The Laziest God Mortal Reincarnation

The world floated before them in silence.

A small sphere of blue and white suspended within the endless darkness between realms.

From this distance, it looked fragile.

Insignificant.

Something that could have been crushed beneath the power of either demon standing before it.

And yet, for five years, neither Pride nor Greed had been able to touch it.

The reason surrounded the entire world.

A vast divine shield.

It possessed no color mortal eyes would have recognized, nor did it radiate the violent pressure of an ordinary barrier. It simply existed, wrapped around the world in layer after layer of ancient law.

Complete.

Absolute.

Impenetrable.

More irritatingly, it concealed everything beneath it.

Pride could see the world itself.

The shape of its continents.

Its oceans.

Its clouds.

Nothing more.

No kingdoms.

No cities.

No inhabitants.

No concentrations of power.

Not even the flow of mana beneath the shield could be properly examined.

To beings outside it, the world might as well have been an unopened box.

Greed hated unopened boxes.

Especially when he believed something valuable was inside them.

He stood near the edge of a black floating platform, golden eyes fixed upon the protected world.

"Five years."

Pride did not answer.

Greed’s fingers slowly curled.

"Five years standing outside a world containing the most valuable artifact in existence."

"You have repeated that observation often enough that I am beginning to suspect you believe time moves faster when complained about."

Greed looked at him.

Pride remained perfectly composed, hands folded behind his back.

That expression irritated Greed nearly as much as the shield.

"You are remarkably calm for someone who failed exactly as badly as I did."

Pride’s gaze shifted toward him.

The temperature around the platform seemed to fall.

"Choose your words carefully."

Greed smiled.

There were very few beings from whom Pride tolerated reminders of failure.

Greed was one of them.

Mostly because killing one another would make their Master’s displeasure considerably worse.

"It remains true."

Pride looked back toward the world.

Unfortunately, it did.

Five years earlier, a pulse had emerged from somewhere beneath that shield.

Brief.

Faint.

Yet unmistakable.

The Akashic Key.

Both demons had felt it.

For only an instant.

Then the presence vanished completely.

They had detected nothing since.

No second resonance.

No movement.

No sign indicating whether the Key remained in the same place.

Nothing.

They only knew one thing with certainty.

At least five years ago, the Akashic Key had been inside that world.

And beside the world was the second impossibility.

The tear.

Compared to the enormous shield, it was microscopic.

A wound so small that even locating it required considerable power.

But Pride and Greed had found it.

A narrow rupture piercing through protection that should never have allowed anything from outside to enter.

Greed stared at it hungrily.

"The Key made that."

Pride’s expression did not change.

"Most likely."

Greed glanced at him.

"Most likely?"

"We did not witness its creation."

"What else could have pierced a divine shield?"

"Something we have not encountered."

Greed scoffed.

"You simply dislike admitting when I’m correct."

"I dislike certainty built upon assumptions."

"And yet you have spent five years here because of one."

Pride was silent.

Greed smiled again.

The explanation was obvious enough.

The Akashic Key had disappeared from the Celestial Realm.

Somehow, it had escaped into a protected mortal world.

In doing so, something had torn a small opening through the world’s divine protection.

Then, ten years after the Key’s disappearance, its presence had briefly revealed itself.

They had found the world because of that mistake.

What neither understood was how the Key had entered at all.

Protected worlds were isolated for a reason.

Higher beings could not simply descend upon them.

Gods could not interfere directly.

Demons could not enter.

Even their senses were blocked.

The shield did not simply prevent invasion.

It prevented observation.

Greed had discovered that personally.

During their first year here, he had spent months attempting to see beyond it.

Divine sight.

Soul perception.

Demonic resonance.

Blood divination.

Artifacts capable of observing worlds from across realms.

Nothing worked.

Every method stopped at the shield.

After one particularly expensive artifact shattered against the protection, Pride had suggested he stop wasting resources.

Greed had nearly attacked him.

He still maintained the artifact had been defective.

Pride maintained otherwise.

Neither had mentioned it recently.

There was little left to test.

They could not enter.

They could not observe.

They could not communicate with anything beneath the shield.

Even the tear provided almost nothing.

Almost.

Greed turned toward the tiny rupture.

"How many this time?"

"Two."

His expression darkened.

"Only two?"

"Four were sent."

"And?"

"Two were destroyed during passage."

Greed’s jaw tightened.

Pathetic.

The only creatures they had managed to force through the tear were low-level demonic beasts.

Weak things.

Barely intelligent.

So insignificant that the shield seemed to tolerate their passage for brief moments before correcting itself.

Anything stronger failed.

A greater demonic beast had been reduced to dust before even half its body crossed.

A lesser demon had attempted possession of one of the beasts.

The connection had been severed instantly.

An enchanted observer had been embedded into another.

The artifact went dark the moment the creature passed through.

They could send things inside.

But they could not follow them.

Could not see through them.

Could not speak through them.

Could not sense whether they lived for a minute, a year, or died the instant they reached the other side.

The shield permitted no information to return.

Greed hated that most of all.

Possession without knowledge was hardly possession.

"We could send more."

Pride’s answer came immediately.

"No."

"The tear is still stable."

"For now."

"We have hundreds of low-level beasts."

"And forcing hundreds through would cause the shield to react."

Greed spread his hands.

"Then let it react."

Pride finally turned fully toward him.

"And if it seals the tear?"

Greed said nothing.

"If this is the only opening the Key created," Pride continued, "destroying it because you lack patience would be extraordinarily foolish."

The muscles along Greed’s jaw tightened.

"I have patience."

Pride stared at him.

Greed stared back.

Neither spoke.

Eventually Greed looked away.

"Within reason."

Pride said nothing.

That silence was somehow worse.

Greed stepped closer to the shield.

The barrier was near enough that he could have reached it with a fraction of his power.

He did not.

He had touched it once.

Only once.

The divine energy had burned through his arm before he withdrew.

It had healed.

His memory of the humiliation had not.

"What do you think is happening inside?"

Pride’s gaze returned to the world.

"I don’t know."

"Nothing?"

"We cannot observe it."

"I am aware."

"Then asking me to speculate serves little purpose."

Greed’s eyes narrowed.

"You’ve speculated."

Of course he had.

Pride planned for possibilities he claimed were beneath consideration.

That was simply his nature.

He would rather allow existence itself to collapse than admit he had been surprised.

Pride remained silent for several moments.

"The Key may be dormant."

"Possible."

"It may have attached itself to a native creature."

Greed’s expression became disgusted.

"A mortal?"

"We don’t know what inhabits the world."

"Whatever inhabits it is mortal."

"Most likely."

Greed’s disgust deepened.

The thought of the Akashic Key, an artifact for which entire realms had burned, being carried around by some insignificant mortal offended him on a fundamental level.

"We should have had it fifteen years ago."

That sentence changed the atmosphere.

Pride’s expression became colder.

Neither enjoyed remembering the Celestial Realm.

Their greatest victory.

And their greatest failure.

They had broken the realm.

Celestial sanctuaries had fallen one after another.

Gods who had existed for ages fled before advancing demonic armies.

Divine strongholds thought eternal had burned.

For a brief period, it had seemed impossible for them to lose anything.

Their Master had given Pride and Greed a task during that invasion.

Not merely another order.

The order.

Find the Akashic Key.

Recover it.

Nothing else carried greater importance.

They had followed its last known traces toward one of the most hidden locations within the Celestial Realm.

Even discovering the sanctuary had required enormous effort.

It had been buried beneath divine concealment.

Layered barriers.

Spatial distortions.

False dimensions designed to ensure that even other celestials would struggle to locate it.

Pride and Greed had found it.

They had broken through.

They had entered.

And the Key was gone.

Greed still remembered the empty chamber.

He had stared at it for several seconds before refusing to believe what his eyes showed him.

Then he searched.

Every chamber.

Every vault.

Every hidden passage.

Every artifact.

He tore open walls.

Destroyed formations.

Ripped apart anything that might conceal what he wanted.

Nothing.

Pride had criticized his methods.

Then Pride himself searched more aggressively.

Nothing.

The Key had vanished.

They had returned to their Master without it.

Greed would have preferred rage.

Punishment.

Even pain.

Instead, their Master had simply looked at them.

No shouting.

No accusation.

Just silence.

Then came another command.

Find it.

Do not fail again.

Neither had forgotten.

Greed’s voice was quieter when he spoke.

"We were close."

Pride did not respond.

"If we had arrived slightly sooner..."

"Then perhaps we would possess it."

Pride’s voice was even.

"We did not."

Greed looked sharply toward him.

Pride continued.

"Regret does not alter the result."

"You say that as if it doesn’t bother you."

Pride’s eyes settled on him.

"It bothers me enough that we are still standing here five years later."

Greed became silent.

That was as close as Pride would ever come to admitting how deeply the failure had wounded him.

For Pride, failure was not simply undesirable.

It was an insult to his existence.

He considered himself superior because, in most cases, he was.

He planned better.

Controlled himself better.

Saw further.

Calculated more carefully.

The memory of entering that empty sanctuary remained proof that superiority did not guarantee victory.

He despised it.

A pulse of dark light suddenly appeared behind them.

Both demons turned.

A communication sigil formed above the platform, crimson symbols arranging themselves into a rotating circle.

A kneeling silhouette appeared within it.

"Lord Pride. Lord Greed."

Greed’s expression immediately became impatient.

"Speak."

The subordinate lowered his head.

"A message has arrived from Lady Envy."

Greed’s annoyance changed.

Pride stepped forward slightly.

"What message?"

"Lady Envy claims she has discovered a possible method of dealing with the protected world."

For several moments, neither responded.

Then Greed laughed.

Not because he found it amusing.

Because the alternative was disbelief.

"She has what?"

"A possible solution, Lord Greed."

"To the shield?"

"Yes."

Greed moved closer to the communication sigil.

"How?"

"She did not provide details."

His eyes sharpened.

"Then contact her again."

"We already attempted to."

"And?"

"Lady Envy refuses to explain the method through long-range communication."

Pride understood immediately.

Sensitive information.

A reasonable precaution.

Greed understood too.

He simply hated that someone possessed information he didn’t.

Especially Envy.

"When did she discover this?"

"Recently."

"What exactly has she discovered?"

"We were not told."

"Can it destroy the barrier?"

"We don’t know."

"Can it widen the tear?"

"We don’t know."

"Can it allow us through?"

"We don’t know."

Greed’s voice became increasingly quiet.

The subordinate wisely lowered his head farther.

"What exactly do you know?"

"Lady Envy believes the attempt is worth making."

Greed stared at him.

Pride intervened.

"When?"

The subordinate immediately redirected his attention.

"Preparations have already begun. She did not provide an exact time."

"Probability of success?"

"Unknown."

"Risks?"

"Unknown."

Pride’s expression hardened.

Almost no information.

Normally, he would dismiss such a proposal immediately.

But Envy was not reckless.

Jealous.

Vindictive.

Secretive.

Certainly.

But not foolish.

If she claimed to have found something after five years of failure...

There was reason to listen.

Greed crossed his arms.

"I don’t like it."

Pride glanced toward him.

"You don’t know what it is."

"Exactly."

That was unusually sensible.

Greed looked toward the world again.

"The Key is inside."

"We believe so."

"If whatever Envy does destabilizes the shield..."

"Then the consequences are unknown."

"If it destroys the world?"

Pride’s eyes narrowed.

That possibility mattered.

The Key was extraordinarily difficult to destroy.

Possibly impossible through any method available to mortals.

But losing its location again was unacceptable.

The trace they detected five years ago had never repeated.

If the world were shattered and the Key disappeared into the void between realms...

They could spend another century searching.

Assuming their Master permitted them a century.

"We need details before allowing anything that could threaten the world itself," Pride said.

The subordinate bowed.

"I will deliver that message."

"And another," Greed added.

Pride looked at him.

Greed’s golden eyes remained fixed on the communication projection.

"Tell Envy that if she found a way through the barrier, she is not entering before us."

Pride’s expression became faintly disdainful.

The subordinate hesitated.

"Lord Greed..."

"You heard me."

"Yes, Lord Greed."

The communication circle vanished.

Pride waited several seconds.

Then spoke.

"You realize Envy is almost certainly going to ignore that."

Greed smiled.

"Then I will remember."

Of course he would.

Greed forgot insults.

He never forgot when someone possessed something before him.

Pride looked once more toward the protected world.

Nothing had changed.

From outside, there was no indication that fifteen years had passed since the Key supposedly entered.

No evidence that their beasts had survived.

No indication of civilizations rising or falling beneath the shield.

No way to know whether someone had found the Key.

No way to know whether it had been moved.

The only things they possessed were an old trace...

A tiny tear...

And uncertainty.

Greed spoke behind him.

"The war is getting worse."

Pride knew which war he meant.

Not anything occurring within the protected world.

That remained completely beyond their sight.

Their war.

The larger one.

The conflict that had continued long after the Celestial Realm fell.

Victory there had once appeared certain.

That certainty had faded.

Other realms had reacted.

Ancient enemies joined the fighting.

Coalitions formed.

Territories the demons had seized were being contested.

Several advances had stalled.

Some had reversed entirely.

They were not defeated.

Pride would never allow such language while armies still stood.

But they were no longer advancing.

And recently...

They had begun losing ground.

"Another fortress fell," Greed said.

"Which?"

"Vhalor."

Pride turned.

"Confirmed?"

Greed gave him an irritated look.

"Yes."

That was significant.

Vhalor guarded one of the principal passages toward their Master’s inner territories.

Not enough to create immediate danger.

Enough to make ignoring the trend impossible.

Greed’s hands tightened.

"They’re taking things from us."

There was something uniquely dangerous about the way Greed said those words.

Defeat angered Pride.

Loss offended Greed personally.

Land.

Artifacts.

Soldiers.

Influence.

If something had belonged to their side and was then taken, Greed viewed the act almost as theft from himself.

"We should be there," Greed said.

"We were given another task."

"I know."

"And that task takes precedence."

"I know."

Greed hated repeating it.

Their Master’s instructions had been unmistakable.

The Akashic Key mattered more.

More than the Celestial Realm itself had mattered.

More than territorial losses.

More than battlefronts.

More than whatever pride either of them wished to preserve.

That alone revealed how important the artifact truly was.

Neither wanted to discover what happened if they failed again.

Greed looked toward the protected world.

"If Envy’s solution works..."

"We verify it."

"Then enter."

"If possible."

"Then find the Key."

"Yes."

Greed smiled.

"And take it."

Pride’s eyes moved toward him.

"Recover it."

"Same thing."

"No."

Greed’s smile widened.

Of course, to him it was the same thing.

Possession was the first language Greed understood.

"Whoever carries it inside won’t keep it long."

"We don’t know that anyone carries it."

"Someone does."

"Assumption."

"If the Key is lying unattended somewhere, I’ll be disappointed."

Pride ignored him.

There was no benefit in imagining what existed beneath the shield.

They would know when they entered.

Until then, speculation changed nothing.

Pride looked toward the tiny tear.

Five years.

They had been forced to stand outside for five years after finally locating the first real trace since their failure in the Celestial Realm.

He had tolerated the delay because there had been no alternative.

Now Envy claimed there might be one.

He did not trust her solution.

He did not trust her motives.

He did not even know what she intended to attempt.

But he knew one thing.

They could not remain outside forever.

Their armies were under increasing pressure.

Their Master was waiting.

And somewhere inside that hidden mortal world was the artifact they had already failed to obtain once.

There would not be a third opportunity.

Pride’s gaze remained fixed upon the shield.

"Prepare every force capable of crossing if the opening changes."

Greed looked toward him.

Pride continued.

"Low-level beasts first. Nothing stronger until we understand what Envy has done."

"And if the shield collapses?"

Pride’s expression hardened.

"Then we enter immediately."

Greed’s smile became almost predatory.

"Finally."

Pride ignored him.

For five years, that world had hidden everything from them.

Its people.

Its history.

Its powers.

Its conflicts.

Its secrets.

They knew nothing about what waited beneath the shield.

Nothing except that, once, the Akashic Key had called out from somewhere inside.

That single trace had brought two of their Master’s most powerful servants to its edge.

And it was enough to keep them there.

Pride remembered the empty chamber in the Celestial Realm.

Remembered returning without the Key.

Remembered kneeling.

Remembered the silence of their Master.

He had no intention of experiencing it again.

Whatever Envy’s solution was...

It needed to work.