【 WAR PREPARATIONS 】

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Evé smiled faintly as she looked at the two Abyssal Myth standing before her.

In stark contrast, the expressions of the two demons grew increasingly grim.

With a furious roar, Diriel erupted in blazing flames from head to toe.

“Eve! Don’t even think of learning any of the Abyss’s secrets from us!”

Seeing the obstinate, almost desperate look on the bull-headed demon’s face, Evé could not help but feel, for a fleeting moment, as though she were the villain in this confrontation.

As if sensing her brief distraction, the two Abyssal Myth exchanged a glance. In the next instant, they roared in unison, their abyssal divine power surging violently as they charged straight toward her, intent on striking with everything they had.

Evé, however, merely raised her eyes and looked at them calmly. She remained utterly unshaken by the terrifying power unleashed by the two demons, despite it being a force that nearly surpassed the limits the world of Seigües could withstand.

“Seal.”

Hagnit and Diriel heard her speak softly.

An irresistible, overwhelming might surged in from all directions. In that single instant, the two Abyssal Myth felt as though the entire world itself had pressed down upon them.

Their bodies rapidly grew sluggish and rigid.

At this moment, every surrounding law of reality seemed to have turned against them.

Horror flooded their faces as they sensed the laws of the universe rejecting them with profound hostility.

That rejection spread swiftly across their forms. Before their terrified eyes, their abyssal divine power was stripped away layer by layer, completely sealed, leaving behind only an empty, suffocating void where their strength had once been.

They lost all control over their bodies.

With a dull thud, both fell to their knees.

“Tell me, what exactly is Leviathan plotting?”

Evé spoke again.

Her voice, unlike before, was now utterly devoid of warmth.

She gently rose from the Triumphal Arch Gate, the gentle holy light gathering around her form further accentuating her flawless beauty.

The faint smile that had once rested on her lips had completely vanished. In its place was an expression of cold indifference.

That indifference, paired with her ethereal, tranquil voice, made her appear no longer as the gentle and approachable Goddess of Life, but rather as a majestic, emotionless sovereign gazing down upon all existence.

As the two Abyssal Myth looked at the true god standing upon the Arch Gate, gazing down at them, they could not stop their bodies from trembling.

Both of them possessed strength ranking only at the weaker divine power.

Moreover, demons were already at a natural disadvantage when facing gods of the same rank due to the fundamental differences between their respective domains. Now, with Evé using the Gate of Reversal to project the overwhelming pressure of her true body, any remaining confidence they possessed was completely crushed, leaving them utterly overwhelmed.

Within their minds, a single thought roared incessantly:

Intermediate divine power!

“This is absolutely not an ordinary god with intermediate divine power!”

“Damn it, when did she become this powerful?!”

“Is she truly just an elf who inherited the World Tree’s divinity?!”

Although Hagnit and Diriel possessed only weak divine power, both had previously worked closely with Leviathan, the Fifth Demon Lord who ruled over the Third Layer of Hell.

He was a demon lord who stood at the upper divine power rank, a being whose name alone inspired fear throughout Hell and whose strength was acknowledged even among other demon lords.

Yet at this very moment, as they faced the Goddess of Life before them, they saw a similar shadow overlapping her presence, faint yet unmistakable.

Although her aura was still clearly inferior to Leviathan’s in sheer magnitude, the absolute control over her governing laws was already visible. That oppressive sense of authority, the same kind displayed when an upper divine power existence deployed their domain, had begun to take shape around her.

Without a doubt, this Goddess of Life had likely already reached the peak of intermediate divine power, standing only a single step away from breaking into the rank of upper divine power.

This realization plunged the two Abyssal Demons into ever deeper terror, a fear so profound that it bordered on despair.

When faced with such an existence, their fate was almost already decided.

—Either face annihilation, or be sealed.

Even so, after their expressions shifted repeatedly, the two demons ultimately clenched their teeth, refusing to speak anything that might jeopardize any of their plans.

Looking down at the two tight-lipped Abyssal Myth, whose divine power had been completely sealed and left them utterly reduced to captives at her feet, Evé frowned slightly.

One could never expect loyalty from these demons, since for beings like them, being backstabbed—as Luria typically does—was the norm.

Besides, she had already displayed her absolute strength, yet these two Abyssal demons still remained so stubborn.

This situation made Evé feel more and more as if she were the true villain here.

However, as the suppressive power of the laws within her domain continued on, Evé soon discovered a clue.

“Hm, looks like you two were bound by a mythical binding covenant, one that forbids you from ever revealing any secrets…”

She murmured softly, her gaze fixed on the two demons, whose expressions shifted constantly under her silent, probing interrogation.

Gently shaking her head, Eve summoned the roots of her true body and wrapped them around the two.

When Hagnit and Diriel saw the vast, boundless roots of the World Tree and sensed the concealed aura imbued within them, their eyes widened instantly.

“T-This aura—!”

“Y-you… you are…”

Their voices trembled, faltering as the oppressive power of the roots pressed upon them.

Evé did not allow them to finish speaking.

With a subtle motion, she completely sealed all of their faculties, rendering them utterly powerless.

This was the one drawback of revealing the World Tree’s true body. Once she uses her true body’s divine power, its aura could no longer be fully concealed.

Fortunately, as long as she refrained from using her true body and relied solely on her incarnation and divine projections, Evé could still shift back to her prior aura which she had maintained before fully fusing with the World Tree.

This was the foundation in which allowed her to continue disguising her real identity.

Evé bound the two Abyssal Myth tightly, then skillfully dragged them into the Gate of Reversal.

The demons under Azazel were still far too weak, lacking the strength to withstand the players’ repeated onslaughts.

These Abyssal Myths, however, were a far more satisfying. Much like the three Mythical Evil Gods she had captured previously, they possessed the strength that made them truly formidable.

Among them, the fallen angel Luria and the Queen of Pain, Alissa, had even found the leisure to sabotage each other while fighting the players.

Although this was partly forced by the game mechanics imposed by Azazel, it also reflected how composed the two of them still were despite their situation.

As for the Unicorn Duke Anduria, who was even more simple minded than Uller, he possessed traits similar to those of Abyssal demon lords.

His recovery ability was astonishing. Even after being knocked down by the players again and again, he still remained resilient.

Of course, Evé also understood that this was because those three Mythical Evil Gods had not been in the Labyrinth Dungeon for very long.

If enough time passed, it was entirely possible that they too would eventually collapse from overwork, just as Azazel himself had suffered in the past.

Still, a Mythical being was a Mythical being.

Their resilience and capacity to recover, far exceeded that of Legendary-rank beings.

Besides, if one were not enough, then capture two more. If two still proved insufficient, then three. Capture a few more, throw them all into the Labyrinth Dungeon, and just let Azazel manage them, nourishing them with the Abyssal power he siphoned from the Abyss.

All of these demons were excellent candidates for dungeon bosses, so it would be a shame to simply devour them.

…Hm?

—Wait a moment.

She had clearly intended from the beginning to consume the divine power of these demons and evil gods…

So how had it gradually turned into her capturing them all and raising them like pets instead?

Evé paused briefly, her brow furrowing as she considered the unexpected shift in her mindset.

But soon, she shook her head.

No, no. This was not her raising them as pets!

Rather, it was more akin to a long-term investment, a way to secure a constant reserve of divine power that could be drawn upon when needed.

Good grief, I’m starting to resemble an evil god more and more…

Evé thought with an exasperated shake of her head.

༺⟐༻

At the same time, inside the Demon Lord Labyrinth Dungeon.

Azazel sat leisurely on his throne, munching on melon seeds, while keeping a watchful eye on Luria and Alissa as they fled in panic, their frantic movements captured within the monitoring crystal ball before him.

“Yeah, run, you two bastards. Run faster! Hehehe, never expected you’d experience a day like this, eh? Heh, serves you right.”

A series of cold chuckles escaped him, each filled with malicious satisfaction and a hint of cruel amusement.

He leaned back, savoring the scene, his eyes glinting with delight.

Suddenly, a foreboding sensation ran through his chest. His heart stirred uneasily, and he quickly turned toward the great hall, where a golden light flashed, followed by a black gate shimmering into existence.

Then, a familiar aura spread outward, causing Azazel to shudder involuntarily, which made the melon seeds in his hand drop to the floor.

He was about to stand up and greet the owner of the gate, but the beautiful yet terrifying figure he expected to emerge did not appear. Instead, two large figures, bound tightly like rice dumplings, were thrown unceremoniously onto the floor.

At the same time, a pleasant, composed female voice drifted through the space.

“Azazel, I have brought you two new employees.”

“Next time, do not use the excuse of demon kings dying to brush off the issue of insufficient bosses. Otherwise, you would have to do their job yourself.”

The terrifying aura slowly dissipated, leaving only the bound forms of the two demons before him.

Azazel let out a relieved breath.

After spending half a minute to regain his composure, he finally studied the two “rice dumplings” before him, meeting their wide, dazed eyes.

“L-Lord Azazel?”

Azazel narrowed his eyes, examining their withered, flickering auras, and then raised a single brow in mild amusement.

“So it was you two who got captured this time, eh? What, you also fell into Yggdrasill’s hands?”

“Heh heh heh, my fellow comrades, relax, do not be afraid. It’s all good, you’ll like it here! Heh heh heh. Welcome to the Demon Lord’s Labyrinth Dungeon!”

He laughed in a low, coaxing manner, much like a human trafficker luring hapless children.

At this moment, Azazel suddenly felt that this Labyrinth Dungeon imprisoning him was becoming more and more fun.

༺⟐༻

After tossing the two Abyssal Myths to Azazel, Evé shifted her attention back to the dimensional passageway in the third underground layer.

This passageway was similar to the one in Mirovia, likewise sealed beneath an array formation.

The difference, however, was that the passageway within Mirovia was unstable and allowed only Silver-rank beings to pass, whereas this one was clearly reinforced by divine power and could barely accommodate the entry of Mythical-rank beings.

Eve’s figure flickered as she moved to absorb the divine power upon it and seize control of the passageway.

Yet, at the very moment she touched the sealing formation, the divine power upon it suddenly began to violently combust.

In that instant, Evé seemed to sense a vast, terrifying, and evil presence that locked onto her from the cosmic void.

That presence had savage and frenzied feel to it, much like a tyrannical monarch gazing down upon all beneath the heavens.

It was extremely powerful to boot and confronting it rashly head on would likely expose her real identity.

This thought flashed through Eve’s mind in an instant.

Her expression hardened, and she immediately withdrew from the array formation. As she retreated, the entire formation erupted in blinding radiance.

A violent explosion followed as the entire surrounding underground region began to collapse. Countless caverns shattered, rocks rained down, and searing magma surged up from the depths, with flames scattering as everything was swallowed whole.

Sensing the chaotic and violent demonic energy, Evé frowned slightly and pressed her hand downward.

With her action, the trembling of the ground gradually ceased, and the flowing magma slowly settled.

Before long, the entire third underground region returned back to its former calmness.

However, the terrain had been completely transformed, which left it utterly unrecognizable.

At the same time, Evé also discovered that the dimensional passageway connecting to the Abyss had already been destroyed.

“How decisive… to think he would actually blow up the passageway without a second thought.”

“That entity felt much stronger than me. It should be someone at the upper divine rank… Could it be Leviathan?”

“Based on the direction from which I sensed that aura, Leviathan isn’t in Hell. Rather, he seems to be in that dark world where the Frost Elves had previously taken refuge. If that is the case, then the powerful presence I sensed when Cypher entered that world must have been him…”

“Unsealing evil gods, opening a passageway here in the third underground layer, and constructing a demonic fortress…”

“Could Leviathan also be planning to invade the world of Seigües?”

Thoughts raced through Evé’s mind, branching into several possible scenarios and conjectures.

At this moment, she felt a twinge of regret for having eliminated all those demons in the fortress so swiftly. Had even a few survived, she could have delved into their memories, uncovering crucial information about Leviathan’s plans and intentions.

Unlike creatures of the Prime Material Realm, aside from certain special demons and demon kings whose strength surpassed the Legendary-rank, most demons’ souls perished along with their bodies.

Once they were killed, their secrets were lost as well.

Originally, Evé had thought that with those two Abyssal Myth present, it did not matter if the lesser ranked demons were eliminated.

She had not expected, however, that those two Abyssal Myth would be bound by a covenant, thereby making it impossible for her to extract any information from them.

“Perhaps Luria knows what Leviathan is planning?”

This thought crossed Evé’s mind.

But she quickly shook her head.

If her judgment was correct, then Luria was likely bound by the same covenant as well. Otherwise, with his penchant for betrayal, that scheming fallen angel would not have revealed only the coordinates of this passageway to her.

By now, Evé also roughly understood why Luria had told her the coordinate of this location in the first place.

Leviathan had probably also found some leverage against him…

By doing so, that scammer angel intended to pit her against Leviathan. So no matter who emerged victorious in the end, it would ultimately benefit him.

“I should send some players to further investigate that dark world. The Crusade is about to begin, and there must be no mishaps before it starts.”

Evé muttered to herself.

However, just as she finalized her plan, she suddenly sensed several faint evil auras emerging in the distance.

Her heart stirred, and she cast her gaze toward them, seeing several demons carrying slabs of meat.

They stared in stunned silence at the completely transformed landscape before them, and the meat in their hands fell to the ground with a clatter.

If Hagnit were still present, he would have recognized them as the demons he had dispatched to search for food.

“Heh, what remarkable luck.”

Evé let out a soft laugh, and her figure flickered as she appeared beside these demons.

The demons froze for a moment at the sight of the beautiful figure that had appeared before them.

In the next instant, their minds went blank as Evé invaded their souls, forcibly breaking through the binding covenant within their minds that safeguarded their deepest secrets.

After a minute or two of careful probing, she barely managed to glimpse several vivid and terrifying scenes.

An abyssal mother nest, endlessly producing demons and evil entities in ceaseless succession…

Vast, organized demonic armies undergoing rigorous training…

One fortress after another being built across the sunken realms within the Abyss…

And standing before these demonic legions, a towering figure cloaked in black, his beard writhing much like living tentacles…

This leading figure resembled a monstrous being with an octopus-like head, clad in dark-blue scales, which radiated an aura both vast and overwhelmingly oppressive.

This image matched the many ancient legends Evé had studied beforehand.

In an instant, she realized who this figure was.

It was the Fifth Demon Lord, ruler of the Third Layer of Hell—ranked fifth yet second only to the First Demon Lord in strength—a being of higher divine rank, the Storm Sea God, the Abyssal Mythical Demon: Leviathan.

Evé’s gaze grew solemn.

At this moment, only a single thought remained within her mind:

The Demons…

—were also preparing for the Crusade.

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