Volume 4, Chapter 40 – The Cause of the Fall

“My little Lucifa is definitely the cutest child in the world.”

Long, long ago, the girl was born.

At that time the Sanctuary was not the powerful Sanctuary it was now.

Dragons still existed in the world, and the true enemy of all the major factions was also the Dragon race that had once ruled the world, while the Sanctuary was nothing more than a slightly stronger power among many.

The girl was born then as Heavenly Father’s one and only daughter.

She was born with the power of Pride, and the moment she came into the world, that mighty Original Sin power alarmed the entire Sanctuary.

A girl like that was the princess of the Sanctuary.

And she was the hope of all Angels.

In the beginning the girl was entrusted with such hopes by the Sanctuary’s Angels, because back then the Angels themselves were just a race without much real power.

As time passed, the girl grew up.

Carefree, she grew up accompanied by her beautiful, gentle mother. Even though she did not have many worries, the girl would still constantly pester her Angel mother with questions.

“Mom, Mom, Father… Why does Father never look at me?”

It was not only her mother. The innocent, adorable Angel girl was cherished by all the Angels in the Sanctuary, but that one man alone was different.

From the very first moment she could form memories, Heavenly Father, though he was her father, had never once looked at her. Not only that, even when they happened to meet by chance, his gaze was always that cold.

“Did I do something wrong?”

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Aggrieved, the girl longed in her heart for her father’s embrace as well.

“That’s not it, my little Lucifa. Your father is a truly great man… he’s only like this in order to protect our Sanctuary~”

“Is that so?”

Ignorant and naive, the girl believed her mother’s words, yet when it came to that father who only ever looked at her with those cold eyes, something within her quietly came to understand one thing.

Father actually… hates me.

And so the gap between father and daughter began like this, and the misunderstanding between two people, under a string of wrong actions, grew more and more serious.

As the girl slowly grew up, this princess, cherished by all the Angels of the Sanctuary, turned into a little Angel who depended on her mother to an extreme degree.

Clearly she possessed the mighty power of Pride, and clearly she was the Sanctuary’s princess, yet she never thought of using that power, and she had none of a princess’ dignity. Instead, she became a little crybaby.

Whenever she did something wrong, the girl would run into her mother’s warm arms to act spoiled, and as she cried, her mother would hug her tight and coax her to sleep with a gentle voice.

“My little Lucifa is definitely the cutest girl in the world.”

This was the sentence she heard her mother say most often.

But… not much time had passed.

As the leader of the Sanctuary, Heavenly Father led the Angels to take part in a war that swept across the entire Main World.

And not long after Heavenly Father left, the girl discovered that her mother’s body was suddenly and visibly wasting away.

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“Mom… is sick.”

That was the girl’s first reaction. Not knowing what to do, she went to find the older Angel sister who had stayed behind, but after confirming her mother’s condition, that Angel sister was just as helpless.

“Her life force is continually slipping away… we can’t find any cause at all…”

That was the explanation she was given, but to the girl… she did not understand what it meant for life force to keep slipping away.

She only instinctively felt that “life force” was something very important. Heart burning with anxiety, she came before the Angel sister, tear stains still on her cheeks from crying.

“Big Sister Mihiel… life force, do I have life force too, can I give my life force to Mom, can we… Can we stop Mom from being sick…”

To the girl, her mother was the most important person in the world.

Because every night she fell asleep safe and sound in her mother’s warm embrace, and because every day her mother watched her with eyes full of gentle affection.

“I’m sorry, Princess… I can’t do that…”

The Angel named Mihiel answered in a voice full of apology, and seeing the girl sobbing like a flower beaten by rain, Mihiel’s face was twisted with pain.

“Why… why not? If Mom has no life force, can’t you use mine?”

“My little Lucifa, don’t go making things hard for others, be good~”

Her mother’s frail voice rang out.

“Mom, Mom… are you okay…”

Hearing her mother’s call, the girl hurried over to her bedside.

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The beautiful mother whose eyes had always been so gentle could no longer even open her eyes, yet even so, a tender, doting smile still rested on her face.

“Little Lucifa… you mustn’t blame anyone else… because life force… isn’t something you can just give me because you want to.”

“But, but… Mom, you… you… muu…”

“It’s okay, little Lucifa. My little Lucifa is my pride, and my little Lucifa is definitely the strongest child in the world, so from now on you mustn’t cry in front of Mom, alright? Because then Mom will feel sad, and if I’m sad my illness won’t get better~”

“Mm, I… I won’t cry…”

The little girl hurried to choke back her voice. Even though tears were still swirling in her eyes, she did everything she could to stop herself from sobbing.

“That’s good… that’s good… little Lucifa has to be strong~ because my little Lucifa is definitely the strongest girl in the world…”

“Mm-hm, I’m the strongest girl, and you have to get better soon too, Mom…”

“Mm… Lucifa, come here, let Mom hold you one more time…”

Instead of responding to the girl’s words, her exhausted mother spoke in a feeble voice, asking to hold her one more time.

The girl very obediently lay down in her mother’s arms.

And just like that she leaned carefully against her mother’s gradually cooling body.

“You little brat. What do you think you’re doing!”

Those were Heavenly Father’s first words when, after learning of the mother’s illness, he rushed back from the front lines and saw the girl.

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“F-Father… I… I… it’s just that Mother wanted… wanted to hold… me…”

“Get out!”

Looking at the timid girl who was completely at a loss, Heavenly Father’s eyes were ice cold, and the aura of a Throne crashed down on her with full force.

“From this day on… get out of the Sanctuary. I, Heavenly Father, do not have a daughter like you!”

Heavenly Father’s eyes turned entirely blood red.

In those eyes the girl saw despair, and she also saw grief, saw pain, and saw madness.

“Get out. Don’t appear before my eyes again!”

Why, even though he was her father, was he so much more ruthless than her gentle mother?

After a long time… the weeping girl finally stopped her sorrowful crying.

“I understand… I’ll… leave the Sanctuary…”

From then on.

The girl left the Sanctuary and, under the “suggestion” of the Abyssal Lord, fell into the Inferno.

From that moment on, the name of the Lord of Pride, Lucifa, spread throughout the Main World.