"They are indeed golems from the Nether Arcane era, though they appear to be replicas…"
Linley lurked in the shadows, observing the grand confrontation unfolding in the plaza.
With the advantage of
In the end, Linley even followed directly behind the Abyssal Devils, using the path they carved to break through the golem blockade across the plaza.
It was just that… after the high-ranking devils had been all but wiped out, even the Abyssal Devils were finally suffering casualties…
Linley glanced at the surviving Abyssal Devils and silently shook his head.
Under the frenzied assault of the golem army, even with high-ranking devils drawing fire for their superiors, several unlucky stragglers had fallen behind and become encircled by golems.
And given the nature of devils, expecting them to turn back and rescue their companions was nothing short of a fantasy!
And so, those Abyssal Devils could only tragically be overwhelmed by the golems, ultimately falling into Beelzebub's trap.
Among the Abyssal Devils who had fallen, there were even members of the original Eight Demon Generals!
The mansion of a Hell Lord — even when out of control and devoid of its master — was not something these Abyssal Devils could casually covet.
Yet upon arriving here, the faces of the many Abyssal Devils still blazed with the light of ambition.
A towering devil statue stood before them — its fleshy wings tattered, multiple eyes staring outward, and eerie six-fingered hands. Its mouth stretched from ear to ear, bristling with densely packed fangs arranged in irregular patterns.
"The statue of the Lord of
Zaphan's eyes gleamed as he stared greedily at the small cluster of palace buildings beyond the statue.
The architecture here bore the unmistakable devilish style — twisted and terrifying in form, adorned with strange and intricate inscriptions. Tiny hellfires burned upon them ceaselessly, as though they would persist until the end of the world.
The private palace of a Hell Lord — according to rumor, besides the Display Gallery, this place also held vast quantities of that Lord's hidden wealth, and most importantly, crucial clues…
The breathing of the many Abyssal Devils grew heavy at once. They even began distancing themselves from one another — and the Eight Demon Generals were no exception.
After all, wasn't the reason they had risked coming here nothing other than the inheritance of a Hell Lord?
And only one could wield the power of Gluttony and obtain authority over the Hell's origin — a single Lord!
Every devil that came here was a competitor! Former colleagues could not be trusted at all.
The deep-devil cultivators exchanged glances, and suddenly, as if hearing some unspoken signal, they all lunged into the palace behind the statue. Raging flames and wicked devilish powers clashed without restraint.
Their earlier cooperation had been solely to reach this place together, and once that goal was achieved, the devils launched into unhesitating infighting — or perhaps it wasn't truly infighting, since they had never been a unified group to begin with.
"Get out of the way... this belongs to me!"
"Chibos! I won't forget you!"
"Damn it, all of you just wait before the Blood War!"
Before the great throne of the Hell Lord, these devils had gone completely mad with greed. Every trick and method was employed — it almost felt like they had learned a thing or two from demons.
Rayne had no intention of getting involved in their petty brawl. After all, he could clearly sense that Beilusabab was not here.
Honestly, if the lord had been gravely injured, he certainly would not have chosen to recuperate in his own lair. That would practically be inviting enemies to come knocking at his door.
Given the treacherous nature of devil subordinates, Beilusabab would be even less likely to make such a choice.
"In the lord's bedchamber, at most there would be some treasures and collectibles — not even as valuable as what I've already gathered... but this statue..."
While lurking in the shadows, Rayne placed his palm on the devil statue of Beilusabab, feeling the texture and temperature of its surface. Within his eyes, the light of the Chip flickered continuously.
"The material is a rare mineral found only in Hell, capable of maintaining a constant temperature for eternity..."
"The Chip's scan shows no anomalies whatsoever!"
A sharp gleam flickered in Rayne's eyes. "However... the one who carved this devil statue must have been a grandmaster-level artist. They even captured the subject's spirit and essence, imbued it with a thread of understanding regarding the Rule of Gluttony..."
The gods of the Divine World, and the Rule Wizards of the
After reaching the Demigod stage, Rayne's true form now bore partial imprints of the Rules of Slaughter and Devouring.
Devils, of course, possessed their own rule-based power, and Beilusabab was the embodiment of the primal desire of Gluttony!
Its true form represented the external manifestation of the Rule of Gluttony. Any wizard who observed its physical body might gain insight into the power of Gluttony.
Precisely because of this, the true form of a devil and the name of its Rule were both forbidden secrets that the Church needed to eradicate!
"To think this statue could leave behind even a sliver of insight into the power of Gluttony — it qualifies as a genuine treasure... but something feels off, as though there's still a difference..."
Just as he was about to delve into a deeper examination, his brows twitched. His already-concealed figure grew even more ethereal, masking every trace of his aura.
At the corner of his eye, a furtive figure had also arrived in the area and was steadily creeping closer to the bedchamber.
Although the intruder had employed a [Greater Invisibility] spell, and the glow of numerous enchanted items shimmered around its body, it could not escape Rayne's [True Sight] — before a deity, nothing remained hidden.
"Barzephan! Your little feigned death was quite the performance, wasn't it?"
Rayne recognized the sneaking figure in an instant.
Indeed! The devil drawing ever closer was none other than one of the Eight Demon Generals who had supposedly perished in the Hall of Gluttony — Barzephan, the very one who had led Rayne into this place first!
Such clandestine behavior amounted to outright betrayal, so it had not hesitated to fake its death, thereby avoiding interrogation and being cornered.
And because its act had been so convincing, the other deep-hell pit fiends had turned their full attention to tracking down Beilusabab and seizing its pristine power of Gluttony along with its Hellish authority — allowing Barzephan to succeed in its ruse, deceiving every deep-hell pit fiend present except Rayne.
Moreover, it had chosen to do exactly what Rayne was doing: secretly tailing the group and letting those deep-hell pit fiends serve as the vanguard to trigger any traps. The only reason it had fallen behind Rayne was that its concealment skills were not quite good enough for it to risk drawing too close.
"These deep-hell pit fiends each carry the will of their respective Hell Lords behind them — surely they ought to turn up something..."
Rayne had no particular comment on this little episode. Instead, he watched the bedchamber with eager anticipation.
Devils understood devils better than anyone else. With several other Hell Lords at work, they should be able to uncover some trace of Beilusabab.
And the moment any discovery was made, which of the devils present could possibly outcompete him?
"They found it!"
At that very moment, an exclamation of surprised delight rang out, drawing the attention of most of the deep-hell pit fiends.
A tremendous spatial fluctuation descended. Whatever mechanism the pit fiends inside had activated, it caused the phantom of a demi-plane to slowly materialize — one that even Rayne had not detected before.
Blazing, brilliant columns of light erupted around the bedchamber, forming a mysterious magical array pattern, and in doing so revealed a translucent entrance.
"That Hell Lord must be inside the demi-plane!"
At this moment, every single pit fiend had gone red-eyed, charging frantically toward the planar entrance that had just revealed itself.
"Mine! It's all mine!"
Even Balzeffen had dropped its disguise by now, lunging toward the demi-plane with reckless abandon — yet not a single pit fiend bothered to stop it.
Their attention had been entirely consumed by the authority of the Hell Lord.
Only the Eight Demon Generals and a scant handful of others managed to cry out in alarm.
"Hiding it well... secretly constructing a demi-plane all this time..."
Golden divine light flickered, and a blood-red Killing Domain materialized from thin air, blasting numerous pit fiends backward.
A god suddenly appeared before the assembled devils — clad in a white-gold robe, with a strikingly handsome face that radiated supreme authority, every part of his being perfect beyond measure.
Upon spotting his target, Rayne struck without hesitation, and the effect was something Balzeffen could never have matched in a thousand years.
"Divine power! It's a god! A god has infiltrated this place!"
"A demigod! It's only a demigod! If we could seize its divine essence..."
In an instant, Rayne found himself surrounded by the greedy stares of countless devils.
"Hmph!"
He responded with nothing but a contemptuous snort. Vast divine power coalesced into a psychic storm that swept in all directions.
"Stop it! How can we let a god lay hands on what belongs to Hell?"
Under the shared threat of a god, the devils displayed a rare moment of unity, breaking through the constraints of his divine power and domain to give chase after Rayne.
However, at that very moment, an eerie smile surfaced on Rayne's face.
He turned his head and roared at Balzeffen: "Balzeffen! My subordinate! I command you — stop these enemies at any cost! In the name of your superior!!!"
"You must be joking! Do you think you're
A mocking grin spread across Balzeffen's face — but it quickly froze into a mask of shock.
Under the binding force of the contract, it involuntarily stopped, positioning itself in front of the other Abyssal Fire Demons. Its massive fiery longsword slashed directly toward them.
"Damn it! This is the power of the contract! When did I—?!"
Balzeffen wanted to weep at this moment, but the strict hierarchical restriction forced him to frantically intercept the Abyssal Fire Demons.
Unfortunately, facing the siege of numerous same-rank powerhouses, he exhausted all his abilities but could only delay them for a brief moment before being torn to shreds by the swarm of devils.
But that was enough!