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Expansion
It wasn’t just the archdevils watching the changes in Baator. High up in the skies, Mystra looked away.
“What a pity… if the archdevils of hell were more united, this would definitely cause a huge blow to the God of Massacre…”
“Wanting those sly devils to work together is like wanting them to abide by the rules…” The God of Justice Tyr spoke up at the side. Due to the nature of his domain, he felt no goodwill towards these evil beings.
“That’s true!” Mystra laughed wryly. She obviously knew what the devils were like. Every second was spent hating on their superiors, as well as scheming to obtain greater status.
Things would’ve been alright if Asmodeus wasn’t injured, and with his prestige he would have been able to construct a joint army, however he’d been smashed back into the depths of Nessus when he was trying to stop the divine kingdom from descending. This injury arose from going against a sea of origin force, and even Asmodeus would have to spend a long time recovering.
Would Leylin let a chance like this slip by? Worry was evident in Mystra’s eyes.
“He’s now unstoppable,” Tyr stated. His voice was full of helplessness, and he seemed to see how troubled Mystra was. “If it was just a lesser god at rank 8, we could’ve launched a holy war against him. As long as we didn’t mind the consumption of energy, we would’ve been able to knock him off his throne in a few centuries… Unfortunately…”
Mystra looked at Thultanthar that was within Leylin’s divine kingdom, knowing what Tyr was afraid of. They wouldn’t be scared off by a divine kingdom, nor by a great arcanist and a flying city. However, if the two were to be fused together, the power boost wasn’t just additive.
A flying city supported by a divine kingdom? Even the great arcanists of Netheril hadn’t considered such a thing!
On top of that, Leylin’s arcanist ranking was 35! Even in the Netheril Era he would’ve been at an unstoppable peak. He was an existence able to kill gods! Such a high-ranked arcanist and a flying city was a nightmare to all the gods.
Divine beings had enormous calculative abilities, and Mystra understood the price that had to be paid to wipe Leylin out, “Even a greater god will face destruction of their divine kingdom, and their divine force will be weakened to the limit. They’ll enter a coma, and who knows how many tens of thousands of years it will take to recover…”
For the gods, a greater god on the verge of falling was the tastiest prey. So here came the question. Which greater god would be so selfless as to give up their lives in order to exterminate Leylin?
Gods were all selfish. As long as they predicted any loss, they would immediately give up. This was why Tyr felt that Leylin was now unstoppable.
“Thankfully… Much of his power is caught up in Baator. With Asmodeus and the archdevils around, he’ll be stuck in a standoff for a long while. It wouldn’t be a wonder if it took thousands or tens of thousands of years…” Clearly deluding herself, Mystra could only let things go according to Leylin’s plans and lie low.
“In this time, we’ll definitely find a way to stop him!” Tyr expressed his approval of this plan. The battles of gods were always very long, and there was nothing strange about them taking millennia.
……
Third Hell, Minauros.
The intense battle had been going on for a long time. The devil hunters of the Giant Serpent Church had easily suppressed the devils, but the devils in turn possessed astounding numbers and numerous powerful beings. The battle was at a standstill.
The city of Jangling Hiter that hung above the marsh with chains had now been ruined. Countless kyton and devil hunter bodies were strewn all over the lands, quickly being devoured by the swamps.
The commander of the kyton legions, Lord Mammon’s most trusted subordinate Quimas, had already had his head cut off by Isabel, a prize of war for the devil hunters. Unfortunately, even with the help of a Dragon Warlock and a god’s avatars, their advance had been stonewalled.
That was because the Lord of Greed himself had descended in front of them, his serpentine lower half resting above the devil armies. Terrifying poison radiated from the trident in his hand, obstructing the path of the devil hunters.
If not for the holy light from Leylin’s avatar protecting the army, all the devil hunters would be dead by now, contaminated by toxins.
“The fires of greed shall burn you, and your souls shall fall into the marshes of corrosion…” Mammon waived the trident around, speaking a fatal curse.
“There’s too much nonsense from you!” Leylin’s avatar floated in mid-air, and a portal appeared just then.
*Rumble!* Spacetime fluctuated, and Thultanthar cast a massive shadow as it appeared overhead Minauros.
“Hss… Master of Gluttony, God of Massacre… Leave, or you shall be punished by the Lords of Baator!” Mammon stuck out his forked tongue, obviously frightened by the flying city and Leylin himself.
“Devil whose eyes are deceived by greed… have you not noticed yet?” Leylin descended from the flying city to look down on Mammon, “The reason I only come now is because I’ve reached an agreement with the remaining Lords. You,,, are to be abandoned.”
“No! No!” Mammon’s body twisted in unease. Evidently, as those lords had yet to send reinforcements after all this time, a great amount of psychological pressure and discouraging thoughts were already in his mind. Now that Leylin had uncovered them, the anxiety in his mind became more apparent.
The flying city extended the Shadow Weave, counteracting Mammon’s authority as an archdevil. Divine light invaded the area.
“We’re now on equal terms, with our main bodies against each other. The winner gets everything, while the loser shall turn into sludge!” Leylin’s main body walked down from above the flying city, looking like he had a cloak of golden light around him.
A Targaryen appeared in his eyes, hissing at Mammon. Its pupils betrayed a terrifying intent to devour its target, as if it had found prey it’d been hung up on for a long time.
……
*Rumble!* Not long after, the entirety of Baator was met with a horrifying change.
The light in Dis moved to the Third Hell of Minauros, and the first three Hells began to merge into a single body that was Leylin’s divine kingdom. Besides those immediately having faith in Leylin, the devils living in there and very much against him turned into soil. The power of evil was converted into fertiliser for his divine kingdom.
A few archdevils watched these changes from the lower Hells, fear evident in their eyes but unwilling to do anything to stop it.
None of them was a match for Leylin alone, and they didn’t have someone to band around. Asmodeus was gravely injured, his coma causing intense unrest in Baator.
However, Leylin’s divine kingdom had also reached its limit after taking over three hells in total. His divine force was at a critical point, so he halted his movements. The divine light faded, allowing the many archdevils and higher existences to heave a sigh of relief.
Within the divine kingdom, Leylin who was standing on top of the flying city was clearly thrilled. Though this operation was extremely risky, he had succeeded! From hereon, even if the other Lords were to band together and resist him, he now had the means to contend with them! He also had no need to fear other gods interfering!
[Beep! Primary body’s law of devouring is in action. Comprehension of law of greed: 100%. Divine domain condensed: Greed.] The A.I. Chip’s prompts came to view.
‘It’s actually 100%… Is it because he’s a devil and we’re essentially the same, and also that the law of greed is compatible with me?’ Leylin stroked his chin, looking to his refreshed status.
[Leylin Faulen:
Race: Human(Lesser God).
Divine Name: Kukulkan, the God of Massacre.
Alignment: Lawful Evil.
Divine Domain: Massacre, Greed.
Divine Kingdom: Avernus, Dis, Minauros(Merged)
Divine Rank: 8.
Worshippers: Natives, Devils, Adventurers, Clerics.
Worshipper Alignments: True Neutral, Neutral Evil, Lawful Evil.
Arcanist Rank: 35. Strength: 29. Agility: 29. Vitality: 29. Spirit:35. Arcane Energy: 350. Divine Force: 200(800). Status: Healthy.
Feats: Herculean Strength, Master of Knowledge, Dreamscape Vision, Epic Adaptability.
Divine Feats: Origin Force Detection, Arcane Art Amplification, Illusions.
Divine Abilities: Warp Reality, Epic Massacre]
‘No rise to my divine rank?’ Leylin closed his eyes for a long while and sighed. However, he had expected such a result. He was now already a peak lesser god, and if he were to raise his rank slightly, he would become an intermediate god!
An intermediate god in the World of Gods was akin to a rank 8 Magus, grasping multiple laws and nearly immortal. The Snake Dowager, Trial’s Eye, Nefarious Filthbird and other great existences that had their names spread far across worlds were only average. How could they have advanced so easily?
“Three levels is enough. I need to keep a certain amount of divine force in case of any surprise situations. The newly-merged planes of hell and the devils also need to be reorganised…”
Leylin looked underneath Minauros, where a few archdevils looked at the divine kingdom up ahead cautiously, eyes showing their fear.
“Let’s leave things like this for now…”
Leylin smiled, and then drew up an armistice for a hundred years to the bottom layers of hell. Those devil archdukes must be eager for that.