Letus was extremely fortunate.
Perhaps it was because its rank was equivalent to that of a True God that the instant-kill effect of the Law of
Nevertheless, the terrifying power had still stunned its true spirit for a brief instant — and that single instant was enough to seal its fate.
By the time it recovered from its stupor, the keen edge of Raylin's
[Ding! True body has slain Letus! Seven Deadly Sins ability —
"Hiss hiss…"
The Nightmare Hydra behind Raylin hissed ceaselessly, its sixth serpent head solidifying into form. From the Astral Plane, the Multiverse, and everywhere else — wherever any living being experienced the emotion of pride, their power would be siphoned by Raylin and transformed into his own Original Sin power.
[Ding! Acquired Rule of Pride! Seven Deadly Sins unlock effect 6: Pride's Guardian — Seven Deadly Sins Armor receives Pride Rule enhancement! Defense increased! Immune to all Legendary spells and Legendary physical attacks!]
"You'd better remember this… The grudge of the Hell Lords shall not be forgotten…"
The other Hell Lords fled even faster after witnessing Raylin slay Letus.
Whirrrr!
The radiance of the Divine Kingdom showed no sign of pausing after enveloping the Fourth Layer of Hell — it continued downward, wrapping the frozen wasteland of Stygia within its light as well.
"That's enough… Once I've taken control of five layers of Hell, there's no way these Hell Lords can turn things around, no matter how united they become…"
Previously, Raylin's strength had only held a slight advantage; now it had become an absolute one.
With five layers of Hell in his grasp, the remaining four layers meant those devils couldn't stir up trouble no matter what they did.
"It's time to go back. There are many things to do, many insights to act upon… Besides, the injuries I've sustained are a minor nuisance — I still need to reserve enough power to deal with other covetous eyes…"
As if admonishing himself, or perhaps comforting the Seven Deadly Sins, Raylin's figure slowly vanished from the void.
At that moment, the radiance of Raylin's Divine Kingdom had already completely enveloped the first five layers of Hell.
The primordial force of
Countless devils wept and wailed, scrambling ceaselessly toward the lowest four layers of Hell to hide.
The majority of devils, however, could only make a choice—be slain and sealed away as slaves, or place their faith in the new God of Slaughter, converting into the form of devil supplicants.
When Raylin returned to the Holy Mountain, a wave of immense majesty suddenly radiated outward from within the colossal divine temple.
Every follower of the God of Slaughter felt a powerful, infectious force wash through their hearts, compelling them to kneel in complete submission as they began to pray from the depths of their souls: "O Lord
The vast river of faith surged into a veritable tide, forming a golden vortex around the Holy Mountain.
The entire Divine Kingdom erupted in jubilation. The power of the world itself came surging in as well.
"Hmm! Is the Chip Avatar about to advance? Just as I predicted—after adding several divine portfolios and expanding the Divine Kingdom, this is perfectly normal…"
For Raylin, while he could take over the divine seat and Divine Kingdom at any time, he had no intention of binding the power of faith to himself.
By comparison, pushing the Chip Avatar forward to serve as a puppet and lightning rod was the ideal arrangement.
That way, even if the faith collapsed, all he would lose was a subsidiary program of the Chip and a bit of power. He was more than wealthy enough now and had nothing to fear from such expenditure.
Moreover, compared to the faith power of his followers, Raylin's current Nightmare Hydra possessed far more terrifying abilities.
Each of its heads could draw upon the specific emotional forces of sentient beings across the Astral Plane, completely unrestricted by the number of believers.
In this way, even if the power of emotion was slightly inferior to faith power in quality, the sheer terrifying volume instantly compensated for that shortcoming and far surpassed it.
With six types of emotional force supplementing him, Raylin no longer relied on faith as his primary energy source—at most, it was merely a useful supplement.
Given this, taking steps to mitigate risk through certain measures became entirely necessary.
"A promotion to Intermediate Godhood, is it? Excellent!"
Raylin was completely pleased with the Chip Avatar's advancement. After all, the subsidiary Chip program was entirely under the control of his main Chip.
Furthermore, the Chip Avatar's divine portfolios had all been formed from his own authorization, creating virtual divine authority.
Though the Chip Avatar was not the same as the previous true god avatar, everything remained firmly under his control—there was no difference at all.
Hum…
A peculiar vibration spread throughout the entire multiverse—the fluctuation of a Lesser Power ascending to Intermediate Power. In the past, this would have been a major event drawing considerable attention, but now, the True
The primordial force of the multiverse gathered, and from the surrounding void came the faint sounds of deep, far-reaching hymns. Golden petals suffused with divine radiance drifted downward.
Raylin's
At this point, he was no different from his Chip Avatar—it could be said that he had experienced the entire process of advancing to Intermediate Power firsthand, and the benefits gained from it were beyond words.
While Raylin was immersed in the primordial force fluctuations of the divine world, lines upon lines of data continuously surfaced within the Chip: [Ding! Subsidiary Intelligence has advanced to Intermediate Power! Divinity Rank has increased! Currently at 12!]
[Forcibly elevating Class Level. Subsidiary Intelligence has been promoted to a level-39
[Affected by Divinity Rank, all attributes of the Subsidiary Intelligence +4!]
[Significant changes detected in Subsidiary Intelligence data. Re-collecting…]
Soon, the Chip projected the newly gathered information into Raylin's soul: [Divine Name: God of Slaughter—Kukulkan (controlled by Chip Subsidiary Intelligence) Race: Unknown
Rank: Intermediate Power
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Virtual Divine Portfolios: Slaughter, Death,
Raylin stroked his chin and nodded with satisfaction.
While inheriting its predecessor's attributes and abilities, the Chip Avatar had also gained several capabilities unique to itself—such as [Extraordinary Computation] and [Reality Simulation]—which clearly had not belonged to Raylin before.
Of course, the losses were considerable as well. The most critical abilities had all been transferred to Raylin's main body, so its overall strength had diminished somewhat.
"Slaughter, Death, plus four of the Seven Deadly Sins as divine portfolios—that should have been enough to push me to the pinnacle of Intermediate Power. A Divinity Rank of 17 was entirely possible. Alas, the true source of laws has already formed my path, so having the authorized virtual portfolios advance to 12 is already quite good…"
Raylin felt a twinge of regret, but he let go of it quickly.
Compared to the pinnacle of Intermediate Power, composing one's own Path was clearly far more powerful!
With this thought, Raylin couldn't help but glance behind him. There, the Nightmare Hydra had become even more solid. The Path of Original Sin—formed from darkness threaded with streaks of blood, as if composed of every evil in the world—had grown vastly more imposing, though several conspicuous gaps still remained.
The rules of these three Original Sins—naturally, the most convenient approach would be to seize them from the remaining Hell Lords.
For Raylin, this was also the most critical matter.
After all, competition over Paths was the most terrifying kind of conflict. There was no guarantee that some jealous deity—or even a Wizard—wouldn't deliberately slaughter those Hell Lords ahead of him, leaving him stranded and forcing him to spend thousands upon thousands of years comprehending the corresponding rules on his own. That would set everything back, and his plan to reap enormous gains in the Final Battle would inevitably fall apart.
That was why Raylin had long made up his mind: he could disregard everything happening outside. Right now, his main body would hold its ground in Hell. Until he had conquered all of the Nine Hells and devoured every Hell Lord, he would absolutely not leave.
The outside world must have been in complete chaos by now. No one would bother with him any longer—this was the perfect opportunity!
"Graz'zt, Beleth,
Raylin silently recited the names of his targets. "Apart from these Hell Lords who command the fundamental rules of the Seven Deadly Sins, Asmodeus cannot be overlooked either… It is the indispensable medium for the final fusion of all seven sins…"
Although this nominal Lord of Hell did not wield any single rule of evil, in truth it had a hand in every type of rule—it was the true wellspring of all wickedness.
To truly complete the Path of Original Sin, Asmodeus's foundation was essential. This was why Raylin placed the greatest importance on Asmodeus above all others.
"My believers… I need you to take up arms and conquer all of the Nine Hells for me. Transform this place into a true paradise…"
As Raylin's main body began its period of recovery, the Chip avatar—who had already attained Intermediate Divine Power—issued a divine decree.
It was identical to the original Raylin in every way. Tifa, Fenix, and even the closest
Under this decree—effectively a general order to attack—the entire divine realm immediately launched its counteroffensive against Hell.
Countless devil hunters poured into the sixth layer of Hell—Malbolge—reducing the devils to endless screams and wails…