Chapter 579: Alucard is the target.
"Alucard... I knew I should have kept you in check." A ten-foot-tall Demon spoke as its sharp tail bounced off the ground, leaving deep gashes in its wake.
An oppressive air covered the area, the King of Hell was angry, and all the Lesser Demons and their Elites knew it.
'How did he know the location of the heirs? I made sure to keep it as secret as possible.'
With the rescue of the Faction Heirs, the Contract Diablo had with the Leaders of said Factions was automatically rendered unusable; therefore, there were no more chains that bound the Vampire King from meddling in the war.
And to further deteriorate Diablo's mood, the Angels were getting more active; minor skirmishes were occurring across the globe between Angels and Demons.
'If this continues, the all-out war that was predicted will happen sooner than expected.' The Hellish Devil snarled; a breath of Hellfire seeped through his gritted teeth as his eyes glittered with malice and annoyance.
"Like that Vampire said, Diablo." A Diablo-like voice was heard, and all the demons, including Diablo himself, looked at the man who suddenly appeared.
"You should have taken care of that pest."
The man was tall; he was 2 meters tall, his arms were broad and muscular, and his skin was a burnt brown. He had long black hair that reached down to his waist, obsidian eyes as if darkness itself was trapped within them, and he was wearing an elegant black suit. However, the most noticeable feature of this man was a Crown of Flames on his head.
Diablo ignored what the man said, instead replying:
"… If you are here, that must mean you must have taken care of your part of the plan, Yama."
"Indeed, my Hell is no longer connected to my Pantheon."
"Indra is furious about everything. I bet he is full of troubles dealing with the Souls trapped between the world of the Living and the Dead." The man spoke in neutral tones and with elegance, but amusement could be seen in his entire being; he was evidently very happy.
"With the system not working, for now, he is very frustrated, fufufu. I could hear his angry thunder even from my Hell." Yama was trying not to laugh in amusement.
"This is just a temporary solution, we can't break the balance just yet, or the Primordials will intervene."
The amusement drained from Yama's face, and he narrowed his eyes as he remembered the existences that kept the world in balance, the King of Hell from Hindu Mythology knew. He knew that this situation he put his Hell in couldn't stay the way it was forever.
As much fun as it would be to leave the world with no death, it would only provoke the ire of those who regulated existence.
Like it or not, Hell was an essential part of the overall scheme. Without Hell, the Souls that have sinned have nowhere else to go, and therefore there would be no death. They would be trapped in a state between Life and Death forever, something that was unnatural.
And this situation was just a big invitation to the real Death, the Entity responsible for the effect of 'Death' to occur.
When a Mortal dies, and 'Death' occurs, the Soul appears before the 'Judges of The Abyss'; after being judged, those with Positive Karma will go to the respective Heavens the Soul believed in, while the 'Evil' part of the Soul would be removed and thrown into Hell. After all, even the most pure-hearted had traces of Evil in their hearts.
Those who had committed irredeemable sins or had an abundance of Negative Karma would go straight to Hell, where they would undergo a process of 'rehabilitation'. If the rehabilitation worked, the Soul would automatically go to the Being responsible for all Life, Reincarnation, and Maintenance of The Universe.
The Universal Tree.
Similar to a World Tree that sustained an entire planet, The Universal Tree maintained all of existence; he was and still is The Father of All World Trees.
If any one of these processes wasn't working, or something happened to throw off the Balance, The Limbo Guy would pay you a visit, and trust me... No one would want to be trapped in his prison.
"How much time do we have?" Yama asked. He knew that his ally negotiated with the Judges of The Abyss, and by delivering an abnormal amount of Souls, the 'System' would remain 'functional' until everything they planned came to fruition.
"One year," Diablo responded.
"Shiva won't be able to interfere for a year, huh." He placed his hand on his chin. Like The King of Hell, he knew that because he'd abandoned his duties, the God-King of his Pantheon would have to act to remedy the situation. The same would occur for the other Pantheons, and what happened when a God-King who was not used to dealing with Hell took this responsibility?
Chaos.
They and their fellow Gods would be busy dealing with the hundreds of thousands of Souls that were in their respective Hells.
Hell was not only a place where the wicked go; it is also the place where the Soul was recycled, that is, everything. Absolutely everything that contains a Soul went to Hell.
When a tree died, the slight traces of its Soul would go to Hell and would automatically be recycled and thrown back into the system so that another tree could be born. The process was so fast that The Kings of the many Hell usually did not even notice it happening despite knowing it occurred.
But what if The Kings of Hell purposely stopped doing this automatic recycling? The many God-Kings would need to handle this process manually.
Applying that monstrous amount of work without the aid of the system... It was pure insanity.
'Not only Shiva, but all God-Kings also will not be able to interfere for a year, which gives us enough time to complete everything... Of course, this depends on whether the other Kings of Hell finish their work properly... A year for the balance not to be completely broken, huh...'
Yama was treating this like a vacation. He knew he'd eventually need to finish his work, but he could use some fun, right? After all, this was his first vacation since he was made responsible for the Hell of The Hindu Pantheon.
'Ugh, I wish I hadn't taken the mantle of the previous 'Yama'. No wonder that old man was so happy to find a successor.'
"What do you intend to do? Are you going to accept Niklaus' suggestion?"
"No, the young Progenitor doesn't concern me; that solution is reserved for Vlad alone."
"Didn't he spoil your plans?"
"Yes, but in the end, the kidnapping of the Faction Heirs was just a diversionary ploy to buy time and secure my Contract with the Witches… His interference doesn't change anything."
Diablo raised his claws upward, and something appeared in his hand.
Badump, Badump.
A heart too big to be a human's and too strong to be an ordinary Demon's oozed pure Miasma that seeped between Diablo's fingers. Even Demons who were used to the Miasma of Hell couldn't help but step back a little; it was too great a concentration of Corruption even for them!
"This war ended the moment it started; all I need are the final ingredients." A glint of greed appeared on Diablo's expressionless face:
"The rest are just annoying details." Diablo closed his grip, and the heart disappeared in a burst of black Miasma.
Yama, who saw this, had a neutral smile on his face, but a bead of sweat couldn't help but fall from his face.
'Who knew that the being everyone thought was stupid was the most cunning of all? How many steps did he foresee in this conflict he started?'
"Are you going to let him run free?"
"No one interferes with my plans, and Alucard is too dangerous to be left alive."
Yama nodded; he asked curiously:
"Will you send the Deadly Sins?"
"My Elites are busy in other Hells and Realms, and I need The Demonic Pillars and The Four Horsemen for the next conflict with the Angels."
"Let those who hate Alucard deal with him."
"Baal."
"Yes, My King." A blond man appeared and bowed slightly with his hand on his chest.
"Contact Niklaus and James. They have my permission to act."
Baal nodded, but before he could disappear, Yama spoke:
"Let me help you too." Yama snapped his finger, and a large red portal appeared. Footsteps were heard from within, and soon two giant beings over 220 cm tall with four arms, red skin, and faces of pure anger appeared.
"The Asuras, my most loyal Servants. From my Elites, these two here are among the strongest. I will send them. That should be enough to take care of Alucard."
Baal looked at the two beings and then looked at Diablo as if asking for confirmation of something.
Diablo's eyes just gleamed, which was the confirmation Baal needed.
Baal walked up to the two beings and placed both hands on them; soon, the three disappeared.
"Conserve your forces in case the Pantheons decide to interfere."
"As I said, they are among the strongest; they are not the strongest; their defeat will not interfere with anything."
"Anyway, I'm on vacation. If you need anything, just call me. I'm going to have some fun." Yama didn't wait for Diablo's response. He started to float, then a sonic boom was heard, and he started flying in a random direction.
Diablo just grunted in annoyance. He wondered why these beings liked to take on weak human forms; even Yama wasn't any different.
Diablo looked up at the sky and saw his dragon flying briskly.
Diablo's eyes glowed with an evil glare.
As he looked at the sky, which was now blood red, Diablo felt someone approaching him; he turned his face and saw a dark 'entity', a High-Level Evil Spirit.
"Asmodeus."
"My King, preparations are ready."
All saw a monstrous smile. Diablo was happy, and things never ended well when a Demon was delighted.
"The preparations to attract the Sin of Pride?"
"They're complete too." Diablo's smile grew even wider.
"Lilith."
The woman who had remained silent the entire time beside Diablo stirred and looked at Diablo:
"Yes?"
"Are you looking forward to meeting your ex-Partner?"
Lilith's body shook visibly, and her eyes changed color several times as if something was fighting for control; Diablo didn't lose hold of his hold on her.
'Looks like I'll have to reinforce her control so that nothing goes wrong.'
"Y-Yes, My King, I look forward to meeting Lucifer."
....
