While various beings reacted in their own ways to the prophesied child's birth, the child himself was laughing joyfully in his mother's arms.
Though slightly larger than average, he appeared no different from an ordinary baby.
"Of course, he's just a normal baby."
"He's so cute."
"So this is my grandson, huh?"
With the help of the Royal family's private doctor and the two women who had previously experienced childbirth, Cattleya had safely delivered her son without any complications.
As for the gods scattered throughout the Cosmos, trembling in their boots, including the boy's father, she paid them no mind.
The little boy ignored everyone else's reactions, choosing instead to play with his mother's fingers.
Like his mother, he had silver hair, slightly brighter in hue. His eyes, however, were black like his father's, and his pupils had an unusual shape.
Rather than the common circular form, they were vertical slits.
"He's completely ignoring everyone else and focusing only on Cattleya."
"He seems to favour his mommy the most."
"That's only natural, isn't it?"
Cattleya asked, tilting her head to the side after hearing her family's comments around her on the bed.
Her mother simply straightened her own head and replied,
"When you were born, you were so full of energy. You played with anyone who came to visit you."
"I don't really think I was like that, though."
"Of course you wouldn't," Inglis replied, rolling her eyes.
She then glanced at the Devil King, who had curled up in the corner of the room, mumbling to himself, and explained to the puzzled Cattleya that he was getting depressed because his grandson was ignoring him.
Cattleya's response was decidedly cold.
"I don't see how that's my problem."
Just a few minutes later, she found herself laughing at the sight of Creusery, who had tried to console the despondent Diablo, only to end up sinking into the same gloom as his newborn nephew continued to ignore him.
She then turned to her son and smiled.
"He's too cute. I understand why he's the child of destruction. He'd destroy us with cuteness."
The baby seemed to respond to his mother's words, flailing around happily. Yet, being only a few hours old, he had very little energy and soon tired himself out, falling asleep in Cattleya's arms.
Seeing her son sleeping soundly, Cattleya's own exhaustion caught up with her, and she dozed off while gently hugging him.
Inglis looked at her sleeping daughter with a smile before turning to address the rest of the people in the room.
"We will be receiving many visitors, both welcome and unwelcome. How are we going to handle them?"
"The same way we did with Creusery and Cattleya's births, only with twice the intensity."
The once-depressed grandfather immediately regained his dignity as the Devil King and erected an isolation barrier around Cattleya before continuing.
"We will have allies, neutral parties, and enemies in disguise coming over. Cattleya must not go out for a while, especially since she is currently weaker than normal."
When devils give birth, their children absorb a portion of the mother's strength. This temporarily weakened the mother, and if the situation was mishandled, it could even result in her death.
The silver lining was that this absorption helped raise the child's Existence Realm a bit, though it took a year to determine exactly what Realm the child was at.
Even if the child only ascended a few stages or a single minor realm, the mother was still significantly weakened.
At present, Cattleya was only slightly above half of her original strength. This was a critical time, and many could attempt to target both her and the child, so going out as she normally did would be tantamount to courting death.
"Speaking of which, has she given him a name?"
"Nope, she probably planned to do that with his father."
At the mention of the child's father, Aurora, who was present, flinched slightly. Inglis noticed this and wondered what had occurred between her and the man she believed to be the child's father to provoke such a reaction.
"Just wha—!"
She was about to play the insensitive role and question Aurora without regard for her feelings when something happened that surprised her, Aurora, and even Creusery, who was checking on his mother.
Diablo narrowed his eyes, focusing in a particular direction, his Unique Authorities fully activated, power surging from him in immense torrents.
This was something Inglis had forgotten from the last time she saw Diablo do it. Even when facing multiple High-Tier Celestial Deities, he had never unleashed this much power.
This meant whoever, or whatever, he sensed was not to be underestimated.
Everyone instantly went on alert. Inglis summoned her magic staff as she felt something penetrate one of the barriers she had set up around Dorcaster.
The other Archdevils in the castle wore tense expressions as the aura Diablo was emanating was simply overwhelming.
The spherical device that Inglis had created at Cattleya's request began flashing wildly atop the table where she had placed it. The divinity crystal within glowed with a dark light.
Seeing this, Inglis realised who Diablo had sensed. However, Diablo was acting as if the figure was a threat, so she decided to treat him accordingly.
A tense silence fell over the room, with no one speaking as all eyes remained fixed on the spherical device, still flashing erratically.
Then, suddenly, it stopped.
Moments later, they sensed someone warping into the room. Creusery formed a spear of black flames and thrust it forward, while Inglis conjured hundreds of dark spears, preparing to gesture for them to fire.
|STOP!|
Diablo's sudden shout made them both freeze. Yet he was not addressing them, but the person who had just appeared.
"Tell that to them," the intruder, Hades, said, unsummoning the twin swords that had been aimed at Inglis and Cattleya.
He then removed his hood, revealing his face, which Inglis and Creusery recognised immediately. He was one of the elder Olympians, after all.
Strictly speaking, the devils of Hell had no direct quarrels with the Olympians, yet they were regarded as enemies because Olympus was allied with Celestials, whom the devils held animosity toward.
Still, that was not the reason for Diablo's actions.
It was well known that Hades was among the most powerful of the highest-ranked Olympian gods, yet his strength was not supposed to be at the level Diablo was sensing now.
Hades raised his eyebrows in surprise as he looked at Diablo, then lifted a finger in his direction and flicked it.
Diablo responded by opening his palm and then closing it again.
The others in the room were puzzled, as none could see or sense the multi-coloured ball of energy Hades had flicked toward Diablo, the same one Diablo had caught in his palm.
"It seems I failed to hide it once again. I also did not expect to encounter another 'Superior.'"
"Are you truly that child's father?"
After Hades' cryptic words, Diablo finally asked the question that had been on his mind for some time.
"Yep, in the flesh. I'm sure you have a lot to ask, but first… can I see my kid? That's why I'm here, after all."
After scanning him from head to toe, Diablo finally allowed Hades to pass through the barrier he had placed around Cattleya. He also sent Creusery to calm the unsettled devils outside the room.
A smile spread across Hades' face as he saw Cattleya for the first time in months, sleeping peacefully with their son in her arms. He gently moved the strands of hair that had fallen over her face before reaching out to touch the baby.
Even in his sleep, the baby seemed to recognise his father's touch, smiling and grabbing the hand resting on his face. Hades' smile widened as he echoed the exact words Cattleya had spoken earlier.
"He's too cute. I understand why he's the child of destruction. He'd destroy us with cuteness."
Feeling the weird stares of the others, he turned to them with a questioning look.
"What? Never seen a dad who's a fool for his kid before?"
"No, it's just that Leya said those same words not long ago," Creusery replied.
Hades laughed at this before turning to Diablo.
"We have a lot to discuss. Shall we go elsewhere?"
Diablo nodded, and the two began to leave the room. Just before closing the door, Hades finally noticed Aurora, his brows raising lightly.
"Oh, Aurora. Nice to see you again, I suppose?"
Leaving the unsettled phoenix behind, he closed the door and walked alongside Diablo as they began discussing important matters.
◇ ◇ ◇
As there were many Nobles present in the castle, all of them saw Hades and immediately realised who the father of their princess's child was.
Their reactions varied. Some were shocked, some smiled in amusement, while others were angry but restrained themselves, knowing that confronting Hades would not end well.
Meanwhile, the duo ignored the stares of the Devildom nobles as they entered a private room to continue their discussion.
They talked about the implications of Hades revealing himself as the father of the prophesied child and how the gods might react, particularly his brother, Zeus.
"They can't do anything to me, so they're just going to have to suck on their thumbs."
"They can't do anything to you?"
"Yes. What do you think they could do?"
Thinking it over, Diablo realised there was very little that could be done against Hades. He was an immensely powerful god with equally high status, and as king of the Underworld, he ruled one of Olympus's major Superclusters.
The structure of Olympus relied heavily on his existence, so any sanctions against him would be like shooting themselves in the foot.
"They might try to scheme behind the scenes, though, especially Zeus," Hades muttered with a sigh.
"So then, what are you going to do about that?" Diablo asked.
"There's not much for me to do as long as the boy remains in Hell. If he ever goes to Olympus, it will be only when I'm certain no harm will come to him.
As long as he stays here, you all can watch over him closely and protect him if necessary."
"Do you perhaps plan to abandon him here?"
"Of course not. I'll visit more often than not. But you should understand that I cannot leave the Underworld for extended periods because of the nature of my position there."
Diablo nodded in acknowledgement before asking about Hades' relationship with Aurora. The answer he received was far from what he expected.
Several dozen millennia ago, Aurora's family had been in Olympus and had prevented Hades from retrieving the soul of a phoenix Deity, for reasons Hades didn't care about at the time.
Infuriated, he killed her father and brother in front of her, retrieved the soul, and left.
This revelation angered Diablo, but Hades' explanation tempered his fury.
"I know you're angry, but remember that they were in 'MY' universe, harbouring a soul that had escaped from 'MY' Underworld for foolish reasons.
If you were in my position, would you have let them go? They were obstructing my duties as a Ruler."
Although Diablo sensed there was more Hades wasn't telling him, he chose to set it aside, considering it had happened thousands of years ago.
More importantly, he had no intention of acting if Aurora didn't want him to.
◇ ◇ ◇
In the weeks that followed, Hades remained in Hell, past the child's small naming ceremony, which included only the Royal Family and the Devildom's Grand Dukes.
The boy was named Arthur, taking Cattleya's last name, Vaughn, as Hades technically had none.
Subsequently, Arthur was officially presented to the Devildom nobility, a formal event Cattleya preferred to avoid but was required to attend.
Guests presented gifts, with representatives from various universal powers and a few Masters attending in person to congratulate the Devildom's family on their new addition.