The wave of ascensions triggered by the numerous demigods gradually subsided.
Although the vast majority of demigods had failed in their advancement,
The first three layers of Hell, rippling with golden divine light, stood as irrefutable proof of Leylin's unfathomable power!
And the nine-layered
Those fallen souls would now flow directly down the River Styx to the fourth layer of Hell—Phlegethos—to be ruled under Samael's dominion.
Only Leylin's believers, upon death, would have their souls drawn into his divine kingdom.
In other words, Leylin had used the souls of his own believers to replace the channel through which Hell had originally received fallen souls under the Primordial Covenant.
With this foundation torn out from under him,
However, compared to the fallen souls of the mortal world, Leylin's believers were still exceedingly few. Even with an entire native empire's worth of faith, the numbers still fell far short of what the first three layers of Hell had once received.
Still, Leylin couldn't care less.
His divine kingdom needed to be cleansed. Too many devils were hardly a good thing. Asmodeus might forever dream of being the Lord of Devils, but that was not Leylin's ambition.
Few mortals would wish to become lemures the moment they died.
"My God!"
Within what had once been the
A sacred mountain of white jade soared into the heavens, crowned by an immense temple.
Countless petitioners knelt in prayer around it, giving thanks for their deity's grace. Golden streams of faith illuminated the entire sky.
Tifa strode briskly into the temple and bowed to Leylin upon the divine throne.
"The former Burning Legion and the remaining devils have been fully reorganized. The number of devils willing to serve under us is…"
A string of figures rolled off Tifa's lips. Leylin's brow arched slightly as he instantly extrapolated and completed the full picture from the information Tifa had reported.
The first three layers of Hell had now completely become Leylin's domain. Those devils who refused to submit were either expelled or outright slaughtered, becoming nourishment for the divine kingdom. Those who had survived to this point were naturally all believers of Leylin.
Of course, the faith of devils was always an absurd thing to begin with.
"Mm! You've done well!"
Leylin nodded, acknowledging Tifa's work: "Furthermore, relocating the Church to Hell is only a temporary measure. You must prepare accordingly — the intelligence and auxiliary networks we've established in the Material Plane must not be abandoned either…"
For all deities, the Material Plane represented the greatest prize and the primary source of faith.
Although Leylin had relocated both Bankts Island and the Aboriginal Empire into his divine kingdom as his base of operations, faith in the Material World could not be relinquished.
He was now a True God! Competing with the churches of other deities held no fear for him. Priests could receive a full range of divine spells from zero to ninth level — this was the greatest distinction between a [True God] and a [False God]. And now was the best opportunity to expand his faith.
"Your will is our mission!"
Tifa respectfully accepted Leylin's command.
"Mm! One more thing. As for the depiction and promotion of the divine kingdom, I shall take you to see it personally…"
With a mere thought from Leylin, space shifted. He and Tifa had arrived at a high vantage point within the divine kingdom. Within his divine kingdom, Leylin was everything! Nothing could obstruct his will.
And one of Tifa's important tasks as the High Priestess who had once entered the divine kingdom was to describe the domain of a True God to the faithful.
"Fundamentally… all living beings yearn for beauty. Even deities cannot refuse their wishes…"
Leylin spoke softly.
Tifa gazed out at the landscape. The once hostile environment of the Dis Plane had been transformed into a vast plain, adorned with verdant shrubs and wild grass, now brimming with a touch of life's vitality.
Under Leylin's modification, not only Dis — even the environments of Avernus and Minauros had changed. The land had gone from barren to fertile, and the many perilous conditions had vanished.
In more vivid terms, it was transitioning from Hell toward the mortal world, and might one day even become a paradise.
"Those who believe in me anticipate ascending to the Heavenly Kingdom after death, obtaining a wonderful existence, and they are willing to offer their faith in exchange. This is the covenant between deity and follower — even Greater Powers cannot violate it…"
With a wave of his hand, several images materialized before them.
On a stretch of fertile land, a few Aboriginal petitioner-souls were working diligently in the fields.
Since Leylin had only recently ascended to godhood, not many of his followers had yet died. The core of the Dis Plane was more than sufficient to accommodate them, with plenty of room to spare.
Leylin had cultivated vast stretches of farmland here. The believers need only work the fields lightly for heavy ears of grain and ripe fruits to spring forth from the earth.
The petitioner-souls wept tears of joy as they turned toward the Holy Mountain and began to pray, thanking Leylin for the miracle he had bestowed upon them.
"This is..."
Tifa looked at Leylin with some astonishment.
"Once one becomes a petitioner, it doesn't mean one can simply do nothing. Idle prayer and perpetual leisure will only lead to decay, stagnation, and even destruction..."
Leylin smiled, a gleam of wisdom in his eyes. "And so... I have given them the opportunity to work, so that they may understand the principle that only through effort does one reap rewards. Of course, this is my divine domain, and so I hold dominion over the laws of the land. They need expend less than a tenth of the effort to harvest ten or even a hundred times the yield they once knew... Even the laziest among them will want for neither food nor clothing."
Tifa listened intently. The construction of this divine realm also reflected Leylin's understanding of the path of faith — as the Pontiff, she had to remain in perfect alignment with her true god at all times.
"Furthermore... a sense of superiority only comes through contrast. To help my believers understand just how hard-won their comfortable lives are, I have prepared this for them as well..."
Leylin teleported with Tifa, this time arriving at the very edge of the divine realm, where the harsh characteristics of Hell were still preserved.
Countless lowly imps, soul husks, and lesser devils — and even higher-ranking devils such as chain devils and bone devils — trudged along with iron chains clamped around their ankles, wailing and screaming as they hauled flaming rocks like slaves, constructing landscapes and fortresses one by one.
"These are the devils who defied me. I made sure to keep a portion of them..."
At that moment, one of the lesser devils below shrieked as the flames scorched its flesh, stumbling to the ground. The devil-hunter overseer approached with an expressionless face and lashed out with a whip imbued with holy power.
Crack! The sacred purifying force upon the whip was a punishment far more terrifying to devils than any barbed hook or venomous fang. The struck lesser devil was sent spraying gore as it let out a blood-curdling scream, sending all the surrounding devils into quaking terror.
"These devil slaves will be responsible for all infrastructure construction within the divine domain, and they shall possess no rights whatsoever... Every time newly arrived believer-souls enter the realm, they may be brought here on a tour..."
A barely perceptible smile tugged at the corner of Leylin's lips.
In the divine realms of other true gods, all believers were treated equally — granted eternal life, left to idle days, their potential never fully explored.
But here, things were different. With these lower devil slaves serving as a contrast, the believers would come to realize that the life they lived was truly paradise. The cohesion forged from that realization, along with the surge in faith, would be more than enough for Leylin to reap a handsome profit.
"For the newly arrived believer-souls, I intend to offer them two choices!"
Neither Leylin nor Tifa so much as blinked at the oppression unfolding below — as though they simply had not noticed it at all.
They were all people of resolute character. They had long since seen far too many such things—as long as it was beneficial to them, they would carry it out without hesitation.
However, Leylin still brought Tifa back to the temple atop the Holy Mountain and began explaining his plans.
"The most mainstream approach, naturally, is for them to survive in the divine realm as blessed spirits, dwelling with Me for all eternity, sharing in immortality… If they wish to join the legion, they can also be transformed into devil forms, utilising the residual rules of Hell—that too is a simple matter…"
"Moreover… regarding the original devils, this is what I intend to do…"
Leylin waved his hand, and Azarok, the former deep abyss infernal devil, materialised before them, drawing a startled cry from Tifa.
He had certainly seen this devil commander before, but now the other's form had undergone a transformation—a semi-transparent body radiating a faint golden glow that even gave Tifa a sense of warmth and kinship. He knew at once that this devil's very essence had changed.
"My Lord…"
Azarok's eyes burned with fervour as he bowed reverently to Leylin.
"You noticed something?"
Leylin turned to Tifa.
"That's… a blessed spirit!!!" Tifa murmured in astonishment.
"Yes! I altered the devil legion's form, imbuing them with the traits of blessed spirits. From this day forward, they shall serve as the guardian legion of My divine realm… Believers who wish to undergo the transformation will take this same form…"
Keeping the original devils around was of course useless, but if they could be turned into blessed spirits, it would vastly expand the forces under Leylin's command while also generating faith.
Possessing the triple essence of a devil lord, a true god, and a rule
With this, the original resources were put to full use, and the barrier between the two factions was eliminated entirely.
"So… believers who arrive in the divine realm will take the form of blessed spirits, and these devils are merely an outward manifestation of power, just like those celestial envoys…"
Tifa's eyes lit up as a chain of reasoning quickly formed in his mind.
"Mm! Go with your idea, then…"
Leylin waved his hand and sent Tifa on his way.