Solomon Opens Hell's Pot Lid

Their sealed heart had opened because of them.

That brief period of peace had even led them to mistakenly believe that Satan's curse was nothing more than an unfounded rumor.

But then, one day, they had merely dozed off for a short while. When they woke up, the sight before them filled them with despair.

The friends they had made, so lively before they went to sleep, had now become cold corpses.

The cause of their deaths was that their hearts had been devoured.

In other words, Satan's so-called curse had come true and killed their friends.

They could not accept it. They had nearly gone mad.

So, no matter what methods they used, they had to make Satan pay the price.

But first, they had to find Satan and determine their true identity.

From that day onward, the surviving one had a very clear goal: kill Satan.

From that day on, they also devoted every effort to investigating Satan.

Yet they found no leads at all.

Likewise, someone investigating the truth behind their friend's death eventually traced it back to them.

They had thought the other party would hate them bitterly, perhaps even kill them to avenge her friend. After all, they were the one cursed by Satan. It was only after they and her friend came into contact that her friend had died.

In other words, in a sense, they were also the murderer. It was only natural for her to hate them.

But the goddess Lilith was not that kind of person. She joined their investigation instead.

Of course, if possible, they had not wanted Lilith to get close to them, fearing that she too would be harmed.

But Lilith deliberately acted as though they were also guilty, as though she still suspected them of being the killer. Using the excuse of keeping watch over them, she investigated alongside them.

However, though they uncovered more information, most of the records mentioning Satan were meaningless.

During the course of their investigation, they had been unable to resist the goddess's kindness, and their heart slowly opened once more.

But at the very instant their heart opened, they finally learned who Satan was.

Satan's true face was themself. The moment they felt love, that impulse stimulated the destructive desire buried deep within them, causing them to lose control and kill the other person.

So, at the very moment their heart opened, they personally pierced the goddess Lilith's chest and devoured her heart.

At that moment, they truly broke down and wanted to kill themself, only to discover they could not.

It was not because they feared death. They genuinely could not carry out the act, as though their body had been forbidden from dying.

So, they sought others to kill them.

To that end, they endlessly fought and slaughtered others, trying to make someone kill them.

But they could not find anyone capable of killing them. Moreover, they wanted to choose the cruelest, most painful, and ugliest possible death.

Thus, they set their sights on those lofty Main Gods.

They would viciously provoke them, making them want to kill them in the most brutal way possible.

They also began researching things that could provoke the gods.

After an unknown amount of time had passed, this Ragnarok tournament suddenly came to be held. It was quite a boring affair.

Then someone came looking for them, hoping they would fight on behalf of the gods and help with certain matters.

The one who came to find them had also been the person secretly supporting their research and experiments for a long time, never revealing their identity in the past.

So, they had truly never expected that person to be that god.

And that god's goal greatly shocked them: to destroy the entire existing Heavenly Realm and exterminate humanity.

To make them cooperate, that god presented a condition they could not refuse.

"How will the second round of The Final Battle Between Gods and Humanity unfold? Having suffered defeat in the opening match, the gods' side will send forth this god from Hell in order to wash away their humiliation in the second round!"

As that unpleasant introduction rang out, the door ahead opened, and light streamed in, illuminating the darkness of the passage.

"This—"

"Could it be—"

"No way!"

Before they had even seen the figure emerge from the passage, many gods in the arena stands seemed to already know who it was. They were greatly shocked and tense.

The reason they knew was that the passage door bore a symbolic pattern representing that person: a carved fly.

After realizing the god's true identity, the audience on the gods' side became extremely nervous.

After all, this one was far too dangerous, a figure of notorious evil.

Under normal circumstances, he was not even permitted to move about freely. Yet he had actually been chosen to represent the gods in Ragnarok.

"To deal with humanity, they are even letting him out."

"Is this really all right?"

Some gods were still panicking, especially as the host Heimdallr introduced him in a sinister tone, asking whether the consequences of sending him out would be the devouring of humanity—or the devouring of the gods.

That fear-inducing declaration deepened the unease in some gods' hearts.

"Lord Zeus, why has this one unexpectedly been sent out?"

"There was no helping it. Since Odin said he should take the field, we gave him a spot."

In one corner of the Main Gods' seats, Zeus stroked his beard.

This decision also provoked the Lord of Heaven's anger, for Heaven and Hell had always been utterly incompatible.

Especially since the Lord of Heaven had always believed that this man was the one who tempted several of his most capable subordinates into falling, before eventually killing them.

But what exactly was Odin planning?

They called Loki the God of Trickery, but that old bastard was even more like the God of Trickery.

"Uh, Sister, it's actually Beelzebub!"

Beelzebub, also known as the King of Flies, was the priest of Gluttony among the Seven Deadly Sins. He was one of Hell's masterminds, a Great Demon, a Great Demon King, and a demon god.

Goll swallowed hard.

She had not expected the gods to send this Dark God onto the field. In other words, after losing the opening match, the gods wanted viciously to win it back. They wanted humanity to experience Hell in the second round.

They had truly sent out a figure who symbolized Hell.

The person representing Humanity's side had foreseen this situation, which was why he had come forward on his own to serve as the representative for the second round.

In a sense, the two sides had some connection.

So, when Humanity's representative was announced, the gods would surely be extraordinarily shocked.

"And Humanity's representative is—"

Heimdallr's sharp voice paused there. Everyone would soon be shocked by this Human representative.

The moment he learned who it was, he was naturally shocked as well.

For this person to be chosen by such a coincidence, it felt as though there might have been a revelation from the Lord of Heaven behind it.

After all, the Lord of Heaven deeply hated Hell. Knowing that Beelzebub would take the field, he had leaked the information to the Valkyries and had them summon this person.

Chapter 68: Solomon Opens Hell's Pot Lid

Who was Humanity's representative?

Could he withstand this cursed Dark God without being swallowed by his darkness?

"They actually made Beelzebub, that symbol of sin, represent the gods!"

"What are they thinking?"

"Is that guy even qualified?"

Although the Lord of Heaven had not personally come to watch the match, people from Heaven were present.

"Quiet!"

As soon as the Vice-Lord spoke those calm words, the angels who had been complaining fell silent.

Their gazes turned toward Humanity's entrance, wondering what kind of human would appear this time.

However, the Lord had revealed that it was highly likely to be that man who had eaten the forbidden fruit.

At the thought of that man, a trace of disgust appeared on his expressionless face.

Hm? It did not seem to be that man.

That was because, due to the angle, he could see the lower half of the person emerging first when looking down into the passage rather than straight ahead.

And the lower half of the person walking out was clothed. That man, on the other hand, was always stark naked.

When the other person's upper body was revealed as well, his expression changed.

"How could it be him?"

Could this also be the Lord's arrangement? It was not impossible.

"Who is that?"

Ares, God of War of the Twelve Olympian Gods, asked in confusion.

"I don't know."

"But he is probably connected to that pantheon."

Loki revealed an interested expression, having seen the stunned looks on the faces of those from Heaven.

Moreover, Heimdallr was about to announce that person's identity.

"Humanity's representative is—this man!"

As his words fell, Heimdallr forcefully pointed at Humanity's representative. He was a handsome young man, appearing refined and gentle.

As he walked out, he smiled and gently waved toward the stands.

"The Holy Land in the Human World associated with Heaven today was determined by him, and he built its temple."

That following declaration immediately made some people on both Humanity's side and the gods' side, who had not understood before, realize the representative's identity.

"I am sure everyone has realized who he is. That's right, he is King Solomon!"

That revealing announcement caused an explosive uproar throughout the arena.

The tales of this man were widely spread among humanity.

There were countless fantasy stories, novels, and films based on his deeds.

The most memorable was the story of King Solomon and the Seventy-two Pillars of Demons.

Now that he had actually been summoned as a representative, the tale of King Solomon and the Seventy-two Pillars of Demons seemed all the more believable.

With someone of such capability appearing as their representative, Humanity's side felt more at ease.

It had to be said that the representatives for both sides this time were truly interesting.

The King of Flies, Beelzebub, was rumored to have originally been a capable angel under the Lord of Heaven. After falling, he became a demon and successively killed several archangels as well as the goddess Lilith.

Afterward, he became Hell's Great Demon King, commanding demons in opposition to Heaven.

Meanwhile, King Solomon of Humanity's side was also rumored to have been called a child of God. He might have possessed special powers like Adam.

These two were about to duel upon this arena stage. It was truly something to look forward to.

"According to the book The Key of Solomon, King Solomon was a magician proficient in magic. Could that be the truth?"

Heimdallr had also read this book. It was a Western occult work from the Renaissance period between the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.

By that era, King Solomon had long since disappeared from history.

Therefore, this book of summoning rules and incantations could not possibly have been written by King Solomon. It had been written by medieval sorcerers.

As for the spells written within, they were all a chaotic mess and completely fake.

Those so-called sorcerers were actually nothing but charlatans.

It was simply that, in that era, they possessed somewhat more knowledge than ordinary people. Using scientific methods or magic tricks that deceived the eye, they could fool common people into believing they were genuine sorcerers.