【 THE SCHEME OF THE SEVEN LORDS OF HELL 】

—

Boundless darkness shrouded the sky, deep and desolate.

From time to time, silvery lightning tore through the firmament, twisting and weaving like venomous serpents. It pierced the heavy clouds and scattered faint, pallid flashes of light.

The lightning illuminated the towering, unfathomable castle down below, making the hideous and terrifying demonic statues on it appear lifelike. Their crimson eyes seemed to come alive underneath the glow of lightning.

This was a black castle standing atop a mountain.

Its spires rose sharply upward, thrusting into the sea of thunderclouds, as though reaching straight for the heavens.

At the very summit, within a grand hall atop a gothic spire, wherein dark red flames burned and countless bizarre demon statues served as decorations, a towering figure sat upon a throne. He wore black, gleaming, ferocious armor, and his face was hidden beneath a spiked, fully enclosed helm.

Two dark crimson flames burned upon the visor of his helmet.

They were his eyes.

His presence was ancient and vast, like an endless abyss, instilling instinctive fear in every being that faced him.

He tapped the armrest of his throne, the flames in his eye sockets flickering incessantly, as his gaze swept across several other imposing figures seated around a long table before him.

At last, his eyes settled upon a monstrous being with an octopus-like head, clad in dark-blue scaled armor and wearing a crown.

The dignified voice of the towering figure echoed throughout the grand hall.

“Leviathan, I require an explanation on why you destroyed the dimensional passageway that we painstakingly prepared.”

Hearing this, Leviathan slowly turned his gaze toward him, his expression remaining calm.

“Helel, the Goddess of Life has already discovered that passageway we established on Seigües.”

“If I had not been able to destroy it in time, then our plans would likely have been exposed to her.”

Helel.

This towering armored figure was none other than Helel, the foremost of the Seven Lords of Hell, the First Demon Lord who ruled over the Seventh Layer of Hell.

He was the strongest amongst all Abyssal Mythical Demons, his power having reached the pinnacle of greater divine power. He governed over the Divinity of Arrogance, Fear, and Malevolence.

Aside from the other Demon Lords of Hell, no Abyssal Myth would dare to act presumptuously in his presence.

“Hmph. Leviathan, if you wished to preserve your strength, you could have said so outright. Why bother making excuses?” another imposing voice rang out, explosive in tone, like a lit powder keg.

The speaker was a demon with a serpent’s head and a humanoid body. Three pairs of enormous black bat wings spread from his back, and a long serpent tail trailed behind him.

He was Samael, the Second Demon Lord, whose incarnation had been destroyed by Evé in the past. He too is one of the three Demons among the Seven Lords of Hell who possessed greater divine power.

A terrifying existence second only to Helel and the Fifth Demon Lord, Leviathan.

Leviathan glanced at him and sneered coldly.

“Samael, you, a mere Demon Lord who was beaten back into the Abyss by a weaker divine power has no qualification to criticize me.”

“You!”

Samael flew into a rage.

“Enough!” Helel thundered.

Overwhelming pressure surged outward. A flicker of concealed apprehension passed through the eyes of the other two Demon Lords.

They snorted coldly and fell silent.

Beside them, three more figures with terrifying auras cast their gazes forward, some indifferent, some mocking, others filled with amusement.

They were the remaining three Demon Lords of Hell.

They were Mammon, the Third Demon Lord who ruled over the Fifth Layer of Hell, Belial, the Fourth Demon Lord who ruled over the Fourth Layer, and Beelzebub, the Sixth Demon Lord who ruled over the Second Layer of Hell.

Although their strength was inferior to that of the three Demon Lords with greater divine power, they had nevertheless reached the pinnacle of intermediate divine power.

Beside these assembled Demon Lords, there was one lone empty seat, belonging to the absent Seventh Demon Lord, Azazel.

Seeing that the two Demon Lords had ceased their quarrel, Helel withdrew his aura.

His gaze swept around the hall once more before stopping on Leviathan.

“Leviathan, continue.”

Leviathan looked at him and spoke without expression.

“I have reason to believe that the Goddess of Life already knows of our impending large-scale invasion of the Seigües World. Not only that, she has very likely also learned that we have a means of creating a passageway capable of allowing Mythical-rank beings to pass through.”

“For that reason, I destroyed that passageway at the third underground layer the instant I sensed something wrong.”

“Gentlemen, your armies are moving too slowly, and the gathering of Abyssal Mythical beings is also far too sluggish.”

“The Goddess of Life is exceptionally powerful. The Abyssal Myth stationed near that passageway are no match for her. As for the Wasteland of Desolation, that world has only sunk into the Abyss for fifteen hundred Seigües years. Therefore, the number of demons there is still limited.”

“If the Goddess of Life were to gain control of that passageway, the situation would become troublesome. I trust that everyone present has heard of her Elven Chosen Legion.”

A Seigües year refers to a single year in the Seigües World.

It is the standard unit of time used throughout the universe in Seigües.

However, space and time are distorted within the Abyss and except for the Seven Layers of Hell, whose flow of time matches that of the upper realms, the temporal flow of all realms sinking into the Abyss becomes chaotic before they are fully absorbed. It may accelerate or slow unpredictably, only stabilizing once the realm completely merges with the Abyss.

The sign of complete assimilation is that the cosmic sky cannot be seen anywhere within that world.

For this reason, when measuring time in the Abyss, the Demon Lords tend to rely on the calendar of the Seigües World.

Upon hearing Leviathan mention the Goddess of Life’s Chosen Legion, several of the six Demon Lords present visibly sharpened their gazes.

Samael, however, let out a cold laugh.

“Nonsense. The Goddess of Life is nothing more than a god of weaker divine power. The other true gods cannot descend in their true forms, so are you telling me that the Abyssal Myth you have gathered cannot contend with a mere single weaker divine power?”

“If I recall correctly, you recruited that Fallen Angel Luria, the Queen of Pain Alissa, the Unicorn Duke Anduria, and the Devourer Hagnit. None of them were weak Abyssal Myth.”

Leviathan snorted coldly as well.

“Samael, that is precisely what I was about to address.”

“If it were not for you, you bastard, insisting that the Goddess of Life possessed only weaker divine power, I would have personally stationed myself at the Wasteland of Desolation long ago. How could I have relied on nothing more than an incarnation?”

“The Goddess of Life is not a weaker divine power at all. Her strength now ranks at intermediate divine power.”

“Luria? Alissa? Hagnit? Tch. They have all gone missing. Most likely, they have either fallen at the Goddess of Life’s hands or have once again been sealed away by her somewhere.”

Upon hearing Leviathan’s words, Samael’s pupils visibly contracted.

“Impossible! How long has it even been since she attained godhood? Less than ten years? You’re telling me she has already reached intermediate divine power in just that short span?”

He blurted out in disbelief.

“And more than that…”

Leviathan cast him a cold glance and continued in a low voice,

“According to my perception, she has also mastered some means of traversing through time and space, thereby allowing her to travel directly between the Abyss and the Prime Material Realm. Samael, do you know why that is?”

Samael’s gaze hardened, as though he had realized something.

His expression grew increasingly grim.

“The Gate of Reversal…”

He ground the words out through clenched teeth.

“The Gate of Reversal? Samael, has the Gate of Reversal fallen into the Goddess of Life’s hands?”

Helel turned his gaze toward him.

His expression remained calm, but his voice carried a trace of displeasure.

Samael’s expression shifted several times before he finally snorted and said, “This was my oversight. At worst, after the war is over, I will simply choose my share of spoils last.”

“Hehehe. Samael, if that is the case, then in the end there may only be the Sea of Death and the Extreme Northern Icefields left for you.”

From the side, the Third Demon Lord, Mammon, spoke with ill-concealed schadenfreude.

“No, Mammon. It could also be the Dark Mountains. Samael likes black so much, do you not think the Dark Mountains suit him perfectly?”

The Fourth Demon Lord, Belial, added mockingly.

“Do not say that. Lord Samael is the great Second Demon Lord, a terrifying existence of greater divine power. How could he possibly like such barren places? I think it would be better to give him the Third Layer of the Underground Region.”

Even the Sixth Demon Lord, Beelzebub, joined in, fanning the flames.

“Watch your status. You three pieces of trash! Do not think that I cannot deal with you just because you hide your true bodies deep within your respective hell layers! If you want to provoke a war with me, then say it outright.”

Samael roared in fury.

“Enough! Silence.”

Helel shouted sharply.

His aura swept across the hall once more.

The Demon Lords snorted coldly and turned their faces away.

As the favored children of the Abyss, these immortal Demon Lords were able to fused with the Seven Layers of Hell, even if there were differences in strength, they felt at most wariness toward one another, not fear.

This was because they were almost incapable of killing one another.

Moreover, as Demon Lords, every one of them found the others intolerable. In ordinary times, they frequently launched wars against each other’s territories.

That they could sit together now to discuss matters without coming to blows was already nothing short of a miracle.

Seeing that the Demon Lords had quieted down, Helel exhaled softly and said,

“Everyone, regardless of how we quarrel or oppose one another in ordinary times, at this critical juncture, I hope we can unite for the time being.”

“The Realm of Seigües is about to be unsealed, and its many dimensional passageways are loosening one after another. For us Demons, this is a once in a thousand years opportunity.”

“The gods are temporarily unable to descend from the Heavenly Realm in their true bodies. Only we can use the power of the Abyss to pry open these passageways and send in Evil Mythical beings and demon armies at almost no cost.”

“This is the best possible moment for us to launch our war on Seigües.”

“At present, the Seigües World has only the Goddess of Life as a god in her true body. Once she falls, there will no longer be anything in Seigües capable of stopping us.”

After hearing Helel’s words, the rest of the Demon Lords’ eyes flickered, their interest clearly stirred.

“However, in our original plan, the Goddess of Life was merely a weaker divine power. Now she is not only an intermediate divine power, but also possesses the divine artifact known as the Gate of Reversal, which allows her to travel anywhere. Moreover, the World of Seigües could only accommodate those at the demigod-rank strength. How, then, are we to kill her?”

“Not to mention that the gods are not entirely unable to send down their own envoys or incarnation. The cost may be higher, but it is still feasible. Furthermore, what if the Goddess of Life hands the Gate of Reversal over to the gods?”

“And if the gods descend their entire army of Einherjars into Seigües, our subsequent operations will become extremely difficult.”

“I have also heard that the Goddess of Life has already warned the various factions across Seigües. By now, the gods likely know as well that we are about to launch a large-scale invasion.”

The Demon Lord Mammon asked with a frown.

At his words, the other Demon Lords also turned their gazes toward Helel, who sat at the head of the table.

Helel’s expression remained calm.

He tapped the armrest of his throne and spoke in a deep voice:

“There is no need to worry about the gods’ armies.”

As he spoke, his gaze flicked toward the empty seat beside the table.

“Azazel has been silent for a long time. He has most likely been completely sealed away somewhere. Since he cannot participate, let one of his subordinates take his place instead.”

“The First Layer of Hell, along with Azazel’s subordinates, will be sufficient enough to entangle the majority of the gods’ Einherjar armies.”

“Beyond that, each of you need only secure your own respective layers.”

“And as for the Goddess of Life…”

“I intend to introduce a new friend to you all, one who will assist us in opposing her.”

A new friend?

Several of the Demon Lords were momentarily taken aback.

At that very moment, the doors of the grand hall slowly opened. Accompanied by the steady tapping of a walking staff, a stooped figure clad in gray-black robes entered the Demon Lords’ field of vision.

“…It’s you?”

Seeing the hooded figure enter the hall, Leviathan, who frequently descended to the Prime Material Realm through his incarnation to spread faith, narrowed his eyes.

The hunched figure in gray-black robes came to a halt.

He turned his gaze toward Leviathan, and an aged yet gentle voice echoed through the hall.

“Your Excellency Leviathan, it has been a long time. Your aura seems to have changed considerably. It would appear that your control over the power of faith has become far more refined.”

Leviathan narrowed his eyes and let out a derisive laugh.

“You have not changed much at all. It seems that, in the end, the gods of the Heavenly Realm still did not stand on your side.”

“What, then? Are you planning to abandon your approach toward the Heavenly Realm and instead throw yourself into the embrace of our Abyss? Do not forget, we were once old time enemies.”

The stooped figure smiled faintly.

“I merely seek cooperation. At present, my interests do not truly conflict with yours. Moreover, since Primordial Death did not choose me, whatever bond existed between us was already severed at the moment of its fall.”

After speaking, he turned his gaze toward the other Demon Lords.

“Gentlemen.”

“I have just heard your discussion.”

“First, I can assure you of one thing. There is no need to worry about the Goddess of Life aligning herself with the gods of the Heavenly Realm.”

“In truth, she is deeply wary of them. In essence, she has only one true ally, Hela, whom at most joined by the Platinum Dragon King Reinhardt of the dragon race.”

“In fact, the God of War is at odds with her.”

“Even the Eternal Lord likely harbors displeasure toward her due to the expansion of her faith.”

“I have a plan that can lure the Goddess of Life out, after which we can take the opportunity to seal her, or even kill her outright.”

“However, it will require the assistance of Your Excellency Leviathan.”

A glimmer flashed through Leviathan’s eyes.

“What are you trying to say?”

The hunched figure smiled and continued,

“Your Excellency Leviathan, if I am not mistaken, you sealed a certain realm a thousand years ago, and intend to secretly expand it into your own domain of faith.”

Leviathan narrowed his eyes, and his aura grew dangerous.

“How do you know about that?”

The hooded figure chuckled cheerfully.

“How I know is not important. What matters is that I wish to borrow that realm for the time being.”

“More precisely, I wish to make use of those beings living within it whom you have yet to subjugate.”

〘 PREVIOUS 〙

〘 NEXT 〙

— —

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep