This trust brought tears to her eyes, and she couldn't say a word.
Hayden stood obediently to the side, watching, not foolish enough to ruin the atmosphere. To be honest, Hayden was a little envious. After all, his parents had passed away long before he achieved anything.
Angela, watching the father and daughter communicate, suddenly said happily, "I think I should call you Melek Taus (Peacock Angel) from now on, instead of Samael. You've really made great progress."
These words truly surprised the Peacock King.
Names and titles carry meaning and power, especially among deities. Angela's choice to address him in this way must have a deeper meaning.
“You call yourself Angela (Angel), but that's a name Hayden gave you randomly. It's really strange to us, just like how humans call themselves ‘human’.”
Therefore, the Peacock King turned to Angela and asked one last question.
"We need to have a way of addressing you."
Angela smiled slightly. Even Hayden, who was very used to her, felt a chill run down his spine from that smile.
“I am indeed a messenger. If you are not satisfied, you can say that I am the pure wind, that I am the representative and manifestation, that I am the one who was called—but what difference does it make? So just call me Angela.”
When she said those words, the Peacock King did indeed realize that she was connected to something beyond the material universe, to a colossal entity far larger than the stars in the sky, and was just the tip of the iceberg of that behemoth.
Angels are purely spiritual beings, therefore the theories and elements constituting their wisdom differ greatly from those of humans. There is a chasm between them and humans that is even wider than that between a mouse and a human.
The reason why fallen angels like the Peacock King can now communicate normally with humans and even develop love and empathy is basically because they have learned from each other and acquired material attributes in this world.
However, this is not really a problem. Matter is not inferior to spirit.
Changing oneself to understand humanity is tantamount to admitting that one was wrong before. Admitting one's mistakes requires a great deal of courage.
The Peacock King and Karen seem to have a good father-daughter relationship now. So Angela turned towards Hayden and hugged him happily.
Hayden was momentarily confused by her actions: "Uh, what's she doing?"
Anyway, Hayden doesn't get particularly nervous about being hugged and cuddled by Angela anymore.
"I am just like Melek Taus, happy for your changes and growth, and for your willingness to seek and understand me."
Angela smiled and happily patted Hayden's head.
Humans yearn to understand angels, and angels also long to be understood by humans; there's nothing wrong with that.
"...Uh, everyone, I know this is a bit of a mood killer, but we should probably head back to the city soon."
However, Abigail, who had been hiding to the side and not daring to speak, finally couldn't help but interject.
"There are still many things that need our attention in Fallen City. Can we hurry back?"
So the Peacock King glanced at Abigail, raising his eyebrows: "I almost forgot to ask. Hecate, how exactly did you escape from the seal of the Mars Group?"
Abigail and Hayden had to spend a few more minutes explaining how Hecate committed suicide and transformed Abigail into Hecate.
However, how exactly did Hecate escape from the seal of the Mars Group?
It seems like no one has found the answer to this yet.
232: The Tower (Reversed)
Astaroth was exhausted.
After all, this matter is that serious and troublesome.
【Fallen City of New Babylon】Business is generally decent, but it's ultimately just a transshipment trading city with some outrageous and lewd tourist attractions. Aside from that, this Dead Sea metropolis doesn't really have much international appeal.
In this evil era, ordinary prostitution and various forms of sexual pleasure and drugs can be legally purchased almost anywhere in the world. Most wealthy people, even if they want to spend money to do bad things for fun, are not so perverse as to come to this lawless place to kill people in the street, or to buy services from the living or the dead that are even more R18G and cannot be described in words.
The upper class who would be so foolish as to spend money on these tricks are a minority. And among these particularly decadent upper-class individuals, the proportion of repeat customers is even lower.
In short, Fallen City is a niche destination in the tourism industry.
However, another advantage of being a niche destination is that [Fallen City] does have some regulars. They are used to this kind of absurd and lewd enjoyment, and since they can't have it in normal places, they come to [Fallen City] from time to time to spend money and have a good time.
Therefore, although Fallen City has no laws and countless street conflicts, neither side will offend these wealthy patrons. This is because the city survives on these wealthy customers. Astaroth keeps a close eye on them and won't allow anything to happen to them. Without these returning upper-class patrons, Fallen City's tourism industry would inevitably come to an end.
So what happened today?
The underworld suddenly invaded the entire Dead Sea, and the Fallen City suffered severe damage. Despite Astaroth's desperate resistance and efforts to protect the wealthy guests, many were still swept away and perished.
So let's put ourselves in their shoes. Leaving aside whether Astaroth should compensate the tourists, firstly, everyone is obviously a survivor, still shaken. Many survivors also witnessed acquaintances, colleagues, and friends being swept into the underworld and killed.
After such a mess, it's hard to say how many repeat customers will come back...
Hayden and his companions advised Astaroth to stop pursuing this absurd and lewd tourism industry and instead take advantage of the Dream Flower's opportunity to transform the land and properly turn the Dead Sea into an agricultural base—this would certainly benefit Hayden and his companions, but it was also out of their sympathy for Astaroth.
After today, the tourism business in [Fallen Sky City] will definitely be difficult to continue. It would be a miracle if customers didn't cause trouble for Astaroth.
...In reality, it's impossible not to cause her trouble, right?
For the past two hours, as the tide of the underworld receded and the disaster ended, Astaroth had been frantically dealing with complaints, curses, and even threats from surviving guests and the families of the dead. She had delegated the protests of the poor to her demonic staff. Even so, the complaints from the gods (whether through remote communication or direct shouting) were still overwhelming.
For the past two hours, Astaroth had been apologizing, flattering, fawning over, and even begging for mercy from the gods. In terms of energy expenditure, it wasn't really that high. But she was genuinely feeling mentally exhausted.
Fortunately, the wealthy guests in the city had all finished their complaints. The complaints for tomorrow would probably come tomorrow. Astaroth took the opportunity to slump onto the sofa in his room, burying his head in a small pillow, feeling a little like crying.
What a humiliation! What a humiliation!
Recently, Astaroth encountered many of her compatriots, who are now in such a miserable state, which made her recall some past events.
She was once a high and mighty angel, who, while not always able to have everything she wanted, at least never lacked anything; her resources were inexhaustible. As for her status, apart from Samael, no angel had ever dared to speak ill of her before.
Now look what's happened. She originally wanted to be the queen of this hell, to do whatever she wanted and ride roughshod over everyone else, but how did she end up being a slave in hell? These capitalist gods don't even treat her like a human being, but rather like a servant, scolding and ordering her around at will, practically sending her to raise pigs.
Even worse, Astaroth is now so poor that he is desperately longing for pig feed.
...This is just a metaphor, of course, but she really is in a terrible situation right now.
Even the most powerful people can succumb to the power of business itself, and the strongest individuals can become slaves to transactions. This is the core of the capitalist era.
In the dead of night, Astaroth slumped on his sofa, feeling miserable and wanting to cry.
She was so unwilling to accept it.
She wants to turn the tables!
But at this point, turning the tide is virtually impossible. Even if she joins Hayden from now on and partners with Karen to establish the Dream Flower production base, she'll likely only be able to protect herself. Want to turn things around? Unless Karen becomes the next Mithra, allowing her to gain favor through merit, perhaps she could even hope for a noble title and wealth… but is that even possible?
Opportunity, Astaroth craves more opportunities. But where... can he find such opportunities?!
The answer is actually surprisingly simple.
Suddenly, Astaroth, sprawled on the sofa, sensed a familiar power. A familiar spatial magic pierced through her defenses and teleported towards her. Astaroth didn't immediately sound the alarm or try to block it, because it was a power she knew well, but she still jumped up from the sofa, remaining alert.
Even the most familiar people might suddenly betray you. That's just how things are between these gods and demons.
The visitor was well aware of this "etiquette," so as soon as he stepped into Astaroth's room, he bowed to her and said, "Your Highness Ishtar, please allow me to apologize for intruding into your boudoir at this hour."
Astaroth frowned upon seeing the uninvited guest, his wariness undiminished: "You are... the little princess's subordinate? I remember your name is Adam? What are you doing here?"
This uninvited guest was none other than Hayden’s good brother, the good son-in-law of Dhritarashtra, and Alicia’s good husband—Adam!
The events at Fallen City are now over. Hecate has vanished, and the Divine Sword of Punishment has been returned to its rightful owner. What is Adam planning to do now that he's only just arrived?
Although Astaroth didn't know Adam's role behind the scenes, she still knew to be wary of him. On the other hand, she also knew that Adam was a key pawn of some of her fellow devils infiltrated into the capitalists, an agent of that devil.
So she couldn't just kick him out, so she impatiently asked him what he was there for.
(Of course, Astaroth was unaware that Dhritarashtra's daughter, Alicia, had already been possessed by a powerful demon. This had to be a secret; "Alicia" hadn't revealed it to any of her brethren. Even if some demons knew who Adam was acting as his agent, they would never have guessed that Adam's wife was actually the real demon.)
So Astaroth didn't expect Adam's next words.
"Princess Ishtar seems to be in a bad mood, so I'll be frank."
Adam smiled, revealing his clean, white teeth, and said to her,
“I currently hold 58% of your claims, including promissory notes due next week. These promissory notes total 152.57 million federal gold coins. Can I expect you to pay on time and cash them all?”
Needless to say, Astaroth's face immediately turned deathly pale.
She wasn't stupid; she immediately understood many things.
Do you remember what Abigail said before, that someone started creating an atmosphere two days ago that something might happen to Fallen City, and then took advantage of the situation just now to push down the price of Astaroth's debt and then buy it up in large quantities?
Even a fool can see now that it was Adam who did it!
With the Fallen City in such a sorry state, Astaroth barely has any cash left. How could she possibly pay her promissory notes on time? Of course, if she managed things well over the next two weeks, she would have a few incomes to adjust, and with Hayden Karen willing to lend her money, Astaroth was confident she could persuade her creditors to postpone or pay in installments.
However, Adam's direct confrontation sealed Astaroth's fate. Clearly, this man was not someone who could be persuaded to postpone the meeting.
"This whole thing was orchestrated by you." She could only grit her teeth and say, "Hecate escaped from the seal of the Mars Group, and the underworld suddenly began to plunder my assets. It was all your doing, just to force me to my death now!"
However, Adam, upon hearing her accusation, crossed his arms and raised his eyebrows: "Of course not. What good would it do me to kill you? I intended to kill Hecate."
This finally left Astaroth completely bewildered: "Hecate wasn't released by you?"
Actually, that's not the case at all.
Hecate, Adam's "wife," is now possessed by the great demon Alicia, who has managed to release her from the seal of the Mars Group. They are dedicated to the restoration of the old gods, the overthrow of capitalist society, the resumption of feudal god-king rule, and the return of the nobles to ride on humanity's head.
Astaroth didn't believe the restoration of the old gods could succeed, so he maintained a lukewarm relationship with his fellow demons, helping each other out when needed and exchanging pleasantries.
But who would have thought that Adam, the spokesperson for "Alicia," also harbored ulterior motives?
“I didn’t release Hecate, and I’m not happy to see her running around outside. Of course, I did leak Hecate’s information to Hayden because I expected him to get rid of her, reseal her, or even kill her. I didn’t expect Hecate to be subdued by Hayden now, but that’s not a bad thing. As for the pitiful fate of your Fallen City, it has nothing to do with me.”
Adam calmly stated that he absolved himself of all responsibility.
“If Hayden hadn’t stopped Hecate from causing trouble, things would have been even worse here. Hecate could have caused an even greater disaster. Without Hayden’s intervention, everyone here would have died.”
In his own subjective view, everything he said was the truth and there was nothing to blame.
However, Astaroth wasn't stupid enough to believe everything he said. He immediately raised his eyebrows and said, "It has nothing to do with you, so you're just spreading rumors and even buying up my debts?"
“I’m doing this to prevent you from actually going bankrupt,” Adam replied coldly. “I don’t want [Fallen City] to lose its current functionality.”
Hearing this, even if Astaroth were foolish, she would understand that this person hadn't come to her today to force her to abdicate, nor did he truly intend to bankrupt her with debt; rather, he wanted to control and manipulate her. Because without Astaroth, the Fallen City certainly couldn't continue operating.
Adam had mentioned this to Hayden before. The Fallen City appeared to be the largest black market for exchanging interests among numerous large corporations, and also a popular tourist destination, but in reality, it was entirely maintained by Astaroth's connections, social skills, and divine power. This was because Astaroth was the ancient goddess of love and beauty, and fertility.
If she is replaced, the value of the Fallen City will be greatly diminished. If Adam wants the Fallen City to continue its current function, he must let Astaroth manage it.
With this foundation, Astaroth was no longer afraid and immediately shook his head, saying, "The Peacock King's daughter and son-in-law have made a request: the illicit sex business here must not continue. They want me to transform this place into a plantation."
Adam immediately frowned: "Hayden and Karen's demands?"
Yes, yes. So you'd better hurry up and fight them to the death—Astaroth thought to herself. Anyway, she wasn't lying.
Unexpectedly, Adam only thought for a second before immediately saying, "Okay, then let's not do it. It's not worth offending them for a little bit of tourism revenue. But the black market trade and counterfeit production can still continue. They won't bother with that. You don't want to lose out on this money, do you?"
That was certainly true. But after listening to him say so much, Astaroth began to wonder—in the end, what exactly did Adam want her to do?
Adam spoke quickly.
"Astaroth, do you want me to cash your promissory note next week?"
Astaroth shook his head: "I can't pay. But if you really want to force me into bankruptcy again, I can go to the Peacock King's family for help. They want me to help them grow flowers, so they will naturally lend me money. And they will naturally know what you are doing now."
“That’s right,” Adam sneered. “But if you borrow large sums of money from them again, you’ll truly become their slave forever. Even if you manage to survive, you’ll be their gardener forever. Are you content with that?”
Upon hearing this, Astaroth indeed fell silent.
Survival is certainly important, but is survival all she wants?
No! She wants to become queen and rule for herself!
Hayden and the others persuaded Astaroth to join them in establishing a Dream Flower production base. Wouldn't that allow Astaroth to make money? Of course! At least, it wouldn't be difficult for her to continue being a minor god!
But Astaroth didn't want to be just a minor god, especially not one who owed the Peacock King and the others too much money, becoming a minor god who was forever bound to them and could not be free!
Putting aside the question of stability, if she owes them even more money, hundreds of millions more, then this so-called "cooperation" will not hold true, and Astaroth herself will have little chance of becoming independent again.
She doesn’t want it!
With Astaroth's abilities, if she were truly willing to work for someone and be their subordinate, she would have been a top-tier employee long ago! But she wasn't willing!
She'd rather die than work for someone else! She wants to continue being her own boss! To be a goddess!
She has always, always, always absolutely refused to work!
...That's why she's always been so miserable.
“But I’m different. I don’t intend to take your money, nor do I intend to hire you to work for me. I don’t need you to serve me, and I don’t even intend to stop you from getting along with the Peacock King’s family. In fact, I very much hope that you can get along with Hayden and the others.”
So a smile reappeared on Adam's face.
"Hayden and Karen are a bit old-fashioned, they're too saintly, so they look down on people like me now. But if you're there to mediate, it'll be easier for me to deal with them. If you can become friends with Hayden and the others, and I can become your friend, many things will be much easier to resolve in the future. Because Hayden and the others value friendship a lot."
If Hayden's talent lay in his ability as a prophet...