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Chapter 331 – The False God (6)

Gabriel once had God-like power, but he had made the mistake of making an enemy out of El and Gi-Gyu. It resulted in him getting killed by Gi-Gyu. The same guy now stood before them in Michael’s body.

Gi-Gyu accepted the situation with a nonchalant attitude and expected El to do the same, but he was wrong. He saw her flinch, but she made no moves, probably because she was with her master and had decided to control her emotions.

‘I guess her resentment would be there even if she kills him dozens of times over,’?This was what Gi-Gyu gathered from what he could feel through their connection. It was clear El felt enraged.

‘It’s understandable.’?

After all, the one who had ruined everything in her life was standing right in front of her. El could barely control her boiling fury.

“I guess you’re Michael,” Gabriel must have felt her anger, too, because he opened his lips and said, “It’s not that I don’t feel apologetic toward you...”

El shuddered. Instead of apologizing and begging for forgiveness, Gabriel maintained his haughty attitude. He was purposefully rubbing salt into El’s wound.

Gabriel continued, “It’s just that I believe what I did was the right thing for everyone.”

Finally, El stopped shaking. The reason was exactly why they had wanted to talk with Gabriel.

Gi-Gyu demanded, “What is it that you know, and why did you do all those things?”

***

“I don’t have much time.” Gabriel sounded anxious. “Raphael didn’t allow me much time.”

Gabriel had made an appearance with Raphael’s permission. In return, he had to fulfill the condition Raphael had put forth.

‘Complete annihilation of Gabriel’s existence.’

Raphael resented Gabriel as much as El, so this was the only way Gabriel could make an appearance. Reviving Gabriel’s soul to use him would have been very useful, but Gi-Gyu didn’t regret making this promise. Gi-Gyu knew that forgiving Gabriel would worsen this situation. So Gabriel and Raphael had made a deal, and Gabriel was thusly awakened. The moment this conversation ended, Gabriel would disappear like the two angels Castro had killed.

Gabriel would disappear from the world.

“I’ll tell you whatever you want to hear.” Gabriel was very accommodating. It seemed like he wanted to tell them everything. “Where should I begin…”

He folded his black wings and looked down. It was as if he was reminiscing.

“Since Michael is here, I guess you might want to know why I did what I did during the holy sword ritual,” Gabriel asked arrogantly, but his voice sounded genuine.

El nodded. She ordered angrily, “Whatever you say will be a poor excuse, but go ahead.”

“The rulers killed God, and the Tower began reigning over the world,” Gabriel began. Gi-Gyu had already seen this part in the memories the Tower had provided.

Kronos and the rulers of different dimensions had created the Tower, named Babel, and had used it as a spear to kill God. The Tower had absorbed God’s immense power.

‘And this power then flowed into Gaia.’?Gi-Gyu remembered. Afterward, Gaia resurrected the rulers who had been betrayed and murdered by Kronos to help her maintain the Tower.

‘And the rulers are now on the Tower's top floors,’?Gi-Gyu thought. This was why the Tower still hadn’t been conquered by the players.

“The humans who killed our God gained power greater than the angels and began ruling the world. The many dimensions were absorbed and disappeared, effectively running the world God had created. And Michael, you wanted to obey the decree of a dead god and go through with the holy sword ritual. You foolishly believed that would change everything. You were forcing all the angels to sacrifice themselves for a dead god. If the ritual had continued and you had gotten your wish, it would have annihilated the angel race.”

Suddenly, Gabriel became quiet.

“Hahaha…” El laughed weakly. “This is ridiculous. Are you saying you aren’t to blame?”

“...”

“Are you not responsible for God’s death, which led to that situation in the first place? You worked with Kronos and helped him build Babel! Was that not you?!” El screamed.

This was the truth. As Gi-Gyu had seen in the Tower’s memories, Kronos was the biggest perpetrator. He was why El had no choice but to carry out the holy sword ritual, but Gabriel was the one who had majorly helped Kronos. So, it made sense that El was furious.

“You’re right.” Gabriel didn’t make any excuses. He accepted the blame willingly. “I helped him kill God. I forced you to carry out the ritual.”

“So how dare you—” El wanted to scream further, but Gabriel interrupted her.

“I had no choice.” Gabriel looked so sincere that El stopped yelling. “Because it was the only way to save our kind and…”

Gabriel looked into El’s eyes and added, “You. It was for you.”

“...” Gi-Gyu frowned.

***

“Did you call for me…?” Botis asked gloomily. His rank inside Eden wasn’t low. As a matter of fact, he was among the top ten most senior figures in the gate. But at that moment, Botis bowed deeply.

“Yup. There you are.” Paimon gestured for him rudely. Unfortunately for Botis, Paimon was a much more important figure before and after syncing with Gi-Gyu.

“Yes, Lord Paimon.” Botis bowed again. In hell, Paimon had held a much higher seat of power than Botis; even here, Paimon was a much more important being.

Paimon didn’t bother greeting Botis. He got right to the point. “It’s about something Kim Gi-Gyu asked me to do.”

“...!”

“He said you want to evolve, huh?”

“Ah…” Botis felt like crying, realizing that his master had remembered. Gi-Gyu had been so busy that Botis hadn’t gotten a chance to talk with him. Thankfully, his master hadn’t forgotten him.

“So finally…” Botis whispered. He used to be a powerful leader, but he just wasn’t improving like his comrades nowadays. The last few weeks had been harrowing, but he never voiced his despair.

‘I just don’t want to fall behind,’?Botis thought in desperation. After syncing with Gi-Gyu, Botis had gained many colleagues. And there was also Tao Chen, whom he had been sparring with often.

Everyone was becoming more powerful—everyone except him. Of course, he had become more powerful after syncing with Gi-Gyu, but not as much as the others.

But now, things were looking up.

Paimon didn’t pay attention to Botis’ hopeful face. Focused on something else, he said, “You have already met the conditions for your evolution.”

“I-is that true?”

“But your evolution process appears to be very complicated.”

Botis gulped loudly. He had witnessed many creatures evolve around him, the most recent being Hamiel, who had transformed into Diablo, an ancient being. This angel barely had any presence in Eden, but he had suddenly become much more powerful than Botis.

“So I prepared something—” Paimon began.

“I’ll do it!”

“Huh? But I didn’t even tell you what it is.”

Botis flailed his mucus-covered arms and announced, “I’ll do whatever it takes to evolve.”

“Hmm…” Paimon finally looked up from his work and studied Botis. “Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Botis had never seen Paimon looking this contemplative. Botis became anxious and continued, “I want to become strong. I do not want to be the way I am any longer.”

Botis knew this was the right thing to do.

“All right. Then…” Paimon waved toward a black tent nearby. The doorway flap dropped, and when Botis saw what was inside, he began shaking.

Botis was petrified.

Botis hadn’t felt fear many times, but he believed that anyone would be terrified if they saw what he was seeing.

“T-those are…” Botis stammered.

“You’re familiar with them, aren’t you?” Paimon grinned proudly. “They are the kings.”

Powerful Leviathans and Belphegor clones stood proudly inside the tent. They were just clones, and Botis had already known Paimon was involved in something like this, but seeing the army of hell kings was still overwhelming.

Paimon explained, “Well, they are flops, but… Anyway, you must already have a clue as to why you aren’t evolving or getting stronger, right?”

“Ah… Yes…” Botis was familiar with the process of evolution. He would enter his cocoon every few hundred years and come out much stronger. He didn’t have to eat other demons or train. This was why he had been nicknamed the Repulsive Earl, but he didn’t care. The demons respected him his entire life.

But Botis no longer had his cocoon; Gi-Gyu had stolen it from him, and Botis didn’t dare to covet what belonged to his master. Consequently, he had never openly voiced his concern to Gi-Gyu.

“I’ve improved that cocoon. Look behind you,” Paimon suggested.

Botis finally noticed what was behind the hell kings. “Ahh…”

He noticed that his cocoon was now emanating waves of black energy.

“That’s not all. I’ve made further improvements inside, and I’ll be very involved in your evolution from now on,” Paimon announced.

“Ahh…”

“And by the time your evolution is complete”—Paimon grinned ominously—“You’ll have become my greatest creation.”

Botis was so overwhelmed that he couldn’t even thank Paimon. Besides, he couldn’t take his eyes off the cocoon, which was pulsing with a power he had never seen before.

“Of course, the evolution process will be painful. You’ll wish you were dead,” Paimon whispered, but Botis couldn’t hear him.

‘I guess it wouldn’t matter even if he hears about the process,’?Paimon thought. The sync changed the creature, but the core remained the same. All demons craved war and power, and nothing could change this.

“I guess you’ll just have to endure it,” Paimon whispered.

***

Gabriel’s story wasn’t overly long or short. He had explained the reason he wanted to kill God.

“Our God… He… He wasn’t who we thought he was,” said Gabriel. Gi-Gyu had heard about this before from Kronos.

Gabriel continued, “Our God who emanated divine brilliance was a false deity.”

Gi-Gyu and El remained quiet. Now that they had heard this truth from Gabriel himself, things felt different.

Gabriel added, “I was trapped inside Chaos along with you, but I was lucky enough to see the truth.”

With a bitter smile, Gabriel murmured, “Our God was a lie.”

Frustrated, Gi-Gyu asked, “So what does that mean?”

“The creation… I used to believe that our God created this world. But he, our God, was just one of the many pieces created by another creator.”

Gi-Gyu had heard the same from Kronos.

“He was just a giant shell of energy. Our idea of the savior was all wrong. The rules he laid out for us were all meaningless. That was why I got rid of everything.”

“Fine, I understand that part.” Gi-Gyu remained calm, unlike El, because he had already heard this. Also, he had never been much of a God fanatic. “But why El… Why are you saying that you did it for Michael?”

Gi-Gyu’s voice was sharp, but it wasn’t Gabriel who replied.

“T-that’s enough,” El whispered, shuddering.

“I guess you remember now.” Gabriel sounded bitter. “That’s right. The one who created those rules, thought up the purpose of angels, and created the angels…”

Gabriel pointed his finger at El and added, “That was you.”