In a place filled with darkness, Alex stood silently.
His training was finally over but the troubles were far from being over.
He now has to pass through that Goddamn Hell's Judgement to return to the mortal plane.
After the Devil's declaration, his training became more fierce, he felt as if he had been tormented thoroughly.
He couldn't even remember how many times he wanted to run away and how many times he cursed his luck for coming to this world.
His previous world was a thousand times better, though he was a fantasy lover and liked all these kinds of things the way Goddess of War trained him was way too brutal.
Sometimes, he wished that he could just die peacefully but those goddamn Goddesses wouldn't give him a moment of peace.
The darkness started to flicker as a man walked into the place.
Alex glared at him like a wounded lion and if possible he wanted to swallow him alive.
Seeing Alex's heated gaze, Devil spoke"Boy, I know you hate me to death but even my hands had been cuffed."
"Do you think your excuse is enough to quench my anger? What despair I had gone through can you even imagine?" Alex asked angrily.
The devil looked at Alex and stood in front of him and opened his eyes but unlike other times Alex didn't flinch but rather stared directly at his eyes.
Though his body started to tremble his tremendous willpower which had been tempered by countless death was enough to resist the Devil's Eye.
"I have never seen such tenacious willpower. You might have gone through a lot but that didn't mean others suffering were less than you." The Devil spoke.
"Let me tell you once I have been in the same stage as you."
"At first there was nothing, then the Queen Goddess came into existence."
"She created three planes and from the consciousness of the world Goddess Rebecca and I came into existence."
"With Goddess Rebecca, life came into existence."
"As life started to grow, various Goddesses came into existence. They were born from the will of the world and grew with living beings."
"Only those whom the living beings place importance on keep on becoming stronger."
"As war, fight, and violence frequently happened, Goddess Of War became what she was today."
"But I was just a gatekeeper guarding the checklist overseeing my work. I didn't have any fighting prowess just like a major Goddess."
"Moreover, unlike your Goddesses who were adorned by the masses, I had always been criticized by those damn mortals."
"I am Devil, the one who judges and punishes all evil but what you mortals think of me."
"You just made me a bad guy and any time something bad happened. You started to say Devil tainted my soul, Devil tainted my heart, I have been led astray by the devil."
"Every time something bad happens people would condemn others saying I brought them into the wrong path."
"What kind of bullshit is this?"'The Devil roared with frustration.
" The only worship I got was from a Necromancer who worshipped me as God of Death but in truth I despise them. Using the dead to make their army disgusts me."
Alex heard Devil's words and saw his saddened expression which shocked him a bit after all how many people in the world were lucky enough to see such an expression in Devil?
"The only thing I had was this Eye Of Devil."
"In my younger days, I was just a conceited fool but my foolishness shattered soon."
"What happens?" Alex asked with a curious expression.
"There are special cases where people who shouldn't be dead, die due to anomaly."
"In that case, to restore order, we have to fill the person with another soul."
"But, due to some problem, that person remembered his past life and he started to get stronger quite quickly."
"Within 200 years, he reached False God realms but finally he died and reached here."
"His soul was quite strong and I wasn't able to control it and he created havoc in hell."
"If not for the will of the world's interference he could have overthrown me."
"That day, I knew I had to get stronger. Unlike Goddess, I don't receive much power of faith and had to start my journey to become stronger."
"I worked hard, burned in the flames of hell, and tempered myself for countless years to reach here."
Alex was moved by his story but more than that he was quite happy to know that Devil wasn't an all-powerful being from the beginning.
"After getting stronger, I create soulless puppets known as Demons with my power to help me guard this place."
"I created my martial arts. After repeated trials, I have finally reached where I am."
"Still I know the suffering you have gone through is far greater than me."
"Being taught by that uncultured demoness and to endure her is even out of the fort."
Alex chuckled hearing the Devil's words.
If the Goddess of War heard this, she might engage in a life and death battle with him.
"That's why Alex I will give you a parting gift. I will teach you my techniques."
Alex, whose mood had been calmed down, suddenly trembled and his expression turned ugly as if he had stepped on some kind of shit.
"More training, I can't endure more training," Alex spoke while waving his hand.
Devil's lips twitched seeing Alex's expression as if he was going to be killed by him.
"Listen, boy, I am not that cruel."
"It's your bad luck for getting involved with an uncultured and uncivilized demoness like her."
"It's even a blessing for you to maintain your sanity after being tortured by her. But don't worry, you will enjoy my teaching."
"Okay, let's keep it for later and tell me about hell's judgment. What is it?"Alex asked.
Devil nodded and started to explain.
Hell's judgment is the name of the place where the greatest sinner whose souls had committed countless atrocities had been kept.
There they burn in the fiery flames of hell that inflict serious pain on one soul and stay there until their punishment is over and their souls that had been tainted by evil are purified.
To make it harsher their souls had been molded into the real body which inflicted countless times more pain than others.
"Wait!! You want me to pass through that place. Are you kidding me?"Alex asked.
"Don't worry, I will lower the intensity of the flames by a bit. What you have to do is pass through hell's judgment by killing all the beings that are present out there."
"There are countless ferocious beings and some even get stronger using the hell furnace as tempering and get stronger."
"Wouldn't it be a problem, if someone escapes from there and defeats you?" Alex asked curiously.
"See, just like the will of the world, hell had its consciousness which is under me. If someone gets stronger, I visit and cripple them."
"Moreover, if anyone tried to attack me, his soul would directly be extinguished and cease to exist, unlike others who can enter the cycle of reincarnation after redeeming themselves."
"Moreover, those who had to commit minor sins, I put their soul in the demon body and asked them to serve me as punishment."
"Each demon under me is as strong as a minor god."
"Their army is enough to destroy heaven and can match Goddesses of War's army of angels."
Alex shook his head in disapproval.
'You lot are already this strong, why do you need to create a vast army? Do you want to revolt and if you want to do it then against whom?'
"Now come with me. I am going to teach you my techniques. Unlike those Goddess techniques where you need their blessings, my techniques don't need those."
"Then how did you get the power?" Alex asked curiously.
"The Goddess feeds on positive emotions while I thrive on negative emotions but as you know compared to light, darkness is quite less."
"So, Goddess harvest is many times more than mine. That's why I developed mine which is free of the powers of faith. You use the demonic energy to strengthen the attack aura but even without it you can crush anyone."
"And Alex, remember one thing, though you are quite strong, many of the techniques you use were taught by those Goddesses and it requires their blessings or power of faith."
"If you want to be truly powerful, invent your moves and techniques. Use another teaching to carve a road for yourselves but don't walk on the path of your predecessors." The Devil explained with a serious expression.
