Chapter 50: The Demon God (2)
"What?!" Lucian gasped, the word ripped from his throat. The betrayal wasn't external; it was internal. The Generals of the End had turned on their own. He felt a cold, deep fury that wasn't entirely his own—it was the ghost pain of his shattered primordial soul. This wasn't just a rebellion; it was a cosmic family tragedy.
{The very foundation of Pandemonium—the 7 Sins, the 4 Pillars—was riddled with rot, jealousy, and ambition,} the Wraith King confirmed, his voice devoid of emotion, holding only the facts of history. {They desired my lord's seat, his power, and his freedom, believing they deserved it more than the one who created them. That, my lord, is the truth of the Judgement Day. The war was lost not by the hand of a God, but by the poison of Pride and Envy that corrupted our own ranks.}
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Lucian slowly lowered himself back onto the edge of the bed, absorbing the scale of the horror. The betrayal of a creator by his creations was one thing; the calculated murder of a brother, orchestrated by the rest of the siblings, was another entirely.
"But why?!" Lucian demanded, leaning forward, his hands clenched into fists. "Why would they do that? I know you already told me they were jealous, but as I see it, from what you've told me about the Demon God, he is a good parent, unlike his counterpart, the Goddess. He created a paradise and offered absolute freedom. What more could they possibly want?"
The Wraith King paused, the silence stretching out like a vast, empty void. {Well, they were jealous.}
"Jealous?" Lucian repeated, the word sounding hollow and ridiculously inadequate to describe the murder of a god.
{Yes, my lord. They were jealous,} the Wraith King stated flatly, cutting through the complicated layers of divine politics and raw emotion. {They were jealous, including my siblings. They were jealous of how the First Demon King was perceived to be the Demon God's favorite child. But the truth is, the Demon God always treated his children as equals. And even though it seemed the First Demon King was the favorite child—simply because he was the most trusted advisor—he always treated us as his own children and loved us all equally.}
The Wraith King shifted, his shadow rippling. {But my siblings, including the Demon Kings, were greedy for more love, affection, and recognition from the Demon God. They did not want to share him. And I was disgusted by them, wanting more than the things the Demon God gave us. This happened during the Second Silence—the period of 100,000 years of peace in Pandemonium. They were wanting for more than love, affection, and recognition, they wanted possession.}
{And my lord, the Demon God, knew this. He was omniscient. He knew they would want for more than the things he gave, he knew the depths of their ambition and greed, but instead of punishing them, he chose to spoil them. He reasoned that a brief period of betrayal and pain was a necessary cost for eternal, pure, and unrestrained love. He let them believe they could have it all, even his throne, simply to watch them flourish in their freedom.}
{The First Demon King and I told our father, our creator, that he should not spoil his children so much, because that would be the reason for his downfall. He agreed. To be honest, he already told us, both me and the First Demon King, only we two knew this ultimate revelation. This revelation reveals his downfall, where he will be killed by his own children and betrayed by his own counterpart, the goddess.}
{That revelation is the Fourth Revelation,} the Wraith King sighed, the ancient memory heavy in his non-existent chest.
{I still remember that time when my lord told both of us,} the Wraith King began, and the memory unfolded in the humid dorm room, displacing the reality with the cold, crystalline air of Pandemonium's peak.
The image of the Demon God was breathtakingly potent, an absolute entity of power and sorrow. He was cloaked not in a dark, infernal garb, but in a divine outfit woven from silver starlight and black void, which showed his body full of muscle and abs—a form of powerful, raw creation. His face was as handsome as a Black Star that was devoured in the void, radiating an ethereal, lonely beauty. His long Ashen White Hair cascaded down to his feet like fine snow, and his heterochromia eyes were mesmerizing: his left eye was as deep as black—the perfect void of End—and his right eye was purple—the shining, regal color that signified the Monarch of existence.
He spoke in a soft tone that entailed care and love to his creations, yet it carried the infinite resonance of the universe.
"If I would not spoil them, they would call me a bad father," the Demon God said, a profound melancholy in his voice as he looked across the boundless, empty expanse of his realm. "And if I would not show my love and care for them, they would call me an absent father. They already believe I am distant, that I do not care for the universe as the Goddess does. If I added punishment and restriction to that distance, the void between us would be too great for my love to bridge."
The Demon God slowly raised his hand, the starlight dimming at his touch.
"Even though I am omniscient and omnipotent, and even though I already know about my downfall, if I showed hate and disgust toward my children, I rather wish to kill myself. The moment I stop loving my creations, I stop being myself. The power of Restoration must always be rooted in love, not fear."
He turned his gaze upon the young King of Wrath and the Wraith King, his eyes piercing through them to the millennia ahead.
"I was not born to hate my creations, nor showing disgusts on everyone. Rather, I was born to love this universe, despite them hating me. I know their reasons of betrayal, but even after my death, they will regret betraying me and couldn't help but miss me."
The Demon God's expression hardened, twisting into a profound sadness that seemed to encompass every future loss.
"They will try to have me back and lock me up as their own loved one who was escaped on their own prison. They will desire me—not for my throne, but for the one thing they cannot create or possess: the love I unconditionally gave."
Lucian cut the Wraith King off, horrified by the implications of that final prophecy. His initial anger at the betrayal had curdled into utter revulsion at the possessive nature of his children.
"What?!" Lucian spoke, spitting the word out. "The hell did he mean his children are capable of locking him up? Does that mean they would fight each other to lock me up because they regret killing me and they miss me? Wow. They are worse than delusional. They are monsters."
Then the Wraith King replied, his shadowy form nodding slowly. {That's what I said, my lord. I was always in disgust, and even the First Demon King too. That's why he started hating his father—not because of lack of love, but for him being too soft and not punishing or at least disciplining his own children. Wrath was a force of order, and he saw his father's softness as a fatal flaw—a weakness that would doom them all.}
Lucian ran a hand down his face, dragging it across his rough jawline. The reality of his former life was far more messed up than any game lore could ever convey.
"I agree too. Even I am his reincarnation, there's no way I would accept children like that," Lucian declared, the gamer mentality completely overriding the divine one. "They are worse than Silvie and Vennie, seriously! At least they are bearable. But your own children killing you, and then, when you reincarnate, they would fight each other again and lock you up? Damn. There's a serious problem on the Demon God's family, and I bet you and the First Demon King are the only normal ones left."
The Wraith King replied, {I agree, my lord. The Demon God was a soft person when it comes to his creations and his children, though to others, he is not. But that's the very reason for his downfall. I was still surprised he was able to say that even he knew his impending death. His love was a choice, even when he saw the end it would bring.}
Lucian swallowed the lump in his throat. He had the truth about his identity and the betrayal, but one piece of the puzzle—the most painful piece—remained.
Then Lucian spoke and asked, "What about the death of the First Demon King? Did he tell that too? The details of Wrath's end?"
The Wraith King replied, {Yes, my lord. The revelation came when he was just a fledgling King, a young god-child. The Demon God touched his hand and revealed the full weight of his fate: that the First Demon King would die by the hands of his own siblings—the Sins and the Pillars.}
{At first, he was angered and hated the Demon God for revealing a fate he couldn't change, for allowing the poison of betrayal to grow. But later on, he realized that he would also reincarnate, that his soul would not be lost to the Void.}
A tremor of excitement, cold and intense, went through Lucian. If the King of Wrath was reborn, he was an ally, a powerful piece that could turn the tide against the traitors.
"What, really? Then who is he right now? Tell me, who is he?!" Lucian demanded, leaning in, his black eyes blazing with hope.
The Wraith King sighed and looked on the ceiling, the shadows momentarily deepening. {His reincarnation is the man you know as the Fourth Protagonist.}
The revelation hit Lucian like a physical blow. The air rushed out of his lungs. His mind screamed in disbelief, his logic circuits overloading.
"What?!" Lucian yelled, staggering back.
Lucian was utterly shocked to discover that the one who struck him deep into his heart when he was controlled by one of the Evil Gods—who wanted to try and stop Lucian to save this whole world on his second life and his first transmigration—was none other than the Fourth Protagonist of the fourth game of The Chronicles of Eden's War: Crimson Fate. This protagonist, the hero he had once followed, the person he had hated for his final, fatal strike, was all along the reincarnation of the First Demon King—The King of Wrath—and his own loyal son when he was the Demon God.
The irony was a bitter, metallic taste in his mouth. The man who had dealt the final blow to him in his past life was the only child who had never betrayed him in the primordial past. The Allfather had wielded the weapon, but it was Wrath who was there, an unwilling instrument of fate. The Demon God had prophesied his death by his children's hands; the reincarnation of his most loyal child had been the one to execute the final, necessary blow to shatter Lucian into this cycle of rebirth. It was a loop of cosmic, heartbreaking irony.
The Wraith King bowed his head. {He died to his siblings once. He died to his father once, or at least, he delivered the blow that caused his father's separation into this life. The two of you are now inextricably linked, my lord, bound by the prophecy of betrayal and the fate of the final blow.}
Lucian stood there, frozen, the weight of the universe replaced by the unbearable, personal weight of this revelation. The plot of the game was not just a lie; it was a cruel twist of fate designed by the Gods. His loyal son had been used to kill him, twice.
"The Fourth Protagonist," Lucian whispered, a cold smile, tinged with madness, spreading across his face. "The King of Wrath. I guess this means I need to stop killing him for good this time."
The game wasn't about saving the world anymore. It was about finding his traitors, protecting his loyal son, and finally ending the curse of the soft-hearted Demon God.