Chapter 26: Subduing the High-Level Devil!
Flos was feeling very miserable now.
As a devil, even if he was a high-level devil, he had to learn to obey the orders of his superiors. So when he received the task of spreading disease near the Spearwind Hills, Flos felt unwell. This operation was a plan by the higher-ups of the Hell of Bartok, aimed at weakening the power of the Material Plane, ideally causing the priests of the gods’ church to be overwhelmed. The task location was assigned from above, and Flos felt he must not have submitted enough souls during this time, which was why he was sent somewhere like the Spearwind Hills.
This place was not terrifying.
But what was terrifying was the deity that governed this area!
God of Shadows – Soren!
He was a famous godslayer in the multiverse, first killing the God of the Hunt – Mara, and then slaying the Lord of Shadows. The name of this being had long spread throughout the Hell of Bartok; how could Flos possibly be unaware of his existence? So when he learned that the task location was within this lord’s realm of faith, Flos became somewhat depressed. However, the rules of the Hell of Bartok dictated that some tasks were unavoidable, so after thinking for a while, Flos decided to avoid other places in the Spearwind Hills and just casually kill some mortals in a corner to collect souls and appease his superior in Hell.
But!
What Flos never expected was that Soren even noticed such trivial actions and caught him on the spot.
As a supreme deity, Soren had one thing that set him apart from other gods.
That was, other gods had existed for a long time and had long since become indifferent to the lives and deaths of mortals, seeing them more like mere numbers.
But Soren was different.
He had not been godly for long, and his education made him value the lives of civilians more than the other gods.
If it were another god’s church, learning that everyone in a village had died would typically only lead to sending an internal congregation to check it out. Even the good-aligned gods wouldn’t act otherwise; for instance, the Lord of Radiance, representing Lawful Good, wouldn’t mobilize greatly just because all the mortals in a village had died. However, it was completely different for Soren. Upon learning that all the mortals in a village had perished, he contemplated and decided to come personally.
Flos’s tragedy lay in this point.
He believed that a deity as exalted as Soren wouldn’t care about the lives and deaths of a few hundred mortals, let alone personally solve such problems.
But reality dealt him a ruthless blow.
Soren not only took this matter very seriously but even personally came to check it out.
And then.
Then, without a doubt, Flos knelt on the spot.
Under such circumstances, what else could he do if he didn’t kneel? He was facing a being with medium divine power and a famously notorious godslayer, who raised a hand to seal his escape spells with divine power, while a very formidable high priest stood beside him. Flos had no chance of winning at all; any hesitation could lead to Soren killing him on the spot!
Although Soren was a deity of the Evil Faction.
He still couldn’t remain indifferent to the innocent deaths of several hundred civilians in his domain of faith. If the abyssal sorcerer before him did not kneel on the spot, Soren might consider directly killing him. However, since this abyssal sorcerer was so compliant, he had other uses for him.
The abyssal sorcerer, though a devil of the Hell of Bartok, had genes originating from the Bottomless Abyss.
The Tanar’ri demons and the Baatezu devils, although opposing each other, originally stemmed from the same source: the Abyss Worm.
The Abyss Worm is one of the essential currencies of the lower planes!
Evil spirits loved to herd, shepherd, and sell these Abyss Worms, and both devils of the Hell of Bartok and demons of the Bottomless Abyss could evolve corresponding low-level demons and low-level devils from these worms.
The birth of the abyssal sorcerer came from part of the demon genes of the Balroth Demon! (Note: only Balroth Demon, not Balroth Fire Demon.)
“Tell me your true name!”
Soren’s figure vanished from his spot and instantly appeared before the abyssal sorcerer, coldly stating, “Establish a vow of the River of Underworld, and tell me everything you know.”
“I will spare your life!”
A high-level abyssal sorcerer has many uses because such beings are often direct subordinates of certain archdevils in the Hell of Bartok. These high-level devils generally possess a certain degree of freedom, and what Soren needed to do was strip him of that freedom and turn him into his own servant. This is something all evil gods excel at, as whether their divine kingdoms are in the Hell of Bartok or the Bottomless Abyss, they like to gather a group of high-level demons and devils as their subordinates.
In the Divine Kingdom of the God of Fear, there are numerous demons serving as residents and servants.
Faced with the medium divine power of Soren, Flos had no choice at all. So he straightforwardly told Soren his true name and let Soren brand his soul with the mark of the evil god.
Now he was doomed!
Once the mark of the evil god is sown, it is difficult to remove unless it’s a lord of Hell – Asmothiels’s level; otherwise, no other archdevils can lift Soren’s evil god mark.
Because he is a medium divine power evil god.
Just like Soren could never erase the soul mark that the Succubus Queen left on the Fallen Witch – Corinna, such power related to the soul is the hardest to remove, and even gods can sometimes do nothing.
“You stay here and purify this land.”
After leaving the mark of the evil god, Soren turned to the high priest and said, “Let the Tribunal of the church pay attention to the movements of the devils, and don’t let the plague spread to the Spearwind Hills.”
After saying this, Soren turned to the abyssal sorcerer Flos and said, “You will go with me to Modo.”
“I have an important task for you.”
“As long as you can complete it well, I will not hesitate to reward you, and I may even grant you a portion of divine power. Allowing you to gain due power and status in my divine kingdom.”
“But!”
“If you dare to be slick and perfunctory with me, I also wouldn’t mind extracting your soul for a good study!”
At this point, Soren’s voice turned cold.
Dealing with devils is actually quite simple.
Creatures of the Lawful Evil Faction all have codes of conduct; when dealing with devils, one must always remember one point: it must be ‘intimidation and temptation’!
Power and strength are what they desire.
The Hell of Bartok has a strict hierarchy; devils find promotion harder than demons. What Soren needed to do was promise enough benefits to him, then make sure he understood the consequences of disobedience.
Devils are quite clever.
And generally, clever people know how they should choose in such situations!
………………
(PS: First update. There will be another update today.) (To be continued ~^~)
