Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

Chapter 440 - 118 A Small ’Sacrifice

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Seated on the floating island in the courtyard, Laine and Asmodeus faced each other.

For them, everything outside of Hell was clearly visible, including Moya’s piercing screams. However, the reverse was not true; the Mother of Demons could not see what was happening inside the Nine Hells.

This was not due to a power disparity between the two sides; in reality, the Abyss held the true advantage in terms of power. The fundamental reason was that Tartarus lacked its own subjective consciousness.

It didn’t know to block prying eyes, so in Hell, beings with divine power could see everything outside without hindrance. And since Tartarus couldn’t do two things at the same time, even as it was nurturing the Mother of Demons and the six Demon Gods, it remained oblivious to the ’thief’ who had entered its body unannounced.

As a result, for a considerable length of time in the past, the demons of Hell could pass through the Abyss to the mortal world, while the Nine Hells ceaselessly siphoned the power that was meant for nurturing the Demon Gods. Nevertheless, Asmodeus was well aware that this situation likely wouldn’t last much longer.

The Abyss had finally birthed its own life, and when Moya awoke, Hell’s extraction of its Origin was forcibly halted. And with the last Demon God opening its eyes, Tartarus finally reacted to the ’foreign body’ within it.

The chaotic sea boiled in response, and countless layers of the realm shook. It sent guidance to Moya and the Demon Gods, lending its power to the Mother of Demons, and even integrated its towering malice over Hell in an attempt to first envelop this ’foreign body’ and then to have its own bred life shatter it.

But a being without wisdom is such that it doesn’t know how to conceal its intentions or prioritize its actions. So when the changes in the Abyss were detected, in the concept of space and time, the position of the Nine Hells began to ’surface’.

The entrance to the first layer of Hell was originally near the place where Moya was nurtured, drawing power continuously from Tartarus. But now, it moved past layer after layer of the Abyss, only slowing down as it reached the outermost layer. Even from another perspective, parts of the Nine Hells had already extended beyond the Abyss, with only a very small area remaining intertwined with it.

But that was as far as it could go, for the connection between Hell and the Abyss could not be severed; they were one entity. Thus, Asmodeus wasn’t trying to escape anything; he merely needed a window that connected to the mortal world rather than being locked inside by Tartarus.

This was destined to be a protracted war, and even if victory came this time, the absolute disparity in power between the two sides would be difficult to change. Thus, the connection to the outside could not be cut off; only then would the Nine Hells have a chance to win the ultimate victory.

"So Laine, how did the Spirit Realm manage it—from the past until now, why have you never been treated by the mortal world in the same way?"

There was no apparent change in his appearance; Asmodeus still seemed very normal, but only he knew the terrible pressure he was facing at the moment.

As heavy as mountains, as vast as the ocean, faced with the Abyss that finally had its hands free, Hell could only navigate through the crevices at this moment, utterly incapable of resistance.

Therefore, right from the beginning, Asmodeus was destined not to intervene in this battle. The pressure from the Abyss exhausted him, and had the other side been conscious, the war could have been declared over before it even began.

This was not surprising and still within the expectations of the Lord of the Nine Hells. But if this was the case for him, the Spirit Realm from before should have been similarly affected. Hence, the fact that Laine had not encountered the same fate might indicate that he possessed some special means of dealing with it.

If possible, Asmodeus would prefer not to use the method they had previously agreed upon to deal with his first confrontation with the Abyss.

"Don’t overthink it, you can’t do it because although you were once the god of time and space, when it comes to the true heights of the temporal domain, you have actually never touched it."

"Even when the Spirit Realm was just born, as long as I didn’t want to, the Primordial Gods couldn’t lock onto me, nor could the mortal world detect me—Nyx once thought she could because she could use the authority of Destiny to fix the fate of the Spirit Realm, but she didn’t know that even if the mortal world gave her all the Source Power of time and space, she still couldn’t touch the Spirit Realm’s temporal essence."

"As for the reason..."

Laine gently tapped his fingers on the tabletop, not even fully clear himself about the subtle Temporal Divinity that came with his soul, but undoubtedly, its essence coexisted with the world.

It was this power that allowed him to resist the ’nothingness’ outside the world to a certain extent and to prevent any being from touching it while the Spirit Realm was closed.

"As for the reason, it’s probably innate. Being one of the most ancient deities, I’ve always had to have that little something special."

He explained casually, but Laine had already mentioned similar content once before. He also understood that Asmodeus wasn’t trying to probe for any secrets, but just wanted to express doubts about the viability of their original plan.

So Laine didn’t mind repeating it, giving him a bit of encouragement along the way.

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