Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

"..."

The voice fell silent for a moment, but Mephisto could still feel a certain gaze focusing on him. Shortly after, the air vibrated slightly, and that voice, as if emanating from the world itself, once again rang beside him.

"You’re right, the one who truly makes the decisions is still me, and this is already the most likely method to succeed,"

"You’ve done well, and if all goes smoothly, after this battle, you will truly become the lord of the second layer of Hell. As for the matters in the Mortal Realm, if you can handle them well, I have another reward for you."

The voice had calmed down, and the odd feeling in the words earlier seemed like an illusion. That’s right... A slight loss for a World Lord was not something to be overly concerned about.

If another method were used, either the risk would be greater, or it would ultimately cause severe damage to the Origin of the Nine Hells. If this move isn’t effective, then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

This time, when the voice ended, a certain will completely moved away from this space. Clearly, facing the terrible pressure of Tartarus, the Lord of the Nine Hells was certainly too preoccupied to be distracted.

He simply could not muster more strength, nor was he willing to temporarily descend an incarnation here to speak. Feeling the overseeing presence depart, Mephisto breathed a sigh of relief and then gracefully bowed to the void.

"It’s time to begin."

He whispered, but this time it was for himself to hear. Since there were no additional complications, everything naturally should proceed as previously arranged.

A faint light glowed in his palm, and streams of Divine Power began slowly infusing into the silver mirror in his hand. In front of Mephisto, the Divine Artifact began to gradually awaken. (Note 1)

Although he didn’t know its name, the demon could judge that it was a High-Grade Artifact related to the [Space] domain. However, compared to the one that symbolized [Time], its power was much less, and it seemed unlikely to ascend to a Genesis Artifact, hence it had come into existence earlier.

In the past, the Goddess of Law had used it to observe a young Zeus, and the Goddess of the Nether Moon had used it to defeat Hades. Now in Mephisto’s hands, the artifact began to shimmer, acting as a ’beacon,’ broadcasting its location to outside the Nine Hells.

There was only one chance... His eyes narrowed, Mephisto looked towards the distant battlefield.

Crius was still being besieged by the four Demon Gods, and the one engaged in close combat with him happened to be the three-headed, eight-armed Demon God already destined to be a sure kill by the sovereign.

At Mephisto’s level, he didn’t understand the essential differences among these Demon Gods, nor why only that one was included in the must-kill list. But as he had said earlier, on such matters involving the survival of an entire realm, it was better to leave the decisions to the true sovereigns.

"Hmm, but this way, I’m afraid you’ll hardly escape a ’death’ in the end—why did you have to choose it?"

"But no matter, in Hell, a few thousand years don’t count for much... Maybe tens of thousands? Who knows, as you said, I am no immortal innate god."

With a sincere sigh, Mephisto could actually understand the other’s approach. Faced with a ’forced control,’ an indestructible bug, or a self-detonating madman, the three-headed Demon God, though strong, was ’strong on paper,’ not ’strong in mechanism.’ Plus, its massive body could help Crius use it as a barrier to avoid other demons’ attacks.

But anyway, it had indeed made the worst choice unwittingly.

As for not informing Crius of the entire plan in advance... Mephisto claimed he didn’t know either. But since the Lord of the Nine Hells had no objection, there must be reasons that he was not aware of.

And regarding this outcome, the demon expressed no objection.

Hum—

The silver mirror hummed, and under the continuous infusion of Mephisto’s power, it served as a ’beacon,’ seemingly finally connecting with something.

Seeing this, Mephisto’s expression became solemn, and he raised the artifact high.

The authority of the second layer of the world was drawn by him and vested in the silver mirror before him. Gazing at the distant battlefield, the demon solemnly said:

"...Respectfully—I call upon the Serpent of the Garden, Earthly Python, the root of all evil in the worlds... I ask for your power, please descend here."

Then, the next moment, as if answering his call, the mirror flashed slightly. Following that, a terrifying power began to slowly emanate from within.

...

Outside the Nine Hells, at the border between the Abyss and Purgatory. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

The whimsical bubbles of space-time emitted splendid colors, like the most beautiful scenery in the world. However, beyond their beautiful facade lay the destructive power hidden beneath.

The immense forces of two powerful beings collided here incessantly... but at this moment, the births and deaths of space-time seemed to pause for an instant, followed by Moya’s shout echoing through the void.

"...Laine?!"

"It’s you, how can you possibly be here?"

The sharp voice caused the surrounding void to tremble, and Moya couldn’t believe what she saw in the distance.

She even thought it might be some illusion, or that something was affecting her mind. It couldn’t be real; perhaps the being opposite was trying to disturb her with this method, as no Outsider should be able to approach so near in the interval of the collision of the two realms... No, it still was possible.