Raul POV
No matter how calm or disgusted Lara appears, I know what's going to happen.
In the end, she'll turn against me.
Artemis is sprawled over me, snoring.
Even though gods don't need food or sleep, they try to enjoy life.
Otherwise, they'd face a divine existential crisis.
I was different from the gods.
For instance, while my power comes from Aether, Aether has strengthened both my body and soul over time.
That's why I'm so powerful.
I was helping Lara from a distance.
If I wanted, I wouldn't even bother with this nonsense, but I enjoy it.
The previous ritual was to borrow Alfred from the underworld.
I knew he was in the domain of the Norse underworld goddess.
Wine has an important place in Norse mythology, which is why she could summon him, and I specifically made her do the deal for one day.
I wanted to see what Micah was thinking. He has all the power but is equally powerless…
Lara must have realized this.
Even if she's an otome game protagonist, Lara has suffered from this world, and her character development is crucial.
For example, the story began with Lara being held in a dungeon, and she escaped from there, but the reason was that the empire found her.
I played around a bit and changed things, and voilà…
Lara fell into my hands. Personally, since she's a good girl, I wouldn't harm her.
Ah, this world is truly enchanting at times and boring at others.
I use my power to entertain myself in this world.
Otherwise, I'd go on a mass slaughter and declare war on the gods.
Because only I know the truth about the devil god, and that person is incredibly powerful. Their name: Lucifer Morningstar.
Funny, isn't it…
What does it matter? Anyway:
The world is so complicated.
Thinking about where Alfred's soul was took quite a bit of my time.
I must have pissed off Hel quite a bit by taking a soul from her domain through a ritual.
I was watching Lara—or rather, Alfred and Micah's conversation.
Alfred was consoling his brother, but when Alice was mentioned, a fight broke out between them…
That's when Micah realized he had sacrificed his brother Alfred for nothing.
Because no matter how much his emotions were sealed, Micah still feared my power as a primal instinct.
I was watching them and observing Lara take on the final wish.
Artemis's snoring didn't let me think clearly, but since she feels so lonely sometimes, she comes and sleeps next to me.
She's certain a guy like me wouldn't touch her…
As a gentleman, I allow it, but I don't permit inappropriate touching.
We were stocking up on songs and doing similar things on regular days.
After all, there's just over four months until the academy's next year begins.
Even though I don't like being separate from Artemis, I'm curious about what Bella and Victoria are up to.
I already watched Seraphine.
She's gone mad, and she is trying to search and hunt me across the entire empire.
After my last stream, Empress Iris von Dragnar has become a laughingstock.
Because she couldn't even solve a riddle.
Of course, Iris was powerful and quite old, but her face looked like that of a 24-year-old. She was there when the devil god was first sealed.
She believed the strongest among dragons should rule, and Iris was that dragon, currently at the 9th tier.
Being immune to aging .....
She's only one tier away from divinity, but sometimes the hardest step is that final one…
When Micah made his final wish, Lara was shocked.
Ugh, you're giving me a headache, Micah.
I'll make sure to torture your soul slowly.
I hope Lara connects all the dots, because otherwise, this won't be possible. I sent small bits of information to her mind.
Lara seemed confused, but it must be related to the final wish.
I need to harvest a lot of souls after Micah…
I'm looking for an opportunity to make a deal with the dragons, but they're too proud.
As for me, I take the souls of evil people or those drowned in sin.
I have my principles too.
Hankel, for example, would've lived a comfortable life if he hadn't indulged in evil.
Andre fell victim to his greed.
Sphiros has nothing to do with me. I'm ashamed I couldn't protect him, but he fell victim to his hunger for knowledge.
Micah, on the other hand, is suffering the consequences of lust right now.
If he had listened to his brother Alfred, this wouldn't have happened. Since he's emotionless, he knows this logically, but he loved Alice.
Love was a smaller version of lust; there's no love without lust.
What a pity. I looked at the ceiling and sighed, then felt a gaze. When I lowered my head, I saw Artemis looking at me: "Finally awake, you lazy goddess."
"Hmm, I see," she said, sounding drunk, her hair a mess from sleep.
She slowly got off me, and her face returned to its usual divine form.
Once, Artemis threatened me—if I told anyone I saw her like that, she'd cut off my dick.
Artemis looked into the distance, watching what Lara was doing.
I got up from the bed: "You're really a bastard, Raul…"
"Maybe I am, but I wanted Lara to learn something, to see how far people can go. The more she faces this reality, the better," I said.
But Artemis leaned on my shoulder and yawned: "Hmm, but you're a lovable bastard. Even though you sometimes act like a psychopath, I know you still worry about Lara. I know you occasionally watch your old master, Victoria, and I can tell from the fact that you didn't kill that crazy princess who's after you."
"Yes, Artemis, even you're changing. I'm sure before I came, you were too lazy to even leave the moon," I said with a genuine laugh.
Artemis mumbled, "Yeah, but it's a change for the better. You're not going to take my soul, and I even know the moment you were born and how you think. I wouldn't see you as evil."
"You're wrong, Artemis. I've killed people, Artemis, maybe destroyed countless families. I'm not someone you can sympathize with. They say if you kill all the murderers in the world, you're the only murderer left, and yes, that's true because I'm the murderer of murderers, the enemy of the wicked. To defeat evil, you have to be worse…" I rarely show my emotions, and this was one of those moments.
But Artemis hugged me: "Hmm, the world may think you're evil, but I can feel you care about Lara. No matter how much you hate yourself, there are people who love you, you idiot."
Ugh, I'm suffocating by her boobs. I looked up, saw Artemis looking at me kindly, and sighed.
For the first time since I was reincarnated, I feel happy…