For Mammon, seeing the Eighth Level of Hell changed into this was still somewhat surprising.
But this surprise was soon frightened away by Michael’s words.
Having listened carefully to everything the person in front of him said, Mammon weighed his tone: “It doesn’t matter if it’s treated as my fault, but at least I should be allowed to understand… what on earth is going on, shouldn’t I?”
Compared with the promises Michael made, and the definite benefits given to them, the fallen angels, taking the blame for certain things really was nothing. If anything, when they were still angels of Heaven, being made to lose face was truly harder to bear than being killed, but after the fall it was different: even though they still kept their angel wings, they called themselves demons, and in thickness of skin they were directly comparable to walls of bronze.
The reason Mammon insisted on knowing the truth was not simple curiosity but also to be safe. If every time he used the spell Michael taught him against an enemy, a problem came up for one reason or another, then this blame… even he couldn’t count how many times he’d have to take it. It wasn’t that he couldn’t take the blame, but if he lost face too many times, his power to awe subordinates in the Abyss would weaken, which would hurt his ability to command his men.
Hearing this, Michael only lightly raised an eyebrow, not saying whether he agreed to Mammon’s request.
Seeing the other like this, Mammon almost thought he had been refused.
Just as he was about to ask nothing and continue observing this Eighth Level world, Michael raised his hand and waved, and the space of the Eighth Level changed.
The world that had been bright as day became the color of dusk, and darkened considerably all at once.
Michael conjured a table and two chairs, and gestured for Mammon to sit.
“You want to know the story, that’s no problem, since you have a right to know.”
The world under dusk was taken over by red and orange, and everywhere the eye fell was covered with these two colors. This scene made even Mammon stunned for a moment. He had never seen this kind of atmosphere; even in Heaven, most of what he saw was pure gold and white, and one could not see this kind of sky mixed with other colors.
How to put it, though it was such an unremarkable light, it gave him an illusion of great warmth.
Michael suddenly said: “How much do you know about Lucifer’s fall?”
How much he knew? Mammon found this question hard to understand and asked back: “The reason Lucifer fell, didn’t we all see it with our own eyes that day? Why do you have such a question?”
When alone with Michael, he did not use honorifics to him; this was the other’s request. In Michael’s words it was “too troublesome,” that sort of meaning.
The god of the Abyss smiled lightly and confirmed with him again: “Really?”
“Are you sure, that all the angels truly understood the reason for Lucifel’s rebellion?”
Mammon had been quite confident at first, but after Michael’s question he began to doubt his own memory. Michael never speculated about anything without reason; since he asked this, it meant there was something fishy about Lucifel’s matter back then, only that they had been affected in mood by that Archangel’s anger and had their attention diverted, so they naturally did not pay attention to the matter itself.
Seeing that Mammon did not answer right away, Michael lowered his eyes and did not rush him.
They said Heaven’s Archangel Lucifel was perfect, embodying the seven virtues, but was that really so? Even the god who governed this Heaven could not be called perfect, so how could the Archangel who was His creation be judged as having no flaws?
In his previous life, Michael, as the one who had been forced to watch the drama of the fall, had missed many details.
In fact, before Lucifel became Lucifer, there had already been signs of many things, only that the beings of Heaven all chose to believe that the Archangel and their God merely differed in opinion, and thought of nothing else.
Counting carefully, Michael was sure that at that time was exactly the period when the power of darkness was at its peak, and several times the power of Hell could be felt even in Heaven.
And not long after that, God created the Messiah, and demanded that Lucifel, the most honored Archangel, kneel before the ancestor of this human in front of all the angels.
At that time the angels were all astonished by Lucifel’s behavior, and did not notice God’s abnormality.
If Lucifel had paid just a little attention, he could have found the unstable power in God, and His uncharacteristically hard behavior.
Everywhere was full of unreasonable points, yet not one angel of Heaven noticed.
Now that Michael reminded him, Mammon noticed many problems he hadn’t noticed back then: “At that time, I remember Lucifel’s reaction was big, but compared with him, our God’s reaction was even more exaggerated. I originally thought that was God’s anger at His angel’s behavior, but thinking back now… why does it feel less like anger and more like He was suppressing something?”
Michael handed Mammon a cup of tea, and the latter said: “…Where did the tea come from? Wait, how on earth do you conjure up so many things out of thin air?”
He had noticed that the more he dealt with Michael, the more he could find outrageous things about this former seraph. Setting aside the inexplicable part-time work for their God, which may have been a hobby, this way of taking things out of nowhere… had already exceeded the limit of spells, hadn’t it?
Thinking this, he saw what was off.
On the tabletop in front of Michael, there was a teleportation circle faintly glimmering.
Not only that, the chairs and the teacups had them too!
Mammon: …Okay, now I know where these things come from.
Using spells to make sure he always had a place to sit and tea to drink at any time… Michael really had applied spells and teleportation circles to daily life.
Michael simply continued the topic in a cold tone: “Lucifel and God have had conflicts for more than a day or two; the other angels were used to it, which is why they were misled by the situation that day.”
“In fact, at that time the power of darkness could no longer be suppressed, so God chose to have Lucifel fall.”
Mammon: “Ahh—?”
Michael looked at the fallen angel opposite, the calm on his face never changing: “Lucifel fell, and he thought it was his own choice, but in fact it was the world’s decision.”
Mammon was stunned: “The world?”
Wait, they were talking about God, so how did it turn to the world?
And besides—
“If that’s so, then won’t my spells be unusable against Lucifer?”
Michael first gave him a strange look, then said in an extremely speechless tone: “Mammon, I’m curious… why do you think you’ll face Lucifer again?”
Mammon: “…”
He had nearly forgotten again that the ambition of the person in front of him was not to dominate Heaven, and that in this he was totally different from Lucifer.
“The world chose Lucifel, the representative of ultimate light, to fall in order to balance the world’s runaway power of darkness, and even God, the creator of the angels, had no right to refuse the world, and in the end it came to this.”
It wasn’t that God wanted Lucifel to fall, but that the world decided so, and He had no way around it.
Mammon felt he had really eaten a big melon today: Lucifel’s fall actually involved the safety of the world.
If Michael hadn’t told him this, he could never have thought in this direction.
Hell was not an area angels should touch; they had known this since the moment they were born.
And now Michael was telling him that Lucifel was destined to become the king of Hell.
Wait, he suddenly thought of a question.
“But now the Demon King is you, so what then?”
Mammon’s eyes rolled, and he added: “You and Lucifel are both Angels of Light, right? Why did it have to be Lucifel who fell, and not you?”
Michael smiled: “I also thought it was very unfair, so I fell in Lucifer’s place.”
Mammon: “?”
Reality was indeed so, but taking his place like this, really wouldn’t there be follow-up trouble?
Thinking this, he realized the reason the earlier spell had gone out of control: “If, I mean if! If I or someone else faces Lucifer, might it make him fall?”
Carefully looking over the expression of the person in front of him, and seeing nothing abnormal, he continued the unfinished words: “As long as Lucifer comes into contact with demon power, wouldn’t he fall easily? When that time comes, what do you plan to do?”
Michael spread his hands: “Nothing, at most you all get a new boss… Oh, Bael and you fallen angels probably can’t be left to him, so how about coming with me to the human world?”
Mammon took a sip of water and nearly spat it out at this.
“The h-human world? Isn’t that the Messiah’s territory?”
Michael nodded: “For now it is, but not necessarily later.”
Mammon was baffled; what was this, calmly speculating about future matters with such a calm face?
On Lucifer’s near-fall, Michael did tell Mammon, but as for the rest… he decided to wait. Many times, telling someone too much truth at once makes them think you’re joking. Besides, he had decided to let these fallen angels digest the so-called reality bit by bit; after all, the later it got, the more explosive it would be.
The reason he told Mammon this was in fact to tell him openly: “If you really meet Lucifer again, the spell might go out of control again. When that time comes—”
Meeting Mammon’s gaze full of expectation, Michael patted his shoulder and said something especially cruel: “Please take the blame well.”
Mammon: …Wait, didn’t you say we wouldn’t face Lucifer again?
At the same time, at the entrance of the Abyss, Lucifer stood with his hands behind his back, his expression cold.
“Blast the barrier open for me.”