It did not take long for Zatiel to be back at the mountain range. There was no sign of exhaustion on his face, and anyone who saw him for the first time would think he was at his peak. He knew very well that showing weakness in Baator was equal to suicide and made sure to hide his actual condition.
The Neo-Demon saw hundreds of thousands of lesser devils devouring the corpses of the ones who have fallen. This beastly behavior may not seem fit for a cunning race like devils, but consuming their kind was the fastest way for these creatures to improve their cultivation and bloodline.
Those at Rank 4 also sought to improve their power that way, but they had more pressing matters. Using spells to change the terrain, they began constructing a massive citadel around the mountain range.
The Devil Counts also worked on this project. They inscribed hundreds of runic formations and magic matrices in the terrain and used a type of liquid metal to form the buildings.
Zatiel immediately recognized what they were creating. It was an Infernal Citadel, a stronghold capable of empowering their controllers, just like the Magi World's magic towers.
This mountain range was a strategic position both Devil Dukes wanted to control before invading the other's domains. Due to the Rank 6 carcass, the natural energy in this area was extraordinary. The might of an Infernal Citadel built in it could allow a group of Devil Marquises to fight a Rank 6 Devil Lord.
Five mountains that extended thousands of kilometers into the sky were the Infernal Citadel's core, and Devil Marquises occupied four of them already.
The mighty Devil Lords all focused on the Neo-Demon when he arrived, and they looked at him with caution and interest. Zatiel's battle power and abilities surprised them, but since they were on the same team and there was no bad blood among them, they sought to form an alliance and benefit from his power instead of alienating him.
Of course, not everybody thought that way. Severian's heart was full of wrath since the price he would have to pay to regenerate his arm would be immense, but he did nothing and just smiled at Zatiel.
A Devil Lord would never attack an enemy who was more powerful than him without forming a plan first. No matter the hate and humiliation they felt, they would always swallow it up and keep going.
Zatiel's Rebirth Eye discreetly analyzed every Devil Marquess, and a small smile appeared when he detected how everybody had reinforced their spiritual defenses.
'Hahaha, devils, I have to recognize that they are very clever. They do not comprehend the power I used on Severian, but they knew it was something released to illusions, and they all had their guard up now. Tring to establish the connection for Beyond Reality will be practically impossible now.'
Zatiel did not feel discouraged by the turn of events. Beyond Reality was a powerful weapon, but he did not need it to keep the Devil Marquises in check.
With a stroke of his sword, the Neo-Demon made a cave in the mountain's peak and disappeared inside it.
The Devil Marquises' eyes followed the Neo-Demon. After a few seconds, they saw a mantle of black fog cover the entire mountain and ferociously swallow the natural energy from the surroundings.
The fog had a cloaking power that made it impossible for them to see what happened inside unless they were willing to use forceful methods.
None of them were willing to start a fight, so everybody, except for the Shadow Frog, looked away.
'I can feel the Law of Darkness in that fog. The might it shows places him close at the Minor Completion level, but I feel something odd about it. It lacks control and seems to be working as an instinct.' Severian's eyes shone with a peculiar light, and the next moment he vanished inside his own mountain.
Zatiel sat in the center of the cave with his eyes closed as he focused on recovering, and streams of darkness emerged from his body.
Every second, his energy pool grew a little more. After five hours, he had fully replenished his Elemental Chaos.
With his energy pool ready, it was time to get going with the arrangements. Zatiel headed into the center of his mountain, and in there, he made a massive chamber.
'The darkness should be able to hide it from the other Devil Marquises while I am here. However, I will constantly be leaving for the battlefield, and I need to build a formation that can protect it while I am away.'
Using the same darkness that emerged from his body, some resources, and his blood, Zatiel covered the chamber's walls with runic formations.
Only after making sure that the runes could trick even his Mind Force did he take out two things from his space ring. They were a massive pool filled with a red-golden liquid and a small box.
The pool was the one the Blood Duke used to nurture his body. It contained more life force and blood energy than the one you could get from one hundred Rank 5 life forms.
'Now that my Law of Rebirth reached the Initial level, I can purify the life force and use it to nurture my body without side effects. This war will extend for several years before reaching its climax with the two Devil Dukes' fight. I need to be ready when the time comes.'
Zatiel did not hesitate before descending into the bottom of the pool carrying the small box. A monstrous pressure assaulted him from every direction, and he felt that his bones would break in any second.
The Rebirth Eye glowed, and the next instant, a sphere of purple flaming plasma covered Zatiel. The plasma burned the red-golden liquid, expelling the negative emotions and pieces of consciousness in it, only allowing the purest form of energy to reach the Neo-Demon's body.
He saw the vapor carrying the ego and emotions of the original owner of the life force about to disappear and broke the small box he had in his hand.
A black root with red scars appeared in Zatiel's hand. It was the piece of a Tree of Massacre he found after defeating the Rank 5 puppet inside the Blood Fortress.
After several years of nurturing with a massive amount of resources and his blood that carried the forces of the Rebirth Eclipse Bloodline, the root not only came back to life, it had even formed a soul.
A Tree of Massacre was a non-sentient life form known for growing on massive battlefields where billions of devils have died. They consumed the blood and pieces of consciousness from the fallen devils and were known for their sturdiness and great malleability.
Zatiel did not hesitate before burying the root in his chest and felt as this one shivered the next second.
Tendrils emerged from the root, and they headed for the Bloodline Heart. Despite not having sentience, it still acted based on its instinct, and they tell it that right now that there was an incredibly nutritious food in that heart.
The Neo-Demon allowed the root's tendrils to cover his heart before using his Rebirth Eye and putting it to sleep. Other people may have difficulty controlling a Tree of Massacre, but Zatiel's dominion over the soul was superb.
'With the resources at my disposal and the amount of life force in this pool, I should have no problem nurturing the root until it becomes a Rank 5 Tree of Massacre. Although I can push it beyond that level, I may lose control of it if I do it.'
Zatiel could erase the root's soul, but that would greatly diminish the Tree of Massacre's power, so it was not worth it.
All the negative emotions and pieces of consciousness entered the root, along with copious amounts of blood energy, life force, and fragments of Zatiel's bloodline.
