NOVEL NEXT Chapter 242
A night sky adorned with the Blue Moon.
A young man, appearing to be a blonde priest, walked across the wasteland toward the edge of a cliff.
Crack.
“In the name of light.”
As the priest stretched out his hand, a new building appeared in the empty space.
“…Optical magic. It’s truly an amazing technology, no matter how many times I see it.”
The young man, Lucifer, smiled brightly at the shimmering blue light in his hand. He looked as if he was joyfully captivated just by seeing the dreamy blue glow, while the maid with indigo hair following behind him showed a hint of disgust.
“Are you really that happy?”
“Of course! This light is the light of reunion, allowing me and that person to meet again.”
Lucifer opened the door of the shrine, resembling something sacred, with a face full of fervor like a boy witnessing his first love.
Squeak.
The door, which seemed like it hadn’t been opened in ages, creaked open.
“Lily. Do you know where this place is?”
“I… don’t know.”
“This place is where Saint Tundier, who died five hundred years ago, last prayed to the heavens.”
The indigo-haired maid, Lily, tilted her head in confusion.
“Tundier…?”
“Saint family. The only family recognized by the goddess in this land. Although now they are just people with talent for using divine power.”
Walking confidently through the center of the shrine, Lucifer continued to speak.
“No one listens to the words of the gods anymore. The voices of archangels claiming to speak for the gods have engulfed the world. What? The Moon Goddess promotes exposure? Hahaha!!!”
Lucifer laughed heartily, holding his stomach.
“Nonsense. Where in the world is there a goddess like that?”
“…….”
“Five hundred years ago, the Moon Goddess grew disillusioned with humanity. She sighed upon seeing people fighting and killing each other, and then she noticed that even her representative, Saint Tundier, wasn’t taken seriously.”
“Did you see it personally?”
“I investigated.”
Stepping lightly on the blue carpet laid in the center of the shrine, Lucifer danced elegantly.
“The Great Demon Lord Bel Phegor appeared. The Moon Goddess tried to stop the Great Demon Lord’s uprising by sending a saint, but humanity didn’t give a damn about the saint’s words.”
“There’s also an expression that they didn’t even hear it with the tips of their ears.”
“That’s the same thing. Anyway, the goddess’s words became mere scraps of paper, and in the end, the Great Demon Lord saved humanity and the world.”
Lucifer shrugged.
“If the Moon Goddess hadn’t taken the soul of the Great Demon Lord and sent it to the Demon World, he would likely have died.”
“That…”
“The moment the Moon Goddess turned her back on the ground, angels occupied that place.”
Flap.
Thirteen wings unfolded behind Lucifer.
Though the color was black, those wings were not those of demons, but of angelic feathers.
“The current Order of the Moon Goddess is merely a shell. Those using divine power, a very special blue magical power, are just a collective masquerading as a religion.”
“Others would be horrified to hear that.”
“Even if they are horrified, it’s the truth. Who would know? That this blue power is merely a more special magical power than others.”
Lucifer spread his arms wide.
“In the beginning, when the god created the world, he breathed his strength into this magic, and that power, in time, came to be called divine power. It’s not the power dwelling in this land, but the magical power flowing down from the distant sky.”
Lucifer stretched out his hand.
The light flowing from his hand swiftly transformed into a holy sword, and he held the sword with both hands as he walked slowly forward.
“There are two other powers, distinctly different from the seven powers forged into holy swords on this ground. They are…”
Thud.
“The power of the Red Moon. The power of the Blue Moon. In modern times, they were called magic (魔氣) and divine power (神聖力), respectively.”
Lucifer arrived at the end of the wide hall.
“The god bearing the power of the Red Moon is known as the Red Moon Goddess, and the god bearing the divine power of the Blue Moon is called the Moon Goddess.”
Above the altar, through a gaping hole in the ceiling.
“O Moon Goddess. Your first angel, Luciel, has come.”
Lucifer solemnly placed the holy sword on the altar.
“May you take back the light of the false angels, and through your grace, let your true blessing descend upon this land.”
The black night sky, vacant of starlight.
“Let there be the light of the Moon Goddess in this land.”
Only the Blue Moon sparkled brightly.
And then.
“…You shall descend yourself, abandon the false ones, and become the god of this land.”
The tip of the holy sword began to be dyed in the color of the Blue Moon.
*
Clatter, clatter.
In the dark cave devoid of any light, the sound of something scraping the ground echoed continuously.
“Damn it, the ceremonial altar I prepared…”
Flicker.
A gleam of light sparkled.
Inside the cave, a man with gray unkempt hair was scraping beast bones against the wall, while also pulling at his disheveled hair.
“Damn, damn… the magical power…”
The man clawed at his chest before picking up a magic stone next to him.
Rather than turning it into liquid, he stuffed the stone into his mouth, chewing and swallowing it whole, causing shards of the stone to get lodged in his mouth, with blood flowing freely.
“Ha… ha…”
But gradually, the man began to regain his color.
His skin transitioned from gray to a warm hue, and the faded color of his hair gradually turned black.
“Hah, hah.”
The man barely managed to rise to his feet.
“…I cannot afford to be underestimated.”
Confirming his significantly improved health, he used teleport magic to move from his location.
Flap.
Wide and spacious hall stretching to the sides.
The man seated in a place akin to a throne of a kingdom crossed his legs and leisurely surveyed the crowd.
“Asydia. Gather.”
“Yes, Lord Zephar!!”
Before the man, Zephar, countless demons knelt.
“News has come. The ceremonial altar and corpse disposal facility were attacked by humans.”
“Y-yes.”
“Why do you think that happened?”
“There must be a traitor…”
“No.”
Zephar shook his head firmly at his subordinates’ words.
“The enemy is not stupid. At this point, it’s only natural to take notice. Our arch-nemesis, the hero, is a monster that even defeated Satan.”
Hero.
Anger began to rise on everyone’s faces.
“I heard the Pope has vanished. Demon Lord Lucifer has also begun to move. According to the news from ‘her’, Lucifer is said to be opening a door to the Celestial Realm.”
“Really?!”
“This land belongs to whom?”
BANG!
Zephar slammed his fist down on the throne.
The armrest shattered and fell apart.
“This land belongs to the Great Demon Lord, Bel Phegor!”
“Bel Phegor! Bel Phegor! Bel Phegor!”
“And yet, you dare to claim this land as the property of the celestial beings? Absurd! Now is the time for Asydia to take action! Behold!”
Creak.
“Everything is ready. Now it’s time to shed this physical body and announce the new inception of our ‘New Demon King’s Army.'”
Zephar raised his hand high.
Then, a black shadow emerged from behind his throne.
“This is the new symbol of the New Demon King’s Army.”
Thud.
“The Ancient Dragon, Kimaria.”
The colossal figure seemed as if it would fill the throne.
Mighty wings spread toward the ceiling.
With seven eyes, it resembled a massive dragon clad in black scales, bearing two large horns and eight smaller ones.
All of this was a convergence of ancient beasts and monstrosities scattered across this continent.
Some were creatures once called the adversaries of holy swords.
Some were beasts that once defied gods, cleaving the continent.
Once, there was a being that faced the Great Demon Lord as the ultimate dragon and vanished, leaving behind a body in combat with the Great Demon Lord.
All of them came together to become one ‘beast.’
“Behold. The beast of destruction. The will of all ancient beings merged into one, channeling into the final dragon. And this dragon… will become me.”
Zephar spread his arms wide.
As a result, the dragon opened its mouth and swallowed Zephar along with the throne.
Gulp, gulp.
Before everyone’s eyes, Zephar was devoured, yet the crowd began to cheer at the spectacle.
“Ooh, Zephar, ooh…!”
“United with the great Bel Phegor…!”
“…No.”
Thud.
The dragon glared with red eyes and let out a laugh.
A human face began to appear on the dragon’s forehead, which looked just like Zephar’s face.
“My name is…”
The dragon declared.
“Beel Zephar.”
Grinning fiercely, it spread its wings.
“Announce to the world the commencement of ‘Asydia Phegore,’ the New Demon King’s Army.”
*
Wiiing.
After gathering the power contained in the Golden Holy Sword.
Lucius quietly descended to the deepest part of the Bride Ship, to a swimming pool where the waves flowed gently.
Splash.
There, a red-haired witch with her bare feet dipped in the pool was present.
The witch hummed a tune while playing with her red light, and Lucius approached her, taking off his cloak.
“Master. The night air is chilly.”
“It’s fine; I’ve got the heater on.”
“…….”
Lucius found the facilities of the Bride Ship slightly off-putting.
“Master, but that light…?”
“Ah, this?”
The witch swirled the shimmering red light with her finger.
“Well, how should I describe this power?”
“Is it magical power? It seems a little different from the power of the holy sword….”
“From a general point of view, it looks like magic. No, since it’s ‘ether’ in the first place, all of its powers are essentially the same; only the properties of the ether differ.”
“……?”
It’s not unusual for his master to say something incomprehensible, but still, Lucius wanted to understand this.
“What do you mean?”
“This is a new possibility left within this body that I didn’t know about, I suppose?”
“…?”
“Hehe. If I had to express it…”
The witch gathered red magical power in front of her mouth and blew it towards Lucius.
“Power of the god that will open the door to a new world.”