Chapter 162 - The Devil’s Lord – 4 (1/2)
The Devil’s Lord – 4
I wanted to watch Mireina’s evolution, but I had no time. I experienced several violent changes when I evolved before, like when I became a higher entity, but now I was experiencing an evolution unlike that. What could I say? The trajectory I was drawing was different from my past self; I wasn’t returning to the past Baal I had been, although that certainly affected me. I was the demon named Baal; after all, I had the same soul.
But that was being all mixed with my powers of Greed, Gluttony, and Jealousy. I formed a new self by blending everything I acquired with the name and power of Baal. What shouldn’t be mixed was cut out, where the remaining parts were united under one strong will. The evolution took place in a realm far beyond suffering. Or to be precise, pain no longer made sense to me. The pain was nothing more than an alert of dangers to the body, but I was far beyond that. I already had a lot more clear and usable alarms to danger.
[Ahh.]
My past body was completely broken, and I couldn’t see it. There was just mana. Boiling mana that let me know I still existed—enough mana to break even the sky. The power of my subordinates had already been returned to them, so it was all mine. The new mana and soul mana, divided into two branches, were twisted and stretched. They moved with a terrifying momentum as they ate at each other, finally uniting together and radiating a brilliant light.
Entities in the lower system had a purely physical body with little mana but eventually received more as they grew. A parent entity abandoned that body to form a body and soul purely based on mana. And now I, finding even that distinction to be burdensome, was putting all of it together. The boundary between the body and the soul was destroyed. The body was the soul, and the soul was the body. Now I knew why Lucifer had tasted so sweet- he was the only complete food I’ve ever eaten. A soul and body united, just like me.
But there was one thing that hadn’t completely melted into me: that mystery stat, covered in question marks. It had always been with me, under the name of luck. But perhaps it was destiny instead. I didn’t know how it would affect me, so I left it unattended, but now everything else was being revealed, that question mark that still hid from me was annoying.
I could tell now that I had recovered most of my memories as Baal. It was a concept. It was up to me to interpret it. That was still something missing. That power that bears the name of destiny, or perhaps it only bore that name because I named it, was still clearly hidden within me. But I didn’t have the key to unlock it. The moment I thought about it, the mana that had been swirling around me stopped and began to form a shape in the air.
It was me. All the powers I had devoured so far were coming together to form my image.
“Finally…!” I heard Belphegor’s voice, overwhelmed by emotion, and I smiled softly. My face was already complete, and I could feel the muscles in my face moving. In a short time, when I didn’t have an exact shape as a being, I felt an infinite sense of freedom and frustration. I was free, yet unable to come into contact with others without my physical form. Perhaps it was to interact with others that some beings became fixed in the form of matter. With such an irrelevant thought, I stepped into the air. For a being full of magic, it didn’t matter whether there was land or air below one’s feet.
[Baal (Fate)]
[Lv 101]
[Magic – 7,875, Destiny – ???]
[Skill – Predation Lv9, Jealousy Lv9, Reaper Lv9, Domination Lv10, Magic Lv10]
[Once a great symbol, the underground races grew under the name of Baal and wished to serve him. Belkatina, Belkena, and a few others all are derived from his blood and have inherited his strength.]
[You have succeeded in reaching the root of your race, the greatest bloodline under the moon. By throwing off both falsehoods and weakness, you have gained the strength to stand at the center of a new history.]
[But you have to hurry, as all great historical records may be erased.]
The hint had been around from the start: Belkena and Belkatina, beings with my name. Of course, just knowing it wouldn’t have been enough. Now I had nine levels in Jealousy and Predation, which were the core powers that defined me. Since Greed was operating on a more fundamental level, it wasn’t specified by the power of skills, but I could feel it in all my words, thoughts, and actions. Other than that, all I had left was the Reaper skill, Domination, and my Magic skill.
“Mireina?”
“Not yet. I don’t think her evolution will end in a couple of minutes.”