Chapter 910: The Acceptance of Métis. 2
n/-OIn
As they arrived at the demon king"s castle, Victor gently landed on the ground. "Come, follow me," he ordered as he began to walk inside the castle.
The first thing they noticed upon entering the castle was how everything was truly ENORMOUS; a real dragon could easily fit in this place.
They also realized that everything was huge only in the areas of pa.s.sage, and some rooms were designed for dragons to sleep in their colossal forms, while the rest of the property was built in a smaller size.
The entire demon king"s castle was designed to cater to Victor"s needs, which meant that EVERYTHING he liked existed here.
Do not underestimate the dedication of fanatical demons; they can be even more meticulous than various races when it comes to pursuing their desires. After all, they are called creatures of desire for a reason.
Unlike in the past, the demon king"s castle occupied a significant portion of land because accommodating several enormous dragons comfortably was no easy task. Most of the eastern part of Abaddon was being used for this sole purpose.
Despite this place being so large, Victor realized that his demonesses had not overdone it, and they had made this place large enough for the purpose of housing all the dragons in his group. Victor could easily deduce the reason for this.
"Most of my family prefers to stay in my personal world, which is warm and beautiful, rather than in a depressing place like h.e.l.l." This was a fact even shared by the demonesses themselves; even though they were demons, they felt bored looking at the unchanging sky of this h.e.l.lish realm.
Moreover, they felt a stronger sense of belonging when they were in Victor"s inner world. This was because Victor"s inner world was located deeper within Victor"s soul and was sustained by his own power.
But despite feeling this way and being aware of it, they still upgraded the castle. After all, too much caution was never unnecessary. The demon castle was not only the home of the demon king but also a showcase for demons.
When visiting Abaddon, the first thing demons would look at is the demon castle, and when they saw the immense size of the castle, they would realize how "large" Victor"s "main" body was.
Upon reaching the throne room, the doors opened automatically, and the dark room began to light up with a violet hue. Standing in front of the throne were two twin demons emitting a threatening aura.
Upon seeing Victor, the two demons immediately knelt in deep reverence. "Your Majesty, Tyrannical Demon King Victor Alucard has returned," Zahal and Albu announced, their voices echoing throughout the castle, alerting all the residents here to the presence of the king and signaling the formalities that would follow.
"Rise," Victor ordered, and the demons made their best effort to comply, standing and looking at Victor.
"How are you, my servants? It"s been a while since I last saw you," Victor said with a small smile on his face.
The gray-skinned twin demon spoke for himself and his brother, "We are very well, Your Majesty, thanks to Your Majesty"s extraordinary abilities."
Pure fanaticism could be seen in the eyes of the two demons.
"Mm, good to know. We"ll leave the complicated conversation for a later time. For now, please introduce yourselves to my guests and daughters; I"m sure they are not familiar with you."
The Heavenly Father and Ariel had to restrain themselves from rolling their eyes. How could they not recognize these demons? They were as ancient as they were, demons who never left h.e.l.l and were as dangerous, if not more so, than the previous rulers of h.e.l.l.
Zahal and Albu had been present in this G.o.dforsaken land since it was nothing but a barren wasteland with no structures.
The appearance of these demons raised the level of caution in the Heavenly Father and Ariel regarding Victor. The reason for this? They had completely forgotten about these two monsters!
Unlike other demons, these two beings could remain discreet if they wished, and their only obsession was to keep h.e.l.l as h.e.l.l, not caring much about anything else.
But apparently, that was no longer the case. The pure devotion in the eyes of these ancient demons said everything Ariel and the Heavenly Father needed to know about their current att.i.tude toward h.e.l.l.
They were fully committed to Victor"s rule.
"I"m Zahal," the gray-skinned demon spoke.
"I"m Albu," the red-skinned demon spoke.
"We are the elders of h.e.l.l," they said towards Nero, Métis, and Ophis.
"Welcome to the castle of the Tyrannical Demon King, princesses."
"P-Princess?" Nero and Métis stammered, but for different reasons.
Métis was taken aback because she felt she was too old to be called a princess. She used to be called a queen; why was she a princess now? Wasn"t this a demotion?
"Although I don"t mind being Daddy"s little princess... hehehehe," she smiled internally, but then shook her head to shake off these intrusive thoughts.
On the other hand, Nero was surprised because she didn"t expect to be treated this way; after all, she wasn"t a demon.
Ophis, on the other hand, accepted it all more naturally. She was Victor"s daughter, after all, and if her father was the king, she would be a princess, right?
"Umu, thank you," Ophis nodded. "I"m Ophis."
"We know," the two demons said at the same time with a gentle smile on their faces, which, due to their demonic forms, seemed quite malevolent.
But Ophis wasn"t one to judge others by appearance; after all, she had learned from her amazing Daddy.
"Mm." So she simply nodded in agreement. Ophis had always been a girl of few words, so such a reaction was normal for her.
Nero snapped out of her stupor at this brief conversation and spoke, confused, "B-But, I"m not a demon? How can I be a princess?"
"You are the demon king"s daughter, no matter your race, or whether you are not his blood daughter born from his soul and essence. From the moment the demon king declared you his daughter, you are his daughter until he declares otherwise," Albu stated as a fact.
In h.e.l.l, the word of the demon king was ABSOLUTE. If he decided that from tomorrow, left would be right, and right would be left, his will MUST be obeyed.
It didn"t matter if it went against common sense or not; the will of your king... No, your G.o.d would be fulfilled. They would ensure it happened.
The level of dedication of these two was so great that for a moment, the Heavenly Father thought he was looking at Michael, his son who had been killed in the war—a fact that still saddened him today. The loss of Michael and Gabriel had been a great shock to all the angels.
Due to the method of their deaths, which essentially involved sacrificing their souls to turn Diablo into a being that disrupted the balance, it was impossible to resurrect his two sons, even if he wanted to.
"O-Oh... Thank you, I suppose," Nero responded, slightly confused in the face of such intense loyalty.
"Ophis, Nero, and Metis."
Hearing her father"s call, the three daughters looked at Victor. "If in the future, neither I nor any of your mothers are present, you should seek the help of Albu and Zahal."
Like the other demons, these ancient demons had become significantly stronger than before, all thanks to Victor"s intervention. Currently, they were at the level of fully trained second-generation primordial G.o.ds, and with the blessings of destruction that Victor would grant them in the future, they would reach the level of first-generation primordial G.o.ds.
They were undoubtedly the strongest demons in h.e.l.l.
Victor snapped his fingers, and a black magical circle with shades of red appeared on the arms of Ophis, Nero, and Metis. "You will be my eldest daughters, so the duty to protect your other sisters will fall upon your shoulders. Are we understood?"
"Yes, Father," Nero nodded solemnly, fully committed to her duty.
"... Yes, F-Father," Metis responded with great difficulty, her face flushed. She looked at the magical circle with a complicated expression. On one hand, she was very pleased with her father"s trust, but on the other hand, she felt embarra.s.sed because, as a mature woman who already had a daughter (even though she didn"t remember her), being reduced to someone else"s daughter was quite... confusing.
Although internally, she was very happy, even if she didn"t want to admit it.
"Ugh, I need to come to terms with these feelings. I can"t be this confused all the time," Metis thought seriously.
Her father was here, entrusting something important to her. She couldn"t show so much uncertainty; she had never had doubts before. She had always been a decisive woman, so why was she hesitating over something so simple? She thought in self-irritation.
"The previous Metis, despite having memories of her, I clearly am not her. I died when that b.a.s.t.a.r.d deceived me, and I was reborn through Daddy"s soul, becoming something... better. My soul is old, and at the same time, new. This duality will always exist... But in the end, I will be Metis, the dragon G.o.ddess of wisdom, the daughter of Victor Alucard, the chaos dragon G.o.d."
With just this self-reflection and acceptance, Metis"s soul, which had struggled to merge with the new parts, began the slow process of fusion. A subtle change, but one that did not escape Victor"s eyes.
Victor smiled inwardly; it seemed his plan had worked. He managed to erase Metis"s uncertainties.
Victor Alucard was a man who didn"t do things halfway. While he was showing the place to the Heavenly Father under the pretext of an alliance, he was accomplis.h.i.+ng several personal and professional goals.
"Don"t work hard, work smart," Victor thought as he looked at Ophis"s face. Of all his present daughters, she was the only one who had no blood or soul connection with him, like Metis and Nero.
Although this fact didn"t affect his opinion of Ophis in the slightest; she was his daughter, and that would never change.
"O-Other Sisters... Big Sis..." Ophis murmured in shock upon hearing Victor"s words, thinking about a future where she would no longer be the younger sister but the older sister. For Ophis, who had always been the younger sister, this was like a victory to her ears, so she nodded determinedly.
"Mm, leave it to me, Father."
"Good, as expected of my daughters," he said, genuinely pleased, taking the Heavenly Father, Ariel, and even Metis and Nero by surprise.
It was really unfair how handsome he looked when he smiled, they couldn"t help but think.
The Heavenly Father simply shook his head in front of this charismatic figure. Even though he had seen many absurd things, he couldn"t personally dislike Victor. After all, Victor had never done anything to antagonize him.
All his previous thoughts were just his paranoia and his thoughts as a leader taking over him.
"I need a vacation..." the Heavenly Father thought. "The succubus and entertainment district is a good place; I just need to disguise myself..." As a G.o.d of creation, disguising himself was very easy for him.
The Heavenly Father began to think about his vacation, a decision that would cause a lot of headaches for the angels in the future.