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Side Story Chapter 122

-Our saint is back now.

“Mmm…” Lilith began to stir.

-Why don’t you wake up now? This is a great place to die from hypothermia if you keep sleeping here.

“…Joshua?” Lilith slowly opened her eyes, revealing her silver eyes, and turned to look at the ice boulder.

-How are you feeling?

Lilith sprang to her feet. “I-I see that I’ve disgraced myself.”

Her skin was white to begin with, and the coldness made her look even paler. However, for some reason her cheeks were rosy.

“You… helped me again,” Lilith quietly said.

-Do you remember what happened when you lost control over your body?

“Of course,” Lilith responded.

-You saw your body crushing his family and comrades with your own eyes, huh?

Lilith flinched under the Demon Spirit’s scathing deduction.

-And yet, your expression hasn’t changed one bit. I didn’t know that you were a more shameless wretch than a demon.

Lilith grew pale. “Jo-Joshua, I’m sorry—that was never my intentio—!”

-Great work.

“…Pardon?”

-You’ve been fighting alone against the power of a Demon King. Not just anyone could have done what you did, you know.

Lilith’s tears welled up. Memories flashing across her mind—not just the incident in the Avalon Empire; ever since she had manifested the power of Lust and been declared a witch, she had been constantly fighting alone for such a long time. She couldn’t talk about it with anyone because her power was shunned by everyone. No one so much as tried to hear her out. Humans were not benevolent enough to listen to other people’s reasons. Everyone pointed their fingers at her as if her misfortune was their entertainment.

Lilith quietly wept for a long time. She could finally feel that she was free from her demonic shackles and was back to herself.

The person who made that possible was right in front of her.

“How… can I… ever repay this…?” Lilith asked, still shedding tears

-I think you’re misunderstanding something here, because this isn’t my doing. If your Root of All Evil hadn’t been left behind, I wouldn’t have even thought about converting your demonic power into divine power.

“I’m… sorry.”

-I told you that you have nothing to be sorry for.

Lilith’s heart felt tight like it was being squeezed by guilt. Despite the countless times she had received his help, she had dared to cause him pain. She had attempted to harm his wife and tried to take away his child, so she needed to repay the favor she had received. It was her only way to atone.

“…I’m going to help you and spend the rest of my life protecting your beloved, no matter what it costs me,” Lilith decided, the quiver erased from her voice by her conviction.

-For crying out loud!

The Demon Spirit found the current sight quite annoying, but once again, he was stopped by Joshua.

-Lilith, there is only one thing you should do.

“Yes. For Avalon, I’ll—”

-Yeah, for Avalon, you need to go back to Hubalt right now.

“Excuse me? Hubalt?” Lilith tilted her head in confusion. “What are you talking about…?”

-Bel, the Battle God. He left the Four Paladins behind and went back to Hubalt. I know I’m not a citizen of the Hubalt Empire, but I think it’s pretty obvious what’s going to happen. Don’t you think so too?

Lilith grew visibly anxious, a frown creasing her beautiful face.

-There you go. Go back to Hubalt, Lilith. And do what only Lilith Aphrodite can do.

“But…” Lilith trailed off, hesitant to leave.

-Don’t worry about my Avalon. There are powerful people in my country that can’t be bested so easily.

Joshua grinned.

-And you know that I’m the famous Martial God, right?

*

“Oh! It’s been a while since I ran this long. Quite tiring,” Bel muttered to himself.

After covering a distance that would take one week on a horse in half a day, Bel stopped to examine his surroundings. He was currently in Verium, the closest city to the border, so it would take him about two weeks at most to get to the capital of the Hubalt Empire. Of course, that’s two weeks if Bel used a horse like an ordinary person.

He would reach his destination in no more than three days.

When Bel encountered a mountain, he leaped over it. If a river flowed before him, he ran on its surface with two pieces of baggage on his shoulders.

“Anyhow, how should I use them?”

Carmen von Agnus and Babel von Agnus, lying unconscious at Bel’s feet, were members of a prestigious duke’s family. Since their surprise attack on Arcadia had failed, Bel needed a plan B—and his prisoners were going to be the sacrifices to make that happen.

“From what I heard, the Agnus family was the true, legitimate royal bloodline before the Britten family…”

Bel already knew the hidden history of the Imperial Family of Avalon, and it was obvious that Carmen von Agnus held incredible enmity against Joshua Sanders. It didn’t seem like Babel von Agnus would feel any different from Carmen.

“In many ways, you two are lucky to meet me. Hahaha.”

After returning to the capital of the Hubalt Empire, Bel was going to start a purge. Up until now, he had gone along with what the Four Paladins had suggested he should do because he had zero interest in political power or its struggles. Besides, the Four Paladins had provided him with an infinite supply of interesting opponents to fight.

However, that was going to change now. No one could satiate Bel’s hunger for a good fight anymore, so he was left with only one purpose in life: kill Joshua Sanders, just as he had been raised to do in the first place.

“Martial God, I’m going to take everything from you to draw out everything you have.”

Bel grinned and picked up his baggage again.

As soon as he arrived in the capital, he and his knights would lead the world into the Continental War.

*

-Get lost! What in the world are you two doing?

-Hehehehe!

-Look at Gluttony. Gluttony also agrees that now is our chance. Three Evil Sins’ powers are in one place right now, so there’s no better chance to rule the Human Realm!

-Don’t even dream of it! Kireua is my friend! No one eats their friend!

-I’m going to go nuts. Do you think you’re a human? Gah! After spending time away from the Demon Kings, you’re starting to act like a mortal!

Kireua was supposed to be unconscious, but he could hear the voices more clearly than ever, for some reason.

‘What is happening inside my body?’ Kireua wondered.

-Why are you trying to drive out someone who was already here when you just got here, you witch?!

-Oh my, you’re quite hurtful with your words. I’m suggesting this so we can lead better lives. Let’s be realistic: I’m not the only one who benefits if we rule the Human Realm.

-Hehehe!

-See? Gluttony likes the idea too. Seriously, you’ve always been oddly inflexible for someone whose name is Greed…

-No matter what you say, I’m never giving Kireua to you guys!

Kireua slowly opened his eyes. The first thing he could see was a black cotton ball quarreling against a bizarre mouth-shaped creature and a succubus.

-He seems to be awake.

-Hehehe!

Coal, the black cotton ball, glanced back.

-Are you okay, Kireua?

“…I’m fine,” Kireua replied. Despite his confusion, he instinctively realized that he had been here before. This was his subconscious realm, the space between his consciousness and the real world.

“Coal.”

-Yup?

“Will I become a Demon Spirit if I collect all seven of the Evil Sins’ powers?” Kireua asked.

Someone else responded to Kireua’s question.

-My, my, the person in question is wayyyyy more greedy! Hahahaha!

-Hehehehehe!

-Greed, there’s nothing left for you to say since your Kireua has made his choice.

The power of Lust strode toward Kireua.

-Let me answer on Greed’s behalf: of course it’s possible. Black mages in the past tried to summon Demon Kings to this land because they would be able to rule a region with a single Evil Sin’s power, a country with two Evil Sins’ powers, and a continent with three Evil Sins’ powers.

-Hehehehe!

-Nevertheless, they lost their souls to the Demon Kings they had sacrificed so much to summon—but that isn’t the case for you. You acquired the Evil Sins’ powers themselves, rather than summoning the Demon Kings that wielded the Evil Sins’ powers.

-Hehehe!

-Join us. You don’t need to bother collecting all seven. Three of us are enough for you to devour this whole continent.

Lust’s captivating voice had an irresistible charisma.

-Kireua…

Coal said with a worried voice. In the end, what mattered the most was the decision of the body’s original owner.

“To be honest, I’m a little happy,” Kireua abruptly said.

-…Huh?

“I’m the Martial God’s son, but I share nothing in common with him. I look nothing like him and have zero talent in the spear, and I’m not even as strong as him.

Coal drooped; in contrast, Lust and Gluttony were literally bouncing with joy.

-Good choice! Yeah, there’s nothing more pathetic than a puppy born from a tiger. If you join us, you can become like your father!

-Hehehehehe!

-Joshua Sanders is already a legend in the Demon Realm too!

Despite what she said, Lust had a different plan in mind. The Seven Evil Sins’ powers, which composed the Primordial All Evil, becoming one once again was a tremendous event. From that point onward, one would not only be able to rule his realm but also all the other realms. The Demon Realm was where the only respected quality was strength. Demons had fought to the death to obtain the Seven Evil Sins’ powers for a good reason.

‘To be honest, three of us are already enough. If I can become the dominant Evil Sin power, then I’ll take Joshua Sanders’s body and… Hahahaha!’

Just thinking about it was enough to make Lust tremble in excitement.

However, things took an unexpected turn.

“I want to walk down the same path as my father,” Kireua said. “Coal, can you help me?”

Coal finally brightened up, and, in turn, Lust and Gluttony’s faces darkened. Walking down the same path as Joshua Sanders meant only one thing.

“Eat them all, Coal—no, Greed, the most greedy of all Evil Sins’ powers.”

-Okay!

Greed swelled to monstrous size.

-N-No! You idiots….!

-Hehehehehehe!

…And devoured the other two Evil Sins’ powers in one gulp.