Chapter 803

【 AZAZEL’S BETRAYAL 】

The grotesque heart continued to beat violently, causing the surrounding space to distort slightly.

Upon closer inspection, one would discover that deep, eerie light seemed to be constantly swirling within the heart’s blood vessels, resembling blood flowing through them…

That was the origin power of Hell.

This heart was not only Azazel’s core, but also the core that had fused with the origin of the First Layer of Hell!

Standing before the heart, Evé slowly extended her hand.

She placed her palm upon the heart and began chanting an obscure incantation in the demon language.

It was the spell Azazel had told her through the form of an oath, a spell that allowed one to temporarily obtain control over his dominion through this core.

As Evé continued chanting, the heart emitted a dark crimson glow, and its violent beating resounded throughout the entire palace.

At that moment, Evé felt as if she had established a certain connection with the heart as an enormous amount of information flooded into her mind.

It was information regarding the First Layer of Hell.

At this moment, she had temporarily become the “master” of the First Layer of Hell!

However, before Evé could do anything else, an unexpected event occurred.

Under Eve’s surprised gaze, the grotesque heart suddenly extended countless strands of flesh. They spread along her arm and rapidly grew, soon covering most of her body.

The control she had just obtained was quickly taken away. At the same time, a familiar aura began rising from the heart.

Then, a phantom figure slowly emerged and appeared in midair.

The sinister curved horns and the goat-like head made its identity obvious.

It was Azazel.

He looked at Evé with amusement before letting out a sinister laugh.

“Oh Your Supreme Grace, thank you for releasing me.”

Evé glanced at the flesh-like tendrils that were continuously consuming her body, then looked at the smug Azazel.

She slightly raised her brow.

“Azazel?”

Azazel burst into laughter.

“Hahaha! You didn’t expect this, did you? When I left Hell tens of thousands of years ago, I had already prepared a hidden mechanism within my own core. As long as someone touched it and attempted to obtain control over this core, my forced resurrection would be triggered!”

“This is the power of the Abyssal Origin. No one can stop it!”

Evé frowned slightly.

She sensed the situation within the Demon Lord Labyrinth in Seigües and discovered that the Azazel inside the dungeon had indeed vanished on his own, turning into a pool of blood.

The demons within his palace were thrown into chaos because of it…

“Are you planning to betray me?”

She asked softly.

“Heh, Yggdrasill, you really have become more naive the longer you live. You didn’t actually believe that a demon would remain loyal to you, did you?”

Azazel’s face was filled with mockery.

As he spoke, his smile became increasingly twisted.

“I really have to thank you… Those useless subordinates of mine couldn’t defeat the guardians I left behind, so they could never reach this place.”

“If Beelzebub and the others had come instead, with their understanding of Hell, they might have discovered my hidden plan.”

“As for the true gods… they might have chosen to destroy my core directly. If that happened, I would lose my chance of resurrection completely.”

“Only you… hehe, only you could give me such a pleasant surprise.”

Facing Azazel’s proud expression, a trace of disappointment flashed across Eve’s face.

She sighed inwardly.

“Looks like I was just overthinking things.”

“No. That is called stupidity!”

Azazel laughed loudly.

After finishing his laughter, he spoke viciously.

“Yggdrasil, you have imprisoned me for so long. Today, I will use this incarnation of yours to repay that debt!”

After saying this, Azazel let out a furious roar and charged toward Evé.

Under Eve’s disappointed gaze, he swallowed her whole…

The next moment, flames engulfed the entire surroundings.

༺⟐༻

Outside the space where the core was hidden.

Suddenly, a crimson light pierced through the sky, and the volcano erupted violently.

A terrifying aura slowly began to rise…

Dark clouds churned, the earth trembled, and accompanied by a world-shaking roar, a gigantic horned demon tore open the volcano crater and appeared on the battlefield.

Its body was nearly a thousand meters tall, blocking out the sky and sun.

With its arrival, the dark clouds throughout the entire First Layer of Hell began to surge violently. Lightning flashed and thunder roared, as if welcoming the return of their king…

At the same time, all demons born within the First Layer of Hell, as well as those who had sworn allegiance to the Seventh Demon Lord, suddenly felt an inexplicable tremor in their hearts.

A fear that was difficult to describe surged within their souls…

Sensing that terrifying power, the players who were already fighting against the demons could not help but turn their heads.

The moment they saw the figure behind them, their eyes widened in shock.

“Old Azzie?”

The overwhelming size made it impossible for them to see the demon’s entire body, but based on their knowledge of a certain Demon Lord, they were still able to recognize him from certain details…

After all, they had fought him countless times already.

Perhaps hearing the cries of those beings below, Azazel slowly lowered his head.

The tall figure, the pointed ears, the magnificent equipment, and that carefree, cheeky expression.

That nightmare-like appearance caused the terrifying demonic aura of the thousand-meter-tall demon to freeze for a moment, almost making him shudder.

Especially when he saw the terrifying number of them…

However, he quickly recovered.

The current him was no longer the same as the him from the past.

That instinctive fear turned into anger and humiliation within Azazel.

During the years he had been sealed away, scenes of being repeatedly humiliated by these elves flashed through his mind.

The flames of rage began to rise within his heart.

Looking at the players, a trace of bloodlust flashed across Azazel’s eyes.

He let out a sinister laugh and prepared to slaughter these detestable creatures one by one, but suddenly stopped after a thought crossed his mind.

“No. Killing you only once would be far too merciful. I will make you wish you were dead instead… I will build an Elven Labyrinth within Hell as well, and let you experience the ‘joy’ of being treated as tools to be repeatedly farmed!”

He muttered with a vicious grin.

After saying this, Azazel waved his massive hand. A dark crimson radiance spread across the ground, enveloping all the players participating in the battle.

The players only felt an evil force surge into their bodies, instantly causing them to lose control over themselves.

Seeing this scene, the demons fighting the players had their eyes light up.

Some simple-minded fools who only knew how to kill let out roars and prepared to take advantage of the situation to attack.

However, the moment they made their move, their bodies trembled slightly before suddenly exploding into clouds of blood mist…

High above the sky, Azazel slowly withdrew his gaze and sneered.

“My prey is not something trash like you can touch.”

After saying that, he turned his attention toward the several Mythical Dragons led by Meryer.

Meryer’s expression became solemn.

He exchanged glances with Mars and the other dragons, silently nodding to each other. At the same time, they let out a long dragon roar and charged toward Azazel.

Azazel only responded with a cold laugh.

A dark crimson radiance spread outward from him…

That was the manifestation of his pseudo Domain.

No, at this moment, it could no longer be called a pseudo domain anymore since with him regaining control over his Core and being located within the First Layer of Hell, make it a genuine Domain!

As the light enveloped them, the expressions of the Mythical Dragons changed slightly as a trace of crimson flashed within their eyes.

Meryer immediately let out a roar and tried manifesting his own Domain.

However, Azazel merely extended one hand and lightly pointed at them.

The dark clouds in the entire sky suddenly gathered, transforming into a massive black tornado that swept toward the Mythical Dragons.

The four Mythical Dragons, including Meryer, were completely unable to resist. They were trapped within the black tornado, their powers sealed away…

Within Hell, Demon Lords were the supreme rulers.

In fact, the realm of Hell itself was equivalent to a Demon Lord’s divine kingdom!

Furthermore, with the power of the Abyss supporting them, a Demon Lord within their own dominion was practically invincible, even stronger than a True God within their own Divine Kingdom.

So as long as a Demon Lord guarded their respective layer, no one could ever conquer it…

At this moment, Azazel’s strength had already recovered to the peak of Intermediate Divine Power. With the enhancement of Abyssal power, as long as he remained within the First Layer of Hell, even a being with Higher Divine Power would not be his opponent!

In other words, at this moment, he was already invincible.

Feeling the overwhelming power surging through his body, the corners of Azazel’s mouth lifted as he laughed loudly.

After enduring tens of thousands of years of being sealed, and after being tortured by that bastard Yggdrasill for a couple of years inside the Labyrinth, he had finally returned!

At this moment, the three Demon Lords, including Beelzebub, finally arrived from the distance.

Seeing Azazel’s enormous body and sensing the terrifying power within him, the expressions of the three Demon Lords changed slightly.

“Azazel?”

Hearing their voices, Azazel slowly turned his head.

The two sides looked at each other. Azazel narrowed his eyes slightly before revealing a sinister smile.

“You three old bastards, are you also thinking of making a move against me?”

“You!”

The three Demon Lords became furious.

However, seeing Azazel’s confident expression, a trace of fear flashed within their eyes…

Beelzebub narrowed his eyes and stared at him for a moment before suddenly smiling.

“Azazel, hehe… congratulations on breaking free and returning.”

After saying this, he gritted his teeth and continued.

“I still have matters to attend to, so I will leave first.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Beelzebub turned around without hesitation and quickly left, bringing along the Abyssal Myths under his command.

He had originally come for the First Layer’s core.

But now that Azazel had returned, he no longer had any chance of obtaining it.

Naturally, he had no intention of remaining here.

The Demon Lords Mammon and Belial also gave Azazel a deep look before coldly turning around and leaving.

Before long, the auras of the three Demon Lords completely disappeared from the First Layer of Hell.

Even their respective armies also began retreating alongside the Abyssal Myths…

Azazel withdrew his gaze in satisfaction, his expression filled with arrogance.

As the ruler of the First Layer of Hell, as long as he remained here, no one could defeat him.

Not even those with Higher Divine Power!

However, when his gaze swept across the devastated battlefield below, that arrogant expression gradually became deeper and more solemn…

This time, even with his return, the entire First Layer of Hell had suffered severe damage. He did not know how long it would take before it could recover.

Thinking of this, Azazel looked into the distance.

There, the army of Einherjars was enveloped in holy light, while dozens of sacred figures floated above the sky.

His gaze met the three most powerful figures among them directly.

“The Seventh Demon Lord… Azazel.”

Looking at the imposing figure before him, the Eternal Lord, Etriōu, narrowed his eyes slightly.

The two sides stared at each other, and the atmosphere gradually became tense, as if a battle could erupt at any moment.

However, soon after, Etriōu was the first to withdraw his gaze.

His eyes swept across the elves and dragons on the ground who had been imprisoned by the Demon Lord. Then, he looked at the scattered demon army beneath Azazel and shook his head.

“Boring.”

After saying that, his figure slowly faded away.

Disappearing along with him were the other descending True Gods of the Divine Human Coalition and their Angelic Legion.

The God of War, Lóðurr, slightly frowned.

He glanced at Azazel, who had a provocative expression, then looked at the elves on the ground. After hesitating for several seconds, he let out a cold snort and also dispersed his incarnation.

Only the Guardian of the Stars gave Azazel a meaningful glance.

Deep within Rigdal’s eyes, there seemed to be a trace of pity, causing Azazel to feel extremely uncomfortable.

However, after the two beings with Higher Divine Power disappeared, he did not remain for long either and similarly dispersed his incarnation.

Gradually, even the army of gods that had attacked Hell began to slowly retreat…

Only after the final Einherjar passed through the gate of light and left Hell did Azazel slowly withdraw his gaze.

He let out a sigh of relief, finally relaxing the nerves he had kept tightly wound.

The divine forces that had attacked the First Layer of Hell were simply too terrifying…

Although he was the ruler of the First Layer of Hell and was nearly invincible here with the assistance of Abyssal power, it did not mean he was truly fearless.

If the gods’ army had insisted on attacking just now and were willing to pay an enormous price to surround and kill him, he would have indeed been in serious trouble.

There was even a possibility that he could have truly fallen.

Although he could resurrect after death, the First Layer of Hell would have likely suffered even greater damage.

In the worst-case scenario, if the gods were truly willing to fight to the death and sacrifice some of their own divine beings, they might have actually been able to destroy the First Layer of Hell…

Fortunately, the gods were not united as one, and their original purpose for attacking the Abyss had already been achieved.

“Ah… now I have no idea how many realms anchored in the First Layer I am going to lose.”

Looking at the ruined First Layer of Hell, Azazel sighed.

The number of realms linked to his dominion was directly connected to a Demon Lord’s strength. Although the First Layer of Hell had been preserved, Azazel, whose army had suffered heavy losses, no longer had the strength to maintain control over those realms.

He had no doubt that the reason Beelzebub and the other two had left so quickly was because they were targeting those realms.

After all, if they could not obtain his core, would they really leave empty-handed without taking any realms?

The wars between Demon Lords were, in the end, nothing more than conflicts over the ownership of these fallen worlds.

Thinking of this, Azazel clenched his fists tightly.

“It is all because of that bastard Yggdrasill! If she had not sealed me away thousands of years ago, how could I have fallen into this state today?!”

His eyes burned with fury.

Lowering his gaze, Azazel looked once again at the imprisoned elves and let out a sinister laugh.

He was prepared to properly deal with these creatures and recover some of his losses from them first.

“Hmph, Yggdrasill, everything you have done to me, I will repay you sooner or later!”

Azazel spoke with hatred.

However, the moment he finished speaking, an ethereal sigh suddenly echoed from behind him.

“Your temper really has not changed at all…”

Hearing that voice, Azazel instinctively shuddered. His body reacted on reflex, and he almost jumped in shock.

But soon, he recovered.

He was no longer the unfortunate creature sealed within the Demon Lord Labyrinth.

Azazel slowly turned around and looked behind him.

There, a sacred and beautiful figure floated in midair.

It was none other than Evé.

Azazel raised an eyebrow and let out a cold laugh.

“Yggdrasill, so you actually still dare to send an incarnation here?”