Xingyue, is Xiaokai also considered Kai?

“Luce,” Eri stared into Luce’s eyes, “how did you know about Lilith? Lilith only arrived yesterday… You couldn’t have come last night, could you? You must have come this afternoon when I wasn’t here, right?”

"Hey hey hey."

Faced with Eri's questioning, Luce simply stuck out her pink little tongue and playfully licked her lips, her adorable appearance making it impossible for anyone to be angry with her.

She didn't answer directly, but simply handed a freshly made ice cream to another customer.

After all, I am my father's left hand, and Eri, you are the soul, so you're like my older sister.

Luce thought to herself silently, but her face still held that innocent smile.

Eri sighed helplessly as she looked at Luce's feigned nonchalance.

This topic is probably going nowhere.

However, Eri is not the kind of person who likes to pry into things.

If you don't want to talk about it, then forget it.

“Okay.” Eri picked up the ice cream bucket next to her and said to Luce, “I’m just killing time anyway, I’ll help you sell them.”

"Huh? Really? That's great! Thank you, Eri!"

Under the scorching midday sun in Akihabara, Luce and Eri started selling their uniquely shaped cross-shaped ice cream together.

While attending to customers, Eri couldn't help but ask the question that had been bothering her all night, in a different way.

“Um, Luce, I have a question for you. If, I mean, if an elder in your family suddenly tells you, ‘Actually, I'm like you,’ instead of you being like her, how should you interpret that?”

Eri had initially thought that Luce would be just as confused as she was, but to her surprise, Luce had the answer almost immediately.

"Um......"

Luce thought about it seriously for a moment, his blue eyes sparkling with wisdom, as if he had remembered something.

Right, that should be it, right? Illya and Kuro, Miyu and Ryuka, they seem to fit Eri's description quite well.

"If that's the question, I think Luce is implying that the two of them share the same thought, right?"

"The same idea?"

Eri frowned.

The same thought? A thousand years old and oneself? What could that be?

Countless thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant. She thought of Chitose's unwavering face, his solitary yet authoritative teachings, and standing shoulder to shoulder with Lucius...

Ultimately, all thoughts converged on Novia, the object of his twilight romance.

Chitose likes Novia.

But what I like is that demon king who always makes me angry, yet is incredibly reliable in crucial moments.

Novia...the Demon King...

Eri's heart skipped a beat.

Could it be...? No, impossible. How could those two guys be the same person? One is a womanizer and frivolous, the other, though despicable, is...

Eri's thoughts were in complete disarray.

I can neither understand nor accept it.

I even think that Luce's words were just casual remarks.

Eri told herself this, forcibly suppressing this terrifying thought.

Although it was frustrating, the ice cream on the stall was soon sold out.

"That's fantastic!" Luce exclaimed excitedly, holding up the empty ice cream bucket with a satisfied smile. "It's all sold out!"

“…Hmm.” Seeing Luce’s happy expression, Eri’s mood improved, and the corners of her mouth unconsciously turned up slightly.

As the sun sets, golden rays bathe the entire Akihabara plain.

The sea breeze has become much gentler.

“It’s getting late,” Erise glanced at the sky. “I should head back.”

“Okay, sure.” Luce waved and smiled brightly. “Thank you so much for today, Eri.”

"fine."

After saying that, Eri turned and left.

After walking more than ten steps, Luce called out from behind again.

"Erise!"

Eri turned around and looked at Luce with some confusion.

In the magnificent sunset, the blue-haired girl, having removed her rain hat, stood still, waving vigorously at Erise in the afterglow of the setting sun, her face beaming with an incredibly bright smile, her clear and energetic voice seemingly carried on the sea breeze.

"Goodbye, sister!"

elder sister?

Eri was slightly taken aback.

Why was Luce suddenly calling her that? Eri didn't quite understand, but she didn't think too much about it, just assuming it was Luce's way of addressing people.

Therefore, Eri nodded to Luce, waved, and then turned and left again.

The setting sun cast her shadow very long.

As she walked back to the Kuonji residence, Eri's emotions remained unsettled for a long time.

For some reason, Eri suddenly became concerned about Luce calling her "older sister." It was like a pebble thrown into a lake, creating ripples that stirred up a strong, unprecedented sense of responsibility within her.

She wants to protect Luce.

Protect that girl who is as pure and beautiful as sunshine.

We absolutely cannot let her suffer at the hands of that scumbag!

This thought grew stronger and stronger in Eri's mind.

576: Draco the Queen (6k)

Satan, the Lost Paradise, returned to the Temple of Demons with a cold expression.

Outside the temple gates, on the scorched earth baked by the eternal flames of karma, countless “Satans” wriggled like maggots, emitting incomprehensible roars and howls. The air was filled with sulfur, despair, and solidified malice.

"Oh dear, isn't this our Speaker, the one most skilled at grand pronouncements?" A Satan-like figure in a black suit, with silver hair and red eyes, leaned against the massive brass door and taunted in a flippant tone, "What's wrong? What kind of filthy air has made you like this? Want to tell me?"

Paradise Lost: Satan's footsteps never falter.

They didn't even glance at that arrogant Satan.

This is not typical of Paradise Lost, Satan's style.

Normally, he might stop, put on his signature smile, chat with the other person for a few words, and subtly respond to their teasing with a few harmless remarks, showing composure and poise.

But now, no.

Satan of Paradise Lost is in a terrible mood right now.

It's absolutely terrible.

Therefore, he simply walked forward in silence, in that instant when Satan brushed past him—

An invisible yet tangible, terrifying pressure descended like a collapsing mountain.

The frivolous smile on the silver-haired Satan's face froze instantly. He was struck as if by an invisible hammer, flying backward and tracing a pathetic arc in the air.

In an instant, cries of agony filled the air. The already chaotic Satanic horde was thrown into even greater turmoil by the sudden impact.

"Enough with the nonsense." The voice of Paradise Lost Satan was icy. "Go mind your own business and take care of your own hell."

Without pausing for a moment, Satan of Paradise Lost disappeared into the unfathomable, magnificent gates of the Pandemonium.

The interior of the Pandemonium was deathly silent, a stark contrast to its exterior. Towering, dazzling pillars seemed to pierce the sky, supporting the endless, shadow-shrouded dome.

In the end, Paradise Lost Satan returned to his own space.

It was a room so empty it was almost devoid of anything.

There were no luxurious decorations, no pleasing embellishments, not even a single piece of superfluous furniture, only a simple yet imposing throne made of obsidian, standing alone in the center.

As soon as Satan of Paradise Lost sat down on his throne, before he could fully calm his emotions of frustration and anger, a figure silently emerged from the shadows in the corner of the room.

"Azazel?"

In the voice of Lost Paradise Satan, a crack appeared in the deliberately maintained coldness, and an extremely slight relaxation occurred that even he himself was unaware of.

"it's me."

Wearing the goat's helmet, a symbol of atonement and exile, and clad in heavy silver armor that gleamed with a cold, hard luster in the dim light of the temple, Azazel emerged from the shadows.

"What are you here for?"

“Lucifero was watching you the whole time during the meeting,” Azazel’s voice remained as calm as ever.

"Him?" Paradise Lost Satan frowned slightly, then chuckled, his tone filled with undisguised contempt. "What else could his frozen mind hold besides Judas, Brutus, and Cassius?"

“After the meeting, I went to ask him.”

Azazel seemed unfazed by the sarcasm in his close friend's tone and continued speaking in his calm manner.

He paused, seemingly considering his words, or perhaps recalling the scene at the time.

He said,

“You have a ‘delicious’ scent about you that he finds very interesting.”

For an instant.

Just for a moment.

In Paradise Lost, Satan felt as if the air around him had frozen in that instant.

tasty?

Gluttony!

The image of Eri and Novia, dressed as Erise, flashed through his mind in an instant.

Lucifer, the king of Hell in Dante's Divine Comedy, is located at the center of the Ninth Hell, imprisoned by eternal frost. His three enormous, ceaselessly chewing mouths are the eternal punishment for three of the greatest traitors in Western human history.

Judas, who betrayed Jesus, as well as Brutus and Cassius.

His appetite is not essentially derived from physical hunger, but from a conceptual and eternal punishment and curse upon the sin of "betrayal".

In Thomas Aquinas' theological system, one of the roots of the sin of "gluttony" is "turning away from the teachings of God."

This in itself is the most thorough betrayal of the sacred covenant.

therefore,

It's perfectly normal that Lucifero, who eternally punishes "betrayal," could smell the scent of "betrayal" emanating from himself, who had just come into contact with the concept of "gluttony."

The truth is this.

But being targeted is not a good thing either.

“Heh,” Paradise Lost Satan forcibly suppressed the turmoil in his heart, forcing a smile full of contempt and self-mockery onto his face, “Perhaps those three pathetic souls, after eating for thousands of years, have long since lost their taste and want a change of pace.”

"maybe."

Azazel nodded, his goat helmet obscuring all his expression, and seemed to have fully accepted this seemingly reasonable explanation, without pressing further.

He took a few steps forward and came to the side of the throne, standing shoulder to shoulder with Satan of Paradise Lost, both looking at the huge floor-to-ceiling window without a frame, which directly connected to the outside world.

Outside the window, the eternally burning hellfire licks at the dark sky with its crimson flames.

In the dim light, one could almost see a silver-haired Satan struggling to rise from the horde of demons, gesturing angrily at the room and muttering something under his breath.

"Speaking of it,"

Azazel's emotionless voice rang out again without warning.

It was as if he was just looking at the view outside the window and casually mentioned it.

Have you experienced 'binge eating'?

Once again, Paradise Lost Satan was at a loss for words.