbatos had shared, the point he cared about most was – what kind of existence was Father in the eyes of the gods back then? Just an ordinary human, or…

At this point, Amon slowly stood up and said to Inpos, “Alright, twenty-second brother, I leave the historical revision to you. I’m going out for a while.”

As he spoke, he turned his head to look at Botis, “Cooperate with Inpos, understand?”

Amon was the oldest among them, their big brother. Theoretically, they should all listen to Amon.

Inpos nodded instinctively.

Botis stared at Amon, remaining silent for a few seconds before nodding.

****

Meanwhile, in the Roman Kingdom.

Xiu Si packed up his things and walked to the cat bed, half-squatting down to look at the big white cat.

“Vassago?”

He called softly.

The big white cat’s form rose and fell, breathing with purring sounds.

Xiu Si picked Him up and found He had gained another pound.