Having traversed countless realms, can you possibly be as clever as me?

Yes, the Princess of Hell pleaded with another sinner more than once, begging for the soul of one sinner, but each time she was unsuccessful.

"...Shirley, have you ever considered that you might be able to use your influence, or your power as the Princess of Hell, to get my soul back from Valentino?"

Angel stared at Shirley for a moment, then suddenly asked...

“I can’t put everyone in the hotel in danger, and if I use violence, wouldn’t I be just like these sinners and demons?” Shirley shook her head, looking at Angel solemnly.

"But I promise I will find a way to get Angel's soul back. You just need to be patient a little longer!"

“…It’s alright, Shirley.” Angel looked at Shirley for a moment, smiled, and turned to leave.

Some time after Tsurugi returned to his hellish cathedral, a circle of black luxury cars had appeared in front of the gate, and a large group of bizarre and devilish gangsters got out of the cars.

Leading the group was a sinner demon with goat horns. He stood at the bottom of the steps in front of the church, raised his head, looked up at the dark and magnificent cathedral, and slowly grinned.

"A priest in hell? That's fucking genius," his voice was hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing against metal. "Who should we pray to? Satan?"

His underlings behind him burst into laughter.

"I heard that this guy recruited more than a thousand people in a month, which is almost as big as ours."

"Over a thousand?" The demon chuckled, pulling a cigar from his pocket. Someone immediately offered him a light.

"His thousand-plus numbers are all a bunch of good-for-nothings who couldn't make it anywhere else, so they came here looking for free wine and bread—hahahaha, salvation! Salvation in hell! Have you ever heard a funnier joke than that?"

The demons let out a mocking laugh.

"Come on, let's go inside and take a look." The goat-horned demon, a cigar dangling from his mouth, strode up the steps. "Let's teach this 'saint' a lesson—in Hell, everything needs to pay protection money. Including priests!"

He reached out, ready to push the door open, but before his hand even touched the door, the heavy obsidian door of the church slowly opened inward.

Behind the door stood Tsugumi alone, still wearing his flaxen robe, barefoot, with long, black, curly hair cascading over his shoulders, and a seven-pointed star wheel slowly rotating behind him. His face wore his usual gentle and compassionate smile, as if he had known these people would come.

"Welcome." Tsugumi stepped aside and waved her right hand towards the interior of the church. "Lost sheep, come in and have a seat."

The goat-horned demon stared at him for three seconds, then exhaled a puff of smoke and laughed.

"Wow, that's quite the air about him." He strode across the threshold, his leather shoes clicking crisply on the obsidian floor of the church.

"But buddy, your 'saintly' act might fool people elsewhere, but this is fucking hell. Do you know what's worthless in hell?"

He walked up to Tsurugi and poked Tsurugi's chest with the finger holding the cigar.

"It's this thing you're talking about—faith. In hell, it's the most worthless thing."

Dongjiang glanced down at the spot where she had been poked, then looked up again, her smile unchanged.

"If you are not here to receive the right path, then please get to the point."

"The important matter?" The goat-horned demon withdrew his hand, looked around, and examined the interior of the church—the star map on the dome, the cross with golden writing flowing on the altar, the huge mural of judgment, and then let out an ambiguous chuckle. "The important matter is that, starting today, you need to pay rent for the land beneath your feet."

"Pay rent?" Tsurugi tilted his head. "I remember this neighborhood doesn't belong to any lord."

“It wasn’t there before. Now it is.” The goat-horned demon held the cigar between his fingers, opened his arms as if embracing the entire church.

“From today onwards, you’ll have to pay—hmm, let me calculate.” He counted on his fingers, “You have over 1,100 apostles? Let’s say 1,100. Each of them pays 1,000 dollars a month in rent, so I’ll calculate it as 200,000 dollars a month for you. That’s not unreasonable, is it?”

The church was so quiet that the low hum of the seven-pointed star wheel rotating on the dome could be heard. The apostles who were wiping the pews and cleaning the candlesticks stopped what they were doing and all looked in their direction, their expressions blank and calm, as if they had not understood the meaning of this conversation.

"I have no money," Tsugumi said softly with a gentle smile.

“A shepherd who serves the Lord does not need worthless money; that is the temptation of Mammon.”

"Then use your soulstone as payment!" The goat-horned demon's eyes gleamed with greedy red light as he raised his hand, and a sinner demon with a hole in its chest was thrown up.

He was covered in wounds, or rather, he was missing limbs. He was undoubtedly an apostle of Dongjiang, and the soul stone in his chest had been removed.

"As the boss, I think these stones of yours are very valuable. Although I don't know where you got them from, they are all ours now!"

He looked at the goat-horned demon and sighed softly—a sigh devoid of anger, fear, or even a trace of offense. Instead, it contained a chilling, unfathomable aura that sent shivers down the spines of every gangster present…

"How much do you want?" Tsurugi asked directly.

"Four hundred dollars, every month," the goat-horned demon grinned.

“Four hundred soul stones.” Dongjiang repeated the number, as if confirming something.

“Yes, four hundred dollars.” The goat-horned demon grinned, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth stained yellow by cigars. “What, you think that’s too much? We can discuss it—five hundred dollars.”

“Listen, Father.” He grabbed Tsugumi’s collar and said flippantly.

"This is hell, not the human world or heaven. If you don't know your place, you'll understand why this is hell."

Dongjiang didn't laugh. He turned around, walked to the altar, and took out a black leather bag from a hidden compartment beneath it. The bag wasn't large, but it felt heavy in his hand, making a crisp, crystal-like sound as it clattered.

He walked back and handed the bag to the goat-horned demon. "Four hundred dollars," Dongjiang said calmly. "Please accept this."

The goat-horned demon froze. He took the bag, opened it a crack, and peeked inside—blue light shone through the gap, making him squint. He closed the bag, looked up at Dongjiang, his expression shifting from surprise to suspicion, and then from suspicion to wariness.

"What tricks are you playing?"

“No tricks.” Tsugumi crossed her arms, and the seven-pointed star wheel behind her slowly stopped spinning, as if to express harmlessness and gentleness.

“You want protection money? I’ll pay. Now that this neighborhood has a new owner, I should naturally abide by the rules.”

As he spoke, he made the sign of the cross on his chest and calmly and compassionately recited the scriptures.

“If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other cheek to him also. If someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him take your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to those who ask you for help, and do not turn away from those who want to borrow from you.”

"You..." The goat-horned demon stared at Dongjiang's eyes for a long time, trying to find a trace of mockery, resentment, or any expression that could explain this abnormal obedience in those abyss-like pupils.

But he found nothing; those eyes held only gentleness, calmness, and—a chilling, almost childlike tolerance.

He seems to genuinely agree with weak, ridiculous, and foolish principles!

In hell, how could someone believe such absurd doctrines?

793

Is reason—or is it when one possesses power?

Incomprehensible! But the goat-horned demon actually had an urge to turn tail and pounce on Ruda in front of this guy!

"Damn it. Freak." The goat-horned demon spat, stuffed the bag into his pocket, and strode towards the door. He stopped at the threshold, and without turning back, he said viciously.

"Next month, at the same time. Four hundred dollars. One dollar less, and you can forget about keeping this dilapidated church!!!"

The door slammed shut, the footsteps of the gangsters faded into the distance, the roar of car engines filled the air, and one after another, the black luxury cars drove away from the square. Meanwhile, many of the lurking criminals and devils spread the news far and wide.

Silence returned to the church, and what had happened there had undoubtedly spread throughout Pentagram City. What was the attitude of these sinners and demons towards Dongjiang's obedient payment of protection money?

"I thought he was so powerful. Were those thousand-plus apostles just for show? When he arrived, they didn't dare utter a word and obediently handed over their money."

"I told you long ago, these religious people are all frauds. They can fool those who are brainless, but when they encounter someone serious, they immediately chicken out."

"Heh heh, I'll go extort some money for you tomorrow too!"

The entire city of Pentagram's opinion of Dongjiang plummeted, almost immediately transforming them from a group of laughable cowards who could be bullied and insulted at will.

Taunts, sarcastic remarks, and attacks were incessant, but Tsurugi remained unfazed.

Because he's already working on getting revenge!

Slap the left cheek, then offer the right?

If he weren't cosplaying Teacher Da Ye, he would find it disgusting to say such a thing!

He never lets his revenge linger overnight!

Ten hours later, at the other end of Pentagram City, in a brightly lit disco

A gigantic, dinosaur-like demon sat in a booth. She had a face resembling a velociraptor, with a long snout, sharp teeth, and golden vertical pupils hidden in deep eye sockets. The bone plates on the top of her head tilted backward, and five gold chains of different thicknesses hung around her neck, the largest of which was adorned with a fist-sized three-dimensional skull.

Next to her was her removed fur coat, draped over the sofa armrest, and her sequined vest shimmered under the lights of the disco ball, like scales covering her body.

"So, that 'saint' handed it over? Ha, what a fucking coward!"

The Hell Lord, who controlled the underground industry in this area, mocked Tsurugi's incompetence and cowardice as he took out a Soul Stone, crushed it in front of him, and then smeared the dust on his face.

"Mmm..." Her voice became low and languid, like a giant beast whose chin had been scratched, emitting an unprecedented sound of satisfaction. "Even though you're a coward, your skills are really good!"

No matter what kind of hell it is, souls are the hard currency among demons. And although these sinful demons are crude and lack true knowledge, they can still experience such crude but direct pleasure from absorbing these soul stones.

"Big Sister Zez, why don't we just capture him and bring him back to be our 'cook'!" the goat-headed demon asked during the day, while enjoying the bliss brought by the soul stone.

"Run?" Zez scoffed. "Where can he run to? The Pride Ring is only so big, where can he run to? Besides, he paid protection money in front of so many people today. The word 'coward' is already etched on his forehead. In everyone's eyes, he's just that spineless coward who obediently paid protection money in front of Zez."

"Once we figure out where he gets his supplies, we'll 'invite' him here and have him produce these interesting stones for us forever!"

With that, Zez simply popped an entire Soul Stone into her mouth. The light from the disco ball danced on her eyelids, and the bass of the music boomed in her chest. She could feel the contents of those Soul Stones burning through her soul like alcohol!

But the difference is that the numbing and pleasure brought by alcohol is only temporary, while the pleasure of the Soul Stone seems endless.

With each chew and each swallow, a portion of the emotions sealed within the stone is released, transforming into a cold, tingling pleasure that climbs from the base of the spine to the top of the head.

Zez's breathing slowed, a sense of relaxation spreading through her body as she gradually sank into warm water. Her limbs began to feel heavy, her tail stopped tapping the table, and her fingers slid off the wine glass, dangling onto the sofa armrest.

Cold, shivering

When she suddenly awoke, all around her was deathly silent. She called out her younger brother's name, but received no response. Cursing, she tried to get up—

To her astonishment, she discovered that she was unable to stand. Her entire body was submerged in a pool of dark, murky liquid, like thick, sticky blood. Looking around, she saw that all her demon minions were enveloped in this viscous, blood-like substance.

"Damn it—" Zez cursed, but just then, a low laugh rang out, and Tsugumi slowly emerged from the black blood. Looking at the astonished Zez, she spread her hands and said mercifully...

"Ah, you are the first lord to receive my favor, you deserve praise, you deserve praise."

Trinity Kill Kill Kill: 518. Time to start singing, theme song: Crucified

"Damn it, you charlatan, do you want to start a war?!"

Zez cursed Tsurugi. How could she not realize that she had been tricked at this point?

"It would be no challenge to wage war against you. This entire circle of demons, apart from Alastor and Rosie, oh, and also Zaisi, can be wiped out in a single blow in my eyes."

Tsugumi slowly walked up to Zez, admiring the disheveled state of the dinosaur demon, and picked up the Soul Stone in front of her, laughing.

"But if you want to control this entire Pride Ring, you'll have to put on a show. How about it? Don't you think these stones are quite powerful?"

"Because it contains the souls of you sinners."

Dongjiang chuckled softly, crushing the soul stone in his hand and grasping the screeching soul of the sinner. With the holy light swirling around his fingertips, the sinner's soul screamed as it steadily crumbled and destroyed itself.

"You're insane, you're a fucking lunatic!" Zez was sweating profusely, gritting his teeth.

"Although there is no way to go to heaven, it does not prevent you from being sent to the abyss of suffering. Whether you are thirsting for salvation or simply want to enjoy the Soulstone, you will eventually come into contact with it, and you will rush forward one after another, fueling the flames of turmoil."

"Go to hell!!!" Seeing Tsurugi walk to the side, Zez seized the opportunity and bit down. As his jaws closed, tender flesh burst open between his teeth.