Chapter 268 Demons
Quick question: have you ever had the fine opportunity to look up and see a ball of fire the size of two cities coming down upon you without any place to run to?
If you have, then… how the heck are you alive right now?
Anyway, the wizards of the Underworld Magisters, from the Unranked Apprentices still trying to form their first spiritual core to those at the 8th rank who formed the elders group with power beneath only Master Volud himself, were all of the same accord at this moment.
"We're going to die!"
"Nooo! Save me! Save me mommy!"
"Spare me, spare me! I am willing to join the Celestial Arcanists!"
"Stop! Stop right now and we can let this go!"
"No, I don't want to die! Master Volud save us!"
Screams echoed all over the Underworld Magisters territory as everyone forgot about taking defensive positions and tried to run. They remembered that there should be a teleportation formation for hasty escapes in the core of the building, so everyone rushed there.
However, they were stunned to see that a barrier was erected outside the core area that knocked them all back and kept them out. Within it, Master Volud along with some of the core members of the Underworld Magisters were hurriedly slotting materials into the formation to activate it.
The other members of the faction were stunned into silence for a second or two, even as the fireballs reached a few meters above them and began to burn away their skin and flesh. They could not believe that the gentlemanly and elegant Master Volud would sweat like a wretched dog as he hurriedly tried to escape while betraying everyone who put his trust in him.
At the last minute, the formation activated and sent him and his group away. Till the very end, Master Volud never looked back, not even to gloat or to apologize. It was as if he never really put them in his mind at all, as if there were just insects being sprayed with insecticide.
BOOOM!
The entire land shook for miles as fire spread out and raged through many kilometers of distance in all directions. The shockwave and heat swept up to the location of the Celestial Arcanists, but Dante casually erected a spatial barrier around the whole group that isolated them from this space.
This gave the apprentices and wizards of the Celestial Arcanists front row visuals to the scene of what would happen if a nuclear weapon struck the earth, but in a slightly different style. They could not even fathom how they could be safe through all this, and even Elandor was shaking because he thought he would die from the fallout.
Seeing Dante casually isolate them using a spatial 7th Rank spell made him shocked. Just how strong was Dante to cast a 7th rank spell in seconds, and even extend it to cover the entire group perfectly?
If Elandor himself tried that, even with 10 spiritual cores full of space and a full 1500% boost, his spiritual cores would likely shatter from the stress. Just what kind of spiritual cores did Dante have to do something like this?
Not to mention the man himself bluntly stood in the fallout and was completely unfazed by it. He seemed to be looking at something else as his eyes traced into the distance.
"Fleeing to the underworld? Just as well, let's see what the hell of this quantum world looks like." Dante muttered to himself and sent Elandor a psychic message to return to the faction and handle the aftermath.
After all, this was his last time in this realm, so he couldn't be bothered to handle the various processes that came after. Elandor seemed to realize this as well and became silent, understanding that a mere faction like his with only one 9th rank mage could not keep Dante.
Most likely, such an exemplary young man would end up in the stars, battling other wizards to claim planes for himself. As such, he only bid his farewell to Dante and told him to stay safe no matter what.
Dante nodded and opened a portal that traced the path of Volud and his confidantes using an 8th rank space spell. He then stepped into it and was rapidly brought to a room with a teleportation circle that was slowly disintegrating.
Immediately, Dante heard a roar of victory.
"NOW!!"
Space elements surged crazily around Dante, forming a cage that bound him tightly into it without a way to squeeze out. This was a joint 9th rank spell needed to be cast by at least 9 mages of the same rank and was almost basically a pseudo 10th rank spell.
When the barrier formed, Dante saw that the 8 mages who cast it were Master Volud and 7 cloaked fellows who radiated a familiar aura. When they saw that Dante had fallen for their trap, they relaxed and slumped to the ground while panting.
However, the joy on their faces could not be hidden. Volud even burst into hearty laughter, his eyes quickly becoming bloodshot with a myriad of emotions. He pushed himself up to his feet and arrogantly swaggered over to where Dante was.
"Well, well, 'Master' Dante, how does our pseudo 10th rank Isolation Zone feel?" he asked while folding his arms behind his back regally.
Dante glanced around. "Pretty insidious. It drains the active space elements from sub-space to form a zone where everything within is blocked from that of the outside, except sound. I guess sound is kept so you can hear the begging and screams of your captive?"
"That's right, human scum." A rough and gravelly voice spoke as one of the cloaked fellows came over.
The fellow came to stand beside Volud and towered above him with ease. When the person flipped back their hood, revealing their face, Dante's eyes narrowed slightly.
It was as he expected, a demon!
A high-ranking demon too, which made sense given his magical qualities. This did not intrigue Dante though, as he long knew that demons existed in this world before he showed his hellfire to Master Elandor.
"What are you looking at, human scum? Have you never seen a high-ranking demon with incomparably noble blood?" The demon mocked with a hint of pride as it spoke about its own pedigree.
This left Dante amused. The fellow could not tell what Dante was because of the barrier they themselves had cast; otherwise, without Dante even releasing his aura, they would be sensitive enough to sense his hellfire.
At that time, their knees would clack together crazily with fear as they would not be able to even remain standing in his presence.
"No, you're right. I actually have never seen any high-ranking demons." Dante answered honestly.
The demon sneered and laughed. "That's right, how could a mere human like you—"
"It's because I've mostly only seen a Demon Emperor at the least. I haven't actually seen anything lower." Dante continued thoughtfully.
The demon choked on its words and was left speechless. The other cloaked fellows came sound with interest, wanting to see this show for themselves. This made Volud feel dissatisfied since his faction had been destroyed, and this should be his moment to gloat, but he dared not complain to these fellows.
He could only be squeezed out of the range of the barrier with a dark expression, folding his arms coldly. Meanwhile, the first demon had recovered from its shock and looked at Dante incredulously.
"You? A mere 9th rank mage has seen a Demon Emperor? Hah!"
Another cloaked fellow removed his hood to display the face of a small demon with hooked horns. "Such a lie. This meager world cannot even support the existence of a Demon Prince, so none have been dispatched here. How could you possibly have seen an emperor?"
"Of course, I can see one. I created one myself." Dante continued to play along as he spoke the truth.
The gathered demons were speechless. They shared uncertain looks, not because what they thought what Dante said was true, but because they realized he was mentally retarded and had delusions of grandeur.
"Don't believe me? Just watch." Dante stated as he disappeared from the spatial barrier, making the faces of everyone change.
They immediately got into fighting positions as they expected Dante to ambush them from any side, so spells were readied up to deal with many situations as it came. However, to the surprise of those in the room, Dante casually reappeared back in the dome a few seconds later.
This left the demons speechless again. What the heck was happening here? Since when was there someone who could come and go from the pseudo 10th rank spell they set up using all of their spatial elements?
Dante then waved a hand forward, and three flames in the form of symbols wafted out of the barrier and landed before the group of demons.
"Come forth, my servants: Aisha, Lucian, and Harold!" Dante called out grandly.
The flame symbols suddenly exploded with majestic light that caused all the demons in the room to be blown back, crashing into various furniture or walls and spitting out blood. As for Master Volud, since he was farther away and did not have a demonic bloodline, he did not suffer as much and only took a few heavy steps backward.
However, the look of shock and dismay on everyone's face was equally severe no matter their outcome. They watched as the flame symbol of a heart that had two horns and a fork-shaped tail coalesced into a slender and sexy body that would set fire to any libido.
The flame symbol of a humanoid stepping on another coalesced into a tall and slender male body that reeked of disdain and superiority. The final flame symbol of an aggrieved humanoid face glaring at another coalesced into a slightly shorter male form that made one grip their belongings tighter.
"Aisha greets Lord Dante!"
"Lucian greets Lord Dante!"
"Harold greets Lord Dante!"
The three immediately fell to one knee in obeisance the moment they coalesced. To them, nothing was more important than showing their loyalty the moment they spawned. It was not negotiable for them, even though Dante may feel it was a bit excessive.
Dante nodded to his three hellfire demons and then focused on the other ones who were stupefied and trembling with fear.
"So, what do you guys think? Aren't they Demon Emperors?" He asked with a casual tone.
It was then that the three hellfire demons noticed that there were others around and finally turned to regard them. Seeing that it was a bunch of high-rank demons, endless disdain appeared in their eyes.
Lucian couldn't even be bothered. He directly deleted all knowledge of their existence in his mind and focused on Dante once more. Aisha glanced at them up and down before clicking her teeth boredly and turning away as well.
Only Harold strode over with his hands folded behind his back.
"You pieces of trash, quickly rise to your feet and greet your superiors!" he roared at them, causing them to scramble up from where they were in fear.
They quickly lined up before Harold and prostrated themselves on the ground completely, making the fellow's face glow with joy. He then stepped on the heads of each demon and ground them into the ground, humiliating them thoroughly while he insulted them deeply.
Despite this, none of the demons dared to move or retaliate, even replying to the insults with fawning voices. It was a truly pathetic scene and an eye-opener for Master Volud who had been beaten and bullied around by these fellows over the course of his life, forced to be their toady in order to secure resources to raise his rank up to its current level.
But now, they were willingly humiliating themselves even more exaggeratedly before someone else, and there was no promise of reward!
Dante chuckled. "Harold, it's enough; let's—"
Dante only took one step out of the barrier to discuss his next step when his aura leaked into the room. While his three hellfire demons felt comfortable and blessed, the other demons did not.
Before they could even cry out, they all exploded into a blood mist.
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