Chapter 420 419- Childhood Memory

Zach and Asmodeus were walking deep into the forest. There was an awkward mood between them, especially after how Zach had touched her before to make her confess the truth.

Now, he couldn't even look her in the eyes, let alone conjure the courage to start a conversation.

Zach was walking a little ahead of Asmodeus, and she was blindly following him from behind.

"So, how did you travel from the fifth hell to the first hell? You had your chance to kill the demon lord when you were in the inner hell of the first hell, right?" Zach asked curiously.

"That's not how the traveling between the hell works."

"Then enlighten me, dear sister."

"You should at least know that to travel from a lower hell to the higher one, you need to use the portal located in the demon lords' castle in the inner hell."

"Yes, I do. Is it different when it's the other way around?"

"Not exactly. If someone wants to descend from the fifth hell to the first, they would have to descend to the fourth hell, third, second, and at last, they will reach the first," Asmodeus explained.

"It's like an elevator, alright."

"But the seventh hell has a different portal. Since it's the strongest and the highest hell, it has many unique devices, and one of them is a gate."

"Let me guess, that gate opens to the other gates of hell?" Zach guessed.

"Yes. But no ordinary demon or any demon can use the gate. It's located behind the throne of the demon queen Lilith, your mother's throne. Since she is my aunt and everyone knows that in her castle, I was allowed to use it. And I ended up at the entrance of the first hell."

"Did you meet my mother?" Zach asked in a calm voice.

"No." Asmodeus shook her head and said, "No one has seen the demon queen Lilith for the last fifteen years. Some also believe that she has passed away."

"Do you... think the same?" he asked while stuttering a little.

"I haven't seen her either. Nor have I heard any news about her. The seventh hell is at peace, and your mother's four generals are ruling the seventh hell in her stead," she informed.

"What are the chances that I will meet her if I reach the seventh hell?"

"Don't ask me those questions. How am I supposed to know that?"

"You are right..."

After walking for a while, Zach couldn't help but ask, "So did my father... like... r*pe your mother?"

"Not that she has ever mentioned that," she replied vaguely.

"Earlier, you said, 'your father slept with my mother,' and that doesn't really sound like they were in a relationship."

"Who knows? I am not close with my mother, and I have never seen your... well, our father in person."

A brief silence later, she added, "He chose to live with his powerless goddess wife in the human world."

"..."

"It wouldn't be strange if I have many more other siblings, but it's obvious as day that only Zoe and I have actually lived with them. He was always busy with his duties, protecting the world from evil and whatnot."

Zach stopped and turned to Asmodeus to ask, "On a scale of one to ten, how much do you hate me?"

Asmodeus frowned her face and uttered, "You would need a much, much bigger scale to measure my hate for you and all our other siblings."

"Heh!" Zach chuckled softly and asked, "How many of our siblings have you met?"

"You would officially be the first brother I have met face to face. And you turned out to be a bigger asshole than I thought."

"And how many have you met unofficially?" he asked curiously.

"I have seen our youngest sibling, who happens to be Zoe, the biological daughter of the 'former' goddess of life and prosperity."

She quoted the 'former' with her fingers.

"How have you seen her? Have you ever visited the human world?" Zach asked with a confused look on his face.

"No. There is this device in the seventh hell that connects with the people you want to see. But there has to be the same device on the other side. I don't know where she got that device from, but—"

"Hang on." Zach interrupted Asmodeus and asked, "A magical device used for video calling between the different worlds?"

"If that's what you want to call it?" She shrugged.

"I... I do remember my father having something like that. You see when... I think I was four years old, and it was my birthday. Many of my father's friends and wives had come to celebrate, but the person I wanted to meet the most was... well, mother.

And... I waited for her at the door. Even when everyone had already come, they called me inside to cut the cake and stuff... I didn't.

'What if my mother came and saw I had already cut the cake?' I thought.

I had never seen her before, so that was the only thing I ever wanted in my life. I would wish for it on every possible occasion, and when I thought I would finally meet her on my birthday, all my hopes were shattered.

Needless to say, the birthday party turned into a disaster and became one of my best birthdays ever. I cried all night, and later... I remember the sun was rising, and I had locked myself in my room.

And... father knocked on the door. Of course, I didn't open it," he scoffed softly. "But he entered through the window and sat beside me on my bed. And then he asked me to close my eyes, and I did.

I could never say no to him or defy his orders. His words were commands to me. I was that scared of him. So when I closed my eyes, a voice called out to me. I was baffled at first, but then my father said, 'Your mother wants to talk to you.'."