Chapter 152
[Memories embedded in personality traits are partially replayed.]
The moment I heard Lukaela’s voice, a mechanical voice echoed in my ears.
At the same time, the scenery before my eyes shifted as if a lens had been placed over them.
It felt similar to the sensation of returning to Tristan’s childhood through trials.
Flames erupted around the Court of Judgment where I stood. The heat, suffocating in its intensity, seared through my skin.
A fiery hell.
There was no other way to describe the scene before me.
Ash fluttered above the flames.
I stood atop a pile of ash.
When I touched the smoking ash, it wasn’t as hot as I expected. In fact, it was warm.
What… exactly had burned here?
“Child… You’ve finally done it…”
A sudden voice.
When I turned around, there stood a girl with hair darker than the deepest night—Lukaela.
I tried to call her name, but what came out of my mouth was something entirely different.
“Mother…”
“Let me ask you one thing…”
Lukaela looked at me with a dazed expression.
“Why… Why did you do this? What were you lacking? What reason could you possibly have for this?”
Why was she making that face?
Why did she look so devastated when she saw me?
“Answer me, child.”
As if responding to her question, I slowly opened my mouth.
“…Long ago, you told me something, Mother.”
I removed my hand from the ash and stood up.
“Someday, when the Demon Lord appears and defeats the Hero, a living hell will descend upon the earth. And… the seven of us, born as demons, will be the first to burn the earth on that day.”
I stared at Lukaela, who stood there in disbelief.
She was still looking at me as if she couldn’t believe any of this.
My lips twisted.
“But… when will that day come? The first Demon Lord was defeated, and it took hundreds of years for the second one to appear. Now that the second Demon Lord has been defeated, when will the third one appear? Hundreds of years from now? Or thousands?”
“Child. The Demon Lord is not a being I can appoint at will. The Demon Lord must gain the support of the monstrous beasts and demons of the earth—”
“Mother. Do we really need a Demon Lord?”
“What…?”
“Sure, it’s not a bad idea for the Demon Lord to tear down the boundary between earth and hell and bring a living hell to the surface. But suddenly, I thought… If we’re going to burn it all anyway… If the world is destined to burn, why not have a powerful demon appear from the start and burn it all down instead of waiting for a Demon Lord?”
For some reason, I felt like laughing.
Lukaela shook her head firmly.
“That would violate the rules of this world.”
“Hahaha… Who set those rules?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know? It was ‘That Person’ who set the rules. As long as we exist in this world, we cannot escape the rules set by ‘That Person.'”
“That Person.”
It had been a long time since I last heard that resonance.
It was also the term the gods of the Otherworld used to refer to my younger sister, the original author, with reverence.
“I’ve waited for so long because of those rules. But I don’t think I can wait any longer. As you know, Mother, I have no patience.”
I kicked the pile of ash at my feet. Lukaela’s eyes flashed.
“So… I know. I know you’re that kind of child. But that doesn’t give you a reason to kill your siblings!”
Thump…
Something stirred in my heart.
Emotions other than ‘Wrath’ surged violently.
The ash piled at my feet was indeed my siblings. Reduced to ash by my hands… my beloved siblings.
“Tell me! What reason could you possibly have for devouring your siblings like this?!”
In response to Lukaela’s near-scream, I answered.
“I was angry.”
“What…?”
Even I was surprised by how calm my voice sounded.
“I was sick of being treated like a child by you, Mother. So I wanted to show you that I could do it on my own this time. That I could burn the earth without a Demon Lord, without my siblings.”
“You…”
“If you hand over the rest of my siblings, I’ll show you the earth turned into a sea of flames. I promise. I’ll accomplish what you couldn’t do while trapped in hell. So, Mother…”
A gentle smile spread across my lips.
“Just be good to me.”
The screams of my siblings, burned alive, seemed to echo in my heart.
And Lukaela, as if she could hear those screams, spoke with a dark expression.
“No. I won’t let that happen.”
Her shadow, as dark as the deepest night, slowly rose.
The darkest magic in this world. The magic of Lukaela, the ruler of hell.
“From now on, I will curse you, Ruelberta.”
“Mother…?”
“You will ‘Jealousy’ for eternity.”
At that moment, my chest began to tremble.
“?!”
“You will ‘Greed’ for eternity.”
With each word from Lukaela, I was gripped by a pain as if my heart was being torn apart.
Overwhelmed by agony, I collapsed to the ground and vomited blood. But her mouth didn’t stop.
“You will ‘Pride’ for eternity.”
The personalities I had gained by killing my siblings gnawed at me as if seeking revenge.
I felt the magic power within me draining away.
The magic was forcibly pulled out, sucked into Lukaela’s shadow.
What emerged from my body was a murky black energy.
The magic power that only the highest-ranking demons of the Flower of Evil could wield.
It was none other than the dark magic I had received from my parent, Lukaela.
In an instant, stripped of my magic, I noticed the Flower of Evil engraved on my wrist had disappeared.
“This…”
Lukaela spoke to me as I lay there in disbelief.
“Ruelberta, you are no longer a demon. You are now human.”
“Mother…”
“You will live in ‘Wrath’ for the rest of your life. The emotions you stole by killing your siblings will torment you, leading you to ruin. Even if you die, your descendants will never escape this fate.”
“Why……”
“I banish you from hell.”
As she spoke, the lens covering my vision cracked.
In the shattered world, like broken glass, Lukaela muttered as if lamenting.
“And I too… will try to forget you from the depths of hell. My most cherished child.”
Crash!
The scenery before my eyes shattered with a sound.
Amid the fragments of the broken past, Lukaela revealed herself.
“Do you understand now? The story tied to ‘your body.'”
“…Yes.”
She stared at me, her appearance not much different from the past.
Though she looked identical to Michaela of Paradise, her hair color, clothes, and aura were completely opposite.
“Hmm… I thought you’d be more surprised, but you’re calmer than I expected.”
Why wouldn’t I be surprised?
All this time, I had firmly believed that the founding head of the Ruelberta Family had wished to become wealthy through demons and was cursed as a result.
But it was all a lie.
The founding head of the Ruelberta Family was a high-ranking demon. One who had been cursed by the King of Hell and banished into a human body.
The roots of the Ruelberta Family, scorned as evil, were truly demonic.
Though I was excited to face this backstory, ‘Pride’ allowed me to maintain my composure.
No, I even became shameless.
“…It’s not that surprising. Looking at the history of the Ruelberta Family, it’s no exaggeration to call it a history of evil.”
Historically, the heads of the Ruelberta Family were often madmen, murderers, or eccentrics.
The infamy of the Ruelberta Family, no matter how hard I tried, couldn’t easily be changed, all thanks to this history.
And… knowing this backstory, I could finally understand why the family was the way it was.
Lukaela marveled at my calm reaction.
“Hmm… You’re quite an interesting man. Is it because you’re a possessor? Your aura is unmistakably that of his bloodline, yet something’s different… Nial.”
“Yes, yes! Mother…!”
At that moment, the demon of ‘Lust,’ Nial, who had been keeping her head down like a scared mouse, looked up.
“It’s been a while. Have you been well in my absence?”
“Yes! Of course! Have you… been well too?!”
“Do I look like I’ve been well to you?”
“Ah… no…”
“Then do I look like I haven’t been well?”
“…I’m sorry.”
“No need to apologize. It was all a joke.”
Seeing the usually talkative Nial flustered made me realize just how immense Lukaela’s presence in hell was.
Which is why I needed to gauge what kind of person Lukaela was.
“…You said you’re the god of hell, right?”
“Hmm. That’s right.”
“Then can you let me leave hell and return to the surface?”
“Ah. I did say something like that, didn’t I? Yes, I could send you back. But I won’t.”
“…?”
What kind of nonsense is this?
Seeing my incredulous expression, Lukaela shrugged.
“Those who fall into hell cannot return to the surface. That’s the law of hell.”
“Hmm… That’s a strange law.”
“Strange? Are you saying the laws I set are strange?”
“I thought I was already banished from hell. Does hell take back the banished like this?”
“That was when your body was a demon. Now you’re in a human body. So I can’t send you back to the surface.”
“I see…”
Now I get it.
This woman has no intention of cooperating.
I asked her in a low voice.
“Are all the laws of hell set by you?”
“Yes. As the King of Hell, of course.”
“Then if I defeat you and make new laws, no one will object, right?”
“…Huh? Defeat me? Me?”
Lukaela’s lips curled up in amusement.
“Yes. If you won’t cooperate, I’ll have to defeat you.”
“Y-you?! Are you crazy?!”
Nial, pale with fear, started making a fuss.
“Take back those words right now! Or Mother will kill—”
“Quiet.”
Crunch!
As Lukaela clenched her fist, Nial’s head exploded into a mist of blood.
The headless body collapsed, convulsing. But, true to her nature as a high-ranking demon, her head began to regenerate almost immediately.
After subduing Nial in one blow, Lukaela turned her gaze back to me.
“Is it because you possess four of the Seven Deadly Sins? Handling four in a human body is certainly impressive, but it seems you’ve chosen the wrong opponent this time.”
A fierce energy emanated from Lukaela.
“I have all seven.”
As soon as she finished speaking, ‘Wrath’ overwhelmed me. Knowing what was coming, I didn’t hesitate to draw out my own ‘Wrath.’
I poured all the ‘Wrath’ that threatened to tear me apart straight at her.
“Hmm?!”
Our ‘Wrath’ clashed.
At the same time, I was glad I had decided to go all out from the start.
My ‘Wrath’ was almost on par with Lukaela’s.
Thanks to my training, I wasn’t completely overwhelmed.
Lukaela muttered, unable to hide her surprise.
“Hoh… Are you really human? A mere human body shouldn’t be able to withstand this level of ‘Wrath’…”
“…I just have better patience than most.”
Though ‘Patience’ was doing most of the work, Lukaela, unaware, coldly muttered.
“That’s a contradiction. To be consumed by ‘Wrath’ yet claim to have patience.”
“Humans are inherently contradictory.”
“Are you trying to lecture me now? A mere youngster…”
Lukaela’s ‘Wrath’ suddenly surged.
Under the weight of that immense emotion, my ‘Wrath’ began to crumble.
“Crush under my ‘Wrath.'”
“……”
If I lost focus even for a moment, I would be crushed to death.
The sensation of someone stepping on my heart, I endured it without showing a hint of it, thanks to ‘Patience’ and ‘Pride.’
But I didn’t know how long I could hold out.
Lukaela was, after all, a god.
Faced with a transcendent power beyond humanity, I was slowly being pushed back.
Then, at that moment.
Clang!
The doors of the Court of Judgment burst open as someone barged in.
“That won’t do.”
“You…”
Lukaela’s mouth fell open as she recognized the unexpected intruder. Before her stood a golden-haired, blue-eyed girl who looked exactly like her.
But unlike Lukaela, the girl with a cocky attitude added.
“Sister.”
