Chapter 2324: Arad’s Hibernation XXXVI

As the dark green hen flapped her wings, the yellow serpent, who was talking with Ginger, stopped, lifted her head, and hissed, her tongue licking the air as her eyes shifted to stare directly at Capsella and Akasha.

"Arad Orion is a Blood Lord unlike all others." The serpent slithered toward Capsella. "And you smell strongly of him. His blood, his curses, they aren’t purely vampiric. He has the blood of us night dwellers, and also has the blood of the night hunters, the werewolves. He is a pricolici, a creature far above us in class."

The hen nodded. "He functions differently from us." Everyone looked at the two beasts in silence for a second, and then Capsella stood. "So, you’re saying that he is tainted? Not a pure vampire that deserves the Blood Lord title?"

Hearing that, everyone stood, their eyes glowing red as the entire room started shaking as their magic started leaking out.

"Don’t twist our words. What we’re saying is that he is something above a Blood Lord, and that he should be allowed to ascend to a higher realm." The serpent hissed as it glared directly at Capsella. "Arad Orion, Eris Kisue, those two are far too powerful to be restrained by the Blood Lord title. We think that they should ascend to divinity and leave the Blood Lord title to someone else, someone who is more suitable."

The hen tilted her head. "Akasha and Capsella, one of you two must ascend and endure the title of the Blood Lord."

Capsella frowned. "What about Zia? She is far more powerful than us."

"That’s the point. She is far stronger and would leave with Eris and Arad. I suggest that you decide on who’s going to take the title soon, since leaving this world without a Blood Lord is bad." The yellow serpent gagged, and then spat the mask in front of Capsella. Whoever puts this mask on and paints it in the blood of the previous Blood Lord shall gain that title, even if they don’t possess enough power to achieve it on their own."

Capsella looked at the porcelain mask and was already sweating. The power she could sense from the mask was something else. "This..."

Akasha looked at the mask and sighed. "Mother’s petrified face. A true divine artifact."

"She is right." The hen clucked. "This is a discarded piece of divine flesh turned to stone, and it holds the power of our divine Akame, the Red-eyed divine of undeath."

Ginger walked toward them and picked up the mask, looking at it. She had seen it long ago, but even after centuries, it had never changed, not even a bit. "About turning Akasha or Capsella into a Blood Lord, we’ll leave that decision to Arad after he wakes up. I’m sure you two won’t mind that, right?"

Neither the serpent nor the hen protested; the two just looked at Ginger, and then turned back, heading to where they were sleeping before.

Ginger sighed and looked back at Capsella. "We should head back. We got the mask." She looked at the ceiling of the room they were in and sent a call back to Alcott.

^How are things going? Is everything under control?^

"Yeah." Back in the desert, Alcott replied with a smile. "Godvia is behaving well, probably because Gamond is here. But that doesn’t matter. Did you get the mask?"

^We got it. Thankfully, we didn’t need to fight the two ancestral beasts. That wouldn’t have been a fight that we couldn’t win.^ She replied, and Alcott smiled, remembering the past when he fought the ancestral beasts. In this world, there are a total of nine of them, and he had clashed with some. That yellow serpent, for example, could enlarge itself into a titanic divine python that burns with all of the divine heat that the suns use to burn vampires.

"If those paladins got serious, I’m certain you could’ve taken that thing down. Especially if the fight got outside and you could have Capsella call on Eris’s sun powers." He chuckled. "But I won’t want to see them dead; those beasts are sacred."

^Forget about us. They want someone else besides Arad and Eris to be a Blood Lord. They suggested Capsella or Akasha.^ Ginger sounded worried. ^Do you think that will work?^

Alcott smiled. "It will work. I was about to tell Arad to leave the spot to Eris, as he is getting too powerful, but that would make it more convincing. For now, focus on bringing the mask to me, and I’ll talk with Arad and Eris later about it. I’m sure Capsella and Akasha would bring it up as well."

He looked at the two massive drakainas in front of him and smiled. "Abel also achieved a lot in hell. I’m sure he’ll be here soon."

****

In the depths of hell, Abel stood atop an endless red hill, staring down at the black capital of the lowest layer. His eyes moved slowly, and at the foot of the hill, he could spot tens of thousands of dead sinners and burned devils, and all of them had countless holes blasted in their bodies.

"Is this all you’ve got?" He spoke, and one of the devils, one that looked to be both old and powerful, growled, blood seeping out of his hole-riddled body. "You... monster. Where did you come from?"

"Arakne, lord of Maladomini, Ruler of the Seventh Layer of Hell, had lost many of her caravans and sinners due to countless attacks from the devils of the lower layers. By the law of hell, she can’t move down if she doesn’t get permission from the layers’ Lords, and Asmodeus isn’t here to grant such permissions." Abel took a step forward, and his blond hair crackled with lightning as he pulled two scimitars.

"You..." The devil growled. "That’s power!"

Abel smiled as his red skin burned with dark veins, and his eyes flashed with magic. "If you worship any gods, then start praying now."

His devil’s curse was [Hole], allowing him to blast holes into anything and everything, which was powerful on its own, but while mixed with his lightning magic, it had become a horrifying combination that made a devil of his class.

But that wasn’t the reason Abel was so powerful, as even with those, he would’ve been easily slaughtered by that massive horde of devils and sinners that he had massacred.

"Demonic Release..." As Abel smiled, his entire body flashed with demonic magic as his blue lightning turned black, and his blond hair flashed white. The black clouds of hell shook, and the ground rumbled as both demonic and devilish magic flowed through his body, and his eyes stared right at the horrified devil in front of him.

"You... you’re really tainted by the demons!" The devil cried, and Abel smiled. "Sorry, but I just happened to hit on a really sweet madam in the abyss. She was beautiful, as pale as snow, and thanks to her, I was reborn."

"You traitor!" The devil screamed, and Abel blasted toward him at blinding speed. The clash between them took just a fraction of a second as Abel swung his swords first, engulfed by black lightning and his curse.

The devil formed a shield of magic to block, but Abel’s attack took him with it, and the two flew through the sky of the ninth layer as a titanic black lightning bolt that illuminated everything, roaring in the sky as all of the devils looked up, sensing the horrific combination of demonic and cursed magic.

The devil growled as his entire body burned from the lightning. He was blocking Abel’s strike and could clearly see the flashing blades pushing against his shield, but both the lightning and [Hole] curse rapidly chipped at his defenses, and the sheer heat was cooking him alive.

"Damn... you..." The devil growled. "I’ll be back."

"Yeah... I dare you to show your face again!" And with a final push, Abel burned the devil and riddled his charred corpse with holes in the sky of the ninth layer of hell, and when the lightning bolt exploded into a blinding flash, he was already down in the capital of hell, taking a seat in one of the taverns.

"Give me a large one!" Abel waved his hand and then looked at the devilish waitress approaching him. "Aren’t you a beautiful one?"

She threw a sharp glare toward him, snarled, and then looked away. "Why are you so dirty? Did you get yourself beaten up?"

She was right, as Abel’s entire body was covered in blood and mud; his clothes were torn and burned, making him look more like a sinner than a proper devil. He had just come out of a long fight a few seconds earlier.

"Come on, I’ll get cleaned up later. And why would you even assume that I lost?" He shrugged and waved his hand. "If I did, I would’ve buried myself underground."

She paused for a second, and then sighed. "True, devils never spare their opponents; if you lost, they would’ve killed you. You won’t be here looking for a drink." She brought him his drink. "So, you won. Want anything else?"

"I was thinking, do you have a bath here? Oh, and some spare clothes. As you mentioned before, I do need to get myself... sorted out." He leaned on his arm, and she smiled. "Well, we have a bath here. But getting you clothes will be... quite inconvenient."

Looking at her face, Abel smiled. "Well, it’ll be less convenient with the right amount." He flicked his fingers and summoned a tiny fat pouch. "Follow me upstairs; I’ll treat you to more of where that came from."