Side Story Chapter 197
“It looks like I can leave the rest to my children, so I’ll focus on finishing my job,“ Joshua mumbled as he stroked Kireua, his grown-up son.
Kireua stiffened for a moment but didn’t resist. “Are you leaving?”
“I can’t impose on my friend forever. Can I leave the rest to you?”
“...Yes, you can.”
Joshua smiled and stopped stroking Kiruea. They turned to look at Moloch, who was focused on putting out the ebon flames on his body.
Joshua flicked his finger and fire miraculously vanished. Even Kireua’s eyes widened at the remarkable sight.
“H-How...?”
“Dad can do anything.” Joshua smiled mischievously.
Kireua gaped blankly at him.
Joshua was talking to Kireua as if he were a child. Many dads told their children that they were the strongest and greatest in the world, and the children innocently believed their dads—but for the Sanders boys, that would always be true.
‘I should be a dad like him,’ Kireua resolved.
Joshua walked up to Moloch and examined him.
-Wh-What is it?
“The other demons also seem to have given up on fighting... I won’t hold you accountable for trying to harm my children since I need you to do a job for me.”
-A-A job?
“I told you earlier that I want to give you a chance to make the world think that demons were at least better than those who use divine power,” Joshua reminded Moloch.
-Are you telling me to lead the demons and deal with them? Why don’t you do that yourself—
“I don’t like your attitude,” Joshua sharply interrupted.
Moloch stopped talking and submissively ducked his head before he continued.
-C-Can I go... sir?
“If you’re going to abandon your pride, do it the right way before I put you into a pot and boil you.”
-Umm... We might betray you and never come back...
Moloch was secretly glad to hear that but didn’t trust Joshua. If Joshua were going to put an Overlord Symbol on him, Moloch would have to spend the rest of his life as a slave. It was much better to put his life on the line and fight. However, Joshua’s answer was beyond Moloch’s expectations once again.
-Th-That’s—!
Moloch’s eyes widened. Two black spheres floated above Joshua’s palm, humming quietly. Moloch wasn’t the only one. All of the demons could feel those mighty powers.
-Evil Sins!
“I’m sure that those of you who’ve heard about my past life already know what these are. I used to only have the powers of Pride, Greed, and Wrath, so the other Evil Sins are useless to me. Those three Evil Sins were enough to make me someone whom even gods feared.”
The demons were drooling from anticipation, their eyes sparkling with a glimmer of hope because everything that Joshua had just said was true. One Evil Sin made a demon into a Demon King, so the Shining Darkness wouldn’t really need another two.
“As you can see, these are Sloth and Gluttony. I’ll give one Evil Sin each to the two demons who defeat the most enemies on my behalf.”
-Whoooooa!
The demons reacted as enthusiastically as expected. Joshua smiled from ear to ear. The method was just as effective as it had been before.
‘You’re a devil,’ Lilith said.
-What?
‘Think about what happened to Perchilin and Tshchary after you made the same offer to them.’
-I meant what I said then, and this time isn’t different. It’s just that their greed was beyond imagination and they chose to turn down my gesture of goodwill.
Joshua didn’t lie. He was willing to give Evil Sins to the demons who helped him in this war wholeheartedly, but, as he told Lilith, he didn’t have his hopes up. When it came to Evil Sins, demons were far greedier than any human.
Joshua tilted his head in confusion because Moloch suddenly began to tremble.
‘Sh-shouldn’t we step back?’ Lilith asked. ‘I don’t think we’ll be able to dodge if he swings that colossal ax of his.’
-I don’t really feel the necessity right now.
‘What? Aren’t you being too carefree about this because it’s not your body?’ Lilith yelled.
-That is not why I’m saying that. Look in front of you.
Lilith’s question was answered as Moloch went down on his knee with a thud.
-My loyalty to the Shining Darkness! I, Moloch, will devote myself to serving you from now on!
“Good choice.”
-If anyone dares to defy the supreme being’s noble intentions...
Moloch stood up and fiercely swung his ax as he cast his gaze around him.
-...I, the Unleash Demon, won’t forgive them.
‘Isn’t he turning into a fanatic right now?’
Joshua paid no attention to Lilith and took a look around as well. No one tried to continue fighting, as expected.
-Loyalty to the Shining Darkness!
-Allow me to serve you, master!
-Those fucking angels! I won’t rest until they’re dead!
The demons’ fighting spirit heated the air.
‘...They change their attitudes awfully fast.’
-There is no desire more pure than a demon's thirst for power.
‘You and I seem to have a very different definition of the word “pure”,’ Lilith grumbled, but she heaved a sigh after a while. It hadn’t been easy, but the battle was now over. All that remained was to sort out the aftermath and then Avalon could take the lead in discussing how they would counter Hubalt.
Nevertheless, the most important issue remained.
‘You’re going to go now, aren’t you?’ Lilith asked.
-I’ve been away from my real body for too long.
‘What will happen to the dormant Evil Sins inside me after you leave?’
-Don’t worry about it. Evil Sins are spiritual powers that are engraved on one’s soul, not their body.
‘That’s a shame. After all I said about how powers like demonic power and Evil Sins are tools, I’m going to lose them before I get to use them properly...’
-You’re already strong even without those powers and you’re only going to get stronger.
A smile spread across Lilith’s face. ‘I feel like I’ve already gotten stronger because of the great Martial God’s compliments.’
-Come to think of it, I have a question for you too.
‘What is it?’
-I heard that the reason why you were branded a witch in Hubalt was because you obtained a Demon King’s authority... What power did you acquire?
As Joshua was pointing out, it couldn’t have been possible to make Lilith, a woman many called a saint, into a witch overnight without any concrete evidence.
‘Do you really want to know?’ Lilith inquired.
-If you had actually acquired such a power, there would be no way I wouldn’t be able to feel it given that I’m inside you right now.
That was why Joshua was confused. With Lilith’s permission, he examined her but couldn’t feel a single trace of anything that could be called a Demon King’s authority.
‘Forget it. I’m nice, so I’m going to keep that a secret forever,’ Lilith mischievously declared.
-...Huh?
‘I don’t want to see the guy I used to have a crush on suffering from guilt.’
-What in the world...?
Joshua and Lilith couldn’t finish their conversation because things on the battlefield were being sorted out quickly. The two princes of Avalon, Cain, Duke Tremblin, Valmont, the two Queen Consorts... Everyone was leading a troop of their own, and even the demons were busy subduing the death knights using their demonic power. One of the demons, Moloch, suddenly approached Joshua.
-Shining Darkness, there is something I would like to talk to you about.
“...You have something to tell me? Still?” Joshua tilted his head.
-Yes, I have a brother...
Moloch was the first among the demons to swear his loyalty, but it seemed he still had something more to say.
-He keeps sending me signals, and it looks like he’s with the angels’ minions that you mentioned before...
“Wait, weren’t the demons here all that’s left of your race?”
-Two demons were working on their own somewhere else.
“And one of them is your brother?” Joshua asked.
-Yes, his name is Meric... Anyway, two of them stayed behind in the north.
“The north...?” Joshua whispered. His eyes widened. He exercised his power and discovered a grand army marching north through Avalon’s lands.
“...Even if I was busy with the war, I can’t believe that I missed that,” Joshua bemoaned with a frustrated sigh.
Obviously, that army belonged to Hubalt, but for some reason the army was heading into the north after crossing the border instead of toward Arcadia.
“I should get back quickly—but why did your brother stay in the north?”
-I asked him about it, but he never told me why— I-It’s true! Oh, yeah. I can go ask him right now.
Joshua raised his eyebrow. “How in the world are you going to do that? I think I’d be able to get to the north faster than you.”
He meant what he said. Since he was simply returning to his original body, he could even afford to wait and see if Hubalt’s army was really destined for the frozen mountain.
-My brother and I have a unique innate ability—
“Get to the point.”
-Ah, yes. We can teleport to wherever the other one is at any time.
Joshua hadn’t expected them to have a teleportation ability. Moloch noticed his surprise and slammed his ax on the ground again, confidently pounding his chest.
-With your permission, I’ll be the scout. Despite how I may look now, I believe I can take care of most humans.
Judging from his fight with Kireua and Selim, Moloch had a good reason for his confidence. He would be correct except when it came to that one man.
Joshua nodded. “...Then get going first. I’ll be right behind you.”
Moloch smiled from ear to ear.
-Yes, sir!
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