"Good afternoon, Mr. Grisha!"
"Good afternoon, Mr. Alaric." The Ancient Sun God replied, opening His eyes. Seeing the familiar young man, He gave a gentle smile, then seemed to notice something. "You seem in a good mood. Did something nice happen?"
"Well…" Alaric blinked, looking at the Ancient Sun God earnestly. "I just realized you're all human, too!"
"..."
Are you even listening to yourself?
Even the Ancient Sun God was momentarily stunned, unsure how to respond. But He quickly picked up on something and smiled. "Of course we're human, just as you can be a mortal."
"No wonder you're the boss... you're better at talking than your underlings." Alaric said, giving a thumbs-up before adding with a hint of complaint, "Medici and the others just won't believe I'm human. Sure, my essence might be some mysterious being, but I've got a mortal's heart. Why can't they see that?"
Hearing the half-true grumbling, the Ancient Sun God clearly caught on. He chuckled, "Sounds like Medici's been giving you some trouble lately."
"Not really. Actually, Medici was raised well by you, so I'm curious about something…" Alaric propped his chin, looking at the Ancient Sun God with interest. "Since you're so good at raising kids, how come you didn't do better with Amon?"
It wasn't a random guess. Medici, a born mythical creature, had a decent character... loyal to his boss, trustworthy to allies, and while dismissive of mortals, not prone to senseless slaughter. For a mythical creature, he was practically a moral paragon.
While Medici might've been born that way, Alaric suspected it was more likely the Ancient Sun God's upbringing.
"Uh…" The Ancient Sun God showed a rare flicker of embarrassment, pausing before saying, "Medici was mostly raised by Sasrir. After Amon was born, Sasrir was busy with other matters, so Medici took over caring for Amon. But he couldn't quite manage Amon, whose essence is tied to the Marauder pathway's uniqueness, inevitably influenced by the Lord of Mysteries."
Alaric raised an eyebrow.
Got it. So Amon's waywardness was, at its core, the Celestial Worthy's fault.
Classic Celestial Worthy, single-handedly corrupting the three great families!
But Medici was raised by Sasrir? Huh, does that mean he joined the Rose Redemption and followed the True Creator because of his bond with Sasrir? Then again, maybe there's no difference to Medici... Sasrir is just the Ancient Sun God's avatar.
Pondering this, Alaric looked at the visibly embarrassed and slightly guilty Ancient Sun God and asked, "Are you sure you're not just making excuses for Amon's mischief?"
"…I'm truly sorry. I failed to raise Amon properly." The Ancient Sun God said, His expression tinged with guilt. He sighed, "After our last meeting, I've stepped up Amon's discipline. I don't know if it'll affect this future, but I'll do my best to make amends."
He looked less like the legendary Creator of City of Silver or the Ancient Sun God and more like a father scrambling to fix his child's mistakes.
Alaric blinked, watching Him. Translating His words to "I went back and gave Amon a few good thrashings." Alaric felt a wave of satisfaction.
After all, Alaric held grudges, and in this world, Amon was definitely on his list.
Then, looking at the Ancient Sun God's demeanor, Alaric suddenly remarked, "You look human now, too."
The Ancient Sun God froze, then said with a wry smile, "Did I not seem human before?"
Though no longer human in the narrow sense, He'd never forgotten His human identity.
"Not that you weren't human, just… in my mind, you were more like a god?" Alaric waved a hand, explaining, "You know, like a perfect god or saint!"
"No one's perfect, not even me." The Ancient Sun God said, shaking His head with a smile. "But I suppose I should be flattered by that impression."
"So you do want to be a saint?" Alaric interjected, pinching his chin with interest. "Makes sense. If you were truly desireless, you wouldn't have played God Almighty, declaring 'Let there be light' and sprouting those big angelic wings! Looks like you enjoy showing off your divinity."
The Ancient Sun God's smile froze. In that moment, He looked like a college student mortified by having their old, cringeworthy diary read aloud, embarrassment crawling over Him as if the Original Creator were watching.
But soon, He had bigger concerns. Alaric, who'd been crouching, stood up, moved beside Him, and poked His shoulder.
"…What are you doing?" Despite being the ultimate Spectator, the Ancient Sun God felt utterly baffled, unable to parse Alaric's logic.
"Just checking if you'll shatter." Alaric replied earnestly. "You looked like you were about to break just now."
And whose fault do you think that is?
The Ancient Sun God opened His mouth, then closed it, caught between speaking and staying silent. He suddenly missed Sasrir. Though they were the same being, Sasrir's experience raising kids would've made him better at handling this troublesome one.
The Ancient Sun God Himself lacked such experience... He'd spent most of His time fighting wars, not parenting.
"Are you badmouthing me in your head?" Alaric asked, pinching his chin.
"…Sorry." The Ancient Sun God said, rubbing His temple. "Back then, I wasn't mature enough and had some unwarranted vanity."
"No need to overthink it. Wanting to show off is normal... I like it too!" Alaric said, suddenly acting like the mature one, patting the Ancient Sun God's shoulder. Then, as if recalling something, he added, "Oh, almost forgot. Adam made a deal with me. He wants you to see this world, understand its full scope, and make a choice."
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Hi guys, Elenea here! I just want to announce that starting now I'll be trying to focus on my own original fanfic, which I've been thinking about for the past few days (lol I really mulled this over briefly for a few days and decided I'm going to make it a full novel).
[Worse Than the Devil (DxD)]
Synopsis:
Devil.
An evil and chaotic creature, born from hell, which are often a scapegoat for humans. Blamed for the atrocities they themselves commit.
"The devil made me do it."
A phrase always uttered by humans after committing crimes, casting blame and responsibility for their wrongdoings onto the devil.
But not all humans are like that, for there is one man who would gleefully commit atrocities that would be condemned by all of human history and accept the blame and responsibility for those wrongs with open arms.
His name is Michael, but in stark contrast to the meaning of his name 'Who is like God' he is not a devout man who draws near to God's embrace. Instead… he is the one who sends lost sheep to meet God's embrace much faster.
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Btw, a quick note before you decide to read, if you have a heart as pure as glass, I suggest you don't read this because it REALLY gets dark to early. The first chapter will give you a little idea of what I might explore later on in this fanservice harem-themed world like DxD.
Adios!