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Chapter 324 - Atonement (2)

‘No.’

Rakiel shook his head. The term comrade was not appropriate among Constellations of Evil. They had absolutely no sense of camaraderie for one another; they had simply fought together because they had been on the same side.

“Why have you turned toward the light all of a sudden?” the Constellation of Agony asked.

Rakiel remained silent. He then asked back with empty eyes, “Why did you serve the Demon God?”

“... What?”

“I wanted Seraph. I wished to... have her in my hands.” Rakiel’s eyes gleamed sharply. “The Demon God used that obsession of mine. He turned my obsession into madness, and made me accept his demonic energy.”

It was a past that he could never revert. He was an angel that had fallen for the temptations of a demon.

“I stained my hands with an immeasurable amount of the blood of my comrades at his command. My sins can never be washed away.”

Rakiel bit his lip.

“Only after the Demon God had died and the woman that I had desired sacrificed herself to seal the darkness was I finally able to understand.”

He had been controlled by the Demon God, and he had committed an irreversible sin after being tricked by the Demon God’s whispers and drunk on the infinite power and desires that his demonic energy gave him.

“I will atone for my sins.”

Rakiel clenched his fists.

***

“You want... to atone?” Gaia asked as she looked down at Rakiel, who was bowing while lowering his head.

Her pupils were shaking as if she was suppressing her surging emotions with all her might.

“Yes,” Rakiel answered shortly.

Hah. Gaia laughed in absurdity. It was a very cynical response for a goddess that was considered the goddess of parental love, just like Seraph. Rakiel flinched, but closed his eyes and lowered his head.

‘... It is only natural.’

He would have reacted the same way if he was in her shoes. After all, he was none other than the Constellation of Corruption.

“Do you have any idea what you are saying right now?” Gaia asked in exasperation.

“Yes, I do.”

“In that case, you must have gone mad. You would never have dared to even talk about atoning for your sins if you were in your right mind.”

Rakiel could not refute her in any way; he could only lower his head in silence. Gaia narrowed her eyes.

“Tell me the truth. Why have you so confidently appeared before me? Have you taken the humans of this star hostage?”

“My desire to atone is not a lie. I swear it on my Divinity.”

“... What?”

Gaia wavered for the first time. She knew very well how great of a meaning that a vow with one’s Divinity on the line held. However...

“Even so, do you truly believe you will be forgiven for your countless sins?”

Grit. Gaia glared at Rakiel while exuding immense energy. Rakiel slowly raised his head.

“I do not,” he said calmly.

Rakiel knew that he would never be forgiven for the sins that he had committed and that the blood on his hands would never be washed away.

‘But...’

He clenched his fists. Although he knew better than anyone else that he would not be forgiven...

‘At the very least...’

He wanted to apologize from the bottom of his heart; he at least wanted to be understood why he had committed such grave sins.

‘And if possible...’

He wanted to atone for them, although it might be too late. He wanted to clean up even a little of the mess that he had made.

“Then why have you come to see me?” Gaia asked, her tone still as cold as before.

“At the time, I was... being controlled by the Demon God. He dominated my mind and made it so that I would corrupt my precious comrades.”

“Hah, so you are saying that you have done nothing wrong?”

Rakiel shook his head. “No. That is not what I am trying to say. Although my mind had been taken over by the Demon God, I still remember all the sins that I had committed. And I know that... such sins cannot be forgiven from just saying that I had been controlled.”

He continued while biting his lip, “But... I thought that I should at least apologize from the bottom of my heart for every sin, for the countless comrades that had died because of me.”

Rakiel was speaking in a low voice, his eyes shaking plaintively. Gaia kept her silence from seeing Rakiel’s appearance. She knew he was telling the truth.

Fwoom!

“Enough of your lies!” Kim Si-Hun shouted while infusing his holy sword with Qi.

His deeply instilled rage filled the room.

‘That human...’

Rakiel momentarily expressed surprise from seeing the human that he had never met before. He could feel the blazing rage in the human’s eyes.

“...”

Rakiel’s thoughts were jumbled.

‘I see my sins have been this large.’

An immeasurable amount of time had passed since the war between the Demon God and the gods of the Triad. Not even the father of that man\'s father would have experienced the war, so Rakiel’s heart grew even heavier from witnessing the intense rage from the human.

“Wait, my child,” Gaia interrupted while raising her hand to stop Si-Hun.

As Si-Hun turned his head toward Gaia to say something, he was left speechless from seeing Gaia\'s eyes, which were as chilling as frost.

“You just said that you remembered all of your sins, did you not?” she asked.

Rakiel nodded. “I did.”

Although the memories were from when he had been controlled by the Demon God, he vividly remembered what he had done.

“Confess your sins to me,” the goddess commanded.

Rakiel hesitated for a short moment. It was as if a murderer had been told to recite his exact crimes. He hesitated not because he did not remember, but rather because he remembered it all too well; he regretted the fact that he had said that he remembered his sins.

‘No.’

Rakiel shook his head. Although his self-remorse was eating him away, that was all the more reason to say it himself.

“I... was not able to overcome my obsession toward Lady Seraph. I lost to the Demon God’s temptations and accepted his demonic energy,” he confessed. “I corrupted my comrades at his command, and burned countless angels to death. No... Not just angels.”

Tears flowed down Rakiel’s cheeks. The tears of a fallen angel was just as transparent as that of a human.

“I have corrupted humans... fairies... all with my own hands. I tempted them, and trampled over them.”

Rakiel’s shoulders trembled. His confession sounded more like he was weeping.

“I am truly... truly sorry for all the sins I have committed.”

Rakiel felt as if his heart was being put on fire. The memories from back then, laughing as he stared at the beings that had failed to overcome their desires and killing his own kind from being controlled by the Demon God, were vividly replaying in his head. The fragments of such memories were slicing up his brain.

“If I had been able to escape from the Demon God’s influence... I would have never had such thoughts.”

Rakiel knew very well that making an excuse like he had been controlled was cowardly, but there was no other excuse to make; he had actually been controlled. If it had not been for the Demon God, he would have never fallen from grace in the first place.

‘Bauli...’

He recalled the Titan enveloped in the chasms of darkness. His rage blazed as greatly as the self-remorse weighing down on his shoulders.

“I am sorry.”

Boom. Rakiel slammed his head on the floor.

“I am sorry.”

Boom. The floor of the Hall of Protection cracked.

“I am sorry.”

Boom. Black blood flowed down from Rakiel’s forehead; he seemed to be purposefully suppressing the demonic energy that naturally flowed out from him.

“I will gladly accept any punishment. If you will have my head, I will cut it off myself,” he said while crying, overcome by regret and rage.

He saw a hazy illusion of a past memory. In the illusion, he saw Seraph and himself, who was kneeling on one knee, laughing together.

“I am truly...”

Rakiel unconsciously stretched his hand forward, but the illusion dissipated as soon as he stretched his hand out. Tears flowed from his eyes.

“... Sorry,” he said faintly.

“... Is that all you have to say?” Gaia asked.

Rakiel slowly raised his head. “Yes, that is everything.”

Deathly silence fell.

“Have you truly confessed every single one of your sins?”

“Yes, I have,” Rakiel answered while nodding, his heart slightly lighter than before.

“You have, you say...?” The goddess surged with rage. “How shameless can you be?!”

Slam! She stomped on the floor while her eyes blazed in fury. The ground shook.

“What about you having dared to kidnap my child and torture him?”

“... Pardon?”

Rakiel’s eyes widened in confusion.

“No, not only did you kidnap my retainer, you even tried to turn him into a demonic beast by sowing your demonic energy into him!”

“I am not sure I follow...”

“Hah! I never had any expectations from the beginning, but how can one be so shameless?!”

The goddess’s rage burst out.

“P-Please wait, Lady Gaia.” Rakiel stared at Gaia as if he had no idea what she was talking about. “I have never kidnapped your retainer, nor have I tried to turn him into a demonic beast.”

No matter how many times he searched through his memories, he had no memory of having done such a thing. Just like Seraph, Gaia was known for treasuring the retainers that she had chosen like they were her own children. Even if Rakiel had been controlled by the Demon God, he had never done something as insane as kidnapping a retainer of a top-ranking god and torturing them.

“Hah... Hahaha!” Gaia laughed in exasperation. “You are truly something else! You dare lie to me so blatantly when the one that you had kidnapped is right before your eyes?!”

“... What are you t—”

“Kurgh! Cough! Cough!”

Before Rakiel even had a chance to ask what Gaia was talking about, a young man with sharp eyes, who had been standing next to Gaia, collapsed. Gaia approached the man in astonishment.

“M-My child!”

“Cough! Cough!’

Oh Kang-Woo vomited black blood; hideous green tentacles grew from the ends of his fingers as if he was a character in a certain parasite manga.

“Lady Gaia...” Kang-Woo said faintly. “Please... forgive Rakiel.”

“Wh-What?” Gaia’s eyes widened.

“Although he had made me this way... C-Cough! H-He had not been in control.”

“...”

“A-And...” Kang-Woo grabbed Gaia’s hand. “He is... p-powerful. Even if you have r-regained— Cough! Your power... I-It is dangerous... Kurgh! Cough!”

“My child...”

Tears flowed down Gaia’s cheeks. Even while he was being encroached by demonic energy and was turning into a demonic beast, he was worried for her.

“Do not worry, my child,” Gaia stated as she got up. “I will save you... no matter what.”

Rumble.

Immense energy flowed out from her, aimed straight at Rakiel.

“... Huh?”

Rakiel blankly stared at Gaia and the human man in her arms.

‘What? What was going on?’