#recent chapters

(I am totally not simping over him, hahaha, wdym?)

Thank you so much!!! We've loved writing these chapters so much we can hardly stand the wait between writing days. We've been planning this arc for at least three years, and elements of it for far longer.

Your enthusiasm is a huge boost for us. Imagining you on your fainting couch, overcome by the story, is marvelous. <3

because I’m growing reaaaaallly curious about this sketchy guy. 

Ok, so I want to begin by spelling out the rather interesting history on this nasty little demon of lore. 

So, Belial is a demon reputed to be of the Earth elemental, which is all fine and dandy, but he’s a bit of an odd one, because his specific talent within the earth element isn’t earth itself, but earth minerals like sulphur and quartz and various forms of carbon (graphite, diamonds, coal, etc). which is why he’s often depicted as being kinda dirty-looking. 

HOWEVER, one really interesting thing that caught my attention doing a little research on Demonicpedia is that Belial is called... (drumroll)

the Prince of Trickery. 

Hm...wonder why that is?

He’s also referred to in The Dead Sea Scrolls (a long compilation of demons a bit like the Key of Solomon) as the “ Chief Son of Darkness”. 

Now, if I recall correctly, Mephisto said something in an Omake in which he basically told us that “other kinds of kin (to the Kings) work beneath them as servants” -- including, and strongly implying, their children. 

So, that raises a few good questions about Belial, since he’s not only a servant to Mephy, but also his personal servant and butler, a position I don’t think he would let just any strange demon hold. 

Now, it really wouldn’t be surprising if Mephisto/Samael, being the “libertine” he so claims (that of a man who indulges in sensual and sexual pleasures with no care for the moral consequences) has a LOT of children running around Assiah somewhere. Ergo, it might not be so shocking if Belial were to be his son. 

But what makes this interesting is that Belial is a demon who is beyond well known for his shitty, uncouth, rebellious attitude and exceptionally foul temper,  as well as his bad habit of being extremely lazy and -- get this -- libertine in his behaviour, priding himself on his beauty (of which is superficial at best) and his ability to seduce people, specifically already-wed virgins.

Also interestingly, Belial is not a demon that an Exorcist, according to the Key of Solomon, can easily appease or banish without first offering him a sacrifice or renouncing some earthly pleasure to him (meaning: they have to give up something like sex, or love, or any other mortal pleasure in his name, under contract, and if they fail to do so and give in, they die). 

Gee, doesn’t that sound familiar? guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree

We have yet to see the true face of, or the powers of, Belial -- but make no mistake, he is, mythologically, a VERY powerful demon -- in some records it is stated that he is second to Lucifer in terms of his rank and overall power, and further, that he and Lucifer are pretty buddy-buddy with each other as “fallen brothers”. Obviously this isn’t quite true of the B.E universe, but it does make one wonder about where he might be going in canon. 

He is also a notorious sweet-talker and, unsurprisingly, a trickster who specializes specifically in martial affairs (marriage) and leading lovers astray into devout and lewd behavior. He also apparently really likes virgins, as well as their blood. (talk about cliche) and supposedly has no moral qualms (unlike other demons who specialize in the sin of Lust, Mephistopheles included*) with rape.

 Also, interestingly, his name means “without value” - and yet he is regarded as one of the most influential demons in Hell because of his ‘seductive and violent nature’ encouraging demons, as well as humans caught by his bewitchments to follow his lead. He doesn’t apparently like listening to Lucifer (often depicted as his older brother, actually) or Satan, and is a violent rebel that really likes to incite riots and just...watch them burn. 

Boy the apple sure doesn’t seem to fall far from the tree on this one

I, for one, don’t expect Katou to stay with his exact mythology, which seems eerily similar to Mephisto as a character in her work, as well as the Mephistopheles of German mythology. 

(* Mephistopheles, as a demon in Germanic lore, is often described as a tempter and seducer who prides himself in his art, and thus does not like to resort to using physical force to coerce a woman; however, it is somewhat implied in variations of the story like Goethe’s, upon which the Mephy we know  is based, that he is not above using bewitchment and spells to entrance them and  by that measure basically date-rape them, but with magic instead of drugs.) 

I personally think that, with Belial’s notorious attitude, Mephisto/Samael/His father might be keeping him close in order to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn’t turn traitor and/or just to keep the ill tempered rebel under control, since I’m sure fatherhood means next to nada to the demon

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