The Insect Lords that stood behind Beelzebub suddenly shivered greatly, not fully understanding the implications of what had just transpired, but the little they managed the follow told them that something horrible lay in store for them and their race.
Gunner was smirking slightly as he folded his arms, yet he was ready to rumble the moment anything went wrong. Xela was far tenser as she was frowning at the close call Darius just experienced, but knew it would be fine with his survivability.
Darius himself was smiling softly, not all at bothered by the heat that was radiating off Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies barely able to keep his hatred and malice that was burning so hot inside him that the room temperature rose.
Darius smiled widely and brought his eye closer to the sharp appendage as if he intended to impale himself on it, and in a flustered panic, Beelzebub quickly retracted it, almost falling over himself.
Darius just leaned forward like that and continued speaking. "Well, you understand now, don't you? I have been sent to this world to amuse the great Goddess and she has blessed me with the ability to warp the entire world around me into a new set of laws that grant me great power."
Beelzebub looked upon the ever-encroaching presence of the system which was why he had even paused in the first place. His face changed when he realized that its influence had even affected him, binding him fully to its rules despite them being in the underground, the place which was supposed to be his domain.
Experiencing it himself he understood why that bastard Thanatos must have handed the fellow what he wanted and made him scram. This feeling was truly horrific and uncomfortable, especially for beings like them who were closest to the sources of power in Faust.
Darius did not know, but the stats he saw that would have been Beelzebub's original stats had he not be injured were actually nerfed. True Lords distinguished themselves from Gods, Demons or any other special race in Faust for that matter not just because they knew about Vena's existence.
Rather, learning about Vena had merely been a consequence of reaching the True Lord level. The exact process was not exactly a tightly guarded secret, but there were quotas on how many could become True Lords, and it was per continent.
Every continent could only have 10 True Lords at any one time. This was a hard limit put down by Vena herself, so as to keep the world somewhat stable allowing her agents to move somewhat freely.
It was pointless creating a 'setting' for her 'players' if there were too many high-level 'NPCs' that could spawnkill them or as soon as they left the 'starter village'.
Yes, Beelzebub knew these terms and not by choice.
Upon becoming a True Lord, one would briefly meet Vena in her throne room somewhere out of this world. Beelzebub could only describe her as weird from looks to dressing style.
She had looked like a human, but then again most Gods did, so it wasn't really telling much about her. Rather, it had been her attire and manner of speech that had left him baffled as to whether she was really Goddess.
Vena had dressed unattractively and sloppily, even by Beelzebub's standards. She had used words that were strange and upon noticing Beelzebub's confusion, she had merely sighed and murmured; "The life of a Gamer Girl is filled with strife. I have to code these NPCs better…"
After that, she had shooed him away.
"Penny for your thoughts, Lord Beel? I don't think this is the situation to be distracted, no?" Darius prodded as he rubbed his chin.
Beelzebub came out of his stupor and glared at Darius coldly. "And so the Goddess gave you a mission to kill us all? What does that have to do with me? Since we are going to 'die' by your hands, I might as well kill you now and buy a path to our future!"
Beelzebub began to walk forward menacingly, his compound eyes shining with resolve. "It's all the same thing anyway. Either you kill us all, or I kill you, incur the wrath of the Goddess and we get slaughtered anyway. Since that's the case, why not enjoy myself by actually committing the crime that we will be punished for, ahahaha!"
The other Insect Lords shared uncertain looks and began to approach together with their Lord, their hunger that had been beaten back by fear rising once more. Gunner manifested a green aura around his body as he prepared to battle at a moment's notice, while Xela took out her bow and arrow.
Against a powerhouse like Beelzebub, it should do amazing amounts of damage. She nocked the arrow fully and was just waiting for the Lord of the Flies to make the wrong move.
The only one who was not moved by the sudden tension in the room, was Darius who was amused. He folded his arms and gazed at Beelzebub with a tilted head.
"You can do that, but that would be impossible. I am not telling you this because I can't destroy you and your race. If I want, I can leave this place at any time."
Darius pointed to the Faraday cage around him. "Do you know what this is? It's called a Faraday Cage. It's a special contraption that blocks out electromagnetic waves from outside or inside, as well as all forms of energy across the entire spectrum, including light and heat."
Beelzebub laughed. "And so what? Even if it could block out entropy itself, I wouldn't care! All I want right now is you dead and your flesh down my gullet!"
Darius folded his arms behind his back. "And that would be an utter waste. After all, due to the nature of the Faraday Cage, all forms of observation are blocked."
Beelzebub, who had been approaching slowly and carefully while watching Gunner's movements, trying to find the right moment to pounce forward and devour his foe in one bite, suddenly froze.
A look of shock, understanding, and amazement appeared on his Insect face that was quite comical overall.
