Chapter 1078: Calculated Retaliation

The trip back to the Hell universe was much faster than Arthur’s journey there over a century ago. It only took them around 200 hours to cross the vast distance, and soon, the spaceship was emerging from a cosmic gate right outside the Burning Realms galaxy cluster.

The moment the ship emerged, Arthur raised his right hand, pulling back his sleeve before tapping a few buttons on the Cosmic Teleporter to input a set of coordinates and generate a Cosmic Gate.

Looking towards Larry, he said, "Please, contact Nash as soon as possible, and let me know when he’s ready to talk, and where he’s ready to talk."

Larry nodded once, and after that, Arthur stepped into the Cosmic Gate he’d created, heading almost halfway across the Hell universe towards the most famous galaxy cluster in Hell, the Nine Thousand Circles.

A cluster of 45 million galaxies, unnaturally arranged in a pyramid format, the Nine Thousand Circles was one of the most remarkable regions within the Hell universe.

Arthur dove straight into the centermost of these galaxies, heading directly towards an Apex World that he’d never visited before in his life.

He landed at the entrance of a gigantic factory, where immense furnaces burned throughout the vast facility, thick smoke filled the air, and intense heat radiated from enormous structures processing molten metal.

As Arthur entered, he felt powerful concentrations of fire, metal, blacksmithing, and universal law energies exuding from every corner of the facility.

But even as he casually walked through the facility, not a single one of the devils working there noticed him. He climbed stairs, moved through different rooms, and looked past machines processing molten metal before eventually making his way towards the senior control platform, where the entire factory’s working area could be overseen.

There were no workers or supervisors in the room, only one man standing at the edge of the viewport.

Arthur opened the door and closed it quietly before walking forward and standing beside the man, who was looking out over the thousands of weapons being produced every minute throughout the factory.

The two stood there in silence, with not a single word exchanged between them, until finally, the man beside Arthur parted his lips and spoke.

"Are you satisfied?"

In response to his question, Arthur nodded before answering, "Yes, I’m satisfied. Everything is going according to my plan, even exceeding my expectations."

"According to your plan, huh?" the man said. "Couldn’t there have been another way for you to go about this?"

That question didn’t receive an immediate response from Arthur, as he actually took a few seconds to ponder it before finally speaking.

"Yes, there could have been other ways to go about achieving some of my goals. But I chose this way, and I intend to stick with it until the very end."

Arthur cast his gaze towards one corner of the factory, where newly created weapons were being engraved with runes while they were still as hot as burning stars.

"I started to care a bit more about appearances, so I thought to myself, why should I be the villain in this multiverse’s history, when there are several universes ruled by gods that could take on that mantle for me?"

"You did all this because you didn’t want to appear as a villain?" the man asked, his tone incredulous.

At this, Arthur chuckled lightly before replying, "It’s not just that. I needed to engineer things so that everything I do from here on out would be seen as a justified retaliation. It would allow me to circumvent several restrictions on my actions..."

Arthur paused, raising his left hand as wisps of cosmic destruction energy flowed out from his fingers before he continued, "And on places that I can go, considering this power that I possess."

He clenched his fists before crossing them in front of his chest, turning his gaze towards the factory in front of them.

For a few minutes, there were no words exchanged between the two of them, and finally, the man spoke.

"I hate war."

"I know that you do, Grandpa Diablo," Arthur responded.

"And yet, you put me in a situation where I was forced to declare war," Diablo said.

"And if given the chance, I would do it all over again," Arthur replied without a single ounce of hesitation. "I simply took advantage of the cards that I had in hand. It’s something you taught me, after all."

Diablo was silent for a moment, but before he could speak, Arthur asked, "You knew I was up to something, didn’t you?"

Faced with that question, Diablo sighed before responding, "You gave me a free trip with the power of an Ancient-breed Drifter right before you left for Olympus. It was too obvious, even though I didn’t know exactly what you were planning.

If I had known this was the scale of what you were planning, I would’ve stopped you."

"And that right there is precisely why I didn’t let you know the scale of what I was planning," Arthur replied.

He chuckled lightly for a few moments, but then his smile faded as he said, "I don’t like war, Grandpa. It’s senseless violence."

At those words, Diablo finally turned his gaze towards Arthur, the look in his eyes questioning whether Arthur was even hearing the words he was speaking.

Arthur, however, doubled down on the statement. "It’s the truth. I dislike war. But that doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t use it if it’s my best option to get what I want. That doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t make the most benefits out of it if I find myself caught up within it."

Diablo was also silent for a few more moments before turning his gaze back towards the factory and finally responding, "I suppose that makes both of us."

"I suppose it does," Arthur replied softly.

The two then silently watched as the shipment of an entire container of weapons meant to be wielded by Mid-Tier Deities was completed, and as the container was sent out for shipping to the nearest military outpost, where it would then be distributed across the armies of Hell.

"How long do you think it’ll take before all the players gather at the final stage?" Arthur asked.

To this question, Diablo responded immediately, "A minimum of six months, maximum of ten."

Hearing this, Arthur nodded quietly. "I see. Minimum of six months, huh? I suppose that’s to be expected, considering the vast inter-universal distances involved."

Arthur rubbed his chin as he pondered Diablo’s estimate that it would take at least six months for all the god-Ruled universes involved in the war he’d started to gather around the seven universes whose Masters Diablo had slaughtered.

The Divine Alliance and the Infernal Coalition would both gather their forces within that region for one final battle, and it was in that battle that Arthur intended to proclaim his return to the Multiverse.

That battle was also the great distraction he’d prepared against Heimdall and Odin, intended to draw their attention away from Niflheim so Alexia could quietly retrieve Fenrir without any obstructions.

Arthur sighed as he clenched his fists, and then said, "Six months is more than enough time for me to stabilise my power. If I play my cards right, I can even strengthen myself a little bit before then. That way, I’ll be guaranteed of my success."

Looking towards Diablo, he continued, "You’ll play your role to the end, won’t you, Grandpa? It’s necessary if we want this war to end."

"End?" Diablo asked. "Do you really think it’ll end so easily?"

At this, Arthur chuckled before saying, "Yes. All the universes involved in this war are already tired and exhausted from the fighting. Hell has also spent enormous amounts of resources and lost a significant number of troops, so I’m sure you’re not the only one who wants it to end.

The Masters of all the universes involved at this point are either warmongers who care not if the power of their universes gets diminished to next to nothing, or those who are seeking opportunities and justifications to back out of the war, to end it without appearing weak to their allies or their enemies."

Pointing towards his chest, Arthur said, "I’ll give them that justification. The pretext with which this war began was my death. Revealing that I’d survived and been hiding under the noses of the ones who attempted to kill me in the first place means they’re going to lose the whole pretext for the war.

They’re going to lose their justification, and anyone who continues fighting after that point will have their allies to deal with, and not their enemies. For the sake of maintaining their alliances, they’ll have to stop the war."

Hearing Arthur’s words and seeing just how much he’d planned things out, Diablo could only shake his head before muttering, "I wonder just what happened to you in that dragon universe you went to for you to change so much."

"Death and resurrection, Grandpa," Arthur replied. "Literal death and resurrection."

Diablo didn’t say anything further, and he too simply stood there in silence, watching the weapons production for several minutes before finally speaking again.

"I’ll give you a heads up."

His sudden words made Arthur raise an eyebrow and cast a glance towards him, and Diablo then added, "She’s more angry than she is happy."

After saying those words, the man vanished, and just as he did, the door behind Arthur slammed open, causing Arthur to immediately turn around and meet the eyes of the woman he wanted to see the most and the least right now.

His mother.

Cattleya was a mess, literally a mess.

Her hair was dishevelled, stained with blood of multiple colours, and there were also patches of golden blood across her face and clothes, all clear signs that made it obvious that she’d quite literally rushed over here from some battlefield.

Taking a deep breath, Arthur smiled softly before raising a hand and waving lightly.

"Hello, Mother."

The woman calmed her heavy breathing while staring at Arthur in silence, her grip on the door frame slowly tightening until it dented the metal.

After a moment, she walked towards him, her heavy steps cracking the ground beneath her as she approached.

Suddenly, Arthur’s eyes widened, and a confused sound escaped his lips. "Huh?"

A moment after that sound escaped his lips, Cattleya’s hand flew through the air, and a loud impact echoed through the room as she delivered a resounding slap across Arthur’s face.