Chapter 902: The 'Devil'.
"20 clouds, 21 clouds, 22 clouds, 23 clouds, 30 clouds."
"Ophis, you skipped some numbers," Metis gently corrected.
"31..." Ophis stopped counting when Metis spoke. Soon, a cute pout appeared on her face. "Why is this place so white? Why are there so many clouds? When will we arrive?"
Despite her monotonous voice, everyone present could tell how impatient she was.
Flying in an endless direction with a bunch of identical clouds was too much, even for Ophis. She didn't know how long she'd been flying and didn't care; all she wanted was to see something new.
"... We are getting there soon. The Seventh Heaven is one of the farthest places, so it takes time to reach," Ariel explained.
"Okay..." Ophis didn't seem entirely convinced but decided not to press further. Meanwhile, Nero looked boredly at the clouds around, feeling the desire to test her weapons against them, but decided that any action could be seen as an act of aggression.
While his daughters seemed bored with everything around them, Victor, on the other hand, was looking around with interest. With his current senses, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he could see the entire dimension like the back of his hand, so it wasn't difficult to locate a place that seemed to be protected by the power of the heavenly father.
A useless protection in front of his gaze that could traverse dimensions: '... This is... the Garden of Eden?'
The vision Victor had was of a stunning place, a true paradise.
The Garden of Eden stretched before them, with lush landscapes and luxuriant vegetation. Trees bearing various fruits cast their shadows, crystal-
clear rivers meandered through the scenery, and the air was imbued with a sense of peace and harmony.
In the center of the garden stood the majestic Tree of Life, and next to it, the mysterious Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Although he had never seen these trees in person, Victor could clearly deduce that these two trees were the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The auras of pure negativity and positivity emanating from the fruits completely gave away their identity.
Victor wondered what would happen if he ate these fruits; would he gain something more? From the memories of ancient beings within him, he knew the story that if someone were to eat from the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, they would acquire forbidden knowledge surpassing the present that the World Tree gave to Odin in exchange for his eye.
He felt an instinctive desire to grab these fruits, but despite this momentary thought passing through his mind, he didn't dwell on it too much. After all, he didn't want to make enemies here, especially with someone who had never provoked him.
...
The Heavenly Father smiled faintly when he saw Victor's reaction to the two trees. 'Even with all his power, greed has not taken hold of his mind.'
The Heavenly Father clearly noticed someone snooping around the place where Eve, Lilith, and Adam once lived. And he was quite surprised to see that the man did not succumb to his desires for greed.
The reason for this surprise was that the two trees aroused the inner desires of beings as if someone were whispering in their ear, asking them to take these fruits.
The Heavenly Father knew that even his most devoted angels would fall into this temptation, which is why he keeps these trees protected.
'This completely demonstrates his immense control... Even though he is from a race known for its greed, he has not lost himself to this desire... That's good.' The Heavenly Father nodded in satisfaction.
...
They arrived at a building that looked more like a temple, and a simple door lay in the middle of the structure. No other entry was visible, only that door.
"We have reached our destination," Ariel said.
"Finally..." Ophis muttered. She looked at the door in front of her with a puzzled look. The door seemed completely ordinary, like those wooden doors you can find anywhere.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" Nero asked Ariel in confusion.
"Yes," Ariel confirmed with a simple nod.
Nero and Ophis looked at each other but didn't know how to react to this situation. Why was the entrance to the Seventh Heaven so simple? Wasn't this the most important heaven? Shouldn't it be something grand?
"Don't overthink it, my daughters. Very powerful beings have one or two strange characteristics," Victor spoke from his own experience. How many times had he encountered powerful beings who were strange? His older wives spoke for themselves.
"The Heavenly Father is already waiting for you," Ariel said.
"Mm, let's go," Victor nodded and walked to the entrance of the seventh heaven, and when he opened the door, a completely different world opened up for everyone.
Green grass, rolling hills, and a bright blue sky.
In the middle of this landscape, a middle-aged man with graying hair sat in a simple white chair under what looked like a parasol.
The man looked in their direction and said, "Welcome to the Seventh Heaven... the heaven of humility. Victor Alucard, Ophis Tepes, and Nero Alucard."
...
Arcane.
"He was right..." Evie Moriarty, the queen of witches, commented as she looked at the scroll in front of her.
Just as Victor had predicted, the portal that opened in Arcane attracted the attention of many supernatural beings, and these beings constantly made 'proposals' to the witch queen.
Most of these proposals consisted of unfair agreements for the witches, showing that they clearly wanted to exploit the situation that was happening.
The worst part was that the witches couldn't do anything about it. Despite some of them being able to fight against gods, they couldn't fight against an entire pantheon of gods.
"Whose turn is it this time, Mother?" Emily asked.
"The Norse pantheon..."
"What did Odin propose?"
"A better deal than the others, but in the end, it would make us dependent on them." With a hand gesture, Evie burned the agreement, anger evident in her eyes. Apparently, what she had read didn't please her at all.
"Damn old man, he thinks he's doing us a favor? Arrogant piece of crap!" Evie felt the urge to spit on the ground.
Emilly narrowed her eyes, just like her mother. She agreed with the idea of not letting anyone control them. They were witches, and they had created a nation precisely to avoid dependence on other beings.
Accepting this agreement was the same as giving up that freedom, and they couldn't do that. But... What choice did they have? Currently, they were too weak to deal with the attention of all these factions.
"I don't understand... Why haven't they attacked us yet?" Alice Moriarthy, an incredibly pale woman dressed in a gothic dress and a black witch hat, commented. In her hand was a staff she used as a catalyst for her magic.
"It's because of the so-called Chaos Dragon God," Evie commented. She wasn't stupid; she could tell that everyone was tense in the face of the astronomical rise of this new faction, specifically the man who led it.
"Because of him, they don't take any open action against us. After all, they fear that he might use it to attack their pantheon with just cause, claiming that the opposing faction is breaking the 'peace'..." Evie was well-versed in international politics, and that's why she was sure this was the biggest reason they were doing nothing.
"But that doesn't mean they can't do it behind the scenes," Alice said.
"Indeed," Evie nodded, agreeing with her daughter. "As we speak, all the agreements we had with the gods are being broken by the gods themselves. Apparently, this portal is much more important than the items we are selling."
"... What should we do, Mother?" Selena Moriarty asked.
"Honestly, I don't know." Evie felt a lot of pressure. Because of her choices, this situation had arisen, and she needed to do something, or a horrible fate would befall the witches, and she would be to blame.
'Where is my mother when we need her most?' Evie grumbled internally.
Albedo Moriarty appeared that day, but as soon as Victor left, she disappeared too, and since then, she hasn't been in contact with anyone from the witches' side.
Normally, Evie wouldn't care about this, but this situation is anything but normal.
"If you allow me to say, Mother... I think we should contact your 'disciple,'" Emilly said, emphasizing the word 'disciple.'
"Tsk, don't bother me, Emilly, I won't ask for help from that Devil," Evie grumbled.
Emilly rolled her eyes. 'Funny how when you needed to use Diablo, you didn't think twice, but when it's Victor, you hesitate before doing it.'
It seems that even the queen of witches feared the 'potential' of the Chaos Dragon God.
Her own inaction was proof of this. She didn't even think of other ways to communicate with Victor to make different proposals regarding their situation.
Selena looked at this situation with neutral eyes. In her view, they should have already contacted Victor to form an agreement between them. She had done business with the man before and knew that although he could be all that was wrong in the world, he was very fair to those who hadn't done anything to him.
"Mother..." Selena was about to say something related to this but stopped when a magical circle appeared in her ear.
Receiving a report from one of her disciples, Selena looked at Evie and commented, "Mother, we have a guest."
"... Guest?" Evie raised an eyebrow. She used her magic, and several magic circles appeared, and soon, a hologram appeared in front of her.
"Yama... And Merlin." Evie narrowed her eyes dangerously. That being could change shape as many times as he wanted, but she would never forget those arrogant eyes.
"... This just got even more complicated, Mother," Emilly muttered, and Evie couldn't help but agree.
This place had caught the attention of one of the kings of hell, and everyone knew that nothing good came from dealing with those beings.
Evie thought about Victor's words, saying that when she needed him the most, she would summon 'The Devil.'
