The pain I had felt was beyond anything I had ever experienced before. Just as the pain subsided a little, the memories of the man who called me his son started flowing inside of me.
The name of the person who had flashed before me was Luo. He was the second highest demon, just below the current demon god of that time, Lucifer, and also his only son. Since the days of my first life, I never believed in gods. For me, they were just statues made by humans to blame when they (humans) lost something because of their own selfishness. For me, the gods were nothing more than pieces of art good enough to be worshipped by everyone.
But this was the first time that I had seen a figure on a par with the gods—the gods that I had been ignoring in my past hundreds of lives. They were strong. Just a part of the Demon Lord Luo was enough for my instinct to scream for me to run away.
And the number of gods I could see in the memories of Luo was almost similar to the population of humans on Earth (the planet from my first life).
The memories were still hazy. I wanted to know everything there was to know about him, but something was restricting me from doing so.
Just as I started unraveling the memories of Luo a bit more, the passage appeared. This passage was something I had seen countless times. It was the passage towards the next persona of my reincarnation.
But something was wrong. I had at least two passages to choose from every time, dragging me to the abyss. They were both random, but at least there was an option every time.
But this time not only was I given a single passage, but as soon as the passage appeared, it started dragging me towards itself. This was the first time.
And the next moment I opened my eyes, I was already in someone's body.
"URGH!"
The sudden burst of light right after spending some moments in the abyss was not something my eyes could handle well at the moment.
But before I could think about anything else, a soft melodic voice suddenly startled me.
'Prince Athena, how are you feeling?'
SOB SOB
"URGH!"
'Where am I? Who are you?'
The memories of the person named Athena barged into my mind.
The body of a young demon prince named Athena became my new incarnation. And that too in the upper realm where Luo was from.
Just then, the maid standing next to me screamed,
'CALL THE DEMONIC PRIEST, PRINCE ATHENA HAS WOKEN UP!'
'Demonic priest'? Since when did demons start worshipping gods?!
And so, to find out about the place where I was, I firmly asked,
'Wait, what is your name? Where am I?'
The maid, somehow frightened by my tone, replied,
'Yo-You are in the Berserk Pavilion, Prince Athena.'
Even though my memories of this body were still hazy, I instinctively realized where I was.
"THE BERSERK PAVILION??!"
'Where does my father reside??'
And the maid, confused by my sudden change of tone, replied,
'Yes, Prince Athena.'
The place where I was kept accommodated both the current Demon God of Asmodeus and the demon queen.
---
### Author's POV
The Demon Realm stands as a shadowy mirror to the mortal lands, a place where the very air hums with ancient, malevolent power. It is a realm cloaked in eternal twilight, where the sun dares not shine and the moon casts an eerie, blood-red glow over the landscape. Blackened mountains rise jaggedly from the ground, their peaks hidden in swirling, storm-laden clouds. Rivers of molten lava carve through the desolate plains, their fiery glow illuminating the twisted trees that claw at the sky.
In this forsaken place, the ground itself pulses with dark magic, warping and twisting anything that lingers too long. The skies are filled with the screeches of winged demons, their silhouettes flitting across the horizon like harbingers of doom. Towering fortresses of obsidian and iron dot the landscape, each one a seat of power for the demon lords who rule with an iron fist. These citadels are surrounded by fields of ash and bone, remnants of countless battles and sacrifices made in the name of dark gods. Creatures of nightmare prowl the land, from shadowy wraiths that steal the breath of the unwary, to hulking, horned beasts that revel in destruction. The very air is thick with the scent of brimstone and the echo of mournful wails, a constant reminder of the realm's malevolent nature.
At the heart of the Demon Realm lies the Abyssal Chasm, a bottomless pit from which many horrors emerge. It is said that this chasm is a direct conduit to the Netherworld, the source of all demonic power and the birthplace of the ancient, primordial evil that taints the realm.
The Demon Realm is more than just a place; it is a breathing entity of darkness, ever hungry for the souls of the brave—or foolish—who dare to venture within its borders. And at the top of all the Demon Lords resides the current ruler of the land, the epitome of power, the Demon God Asmodeus.
---
### MC's POV
Just then, my hazy memories started to become clear.
I was the oldest son of the current ruler of the Demon Realm, the Demon God Asmodeus. My mother was unknown. Ever since I was born, I was raised by the second wife of Asmodeus and the current queen of the Demon Realm, Lilith.
Lilith, despite not being the actual mother of this body, still took care of Athena as his actual mother. That was until my younger brother Greed was born. After the birth of my younger brother, Lilith changed. She then started treating Athena like a thorn in her path.
Just as I was mind mapping my thoughts, the door to my room opened, and Lilith, together with Greed, entered my room.
Lilith, with a sharp look in her eyes, asked,
'My, oh my, Prince Athena, you are still alive?'
And with a disgustingly evil smile on her face, Lilith started chuckling. Just then, Greed replied with a grin on his face,
'Mother! Don't tease my brother like that. He might just faint again.'
And just like that, both of them started to howl.
"MWAHAHAHAHA"
'How have you been, concubine Lilith? Or should I say queen Lilith?'
I replied with a straight smile on my face.
With veins popping on her tightened fists, Lilith replied in a furious tone,
'How dare you, a child of a bitc-'
Just when Lilith was about to complete the sentence, despite the mother of this body not being mine, my bloodlust started gushing out from one of my blood-red eyes.
'Now, now, you don't really want to go there, right, Lilith?'
Lilith, confused and somewhat scared, diverted her eyes from me and looked towards Greed and started to shout,
"GREED, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
As Lilith's eyes turned towards Greed, she saw her son, almost scared to death, on his knee. That was an absolute shock to everyone present in that room, as I was supposed to not have any demonic energy in my vessel.
And so at last, Lilith, with a somewhat scared face, left my room murmuring,
'You will regret this.' And left.
"Urgh!"
A sudden gust of pain spread all over my body. It was a backlash of using bloodlust even though my body had only a drop of demonic energy.
And just like that, I fainted again.
During the sleep, I could clear some things about me and the world around me.
The Demon Realm was one of the few realms beside the Divine Realm, the Spirit Realm, and a few more about which I was not aware as the previous owner of this body did everything he could except studying and training.
I was currently 14 years old, whereas Greed was only 6 years old. My father, on the other hand, was over 100 years old. I was almost hated by almost everyone from the royalty, even by my parents and my siblings, because of my weak body combined with an extremely trash personality.
But despite having a trash personality and a weak body, the previous owner of this body was a very quick learner. Amidst all this chaos, I had forgotten a very serious matter that this was the first time I was given a body which was not newly born. And somehow the memories of all my past lives except the last one were hazy or were almost taken away from me.
After somehow organizing my thoughts, I woke up a day later. Only this time, the person who greeted me was not my maid but something else. And by something, I mean 'SOMETHING' else.