Chapter 908: “Leverage”
When Arthur said that 5 hostages were a perfect number, he genuinely thought it’d be enough.
But a few minutes later, as he sat on the ground, staring at the groaning Infernal Devil Lords sprawled nearby, he rubbed his chin and muttered, "I’m not sure how much the death of these 5 is gonna affect the planetary barrier."
At this, Lostvayne, having assumed her female humanoid form, crouched beside him and asked, [Do you plan to destabilise the barrier?]
"Oh, no. Perish the thought. I just wanna threaten them with destabilisation and the potential destruction of the barrier. That’s why I need hostages."
Arthur had easily rounded up the 5 Infernal Devil Lords, the entire battle lasting only five minutes due not only to the disparity in Existence Realm Stages, but also to Arthur’s raw power reserves, which exceeded all 5 combined.
He’d then proceeded to stuff fist-sized orbs of destruction energy down their throats, and now, as they lay across the floor, immobilised under extreme gravity, ticking time bombs sat inside them.
If Arthur so much as snapped his fingers, they were all gonna blow, literally.
Arthur did this because of the other Infernal Devil Lords on the planet, who were currently closing in on his location.
Even for Arthur, considering how much of a nonstandard he was, facing all of them simultaneously would’ve been a fool’s errand, and if he simply went straight for the Cosmic Energy Lake, they’d absolutely interfere, which would result in internal damage for him.
Because of that, he wanted to make sure they stayed out of his way by holding their compatriots as hostages, and by extension, leveraging the planetary barrier that kept other Infernal Devils across the galaxy from detecting the lake of energy on the planet’s surface.
After laying out this plan to Lostvayne, he glanced over at her and asked, "You’ve been using this appearance a lot more recently."
[I guess I got used to it. You left me to babysit Elaine quite often, and she seemed more comfortable with this look than my other one. According to her, the other is a bit too similar to yours.]
"Is that so?" Arthur replied, shrugging casually.
He then turned his gaze toward the clear skies, watching the descending figure as he waved a hand and smiled brightly.
"Hey, there. I’m just an interdimensional traveller. I come in peace."
He glanced at the restrained devils, then looked back up and continued, "Ignore them. I really do come in peace."
About ten Infernal Devil Lords descended, most of them already holding weapons with their energies roused. The one at the forefront, whose aura suggested he was extremely close to the peak of the Mid-Tier Deity Realm, wore a deep frown.
Still seated on the ground in a lotus position, Arthur kept speaking,
"Considering this is our first meeting, I suppose introductions are in order. My name is—"
"Arthur Vaughn. godslayer," the Infernal Devil said, cutting him off.
Arthur blinked at that, then chuckled lightly as he replied, "And here I was thinking you were ignorant of the outside world since you’ve holed yourselves up here.
Seems I was wrong. If you already know who I am, this makes things easier."
The expression of the figure at the forefront, their presumed leader, grew rather difficult, though Arthur didn’t pay it any attention.
Unlike most of the other Infernal Devil Lords, he and a select few created clones using fragments of their souls, which they sent beyond Choth, and those clones transmitted their memories back afterwards, allowing them to stay updated on events across the interstellar stage.
This was how they knew of Arthur and the fact that he was back in Valmone.
They didn’t know much about Arthur’s true power, since that had always remained unclear, but his known cooperation with McEnda II and Malorum was more than enough to make them wary of him.
What’s more, in the ten minutes it took them to stabilise their respective sections of the barrier and rush over, Arthur had already defeated 5 Infernal Devil Lords, and even now, he was actively keeping them from moving.
The one at the forefront, the Leader of the Infernal Devil Lords, had seen this from afar, which was why he ordered them to stand down instead of attacking right away as they’d intended.
What’s more, Lostvayne and Celestia, who were discussing something a few metres away while keeping watch over the unconscious Elaine, were two wild cards he knew nothing about.
Frowning, he asked, "What do you want?"
"Ah? You wanna talk. That’s good. I don’t wanna fight anymore," Arthur replied, wearing a bright smile.
That smile disappeared a moment later as he continued in a serious tone.
"What I want from your planet is something called Cosmic Energy. Do you know of its existence?"
It didn’t even take a second after Arthur asked for him to read the confusion on the Infernal Devils’ faces, all except for the leader, whose brow twitched slightly.
Pointing at him, Arthur said, "So you know about it. But you can’t sense it, since you’re not a Cosmic Superior. I’m sure of that, because I am one, and I can tell your existence doesn’t affect the ambient cosmic energy at all."
Lowering his hand, he went on, "But that’s not the point. The point is that your planet is overloaded with cosmic energy, and it’s trying to expel that energy into space.
But all of you have unknowingly and ignorantly trapped that excess energy on the planet’s surface, thinking you were only containing magic power."
"What...?" the man muttered, his expression darkening.
"What you believe to be a concentration of magic power is actually a concentration of cosmic energy. The magic power you sense is simply one of its offshoots, created as that cosmic energy decays."
Arthur then tapped the ground beside him and laid out his demand.
"I want the cosmic energy in that ’lake’ of yours. You can do whatever you like with the magic power, since I don’t care about that.
What I want is the cosmic energy you can’t use, for the same reason you can’t."
He shifted his gaze and looked toward the other Devil Lords, chuckling as he added, "I’m sure you’re letting it build up to a point where all of you can use it at the same time, since no one wants to go after someone else."
That deduction was exactly why they’d allowed the magic power to accumulate. Everyone wanted to go first, and no one wanted to be last.
"You guys can do that. I don’t care," Arthur said, still tapping the ground. "What I want is the cosmic energy. If I get it, I’ll leave your planet and won’t come back.
If you know who I am, then you should also know I’ve got planets of my own, and I don’t care about planets in the Infernal Dimension.
To begin with, this is Miacav’s territory, and I don’t want any trouble with him."
As he said that, Arthur brought his fist into his palm, a look of recollection crossing his face.
"Oh, I almost forgot to mention something. Your ’Supreme’ Infernal Devil King is the one who told me about this planet of yours. Keep that in mind."
Those words caused the leader of Choth’s Devil Lords to frown.
He knew Miacav was already aware of their planet’s existence and simply didn’t care about it, but he never expected Miacav to send Arthur here, assuming he really had.
’Demon King McEnda II is close to His Excellency. It’s possible he introduced this godslayer to His Excellency.’
That was the thought that crossed the man’s mind.
Just then, Arthur’s voice rang out again.
"Ah, about your friends on the floor. I needed a bit of leverage to make you guys agree to talk."
Arthur then opened his palm and condensed an orb of destruction energy, holding it up as he explained.
"I’ve embedded this into all their bodies, and with a single thought, I can have their guts scattered all over the floor. That wouldn’t be pretty, both visually and for your planetary shield, since if I remember right, that shield needs all of you as nodes.
I wouldn’t wanna find out what happens when 5 nodes die, and the shield turns unstable."
Arthur’s words were nothing more than a veiled threat, and everyone could see it clearly.
Some of the Infernal Devil Lords didn’t appreciate this, and one of those with a weapon already drawn gathered his energy, but before he could even step forward, his body turned completely monochrome.
Their leader, who’d turned toward him to stop him, snapped his gaze back to Arthur, who was now pointing directly at him.
"People who don’t wanna talk with words don’t need to be part of this conversation. I’ll unfreeze him once we’re done talking."
Turning his attention back to the leader, Arthur continued speaking.
"So? Are you gonna let me take what I want so I can be on my merry way, or are you gonna get in my way and die?"
His obsidian irises turned heterochromatic as he added,
"The choice is yours."
"..."
The leader remained silent, ignoring the telepathic messages coming from the others as he considered Arthur’s words, glanced at the 5 figures on the floor, then finally asked.
"What guarantee do we have that you’ll take only what you want and won’t touch what’s ours?"
"Hmm? Well, that’s your choice too. Contract magic, Binding Oaths, Mana Pledges. Take your pick."
Arthur’s reply prompted the man to silently raise his hand, and with a burst of flames, a brown, curved sheet of paper appeared suspended in the air.
"That’s a demon contract, isn’t it?" Arthur asked as he rose to his feet. "Fine. Let’s set the terms."
With those words, he brushed off his trousers and closed the distance to the Infernal Devils’ leader in a single step, reaching out to grab the contract and channel magic power into it.
He made sure to include a clause stating that the destruction orbs he’d placed inside the 5 devils on the floor would remain there until he was finished, but that they couldn’t be detonated unless those devils did something that affected him, whether directly or indirectly.
