Chapter 179: The Sister's Name and the Ring's Deceit
"Three thousand years ago, when we signed the covenant… we made an exception. A special promise."
The words struck Lunias like thunder through her thoughts. Only the true King Solomon could know that vow—a secret never recorded, never uttered since. Her eyes widened, breath caught in her throat.
"What promise?" she asked, steadying her voice, though anticipation tugged at the corners of her lips.
She straightened her back, raised her chin—almost defiant. "Go ahead… say it."
The mysterious figure smiled gently.
"I call you… Lunias my little sister—on that condition, you agreed to fulfill one promise unconditionally."
"Wrong! You—!" Her cheeks puffed out angrily.
That playful smirk. That mocking tone. He remembered perfectly—he was simply refusing. Deliberately withholding the name she had longed to hear. The way he said it proved he wasn't confused. He remembered everything. He was teasing her—just like he used to.
Back then, Lunias had no family. As an origin demon of the Gremory clan, she had neither siblings nor parents. She'd lived in a world cold and isolated. But Solomon… Solomon was the first being to offer her a semblance of kinship.
Raised under the divine gaze of the biblical God, yet educated in his youth by the seventy-two origin demons, Solomon had become a bridge between realms—an ideal sovereign born of contradiction. He was Heaven's chosen, yet Hell's student. And it was while tending to his mortal needs that Lunias first encountered the warmth humans called "family."
She had tried so often to get him to call her "sister." She coaxed, argued, demanded, even added it as a clause in their contract.
But the stubborn king never budged.
Not even in death did he concede. He refused to be reborn as a demon. He vanished, and the name never passed his lips.
It was Solomon's existence—his humanity—that planted the seeds of familial emotion within the hearts of the seventy-two pillars. Before him, demons did not comprehend family. But after his death, the origin demons began to take lovers, raise children, and form households. His warmth had reshaped their souls.
Without him, demonkind might have remained bestial—savage creatures bound only by power and terror. There would have been no empathy, no trust. Perhaps even now, the war between Heaven and Hell would still rage.
"Say it," Lunias whispered again. But he remained silent.
She sighed. "Fine."
He remembered. And that was enough. She would place her faith in this man who had returned to her after three millennia.
Her gaze dropped to the card in her hand. Strange glyphs glimmered across its surface—unreadable, but buzzing with power. Beneath it lay another sheet, etched with a magical array she didn't recognize.
Pour magic into the diagram…?
As her energy flowed into the page, the spell activated. The symbols surged outward and wrapped around her feet in a ring of light. The card glowed brighter—expanded—and then, without warning, shattered into a thousand luminous shards.
Each shard sank into her skin.
Something stirred. Her power bloomed—not just expanding, but ascending. Yet her expression darkened. Not because of the transformation. Not because she was becoming a god-tier being.
No… it was the soul link. The spiritual bridge between her and Solomon. That connection felt wrong.
Not familiar.
Not him.
Chapter 180: The Warden of Memory and the Masks of Fate
Lunias clenched her fists. That spiritual resonance—it wasn't Solomon.
She knew it. She knew the truth.
"You're not him…" she whispered, voice trembling with fury.
She had been deceived.
Yet… how could he know the covenant? How could he wield Solomon's ring? That divine artifact was bound to the true king, crafted by God's own hand. No one else should be able to use it.
"Who are you?" she demanded. "How do you know that promise?"
The man before her didn't flinch. "Because Solomon himself told me."
His answer made no sense. But he explained further.
The being known as Byakuya had discovered something within this world's iteration of Solomon's ring—a lingering will, a fragment of soul left behind.
That residual consciousness had awakened the moment Byakuya claimed the artifact. It had not shown itself immediately, had not interfered—waiting, perhaps, for trust or confession.
Byakuya hadn't dared probe too deeply at first. The ring was too powerful, too sacred. But eventually, in a gesture of absolute transparency, he laid bare his own mind before the ancient remnant.
He told Solomon everything—his origins, his intentions, the world he came from. And Solomon responded in kind. Memories were exchanged directly, like rivers merging.
With that trust came permission. Access to the seventy-two pillars. Authority over the divine cards. And one name—the demon who could be trusted absolutely.
Lunias Gremory.
To fully wield the ring, Byakuya had to consume the last whisper of Solomon's soul. And when he did—he felt something strange.
As if Solomon had always been a part of him.
"I leave the choice to you," he said quietly. "Believe me or not."
"I…" Lunias began—but the sentence died. Her mind had received a memory fragment—an echo of Solomon's will, entrusted to this stranger.
In it, Solomon had urged her to accept. To trust.
Logically, she remained skeptical. Memories could be forged. Magic could deceive.
But emotionally… it felt real.
Her shoulders slumped.
"Does it matter anymore?" she muttered. "I've already become your pillar…"
She glared at him. "We're bound now. If you fail—I fall with you."
"What do you want? What are you planning?"
"I can't tell you."
She raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Not because I doubt you. But because secrets can leak."
"In other words… you don't trust me."
"No. It's not just you. This world has strange forces—dreams link to memory. If you dream of our conversation, someone might tap into it."
That startled her. "What? No secrets? Not even in sleep?"
He nodded. "That's how I woke. I severed the link before I was seen."
Lunias stared. He didn't feel like a liar. But if such entities existed—who was truly pulling the strings?
"Why not go to Michael?" she asked. "Why not tell the angels?"
His eyes darkened.
Because they wouldn't accept him.
Because he wasn't the Solomon they wanted.
"Help me find the others," he said simply. "The seventy-two pillars must be assembled. Six are chosen. Sixty-six remain."
And with that, he vanished—leaving only the shimmer of teleportation magic behind.
Lunias groaned. "Sixty-six to go? Really?"
She glanced at her card. The other five chosen were Ma'arbas, Sitri, Phoenix, Cain, and Maumo.
Three of them were close. Young ones. Children, even.
Sitri's heir. Her own vassal—Cain's reincarnation. Rias's servant—Maumo's host.
Wait.
Rias herself hadn't received a card?
A flicker of jealousy twitched in her chest. Had Byakuya stolen the spotlight?
If these children had met him… they might know his true identity.
"Lunias," Michael said gently. "What were you two discussing?"
She flashed a mischievous smile. "Can't say."
Their dialogue hadn't been vocal—it was mental, enabled by the card itself. Michael had sensed the silence—and suspected a secret conversation.
But he couldn't force it. He simply smiled, defeated.
Solomon—or whoever he was—had left without confrontation. That meant Lunias didn't consider him an enemy. That meant… perhaps the impossible was true.
Could he really be alive?
And if so… why reject the angels?
Had he lost faith?
Had he turned from Heaven… toward Hell?
Michael glanced at Lunias again. Her aura had changed. Matured. Strengthened. She had become god-class—and yet he mourned.
Had Solomon returned because Heaven had failed?
Had God foreseen this chaos—and planted Solomon as the last seed of hope?
It was possible.
Perhaps… Solomon was the new God of the Bible.