TL Note: OR will be on pause for a bit over a week. Read explanation here: sighed lightly as I thought about it. I had no idea what to choose but now I was a demon king. Thus, the table I would naturally sit at was...[Now, come over here. I have prepared a seat for you in advance.]
Uriel started to take me and my companions somewhere. I felt embarra.s.sed as I was dragged by Uriel. Uriel led me in a more natural manner to the table with the archangel. On the opposite table, the demon kings were staring at me.
"No, wait a minute. Uriel. I..."
I sat down next to Uriel and the other members sat behind me in turn. Raphael sat in front of me and stared at me in a dumbfounded manner.
[Aren"t you a demon king?]
"Well, that..."
Either way, Uriel sitting on my left was happy.
[Okay, okay.]
I felt something strange and turned to the right, only to see an unexpected person.
"What? You"re here as well?"
When did he come here? Yoo Jonghyuk sat there with a peculiar and terrifying killing intent. Next to him was Metatron, who was looking at me with an unknown expression. Based on the seating, Yoo Jonghyuk had been brought here by Metatron. Why did I have an ominous feeling?
Metatron waved to me before shaking his head at Uriel. [Uriel, I understand your heart but the Demon King of Salvation is a demon king.]
[How is he a demon king, Scribe?]
[He is a demon king from his modifier. Send him back.]
[I don"t want to.]
The moment Metatron and Uriel were bickering, a dokkaebi appeared in the centre of the hall. The number and size of the horns showed he was an advanced dokkaebi.
[Then from now on...] The dokkaebi"s gaze stopped on me. [Hmm. I gave you the notice earlier but someone isn"t keeping to it. I would be grateful if the constellations and demon kings sat in their "own" seat.]
I belatedly identified the modifier written in my spot.
[That seat is reserved for the Saviour of Corruption.]
...It was that jerk"s seat. Michael wasn"t in attendance. I hurriedly turned to the party members. "You just stay here. That would be safer."
"Then what about Dokjssi?"
"I am fine. Don"t be too nervous and think of it as a year-end awards ceremony. Everyone has suffered so sometimes there should be a scenario like this."
I told the group members this but I still couldn"t relax. According to the development of the original novel, the balance of good and evil would be disturbed by this Duet Between Good and Evil. I smiled at Uriel and crossed the hall alone, everyone"s attention on me.
[The demon king "Duke of Everywhere" thinks you are a lesser demon king.]
[The constellation "Morning Star G.o.ddess" is shaking her hand in a dumbfounded manner.]
[The demon king "Devil of Principles" is doubting your dignity.]
I really felt I was sitting in another cla.s.s alone at the entrance ceremony.
[The constellation "Abyssal Black Flame Dragon" likes your stupidity.]
Abyssal Black Flame Dragon? This brat was here too? After a while, I barely found my designated seat.
[What a coincidence. We are paired up again.]
I was sitting next to Asmodeus. "Please don"t say such bad things."
Then the banquet began. The first phase was simple refreshments along with the performance of special guests. It really did feel like a year-end awards ceremony. I looked down at the steak on the plate in front of me.
「 Scream of the Finest Swordmaster on Phille Mountain. 」
It was all the same taste. I put my fork down and watched the garish stage. The performances by the special guests... there were also incarnations.
[Today"s stage is very special. I constantly tried to get in touch with them but they never responded to me once.]
Who was it?
[Introducing the G.o.d of Wine and Ecstasy! In addition, the G.o.ddess of Love and Beauty!]
...What? Along with the colourful lighting, Dionysus in a suit and diamond gloves and Aphrodite in a black jumpsuit appeared on the stage. Then music started to play. I looked back and Orpheus" band was playing music.
[Whoa ~ The flashy lights are my own thing.]
Dionysus started singing. The song continued.
[You shall never break the excitement― you can"t!]
I didn"t know the song.
The constellations seemed excited by the unexpected event. In particular, they cheered at the exciting dances that Aphrodite and her incarnation showed. Meanwhile, some constellations were throwing forks at Dionysus.
Come to think of it, Dionysus had said something after Gigantomachia.
-...Thanks to you, Olympus will be suffering for a while.
I didn"t know he meant it like this. Perhaps Dionysus and Aphrodite would receive a large amount of coins for this performance. It was shameful considering Olympus" great pride.
[Whoa! Don"t break the excitement! Then excitement... thank you! Please continue to love Bacchus and G.o.ddess Do in the future!]
Dionysus, who was baptized with food for a while, laughing and walked off with spaghetti on his head. Laughing like this... I couldn"t tell if he was acting or not.
During the show, I observed the demon kings sitting around me. Of course, I was also being observed. In particular, the lower ranks of the demon kings were polarized.
[The demon king "Monarch who is a Philosopher about Corpses" is wary of you.]
[The demon king "Eyes that See the Forbidden" is checking you.]
It was natural since my rank was upgraded from 73rd to 67th in one day. They must be trembling because they didn"t know when I would ask for a promotion battle.
[Now, we will proceed with the awards ceremony.]
I sat up straight. From now on, it was real.
[A good story is created through close cooperation between the constellations and incarnations. This season, there were people who showed great chemistry not only between constellation and incarnation, but incarnation and incarnation. Thus, I prepared a small award for them.]
The cheers of the constellations filled the hall. Was there something like this in the original?
[This season"s "Best Chemistry Award" nominees!]
At the same time, videos flashed. Some of the candidates were very familiar.
-We can"t do it.
-In any case, we will die if this continues.
Two children appeared on the screen.
[The first candidates are incarnation "s.h.i.+n Yoosung" and incarnation" Lee Gilyoung"!]
The spotlight suddenly poured down and s.h.i.+n Yoosung and Lee Gilyoung"s wide eyes were visible. This was something I didn"t expect. Come to think of it, I saw a placard talking about best chemistry when crossing the bridge.
The footage featured on the screen was when the two children met the chimera dragon in Dark Castle. There was the video of two children moving through the wave of monsters, plucking up their courage as they advanced towards the dragon. Somehow, I felt touched.
The candidate introductions continued.
[The second candidates are incarnation "Jung Heewon" and incarnation" Lee Hyunsung"!]
More from our nebula?
-Heewon-ssi, excuse me.
The screen showed the moment when Lee Hyunsung learnt Steel Transformation. Lee Hyunsung voluntarily sacrificed himself to quench Jung Heewon"s h.e.l.l Flames Ignition after she was affected by Nirvana.
On the other table, I could see Lee Hyunsung blus.h.i.+ng and Jung Heewon touching her forehead. They both looked pretty good.
[Next are the third candidates!]
I was shocked to witness the scene.
...What was this?
-Kim Dokja, there is only one chance.
-It has always been "once" for me.
Once this screen came out, Uriel and the archangels of Eden screamed. The two people on the screen were me and Yoo Jonghyuk. It was the moment we threw a spear together at Ares.
The dokkaebi continued, [The third candidates are constellation "Demon King of Salvation" and incarnation "Yoo Jonghyuk"!]
Yoo Jonghyuk"s frown deepened even more. This jerk, I didn"t like it either. Lee Jihye and Jung Heewon glanced at me before chuckling.
[Then let"s announce the winner of the award!]
I inwardly prayed. "Please not the third candidates. Please not the third."
[The season"s Best Chemistry Award goes to incarnation "s.h.i.+n Yoosung" and incarnation "Lee Gilyoung"!]
The names were released with popping fireworks. Fortunately, the constellations gave the right judgment. The archangels sighed while I could see Lee Gilyoung and s.h.i.+n Yoosung hesitantly walking to the stage.
"Eh, uh. I mean... thanks... for the award..."
The extremely nervous s.h.i.+n Yoosung stared at me. Suddenly, Lee Gilyoung took the microphone. "I love Dokja hyung!"
"I love Ahjussi!"
"Kim Dokja"s Company is the best!"
The archangels clapped like the children were adorable. The children received the prize money and plaque and returned to their seats.
[Hum hum. We will continue with the awards.]
The Best Chemistry Award was special. In fact, most of the awards in the Duet Between Good and Evil were given to the giant stories. Therefore, the people who got a decent "giant story" in this season were very nervous.
There was a prize money but all the plaques given here were star relics that enhanced their status.
How could the constellations not go crazy?
Asmodeus sat beside me and whispered. [Are you looking forward to it? What type of prize you will receive.]
"I haven"t received it yet."
I was sure it was just a newcomer award. In the first place, the awards ceremony couldn"t afford to give a demon king the biggest prize.
Asmodeus" expression was curious. [Do you think so?]
I shook my head and watched the following prizes. Putting aside the awards, I wasn"t feeling comfortable.
In the first place, Duet Between Good and Evil wasn"t just a ceremony. The Duet Between Good and Evil. The banquet of good and evil was to judge the good and evil of the scenario. In fact, this event was a contest of pride between the absolute good and absolute evil systems held at regular intervals.
The giant stories from all over the universe rose in the air.
[The winner of the New Evil Award is the giant story "Descendant of Chiyou"!]
Descendant of Chiyou. It was a giant story from the Emperor side. Perhaps it was a story that the incarnation "Feihu" partic.i.p.ated in.
From now on, all the giant stories receiving awards would be divided by "good" or "evil." In other words, the prizes given to "good" and "evil" were different. I was judged as an evil person and thanks to that, I would be given the prizes of a demon king.
[The winner of the New Good Award is the giant story "Protector of the Sphinx"!]
Protector of the Sphinx. It was the giant story of Papyrus. It was probably Ranveer Khan. Ranveer Khan seemed to have received the support of the absolute good system because he was a good and generous man.
[Winners, please come forward!]
Feihu and Ranveer Khan received the awards as representatives and gave a brief statement.
Feihu, a master in one-on-one fighting.
Ranveer Khan, a master in fighting against an army. I thought they would"ve entered the giant stories by now but I was surprised they already collected such great stories. It was different from the original novel.
[Now, the next one is...]
The newcomer awards pa.s.sed and the awards for excellence in each field were continued.
One was evil and the other was good. There was a dividing line as the awards were given.
Perhaps some of these prizes were strongly influenced by the constellations. This was the constellation of the Star Stream"s way of balancing good and evil.
[I sincerely thank the constellations of the absolute evil system and the demon kings who gave me this award. The maternal sponsor behind me, the dokkaebi who operated the channel and...]
The long speech for the Excellence Award finished and I felt a bit strange. I thought I would"ve already received a prize at this point but all the awards for the newcomers had pa.s.sed. Kim Dokja"s Company didn"t even qualify for a newcomer award? The stories were created...
[The winner of this season"s Top Excellence Award, the giant story...]
The winner of the Top Excellence Award was Anna Croft"s Zarathustra. She didn"t attend and it was Selena Kim who received the award. Come to think of it, the grand prize in the original work went to Anna Croft.
All that remained was the grand prize. At this point, I started to be afraid of something.
「 The Duet Between Good and Evil determines the balance of good and evil through the Grand Prize. 」
In fact, the "Grand Prize" was the most important thing about this banquet. It was because the "Grand Prize" determined the power status of good and evil. The giant story of this season was either good or bad.
I looked around and the smiling and chatting demon kings and angels were tense.
[The Grand Prize of this season―]
The dokkaebi"s mouth opened. I heard the syllables spoken by him and felt the reality of the world gradually disappearing. The balance of the world was staggering.
[The giant story of the nebula "Kim Dokja"s Company", the Torch That Swallowed the Myth.]
TL: Rainbow Turtle