Abyssal Lord of the Magi World

After the deal was completed, the tension between the duo diminished greatly. They would both obtain what they wanted as long as they kept their words. There was no need to resent each other, especially since they would fight together in the future. 

Of course, there was no such thing as real trust between them, but both Hades and Zatiel understood that trying to trick the other party would be futile. No life form had risen to the peak of the universe without developing an extremely sharp mind. Although the terms of their deal appeared simple, they were flawless.

Hades put his hand over the forge, and immediately an ancient and mysterious aura was released from it. Right now, even a mortal would realize the might of the Underworld Forge.

"What do you know about the power of the Underworld Forge?"

"Only what it is told in the legends about it since besides you, there is no one who has used it and remains alive. Many believed that it could grant divine talent in alchemy, rune crafting, magic creation, and any other kind of profession. Even the most mediocre individual could become a monstrous genius with it." Zatiel spoke the truth and was not afraid of revealing his lack of knowledge. Once the forge was activated, the white runes that have invaded it would begin to analyze its power, and it would be a matter of time before the Neo-Demon knows everything about it. 

When Hades heard those words, disdain filled his face, and he spoke with a tone full of mockery. 

"Hmph, that trash liked to invent lies about my creation as an excuse to hide the shame of always being inferior to me. Some even propagated rumors about the forge not being my creation but something I found by luck and that all my accomplishments came from it. Their faces as they begged for mercy when I found them were truly satisfying." Arrogance and cruelty filled Hades' eyes as he spoke those words, but the next second, peace returned to his heart.

"I am sorry about that. It is a little hard to get accustomed to having people around."

"Don't worry, I understand." Zatiel did not bother the ancient Being of Laws for his slip of the tongue.

Beings of Law had the power to maintain their emotions and trains of thought in check thanks to their powerful souls. It was weird to find some of them rambling, but after eons of solitude, even they can have problems adjusting to their surroundings. 

Hades nodded to the Neo-Demon and adopted a solemn expression as he slapped the forge. Immediately a magic matrix appeared on the forge.

Zatiel did not hide his amazement as he saw that magic matrix. Although he could not comprehend any of it, of one thing he was sure, it was not something born out of chaos.

'To be able to create something like this, even if he is no longer the greatest Magic Creator of the universe, he is definitely within the top ten.'

The Neo-Demon did not lose focus and ordered the NRAI to use its full power to record every piece of information about the magic matrix and the Underworld Forge. Even though he couldn't recreate this divine object now, things could change in the future, and it would be useful for all the magic creators that would rise in the Neo-Demon race.

Less than a minute after Hades made the magic matrix appear, very dense mist began to emanate from the Underworld Forge.

The mist spread with incredible speed, and in less than a second, it had covered a radius of one hundred kilometers around the Underworld Forge. It was so thick that even a Rank 3 life form would find it very hard to see through it. 

Zatiel could see the mist enveloping him, but due to the Balck Hole Runic Set and white membrane around his body, he could feel nothing from it. Without hesitation, the Neo-Demon sent the command, and the defenses made of external power protecting him disappeared. 

Immediately and without any warning, the mist entered the body of the Neo-Demon through his mouth, eyes, nose, and ears. When Hades saw this, he did nothing and limited himself to continue working in the forge.

The ancient Being of Laws had an idea of the level of surveillance those white runes were performing in him. The moment he even thinks about harming Zatiel, a soul fluctuation would occur, and the NRAI would seal him or even exterminate him. He had no desire to die and was sure that even if he managed to break Zatiel's soul, this one would be able to survive, but he would be doomed. 

Zatiel's full focus was on his soul dimension as he saw the mist reach it. The Neo-Demon's True Will detected the intruder, but after seeing its mild nature and mystic energy, the golden humanoid did not use its power to purge it. 

The mist approached the True Soul and transformed into dots of grey light that nurtured this one along with the consciousness contained inside.

The Neo-Demon sat on the ground with his eyes closed and an expression full of peace and serenity.

Thanks to his status as an Animus, the power of his consciousness, and the uniqueness of his soul, Zatiel could maintain different trains of thought at the same time.

There had been an image in Zatiel's mind that he had been analyzing from the moment he entered the Garden of Creation, and even in his battle with Andras, he did not stop thinking about it. 

The image was the Archangel's wings with the silver lines that contained the secret beneath its unparalleled speed.

Trying to understand them completely was impossible with the current power of his consciousness. However, if he could decipher the most basic parts of it and put that into a rune, he could use a fraction of the power in the Shooting Star Bloodline. 

Of course, only studying the silver lines was not enough to create a rune with its power. However, Zatiel could use his knowledge about the Heavenly race and the fragment of Shooting Star Bloodline remaining in him to fill the gaps. 

He remained without moving for an entire hour before finally raising his hand, and with his eyes still closed, he began to write a runic diagram in the air. 

The Neo-Demon used Elemental Chaos to write the runic lines. This was just a diagram, so it did not need to be made with impressive resources.

The complexity of this runic diagram was several times higher than that of the Undying Eclipse Knighthood Mark. 

Zatiel had finished approximately thirty percent of the runic diagram before this one collapsed. The Neo-Demon examined the problems and inconsistencies in the runic diagram.

Twenty minutes later, he started to write the runic diagram again, this time with even more precision and dexterity. The flaw that stopped him before was easily fixed, and he was able to finish thirty-eight percent of the diagram this time. 

A cycle of creation, failure, examination, improvement, and creation again was birthed. Zatiel remained in it for more than twenty hours and kept completing more and more of the runic diagram before finally being stuck at eighty percent. 

Only then did the Neo-Demon open his eyes, and you could see how impressed he was with the mist.

"I understand now. The mist allows your True Soul and consciousness to enter a state of supreme enlightenment. Your mind can solve any doubt or question about your work with ease, and your analytic abilities are exponentially increased. However, entering that state without a solid foundation and extensive theoretical knowledge of your profession would be useless since you cannot solve a question if you don't even know how to formulate it."

Zatiel theoretical knowledge about rune crafting could be considered the highest in the universe, but it must be practiced and understood if he wanted to develop his skills.

"Your assessment is correct. The forge can indeed improve your abilities in any profession, but to take advantage of its power, you need to put hard work and countless hours of study into your work. Anyone can benefit from the power in the Enlightenment Mist, even Rank 9 Runemasters." Hades did not hide the pride in his eyes as he spoke about the abilities of his greatest creation. 

"How many people can use the Enlightenment Mist at the same time." Zatiel could see himself using the mist from now on every time he worked in his runes. 

"As much as you want. The mist can easily cover the entire continent if you want, and its effect would be the same. However, the more people, the faster the mist would diminish. The same will happen if they are stronger, since the more powerful the True Soul, the more mist is needed to put them into a state of enlightenment."

"I understand. What is its fuel, Origin Power?" Zatiel was sure that such a divine item would not consume something so inferior as magic crystals to work.

Hades shook his head and focused on the unconscious group of Magi that was not far away from him.

"The Underworld Forge feeds solely on souls. The stronger the soul it consumes, the more Enlightenment Mist it can create." 

When Zatiel heard that, he closed his eyes for a moment before looking at the ancient Being of Laws.

"There are two hundred fifty-five thousand five hundred twenty-three individuals on the surface of this world. Most of them are members of the Heavenly race. You can eat all of their souls. They are no longer useful to me."