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Chapter 437 - Uncomfortable Truth (4)
A major change began to happen in the Black Tower.
In fact, to put it in nicer terms, there was a re-organization, and small internal changes began.
It had a powerful one-person leader called the Demon King of Wrath, but the power was distributed to the subordinates, and the distributed power was more efficiently handled within the domain they ruled.
Under the name of the Demon King’s army, the army, which was maintained under the coercive command system, was divided by race or organization, and now its individuality was revived.
Of course, it was impossible to make changes overnight.
It was because there were those who were happy with the previous system.
No.
Rather than being satisfied, there were people who lived their lives like that, and Abset was an example of that.
“Duke.”
Abset looked out the window with his chin resting on his hand, as if he couldn’t hear his subordinate’s call.
Last night, he attended the meeting after being called by the Demon King of Wrath he served. The family of Abset had been loyal to the Demon King of Wrath for generations.
He lost his way when Satan, the previous Demon King, died, but he was able to stand again because of Diablo Volfir, who had recently ascended to the throne.
However, at yesterday’s meeting, Diablo Volfir declared something.
‘There is no such thing as the Demon King, Abset. My name is Jamie Welton. And I only exist to bring down the Sun God from this world.’
He declared that he would no longer hold the throne.
Even though he still possessed the power of the Demon King, it was as if he was willing to give it up.
He didn’t know what kind of change of heart it was.
It was as if his existence had changed overnight.
He was always ruthless and showed robot-like emotions, but for some reason, it felt like his life had returned.
Was there something that triggered him?
‘Jamie Welton.’
He was flustered when he heard it, so he couldn’t remember it at first, but it was a name he had heard a few times while staying here.
‘Is that his real name?’
He knew the one calling himself the Demon King was a human.
The case of a human becoming a Demon King was very unusual, and it was the first case that had almost never happened in the history of Devildom.
He remembered the first time Jamie came to the Devildom.
Since the death of Satan, his realm has been in a mess.
The low-level Demon Lords, who had heard about it, tried to occupy any little land they could, and the other Great Demon Kings were looking at their land.
Abset countered their invasion attempts as the temporary Demon King, but it was just a matter of time before he lost the land due to the gap in their power.
A few days felt like hell.
His glory, which collapsed in an instant, was nothing more than tasty prey for the enemies. He received several invitations from other Demon Kings to come under their command, but he refused all of them.
It was when he was waiting for the day he would die that…
‘I will rule this place.’
…Diablo appeared out of nowhere.
He instantly restored the land of Wrath, which had been snatched away, and with his overwhelming power, he subdued the weak Demon Kings and took them under his command.
Abset was mesmerized by the overwhelming power he held. He was like the second birth of Satan.
Abset knew it.
That he was also the one who killed the Demon King and took his power.
Trika, the Demon Lord of Greed, was assisting him, so it couldn’t be helped.
Even though he should be avenged, Abset knew that it wasn’t something he could do.
‘Choose. Will you come under me, or will you die here?’
Abset felt it.
That his evilness held a charm, and that he was someone who would surpass Satan.
The Devildom was a world for confident beings, and the weak followed the strong.
Moreover, if it was someone who had the qualifications of a Demon King, then it was even more so.
So Abset swore his allegiance.
But…
“Jamie Welton…”
The man he swore allegiance to wasn’t Jamie Welton.
It was Diablo Volfir, the great Demon King, who had overwhelming power, cruelty, and charisma.
But why did Jamie’s last words continue to ring in his ears?
Abset’s forehead hurt.
“Duke.”
A subordinate called from behind him.
“Are you alright?”
No matter how many times he was called, he didn’t answer, so the subordinate looked worried.
And he was a human called Cullen.
When he came here, he thought that a mere human would be better than a demon as his aide, so he brought him in.
“I was lost in thought for a second there. So, what is it?”
“The Demon King wants to see you.”
“The Demon King?”
What does the Demon King’s call mean now?
Abset looked at the cooled tea in front of him, and the clear tea water reflected his face.
He raised the glass and gulped it down in one sip.
“Let’s head there right now.”
“Duke Abset has arrived.”
“Tell him to come in.”
Jamie was watering the flower beds.
Even when he was young, he only watched Sears, his mother, do it, but he never watered them himself.
In fact, he hadn’t even thought about doing something like this until yesterday. However, when he woke up this morning, for some reason, he wanted to see the flowers bloom.
“Was it Daisy?”
What the subordinate brought was a flower named Daisy.
He couldn’t tell what kind of flower it was since the buds hadn’t bloomed yet, but according to the person who brought it, it had white petals and bright yellow pistils.
Actually, he wasn’t very interested in the beauty of the flowers.
“If you water them and bask them in the sun, they will bloom.”
He just felt intrigued by the fact that a small life would bloom under a few conditions.
“But the sun doesn’t shine here.”
He heard that plants needed light to photosynthesize.
“If we make something similar, the growth might not be that perfect.”
After moving the flower bed to the terrace, he made a small sun there. The sun was a sphere of light that emitted mild heat.
“What are you doing?”
Then Abset’s voice came from behind.
Jamie, who knew he was there, pressed the soil with his hand.
“Growing flowers.”
“… Flowers?”
“Come to think of it, are there flowers in Devildom? I don’t think I’ve ever seen them.”
“There are flowers. But not the fancy ones you see here.”
All the flowers of the Devildom were vicious ones that protected themselves. In other words, they were flowers in the eyes of demons, but for the people of Bless, they would be man-eating plants.
“But why take care of flowers so…”
“I woke up this morning and suddenly felt the need to do this. I never did this before. Would you like to see it?”
Abset frowned while looking at Jamie, who asked such a pure question, but he stood next to him in silence and looked at the flower bed.
The small flower bed.
There was just one bud there, and it didn’t even bloom.
Abset was the least emotional among the demons, but well, demons would be demons.
“How is it?”
Jamie asked Abset, looking at the bud, which might bloom sometime.
Abset answered whatever came to mind.
“It is white.”
“What if it blooms?”
“It will be white.”
“Right?”
Jamie nodded as if he understood. And then he got up and turned to Abset.
Abset, who saw his expression, felt uncomfortable.
It was because he was smiling. It was an expression that he had never seen before.
‘He is not the one I swore allegiance to.’
Seeing that, his mind, which had been dizzy until then, turned calm.
He was at a loss for what to do, but now he knew what he had to do. Abset said to Jamie,
“I have something to tell you.”
“Before that, can I say something first? Still, wouldn’t it be better for someone to talk about business first?”
As he agreed, Abset nodded.
“Please do.”
“I hate demons.”
Abset wasn’t sure how to react to that. To say that he hated the demons in front of him.
What was this? Was this his way of turning his words into a fight?
No, if he wanted to fight, he wouldn’t say something like that to his face.
It was more like an open declaration.
And for now, he has decided to listen.
“The barbaric nature, which is so violent to the point of dumbness, dividing the beings into the strong and the weak, the horrid land, which never dries from blood. To be honest, I think it should vanish.”
“Did you call me here to insult me?”
“You think the same way too.”
Jamie looked at Abset with cold eyes.
From that expression, Abset felt a huge amount of pressure pushing on him. It was the same feeling he felt when he first met Diablo.
“I hate demons, but there are exceptions everywhere. And you are one of them.”
“….”
“Unlike the other demons, you don’t try to solve all problems with violence, and if possible, you try to resolve them with common sense.”
“Because I think it is efficient.”
“That is why you hate demons. Maybe you hate them more than me.”
“Why are you saying that? I am a demon.”
“May I ask how you felt when you came here?”
After leaving the Devildom and entering the Black Tower, Abset did a lot of things.
He was more important in the Black Tower than he thought, and most of his plans worked.
What made that all possible?
“….”
Abset couldn’t answer right away, and Jamie asked another question,
“So, how was Devildom?”
He also couldn’t answer that.
Jamie smiled.
“Your aide. Was it Cullen? I heard you asked for him personally.”
“What is it that you want to say?”
“Stop applying your twisted ideology to me.”
“What are you suddenly…”
Twisted?
Abset wasn’t sure what he was saying, and Jamie kindly explained it to him.
Maybe the language was a bit too much.
“You don’t want to lose your identity as a demon, even though you hate demons, so you are constantly brainwashing yourself.”
“Me… Brainwashing?”
“Yesterday, you looked disappointed, but on the other hand, you felt uncomfortable. Was it discomfort toward me? No, it was toward yourself. Right?”
Right.
Abset was unable to hide his expression the day before, and Jamie continued.
“The ideal Lord you seek is Satan or Diablo. It isn’t me. But what was that feeling of discomfort that you felt?”
“I…”
“Let me tell you. The image of the Lord that you want and the image of the demons are all lies. The discomfort you felt towards me yesterday came from the disgust you held inside you. You were attracted to my human side. But your mind is rejecting it unconsciously, and that is what brought the discomfort.”
“No. I am a demon. As you said, I don’t like the ignorant ways of the demons, but even so, I…!”
“Get out of the clutches of the concept of demons in you, Abset.”
Abset’s eyes twitched.
“But there are many of my men here. The other demons….”
“Stay away from the unsure truth. What are you thinking about? This is the Black Tower.”
“Right, but.”
“Look at me.”
Abset looked at Jamie. The light behind him was shining because of the artificial sun.
“If you are having a hard time, just trust and follow me. I will show you a new world. It is alright to change slowly, right? Just like this one.”
Jamie pointed to the flower pot.
It seemed like the image of Abset was being shown on the bud.
And Jamie continued.
“The Black Tower will change, and so will the demons. I hate the demons, and I will continue to hate them. But now, I need to show that change is possible, and when someone who can set an example appears, the next thing happens naturally.”
“Can demons change?”
“Look at the Black Tower. This is a place where all the races gather. There is no discrimination. Have you ever thought about it? Seeing the demons joining hands with other races?”
Abset shook his head, and Jamie grinned.
“It will happen here. It will not be easy. I heard there are conflicts between the demons and the other races inside the tower. I am aware of it because I know you intervened as much as possible.”
The demons were violent beings.
Conflicts arose with the other races because they tried to subjugate the weak, and Abset was the one who mediated that.
“Come with me. Make the demons and the Devildom like you. And I will do my best to help.”
“Why are you trying to help? Aren’t the demons just weapons in the war?”
“There was a time when that was true. But not now.”
Jamie turned to the terrace and said,
“All I want is peace. Unity. And coexistence. That is the way I want to bring this world into the future. To do that, I cannot act fickle. Even if I cannot embrace everyone, shouldn’t I at least put in some effort?”
“Peace, unity, and coexistence.”
“I will set this world free. A lot of blood will be shed, but in return, wouldn’t it be enough if the demons and the residents of this place smiled at each other?”
A truly ideal place.
The world Jamie Welton talked about wasn’t easy to achieve, even after they won the war.
Still, Abset could feel his heart pound.
He got down on one knee before Jamie.
“I will stay by your side until the day your will is fulfilled.”
“Sounds reliable.”
Jamie smiled as he leaned back.