"It would appear that either the intelligence was inaccurate and they haven't obtained the Shade Enclave after all, or this demigod called Leilin is extraordinarily cunning — he may have even guessed we would come to lay an ambush..."
Had Leilin witnessed this sight, he would have quietly broken into a cold sweat.
If he had actually moved the Shade Enclave into position, preparing to ambush these church dignitaries, the deities waiting nearby would have promptly shown him why flowers bloom so red.
Two deities of Greater Divinity! If it were the Material Plane, Leilin might have had the confidence to withstand a couple of blows. But in the Outer Planes, stripped of the Material Plane's suppression, it was something he wouldn't even dare to contemplate.
"Where did you obtain this intelligence?"
"My follower encountered a beholder while traveling, and gleaned this information from the creature's words. But by the time I arrived, that beholder had already perished completely — even its soul had vanished..."
A faint trace of疑惑 crossed Mystra's face. "Moreover, I believe I sensed an aura of extreme abhorrence and evil there... an existence far more sinister and grotesque than the Three Lords of the Abyss..."
"More evil and grotesque than demons?"
Tyr's body trembled, as though something terrible had come to mind. "Perhaps... you should return and inspect the seals, and deal with the surrounding corruption..."
"You mean... the Wizards..."
The goddess of the
……
The distinctive flash of teleportation erupted, and the void twisted. Leilin's figure materialized directly from the distortion.
Among the Chip's earlier alerts, there was one recent entry:[Critical threshold triggered. Contingent spell activated!!!]
"As expected, setting it to trigger upon contact with teleportation force was the safest option. On the Material Plane I have nothing to fear from anyone, but the Outer Planes are a different story entirely... As for where I should currently be..."
Leilin surveyed his surroundings. The sky above was suffused with a blood-red glow, and fireballs periodically howled past, streaking through the air.
Around him stretched a scorched wasteland strewn with rubble, its monotony broken by mountain ranges and sloping hillsides.
"Hiss... this seems to be..." The faint aura of evil and terror carried on the wind, combined with the landscape, immediately gave Leilin a suspicion.
And all doubt vanished when he spotted countless blood-red streams cutting across the terrain before him, converging into the River Styx.
"Welcome to
Leilin stretched contentedly, then issued a command. "Chip! Scan!"
[Ding! Task established. Initiating scan...]The Chip responded faithfully, virtually instantaneously.
[Surrounding terrain scan complete. Atmospheric particle composition analysis finished. Astral positioning in progress! Subject determined to be located on the first layer of Baator: Avernus!]
[Ding! Detected that surrounding rules differ from the Material Plane. Refining details...]
很快,一层新的世界特性页面被刷新出来: [1. Normal gravity, normal time, infinite space: The protruding hells extend infinitely outward, but the circumference of each layer leading to the deeper pits and adjacent lower layers is finite.
4. Divine Form: An entity must be at least minor deity rank or above to alter the Nine Hells. Ordinary beings perceive the Nine Hells as mutable, similar to the Material Plane.
5. No elemental or energy traits: The influence of elements and energy is balanced.
6. Slight Law alignment and slight Evil alignment: Chaotic and Good aligned beings will suffer rule-based penalties here. Additionally, they are more likely to provoke attacks from devils, while Lawful Evil aligned beings receive a slight enhancement!]
"Hmm! It truly is Hell — the domain of devils!"
Leilin took a deep breath, feeling as though he had merged with the entirety of Hell itself. He had once devoured the archdevil
Or perhaps it wasn't an illusion at all — his very essence was remarkably compatible with the rules of Hell. This was the place that would bear his ambitions, the launching point from which he would take flight!
"A[Demigod]already possesses the ability for planar travel. I could return to the Material Plane right now if I wished... but since I've come to Hell..."
Leilin stroked his chin. "The Bankes Empire is isolated overseas in any case — it won't be easily affected. I can still manage my followers and divine magic from here. I had been planning a trip to Hell anyway; now is the perfect time to take care of what needs doing..."
The Nine-Layered Baator!
This place perfectly fulfilled the traveler's imagination, the treasure hunter's greed, and the paladin's righteous fury. It was the ultimate plane of Law and Evil, embodying the cruelty of premeditation and treachery.
This was home to every variety of devil, including barbazu, cornugons, succubi, kytons, hamatula, osyluths, pit fiends, and countless other devils of every rank within the hierarchy, all settled here. And the permanent residents, apart from the devils themselves, included hell cats, hell hounds, imps, chain devils, nightmares, fiendish beasts, and even humans!
The devils of the Nine Hells adhered far more closely to order. The majority would employ any scheme or action, no matter how evil, to achieve promotion.
"The Nine-Layered Baator, the Infinite Abyss, and the Eternal Underworld together form the lower planes of the gods' world..."
A prerequisite for becoming a wizard was broad learning, and thanks to Beelzebub's memories as well as his own interests, Leilin's familiarity with information about this place even surpassed that of the Celestial Plane.
"Baator consists of nine layers — the place where souls fall into damnation. There is also a theory that it once belonged to the Infinite Abyss and separated from it on its own, forming these nine layers... Its nominal supreme ruler is
The records of Hell flashed through Leilin's mind in an instant.
In truth, although Asmodeus was known as the[Lord of the Nine Hells], the only layer truly under his control was the ninth — Nessus, a plain strewn with canyons deeper than the deepest ocean trenches. His control over the other eight layers was extremely limited.
According to legend, Asmodeus's status originated from the Blood War. To coordinate the entire devil host, numerous archdevils and pit fiends, along with the most powerful layer lords, had all gathered together. Through a series of schemes and machinations, Asmodeus had secured the position of alliance leader.
In Leilin's estimation, the title[Lord of the Nine Hells]was rather limited — beyond Nessus, he held little influence over the other layers. Several of the archdevils were essentially on equal footing with Asmodeus. Of course, Asmodeus would never admit this, and had always hoped that through his own efforts, he could make this title truly deserved.
As the most powerful archdevil, he did indeed possess incomparable strength, not at all inferior even among deities of Greater Divinity.
Over the past few millennia, his influence within the Nine Hells had been steadily expanding. He genuinely harbored both the ambition and the capability to unite all of Baator under his rule!
In particular, after the mysterious disappearance of Beelzebub, the lord of the second layer —
Naturally, the other six lords would not approve of such actions, and so through a series of conspiracies and lingering apprehension over whether Beelzebub might still be alive, the overall situation in Hell maintained a delicate balance. Until Leilin — this butterfly — no, at the very least a tyrannosaurus-level disruptor arrived, certain to add even more variables to the equation!
"All of Baator has eight lords. The first layer is a public zone, also the front line of the Blood War. There are even several divine realms situated there — for example, the goblin deity Kurtulmak and the faith of the sahuagin shark-people —
"The second layer of Hell is Dis, which I know well — the domain of that archdevil Beelzebub. It may very well be hiding in some corner, slumbering..."
Having devoured the majority of Beelzebub's divinity and divine power, the severely wounded archdevil was certainly still in the process of slow recovery. There was even a possibility of full restoration — after all, he was a devil who had once ruled an entire plane and enjoyed the favor of Hell's consciousness. His treasured holdings must have been extraordinarily rich.
And Leilin's goal was, naturally, to completely devour him and inherit everything he possessed!
"The third layer of Hell is a mire of filth and sludge called Minauros, ruled by the archdevil
"The fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth layers each have their own lords, and then there's the Lord of the Nine Hells himself, Asmodeus, presiding over the ninth..."
Leilin counted on his fingers. "These eight archdevils, plus the true deities and pit fiends residing on the first layer, Avernus — together they should represent the absolute pinnacle of the Nine-Layered Baator..."
These beings represented not only formidable power, but also terrifying networks of influence and countless schemes and conspiracies. Those who survived and built their reputations within the Nine Hells were obviously no simple characters.
Yet the more dangerous it was, the hotter Leilin's ambition burned.
"I truly want... I truly want to kill every last one of them..."
Facing ever more powerful enemies and unimaginable difficulties, Leilin had never once given in to despair or considered surrender. On the contrary, these challenges only served to fuel his fighting spirit and confidence, as he quietly accumulated strength, preparing to ultimately sweep一切 aside!