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Rebellion
Faulen Island.
Rafiniya had a nostalgic expression on her face as she stepped onto the dock once more. The last time she’d come here, it was to congratulate Leylin on advancing to the legendary realm. She’d then entreated him to take part in the operations of the Silverymoon Alliance in the north.
It seemed like that had happened just yesterday. However Rafiniya clearly knew that nothing was the same as before.
“There’s news, my Lady. All transport to Debanks Island has stopped.” A paladin arrived by Rafiniya’s side.
“I’ve seen them,” Rafiniya looked at Port Venus. The originally flourishing port had now become rather desolate. With the loss of the hugely important Debanks Island, a majority of the ships had left. There were only two or three boats here, a rather pitiful scene.
“They’ve pulled back their forces, did they discover something?” Rafiniya gritted her teeth, “Even if we have to find our own ships, we must hurry onwards to Debanks Island!”
*Bang!* Just at this moment, the earth suddenly shook beneath them. The skies rippled with a powerful aura and turned dark.
“What’s happening?” “Help!” The port was in an uproar.
Rafiniya looked in the direction of Debanks Island with an experienced gaze. Strong origin force undulations were spreading from that location, and faint sounds of prayer could be heard even here. Her expression grew grave, ‘Too late!’
In the next moment, origin force from ascension spread towards them. It wasn’t only from the southern seas, gods seemed to be ascending everywhere. Rafiniya’s face paled instantly in response.
……
Within the swamp, many natives had come together and knelt in prayer. “Ukekelu… Almighty Ukekelu, you are our master…” The power of faith converged into a sweeping tide, completely enveloping the sphinx.
……
A clump of murky mud suddenly spread across the grasslands, expanding to the size of several cities as sparks of golden flame began to seep out from its body.
……
*Rumble!* The tremor of origin force spread across the multiverse in a moment. Many gods turned their gazes to the prime material plane, shock clear in their eyes.
“So many demigods are ascending…” “This is a conspiracy!”
Many divine wills flowed together in the void. News of this activity even spread to the demons and devils.
Many leading existences of the World of Gods focused their attention on the prime material plane, hoping to preserve themselves or gain something from this occasion.
In the outer planes, Mystra’s avatar arrived outside a divine kingdom filled with divine light.
“Mystra, I’ve waited a long time for you to come!” Origin force roared outside the divine kingdom, congealing into an elderly warrior who had lost both his eyes.
“We have another slip-up in our plans. Elminster had stayed in hiding and not acted all this time, but now he has already begun his ascension to become a true god…” Mystra was very gloomy, “And with that demigod’s ascension, great changes have occurred in the path of fate.”
“You still care about that prophecy?” Tyr straightened his back, “In this world, only justice and fairness can be eternal.”
“The snake that will destroy the world…” Mystra’s wry smile soon grew serious again, “I have never before felt as I do now, that his footsteps are imminently drawing closer and closer…”
Tyr could not overlook the powerful premonitions of so great a god. He grew silent, and the divine kingdom nearby seemed to grow suffocated as well, “It’s not so easy to ascend to godhood. Since that person is ascending in the domain of massacre, he’ll suffer great hostility from Malar and Cyric…”
“Let’s wait and see. My premonition is far from reassuring…” Mystra looked into the distance. Her starlike eyes seemed to cut through everything, and see directly into the future.
……
The ninth level of hell, Nessus.
“Father!” The current ruler of Malbolge, the Erinyes Queen Glasya who possessed unimaginable charm, bowed in front of an old devil.
Having entered the realm of laws herself, Glasya could sense the incomprehensibly formidable power that Asmodeus possessed. In spite of the primordial contract in his hands giving him natural authority over Baator, the other Archdevils had been resisting his rule. However, his innate control could not be changed…
“I sense the undulations of Baator’s origin force…” Asmodeus took the form of a mountainous devil, his black goat horns slightly pointed and his eyes filled with immeasurably profound evil.
“A Lord of Baator is currently trying to ascend to godhood.” Asmodeus’ words made Glasya cry out in shock.
“Ascension? Who? Which devil dares to renounce…. Hmm? Don’t tell me it’s the Lord of Dis…” Glasya’s thoughts seemed to turn very quickly to the ruler of Dis. Leylin was still a mystery to her.
Of course, after many years of investigations, Leylin’s true identity was not a secret to the Lords of Baator. They had even formed a unanimous pact and set plans to invade and overturn Dis in motion. Had Leylin not left Baator to reside permanently in the prime material plane, he would perhaps have been ambushed and killed already, his authority divided up among the other lords.
“Baator was never his goal… He pursues only the everlasting radiance of godhood…” Asmodeus said with great accuracy.
Asmodeus had to thank Leylin. The demigod had been a conspicuous target to date, attracting considerable ire that let his own plots play themselves out in the shadows. Asmodeus hadn’t attracted any violence yet.
With Leylin’s ‘contributions’, Asmodeus would have been willing to spend some time crafting a devil’s form for him if he wished to completely depend on Baator in the future. He would even bestow a false reputation and glory upon him. However, all of this had now changed.
“The integration of a god and a ruler of hell will no doubt give rise to many unimaginable consequences…” A poisonous worm crawled out from Asmodeus’ beard, and was tossed into his mouth. The Archdevil’s evil eyes were filled with resolution, “We need to overthrow the Lord of Dis, and sever his ties with Baator.”
“The pit fiend Azlok is ruling over Dis in his place right now, and is quite satisfied with his current positions. Even if we use the people we placed amongst their ranks and add the power of the other Lords, it’ll still be difficult to topple his rule. Even if he isn’t a true devil,” Glasya bit down on a scarlet lip, “I need a lot more time…”
The Erinyes Queen had taken several thousands of years to seize Malbolge, accumulating a large rebel army in secret before taking advantage of the upheaval in the Second Hell to succeed. Had she not first stripped the Hag Countess of her origin force and forced her out of the realm of laws, she wasn’t likely to be the final victor.
That showed the power a Lord of Baator held over their subordinates. However, Leylin being human caused many devils to feel dissatisfied, and his rule hadn’t been too long either. It wasn’t a particularly favourable situation for him.
“No buts! Go and notify Mammon and the others. I’ll need their help to overthrow Dis. Even if we have to leave Avernus for it and give them that authority, I’m fine with it. You’ll be in charge of accepting and signing the contract,” Asmodeus flipped through his enormous tome of contracts before tearing out a piece of black parchment.
“Understood!” Glasya accepted the agreement. She saw her father’s resolution, and knew that with Asmodeus’ wisdom and foresight in addition to her decisiveness, their interests in Leylin could not be held back.
‘An existence which my father is willing to sacrifice profit to defeat, what sort of schemer is he? I really look forward to this, haha…’ Devils were a bunch of fast-moving creatures, especially when it came to the formalities of contracts.
In order to save time, Asmodeus had even directly opened up the network of authority, allowing several Lords of Baator to contact their moles in Dis.
The entirety of Dis was soon embroiled in war. Powerful explosions resounded, as armies of armed devils rushed forth to burn the Iron City. Their primary target was the official residence of the highest-ranking devils, the core of the city’s rule— the Iron Tower!
At this moment, pit fiend Azlok was surveying the scene of the city with taunting eyes.
“Mm, Dir, Modiklo and Hessas, all of you betrayed us…” Looking at his city falling into enemy hands, Azlok’s expression did not hold the slightest trace of regret and or rage. He looked at these devil rebel armies as if he was looking at a bunch of clowns.
“You lot have never tasted our master Kukulkan’s power…” Azlok turned and moved to a conference hall, where the old devil that Leylin had subdued appeared.
“Haha, all the preparations are complete. We have our people guarding all the nodes, the devil hunters are all in position!” Borke cackled, radiating primordial evil. His power caused even Azlok’s heart to skip a beat. Only Leylin with his superior power and plots could subdue such a creature.
“Very good, let’s go out and receive them! I’m impatient to see the despair on those traitors’ faces, haha…” Devils were most fond of using schemes to get rid of those more powerful than them.
“I can’t wait either!” The old devil followed behind Azlok like a butler, and they slowly left the Iron Tower.
Many great devil armies had already surrounded the region around the Iron Tower, held back by their fear of the tower’s defences. They were late in mounting their offensive.