Chapter 659 An Intruder In Hell
Eris rushed down the mountain, following the directions of the imps as she avoided the other devils. In each corner she could see them patrolling around with their spears and swords, kicking any sinner that tried to climb the mountain.
"How many of them are around?" Eris mumbled as she hid behind a massive stone with a small imp.
"We imps are the bottom feeders of hell. Each layer has three ranks of devils. They are lower, mid, and upper-rank devils," The imp explained.
"So you're lower rank in the first layer,"
"Yeah. But keep in mind that the lower-rank devils of the second layer are stronger than the high-rank devils of the first layer," The imp added, "Even ten of us lower ranks couldn't hope to beat a single middle rank. Be careful,"
15 lower-rank=1 mid-rank
15 mid-rank= 1 upper-rank
"I guess those red-skinned humanoids are mid-rank devils, right?" She looked behind the stone at the devils.
"In this layer, goblinoids like us imps are lower rank. Humanoids are mid-rank, and large monstrous devils are high-rank," The imp looked at her, "You're impressive yourself. Judging by magic alone, you're almost as strong as five mid-rank devils," he giggled.
^I'm not letting any magic out, and what's leaking is me using my fireside to fend off the heat. I'm probably able to at least fend off a high-rank devil.^ Eris smiled, "Let's go. I don't have much time here,"
She rushed down the mountain, quickly reaching the foot and hiding in a massive crack in the ground.
Eris poked her head out, "There are another four cracks in the ground beside this?" She looked around, sweating, "No, those aren't crack, claw marks?" She gasped. Those cracks were so large someone could mistake them for ravines from afar. What kind of titanic monster could leave such a mark? Even mountain-sized great wyrms aren't this big.
She looked around for one of the imps, "What left those claw marks?"
The imp looked down, "Our lady, the current dominator of this layer."
"Dominator, you mean the devil lord of Avernus?"
"She was the lord of this layer before, but now she only uses it as a feeding ground as she has other things to tend to," The imp replied, his legs shaking in place. "Tiamat, the goddess of evil dragons. Even if everyone in the hell were to band together, they wouldn't save you from her jaws if she saw you as food."
"She isn't a devil, is she? Can't the devil lord Asmodeus do something about it?" Eris asked.
The imp showed her his index and middle finger, "She and the lady of hell are like these. Never separated. Some rumors even say they are married to the same man, so be careful," The imp shook his head, "And yes, Tiamat is stronger than the lady of hell in combat. In fact, her power is feared across the multiverse as one of the harbingers of destruction."
"A goddess staying in hell? I find it hard to believe she could be that strong. At least probably fell from grace," Eris giggled.
"You couldn't be more wrong, the lady of hell stated it herself. Tiamat is staying in hell because her mere presence would rip the heavens apart and burn half the other gods."
"Seriously?" Eris pulled a paper from her pocket, "Better record this. Knowledge about the world is quite rare."
"Hell is a place to punish the sinners, but it also humbles the stranded visitors like yourself. The world is still too big, and the mortal's achievements and limits are just like that, mortal and finite." He pointed forward, "That a ravine, didn't you want to find one?" He pointed at the distance.
"You're right," Eris smiled, lifting her head and looking around.
"There are no mid or high-rank devils around. You can go," The imp said with a smile, "But keep an ear for my warning. Leave at once if I give you a signal,"
"Got it," Eris rushed toward the ravine. Immediately she pulled a scroll and started setting Merlin's spells.
An hour had passed, and she could feel as if needles were piercing her skin all over her body. The protection of her gears dropped with time, and she barely had any left. ^I'm almost done, could have wished for a better outcome, an hour uninturupted. We might pull this in one try,^
"Lady!" The devil whispered to her from afar, "Mid-rank devils, come back here," She heard him and turned around, waving her hands, "A bit more time! One minute is enough," She whispered, "Distract them,"
^I'm almost done. We're getting this over with here and now.^
As three mid-rank devils approached the ravin, the imp cut their way, "Masters, do you have a moment?"
They stopped, staring at the imp, "What's it? Critter," One of them growled.
"Calm down, calm down," the second one smiled, "The imps work for us all day long, let's give him a moment of our time,"
The third one glared at the imp, "Make it quick,"
"The western sinner field has one noisy dwarf. Should we drop him deeper into a ravine?"
"A noisy dwarf? You mean that bastard. Throw him as deep as you want. He's a sinner, who cares," They glared at him, "You come to us when there is an intruder, or a sinner too strong for a group of your bugs to handle, not when you want to ask stupid questions," He kicked the imp away, "Get out of our way, fool,"
One of the mid-rank devils went silent, his face twisting, "Those idiot imps, their senses are as dull as dirt." He growled, "Focuse, I feel a magic unchained to hell!" He growled, lunging toward the ravine, looking from above to see Eris sitting at the side, hiding behind a boulder.
"Draconic fire magic, a red dragon or a half-red," The devil growled, and the rest rushed after him, "You've slipped behind the imps' backs, but not ours!" They pulled their spears, pointing at Eris.
^Tch! I just finished setting the spells, but how do I get out?^ Eris slowly turned her head toward the devils. ^My gears are about to break, and the gate is a long way up the mountain,^
"Those who trespass into hell are bound to it," One of the devils growled, walking forward, "We'll kill you once, and then the chains of hell will keep you here till the end of time,"
"Can I just leave?" Eris stood, staring at them, "Can't you just pretend that you didn't see me?"
"A woman?" The devil smiled, "What a lucky find,"
"Should we call the high-ranks?" The second one mumbled.
"They'll hog her for themselves. We catch her alone and call a few more mid-ranks. She's strong," One of them walked forward, "Should've known it'd end badly if you came to hell,"
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