"Our cause truly benefits from having the two of you join us..."
After the contracts were signed, the smile on
"I've already ordered all my devil subordinates to fight to the death in Maladomini. That should hold them off for a while..."
The aura emanating from its body had noticeably weakened — it had clearly severed its connection to the Seventh Layer of Hell on its own initiative. Commands issued by a Lord of Hell carried absolute weight; those devil subordinates who obeyed the order of law, even knowing it meant death, had no choice but to throw themselves into the fray one after another. Such was the majesty of a Lord of Hell!
"The same goes for my side!"
It was evident that the terror of Leilin's wizard body and the Primordial Force weapon "
"To be honest, my original suggestion still stands. Rather than making a desperate stand at Nessus, hiding in the boundless Void — or even in one of the Elemental Planes — would be a far better option," the Twisted Shadow remarked from the side.
"That would only be most advantageous for *you*," Asmodeus cut in coldly. "Once we lose every layer of Hell, our status as Lords of Hell will be completely stripped away. We will lose the favor of Hell's Primordial Force, and our devilish power will continue to drain... with no chance of ever returning to Hell."
"Heh heh..."
In the face of Asmodeus's accusations, the Twisted Shadow merely let out a raspy, sinister laugh and said nothing more.
"Of course... regarding the matter of the God of Slaughter, we share a common enemy with you," Asmodeus continued, his gaze shifting as he spoke slowly.
Devils were the most cunning and insidious of all beings, and Asmodeus, King of the Nine Layers of Hell, was undoubtedly the worst of them all.
"I wonder whether you might lend your aid — rally other wizards who are dissatisfied with the God of Slaughter, and stand together with us..."
Asmodeus suggested.
"I'm afraid that, in my current state, I'm unable to do that," the Twisted Shadow replied with evident regret. "He controls the passage to the
After just a few brief explanations, the expressions on the faces of Asmodeus and the other Lords of Hell turned dreadful.
"So you're saying that among the wizards, he's essentially their leader and banner..."
"Exactly! Therefore, we must fully harness the power of the gods, destroy his Divine Kingdom, and everything else along with it!" the Twisted Shadow added from the side.
"Damn it..." The remaining Lords of Hell cursed bitterly. They had never imagined encountering such a troublesome enemy — one who could corner Hell itself into such a desperate strait.
"Enough... As long as we remain united, he cannot achieve the crucial breakthrough he seeks. His fall is only a matter of moments," Asmodeus said, stepping forward to rally their spirits when he saw that the Lords of Hell seemed to have lost confidence.
But then, his expression twisted into one of sheer horror. The colossal devil form beneath him began to tremble, sending endless earthquakes rippling through the land.
"He's here! He's coming!" Asmodeus cried out. There was now only one existence in all the realms who could make the King of the Nine Layers of Hell blanch.
The Twisted Shadow, Glasya, and the two remaining Lords of Hell all screamed in unison: "It's Leilin!"
BOOM!
In that instant, a silver-white floating city of unimaginable magnitude, radiating an aura of terrifying majesty, descended upon the outskirts of Nessus.
Leilin's wizard body stood atop the walls of Shadow Soul City, gazing down at the vast expanse of Nessus below, an unmistakable look of mockery on his face. "Did you really think I couldn't bear to part with the two great Layers of Maladomini and Cania? How naive."
"Of those two layers of Hell, what I value far more... are you cunning Lords of Hell."
Behind him, the phantom of the Nightmare Hydra materialized — its three remaining ethereal heads opening their terrifying vertical pupils, as though locking onto their prey.
"Seal off all of Hell! Now!"
BOOM!
The earth erupted, revealing Asmodeus's true form — a colossal silhouette that blotted out the sky, black wings unfurling behind it, its body marked by grievous wounds from both ancient battles and the devastating blow Leilin had dealt earlier by smashing a Divine Kingdom into it.
Now, faced with Leilin's threat, even Asmodeus could no longer afford to concern itself with the injuries to its true body. It unleashed its full power without hesitation.
A layer of black web spread from the palms of its true form, wrapping Nessus in a tight cocoon.
A formidable barrier of isolation descended, pushing back the invasion of Shadow Soul City.
The three other Lords of Hell also poured their power into the defense. Terrifying Hell Primordial Force howled behind them in a final, desperate struggle.
The avatar of the Twisted Shadow, however, retreated to one side, shadows rippling around it as though it were scheming of its own.
*[Ding! Target locked. Void seal engaged. Main cannon charging!]* A beam of white light, so blindingly bright it could slay gods, slowly emerged from the main cannon of Shadow Soul City.
*[Arcane Energy Core fully charged. Fire!]* Accompanied by the Chip's command and the fearful gaze of countless devils, a beam of white light — as though born from the very dawn of the universe — crashed into the nine-layered, web-shrouded outer perimeter of Nessus with an all-devouring force.
BOOM!
Terrifying waves of energy radiated outward, annihilating the unfortunate devils caught in their path, shaking the entirety of
The shockwave rippled beyond Baator itself, propagating toward the Celestial Realm, the Abyss, and the Material World, drawing the attention of numerous supreme beings.
After the white light — bright enough to blind even a Lord of Hell — finally faded, the cataclysmic tide of energy gradually subsided.
Glasya's fists clenched tight, and only when she saw that Nessus remained intact did she slowly let out a breath of relief.
"Heh heh... With our combined power, Nessus is now equivalent to the Divine Kingdom of a Greater God. What do you have left to break it?"
The other two Lords of Hell also cackled, the relief in their voices unmistakable — they had been thoroughly terrorized by Leilin.
"The Weave, Primordial Force, wizardry, and particle technology..." From atop Shadow Soul City, Leilin watched the black web surrounding Nessus dissolve under the white light, only to be replenished by Primordial Force again and again. The light of the Chip flickered rapidly in his eyes.
"It seems Asmodeus, you've reached quite a number of agreements with the Twisted Shadow."
"And precisely because of that, I cannot let things continue as they are — otherwise the consequences will only grow more uncontrollable!"
Leilin took a single step forward and was already outside the bounds of Shadow Soul City.
Then the crystallization of an
"What is he trying to do? No!!!!"
The Twisted Shadow's avatar recoiled in shock, its composure utterly shattered — never before had it lost its equanimity to such a degree.
*[Ding! Main authority verified. Self-destruct command issued!]* As the Chip flickered, everything within Shadow Soul City began to compress automatically, radiating a power of terrifying magnitude.
*[Ammunition depot self-destruct primed. Dimensional space collapsing. Arcane Energy Core disintegrating...]* Atop Shadow Soul City, the intelligent core Xialin's face was utterly expressionless. With a wooden calm, she guided the city's descent — its speed increasing moment by moment, like a falling star.
*[Preparation complete. Self-destruct critical threshold countdown: 3, 2, 1...]* BOOM!
A flash of light even more brilliant, even more terrifying than the main cannon's beam, laced with the fury of total detonation, erupted upon the outer perimeter of Nessus.
No words could describe what happened next.
A floating city — one that Leilin had painstakingly upgraded and imbued with the highest achievements of arcane technology — detonated with a force billions of times more devastating than the Tunguska explosion. It was as though a star was being born, unleashing an indescribable power, as if the totality of the universe's might had been expended in a single instant, crashing down upon Nessus.
"Did you think I would grieve over a single Shadow Soul City?"
The phantom of the Nightmare Hydra hissed. Endless shrouds of black mist, saturated with the emotional force gathered from across the entire Astral Plane, coiled around the great serpent — forming the most impenetrable of shields before Leilin.
And watching this explosion unfold, a faint smile tugged at the corner of Leilin's lips.
"External tools are external tools in the end. Even if they can slay a god — so what? Compared to my own path to the pinnacle of the Eighth Level, Shadow Soul City is nothing at all!"
The situation was now crystal clear. If Nessus was not taken immediately, these Lords of Hell would likely fortify it into a spiked tortoise shell, leaving Leilin with fewer and fewer options.
Therefore, without a moment's hesitation, he played the Shadow Soul City card — trading it for the enemy's defenses in mutual destruction.
For Leilin, this was the method that maximized his advantage — it required almost no deliberation at all.
Moreover, fighting the Twisted Shadow while still connected to Shadow Soul City — even after all the modifications, even with his confidence in maintaining complete control — still didn't sit right with him. Who knew whether the Twisted Shadow hadn't left some undetected trap on the city?
The safest course of action, naturally, was to simply destroy Shadow Soul City altogether. Like the Twelfth-Level Arcane spell — Karsus's Avatar — once it was gone, it could pose no harm to Leilin whatsoever.
"Twisted Shadow! Get away from here!"
Sure enough, the one most incensed by the destruction of Shadow Soul City was the Twisted Shadow itself.
A massive ring of distorted shadows, crackling with boundless power, roared beyond the borders of Leilin's Divine Kingdom.
A flash of light in the Void, and Leilin's Chip clone and the Earth Core Mother appeared at the edge of the Divine Kingdom, directing a stern warning toward the Twisted Shadow's true body.