Chapter 2214: No, I’m the Bad Guy
At first, I was dismissive of the Archmage’s words, and the reason was simple: why would a dignified Demon God be a fish thief?
But then I recalled what Beelzebub had done to me, and I could no longer laugh. He had infected me with a strange illness, cast me down to the mortal realm, and spread plagues. What was his intention?
“A long time ago, the three great Demon Gods were very fond of descending to the mortal realm, corrupting human hearts, and interfering with the affairs of the human world. As long as they exist, they will constantly find ways to enter this world,” the Archmage said again.
“You are right. Other gods might stop them, but that doesn’t mean mortals don’t have to do anything. And we, the Horadric Church, were chosen by the Archangel to prevent those Demon Gods from invading the mortal realm!”
Baal was very fond of the mortal realm; I knew that. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have divvied up so many divine positions. But what about the other two Demon Gods, Diablo and Mephisto, who were said to be his brothers?
I had also heard tales of them. Diablo, the King of Fear, often corrupted commoners. There was even a legend of him possessing a human girl, transforming into a female demon.
As for Mephisto, the King of Hatred, legend had it that another of his Avatars, Mephisto, once made a bet with God over whether a person’s soul could be corrupted by him. Although he lost the bet, could this legend be seen as his attempt to interfere with the mortal realm, only to be stopped by God?
Indeed, these three Demon Gods showed signs of tampering with the mortal realm. While the legend that they were formed from the head of a Qilin dragon had questionable authenticity, there was no doubt they shared a common goal. I began to believe the Archmage’s words.
“Their invasion was repelled by us. The three great Demon Gods were defeated one after another and then sealed separately. I absolutely cannot let the seal on my side fail, otherwise, an Avatar of the King of Destruction will surely emerge and rescue his two brothers. At that time, the human realm will fall into catastrophe. He must be sealed here!” The Archmage’s voice became hoarse as he spoke.
Karina was still communicating with me via telepathy: “After that battle, the Seven Demon Church fell apart. Four of the weaker demon cults retreated into seclusion to recuperate. The three stronger demon cults also suffered heavy losses, with their high-levels almost completely wiped out, and they haven’t recovered for a long time.”
It seemed that the legendary sealing war had been remarkably successful, causing the Seven Calamities to lie dormant for so long that they could no longer wreak havoc on the human realm. The sacrifices of these mages were indeed worth it.
However, completely eradicating a church was extremely difficult. As long as miracles still existed, divine spells were still in use, and prayer rituals remained, it was far too easy to recruit believers or swindle money from commoners.
Take the Horadric Church, for example. They stormed the headquarters of the Seven Demon Church, slaughtered the high-levels of the three great Demon God cults, even killed many at the grassroots level, and burned down their temples. The demon cults’ books and scriptures were all reduced to ashes by fire.
But the survivors scattered into the wilderness and small villages, fell into the marketplace, or even fled across the oceans to distant lands. They still passed down the faith of the three great Demon Gods. They could even develop “spies” like Karina from the Glutton believers. It was evident that they had never been truly eradicated.
“I understand. You are truly a hero, but you are very weak now. Perhaps you need some treatment, otherwise, you definitely won’t be able to withstand the Demon’s corruption. I have some potions here. Please allow me to treat you.” Karina took out a box of potions and walked over to the Archmage.
Anyone with a brain could tell that these potions were problematic. But the Archmage seemed to have believed Karina. He was indeed too weak; in fact, he was already dead. It was his powerful soul, bound to his body by the seal, along with his unyielding will to suppress the demon, that kept him fighting the Demon God.
The Archmage knew his condition. If he could regain some health, recover some spiritual power or physical strength, he could hold on longer. So, he nodded.
I wanted to stop him but suddenly remembered: Wait, *I’m* the villain here. I’m on Karina’s side now. How can I undermine her right here?
So, I remained silent, watching as Karina took out a bottle of black potion and handed it to the Archmage: “This is a potion to restore the soul.”
“Hmm, thank you.” The Archmage took the potion, uncorked it, and then his expression changed. He threw the potion aside: “No! This potion is problematic!”
The potion bottle smashed on the ground, spilling the liquid. Although I wasn’t a master alchemist, I was quite an expert. I could tell immediately that this potion was indeed for healing souls, but it was used by cultists – a soul-mutating potion.
For cultists who believed in Demon Gods, this potion could quickly repair soul damage but would cause madness and soul mutation. If an ordinary person with weak willpower drank it, the situation would be even worse.
“What do you mean by this?!” The Archmage finally realized something was wrong and stared fiercely at Karina. I also breathed a sigh of relief. If he could discover it himself, I wouldn’t have to play the bad guy. No, I wouldn’t have to play the good guy.
Actually, if Karina had more time to plan in advance, she could have prepared more discreet means to trap the Archmage. However, even she didn’t expect that after thousands of years, the Archmage would still possess self-awareness.
“Wait a moment! You said you didn’t know about the Horadric Church and the Archangel of Justice, yet you asked me if I was the legendary Archmage from the start. And you, you claimed to understand the legend of the supreme God Anu!” The Archmage suddenly realized something.
His mind was becoming clearer and clearer. From not even remembering who he was when he first woke up, to recalling his duty to seal the Demon God, to now being able to instantly detect Karina’s trap and the loopholes in our words, his thoughts were becoming increasingly sharp.
“It’s a pity. I did admire you, but unfortunately, you don’t know what’s good for you.” Karina suddenly attacked, flinging a lot of chitinous tentacles from her sleeves towards the Archmage.
“You are not an investigation team! You are the minions of the Demon Gods!” The Archmage finally understood, and he was furious. The staff and orb buried with him in the coffin flew into his hands, emitting an eerie purple light.
Then, his magical power surged, and endless lightning erupted from the staff, striking towards me and Karina. A large number of tentacles were instantly reduced to coke.
Karina reached out, and the large mouth in her palm frantically devoured the lightning. Even now, the power of Gluttony was useful.
I really didn’t want to fight him, but there was no other way now. I took out a lightning orb and held it in front of me, absorbing all the lightning instantly, and even getting a charge out of it.
