CHAPTER 162: GOOD DEMONIC BEASTS

After Belzebub died, Raze was pulled back out of the demon king’s consciousness and into the real world. His eyes flickered open, tears sliding down the sides of his face after everything he had witnessed in Belzebub’s life. When he finally opened them fully, he saw Belzebub and the librarian standing beside him.

"Seems you made it through," Belzebub said, stretching out his hand to help Raze to his feet.

Raze slowly lifted his hand and grabbed Belzebub’s, letting him pull him up. The moment Raze stood, a screen appeared before him, one from the library.

[You have gained a new ability: Demon King’s Seal]

The description unfolded:

[Demon King’s Seal: The ability to change fate during difficult times.

When the user is at their lowest and in the most desperate need, they can subconsciously alter fate to favor them.

This effect ranges from small to great depending on how dire the situation is.]

Raze read the skill with wide eyes. This... this was Belzebub’s blessing. He looked up at Belzebub, who gave him a small smile.

"You like it, right? It is a blessing carved from my most wanted desire... the ability to change my own fate. If I had that ability when I was alive, Merceline would not have died, and I would not have lived the life of a demon king only to sacrifice myself in the end."

Raze listened quietly, then responded, "So you mean the blessing is created from your greatest want as the demon king?"

"Exactly. My greatest want created the power you wield now."

The librarian stepped forward to explain further.

"When situations become dire, fate itself will slowly bend to aid you. You might not notice it, since you may still be injured, wounded, or brought near death... but in truth, the situation would have been far, far worse based on what should have happened. Fate shifts to make things move in your favor. It is not an active skill you can use repeatedly in battle. It passively surrounds you."

Raze was still excited. The skill, even though it wasn’t a combat or active ability, was something extremely special. If he could tamper with fate in any way, that was a win in his book.

"The experience was great, Belzebub," Raze said. "It felt like I lived through your life, your pain, everything you went through. Honestly... it made me rethink a few things."

Belzebub folded his arms and leaned against the table. "What did you learn? What did you rethink?" he asked. "Tell me, what did my life teach you?" he added with a small smile, genuinely curious about what Raze had taken from the experience.

Raze walked over to one of the shelves and leaned his back against it. "Honestly, it made me think about a few things. When I saw everything through your eyes, I realized that to humans, you were the villain, the bad person. But it wasn’t really you. You were pushed into that state, into what you became.

The Demon King. The monster who took lives." He paused, gathering his thoughts. "So it made me wonder... what about the demonic beasts that roam this world, my world? Could it be that they’re also misunderstood in some way? Could it be that we humans are persecuting them without knowing the truth about them?"

"Oh, I see what you’re going for," Belzebub said. "But you’ve missed one crucial thing."

Raze looked at him. "What’s that?" he asked.

The demons in my world were created for war, brutality, conquering, and power," Belzebub said. "It is our innate form to want chaos, to want destruction. We thrive in the midst of war." His voice was calm, but there was a heaviness to it. "Sadly, that is the reality most demons are born into. It’s not up for debate. It’s encoded into your body. You live like that. You breathe like that. You exist for conflict. Your entire life is shaped for war."

He sighed before continuing. "But... among the many, there exist a few who despise war, who want peace, like the me from before. That group is a tiny minority. A few thousand in the many millions. Their voice barely registers. It barely counts. Humans saw us as enemies not because they didn’t know that some demons were good, but because ninety-nine percent of demons wanted to kill humans. They had the innate drive to do it."

He tilted his head at Raze. "So there might be a few demonic beasts in your world who are actually good, beings who don’t want to fight. But like my world, you would still take down the entire race and allow a few innocents to die rather than gamble your entire civilization on the slim chance of diplomacy. When the majority is built for destruction, no one risks their world for the minority."

Belzebub watched him. Raze looked down at the floor.

"I see what you’re saying," Raze muttered. "A race made for war will still have a few who want peace... but you can’t stop fighting them just because of a few exceptions. It wouldn’t make sense."

"Exactly. When you’re on the receiving end, it’s hard to understand that concept," Belzebub replied. "The hero of my world believed himself righteous, despite the atrocities humanity committed against the innocent few of the demon race. Back then, I felt they were wrong. They massacred us without caring who was innocent or not. They just... went. And that enraged me."

He closed his eyes briefly. "But in the moment before the hero killed me, I realized something. They can’t see the minority hidden within the majority. The small voices are drowned out by the loud cries of the many. So rather than seek out the minority, they kill everyone and call it a righteous extermination. It’s hypocrisy... but it’s also the safest solution for them."

Belzebub looked at Raze knowingly. "If you want to save your world, you can follow the normal path, exterminate the demonic beasts, as the hero did in mine. Or... you can try to speak to them. Find the ones who don’t want war."

"Save my world? No, no, no. That’s not my task," Raze said immediately, waving his hand. "There’s someone made for that task. Me? I just want to build my hometown and create my own sanctuary, a place where I can read and stay safe. The hero of this world can handle his own task."

Raze shrugged, completely serious.

Belzebub looked at Raze with confusion. "You’re not the hero of this world?" he asked, genuinely shocked.

"No. What would make you think that?" Raze replied.

Belzebub glanced around the vast library. "You have access to the Dimensional Library, an infinite source of power and knowledge. Surely you must have been given this to save your world."

"No, no, nothing like that," Raze said, waving off the idea. "I was given access to the library to read and to keep myself alive, since I’m basically meant to die more times than you’d believe. This person you’re looking at, me, I’m already supposed to be dead. My task is just to stay alive. As for being the hero, there’s already someone in this world growing up to become the one who stops the demonic beasts. He has his own destiny, and I have mine."

Belzebub stared at him, still in disbelief. Why would the Dimensional Library be handed to someone who wasn’t meant to save the world? Could Raze be serious?

He looked at Raze’s face and saw no hint of a lie, just his usual signature grin.

Belzebub shook his head and let out a laugh. "In all my days, this is the first crazy thing that has really thrown me off."

"You’d be shocked at what other crazy things I can do," Raze replied, turning away. "But I have to head back. There’s a lot I need to do."

He summoned one of his clones. The clone appeared beside him and began walking toward Belzebub.

"A clone?" Belzebub asked.

"Not really a clone, it’s still me, just in two different places," Raze said before vanishing from the library, leaving his second self behind.

Belzebub stared at him, trying to find some flaw or difference.

"I told you I’m not a clone," Raze said.

"This is crazy," Belzebub muttered.

"You’re inside a library, a Dimensional Library, with infinite books," Raze said with a smile. "There’s literally everything possible here."

"I know that, but still, it’s a lot." Belzebub said,

"You’ll get used to it, but now, since I’ve finished your trial whatever, can you teach me some magic? Demonic magic, i believe what i saw you use was made with demonic energy, the same thing demonic beasts use, and I’m really curious about their magic and powers, so help me out." Raze said.

"Right after meeting a great demon king, your request us for magic? There’s no hospitality." Beelzebub said.

"You’ll get whatever you want later, now let’s go." Raze said.

" Why not use one of the books here?" Beelzebub asked.

"I will, but i want to cross reference, just do it for me already, tsk."

"Persistent little kid are we, fine." Beelzebub replied.