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What appeared before them was an enormous skull.
Judging from the size of the skull alone, it was far larger than those Grim Reapers from before.
Perhaps...
The bigger and smoother the skull, the stronger the owner was.
"Red Dragon Emperor. You disturb my realm of the dead and injure my servants. Do you intend to leave your soul here forever?"
Hades stared at Anos and Cang Yue, pale white flames flickering within his hollow eye sockets.
"Hm? What did you say?"
Anos tilted his head.
Behind him, the phantom of a massive crystal dragon appeared.
"Sorry, I didn't hear you clearly. Could you say that again?"
Anos asked once more.
"You..."
Hades suddenly found himself speechless.
He knew how powerful the crystal dragon behind Anos was.
Even Indra had only been able to get beaten around helplessly by her. Hades would not fare much better.
He really could not understand why the Biblical God favored this human so much.
Could it be that he intended to raise him as the Holy Son?
Letting such a powerful Heavenly Dragon casually follow this human around...
Was that not a waste of resources?
"Why have you come here?"
Hades spoke words that he felt would become a lifelong humiliation.
Not only him, but even the Grim Reapers behind him also looked helpless.
They had never imagined their god would actually soften his stance toward someone else.
But if the one forcing him to do so was that overwhelmingly powerful Heavenly Dragon...
It somehow made sense.
"Samael's soul or your soul. I'm taking one of them today. Choose."
Anos spoke directly.
Samael, the Fallen Dragon.
A devastating weapon against dragonkind.
After the Biblical God passed away, Samael remained nothing more than the embodiment of absolute malice toward dragons.
For the sake of dragonkind's continued existence, the gods had chosen to seal him within Hell.
And Hades was the one who held the highest authority over Samael's seal.
Of course, highest authority did not mean complete authority.
Directly controlling Samael was unrealistic. That still required the approval of the gods.
But temporarily releasing him was entirely possible.
One only needed to unseal Samael and throw him in front of dragons.
Samael would then destroy every dragon before him.
If he were released within Tannin's territory, perhaps by the next day, news that the dragon settlement in devil territory had been completely wiped out would spread throughout the entire world.
Right now, Hades was hesitating over one thing.
This man was both the Red Dragon Emperor and the White Dragon Emperor, and he had brought a dragon like Savior Star Dragon here to cause trouble...
Was he baiting him?
Bringing a group of dragons to demand the Dragon Eater Samael.
If that was not bait, what was?
If Hades chose to act, would the Biblical God appear in front of him the next moment and use that as a perfectly reasonable excuse to kill him?
Although the Biblical God was injured, Hades still feared his strength.
As for the Red Dragon Emperor...
Hades honestly did not think much of him.
A Red Dragon Emperor whose entire power system depended on dragons.
What kind of trouble could he possibly cause?
That was what Hades told himself.
Even so, the Red Dragon Emperor's attitude made him furious.
What did he mean, Samael's soul or Hades's soul, and that one of them had to be taken today?
Who did he think he was?
The Biblical God?!
"You should know that Samael is bound by countless sealing spells. Releasing his seal is not something I alone can decide."
Hades began stalling.
And technically, he was telling the truth.
Those restrictions had been imposed collectively by the gods.
"That's fine. Just hand Samael over to me with the seals intact. The order I received was to execute him on the spot anyway."
Anos smiled.
Did Hades really think Anos could not tell he was trying to buy time?
"So what you're saying is... this is the will of the Biblical God?"
An eerie flame flickered within Hades's eyes.
"You can understand it that way."
Anos looked at Hades and curled his lips into a smile.
"So that's how it is..."
Hades fell into thought.
So this was the Biblical God's intention.
He understood now.
"Kekekeke..."
"Come out, Samael!"
Hades suddenly swept out his hand, tearing open space and summoning the now-unsealed Samael.
From the moment he heard that the Red Dragon Emperor had come looking for him, Hades had secretly begun undoing Samael's seals.
It was preparation for the moment he decided to turn hostile.
Because...
The Dragon Eater Samael was undoubtedly the most suitable existence for dealing with both the Red Dragon Emperor and Savior Star Dragon.
And once Hades learned that this was the Biblical God's will, that completely pushed him toward overturning the table.
Why had the Biblical God suddenly demanded Samael back?
Samael had originally been the embodiment of his malice toward dragons and serpents, so there was nothing strange about the Biblical God reclaiming him.
But Hades believed everything happened for a reason.
He could only think of two possibilities.
The first was that, considering the Biblical God had recently borrowed the power of dragons, perhaps he no longer held much hatred toward dragonkind.
Combined with the Biblical God's previous actions in uniting the various pantheons, perhaps he intended to destroy Samael as a gesture of goodwill toward dragons.
That way, he could draw both Ophis and Great Red into his camp.
The second possibility...
The Biblical God might want to steal the power of dragons for himself.
He could reclaim Samael, use him against Ophis and Great Red, then devour their power to create new powerful pieces or Sacred Gears.
That absolutely could not be allowed.
Because that was what Hades intended to do.
Hades had already decided long ago that the moment Ophis revealed her whereabouts, he would directly unleash Samael.
He would have Samael devour Ophis's power, then create a new Infinite Dragon God.
However...
There was one enormous problem.
A very serious problem.
Ophis had not appeared for a very long time.
Originally, Hades had planned to keep waiting.
But the Red Dragon Emperor's arrival had already reminded him of one fact.
The Biblical God had noticed what was happening here.
There was no more time to wait.
After thinking everything through, Hades chose betrayal without hesitation.
He had already decided.
First, he would devour the power of the Red Dragon Emperor and Savior Star Dragon.
That way, the new Red Dragon Emperor he created should also become extremely powerful.
Even if he had to hide everywhere afterward while being hunted by the Biblical God, he would at least possess considerable capital.
"Sorry, but I already knew what you were going to do."
Anos narrowed his eyes.
[I swear here.]
[I do not permit anything to exist that I cannot cut.]
[This sword is the blade that severs and cuts through everything upon the earth.]
[It is the invincible blade.]
A golden holy sword appeared instantly.
Golden and silver radiance intertwined as the blade slashed toward Samael.
It seemed as though it had struck something.
And at the same time, as though it had struck nothing at all.
The gold-and-silver holy sword passed straight through Samael's body.
Then...
Rustle...
Like sand being scattered by the wind, Samael's body gradually broke apart into countless particles and disappeared.
The holy sword itself possessed an attribute that countered Samael.
Combined with the Silver Arm of Rending, which severed his very origin...
Samael passed away in an almost unnaturally peaceful manner.
"Lord Hades."
Anos smiled.
"You do understand the consequences of what you just tried to do, don't you?"
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