Gacha Leveling

Chapter 201: Chapter 62 – Belial’s Prophet

Valac guided Matthew down the rainbow stairs into the remnants of the cultist camp, making sure no one else was near them to listen into their conversation.

"Let me see that dark blade, handsome." She asked.

"Careful. It doesn’t like to be held by other people." Matthew said while handing it to the demoness.

"I recognize this magic. Belial gave this to you?" Valac asked, examining the blade in her hands.

"Yes. They did." Matthew nodded.

"Why?" Valac asked in a confused tone.

"I don’t know. " Matthew shrugged. "They said to keep it with me at all times."

"They seemed really sad." Ffyr added.

Valac returned the sword to him and sat down on a rock, crossing her legs and spreading her wings lazily.

"You’ve been to their realm, have you not?" She asked.

"We were." Matthew said, finding a stone to sit himself.

Vanessa sat beside him on the same stone, while Ffyr crossed her legs sitting on the ground.

"Before Yahweh created the Prime, all that was were the outer realms." Valac started to explain. "Most of the living things don’t remember or didn’t exist back then. But I was." She looked up as if she was feeling nostalgic.

"Outer realms?" Vanessa questioned.

"The realms surrounding the Prime. The elemental realms, the hells, heaven and the faraway realms, like the Fae realm." Valac nodded at Ffyr with her last words. "It was a mess. Beings entered existence and disappeared with the ease of a finger snap. Realms collided often and wars broke out constantly. But all got into place after Yahweh created the Prime."

"And why are you telling us this?" Matthew asked.

"So that you can understand Belial." Valac smiled at him. "Before Yahweh, Belial tried to create a realm of their own. You know it as Haeresis. But they weren’t as powerful as Yahweh. Very few beings are." She paused, taking a deep breath. "Belial’s realm existed for a while. It was a beautiful place. Much similar to the Prime. But Belial’s power wasn’t enough to create something as stable as Yahweh’s creation. They saw everything collapse into darkness leaving nothing but what you saw in Haeresis. The stench of death, graves and darkness."

"It was a sad place." Ffyr commented.

"I saw its downfall. I saw how that broke Belial." Valac’s voice was filled with sorrow. "You might not believe this, handsome, but I care about them. We were once good friends."

Matthew just looked at the demoness. He didn’t disbelieve her, he just knew that her concept of friendship was different from his.

"Belial aided in Lucifer’s rebellion out of jealousy." Valac continued. "Ever since Yahweh created the Prime, Belial has been jealous of him."

Matthew remembered Belial’s voices saying: "Worship us".

"They believe that his downfall was the result of their creation not worshiping him enough as you worship the gods that govern the Prime and Yahweh." Valac explained.

"So... The reason Belial gave Matthew the sword is for Matthew to worship them?" Vanessa asked.

"Perhaps." Valac shrugged. "I can’t know what is going through their minds. But my guess is that they wish that Matthew acts as their Prophet." The demoness smiled at him.

"Their prophet?" Vanessa inquired.

"Someone to call on to others to worship them." Valac explained. "Like Samil does with Paimon."

"They never asked me to do anything." Matthew said.

"Yes. That’s why I wanted to talk with you." Valac said. "They only asked you to hold his sword? Nothing more?"

"Nothing more." Matthew repeated.

Valac looked in Matthew’s eyes, trying to understand Belial’s motives.

"They seemed confused. They wanted to understand Matthew." Ffyr said.

Valac looked at Ffyr and rubbed her own chin.

"Undertand?"

"They said: ’you will show me’." Ffyr mimicked the demon king.

"I see." Valac turned to the blade that was still in Matthew’s hand. "You’re learning." She smiled at the sword.

The demoness then got on her feet with a smile on her face.

"I’m satisfied." She said stretching her back.

"Wait." Vanessa called to her. "Can you tell us about Samil? He’s the leader of the Paimon worshipers, right?"

"Yes." Valac nodded.

"Where does he live? Are there more cultists? What’s he going to do next?" Vanessa interrogated the demoness.

Valac just smiled and put a finger over her mouth.

"It’s a secret, hot stuff." She winked at Vanessa.

Vanessa stared daggers at Valac.

The demoness just laughed out loud and then her body turned into blood falling into a puddle on the ground.

"Bitch." Vanessa cursed.

Matthew just looked at his sword now. He didn’t want to think about what it meant. What Belial did for him and why. He was just so happy to be back that he allowed himself not to be concerned about it.

But it seemed he could not just ignore it anymore.

"What do you want?" He asked the sword, but he got no answers.

They all stayed two more days in Abule. They wanted to accompany the funeral procession of Uaithne to Southport and make sure Claudio would stay away from him.

What Claudio told Matthew earlier ringed in his ears. Uaithne might not only be a source of power to bring a demon king to Earth, but also be one of the things preventing hell and other realms from having direct connections to the Prime.

He wasn’t sure about how something like that could be, but he remembered how Titania had to use roundabout ways to come to the Prime and seize the Labyrinth of Enkidu for herself.

They took the time to sightsee the small town. Relax on the waterfalls that surrounded the countryside.

Matthew also took some time to talk with Father Oluwafemi. They shared a horrible experience in the past and could connect through that. Both had immense respect for each other for surviving it together.

"I’ll send you Marcus’ address." The priest said to Matthew when he was leaving the church. "I already told him you would be showing up to talk."

"How is he? What he saw there... I can’t even imagine how it would affect me." Matthew sighed.

"I was counseling him before I assumed this parish. Now we just talk online. But he barely leaves his room. Almost never leaves his house." Oluwafemi pressed his lips together. "His brother helps a lot. He’s an adventurer in Laufgraan. Same as yourself. Perhaps you know him? Sebastian is his name."

"Sebastian?" Matthew thought to himself. The one who had a crush on his sister? He could not remember his last name though. "I don’t know. Perhaps."

"Good." Father Ouwafemi shook Matthew’s hand. "Please help the kid. He’s lost in darkness and needs some light in his life."

Those words resonated with Matthew. They made Belial’s image appear in his head. Lost in darkness. He looked upon the dark blade. Were they lost as well and seeking light?

Press helicopters accompanied the funeral procession from Abule to Southport. Matthew and Ffyr were in his car following closely the hearse through the highway.

Once they reached the city, Cathbad and other Cait Siths carried Uaithne on his shield inside the Tower of Ryvylin headquarters. It was a large skyscraper with an underground vault where the body was going to be respectfully stored and guarded.

After the funeral, Matthew took Ffyr home. He told Sarah all about what happened in Abule over lunch. She was worried about Tylith and sighed in relief knowing it had nothing to do with Vine.

Sarah had a stalker before, she knew how nerve wrecking it could be.

Matthew went to sleep, mentally tired by the whole thing and Ffyr went into a dungeon with Sarah.

Matthew woke up at 5 PM with his phone ringing. It was Faralynn.

"Hello!" He picked up in a hurry.

"Hey Matt..." Her voice was low and wavering. She was shy.

"Hey Lynn." He said in a flirting tone. "How’s my beautiful elf?"

"I’m fine." She replied. He could picture her blushing. "I just came back to Earth."

"Great! Where are you?" He asked, jumping out of bed.

"I’m home." She said while sounds of cloth passed through the phone. "I’m undoing my luggage. You sound tired." She added, concerned.

"I just woke up. I was taking a nap." He explained, moving to the bathroom and brushing his teeth.

"I see." Faralynn smiled. "I..." She hesitated.

"I miss you too." He chuckled. "Want to have dinner tonight?"

"I do!" She replied quickly.

"Great. I’ll come by your house as soon as I get ready. About 25 minutes?"

"25 minutes is great." She said, looking around her closet and already picking her clothes.

"Good. Be right there. Love you, Lynn." He said with a big smile on his face.

The other side of the line was silent for a while.

"Lynn?" He called her.

"Yeah?" She tried to hide the wavering in her voice.

"I love you." Matthew repeated in a serious tone.

"Love you too. Bye." She answered very fast and hung up.

Matthew laughed at her. She was so cute. Sometimes he couldn’t believe how a girl like her fell in love with him.

He let Ffyr know telepathically that he was going on a date with Faralynn. He then got in his car and drove as fast as the law allowed him to.