The Magic Empire for 20,000 years

Chapter 290 The Lord of Hell and the Alliance of the Dark Gods

In the deepest part of the Nine Hells, on the ninth level, lies Nessus.

Deep red, spiraling downwards to the bottom of the Snake Coil Canyon.

Inside a magnificent yet desolate and somber castle.

An elegant, ruddy-skinned humanoid creature with horns on its head sat on a throne. It wore a fine robe and simple yet elegant clothing, and held a magnificent ruby ​​scepter. A shocking wound was visible on its skin, from which blood slowly flowed, as if it were a wound that would never heal.

—Asmodeus, Lord of Hell!
At this moment, the Demon King was looking at the two documents that were slowly appearing on the table, a smile playing on his lips.

Those were documents submitted by Grand Duke Zariel and Governor-General Bel.

—A request to cooperate with Eldoron!
"Zariel, the lord of the first level of Hell, and his lieutenant Bel simultaneously requested cooperation..."

"They are clearly two great devils who are at odds with each other, yet they both want to bypass the other and cooperate with the same target..."

"Hehe, that's quite interesting..."

Asmodeus smiled meaningfully, said nothing, and tapped his ruby ​​scepter lightly on the table.

Two parchment reply documents materialized on the table:

"Grand Duke Zariel, I have approved your request for limited cooperation with Eldoron..."

"Overseer Bell, based on your request, I grant you the authority to bypass your superior, Zariel, and negotiate cooperation with Eldoron..."

He approved the cooperation requests from both of the great devils!

Looking at the two reply documents, Asmodeus's smile deepened. The lord of hell waved his hand, causing the parchment on the table to vanish in a black whirlwind that smelled of sulfur.

Then, the Lord of Hell turned his head and looked back into the darkness deep within the empty hall:
"You messengers have come to see me again..."

"You still want me to join you?"

In the deep darkness, several strangely shaped monster figures emerged one after another.

There are mind flayers with octopus-like heads, enormous beholders known as the "Mother's Eye," and undead clad in armor with pale flames burning in their eyes...

"Honorable Lord of Hell, King of All Demons,"

"We, representing the [Alliance of the Dark Gods], salute you!"

The Mind Flayer at the forefront knelt on one knee and gave the Lord of Hell a most respectful bow:
"The allied forces of the Dark Gods have already gathered in the 6th layer of the Abyss, the [Kingdom of Ten Thousand Eyes]!"

"We earnestly request your participation."

“We know that you were once an angel of the gods, a hero who helped them fight against endless demons, but were banished to the deepest part of hell after the war at dawn.”

“The wounds inflicted on you by those arrogant and haughty gods have yet to heal.”

"This is your chance to take revenge on the celestial realm in the upper plane and reclaim everything!"

The Lord of Hell leaned back on his throne, looking down at the messengers below with an expression neither sad nor happy:
"Your goal is Avandor in the untamed wilderness of the upper planes, the divine kingdom of the Sidrian gods (the Elven pantheon)?"

The enormous, deformed eye demon, "The Eye of the Nest Mother," opened its blood-red maw and exclaimed excitedly:
"Destroying the strongest pantheon of the celestial realm is only the first target of the Dark Gods Alliance."

"The Grand Mistress and her other allies will sooner or later ignite war throughout the entire upper plane!"

The Mind Flayer couldn't wait to say:
"Now, many powerful beings who are dissatisfied with the benevolent gods of the higher planes have joined us."

"Including three powerful gods: the orc god Gruush, the bewitching goddess Grand Mistress, and the god of death Naraku."

"If you are added to the alliance, Lord of Hell, the alliance will have four beings with powerful divine strength."

Seeing that Asmodeus remained unmoved, the Mind Flayer continued:
"Moreover, we are striving to welcome the return of the One who created us Mind Flayers from a distant dimension beyond the universe..."

"As long as the plan succeeds, the master will be able to break through the dimensional barrier in some form and descend into the real universe!"

"Master of the Nine Hells, I dare to guarantee that our master's power will far exceed your imagination!"

On his throne, the Lord of Hell shrugged, lost in thought.
"Starting with the defeat of the Sidrian gods of Avandor, the strongest pantheon, will the war eventually spread to the entire upper plane?"

"Your plan is indeed quite interesting. Rather than simply making an enemy of the Sidrian pantheon, such a grand plan certainly interests me more..."

"In that case, I can indeed consider cooperating with you..."

Upon seeing that the Lord of Hell had finally agreed, the undead, clad in ancient armor and with pale flames burning in his eyes, knelt down, overjoyed.
"Great."

"I will immediately and secretly report to my lord—Naraku, who controls death—that the Lord of Hell is willing to cooperate."

On his throne, Asmodeus crossed his arms over his chest, and a faint smile suddenly appeared on his crimson face:

"Cooperation is indeed possible."

"It's just..."

"After all, I am a devil who values ​​contracts, so..."

The Lord of Hell's smile deepened:

"Please convey this message to the Dark Gods Alliance, which is now gathered on the sixth level of the Abyss."

"Before we begin any formal collaboration, I hope we can discuss and finalize the details of our [contract]..."

…………

Asmodeus waved his hand, sending off the messengers from the so-called "Alliance of the Dark Gods".

He walked out of his magnificent yet desolate, vast but almost deserted castle.

This evil god, holding a ruby ​​scepter, stood alone at the deepest part of the rotating Serpent Coil Canyon, standing on the land.

Feel the barely perceptible pulse beneath the earth.

Thump thump.

That was the sound of a heart beating.

Some kind of creature slumbers in the darkness of this deepest, most hellish canyon, a place coiled like a serpent in crimson crimson. It's like…

A snake.

A very, very large snake, stretching for who knows how many miles.

The Lord of Hell felt the pulse emanating from his "true form" and slightly raised his head.

"Everyone believes that I am either the king of the devil or an archangel who was once banished by the gods of heaven..."

"Just like they thought you were just an ordinary feathered serpent god..."

The Lord of Hell looked up at the sky.

His profound gaze pierced the crimson sky of the ninth level of hell, "Nessus," and penetrated every level of hell from the "Endless Ice Plains" to the "Burning City" to the "War Plains," traversing layer after layer of planes until he reached the upper plane—the realm of the gods in the heavens.

His gaze completely ignored the elven pantheon holding a banquet in the divine kingdom of Avandor, and he didn't even glance at the elven chief god Corellon, who was hailed as the "strongest god of the Great Wheel"...

We arrived at the glorious Seven Hills Paradise Mountain.

The voice of the Lord of Hell pierced through the barriers between every plane:

"Even you, hidden in the celestial realm, should have sensed it by now,"

"More than 30 years ago, unusual ripples appeared in the flow of time..."

"And those mind flayers, who also claim to come from the future, have fragmented memories and cannot clearly depict the future..."

"

“My dear 'friend'…”

…………

On the radiant, holy mountain of Paradise.

The feathered serpent, covered in blood, nearly dead, and unimaginably enormous, suddenly opened its eyes, a flicker of fear flashing in its pure pupils:
"Even here, I can still feel his gaze..."

"The evil serpent is reviving faster and faster in the nine levels of hell..."

…………

Meanwhile, in the first layer of the Bottomless Abyss, in the [Plains of Ten Thousand Abysses] Pazunia.

In this desolate wasteland ravaged by scorching winds, near the devil's camp, in a secluded valley, Elian was negotiating the details of a collaboration with two great devils.

On the easternmost side of the canyon.

Elion is demonstrating the Iron Golem's combat capabilities to the Demon Grand Duke, Zariel, the first level of Hell.

The steel golem, wielding a giant sword forged from "Abyssal Blood Steel," leaped high into the air and cleaved the massive rock in two with a single stroke.

At the same time, the illusion projected the process of forging various weapons and armor from molten iron within the Iron Lake base:

"Grand Duke Zariel, Eldoron's ability to forge military equipment is beyond question."

"If we can reach a cooperation agreement, the demon legion of hell will have a stable supply of weapons and armor, as well as these powerful construct war machines."

"Our military factories will become the reserve force in the endless bloody battle against the demons of the abyss..."

Zariel, accompanied by a few trusted men, watched Elion's demonstration and nodded slightly.
"not bad."

"I hope we can have a pleasant collaboration..."

As he watched the weapons being forged continuously on the projection screen, the flames above Zariel's head suddenly blazed even brighter with a "bang".

The Daughter of Destruction curled her lips into a frenzied, battle-hungry smile, as if she could already see the sight of these weapons being deployed against the hellish demon legions.

……

On the other side of the winding canyon.

The demon overseer Bell sat at the table, watching as the human mage in front of him handed him a detailed draft of the "Non-Aggression and Limited Military Cooperation Treaty".

The devil, Bell, carefully reviewed the terms and was satisfied with the core requirement of "reducing casualties":

"No problem, that's fine."

"Asmodeus, the Lord of Hell, has granted me the authority to temporarily represent the demon legion from Hell and reach a cooperation agreement with you..."

"Once the agreement is signed, even if Lord Zariel wants to fight again, he won't have to listen to her anymore..."

After carefully checking each clause, Bell's eyes showed a hint of disappointment, but at the same time he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

The other party is an expert; as expected, they didn't dare let us, the devils, provide the contract. Instead, they drafted the contract terms themselves and then had us review them...

It's a little bit of a shame I couldn't pull off a scam...

But it doesn't matter anyway...

At least, we won't have to fight this mysterious and powerful force that practically controls the [Ten Thousand Abyss Plains], which will reduce many unnecessary casualties...

……

After the negotiations were completed, both Zaril and Bell were eager to sign the final agreement.

They each took their trusted followers and headed to Elian's temporary camp.

Then, outside Elian's camp outside the canyon...

The two teams, one belonging to Zaril and the other to Bale, have clashed head-on!
"Bell? You dared to contact them behind my back!"

"Lord Zariel, aren't you the same?"

(End of this chapter)