*The moon shines on the flowing water, my heart like a shadow.*
Lilim wasn't the first demon to notice something was amiss, but she was the closest.
The Moon Embracer, clad in silver robes, was breathtakingly handsome. His movements were steady, yet he strode with a gait that seemed to shrink distances to mere inches. The elegant silver patterns on his robes followed his movements, tracing effortless, life-like paths that laid bare a breathtaking network of veins before her eyes.
She had always been drawn to clean-cut men—the cleaner, the more alluring—but no one had ever been this pure.
It was as if, from birth to this moment, not a single impure thought had ever crossed his mind.
He had never been lost, never wavered, never succumbed.
"He's never even masturbated!" Lilim exclaimed, her voice trembling with excitement and disbelief.
This was the first time she had lost her composure like this. Her words sent a shock through the crowd. The demons' eyes widened in astonishment, their heads tilting as they stared at her like she was some rare spectacle.
Even Lucifer, who found the outburst inappropriate, was momentarily swept away by Lilim's words.
Lilim's obsession with purity had reached fanatical levels. The witch who pursued love and lust had somehow developed eyes that could pierce through desire. She was the bane of sanctimonious men. Hell had no morals, but even they avoided her presence—her gaze always left them feeling stripped bare, their privacy violated.
Everyone knew Lucifer had a harem, so it was understandable that Lilim wasn't interested in the most beautiful man in hell. But only Lucifer knew that he didn't actually have any real lovers.
If judged by Lilim's standards, he had lost all his integrity through his dreams.
Once you understood that kind of thing, it was hard not to react. And once you reacted, it left a mark.
So he assumed Yahweh was the same. After all, as far as he knew, Yahweh was ancient. He couldn't possibly be ignorant of such things. But he hadn't expected...
*Is Yahweh... not normal?* That was his first thought.
"Your Majesty, this is my prey! No one touch her!" Lilim declared, swinging her warhammer and charging forward with a look of obsessive madness.
Lucifer sighed inwardly. Bruce had finally escaped that past, yet his daughter was walking down the same path.
But perhaps it wasn't entirely a bad thing. Looking at the radiant Lilim and the cool, aloof Yahweh, he fell into deep thought.
*I wonder if Yahweh can see the karmic entanglement he himself has stirred up.*
God frowned slightly as He watched the witch charge forward. He saw through her essence, but not in the way Lucifer imagined. Instead, He saw the desperate, futile struggle against the unyielding grip of fate.
Lilim, a devoted follower of Lilith.
Lilith, by a twist of fate, was imprisoned in Heaven by Gabriel. Yet Lilim inherited the title of Night Witch that originally belonged to Lilith.
Her soul was stained with the blood-red darkness, utterly depraved.
"Filth."
The Witch Hammer dissolved into gray mist. The silver-robed figure swept past with such speed that even with his power as a Demon General, he didn't brush against a single thread of her robe. Lilim watched him recede, her face pale—not from the insult, but from a sudden, visceral understanding.
She had toyed with countless human youths in her dreams, yet this was the first time she truly felt the despair of those she had abandoned, those who would sacrifice their very souls in desperation.
For the first time, she clearly understood that she was truly lost.
Lilim had fallen truly in love at first sight, but now no one cared about her feelings. Amidst the demons' futile attempts to block Him, God effortlessly reached Lucifer's side and demanded Haniya's return.
A long-lost light sparked in Lucifer's eyes as he released the angel, who had long since ceased to interest him.
In truth, after confirming Haniya's capabilities, he had lost all interest in slaughter. Beyond his appearance, both his strength and intelligence were merely average for an angel.
If Jehovah had chosen such an angel as his substitute, Lucifer could only laugh at the heavens and lament that Heaven had no worthy candidates left. So he let the golden-haired angel stumble to Yahweh's side, even finding the sight of the little chick seeking refuge with the eagle novel and amusing.
"I didn't expect it to be you," he murmured softly.
Thousands of years had passed, yet Yahweh remained unchanged. For the first time in ages, Lucifer found himself regaining the peace of mind that had once belonged to Lucifer.
Speaking with Yahweh felt like catching up with an old friend after a long separation, familiar and comfortable.
The angel, having just escaped the demon's clutches, gripped his light sword nervously, a seed of doubt taking root in his mind:
*Did Yahweh know this demon?*
He glanced at Yahweh, noticing his unusually serious demeanor.
The Creator was listening intently to the demon's words.
This was different from how Yahweh always treated him. In Lucifer's presence, Yahweh maintained the demeanor of an elder, offering comfort and gentle guidance, but never truly listening with such focused intensity. It was as if, when facing Lucifer, they were two equal individuals.
Because he was too weak.
Haniya felt a surge of resentment at this reality, but the demon continued speaking.
"But come to think of it, who else would do something like this?"
Distorting language had thrown the entire human world into chaos. Such an act had indeed exceeded Lucifer's expectations, but such a crude and direct method also went against Heaven's usual methods. The human world would be plunged into prolonged, irreconcilable turmoil. Whether it was the Messiah or Meta, setting aside their abilities, Lucifer knew these old rivals and former colleagues well enough to know they wouldn't choose such a radical and unpredictable approach.
Because they couldn't bear the cost of such chaos, nor did they possess the resolve to make such a decision.
That's why he hadn't initially suspected the angels. Though he hadn't guessed the final answer, if it turned out to be Yahweh, it wouldn't be surprising.
The red-eyed demon stared fixedly at