Chapter 182: Scourge of the Blazing Sun (36)

Before the betrayal, Luciel had been the most powerful angel under the Sun God.

She had waged war in all directions for Him, and had several times led angelic legions to storm the divine kingdoms of other gods.

She had even once plunged alone into the Abyss, and after slaying the enemy, was surrounded and cut off by several demon lords—yet in the end she fought her way straight through that layer of the Abyss.

Battle after battle proved her strength.

And blood-soaked fight after blood-soaked fight proved her loyalty.

She was very powerful.

And very loyal.

Before the betrayal, no one had ever doubted her.

So then, what was it that ultimately made her choose to betray the Sun?

No.

That, in fact, was not the greatest doubt in Herbert's heart.

What truly puzzled Herbert was—after betraying the Sun God, how on earth did Luciel manage to survive?

How exactly did you escape from beneath the hand of such a terrifying being?

And faced with these two bluntly raised questions from Herbert, Luciel did not refuse.

After a moment of contemplation, she gave her answer directly.

"In fact, I did not rebel against the god."

Hmm?

Herbert's eyes widened slightly, somewhat uncomprehending.

If there was no betrayal, then why did you become a fallen angel?

But he did not rush to question her; instead, he waited for her to offer her own explanation.

He believed there must be secrets within that outsiders could not easily come to know.

And after another stretch of silence, Luciel finally spoke:

"To this day, I still acknowledge His station, believing Him to be the embodiment of the rules, the supreme existence that nourishes all things in the world."

"I believe He did nothing wrong."

Her voice was filled with utterly sincere reverence, still holding the Sun God in incomparably high esteem.

"But…"

Hearing her voice gradually fall, Herbert knew the turn was coming!

"But I do not approve of His definition of evil."

"He should not have walked toward absolute justice."

The fallen angel stretched out her wings, gazed at what had once been pure white but was now the blackened proof of her betrayal, and gently shook her head.

"The one who betrayed was not me, but… Him."

The fallen angel calmly spoke these terribly irreverent, blasphemous words, no anger in her expression—only a certain calm indifference once everything had settled.

"After departing from nature, He changed."

"He began to champion the ideals of the gods of justice and to put them into practice."

"Killing evil gods, destroying their divine kingdoms… all of this I could accept, and I was willing to become the blade He thrust at His enemies."

"But later on… He gradually changed."

Within the aurora's sanctuary, the fallen angel recounted to the mortal youth a piece of history known to very few.

"The Sun God lost Himself."

Just hearing those words sounded utterly absurd.

Yet Herbert could not laugh at all.

Because he knew clearly that this was the truth.

"He grew ever stronger, but also gradually forgot His original heart."

"But He became too extreme—He could no longer tolerate even the slightest trace of evil."

"Evil threatens justice; evil people harm the innocent."

"Therefore… they must be eliminated in advance."

"Followers of evil gods, evil mortals, even evil bloodlines… every life that had any connection to evil should be destroyed, should be purified by the Sun's wrath."

"His church, we angels, loyally carried out His commands, carrying out His will."

"But He forgot—the world cannot exist without evil."

Upon saying this, the fallen angel's eyes opened slightly for an instant, then regretfully closed again.

"During that century known as the 【Scourge of the Blazing Sun】, the order of the entire world fell into chaos."

"Countless people died because of His justice."

"Among those who died, a portion truly belonged to evil, but far more were innocent."

"And at that point… was His justice still truly justice?"

Herbert fell somewhat silent as well.

Was the Sun God's ideal wrong?

Probably not.

Evil truly should be restrained.

But was it entirely right?

Probably not either.

Too much is as bad as too little.

Justice that is too sharp and extreme will not protect justice; instead, it will harm the innocent.

Moreover, the real problem lies not in the Sun God's thoughts, but in His methods.

He was too hasty, too rough, and a little too extreme.

His definition of evil was far too broad—even things that were not originally evil were treated the same and deemed to be purged.

"It was during that century, in my bewilderment, that I suddenly came to have my own thoughts… thoughts that belonged solely to me."

Angels are machines of the divine; they should not possess such a way of thinking.

But Lucille was different. She walked her own path and arrived at her own conclusion:

"Where there is light, there is shadow; beneath radiance, shadow must surely exist."

"And this, even the sun that illuminates the world cannot change."

"Not all evil should be completely purged."

She said:

"Evil, too, should have a place of its own to exist."

"And so… I chose to betray Him."

"It was not long after that, when He—through the joint efforts of many gods—regained some of His divine sanity, revised part of His doctrine, and pulled back a little."

After Lucille finished recounting this hidden history, Herbert was rendered utterly speechless.

He fully understood why Lucille had made such a choice.

The monster girl before him was less a fallen angel than an ultimate saint.

In her eyes, every life held its own value.

You couldn't really say how fallen she was—she wasn't.

But at the same time, she was by no means a proper angel.

Her fall was an embrace of everything.

Even evil fell within the scope of what she felt needed to be protected.

That way of thinking was definitely not normal.

At this moment, Herbert suddenly thought of a key question and asked, "Right, in your view, how should He treat evil?"

The fallen angel's answer came quickly, as though she had already turned this question over in her mind countless times:

"There's no need to do anything."

"Under the震慑 of absolute power, there's no need to actively purge—evil will make its own choice on its own."

"Just wait for them to leap out on their own, and then purify them—that's enough. There's no need to go looking."

Herbert:?

R-right, really?

Okay.

Case closed.

Lucille really was an angel created by the Sun God.

The Sun God isn't normal, and she's not far behind him either.

Not as extreme as the Sun God, but really only by the tiniest margin.

Usually leave things be, and then the moment there's a whisper, strike with Lei Ting… entrapment enforcement, is that it?

After that answer, Herbert wasn't quite sure what to吐槽.

He shook his head and turned to ask another question instead.

"Then after your betrayal, how did you survive His hand?"

And to this question, Lucille's answer was:

"He… did not punish me."

Herbert:?

(End of Chapter)