DSB 90

“Lebel, Lebel.”

Lebel opened his eyes to the sound of a voice calling him. He found himself in a pure white space. A familiar feeling of deja vu filled him, but the voice he heard was different.

Lebel smiled at the sight of a dazzling golden sphere.

“Celestial God.”

[I’m sorry for causing you such trouble. I gave him a harsh warning.]

It seemed the Celestial God had learned of the Demon God’s prank. Since Michael knew Lebel possessed a human body, it was only a matter of time before the Celestial God found out.

“It is fine. The Demon God did it out of concern for me. The human world isn’t all bad after all. I understand why you treasure it so much.”

[I’m glad to hear you say that. I am also happy to see you enjoying yourself.]

A gentle voice, unlike the Demon God’s, enveloped Lebel’s body with warmth.

[The problem is your body. You’re as strong as any of us, and even a body prepared by the Demon God can’t contain all your power. It breaks my heart to see you in pain]

Lebel stroked his body. While seemingly flawless, he could feel it rotting inside.

If he wanted to remain in the Middle Realm as a human, he would have to abandon this body and transfer to another. The problem was that even this new body wouldn’t last long.

Moreover, he had developed a certain attachment to this body. Yutis said he fell in love with it at first sight. He said it wasn’t solely because of looks, but it certainly played a significant role.

[My child, do you want to live long in that body?]

“Yes.”

[You like that human.]

The Celestial God smiled gently at Lebel’s unequivocal answer. Lebel had always lived as one who couldn’t die yet didn’t really live.

He was resentful that the Demon God had arbitrarily sent him to the Middle Realm, but he was grateful that Lebel had changed for the better.

Just then, another purple sphere appeared floating next to the golden one.

[This is all thanks to me, you understand?]

[Shut up.]

As if the Celestial God had never softly muttered to Lebel, he spoke to the Demon God in a tone as cold as a blizzard. Of course, the Demon God paid no attention.

[If you were going to send him there, you should have given him a decent body. Lebel is suffering because you gave him a strange body. If I were you, I would have prepared the perfect vessel.]

[What nonsense! Neither you nor I can use our powers in Middle Realm recklessly!]

[But I have my children. They can act with less restriction.]

Lebel quietly watched the two deities argue before him. It was rarer to see them not fight when they were together.

“Can you possibly make this vessel stronger? Every time I fall, Yutis worries, which is a problem.”

[Of course. I have a favor to ask. Would you mind?]

“The rift Michael mentioned?”

[You need to regain your original power to close the rift, so we can share ours with you.]

[You don’t have to agree. Instead, how about bringing your true body through the rift? Then you can run wild in the Middle Realm! Make your presence known! After you’ve had your fill, we can close the rift.]

[Do you intend to break the world’s balance? I thought we’d already ended that discussion!]

[A demonic body would suit Lebel far better than a human one. Besides, I’m curious to see how far humans can go, so why don’t we just watch?]

[You call yourself a god…!]

The Celestial God hurled insults disguised as nagging, but the Demon God ignored them. The Demon God, who cared nothing about whether humans lived or died, and the Celestial God, who wanted to protect the human world, could hardly find common ground.

Lebel stepped in to mediate the fight. It was up to him to decide whether to close the rift or not.

“Humans are weak, so if a demon like me comes through, they’ll all die.”

[You weren’t planning on closing it in the first place. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to.]

“It’s not that I didn’t want to. It was just annoying. But if there’s a reason to do it, then I have to.”

After weighing the options, closing the rift was far better. He liked this body, and he can become stronger on the condition that he closes the annoying rift.

[Well, if you say so… If you’re going to use it as a way to regain your strength, then I don’t care either way.]

But the Demon God, secretly feeling a pang of regret, spoke in a sullen voice. He didn’t seem to notice the Celestial God’s fierce glare from beside him.

[Oh, right. Closing the rift is good, but there’s a demon there. But he’s not a bad one; he’s guarding the rift in his own way. Don’t kill him.]

[Wait. “What did you just say? Guarding the rift?]

The purple sphere jumped in surprise at the Celestial God’s words.

[Huh, huh? Did I say something?]

[You did it?! I thought it was strange for the rift to grow abnormally!]

The Demon God tried to move further away from the Celestial God, as if he’d accidentally revealed a secret he shouldn’t have. But the Celestial God was right next to him.

[What did you do? Tell me now!]

[Ouch! Hey! Stop using your power. It hurts! It hurts!]

The Demon God was held captive, and the purple sphere shrank and flashed, like he was being shaken by the collar.

The Demon God had no choice but to tell the truth. While using his power, he accidentally fell into the Middle Realm, and that’s how the rift was created.

[I didn’t know that would happen! It was just a graze….]

[You should’ve told me!]

[Rifts have been opening and disappearing naturally for a while now. I thought it’d disappear quickly…]

He’d forgotten about it, but one day, he saw that the rift had grown so large that demonic energy was seeping out, and that telling the Celestial God would only get him nagging, so he’d posted a guard.

[I was thanks to that rift that Lebel was able to possess a human body. In the end, things turned out well.]

[Why are you boasting about that?! Lebel always collapsed because of the shoddy body you prepared!]

It seemed like not only the Demon God but also the Celestial God was watching. But did he collapse that often?

“I’ll close the rift. But won’t it harm Yutis?”

The Celestial God, who had been nagging the Demon God, turned to Lebel and said.

[Oh, it won’t harm him.]

“Michael said that if we kill that demon, Yutis’s demonic transformation will stop.”

[…You can’t undo what’s already been done.]

So that was why Mikael had sounded vague.

[You can’t kill that demon there! I put a lot of effort into creating that one.]

[Hold still! What the hell have you been doing? Sending a demon to the Middle Realm… . Haa, I should’ve thought it strange that humans started showing traces of demonic energy…]

[Did I know he’d fall in love with a human? How can I stop him from giving his power to a human?] (the demon he created, not Lebel.)

[Anything else you’ve done that I should know about?]

[I don’t know what you’re talking about?]

The golden light flared brighter, like glaring eyes. Though the Celestial God was usually gentle, he showed a much rougher side when it came to the Demon God.

Lebel couldn’t figure out how that demon could fall in love with a human, but he understood. He’d already done it himself.

Lebel looked at the two gods circling around him, as if trying to catch his tail, and said,

“Is it a problem for a demon to fall in love with a human?”

Their argument suddenly stopped. Lebel realized the two gods were flustered.

[It’s not a problem at all!]

The Demon God, having guessed from his previous conversation with Lebel, didn’t feel much resistance. However, the Celestial God sighed.

The relationship between humans and demons, and the divided realms, made his head ache. Falling in love wasn’t a problem, but what happened afterward was.

The Celestial God, having observed Lebel for a long time, knew his nature well. For him to speak of love…

No matter how indifferent Lebel was to those around him, he was still a demon.

If he desired something, he would ignore everything else to claim it, and the desire to do whatever he wanted, slumbers deep within him, and that’s what made him a demon.

[My child, I don’t want you to get hurt. Human lifespans are so short, you know that. As long as his soul remains intact, he can be reborn, but all memories of you will be lost. Even if you recognize him, he won’t recognize you.]

“Was that only true for humans?”

The same goes for angels and demons. Demons and angels whose soul power has been completely drained return to the embrace of God. They can be reborn, but all their previous memories would be lost. Those who survive remember, but those who die don’t.

This has happened countless times, when those who were once friends, comrades, and subordinates were reborn as strangers.

[Even so, are you sure about this?]

“I’ll just make him fall in love with me again.”

The Demon God burst into laughter at Lebel’s confident words.

[Yes, that’s right. He’ll have no choice but to love you.]

[Are you laughing?]

[He’s not even dead yet, so what are you worried about? Lebel will take care of everything. If you want, I can help. He’s a human with demonic energy, I can turn him into a demon. That’s possible. Anyone who uses demonic power is a demon!]