"Just this agreement — nothing else to add?"
Samael and the other lords exchanged glances, each seeing disbelief in the others' eyes.
Though
The combined might of three Hell lords could absolutely decimate the Eight Demon Generals.
"None. And until everything is settled, we all remain here, letting events outside unfold as they may!"
Asmodeus smiled and dangled an enormous lure.
"What do you think?"
"Are you trying to drive a wedge between us?" Samael smiled. "I'm afraid you'll be disappointed..."
Though he said that, not a single devil present knew what was truly going through his mind.
"Your true body must stay here as well, and
"Agreed. I'll issue them a supplementary treaty — even the lords who aren't present must remain in their own territories, waiting for the moment everything is settled!"
Asmodeus said with a smile, "How about it?"
"Order is everything! Even the fundamental force of Hell adheres to this principle. If we refuse and push Hell into chaos, I fear we'd be abandoned by that very force!"
Levistus analyzed calmly, "I agree to this pact!"
"Agreed! Agreed!"
Mammon and Samael both assented as well — after all, this outcome far exceeded what they had expected when they came.
"Excellent! The Hag Countess, and
Asmodeus turned the Book of Contracts in his hand to a fresh, blank page.
After confirming once more that there were no issues, the three lords — Mammon and the others — nodded. Before the River Styx, they swore a solemn oath…
……
As for these Hell Lords' movements, Leilin had not yet noticed. But the effects brought about by the contract had already begun to send faint ripples through Bator Hell, ripples that were about to swell into an overwhelming tempest.
"Beilusebabu's Iron Tower…"
Barzefen, one of the Eight Devil Generals, gazed into the thick darkness before him, a look of cunning and gravity in his eyes. "Rachel! Do you know anything about this?"
This was the castle manor of a Hell Lord! Barzefen himself was nothing more than a Pit Fiend — naturally, he did not dare to be reckless.
"Kind Lord Barzefen, the Iron Tower has always been a forbidden zone in
Leilin was telling the truth. In his earlier investigations, and in Azrock's own confession, Beilusebabu had shown almost no trust toward his subordinates — perhaps a common affliction among devils. In fact, hardly any devils had ever set foot inside the tower.
According to rumor, only those who had entered into a River Styx contract with that Hell Lord, surrendered everything, and sworn a vow to guard the Iron Tower for eternity would be bound by the contract's power and confined within it permanently.
Of course, Leilin would not say something so blunt. After all, Barzefen still had some value.
"According to rumor, the interior of the Iron Tower holds not only numerous curses and an army of golems, but also powerful, ancient devils bound by contract to stand guard… The place where we are now should be the outermost periphery — the Gluttony Primordial Realm. Here, Beilusebabu has bred countless evil spirits writhing with devouring hunger to serve as sentinels. Only devils who have received permission are allowed entry; otherwise, they must undergo the 'Self-Devouring Ritual'…"
"Gluttony evil spirits?" Barzefen nodded, feeling that this newly recruited Barbed Devil subordinate was at least somewhat useful.
"The Self-Devouring Ritual? That demonic ceremony where you gnaw away a portion of your own body to sacrifice power?"
A flicker of hesitation crossed Barzefen's face — not because it was reluctant to part with a piece of its own body, but because this was the place where the Law of Gluttony was at its most potent. The power lost through self-devouring would never return; once sacrificed, it was gone for good!
Clearly, this was Beilusebabu's first line of defense. Without permission, one would first have to weaken oneself!
"Is there any way to bypass the contract?"
Barzefen considered it for a moment, then helplessly dismissed the idea. Given the cunning of a Hell Lord, there was no way they would leave any back door open.
"The most critical issue is that the Self-Devouring Ritual requires the sacrifice of a portion of one's own power — no other form of energy will work…"
Barzefen glanced sideways at Leilin standing beside it, suppressing a certain plan that had just surfaced in its mind.
"Losing a portion of one's power before even meeting the master… This is hardly a promising start…"
However, just as Barzefen hesitated, a colossal sense of danger crashed down upon it — so sudden that it acted on pure instinct, activating the instantaneous spell inscribed long ago upon its body: Greater Teleportation!
A flash of light, and Barzefen vanished from where it had been standing, reappearing a short distance away.
It seemed that due to the restrictions of the Devouring Abyss, even teleportation-type spells had great difficulty escaping its bounds.
"Damn it! Interfered with…" Barzefen cursed and grumbled, but then its gaze fell upon its right shoulder in shock.
A massive chunk of flesh and blood was missing from that spot, threads of sinister power still writhing around the wound.
Just moments before, during the teleportation, a seemingly phantasmal fish-shaped monstrosity had burst into existence. The resistance and flame protections that devils prided themselves on were utterly useless against it — a single bite had reduced Barzefen to this state.
"A creature with a planar traversal talent? No — this is a supreme ability that bridges two planes simultaneously and can become intangible! It also gives off the distinctive aura and scent of an astral creature…"
With Barzefen serving as a large-scale scout, Leilin instantly gathered a great deal of information.
Although he had fully devoured the memories of Beilu Sebab, the latter had clearly kept certain critically important things secret. Those fragmented glimpses were missing enormous amounts of content, which directly meant that Leilin's knowledge of the Iron Tower remained only partial.
"Besides… even if I knew everything, I'm afraid there still wouldn't be a better way… After all, the entire Iron Tower recognizes only the soul signature of Beilu Sebab. Having Hell's authority and a devil's nature are both useless…"
Leilin smiled bitterly to himself.
And compared to him, who could still maintain a rough composure, Barzefen on the other side was practically jumping with fury.
"Damn it! These are absolutely not creatures from Hell, and they've never appeared in the Material Plane before… Could they be some kind of aberrant Godspawn?"
With Barzefen's level of knowledge, it could not comprehend things beyond the world of the gods, let alone astral creatures.
For it, beings possessing such bizarre powers — ones that even a Pit Fiend could do nothing against — could only be one thing: Godspawn! Defective children of the gods!
Only the power of deities could produce such an extraordinary and terrifying abomination!
In just a few brief moments, Barzefen had already suffered several attacks. Losing a portion of its body was a minor matter, but it could feel its very essence draining away — and that was truly horrifying.
"Damn it — how in the world am I supposed to get out of here?!"
Barzefen kept casting teleportation spells, but those Devouring Wraiths seemed to be able to chase it down every time, tearing away another piece of its body and devouring the devil's sinister power.
A devil's arch-enemy could only be another devil — demons and the like had to take a back seat. And with Beilu Sebab's arrangements, the traps were naturally targeted more heavily against devils.
Therefore, Barzefen had the wretched luck of being played for a fool.
"Hmm! Fairly clever!" On the other side, Lei Lin looked equally bedraggled, but that was nothing more than an act.
Those Devouring Wraiths could sense the power emanating from him and didn't dare approach at all. On the rare occasions that a handful of crazed ones made contact with his body, they were instantly and completely dissolved by the devouring force within Lei Lin, becoming part of his flesh.
"Hmm! Appears to be some type of spirit entity — their identity as Astral Plane creatures is now confirmed beyond doubt…"
The Chip's glow flickered, projecting the results of its scan and analysis before Lei Lin.
"It seems that by relying on Mandehawk's Disc, Beilu Sebab managed to snag quite a few good things from the Astral Plane…"
A glint of greed flashed through Lei Lin's eyes, and then he heard Barzefen's desperate roar: "There's no other way! Begin the Self-Consumption Ritual immediately!!!"
……
While Barzefen fought for his life, in the Dis Plane, within the burning iron city, a massive teleportation gate opened.
Rank after rank of devils in full plate armor filed out in orderly formation, seizing control of vast swaths of territory.
Small-scale skirmishes broke out here and there, but these devils — stripped of their core leadership — were naturally no match for these elites and were quickly beaten into retreat.
Meanwhile, thanks to Lei Lin's earlier arrangements, Azirok had already evacuated with those devils still loyal to the Feathered Serpent God
The devil army swiftly advanced toward the iron tower. Leading them were none other than seven Pit Fiends.
"That idiot Barzefen actually came here on his own to gamble — did he really think he could handle a Hell Lord? And what's more… he actually dared to betray our master!"
Zapan, one of the Eight Demon Generals, gazed at the iron tower piercing the clouds and the faint light shimmering across its surface, letting out a mocking snicker.
"Hurry up and take over the defenses — surround the tower! The armies of the other Hell Lords will be here any moment!"
Another member of the Eight Demon Generals urged them on, fire blazing in his eyes — a fire fueled by ambition.
Asmodeus's command had already arrived. The unanimous resolve of the remaining lords had given the Eight Demon Generals a glimpse of the chance to stand at the pinnacle of Hell, escape endless suffering, and ascend to the rank of Hell Lord!