The Possessed Evil Woman Wreaks Havoc - Chapter 25

Under one roof, there were two troublemakers. The duke had to stop the bigger troublemaker before he caused more problems.

“Gabriel. If you want a priest from the temple to be dispatched, you have to follow the proper procedures. You know that, don’t you?”

“No, damn it. The kid is dying, and you’re talking about procedures?”

“Procedures are procedures.”

“Enough about procedures! At this rate, we’ll be going through funeral procedures for her!”

The family doctor, caught between father and son, swallowed nervously.

Isabella wasn’t actually dying… Physically, there was nothing seriously wrong with her. For now, she wasn’t in any immediate danger.

Of course, they still needed to find out why she kept coughing up blood… But regardless, the duke and Gabriel’s argument continued.

“I’ll request a priest from the emperor tomorrow. If it’s a request from the emperor, we’ll get a priest quickly.”

“Why wait until tomorrow? Go now.”

“Gabriel. The sun has already set. The palace gates are closed.”

“Then jump over the damn wall!” Gabriel shouted, his face flushed with anger. He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

He knew he was being unreasonable, but seeing his father remain so calm while Isabella had collapsed only fueled his rage.

“Damn it! This is all your fault, old man!”

Hearing Gabriel’s disrespectful words, which showed not an ounce of respect for his father, the duke raised an eyebrow.

“What do you mean by that?”

“If you had paid even a bit of attention, you’d have known she was sick!”

“Gabriel, enough.”

“No, I’m not done. It’s not surprising that she’s sick, growing up under a father like you! No concern for your daughter, treating her as a disgrace to the family!”

The duke sighed at Gabriel’s words.

The words Isabella had said just before collapsing replayed in his mind.

“Why only now—”

It was probably resentment over a far-too-late apology. Or perhaps something even deeper.

The duke felt a pang in his chest. Perhaps his daughter resented him far more than he realized.

As the duke fell silent, Gabriel became even more agitated. “Damn it! If someone had to collapse, it should’ve been you, old man, not Isabella!”

The sight was almost laughable to the duke.

Here was Gabriel, spewing such words while his sister lay unconscious. He couldn’t help but feel how pitiful and petty he seemed.

“Gabriel, you are in no position to criticize the relationship between me and Isabella, are you?”

If the duke had been indifferent to Isabella, then Gabriel had tormented her.

He bullied her, argued with her, shouted at her. Sure, at some point, Isabella began to fight back, but the outcome was always Gabriel’s one-sided victory.

Gabriel flinched for a moment.

The duke wasn’t wrong. But still—

The circumstances were different, weren’t they? He was her brother, while the duke was her father. Sibling rivalry couldn’t be equated to a strained parent-child relationship.

Regaining his composure, Gabriel retorted confidently, “Siblings grow up fighting. You wouldn’t understand that, would you? You never raised a child.”

The duke flinched. He had left the raising of his children to his wife, and after her death, to a nanny.

Yes, perhaps he had been indifferent. Perhaps that’s why his children had grown into such troublemakers.

But—

“Gabriel, you are twenty-five years old.”

Wasn’t that too old to still be called a child?

The duke pointed out that Gabriel and Isabella had continued their rivalry until quite recently.

Of course, Gabriel had neither respect for his parents nor a sense of conscience, so the point didn’t hit home.

‘And so what?’

He just looked at the duke with an expression that said as much.

They stood in silence for a long time, glaring at each other.

It was Gabriel who finally broke the silence.

“Anyway, save her. Or else—”

Everyone keeps calling me an ungrateful child, but I’ll show them what true ingratitude looks like. Who knows? Maybe I’ll snap and seize the duke’s title for myself? I should start looking for a polluted and airless territory for the old man to retire to.

Gabriel muttered loud enough for the duke to hear before leaving the room.

At that moment, the duke couldn’t help but agree with something Isabella had said to him a few days earlier.

He had truly failed at raising his children. Completely.

Meanwhile, the family doctor stood there, stunned by the epic clash between the indifferent father and the rebellious son.

‘What would the late madam have felt if she saw this scene?’

Perhaps those two would have been beaten until their backs were on fire.

The doctor let out a bitter smile.

***

In the far north of the Demon Realm, there is a massive abyss. Within the abyss burns the eternal flames of hell.

The demons would often throw human souls into the abyss for amusement.

Those souls would suffer for eternity in the flames, tormented in proportion to the weight of the sins they committed during their lifetimes.

Of course, not just any soul was thrown into the abyss.

Most of them bore the mark of sin.

For humans whose crimes were particularly severe, the archangel Gabriel, wielding the power of judgment, would mark their souls.

These souls easily became targets for demons. Mere human souls, treated like playthings by demons, eventually ended up being cast into the pit.

I looked at the abyss before me. I could feel the heat of the eternal flames of hell, and I heard the wails of those writhing in agony.

But, what am I doing here?

This was my least favorite place in the Demon Realm.

Some demons came here often, enjoying the cries of the suffering souls.

‘A distasteful hobby.’

I intended to leave the place as quickly as possible.

Kiiiing.

At that moment, I heard a sound that didn’t belong here.

It sounded like the cry of a young beast.

I looked down in the direction of the sound and found a scruffy little creature clinging to my foot.

I grabbed the creature by the scruff of its neck and lifted it up. It was small enough to hold in one hand.

Its fur was dirty yellow, its face round, with a small black nose and folded ears.

‘A baby monster? No, more like a beast.’

I’d seen creatures like this in the middle realm. It was a dog.

How had a dog ended up here in the Demon Realm? And alive, no less?

It was hard for a tiny creature like this, barely a mouthful for the monsters of the Demon Realm, to survive here.

“What’s your name?” I asked the yellow dog.

Kiiiing. Whine.

“Isabella? Your name is Isabella?”

The dog seemed startled that I understood its words.

I chuckled at its amusing expression. After living for so long, I’d gotten used to communicating with animals to some extent.

“What a coincidence. My name is also Isabella. But everyone calls me Bella.”

When I told the dog my name was Isabella, it looked even more bewildered. Was it really that surprising that we had the same name?

The dog began to squirm, barking as it twisted to free itself from my grip.

Whine! Kiiiing!

I set the dog down on the ground, and it quickly calmed down.

It seemed uneasy around me, constantly glancing in my direction. Then, when I remained silent, it began to gaze at the pit.

“Are you here to watch that?”

I snapped my fingers, and the flames roared even higher. The wails of the souls in the fire grew louder.

The dog whimpered pitifully.

“Are you worried about them?” I asked, and the dog nodded.

I had no choice. I snapped my fingers again, and the flames diminished.

“But they’re not worth worrying about.”

I began explaining the abyss to the dog.

“Do you know what that fire is? It’s the flames of hell. It burns the sins etched into souls, tormenting them for eternity. In other words, they’re sinners.”

Kiiiing.

“No human is without sin, you say? Well, that’s true. But the humans in there are different.”

They had received Gabriel’s mark. Undoubtedly, they were trash, deserving of their torment.

Yet, something seemed off.

‘There are too many souls in the abyss.’

The celestial god was benevolent toward humans. Following his orders, the angels, his children, protected the humans. Even after the celestial god vanished, the angels continued his mission.

The archangel Gabriel was known for his mercy toward humans, upholding the will of the celestial god.

Only a select few humans, the worst of the worst, received Gabriel’s mark. So how should I interpret the sudden increase in souls within the abyss?

My instincts told me something was wrong. Had the number of sinful humans in the middle realm suddenly increased, or…

I thought of Gabriel’s eyes.

Eyes that were eerily void of emotion. Far from compassionate.

And when he looked at me, those eyes held contempt.

He glared at me so much that one day, I almost poked Gabriel’s eyes out with my fingers, but Lilith stopped me.

My thoughts wandered for a moment. It seemed I needed to investigate the increase in souls in the abyss.

Kiiiing.

My musings were interrupted by the dog’s whimper.