Count Kenner was shocked by the appearance of the winged man. His castle had powerful scanning abilities, and yet he received no warning at all.
However, as a warrior who survived thousands of years in Baator, his battle instincts were top notch. He did not hesitate and was about to release the full power of his energy pool and his Law Avatar, even though it would mean the end for any Rank 3 life form in a radius of two thousand meters.
To the Devil Lord, all of his subordinates and family were worth nothing compared with his safety.
Unfortunately for him, before he could mobilize his Soul Origin, Zatiel's right eye shone. Instantly, an unavoidable force hit his True Soul and stunned him.
Kenner's vision went black, and he lost the ability to think for a second. When his sight returned, Zatiel grabbed the back of his head, and both of their eyes were less than five centimeters apart.
The world around the Devil Lord crumbled to dust and what appeared in front of him was a giant portal made of raging purple energy.
He felt like someone was cracking his head, and the portal was trying to swallow him.
Terror filled the heart of the Devil Lord since his instincts were telling him that once he passed through the portal, it would mean his end.
"ROAR!" Count Kenner released a roar full of rage and killing intent. He could not mobilize his Soul Origin due to the state of his True Soul, but what he could do was to detonate his energy pool.
The energy pool of a Rank 5 life form was like an ocean. The might of the explosion could level the entire fortress!.
The Neo-Demon could not care less about the devils living in this place, but that destruction would ruin his plan for this Devil Lord.
Coldness filled the eyes of the Neo-Demon, as he released his Law Avatar and then made his eight majestic wings form a cocoon with him and the Devil Lord inside.
The cocoon had just closed when Kenner energy blasted in every direction.
The entire castle began to tremble, and a storm began to form around the cocoon. You could see lightning, thunder, fire, and raging winds wrapping it.
Zatiel was inside a sphere less than five meters in diameter containing a tornado that could decimate a continent. His skin was burning, but he did not move away.
The Ice Devil burned his life force and covered the cocoon with ice to help contain his power.
The Neo-Demon's Rebirth Eye was bleeding as he used all the strength he had to push the Devil Lord's consciousness into his Rebirth Nightmare.
Every second, Kenner saw the portal getting closer and closer. He did all he could, but in the end, the portal swallowed him.
The Devil Lord found himself in a purple plane the next second without a single clue of how he arrived here. Before he could even think about leaving that place, a dark monster materialized in front of him.
Kenner was a Devil Lord, someone who enjoyed horror and slaughter, but the monster's eyes filled his heart with dread and terror.
The creature roared, showing his horrible mouth, before invading the body of the Devil Lord, by entering through his eyes, mouth, nose, and ears.
The raging energy inside the cocoon began to calm down. After a few minutes, the white wings retracted, showing the Neo-Demon and the Devil Lord.
The tornado of raging energy incinerated Zatiel's skin, and the force of the explosion broke most of his bones. Luckily his vital organs were fine, and his Rebirth Force was already healing his wounds.
Count Kenner had most of his muscles and organs torn. Releasing so much energy so fast was more than his body could handle. However, the most severe injury was in his True Soul that had fallen unconscious after Zatiel trapped his consciousness in the Rebirth Nightmare.
After having neutralized the Devil Lord, Zatiel immediately scanned his surroundings. Despite the commotion, no one came to the throne room.
The Neo-Demon knew that those Rank 4 Devil must have detected the moment Kenner detonated his energy pool but chose to ignore it.
'It makes sense they did not come. If an opponent strong enough to defy Kenner had appeared, they would only be throwing themself to their death by interfering. There is no way a devil would be willing to sacrifice their life for their master.' Zatiel understood the devils' nature very well, and he could decipher their thoughts in a moment.
He sat on the ground and focused on healing his injuries before looking at the Ice Devil that stood immovable, waiting for his orders.
'Heart Seal is truly a fantastic skill. I can even put them in a default state and make it so that they live their lives without them knowing they are under my control, creating perfect spies.' The Neo-Demon turned to the unconscious Kenner, but he shook his head.
Trying to implant the seal in the True Soul of the Devil Lord could allow his consciousness to break free of the Rebirth Nightmare, not to mention there is a limit to how many seals he can implant.
Thanks to his current soul force and mastery of Heart Seal, he can control ten Rank 4 Devils simultaneously or a single Rank 5.
The Neo-Demon had a plan for the Devil Lord, so even if he could control him, he still would not.
'The first thing is to read his memories, learn his habits, and study his personality.' Zatiel's Mind Force invaded the Devil Lord's brain and allowed the Neo-Demon to learn everything about him, from his birth until this moment.
It took him a couple of hours, but no one in the universe knew Count Kenner better than the Neo-Demon after he finished.
Once that task was completed, Zatiel used the Law of Death to make his body intangible and vanished beneath the ground.
The Neo-Demon headed to the abode of Kenner's second in command, an old devil named Faraci.
He was a weak Rank 4 Devil, but Kenner liked his cunning mind and the fact he could never threaten him due to his potential being all used up.
Zatiel reached his dwelling in less than five minutes. The old devil was ravaging a group of slaves, and none of them resisted. It was clear their minds have been thoroughly broken.
Coldness appeared in the eyes of the Neo-Demon as he used Soul Eradicator to leave Faraci unconscious. As for the women, he killed them.
He did not have time to be caring about them, and there was no safe place to leave them in Baator, so he did the most merciful thing and ended their misery.
The Neo-Demon appeared in the room, and after using his flames to incinerate the broken bodies of the women, he began to brand the True Soul of the old devil and read his mind.
Once he finished and obtained complete control over Faraci's thoughts and actions, he grabbed him and disappeared from the abode.
The duo resurfaced at the entrance to the throne room. Zatiel closed the gate and left Faraci guarding it before vanishing beneath the ground.
Once he was alone, a vulgar and cocky expression appeared on Faraci's face as he took an orb from his spatial ring and sent a message.
"Listen up, all of you. Lord Kenner has ordered that every Rank 4 Devil, his descendants, and women immediately come to his throne. We know all of your locations and calculated the time it will take you to arrive. If any of you is late, we will brand you as a traitor, hunt you down, and torture you until your lifespan is over." After he sent the message, the old devil was left looking at the distance with empty eyes, but his nasty expression remained.
Less than five minutes after Faraci spoke to the orb, a group of ten Rank 3 lesser devils with a powerful bloodline running through their veins, and the Fiend Trent that received the Ice Devils reached the entrance to the throne.
Although the lesser devils were descendants of Kenner, their status was inferior to that of the Fiend Trent, so this last spoke first.
"Faraci, why did the Lord..." Before the Fiend Trent could finish his sentence, an invisible force knocked him and killed the lesser devils.
Zatiel's hand and head rose from the ground. He stored the Rank 4 Fiend Trent in his spatial ring and devoured the lesser devils.
