Lucifer had fallen.
His remains crashed down from the air, shattering the ground like the strike of a tidal wave.
This was the first Heavenly Father who had fallen.
However, that title, Heavenly Father, was mostly used only in dimensions like Earth and Asgard. In the universe, or somewhere far broader, they were simply called divine beings.
And so…
The first god had fallen.
"Who is next?" Aron's empty gaze turned toward the others.
Naglfar had fled together with the local creatures.
Of the once unshakable rulers of Hell, only a handful remained in the Eternal Abyssal Hell, Mephisto, Satanish, Satana, Hades…
And of course, Aron and Hela.
"Lucifer is dead!?" the eyes of the demoness Satana widened in disbelief.
Her pupils were fixed on the half-severed body buried in the whirlpool of dust.
Her power was not much greater than Lucifer's. If he couldn't withstand even one blow from Aron, then what chance did she have? The outcome would surely be the same, or even worse.
"Fight me! Or do you dare to be distracted too?"
But just as Satana, still in shock, opened her mouth, a black blade, dark as pitch, suddenly pierced through her stomach from behind.
As a warrior, Hela never missed the chance to strike a decisive blow.
Puff!
One strike, clean and brutal.
Hela pulled out her Nightsword, and the blade, full of inverted serrations, shredded flesh and blood, leaving a horrific wound across Satana's back.
The slender and graceful body of the demoness was drenched in blood.
Her once radiant beauty was shattered.
"Aaaa!!"
Satana screamed in pain, but also in rage.
As the daughter of Satan, she prided herself on the holiest or rather, the most accursed, blood running through her veins. At least, that was what she believed.
She and her twin brother, Daimon, were complete opposites. Daimon was kind-hearted and refused to accept the demonic heritage, yearning for an ordinary life on Earth.
But Satana… was the complete opposite.
Evil and depraved by nature, she inherited her father's will and rose to become the mistress of hellish succubi.
Her ambition was clear: to become the next Satan, the queen of Hell.
But all her dreams and pretensions were shattered by a single swing of Hela's blade.
"I will kill you!" Satana roared, powerless and furious.
Her seductive magic, which for years had broken the will of her enemies, was utterly useless against Hela's innate madness.
"I'm sorry~" Hela laughed. "Sister, you don't interest me. On the contrary… killing you will be a true pleasure."
Hela twisted with ease, dodging Satana's energy strikes, while in her other hand shadowy blades from the Sword of the Night Sky flared. Each one left new, painful wounds across Satana's body.
"It's not so pretty when you're so battered, is it?" she teased.
On the other side, Hades, consumed by rage, joined the battle, so Hela found herself against two opponents. But even then, she never forgot to mock them both.
While they fought, Aron faced Mephisto.
Their clash was pure horror: thorns spread like a sea, the river Styx boiled, mountain peaks collapsed in smoke.
Even space itself was becoming unstable. Fine black cracks spread wherever their powers collided.
"Mephisto…" Aron stepped back, his eyes flashing as he asked coldly, "What are you really planning? What are you waiting for?"
Throughout the battle, Aron had sensed that Mephisto wasn't using all his strength. He was the lord of Hell, a Heavenly Father, yet not once did he show his full power.
On the other hand, Satanish stood like a shadow, ready to intervene.
Aron was not naïve. He didn't believe demons would ever play fair.
They were certainly plotting something.
Or, rather… they were waiting for something.
"Are you waiting for the Ancient One?" Aron quickly realized the purpose of Mephisto and the others.
He couldn't help but smile.
"I advise you to give up on these little tricks."
"Do you see this?"
"Doesn't it look familiar?" Aron pulled out the exorcism card and showed it to Mephisto from afar.
"!!!"
Mephisto's face immediately changed.
How could he forget that cursed card!
The last time he was in Kamar-Taj, it was precisely such a card that forcibly banished Mephisto back to Hell.
The memory of that white light still haunted him…
Even as powerful as he was, back then he had felt utterly powerless.
It was a force that could not be resisted—forced banishment.
"Mephisto, what is that? Why are you afraid of that card? Isn't it just an ordinary playing card from Earth?" Satanish, who had been watching from the side, couldn't help but ask.
"You don't understand…" Mephisto's voice was grim.
In that moment, he realized the massive hole in his plan.
Even if everything went perfectly, even if he succeeded in using Aron, a mere mortal, as bait to draw out the Ancient One from Kamar-Taj, there was no chance of killing the Ancient One.
The reason was simple…
Because of that card.
Aron could banish him back to the Flaming Hell at any time.
"It seems you understand. So don't think too much," Aron said in a cold tone.
"Fight me, and do it obediently. If you win, I'll let you leave. If you lose… then I'm afraid you'll meet your end here."
In his voice there was complete ease, because from beginning to end he knew he held the advantage.
If he won, he would eliminate an enemy in advance, and when he decided to conquer the other hells, he would have one less concern.
If he lost, at any moment he could activate the exorcism ritual and forcibly banish Mephisto and his group.
Either way, he lost nothing.
The only one who could have posed a real threat to Aron was Lucifer. But now, Lucifer was already dead.
The others, Mephisto, Satanish, Satana, even Hela, were all beings that the exorcism card could remove.
"…"
Looking at Aron, who stood utterly fearless, Mephisto for the first time felt the true meaning of helplessness.
But he refused to give up this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Whether it was the trap for the Ancient One, the siege and her murder… or the destruction of this mortal before him, it was all something Mephisto desired.
No!
I must not give up!
Mephisto's eyes flashed with resolve.
In his mind, such a card in Aron's hands had to be extremely rare.
Perhaps… there was only this one!
If they could seize it… they would have a chance.
"Satanish! When the battle starts, find a way to snatch that card from his hand. You must not let him activate it!" Mephisto urgently transmitted the order into Satanish's mind.
Then he raised his hand and launched an attack.
Two beams of pure destructive energy surged toward Aron.
But in the next instant…
The entire space of Eternal Hell suddenly froze.
The two rays, filled with deadly energy, vanished as if they had never existed.
"Mirror Dimension!?"
Everyone stopped, their bodies stiff.
Unknowingly, the entire group of lords of Hell had been drawn into the world of mirrors.
"Who gave you the courage to besiege my disciple?"
In the air appeared the Ancient One, walking lightly through the space.
Her icy gaze swept across the gathered demon kings.
From her eyes it was clear, to her, they were already dead.
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