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The Golden Gravekeeper

Completed story. Will delete if readers request it.

Tomoyuki · Kỳ huyễn
Không đủ số lượng người đọc
140 Chs

Chapter 139: Tale of Demons and Gods

Lyia placed her hands on the table as she restlessly stared into the blue sky outside her verdana. She fidgeted a little before she took the cup of tea and sipped it a little, then sighed as she leaned back in her luxurious, rocking chair.

"What's the matter, dear?"

Chronos strolled into the verdana and took a seat opposite her. Lyia shook her head.

"It's finally over, isn't it?"

"Oh no…it's only just beginning."

A sinister smile flashed across Chronos's face for a moment, but he clamped down on it when Lyia shot him a glare.

"What do you mean by that? Are you still scheming something behind the scenes?"

"Oh, you know me, dear. I'm always scheming something."

Lyia sighed. "That's true, I guess. Well, what are you planning now?"

"I'm just planning to watch the carnage unfold. I've already caught a glimpse of the future, so I'm looking forward to it."

"Really?" Lyia frowned at that, but chose not to pursue. Instead, she ran her finger along the rim of her teacup. "Speaking of the future…what happened to the Fates?"

"Oh, you want to know the fate of the Fates?"

Lyia resisted the urge to roll her eyes and gritted her teeth. "Yes, dear. What's the fate of the Fates?"

"Father has executed them. Their existence has been entirely purged and erased from both the mortal and divine realms. They are permanently dead." Chronos shrugged as he leaned back in his seat, looking nonchalant. "A fitting end for those goddesses who broke the covenant and interfered with mortal matters…as well as put Heaven and the mortal realm into jeopardy with their actions. To think they wanted to invite Chaos into this dimension…"

"I'm glad our follower has put a stop to that," Lyia remarked. There was some pride evident in her soft, gentle voice.

"Yeah, he has done a great job." Chronos nodded eagerly. "We can look forward to more achievements from him in the future."

"I'm sure I will be looking forward to that," Lyia agreed airily. Then she smirked. "Speaking of followers, I heard that Evelyn had a breakdown shortly after her main follower was killed. What was his name, Kobayashi Kenji?"

"That's right." Chronos chuckled and nodded. "Evelyn was pretty traumatized after her main follower was killed by our follower. She has locked herself in her room and has refused to come out since then. It'll probably take her another thousand years or so before she finally gets over her tantrum and recover psychologically from her failure."

"She's too used to success," Lyia grumbled, her eyes dark. "This will teach her for being uppity. I'm so glad we've finally put her in her place."

"Apparently we aren't the only ones." Chronos burst out laughing. "After Evelyn locked herself in her room, there was quite the celebration at the Feast of Gods. They had all that anger and resentment from being treated condescendingly and looked down upon by Evelyn pent up inside them, and they released all that in one night through drinking and partying. Father had to put a stop to it personally, but not before he joined the celebration for a bit. You should know. You were there yourself."

Lyia giggled as she shook her head, recalling the release of exuberance and joy, as well as her father making a fool out of himself. She had been moderate with her drinking and celebrating, especially since she had to maintain her dignified image as a goddess of knowledge. Chronos, on the other hand, was bound by no such appearances and had taken a drink too many. Lyia had to literally drag him back to their bedroom after the party.

"Speaking of the other gods, what of the Fates? With the current trio erased from existence, who will be taking their place?"

Lyia suddenly recalled the yawning absence in the pantheon. With them gone, the balance in the divine realm would be thrown out of whack. Chronos stroked his chin for a bit before he replied.

"Oh, Father has already selected three candidates from amongst the mortals. He will be ascending them soon, and have them take the Fates' place when they are ready."

"Father sure doesn't waste any time."

Lyia fell silent as she took another sip of her tea, contemplating the million different outcomes that flowed from this single branch of time.

"With this, the threat of Chaos will be stopped…forever."

"Indeed," Chronos agreed with a smile. "But for our dear follower…new conflicts will be awaiting him."

"Don't worry. I made sure to choose wisely." Lyia also smiled, but it wasn't the usual benevolent smile that the goddess of knowledge was known for. It was a dark and sinister smile, one that concealed layers of schemes beneath it. "I'm sure our dear Tomoyuki will be up to the task."

*

The seven strongest, most powerful Demon Lords had gathered within a secret chamber, plotting and conspiring against the rest of Restia.

"…it has already been two years since the self-proclaimed Emperor of Humanity has been defeated, huh?"

"Oh…has it already been that long? Time sure flies by quickly."

"Yes…and young Regis has actually convinced the whole of the human kingdom to ally with him."

"Not only that, he has unified the other sixty-five Demon Lords and their domains under his rule."

"He poses a significant threat."

"It is time for us to eliminate him…"

"Us?"

One of the dark shadows barked out in laughter, interrupting the hushed murmurs and guttural whispers that echoed sinisterly within the chamber.

"Since when do you speak for 'us'?"

"Indeed I don't," another hooded shadow replied, rearing to his full height. A titan towering over ten meters, yet still somehow silhouetted within the darkness, he brimmed with pure power. Yet the other party was not at all intimidated.

"Watch your tongue, Lazarus, lest you trip over it again."

Lazarus did not dignify the insult with a reply, his demonic mana brimming violently within his calm surface.

"Now, now…" Asmodai broke in before the meeting could erupt into a brutal confrontation. "The purpose of us meeting is to discuss…which one of us should meet young Regis in combat first? Anyone with a grudge against him? Would you like to step forward and stake your claim? Otherwise…any volunteers?"

"Hmph…what a farce."

Asmodai raised a brow and glanced at the beared figure behind a hood, gigantic metallic chains spooling from his robe and glowing with an eerie fire.

"I assume you're volunteering, Prometheus?"

"Not at all. I just think this whole thing is ridiculous. So what if that upstart Regis has unified the other sixty-five domains and even allied with humans? Even with all the manpower and might at his fingertips, he still can't best even one of us."

"No one's saying that," another shadowy figure spoke up. "We're just discussing and deciding the order of which one of us gets to face him first…so that we wouldn't have any conflicts otherwise."

"I don't mind having conflicts with you all," a burly figure with glowing red eyes growled in the background, a smile carving into his face in the shadows. "I've been getting pretty bored."

"Why don't we get rid of the small fries first before we start fighting each other?" a smaller figure asked, almost tiny when compared to the behemoths around him, but his presence was no less significant – what with the power emanating from his humanoid form.

"You're all so cruel," Asmodai sighed. "Leaving young Regis to fight the humans and clean up the mess, and then picking on him once he has done all the hard work." Then she smiled. "Then again, that's why we Demons exist…"

"No," I interrupted. "You seven demons only exist because the creator of this shitty story wanted to rip off The Silver Gravekeeper (Yin zhi Shoumuren) and threw in the nine powerful Demon Lords in as final bosses, but never intended to use them in the actual story itself. But now that he added you into the story when making fun of The Silver Gravekeeper, he has no choice but to tie up loose ends. Otherwise this thread will be left hanging."

"What the fuck are you talking about?!" Asmodai snapped, baffled.

"More important, who are you and what are you doing here?" the burly guy thundered. "How dare you just stroll into here…do you not know who we are?"

"Oh, you're seven of the nine strongest Demon Lords in Morten…in all of Restia, even." I shrugged flippantly. "Of course I know who you are. As I said, the creator threw you in when he was ripping off The Silver Gravekeeper, but then left your thread dangling when he returned to the main story. Probably because he never intended to use you guys to begin with."

"Insolent idiot!"

"Who do you think you are?!"

"He's…my guest. And my trusted partner in warfare."

Regis Gremory strolled in, standing right beside me with a wink and a smile. Lilith followed shortly and linked my arm with hers, putting on a defiant expression.

"He's also my husband. He's one of us…I can guarantee you that my husband is just as strong as, if not more powerful than the likes of you."

A tremor ran through the seven seated Demon Lords when they heard Lilith's bold proclamation.

"Uh, Lilith, that's a bit…"

"It's the truth."

"Even so, you should take their feelings into consideration. It might not be a good idea to damage their pride right from the onset…"

"YOU!" the burly, thickset demon roared, moving his five-meter high body to tower over me. However, Regis quickly intercepted him and cleared his throat.

"What's this? I'm hurt…I can't believe you held a meeting with the nine strongest Demon Lords without inviting me or Lilith-dono."

"…brat."

"…little Regis."

"So you've come."

"…along with the young vampire queen."

"I see the current generation is full of upstarts and immature brats."

"What have you come here for, little Regis? Lilith-chan?"

Ignoring the snarls and sneers of her compatriots, Asmodai ventured forward to ask. Regis merely smiled and bowed politely.

"…oh, since you're in the middle of choosing the order of who gets to wage war against us, I thought we should drop in and declare war on you. To make this whole thing…official, and to give you ample warning before we crush you all one by one."

A silence hung over the chamber as the other seven Demon Lords digested the audacious words that left his mouth.

"Are you seriously saying that, little Regis?" Asmodai asked, a slight trace of amusment and disbelief lacing her words.

"Are you seriously asking me that, Asmodai Nee-sama?" Regis responded evenly, his smile unchanged.

"Hah! Good! Very good!"

The burly, muscular Demon Lord thundered with laughter and reared his titanic fist back to throw a mighty punch. I sprang into action, jumping between the goliath and Regis, even as the burly Demon Lord's fist hurtled forward like a meteor. Raising a single hand, I intercepted his punch and halted it in its tracks, even as the ground around me exploded and shattered.

"Ngh?!"

"Baal! Be careful!"

It was too late.

Wrapping my fingers around Baal's fist, I lifted up the Demon Lord who was several times my size and weight off his feet and then flung him across the chamber. Baal crashed into the ceiling before plummeting onto the ground, seemingly unconscious.

The remaining Demon Lords in the chamber stirred, unsure how to react in the face of such an unexpected outcome.

"I told you, didn't I?"

Lilith came to my side and rested her head on my shoulder while wrapping her hands around my arm.

"He's just as strong as you, if not stronger."

"Baal…"

One of the Demon Lords turned to glance at the fallen muscular warrior, but he didn't get up.

"Anyway, as I was saying…" Regis stepped forward to take center stage once again. Placing his hands on his hips, he beamed brightly. "…we've come to declare war on all of you. Either you submit, or you'll get crushed…like poor Baal-sama over there."

Lazarus's fingers gripped tightly into his armrest, breaking the furniture. "You'll regret this, upstart. All of you."

"That's rich, coming from someone who was planning to destroy us in secret." Regis shook his head mockingly. "Either way, we'll see who will regret this at the end…after all, there's no use talking. Our actions are what matter."

"…true enough," Prometheus admitted as he leaned back in his chair, the ominous flames on his chains flaring up. "We'll meet you on the battlefield soon…or, wherever you want to meet to discuss peace terms."

"You still plan on offering these brats mercy, Prometheus?" one of the Demon Lords sneered. "How kind of you."

Prometheus merely tilted his head, looking puzzled.

"Who said anything about showing them mercy? If anything, I just don't feel like fighting. And…" the flames blazed along his chains. "…I've a feeling that these kids might surprise us old geezers for once."

"Coward."

"Say what you will…as young Regis said, our actions are what matter." Prometheus knitted his fingers and hunched forward to stare at us. "I'll be watching you and how you progress."

"Hah! Then I'll take the honor of being their first opponents!"

The titan who was over ten meters lurched to his feet, laughing. He narrowed his eyes at us, his fingers curling into gargantuan fists.

"Well met, Agares-sama. Then we'll meet on the battlefield."

With a flick of his cloak, Regis turned and left the chamber. Lilith and I followed him shortly, even as the gazes of the remaining six Demon Lords lingered upon us. But before we made our exit, I couldn't help but turn to Agares for one last time and drew my finger over my throat.

"You whelp!"

Stifling my laughter, I left the fuming titan behind as I followed Lilith into the outside, where thousands of tanks and millions of infantry awaited.

"Your Excellency Emperor Gremory! Your highness Queen Scarlet! Lord General Tanaka!"

A Colonel saluted as we emerged into the open, the air saturated with promethium fumes and ionic crackle of plasma.

"Let's move out, Colonel Burado." Regis smiled at Colonel Benjamin Burado, who bowed his head deferentially. "We've finally found out what our first destination is."

Burado nodded and turned to glance at me. Since it was my duty, I stepped to the makeshift podium where most of my command staff awaited. Lieutenant-Colonel Elia Kratz, Colonel Daniel Dressia and even Nishida Kensuke all stood stiffly as I took my place at the center.

Turning to the millions of soldiers that waited outside the demonic underground chamber, I raised my hand.

"Soldiers of Morten! We march to war!"

"FOR MORTEN!"

And thus the curtains descended on the greatest war yet to befall Restia.