Having traversed countless realms, can you possibly be as clever as me?

Yes, the thing that the arrogant king spent hundreds of years studying in seclusion was a bunch of rubber ducks that are often seen in anime when taking a bath.

Well, there's nothing left to complain about in this world.

At this moment, Lucifer was curled up in bed, with a tablet computer in front of him playing a puzzling video.

In short, the video shows a yellow duck sleeping soundly under a coconut tree, and then a coconut falls down.

"Hahaha, that guy got hit by a coconut!!!"

Lucifer flashed a silly smile reminiscent of a pink star in the ocean, then happily liked and saved the post.

Dudu lulu lulu~~~~

Lucifer's phone, which he had tossed under a pile of ducks, rang. He lazily went over and opened it, only to be horrified upon seeing the heart-shaped symbol he hadn't seen in a long time.

Caller ID: Xia Li (my beloved daughter)

Lucifer practically jumped to his feet, cleared his throat, and struck a pose that suggested he wasn't giving up at all, before pressing the answer button.

"Shirley—my little bitch!!!" Lucifer hesitated for a moment before finally uttering an awkward, thunderous address, like a father trying to find common ground with his rebellious daughter.

"Why are you contacting Dad now? Where have you been these past few days?"

“Dad, you know where I am,” Shirley said in a voice that was equally awkward but still warm.

How should I put it? I just feel that the relationship between this father and daughter has a kind of beauty that I met on a forum.

"Dad, I've come to see you because it's very important..."

Shirley took a deep breath and then enthusiastically recounted the whole story.

Hmm, so you want to meet people from Heaven? No problem, their true forms aren't coming down anyway, it's a piece of cake!

Lucifer was well aware of his daughter's unrealistic dreams—wanting to redeem sinners? Haha, how naive! But that's precisely what makes his daughter so endearing.

However, what Shirley said next was rather shocking.

"What do you mean by a sinner who looks a lot like Jesus resurrecting hundreds of thousands of sinners with holy light?" Lucifer raised his voice several times higher.

—And then my precious daughter, Shirley, actually wants to work with such a thing?!

Wait, was that a six-winged angel? No, that can't be right. How could he not feel anything when an angel descended to earth?

And... a martyr? His name should be Tsurugi... Eri? Ugh... why does this name make me feel inexplicably angry?

"No, absolutely not!" Lucifer said resolutely, gritting his teeth, but still trying his best to remain calm.

806

His attitude

"That martyr, Tsurugi, invite him to your hotel so I can have a proper talk with him!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: The exciting combat scenes in this world are indeed delayed considerably because of the established world-building and the need to follow the storyline, making it longer. However, battles and wars are inevitable. Further along the story, the protagonist will fight the entire Pride Ring single-handedly, then enter Heaven and True Hell, fully initiating the War of Heaven.

807

526. The Meeting of Sinners

Does God exist in this world?

He exists, but no one has ever seen Him except for that high above, golden bird-like God's representative, whose name is unknown.

Does Jesus exist in this world?

It does exist, but in the memories of angels and some sinners, it was merely a person who loved others, not the Son of God or anything like that.

But strangely enough, he neither ascended to heaven to become an angel, nor descended to hell to become one of the sinners. No one knows where he went.

Everything was mysterious and difficult to explain.

But all of that is secondary to Lucifer at this moment.

There is only one thing he needs to know, and wants to know.

That was a scheming, shady guy trying to get close to his precious daughter!

Then Lucifer only needs to do one thing.

Do it to him (screams)!!!

Of course—if he were a sinner, Lucifer really couldn't do anything about it.

In short, after hearing Shirley recount what the other party had done, Lucifer quickly found the headlines from a few days ago and began to cram about this well-known figure.

Yes, Lucifer is a complete shut-in. He has been holed up in his palace for many, many years and knows virtually nothing about what is happening outside.

After all, he disdained to understand the petty affairs of those at the bottom, and he was even too lazy to attend the Ring Master Conference.

Although he had no hope for his daughter's career, he was still willing to support her, since in Lucifer's view, nothing could threaten his daughter with this ring of arrogance.

but--

"This guy... why does he look so familiar?"

Lucifer looked at the figure cosplaying a saint, radiating holy light across the pentagram city, with a suspicious expression, and muttered...

"Could it be something from heaven...? No, no, no, he doesn't seem like an angel, and they couldn't possibly come down to hell, so he is..."

Lucifer painstakingly searched through his memories accumulated over countless millennia for the other's existence.

Unfortunately, he has gained nothing. From the beginning to the present, he swears that he has no memory of anything with a similar appearance and soul.

Several days passed in this way. Lucifer tidied himself up, and with what he considered a perfect smile and gifts, prepared to pay a visit.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the same time...

A meeting of the Lords of the Prideful Ring of Sinners was held in Camilla Carmin's building.

All the lords were present this time, except for Zez and Max, who had already died. Camilla's sharp gaze swept across the entire room, finally settling on the group of four.

Or rather, all the sinners were extremely suspicious of this combination that should not have existed in the first place.

Vox, Violet, Valentino, and... Alastor.

Alastor, who should have looked down on 3V and had a grudge against Vox, surprisingly entered the meeting room with the four of them.

Not only that, he even sat down next to Vox.

"Lord Alastor, are you repairing your relationship with Lord Vox?"

Zai Sixiu asked the question that all the sinners present were curious about.

“Ah, extraordinary times always call for extraordinary choices.” Alastor gracefully twirled his cane, smiling.

"Especially in critical situations, I know I haven't been on screen for a long time, and everyone wants to know where I've been—"

“I don’t want to,” Camilla said, glancing sideways.

"But no matter what, welcome back."

"—This year's mass extinction was exceptionally brutal, far surpassing any previous ones," Camilla said solemnly, taking a report from her daughter.

"According to our statistics, the Pride Ring has lost approximately 16% of its total population, and the frequency of the Angelic Legion has doubled again, this time..." Camilla scanned the entire room and began directly.

“That’s not the point, you old woman!” Violet jumped onto the table, looking at Camilla with a defiant gaze.

She tossed the head of an exorcist angel onto the table, looking at Camilla who seemed unsurprised.

“This is what we found on the day of the mass extinction. Angels can be killed, so they are not the biggest problem.”

“I’m sorry, Camilla, what Vivette really meant was that our biggest problem is that ‘Jesus’ who might be planning to turn the entire Pentagram City into his followers.”

Vox pulled Violet down, giving Camilla a look like a parent pulling a naughty child.

Are you all just going to sit here and wait to die?

A hush fell over the table upon hearing this. Zai Sixiu narrowed his eyes, took a sip of tea, and said slowly...

"But so far, His Excellency the Martyr has only engaged in one relatively friendly act of hostility toward the three of you. It would be unwise for you to take him to war based on this alone."

"Relatively friendly? That missionary pig stole my soul from my hands!!!" Valentino slammed his fist on the table in a fit of rage.

"Is that so? Wars between lords are never so amicable, don't you think, Lord Alastor?"

807 >>

“Haha, he’s right, Valentino, so sit down first.” Alastor laughed and put his hand on Valentino’s shoulder. The latter was still somewhat dissatisfied and disdainful, but after Alastor emphasized it again, he reluctantly sat down.

“If it were a normal civil war among lords, it wouldn’t be a big deal, but—he incited nearly one-tenth of the people in Pentagram City.”

Alastor looked at the lords and first approached Camilla, his tone playful.

“Dear Camilla, you’re in the arms business; without war, there’s no business! Do you think your business would still survive if half the people in the city became peaceful?”

Camilla remained silent, while Alastor continued to patiently persuade her.

"Besides, this isn't the only dangerous place for him—Vox, show them!"

Although Alastor's commanding tone annoyed Vox, the TV head obediently complied, wiping its own screen with its hand before tossing a 'video' from its face into the air.

At the center of the table during the lords' meeting, a video unfolds, revealing a true demon with a face and structure resembling a bird.

“This is Mr. Varak of the Getia family, whom we have hired at great expense,” Vox introduced.

"He is unparalleled in his ability to uncover magic and soul contracts, so let's hear the expert's advice directly."

"The stone you brought contains a very inconspicuous but extremely ingenious special contract magic."

Marquis Valac explained the meaning of the contract in terms that these lower-ranking criminals could relatively understand.

"Simply put, as long as the person who has touched the stone has even the slightest understanding of 'atonement,' even if it is just a fleeting thought in the subconscious, they will naturally sign a contract with the owner of the stone."

"He will sell his soul, and in return, the owner of the stone will help him 'atone'. But the method of atonement will be rather... cruel."

Valack carefully considered his words, his tone playful.

"It's like dissecting your human souls piece by piece. This soul contract will tear off a part of your soul that contains hellish magic and then turn it into a painful torment for your soul."

"These processes will cause you immense pain, and because of the nature of you sinners, you can be resurrected even if your souls are damaged, and this contract is used to achieve the infinite torment of you."

At this point, Varak even uttered words of praise.

"Whoever created this magic, it is incredibly exquisite! It is a perfect fusion of personal power and Goetia magic. Could it be a duke or a king?"

Silence fell over the conference table. Vox turned off the communication and looked at the various hell lords with their differing expressions, then slowly said...