Chapter 757: I'm not a monster.
Seemingly seeing the doubt on Lily's face, Vepar replied, "I've read Zahal's and Albu's writings."
"..." Lily and Vine looked at Vepar with speechless expressions.
"You guys are really underestimating the work of those two Demons. They are responsible for recording the history of Hell. It is obvious that important figures like the Deadly Sins would be documented in their books, especially about their Powers"
The only ones who didn't have their Powers described in detail by the two Ancient Demons were those who were allies of Victor and Victor himself.
But such a restriction did not apply to the Demons that once served Diablo.
"Well, I just thought that the Demon King gave that job to the two Demons on paper only..." Lily spoke uncertainly and a little embarrassed.
Vine didn't say anything, but it was clear that she thought the same as Lily.
"... Haah... That statement can be seen as underestimating our King’s capabilities. Do you underestimate our King’s words that much?"
"Wha- of course not! What are you saying!?" Vine quickly countered.
"Our King doesn't do anything useless. If he told Zahal and Albu to detail Hell's history in writing, the Ancient Demons would perform their duty with utmost diligence"
"Recording history means we can learn from it so we don't make the same mistakes as our predecessors. That's what His Majesty said once, remember?"
"Yes..." The two answered at the same time.
"Now that you understand this, you should spend more time reading the writings of the two Ancient Demons. Their work is quite important."
It was worth mentioning that the books that the Ancient Demons wrote were quite popular among Demons, especially the ‘new’ Demons who didn't know anything about Hell.
Thanks to these books, it became easier for Younger Demons to think of Victor as the sole Ruler; after all, the ‘story’ painted him in a very positive light compared to the other Demon Kings.
As a certain Mortal once said, history is written by the victors.
Ignoring the three Generals’ discussion, Helena looked over to where Sloth was sleeping "Where is this place? I can't identify it."
"That's the problem; I can't identify that location either," Aline spoke.
"Huh? Even you can't?" She looked at Aline in shock.
"Yes. I have no idea where this place is" Aline and Aline's subordinates made the current map of Hell. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she knew every corner of Hell recorded by her like the back of her hand, but even she couldn't pinpoint where Sloth currently was.
She even tried to use the Soul Searching Power the Ruler had to try and locate Sloth, but all this Power did was show her the 'Soul’ she wanted to see, not its current location.
Aline theorized that she could, in the future, find the location of Souls with this Power, but she needed more experience in handling the Ruler’s abilities, something she didn't quite have right now.
The Ruler’s Powers were very complex to learn. After all, her entire set of Skills and Authorities involved the workings of Souls and the judgment of Souls, a completely different branch of Skills than she was used to. Because of that, even after a long time had passed since she'd acquired these Powers, she still wasn't very proficient with them.
She could perform basic functions like ‘judging’ the Souls; this was an intuitive process, but doing more than that required Aline's trial and error.
"What should we do?" Aline asked.
"Observe her and, if possible, capture her Helena spoke.
"I don't recommend it." Vaper spoke and then added when she had drawn the attention of all eyes in the room to her:
"Capturing The Sin of Sloth against her will would do a lot of damage."
"Oh? Do you think we would lose?" Vine raised an eyebrow.
"That's not what I'm talking about..." Vepar shook her head at Vine. She couldn't imagine losing even to someone like Sloth.
"I'm saying it's wiser to speak diplomatically with her. Of all The Deadly Sins, Sloth is the most reasonable of the bunch."
"After all, if left alone, all Sloth will do is... well, sleep?"
She was the personification of laziness, meaning she wouldn't bother anyone if nobody bothered her, which was why, even after so many years, she hadn't even bothered to reveal herself and just hid.
Hearing Vepar's suggestions, Helena thought it made sense to follow her advice.
"I will inform the King of our discovery" Helen declared.
"About that... Can you ask him to return to Hell?" Lily spoke.
"Why?" Helena asked.
"For the love of Primordial Evil, I can't take my mother anymore! He needs to do something about her!" Lily spoke in frustration.
"I don't care if he fucks her or something; just ask him to do something to calm her down! That woman is getting more irritating by the day!"
"Don't disrespect the King, Lily" Vine growled.
Lily shuddered when she saw all the women in the room looking at her with disapproving faces
"... That wasn't my intention. I'm sorry."
"I know it wasn't, but be careful how you talk about the King." Helena spoke neutrally but still disapprovingly.
"Don't forget that all the ‘power’ you received was granted to you by The King. Power that is given can be taken away just as easily. Respect is vital and necessary. Do not forget your place, General."
Lily knew very well that Helena wasn't talking about political power but the ‘true’ Power the King gave her that made her much stronger than she was before.
"... Yes I know."
Helena looked at Lily with the same neutral eyes. Because of attitudes like that, Victor didn't trust Lily to lead in his absence.
Even though Helena was half Succubus, a creature of Desire, ironically, she was the one who had the best control over her own desires.
"Anyway, your request has been noted; I will communicate it to the King."
"... Thank you, Helena."
Helena nodded and looked at everyone around her: "Vine, keep an eye on our Horseman, remember that the Demon King wishes to watch over him, and don't forget that despite being weak right now, he is a Demon God."
"I know, I've been following his progress... I predict he should reach the Lower Levels of Hell in less than a few years."
"Good. Until then, keep sending ‘challenges’ to nurture our ‘War’ potential."
"Yes" Vine nodded.
"Vepar, work with Aline to discover Sloth's location. Use the Lesser Demon Messengers. They are the fastest Demons in Hell and are virtually unnoticeable."
"Yes, I was thinking the same." Vepar accepted the order.
"Aline, how are the preparations going for that project ?"
"Everything will be concluded soon..." Aline smiled a little:
"Soon, we will be able to welcome those damn Pigeons into our domain without them dying like pathetie bitches."
"... I understand your sentiment but try to keep hostility to a minimum. After all, for the first time in many years, the Angels and Demons will come to ‘peace’."
"This is a crucial matter for us. Thanks to the previous Demon King's idiocy, our Race is seen with more infamy than before. An agreement with the Angels can help us greatly in lessening our infamy and, consequently, the Demon King’s."
"I know, I haven't forgotten that. I will control myself."
"Good." Helena nodded in satisfaction, and then she spoke. "Aline, contact our Contractor, Valeria Alekerth. She needs to be aware of our plans for Earth as well."
"Since you've met her before, it's easier for you to communicate that."
"Yes, it is easier for me to communicate with her" Aline nodded, "About that woman, I have something to report."
"What?"
"She's asking when His Majesty will visit her again."
"That's hard to say. His Majesty is busy dealing with the Werewolves right now... But I'll let him know."
"Okay"" Aline nodded.
Helena looked at everyone around her briefly and said:
"Continue with your impeccable work. Although His Majesty is not present, he is counting on us to ensure everything stays the same way he left it. We must not disappoint him."
They all shuddered when they heard what Helena said. If asked what they feared most, they would all answer that their greatest fear was disappointing him...
It was this feeling that made Lily shudder earlier when the girls warned her. As Lucifer and Lilith's daughter, she was afraid of losing the Power she gained, but her biggest fear was disappointing him because of her attitude.
"Dismissed." Helena ended the meeting.
...
Samar.
Victor's group's personal quarters.
Anna, Natalia, and Leona were watching Victor.
"Victor, did you really do that...?"
"Yes, of course."
"You're amazing!" Leona jumped on top of Victor and hugged him in a clingy way.
"My son..."
"Hmm?"
"Would you really have done what you said...?" Anna asked fearfully.
Victor raised an eyebrow at Anna when he sensed her emotions.
"What part specifically?" Victor lifted Leona in a princess carry and sat on the couch. He placed Leona next to him and looked back down at his hand.
"About you destroying this whole place..."
"..." Victor remained silent for a few seconds as he looked at his mother's blood-red eyes and beautiful face.
"Yes, I would have."
Anna shuddered slightly at his tone and lowered her head with sadness quite visible in her body language.
"I see... You would purge an entire Race because of just one group of people..." Anna didn't know how to feel about that. She just felt horrible. She didn't care one bit about the people who went against Victor; she just didn't like innocents getting caught in the crossfire.
Victor looked at his Maids, and with just one look, his Maids understood their orders.
Soon, Kaguya, Natalia, Eve, Maria, Roberta, and Bruna spread out across the room that looked more like a house that even had its own kitchen and left Victor, Leona, and Anna alone.
"Anna, come here"
Anna flinched slightly when she heard the tone of Victor's order. He didn’t address her as 'Mother' as he normally did, but rather as ‘Anna; indicating that he was looking at her the same way when he first scolded her.
Anna cautiously walked toward Victor, and when she was close enough, Victor reached out, took Anna by the arm, and placed her in his lap.
Unconsciously, Anna leaned on Victor's shoulders and looked into his violet eyes.
She shivered slightly when she felt his hand touch her face and caress gently as if she were the most precious person in the world to him, which she was.
"I'm not a monster."
"Despite my questionable attitude, I will never raise my blade to the innocents unless I have a good reason."
"Even on that day when my own daughter had her head nearly cut off by some Youkai, I just hunted down and killed everyone, directly and indirectly, responsible for what she went through."
"I didn't attack those who didn't know anything or weren't involved."
Kaguya and the Maids who actively participated in that incident just kept silent as she listened to the two's exchange, memories of that day unconsciously came back to them.
They clearly remembered going through a lengthy screening process using Vampire Charm to find out who was at fault and who wasn't.
Victor held Anna's face in both hands and looked deeply into her eyes.
Anna felt completely naked in front of Victor. It was as if his eyes weren't looking at her but straight into her Soul... It was scary and oppressive but, at the same time, gentle and warm. It was obvious he wasn't trying to harm her or
anything.
"Even if a few pesky packs of Werewolves had turned against me because of my Wife, IT wouldn't condemn an entire Race for that... Unless, of course, the situation where the entire Race unites to ‘purge’ the seed of a possible ‘Hybrid’ occurred."
"Because of that, I said I would condemn the entire Werewolf Race to Maya because I know how it is a ‘cultural’ thing to kill all the seeds of possible Hybrids."
"That was my warning to Maya, a warning she fully understood and managed with her authority to silence the voices of dissatisfaction."
"But... There will always be fools who don't know their place."
"In that situation, I would just hunt down those who were against me and put out the flames of conflict by nipping it in the bud."
"... Would you kill even the children of those Clans?"
"I do not kill children, Anna. Unless that child picks up a sword and faces me."
"That's..." Anna felt like she'd heard those words somewhere before.
"My Warrior's Dogma."
"Those who pick up a sword, and point it at someone with the intention of killing, must be prepared to be killed as well."
"That is the dogma that I, Scathach, and all my Clan, as well as Eleanor and all her Clan, follow."
"Oh..." Anna now remembered hearing Scathach say that to Mizuki before.
"By understanding this point about my personality, Leona never said anything from the beginning, even though I said a lot of nonsense that would go against her personality."
"..." Now that he said it, Anna realized Leona hadn't said anything, No matter how ‘cruel’ Victor's words were, from the beginning, the Werewolf had always had absolute trust in Victor.
Looking out of the corner of her eye at Leona's smiling expressions, Anna felt complex now. To think that a child knew her son better than she did herself. She felt disappointed in herself for not trusting Victor.
She was again fooled by Victor's convincing ‘act’ and forgot to look at who he really was.
"... I'm sorry for doubting you, Vic..." Small tears formed on Anna's face; tears of disappointment in herself.
"It's all right..." Victor wiped away those small tears and let go of her face.
Anna put her face on Victor's chest and hugged him, seeking the comfort of his warmth.
"You can always question me. After all, you and my Wives are what held me back from becoming a Being like Diablo."
Because of existences like Sasha, Hestia, Pepper, Bruna, Haruna, Fleonor, Mizuki, Lacus, Jeanne, Anna, and Leona, who were inherently good people, Victor had morals to fall back on.
Because of Scathach's teachings, Victor would never cross the line of being a complete monster who did not care about anything, not even innocent lives.
"Mm... I will keep those words in my mind" Anna murmured as she leaned her body even closer to and rested her head on his neck.
"Such a good smell... So unique and comforting..." She did not care about anything right now. She just wanted this warmth to herself to dispel all the uncertainties she had been having since Victor's statements.
From that point forward, she decided that she would try to see more through Victor's actions, not just what he displayed on the surface. She'd always managed to do so before, so she did not understand why it would be so hard now, She just had to face him as her son's Wives did.
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