293. Father and Daughter

293. Father and Daughter

When I opened my eyes, I stood in a vast void. My feet softly touched the fractal base of the stellated dodecahedron of space that shielded me from the encroaching emptiness of the fold between planes. Objects floated in the darkness, frozen in space, unchanged from the state they’d been in before they were ripped into this place.

A giant golden disk hovered above me, an accretion of matter that sent waves of scintillating light to illumine the empty room. I glanced over at the other figure who was with me.

My Dad had teleported us back into his home after the Matriarch Centinel of the Bloodied Gulf challenged us. I couldn’t even see its Subspecies or its level, but judging by how even Sal reacted to it, it had to be far stronger than even an [Ancient Centinel].

Level 200 or more.

I glanced over at the Devil as he let out a chuckle.

“That was scary, wasn’t it? Good thing I got us out of there, otherwise things wouldn’t have been pretty.”

“What was that?”

“Hm?”

He gave me a blank look, and I crossed my arms.

“That thing— what was that? My [A Hunter’s Sense] blared in my head. I would’ve died in an instant if I fought it.”

“Ah.”

My Dad shrugged as the space around me flickered, changing shape into a cuboid.

“She’s the [Progenitor of Secely’s Centinels]. I met her once, a long time ago, back when her Species was driven out of the Endlands. She was quite cute when she was young. Now she’s a bit of a bitch though, if I’m being honest.”

“And it has just been hiding underground all that time?!”

I gaped at him.

“And you sent me to the Bloodied Gulf knowing that it could come out at any time and kill me with the flick of its wrist?”

“I mean, you had the Breastplate of Alexander.”

He waved a hand off dismissively as he leapt onto a couch that appeared out of nowhere.

“And the Matriarch Centinel doesn’t really come out unless one of her ‘children’ dies, which I honestly didn’t expect to happen. I fully thought you were going to be killed by that Corrupted Centinel, mind you.”

My lips curled into a frown as I glared at the Devil.

“So you’re saying that you were just going to watch me die to that Corrupted Centinel?”

“Of course.”

He cocked his head, but I continued.

“Your only daughter— you weren’t going to step in and help her if she died in front of your eyes?”

“Uh…”

My Dad hesitated, and I thrusted a clawed finger at his face.

“You’re a bad dad.”

“What? I mean, come one, Salvos— you’re just kidding about being mad, right? You’ve never even had a parent before, so you can’t possibly say what’s a good or a bad dad!”

“Well, I have one now.”

I gave him a sidelong glance as I turned away from him.

“And I can say he’s pretty bad at being one.”

The Devil deflated. His shoulders went slack. I harrumphed and walked away as he tried to weakly protest.

“I stepped in to save your life from the Matriarch Centinel, didn’t I? That should count for something, right?”

“Nope! I would’ve been long gone if you didn’t show up and start chatting with me. That was your fault too.”

I didn’t face him, even as he tried circling around me. My Dad waved his arms exasperatedly, but I ignored his arguments. Until, finally, he sighed.

“Is there anything I can do to make it up to you, my daughter? Please. Your old man is very sorry for what he did. He’s a bit old and senile, you know?”

I quirked a brow.

“Hmm, well…”

There were a lot of things I could ask for from the Devil— he was a very high-leveled individual who lived for tens of thousands of years. My eyes lit up as I raised a hand.

“Could you kill Belzu for me?”

Sal blinked. Then he scoffed.

“Of course not! Why would I do that?”

“Aw, come one, please?”

I stared at him with round eyes, but he wouldn’t budge.

“No means no, Salvos. First of all, I like Belzu. He’s not my son, but honestly I consider him… to be a nephew. Maybe a distant cousin’s son. And I’m not going to kill him just because you ask me to.”

“But I hate him!”

“So, go and kill him yourself.”

The Devil wagged a finger at me.

“If you really dislike someone, you should take it upon yourself to kill them. You can’t just, I don’t know, rely on others to kill them for you. It makes you lazy. And you’re not an Archdemon of Sloth, are you?”

I scowled, averting my gaze.

“…no.”

“Exactly. You’re an Archdemon of Pride. Now puff up your chest and kill your dad’s distant cousin’s son with your own two hands.”

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“Ugh, fine.”

I kicked the ground as the room changed once again. It was now the shape of a diamond. I stood there for a moment, grumbling as my Dad watched awkwardly from the side. He scratched the back of his head, and my eyes darted up.

“But, Dad, since you’re not going to help me kill Belzu, can you at least do something else for me?”

“If it’s reasonable…”

I leapt at the opportunity and spun to face him.

“Can you bring me to the Netherworld?”

His eyes narrowed, although he didn’t reply just yet. I continued, trying to explain my intentions.

“I’ve just been working to get back for the longest time but I still can’t even with [Long Range Teleportation], and since you can travel between the planes without a problem, I was thinking, why don’t you just bring me there for me?”

I clapped my hands together, excited at just the thought.

“I’ve been led around and around and around the Mortal Realm for years, barely making any progress. Each lead I find is always a dead end. Even now with my Class, I still don’t have a definite way back to the Netherworld. Can you help me with this, please?”

Although, my Class advancement was soon. I was quite excited to hit that.

For whatever reason, my Dad didn’t seem amused by my request. He made no quip, nor did he laugh at my request like I expected him to. Instead, he prodded me further.

“I’d do this for you, my dearest daughter, but I only have one question: why do you want to return to the Netherworld?”

This time, I was the one to cock my head.