460 Brothers (1/2)

Not all Main Gods would be the reasonable type. It was quite common for powerful existences to be unreasonable with weaker ones. Or, to be more direct, powerful existences wouldn't even treat weaker existences as worthy of communication.

”At first, demons weren't evil at all…”

Ayer's words from our discussion on the River Styx sounded in my ears again. Yet, I had nothing to reference for this, as in every single plane in existence, demons already had the worst of reputations.

”Is weakness a sin?”

Perhaps other species would still at least discuss this with you at a surface level, debating life philosophy and societal realities, giving you a platitude like ”The strong should protect the weak”, then demons would use concrete actions to tell you…

”The weak? The weak are good for nothing except to become food and toys.”

In demon society, the strong preying on the weak was the only rule they had. The only greater sin than being weak was being rich without the power to protect your wealth. That would be a direct shortcut to death.

There were only two possible paths to take in demon society. Become stronger and strive to reach the top, or accidentally fall off along the way and become the stepping stone and food for some other demon.

As for the Main God level demons, striving to reach any higher would basically be impossible. That was because the will of the Chaos Abyss would forever be above them. While they could be partially free from her control, as long as they lived in that chaotic Abyss, it would be impossible for them to be completely free from Cynthia's control.

And now, these dimensional invader Main Gods discovered after a short moment of confusion that this dimension was truly unique. This wasn't yet another plane born from the main world of Eich. This was a completely new independent dimension!

For the Chaos Main Gods, a newly born dimension would be like the most appetizing piece of steak. Yet, an entirely new independent dimension would be an opportunity that would only come along once per million years.

Just receiving a normal dimension would help any Demon Lord to become more powerful by obtaining part of the dimension's resources and dimensional laws. Yet, an entirely new and independent dimension would be the only chance for them to surpass their eternal master after so many eons!

That's right, all demons wanted to become even stronger. Devouring and evolution were part of their very blood. As long as there was a chance, even a Demon Lord would be willing to betray.

No matter how the discussion with Sophocles the Deceiver ended up, my best expectation was that he would be able to temporarily remain neutral. As for the other Demon Lords, it wouldn't even be worth trying to negotiate with them.

Although, there was one Chaos Main God who was rather unique. That would be…

”My foolish younger brother…”

”What?”

”Er, nothing, I just wanted to say that out loud…”

A certain already dead older brother found himself unable to finish speaking such classical lines. That was because the next part would be to start taunting with words like ”You're still too weak!” or ”Live on in an ugly fashion”, yet I was probably the one who was much weaker.

If Karwenz was taunted by me the moment I came in, he would likely immediately attack me with the end result of me being swatted away. Even though I wouldn't die, that would be too humiliating.

Karwenz was still cooking his fish soup. I tossed away Wumianzhe's mask and came to visit him in my true body. Demons were already so difficult to deal with already, plus this was Karwenz. A demon and Karwenz was definitely the worst possible combination… I would never underestimate him.

Ever since young, he hated to use his brain. He loved to be direct about everything, yet this wasn't because he was stupid at all. Instead, he simply had his own attitude and way of doing things.

”Why must I use my brain when I can solve it with my muscles? Thinking too much will cause one's physical abilities to dull.”

Karwenz always acted faster than he thought. He learned through practical methods and actual combat. His growth rate was astonishing, yet he didn't have an unstable foundation. Underneath his seemingly direct personality was a maturity that far surpassed his age, yet he was still as hot-blooded as a youth. When he needed to, he had his own slyness as well. He always imperceptibly obtained other people's favor and hearts… Fine, I admit that he had slightly better luck with women than me.

[…]

”…What do you want to say? Just say it out loud. Fine, he's not slightly luckier with women, he's a lot luckier.”

[When looking at the number of partners he's already had, the total amount that he's luckier than you is…]

”Several tens of thousands time luckier, am I right? Fine, I shouldn't have commented about you.”

[No, since your number of romantic partners is zero, the answer is that he's infinitely luckier than you with women…]

”Alright, my dear Goddess of Order, thank you so much for your precise calculations. Still, please shut up for me now.”

Getting back on topic, compared to myself who often wasn't back at Diffindor back in the day, Karwenz always had an excellent reputation. Even the military recognized him for his achievements back then in fighting against the demons of the Chaos Abyss.

If it wasn't for the later incident of the Mist Kingdom's destruction, I probably would have ended up as a Holy Knight for the rest of my life, while Karwenz would have become the best ruler in the Mist Kingdom's history. While I wasn't dissatisfied with how things were back then, I would sometimes complain just a little.

Yep, I was really envious of him, just as how people who loved to overthink things would sometimes envy those who always had fun by being simple-minded. Those like Karwenz would always grow stronger without even planning for it. As he matured, he obtained others' trust and recognition and finally succeeded in the end.

”I have to work so hard and plan everything for my accomplishments. He can accomplish basically the same thing with some sudden flash of inspiration, and not only that, he can even obtain more of our parents' and friends' recognition and favor. Even if I actually do better than him, that's so unfair! Is it really that bad boys are more favored? It would seem that I should learn how to be a bad boy.”

When I was young, I would often think in such a way. This was also the cause of several rather stupid incidents that I was behind. Still, this didn't affect our feelings for each other as brothers. That was because when faced with such a simple-minded brat, I wouldn't even know how to get angry.

”Roland, what spices do you prefer for your fish soup? I have the Blood Tribe's holy blood spices, the Inferno Demons' abyssal spices, and everything you can think of in between.”

”…It's quite obvious just from the name that there's something wrong with those spices. I don't want any spices at all. By the way, it's almost time for battle. Do you really not care at all?”

”Yep, I really do care about eating fish. I prepared more than thirty years to successfully scam this pot of fish soup. You have no idea just how hard it was to catch him on my fishing pole. I had to collect seven or eight God Equipment and killed off a dozen Demon Nobles.”

”…You schemed to kill off a Demon Lord who ruled an entire layer, yet you make it sound like it was just to cook some food. Don't tell me that you killed him just for the sake of having some fish soup.”