Chapter 1045: Welcome to the Family.
Angel and Demon. Extreme opposites. Beings that have always been antagonistic from the beginning. Mortals will call Demons 'evil' and Angels 'good.'
But reality tends to be very different from fiction and often disappointing. They are not Good or Evil; they are just from different Factions.
Angels can commit all sorts of atrocities if ordered by the Heavenly Father. After all, they are his army, and a soldier must obey his Commander. The great extinction events are a good example. From the perspective of stories like Noah's, for instance, Humans were the 'good' ones, and the Supernatural Forces were the 'evil' ones.
Good and Evil? It's all a matter of perspective.
Victor couldn't help but think this as he looked at the Heavenly Father on his throne in the 6th Heaven. If the 7th Heaven was the Heavenly Father's 'personal' home, the 6th Heaven was where he ruled.
The throne was not as grand as Victor's in Hell. It was not made to instill fear but to impose respect and an image of 'goodness.'
If a Mortal looked on from another point of view, they would think, 'Ahh, this is the Heavenly Light of the Father...'
Fear and respect. A thin line that is difficult to conquer. Too much fear and Beings will call you a tyrant; too much respect will make some think they can walk over you without consequences.
Victor understood this very well, considering that he was The Demon King, Ruler of one of the most violent Races out there.
In the case of the Heavenly Father, he didn't have such a need. After all, he created all the individuals down there so they would naturally respect him.
...With the exceptions being those who rebelled with Lucifer, but that was a long time ago. Angels do not fall as easily as before since the Heavenly Father did not want to increase his enemy's forces since, for the longest time, they were in a cold war.
Why was Victor here? Well, as a demonstration of the future alliance, The Heavenly Father decided to show Victor Heaven. Something that was unnecessary, considering that the moment Victor set foot in this Dimension, he 'saw' the entire Dimension like the palm of his hand.
But the Heavenly Father didn't need to know that, and this gesture was also a gesture of respect, so appearances were necessary for a healthy alliance, so Victor accepted.
Behind all the 'respect and adoration,' they lived in fear of exposing their thoughts and 'falling,' they couldn't even have complaints about certain things or risk exposing themselves.
Heaven was beautiful; that was a fact, but... Like everything, there were bad sides. From what Victor had seen so far, Angels were a sad Race.
Behind all the 'respect and adoration,' they lived in fear of exposing their thoughts and 'falling,' they couldn't even have complaints about certain things or risk exposing themselves.
What was ironic, for a man who preached free will so much, he had indeed completely imprisoned his Angels. Even the Demons in his Hell could say whatever they wanted about Victor; they were free, but... Freedom had a price.
Yes, indeed. They could say whatever they want, but were they ready for the consequences? That was the million-dollar question. After all, Victor was not called The Demon King of Tyranny for nothing.
A certain philosopher said: 'Democracy is made by the majority of people, but the majority of people are stupid.'
As a man who grew up in America, Victor understood this very well. And by understanding this, he made sure to do things the way he does.
A meritocracy where everyone has a chance, even those who are weak. A society that works very well for Demons but wouldn't work very well for Humans.
After all, Humans have the 'inconvenience' of sometimes being born sick or disabled. They are not Supernatural Beings, even the weakest of whom have very healthy bodies that wouldn't catch a common mundane disease.
Have you ever seen a Demon catch a cold? Or even a Vampire? A Werewolf? Even Witches, who were essentially Human, never got sick with mundane illnesses.
It almost seemed like Humans were made weak on purpose, considering how 'strong' Adam, the Progenitor of Humans, was. Such a result must have been done by someone.
The most likely candidates were the Heavenly Father and the other Gods who created Humans in their respective regions. At least that was the answer Lucifer, Diablo, and the hundreds of Gods he consumed gave him.
To have an exact answer to this question, he would have to consume a God who created Humans like Epimetheus and Prometheus. Unfortunately, these Titans were missing.
Turning his attention back to current affairs, Victor observed how the Heavenly Father spent his day. Even though he was present in the Sixth Heaven, no one could see him there.
Even without a Divinity like Nyx helping him hide from everything and everyone, Victor had still consumed Erebus. He had the power of a Primordial with him and his son, who controlled the Void. If he wanted to, he could disappear easily. Even if he didn't use these Powers, just his Reality-Bending ability or his Dream Divinity would be enough to make him disappear.
He could make his presence like a dream, a mirage, and Reality wouldn't be able to distinguish him.
A fact that once again made the Heavenly Father break out in a cold sweat. This time, he hid his worries very well, but nothing could be hidden from Victor's eyes.
Ever since he was Mortal, his eyes were special. Now that he was much stronger than before, his eyes were on a completely different level. Nothing could be hidden from him.
'No wonder Ariel had so many complaints,' Victor thought as he looked at these Angels. His Nature Divinity screamed to him that the sight he was seeing was not 'normal.'
His War Divinity found this sight attractive. His Negativity Divinity and the thousands of others it controlled enjoyed the sight before him. It was so 'unnatural' that it was appreciated.
His Divinity of Beginnings and the Divinities related to Life felt repulsion.
Honestly, Victor was a walking contradiction. With just one sight, he felt different types of emotions caused by his Powers.
Emotions that didn't shake him at all. Contradictory or not, it was all Victor. Unlike when he was Mortal, he no longer had problems controlling his immense Power.
'Is this it? The famous duty of the Heavenly Father is just to supervise everything?' Honestly, he felt disappointed that he wasn't acting. This passivity irritated him because it screamed incompetence.
But this was his impulsive side. His wise side knew that some things could only be resolved with time. The incidents with Violet and Sasha taught him this very well.
Although, both sides of him found this sight disappointing. As a King, Emperor, or whatever his title of governance, it was his duty to guide and point a direction for his people; otherwise, they would just wither over time.
Such an attitude cannot be possible for a Mortal with a limited lifespan, but for a God with all the time in the world, a vision for the future was essential, or you would just wither in boredom.
Diablo might be a bastard, but he was a bastard with vision who remained quiet and focused for thousands of years—a prime example of resilience to be followed.
'As expected, it's better for everything to be in my hand.' Victor would respect his governance just as he did with his Wives, who were Leaders like Amaterasu, Haruna, and Tasha.
But he would not allow the Angels to wither any further; everything must be in his hands... In the hands of The Dragon God Emperor.
Unaware that his way of doing things only solidified more devastating thoughts in Victor, the Heavenly Father continued to go about his day.
...
Meanwhile, a certain Angel was venting.
"What's wrong, little Angel? Are you already tired?" Lilith teased the formerly perfect Angel who was lying on the ground, looking like a sweaty pig.
"S-Shut up..." She stood up with difficulty. "You and your insane endurance, why aren't you sweating? It doesn't make sense!"
Ariel was a warrior and a Leader. As one of The Seven Virtues and an Angel of the Highest Order, she had a lot of stamina, but even she had a limit. After several weeks of fighting at full strength without stopping, she would get tired.
"Well, you need endurance if you want to deal with my Husband," Lilith said disinterestedly as she looked at her nails. After the first week, she lost all the complaints she had about Ariel and focused on having fun. After all, it had been a while since she stretched her legs.
"Indeed, as Goddesses, when we have fun, it's not just our bodies fighting, but our Souls too. And the latter has had a lot of training over the millennia, consequently reflecting in our physical bodies," Ruby nodded several times, satisfied.
Despite not feeling the effects of the passage of Time, thanks to Victor's distraction, she knew 2,000 years had passed.
Ariel's face turned red. She was indeed a pure Angel, but that didn't mean she didn't understand the hidden words of the girls. After all, as someone in a leadership position, she had to deal with various other not-so-pure Beings.
"Ahaa! Look at her expression! Reminds me of how Sasha was! So nostalgic..." Natashia commented.
"Isn't it? Now, she doesn't even get embarrassed... Even after doing some scandalous things. I wonder whom she takes after." Naty looked slyly at Carmilla and Victoria, who were quiet. Her eyes were more focused on Carmilla; the woman was too 'dirty' for someone so noble.
"It's always the quiet ones, isn't it?" Maria laughed.
Sasha glared at the blondes talking about her but said nothing. After all, they weren't wrong, and it had been a long time since she lost her shyness with her Husband and Sisters.
"Honestly, girls. You need to watch your mouths. We need to set an example for our children!" Anna grumbled.
"Mah, mah. No need to be so strict, Anna. After all, living like that is exhausting. At least in privacy, we can speak openly."
"...Just be careful not to say that in front of our children." Anna sighed. Since she took on the 'unofficial' role of being The Second Empress, she had been sighing a lot. Her Sisters were walking pieces of personality. Fortunately, they were all old enough to understand what to do and what not to do... Most of the time.
"You should tell that to Aphrodite, Anna. Her daughter is a carbon copy of her mother," Jeanne spat while looking at Aphrodite, who openly gave a big, beautiful smile, crossed her arms, and emphasized her large bust.
"Irene is growing up exactly as she is destined to. I do all this for my Daughter's sake."
Jeanne just narrowed her eyes but said nothing. She understood the argument but disapproved of how Aphrodite did things. She should let her Daughter decide, not decide for her Daughter.
"Honestly, for the oldest of us, you're such a puritan."
"I'm not complaining about the choice of partners. I've gotten over that, but it's the way you're conditioning our Daughter."
Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Please, I'm practically the Reincarnation of Love now. I know my Daughter's feelings very well. And I only started acting when she developed those feelings on her own."
"I don't want to make the same mistake that happened with Eros, I will guide her properly in her Divinity and in life if she so desires, and I also don't want my Daughter to have disappointments with men who only want her for her body. "
"Ugh, this conversation again. You're annoying, Jeanne. Just forget about it already for our own sake." Natashia snorted. "Your Human morality is inappropriate for the oldest Being in the Universe."
Jeanne narrowed her eyes at Natashia. "Don't call me old, you bitch."
Natashia responded in the most mature way possible: "Blegh." She stuck out her tongue.
Which made Jeanne even more angry. Natashia was definitely a bait born to make people angry.
Seeing the women interacting and exchanging insults, Ariel realized that although they were saying offensive words, there wasn't really any hatred or disagreements between them, it was all very healthy... It was as if they loved each other or something.
"...Do you guys practice polyamory or something?" These words from Ariel caused silence among the girls, and they all looked at Ariel synchronously.
"...W-What?" She became very nervous being stared at blankly by several Draconic eyes.
"Ariel, this isn't a polyamory story. It's a harem story." Pepper spoke very seriously so that she wouldn't have any doubts about anything.
"...Huh? Isn't that the same thing?" Ariel asked, confused. She honestly didn't see the difference.
"Ariel, Harem, and Polyamory are two completely different things." Ruby continued.
"I love and respect my Sisters, but I don't love them in that way. They are my Sisters and my Family, not my lovers." Pepper added.
"... But don't you practice orgies?" Ariel asked.
"That is true." Aphrodite nodded. "But those are rare occasions when Victor is very 'frustrated', and it takes all of us to calm him down."
"This usually happens when he spends many years training or when he spends a lot of time away from us," Violet added.
"Originally, most of us would rather have Victor's full attention on us," Scathach said. "Personally, I'm one of those."
"Indeed." Amaterasu nodded. "The same applies to me... Although some of our Sisters are a bit degenerate and prefer to do it as a Family." She looked at the Fulger family.
Her words made the entire Fulger Clan blush slightly because they often had 'family meetings' with Victor: Carmila, Naty, Natashia, Sasha, and Victoria, all generations of the Fulger Clan.
"Except for a select few, most prefer Victor's attention to themselves." Kaguya decided to be the voice of reason and explain. "After all, they all have... certain quirks-."
"What Kaguya is trying to say is that we are quite possessive, and we only want our partner to be with us at those important times, so it is impossible to love each other like that. We respect each other, and we are a Family, but that's it." Leona interrupted, being as direct as possible.
"Just like every adult, we explore our sexuality WITH VICTOR when we have interesting feelings. After all, variety is good so as not to get boring over the millennia." She continued.
"When we are interested in exploring new things. Everything we do between us is WITH VICTOR and ONLY WITH VICTOR. We never do those things without him." Violet spoke in disdain.
"...That...That is very different from what I have seen in Humanity." Ariel spoke in disbelief.
"Of course it is. Victor is not Human, and he has a lot of love for all of us. Not to mention that the Emperors of Humanity never invested much in their relationships with their Wives. They were just trophies." Nyx spoke.
"They were probably never satisfied either," Aphrodite said. "Victor is my Husband, and even I can't completely defeat him now like I used to, and that alone says a lot about him."
"Again, this is a Harem story, not polyamory." Pepper snorted. "If you are interested in this, I recommend you look for another man... Or woman in your case."
"A perverted Angel... What a surprise." Lilith spoke with obvious amusement.
"W-Wait, I didn't ask about that because I'm interested in you guys or something!" Ariel blushed deeply.
"Uhum... We believe you." Lily spoke.
"Listen to me, God Dammit!"
"Wow, she swore the name of God again; it must be Wednesday." Lilith laughed. "Your father will definitely be disappointed with how non-innocent his daughter is."
"Well, considering what she said a few hours ago…" Siena said.
"That was days ago, Siena." Lacus pointed.
"Seriously? Time really is confusing." Siena spoke; her Dragon perspective on time was completely confused. Days ago seemed like hours to her.
She must be careful about this. After all, they rule, and missing an important appointment due to lack of attention would be quite shameful.
Suddenly, a voice sounded around.
"Will she be a good addition?"
Ariel's face fell completely in horror just hearing this woman's voice. She started to feel extremely wrong. She didn't know how to feel, but she just knew it was wrong, something out of place like she shouldn't be listening to this voice.
"Azathoth? You woke up." Violet spoke.
"Mmm."
"From what we've seen, she'll be a good addition to the Family and our Daughters…