Chương 554: The Lost Demon

Asmodeus left the chamber, the door vanishing behind him and leaving only Luke and Azazel in the quiet expanse.

"What did you mean by the System watching?" Luke asked.

"That thing doesn't care for me," Azazel replied.

"And it is… curious. Hungry for knowledge. But here, in this space, it cannot observe us." Luke sat across from him at the long stone table, grounding himself. He had a thousand questions, but he forced himself to be practical.

"Before anything else, you have a letter with you that contains the truth about what happened to your mother. I assume Samael told you to wait until after meeting me to open it, probably saying something like giving your attention to a letter before me would be disrespectful, or some other nonsense like that."

"Yes. I have the letter."

"Well then, Luke. If you want to be a good ruler, my advice is that you open that letter only one second before Event 51 begins."

"What do you mean?"

"It's very simple. Patience is a good ruler's virtue. If, after this conversation is over, you can endure the next few months without giving in to your curiosity about your mother and opening the letter, then you will have attained a virtue that few possess. It is only advice. Follow it or don't." Luke wanted to open that letter more than anything. But maybe it was advice worth following.

If he could wait to learn how his mother died—whether she was murdered in the tutorial, or how it happened—then maybe, in this chess game between rulers, he would become a little better.

"I waited almost fifteen years to find out. I can wait a few more months."

"That's more like it."

"Back in the rift… what did you want to talk about?" Azazel folded his hands. Luke pressed on.

"Is it possible for me to give a profession to a servant?" That was the core of it. He needed to understand the bloodline skill.

"The power I created rewrites the path of a being entirely. It resets them, clears their original trajectory, and builds a new one, my system," Azazel said.

"I designed it to counter the existing System. It gives your servants the strongest progression routes available. You would call it cheating. Or hacking. And yes, I did that deliberately." That tracked perfectly. It explained why Angie and Charlie awakened second classes so easily.

"It tailors their growth to help you forge powerful warriors at your side," Azazel continued.

"It filters for the most optimal evolutions. Wasting that potential on a profession would be… amusing. But yes, it's possible. As long as you don't choose a servant's class for them, you can assign a profession, using the proper artifact."

"I figured as much." Maybe it would have been a waste to give Charlie or Angie a profession. Even if he'd had the means earlier, he wouldn't dive deeper into that now.

"I had a lot of questions prepared," Luke said.

"But I think I've already gotten what I needed. Some things are better discovered on my own." Azazel tilted his head.

"And the Fifty-One? You're not going to ask?"

"Would you answer if I did?"

"Of course."

"Then what is that thing I've been hearing about since the tutorial? Because after all this time, I still don't know."

"The Fifty-One," Azazel said, "is a process that begins when the population of a newly integrated universe reaches fifty-one percent system users."

"…That's it?"

"That explains why it happens. The consequences, however… are significant. The first being that the Rank B restriction is removed from your people."

"Rank B?"

"In a new universe, freshly integrated, everyone is capped. No one can surpass the midpoint of Rank C. Roughly equivalent to level three hundred." Luke froze. The weight of that information hit him like a falling mountain. So the Dragon Queen is, at most, level three hundred? It didn't make her any less far above him. But three hundred was far more manageable than some unknowable number beyond comprehension. Which meant she could have taken down the tutorial archangel without even trying.

"That was… extremely helpful," Luke admitted.

"I know," Azazel said without a hint of modesty.

"What actually happens during the Fifty-One?"

"Your universe becomes eligible for special events. This coming one marks your first. The event itself is not the important part. What follows afterward is what many gods desired… and what many others feared."

"And what exactly is that?" Azazel leaned back, choosing his words with care.

"Imagine," he said, "that you and the people of your world live on a specific floor in a vast apartment tower, that tower being your universe. Each floor represents a layer of reality. You all exist in the same building, but on different levels." Luke listened, trying to follow.

"The Fifty-One," Azazel continued, "moves everyone to the same floor." Layers of reality? An entire world?

"You really thought you were the only ones in this universe? The process is called Yggdrasil… or simply the Fifty-One." We'll all be thrown into the same place? Cultures, kingdoms, civilizations colliding?

"The race will have countless contenders. And every layer has its own kind of society. Some never invented technology, others have had the system for millennia. Some are ruled by what you'd call monsters. That's why I told you before that soon enough you'd understand where you're meant to build your kingdom."

"If that tutorial I was trapped in hadn't ended… none of this would be happening?"

"Exactly. Now you understand why some gods wanted it to end and others didn't." This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"And this 'event'?"

"The Event of Fifty-One is granted directly by the system. I don't want to ruin the surprise. Just know it's going to be one hell of a death game," Azazel said with a soft laugh.

"I imagine there'll be a lot of betting during it."

"Of course. The gods didn't build their factions in this universe for nothing. They've been grooming their followers for this from the shadows." Luke and Azazel continued discussing what it meant to found a kingdom in a multiversal race. No more worrying about the World Kings, now there were others, far older, far worse.

"Is it even possible for me to win this divine race? To reach the top before the rest, even with some of them already past level three hundred?"

"That depends entirely on you. But I'll give you one very valuable piece of advice. Kill the hero."

"Kill the hero?"

"Only a handful ever receive the Hero class. Usually the pure-of-heart, all that noble crap. It's the system's way of balancing the universe. After all, there are plenty of powerful bastards out there, so the system gifts a few 'good' souls with the ability to fight them." Azazel leaned back.

"Just kill them before they become a problem. If they discover you're the equivalent of a demon lord, they'll come for you. That whole hero-versus-demon cliche? Completely real. Especially when the demon has the title of lord." He pointed at Luke.

"Heroes get stronger when they kill a demon lord. A massive bonus. And they naturally grow stronger in a demon lord's presence, another buff to help them kill you. They'll have every reason to hunt you down. So kill the bastards early… or let them grow and take their bonuses when you cut them down later."

"Got it. I'll keep an eye out. And about angels… in the entire multiverse, there really aren't any left? Angie is the only one?" He already knew the answer, but he needed to hear it from Azazel himself.

"All I can tell you is that across all layers of existence, there is no angel left except her. If some fragment of the First Universe still contains one… it's lost," Azazel replied. He rose from his chair.

"My time here is over."

"And the Soul Fragments? What happens when I complete them?"

"There's only one way for you to find out." Asmodeus appeared in the doorway.

"I've got to go. I can't stay in this reality any longer."

"Why were you banished from reality?" Luke asked.

"That's a story for another day." Asmodeus strolled forward and rested a hand on Luke's shoulder.

"Your father here started a war trying to return to where he came from. Imagine if everyone learned that was the real reason he became a conqueror. I doubt anyone would believe it."

"Return to where he came from?"

"Asmodeus…" Azazel warned.

"He deserves to know, don't you think? About the First Fifty-One." Azazel froze for a moment.

"The second universe ended up being treated as the first," Asmodeus said.

"The original one… well, it blew itself apart somehow, long before our time. After that, the System shifted into this plague-like mode, spreading wherever it could."

"In our generation, it wasn't the universe that was integrated. It was the individuals," Azazel added.

"I and a handful of others were taken from our homes and thrown into the second universe. And that's all I intend to say today." The demon turned away and walked toward a black staircase that materialized beneath his feet, leading to a shadowed doorway.

"The old Azazel is trapped in the Void, far from here, unable to finish what he started," Asmodeus said.

"And why would he let himself be imprisoned?" Luke asked.

"I can't answer that. But… it is possible to free him." Possible to free him?

"His prison lies inside an abyss within the Void, on a planet buried so deep even the light forgets how to escape. At the very bottom of that world, guarded by colossal abyssal monsters, there's a dungeon. Entry is only permitted to mortals," Asmodeus whispered.

"Only beings at Rank A or below can cross the threshold. If you're brave enough to descend into that pit and bring the old man out…" He paused, almost savoring the idea.

"Then he walks free. And the other Primordials will be wetting themselves." Azazel stopped at the top of the stairs.

"Now that you've finished stuffing my son's ears with nonsense… help him while I'm gone. You owe me that."

"I'll be watching from the front row when he faces the event," Asmodeus replied. The doors opened, and Azazel stepped toward them.

"Can I enter that dungeon?" Luke asked.

"No. I don't give you permission to attempt freeing me."

"Why not?"

"Because no," Azazel said simply.

"I'll see you next time. Perhaps by then you'll have founded your own kingdom." He vanished through the doors. Darkness peeled away from the chamber, revealing the throne room beneath.

"I'm placing a big bet on you, Luke Moon," Asmodeus said, sinking slowly into the floor.

"Me, the old man, and you against the Primordials. What do you think of that? Plenty of them out there enjoy mocking his absence, and I'm not fond of it." Only his voice remained.

"I'll be watching you during the event. And think about what I said… about that dungeon." Then Asmodeus disappeared as well.

Luke opened his eyes. He was back in his body, back in Camlann. He pushed himself up from the bed. My body really stayed in stasis this whole time. I'm not even hungry.

"Master Luke." Charlie's voice came from a chair beside him. She was curled up in it, watching him.

"Hello, Charlie." She stood quickly.

"I barely left your side, Master Luke. Only twice, to feed. I stayed here taking care of you for… pretty much the entire time."

"I figured you would." He glanced around.

"Where's Angie?"

"She spoke to me before leaving. Said she needed more levels." Luke sat fully on the edge of the bed.

"With what's coming, all of us do." Charlie hesitated, then asked, "And how was it, Master Luke? Everything that happened?" But Luke didn't answer. He studied her instead.

"Charlie… do you still have feelings for me?" Her face flushed instantly.

"Yes."

"Does it bother you that I don't feel those things the same way you do? At least… not as intensely?" She looked lost for a moment.

"I don't know how to answer that, Master Luke." Luke reached out, lifted her chin gently, and pressed his lips to hers. When he pulled back, her face had gone tomato-red.

"M-M-Master Luke… why did you do that? I mean… I'm not complaining."

"It's a test, Charlie."

"A test?"

"If you're willing to keep going with this even though I don't feel things the way you do, then I will continue. But understand something. This might be temporary. I might decide tomorrow that I won't continue. I might leave. I have a goal, Charlie. And I won't stop until I reach it. Do you understand?"

"I understand." He kept his tone firm, he had to.

"Even so… do you still want to continue?"

"Yes." She answered without a hint of hesitation.

"Good. Then that's settled. What do you want to do now?"

"Give you another… kiss."

"I meant something for the day. We don't have any urgent tasks. We could even go to Maine if we wanted."

"Give you another kiss," she said, absolutely certain, and then she launched herself at him.

"Charlie, that's my nose."

"I'm coming online, what's going on?" Artemis's voice echoed from the necklace.

"I want to kiss Master Luke. Don't interrupt," Charlie said before kissing him again. Then another. Luke kissed her back, and Charlie seemed determined not to ever stop. Hello, everyone. Luke finally kissed Charlie. Some of the Eleanor and Allison fans are probably crying right now, ready to throw me into a bonfire haha. At some point, our boy had to stop being dense, so be happy about that and wait, why are you approaching me with a knife? Calm down, that's not necessary…

wait, I have something very important to reveal, don't throw me into the fire! Whew, I escaped. I wanted to tell you something. There's a Chapter 554. 5 that won't be posted on Royal Road, only on Patreon. It's exclusive there. Why? Well, Luke and Charlie… take a big step forward in their relationship, if you know what I mean, and I even included images in the chapter. So that's an exclusive bonus over there, and also a gift for those of you who've always wanted this to happen in the story.

Thank you so much for following the story this far. The next chapter here on Royal Road will be the final chapter of Volume 3. You could go read all the available chapters on Patreon right now, including the exclusive one, but I wouldn't tell you to just click the link and join us. I wouldn't do that. And I definitely wouldn't tell you that Charlie looks amazing in the images. See? I said I wouldn't say anything. I'm a good and innocent person. Anyway, thank you. I'll see you in the next chapter.