The days passed, and the child on the high seat gradually grew into a handsome young man.
A believer knelt below the altar, weeping about how he had been cheated out of his family fortune in business, how his family did nothing but argue and never understood him, and cursing the thief who had scammed him...
Doma sat primly on the soft cushion on the altar, dressed in the solemn robes of the Founder. His white-oak hair and fair skin seemed to glow faintly. He looked like a sculpture of exquisite perfection, radiating a divine aura.
He looked down at the weeping man with a compassionate expression, his rainbow eyes as clear and brilliant as a rainbow after the rain, yet deep within them, there was nothing but emptiness.
"I understand the suffering you've endured, and I know you haven't yet resolved to go to paradise..."
Tsk, another fool dominated by his desires.
"Go to the town at the foot of the mountain. You will receive aid from the cult..."
And then you can reveal your insatiable greed~
"The benevolent gods grant happiness to everyone equally, you know."
There are no gods here. And even if there were, they certainly wouldn't be benevolent.
The man kowtowed in gratitude and retreated, the wooden door closing softly behind him.
Doma instantly dropped his compassionate facade, staring blankly at the patch of sunlight on the floor.
"My emotional fluctuations are becoming less and less frequent."
He put on a sad expression, though his heart was completely still.
"The last time I felt happy was nineteen days ago, I think. And it vanished so quickly."
This exquisite, beautiful body seemed incapable of retaining any emotion, like a constantly leaking pot, threatening to turn his soul into a pale, hollow void.
Ever since he noticed this, Doma had been trying to find ways to preserve his own emotions. He absolutely did not want to turn back into that indifferent puppet.
He took up many hobbies and even did some dangerous, thrilling, and absurd things, though he quickly lost interest in them all. He replayed his emotionally rich past over and over in his mind...
But gradually, the past could no longer stir the slightest ripple in his heart, and he found it increasingly difficult to understand the various decisions he had made under the sway of his emotions.
"That was so stupid. There was clearly a better option at the time."
"Emotions always drive people to do the stupidest things."
He could feel his former self slowly dying within this body, leaving only bland, pale memories, as uninteresting and foolish as the complaints of his believers.
Preoccupied with his own affairs, he had neither the time nor the energy to interfere with the management of the Eternal Paradise Cult. He simply listened to the believers' confessions day after day, hoping to draw some kind of emotion from them—even if it was disgust.
But perhaps because he had experienced a full range of emotions before, the feelings and desires of a normal person, he could see through the believers' minds with increasing clarity. His rainbow eyes seemed to be able to pierce through their varied exteriors and see the inner workings hidden beneath.
Even as he found it harder to understand or empathize with people's ever-changing hearts, he still found them somewhat fascinating.
So, he earned a great deal of wealth and began to help those pitiable believers. For Doma, with his photographic memory and forward-thinking vision, making money was the easiest thing in the world.
After being freed from their original tragic fates with the help of the cult, more and more people revealed not gratitude, but endless greed and ugly desires—taking everything for granted, never satisfied, always demanding more.
Doma wasn't bothered by this; in fact, he found it somewhat amusing.
And then there were the even more interesting ones. The fools who didn't even know how to push their luck, who were content and grateful for a slight improvement in their lives. And those who, after escaping their difficult circumstances, shone with an astonishing light, as if reborn...
They seemed to make his mood a little better.
"Humans are such foolish and pathetic creatures," Doma thought calmly. "And I am one of them."
Then, a pure and beautiful smile spread across his face. "But there are some cute ones, too."
"But what should I do?" he asked, grabbing his hair in frustration. "It seems even this little bit of fun is about to be completely lost."
"Lord Founder," a gentle female voice came from beyond the wooden door.
"Ah, is something wrong, Sister Noriko?" Doma instantly switched to a charming smile.
He quite admired this maid named Noriko. She seemed content every day after being saved and was a gentle and lovely woman. Though she was also quite foolish.
The door opened, and a beautiful woman walked in holding something, her gaze towards Doma filled with sincere reverence and gratitude.
"A believer sent a gift," Noriko said with a radiant smile. "I felt it would suit you very well, Lord Doma."
She handed over the object in her hands—a pair of golden iron fans.
Feeling the cool touch of the iron fans, Doma flicked one open with a swish. He lowered his gaze to the meticulously carved lotus flower and leaf patterns on its surface.
"They're beautiful," he said softly. They were indeed pleasing to the eye.
"I'm glad you like them, Lord Doma," Noriko said happily before retreating.
The room fell silent once more. Doma toyed with the heavy fans, looking up at the sun setting in the west. He slowly rose from the soft cushion. The nearly twenty-year-old young man was exceptionally tall for his time, with a slender and upright figure.
He stepped into the sunlight and stared quietly at the lotus pond outside the window, a rare, unreadable expression on his face.
"Will I walk the path I was originally meant to?"
"It seems... there's no need to doubt it~"
He looked at the iron fans in his hand, his face becoming expressionless once more. Before long, what little emotion he had left would completely die out. The past ten years had been like a beautiful dream. But dreams eventually end, and he would return to being that hollow, empty monster.
"How... truly pitiful."
He covered his face with one hand, tears streaming from his eyes. But there was no sadness in his heart, not even despair. He stopped the tears, slowly returned to his cushion, and placed his hands on his knees.
"I'll become a demon," he murmured to himself.
"Before I completely lose my emotions."
If demons were creatures governed by obsession, and Blood Demon Arts were the materialization of that obsession, then perhaps he could awaken a completely different kind of Blood Demon Art now? Not the ice that symbolized the empty heart of the original Doma, who had no obsessions, but something else?
Perhaps it could bring even the slightest chance of a turnaround?
"Oh my, I feel like this will only make things worse~" Doma complained in a lazy, almost whining tone.
After all, trying to maintain one's emotions by becoming an inhuman creature like a demon sounded completely unreliable.
"But it can't possibly get any worse."
Even if the result was becoming a pathetic, twisted monster lost in its obsessions, controlled by the Demon King, it didn't matter. This was a trait shared by all living things—before stepping into complete ruin, they always choose a final, desperate struggle.
"So, I'll become a demon."
"...This time, it's for myself."
"Before the obsession in my heart completely disappears..."
Doma smiled, pressing the iron fan in his hand against his lips.
"Hmm, it should still be there, right?"
He suddenly tilted his head, his expression as innocent and pure as a child's.
-------
Enjoying the story? Support the author and get access to early chapters by joining my Patreon!
Find me at My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (250 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (225 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (90 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (100 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (270 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (98 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (120 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(59 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (160 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (80 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (50 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (80 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (90 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (65 Chapter)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (50 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (60 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (60 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (50 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (30 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (30 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it.