"What the...?"
Blinking my eyes in slight surprise, I turn my head slightly so I can look at Azhdaha from the corner of my eyes. He suddenly appeared behind me. I couldn't sense anything until his finger is buried in my spine. I shouldn't be surprised considering who he is, but I seem to have overestimated myself since I expected to see that coming.
I need to be careful; I can't let the power I possess go to my head. If I am not careful, I won't be able to tell the difference between being confident and delusional. I quickly cast the thought away when a prickling heat assault my spine. It is baffling.
It has been a long time since a pain made me pay attention. I wonder whether the pain is unbearable or my nerves are getting more sensitive.
"What are you doing?"
"Hm? Giving you my bone marrow." Azhdaha quirks an eyebrow. "Can't you feel it?"
"I can only feel the pain."
I frown lightly. Only after knowing Azhdaha is giving me his bone marrow, do I notice something inside my bone is being sucked out. It tingles me uncomfortably. I can bear the pain just fine, but the sensation is still foreign to me. I can feel my bones getting hollowed out and filled at the same time. It is unpleasant.
After some time, the pain becomes more prominent. My movement is also limited since I feel like breaking my bones if I don't move carefully. What attracts my attention first and foremost is, of course, my blood that is oozing out of my pores. The process forces my blood out of my body. I am getting colder with each passing second.
"I have heard that Demons are prideful, but I didn't expect them to be reluctant to show their weak side. It's fine, you know? The process is indeed painful after all," Azhdaha remarks, eyeing me in assurance.
"I am used to physical pain," I answer casually.
I can't see it, but from the way he pauses for a few seconds, I can tell Azhdaha blinks his eyes before responding. "What an enigma. Well, I guess it is to be expected from an Incarnation."
"Tell me about the Great Demons."
"Eh?"
"You won't tell me about Incarnation after all."
Azhdaha remains silent for a few seconds before scratching his head in frustration. I can feel his thoughtful gaze linger on the back of my head afterward. He remains that way until he sighs lightly. His mood is telling me that he is convinced he will regret what he is about to tell me.
"Well...in the Ancient Gods Era, humans were the lowest on the food chain. They could use Magic just like any other races, but not as well-versed in it as the other races. Around this time, Demons roamed the world freely; killing everyone standing in their way. To receive protection, humans worshipped the Gods."
Azhdaha is about to spout about things I don't care about, but I immediately raise my hand. "I don't care about that. I only want to know the significance of the Great Demons in the Ancient Gods Era."
I don't know if he is displeased by my interruption, but the pain I feel shot up after I interrupted him. The pain gets tame quickly, but it still managed to slightly jolt me.
As if he didn't register what just happened, Azhdaha tells me about the seven Demons who slew every God but one. These seven Demons were called the Great Demons and also the reason why the Great Reset happened. Their fight with the Gods destroyed the civilization that every race in this world had built.
He tells me that the Great Demons can be called the Demon's ancestors in a way. They were extremely exceptional and a lot of the Demons fought for their seed at that time. They were the Demons whom every Demon looked up to. They were the only Demons that managed to make Gods tremble with their presence.
The reason why they perished was the Gods' suicidal plan, Ragnar??k. On Earth, Ragnar??k, another name for the end of the Gods Era, is caused by Surtr, the fire Demon. In this world, Ragnar??k is a mere plan executed by the Gods to kill the Great Demons. It is absurd, but I don't think Gods ever make sense no matter where you are.
What is the point of killing your enemy if you have to die with them? If I were them, I would let the Great Demons do whatever they wanted, and then waited until I had enough power to face them.
"Gods are a bunch of superficial dickheads. They like to be worshipped, so they have to listen to the earnest prayers of their worshippers and make them come true." This is the answer I get after I voiced out my thought. "The Great Demons kept killing their worshippers and they didn't want to lose their worshippers by ignoring their prayers."
"Didn't expect them to be idiots," I remark. "They could have just let the Great Demons rule the world."
"Even before they did, the Great Demons could already threaten the lives of the Gods, you know? What do you think would happen if they didn't take action soon?"
Hiss!
I sharply inhale a cold breath as I feel the unbearable aching in my bones. It seems that my nerves are a couple of times more sensitive than they should be. I can't ignore the pain even if I want to. My body keeps reminding me that I am in great pain, which has never happened for quite a long time.
"It is still weird that they just decided to formulate a lose-lose plan. Should they remain patient, they might have more Gods who survived the war with the Great Demons."
At my statement, Azhdaha laughs humorously. "Ku-Ku-Ku. The current God that everyone worships now is not part of the pantheon. I don't even know who he is or how he was born. The only thing I know about him is that he only showed up after the Great Reset."
I quirk an eyebrow, sure that there is more to the history that no one is sure about. "Wasn't he the one who recreated lifeforms and rebuilt the world?"
"Now, I am not too sure about that. Just like how I survived the Great Reset, it doesn't erase the possibility that someone survived it, does it?"
"I knew it..." I mutter.
The moment God was mentioned, I knew there was something fishy. In a world where Magic is mainstream, it is weird to only have one God to govern it. No one is limited in developing their power. They can grow stronger as much as they can as long as they keep thriving. In a world like this, having more than one God should be the case.
The notion of an omnipotent being creating lifeforms that can topple it one day is as absurd as it sounds. Should it have full control over its creation, it won't give them the ability to do so. Getting killed by one's creation is as funny as it is stupid. In conclusion to what I think, the God of this world is not the kind of God that I initially thought.
There is even a chance that he is not a God, simply someone who claims himself to be one. Of course, I won't discard the notion that Gods exist. After all, those who can develop Divinity are in a different league from everyone. Still, I don't think they are as omnipotent as they are believed to be.
They can't create lifeforms, which makes our being called Cursed Creations a big pile of horse manure. No one created us; we simply exist and multiplied until we got here.
"God is nothing but a title," I remark.
"You can say that I think." Azhdaha agrees.
"Now, why don't you tell me about the seven Great Demons?"
"Ha-Ha-Ha. I can't--"
"Lucifer, Mammon, Asmodeus, Leviathan, Beelzebub, Satan, and Belphegor."
"...what the?"
As shock takes over Azhdaha, the pain entirely disappears--the procedure has finished. I lean my body slightly to the front, disengaging Azhdaha's finger from my spine. Blood is covering my skin like a layer of hardened wax. I have to burst a little amount of my Mana to shed them off my skin.
My skin has gotten paler, but I don't think it will remain that way forever because I am quite light-headed. In other words, I simply lack blood. Turning around, I meet Azhdaha's eyes; ignoring his gaping mouth. He regains his composure soon enough and gazes at me calmly.
"Origin is said to be the counterpart of oneself. I initially thought the name was irrelevant since I believed I named it myself."
I thought the reason why my counterpart called himself Lucifer was the belief instilled in me. My mother told me whenever you did something evil, Lucifer was possessing you. Since my counterpart is the manifestation of evil, I believed that was why he named himself Lucifer. At least, that was what I thought until Azhdaha told me about the seven Great Demons.
Lucifer represents the sin of pride. Coincidentally, the manifestation of my Origin, Pride, calls himself Lucifer. I have entertained this thought a couple of times in the past, but I never treated it seriously. I mean, what are the odds? The answer comes today. The Seven Princes of Hell (used to) exist in this world.
As Azhdaha remains silent, I feel cold course through my body. I can tell it is not my blood rushing through my veins. It is of a Dragon. I wonder if I have become a Demonic Dragon with this.
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m