Chapter 130: Hell is Perilous, but the Human World is Even More Treacherous
“What are you two doing?”
In base number three, the Thousand-Eyed Demon scolded Wayne and Geoff angrily. While he wasn’t paying attention, his two most promising subordinates had almost gotten into a brawl. He had raised them to bite other people, not at each other’s throats!
Loyalty didn’t equate to unity. As a demon, the Thousand-Eyed Demon was well aware of that fact. Hell might be perilous, but the human world was even more treacherous. The fact applied everywhere.
He didn’t mediate between the two hungry dogs or make them shake hands and reconcile. It wasn’t about maintaining balance; he just couldn’t be bothered with that. He only needed his underlings to behave until the plan succeeded. Afterward, the two were welcome to bite each other however they wanted. He wouldn’t care even if one of them killed the other. In fact, he would applaud the spectacle.
Such was the ruthlessness of a demon.
Wayne kept his eyes lowered and stood obediently. Geoff, likewise, didn’t dare to breathe even a little louder. Only after the Thousand-Eyed Demon left did they exchange a glare.
This isn’t over! Geoff’s glare said.
Wayne responded wordlessly, So? It’s not too late to apologize now. Don’t force me to make you kneel and beg.
Geoff opened a portal and left. Wayne glanced at the alchemy circle. The hellish mouth had gotten its fill and was now fast asleep, even snoring. The flesh was transmuted, and the corpse fiend was taking initial form.
“How sinister!”
Wayne left through a portal. After the busy night, he quickly hurried home to remove his makeup so that he could take Kristen to school.
A certain fictional Wayne was able to mingle with socialites during the day and hold fan meetings at night, sleeping only one hour and still remaining energetic, but he couldn’t manage that, oh no. He got drowsy in the car and dozed off in the end, his head resting heavily on Kristen’s shoulder.
The black luxury sedan stopped at the school gate. Veryl glanced at the rearview mirror and didn’t say anything. Kristen wanted to wake the dead weight on her shoulder, but ultimately couldn’t bring herself to do it.
Fine, let him sleep five more minutes.
Two hours later, Wayne opened his eyes and slapped his forehead. “Sorry, Kristen. I’ve been too busy these past few days and haven’t gotten much rest.”
Then he chided, “Veryl, why didn’t you wake me? Because of me, Kristen’s late to school.”
Well done, keep it up next time!
“Do you have to go out every night, Wayne?” Kristen asked curiously.
“Well, someone was following you before,” Wayne answered smoothly. “I’m worried, so I’ve been investigating the matter.”
Kristen felt a bloom of warmth in her chest. He had been escorting her to and from school these past few days, and at night, he was running around for her sake, to the point that he didn’t get enough sleep.
“Thank—”
“Don’t mention it. I don’t have a lot of friends, so this is only right.”
“Still, thank you. Remember to rest at night and don’t wear yourself out. I’ve already asked the Church of Moonlight to help look into those stalkers.” Kristen smiled gently, smoothing out the wrinkled fabric on her shoulder before opening the door and leaving.
“Let’s go, Veryl. I need to catch up on sleep.”
“Understood.”
Veryl didn’t say anything about his master’s juggling of three relationships. His master wasn’t disloyal since he was fully devoted to only liking women. In high society, it was a rare and noble enough quality.
***
Windsor Library, that night.
Windsor Library was the largest library in Londan and one of the largest academic libraries in the Chosen Land, with a collection of over a hundred million volumes. It was truly an ocean of knowledge.
Wayne, covered from head to toe in black, infiltrated the place according to the markings on the map and reached the top floor, where the special collections were stored. Someone was waiting for him—glasses, red lips, black stockings, short skirt, high heels, and brown curls. Who else could it be but Mona?
“Why are you here?” he asked with displeasure. He caught her scent while climbing the stairs. The clergywoman wore less and less fabric while her perfume became more and more enticing. She had clearly bought plenty of new clothes and cosmetics in the past few days.
Would the church reimburse her through the official account?
“Master, I came to help you draw the magic circle. I’ll handle the dirty work.”
And if you do all the work, what am I supposed to do? Wayne rolled his eyes, suspecting this to be the church’s doing. Putting himself in their shoes, if he encountered a free spy who worked for nothing, he would squeeze them dry, too.
Mona took his black backpack voluntarily and fished out the pack of bat blood, crouching down to start drawing on the floor. She had a provocative backside; no wonder those lecherous men were salivating after her.
Wayne glanced at her before saying, “I told you that last night was our final meeting. If you can’t even listen to your master’s order, how am I going to trust your loyalty?”
“Master, I brought updates from the church.”
“Speak.”
“I hypothesized that the inverted pentagram would form a formation, and the church’s official believes its purpose to be to open the gates of hell...”
Mona explained everything while drawing the magic circle. The inverted pentagram was self-explanatory. The symbol was related to the hellish faiths. The five types of blood the Thousand-Eyed Demon required were bat blood, snake blood, bull blood, crow blood, and goat blood, which would correspond to Pride, Envy, Sloth, Greed, and Lust among the Seven Demon Lords.
“It’s not difficult to collect these five types of blood. Even an ordinary person could manage. If the gates of hell were so easy to open, demons would be everywhere by now.” Wayne spoke derisively despite the rising tension in his body. “The church’s higher-ups are nothing special. I’ll tell Master that those useless people aren’t worth worrying about.”
“You’re right, Master, but if the one presiding over the circle is a demon who has already descended, everything changes.” Mona stood up and took a map out of her bosom storage, showing it to Wayne. “Look, Master. When the demon stands in the center of the inverted pentagram, he will sense hell’s existence. At the same time, the demon’s main body in hell will respond. When two identical minds come together, the seal on hell will be open by a crack temporarily.”
Wayne looked at her storage—at the map. The text and the stick figures explained everything in detail.
He didn’t know that Gunther had interpreted his dismissal of Mona as dissatisfaction, so, to keep their ‘ally’ on their side and to extract more value from him, Gunther had offered more information through Mona.
“So this will open the gates of hell and allow actual demons to descend to the mortal realm?” Wayne muttered. What kind of seal was that? Its quality was too poor. Wasn’t it intentional?
“It will open the gateway, but a demon’s main body cannot descend,” Mona said seriously.
Then what’s the point?!
Wayne rolled his eyes. “My master’s true self can’t descend before opening the gateway, and after opening it, he still can’t. Then isn’t the effort pointless?”
“Though the demon’s main body cannot descend, he can bring part of his territory in hell to the human world.”
...Right. That ruined ancient city is the Thousand-Eyed Demon’s territory.
Mona continued with a grave expression, “According to the official, that is only the first step of the demon’s plan. The demon will corrupt the human world through his territory to ensure the spread of his faith. The process will be irreversible. Even Gold-rank mages will suffer mental confusion from being exposed to the demon’s territory for too long and eventually become the demon’s slaves.”
“As faith in the demon grows stronger, the demon’s power will increase accordingly. Combined with his newly acquired body, his thoughts will rise in strength infinitely, approaching his peak in hell...”
“Then, the demon will hold territories both in hell and the human world. With both forces pushing each other to greater heights, the demon will become stronger than ever, able to challenge higher-ranking demon lords...”
“Similarly, with his power transferring from hell to the human world, the demon will be able to conquer all of Windsor and eventually the entire Chosen Land with Londan as the starting point.”
Mona described the church official’s speculation and expressed the urgency of the matter. They hoped that Bruce would work harder, sacrificing himself fearlessly to collect more information.
After her explanation, she looked at Bruce with admiration. The mysterious senior undercover agent was making greater sacrifices than she had imagined. Thinking of how she had misunderstood him made her flush with shame.
Why the hell are you blushing?!
And stop overthinking it. A scum doesn’t have such a noble character.
Wayne knew exactly what the church was plotting, and his response was simple: no way!
He had done everything within his capabilities and couldn’t possibly continue sacrificing himself. Even demons knew to offer benefits when tricking people into giving their lives, yet the church, which claimed to be on the righteous side, was utterly stingy. They pontificated about nothing but moral platitudes, too lazy to even make empty promises.
That’s not how you do business!
His initial dealings with the church left him with a lackluster impression. By comparison, the Free Mage Alliance’s image in his mind improved considerably.
“I understand the situation. The intelligence you brought from the church is important. Work hard from now on, and you’ll be rewarded accordingly.” Wayne dusted his pants and told Mona to keep drawing the magic circle, making sure to hide it afterward.
That night, the two of them wandered through Londan’s streets and alleys, completing the preparations at the five marked locations.
It was another sleepless night. When the dawn broke, Wayne tried to retrieve his thoughts from Mona’s mind to sever his ties with the church, but no good. The church’s official seemed to have anticipated the reaction and added another layer of sealing, locking what he had left inside her.
So good people deserve to have guns pointed at them?!
He raged, ready to turn to the dark side and claim the beauty in retaliation, but he still had his bottom line; he settled for giving Mona’s behind a slap, considering it a slap to the church.
***
September twenty-first, early morning.
Great Cemetery, Western District.
The Thousand-Eyed Demon stood in the thick fog and gazed at the dense yet lonesome forest of tombstones, growing impatient. The Death Knight was acting too high and mighty, requiring him to issue a request to meet through the knight’s subordinate first. It sickened him as an ally.
“Thousand-Eyed Demon, you’re early.”
No, you’re late!
The Thousand-Eyed Demon smothered a huff, turning to face the Death Knight, who arrived riding his undead warhorse. “Knight, change of plan. The Church of Heavenly Father has been capturing and interrogating hell worshippers these past few days. They must know something. I’ve decided to accelerate our plan. Tomorrow night, we’ll act.”
So suddenly? Could this be your real plan?
Black mist surged from Wayne’s skull as he spoke with displeasure, “We agreed on one month, and you’re just going to bring things up without consulting me? Do you even consider me an ally?”
He scoffed. “If you hadn’t made such a ruckus the past few days and attracted the church’s attention, they wouldn’t have started such large-scale arrests.”
“This isn’t the time to point fingers,” said the demon. “Tomorrow night, I’ll launch a full assault on Saint Paul’s Cathedral. You keep an eye on the Life Alliance and don’t let them interfere. After the success, we’ll eliminate the Life Alliance together. You’re free to deal with the followers of the three goddesses as you see fit. You may establish the second underground catacombs in Londan, and Death’s faith will surely see an explosive growth.”
The previous Death Knight might have been swayed by the grand prospect the demon illustrated, but Wayne felt nothing. He made a bemused sound and said, “Fine, but I still want to retain half the authority over the army of magical creatures. Also, when we eliminate the Life Alliance, you’ll play the villain.”
When have I ever been the good guy? The Thousand-Eyed Demon snorted. Then he realized the catch and asked, “What’s your plan, Knight? I’ll eliminate the Life Alliance’s main force while you play the good guy to gain their trust?”
“That’s none of your concern. I have my plans.”
Everyone had a plan, and everyone had ideas. The Thousand-Eyed Demon suddenly found the Death Knight much more agreeable. He was clever, but not much. While he claimed not to trust demons, he couldn’t resist the temptation.
“I look forward to it, Knight. How are you going to replace the faith of the Life Alliance with Death? I hope you won’t disappoint me.”
“We shall see...”
That moment will never come!
Both were thinking the same thing, and both of them broke into loud cackles.
***
Noon on September twenty-first was exceptionally hot. The sky was clear without a single cloud, and even the sea breeze sweeping the ports was scorching hot from the sunlight.
At base number three, deep underground in the ancient city, the red-lipped mouth opened wide, crying that it was hungry and demanding its mother to feed it quickly. Mona suppressed her disgust, not wanting to deal with the abomination. Seeing Wayne beckoning to her from the couch, she sighed in relief and hurried over.
Worried that the Thousand-Eyed Demon was monitoring them, she sat down on Wayne’s lap, leaning close and coquettishly calling him ‘master’ with a face that said she was hungry in a different way.
(一`´一)
I called you over to pour me tea. Who told you to sit on me? You’re not observant at all. Don’t you know that your master stays away from women?
Veryl never misunderstands me! Also, have some tea yourself and stop touching me.
Wayne slapped her hand away from his collar, speaking irritably, “I told you that you were on your own two days ago. Deal with your own problems.”
He had received information Mona brought from the church. They wouldn’t wait until early morning, but strike before the Thousand-Eyed Demon made his move.
He had never passed along any information related to the Death Knight. There was another reason the church had predicted the demon’s change of plan. That also proved that the demon had always planned to act on the twenty-second; he had been lying to his ally from the beginning.
Understandable. After all, he was a demon and trusted no one but himself.
Wayne calculated the time. The church’s main force would arrive at any moment. At this critical juncture, there was no need to continue acting. He casually tossed Mona onto the other sofa.
“Get changed. The white robe you put on when you transformed last time works.”
Mona nodded, taking her cross pendant out and muttering under her breath to begin her transformation.
Her strength before and after the transformation was incomparable. With the buff, all of her attributes were enhanced. Aside from the long casting time making it easy for the villains to interrupt her, there was no downside to the skill.
Once she changed into the white robe of the church’s tactical unit, Mona became much more reserved, afraid that continuing to sit on her master’s lap would defile the sacred uniform she wore.
Wayne conjured water with a wave so that she could wash away her thick makeup. He had thought that removing the aura of a fallen woman would reduce the temptation of the uniform, but it only became more enticing when she recovered her dignified appearance.
He couldn’t bear to look at her any longer. Having been too intimate with her recently, he couldn’t help but see her in an indecent light.
“What’s wrong, Master? Is there a problem?”
Noting his strange expression, Mona looked at herself and spun in place.
The church’s uniform design is problematic!
Wayne was about to comment when his expression suddenly turned serious. He gave Mona a pointed look.
They’re here!