Chapter 562 – Prison Break
Netherworld Realm Ninth Hell
The deepest level of the realm was a grand prison, designed to seal dangerous gods. However, currently, there was only one prisoner.
A green dragon had been living here for countless years. She was none other than Clem, the mother of Cernun.
Clem's determined eyes continued to shine as she had already comprehended a hundred Daos, which could be condensed into new powers.
Unfortunately, the dragon lacked the necessary Providence Qi and followers' faith to form a Connate Providence. Otherwise, she could have broken free from this prison long ago.
Still, because of the newcomers on the higher floors, Clem could sense the faint fluctuation of Life Essence. She immediately drew the leaked Qi and Essence toward herself.
While Clem was at it, her sharp hearing sense picked up something interesting. A group of wardens on the higher floors had been gossiping.
"What is her highness thinking? We don't have enough manpower, but she mobilized all of us to search for Mao Miaomiao. We won't have anyone to patrol the prisons."
"I heard Mao Miaomiao was the cause of her majesty's injuries. That might be why her highness is so mad."
"But that doesn't make any sense. Isn't Mao Miaomiao a mortal? How could a mortal injure a deity?"
"It kinda smells like a conspiracy. Let's not dwell in the matter and do what her highness has ordered us. We need to move quickly, or her highness will get mad again."
"Right. We can't do anything anyway. By the way, what about the new prisoners. There are too many. I doubt the warden trainees can manage them properly."
"Meh, what can those hostages do? The trainees are all immortals, but the prisoners are mere mortals. As long as one of them keeps an eye on them, they can't escape. Heck, even if they can, where can they go? This is her majesty's private domain."
"Hahaha! You're right."
Clem narrowed her eyes and sneered. She had heard something interesting.
Clem closed her eyes and absorbed the faint Life Essence to replenish her strength. Then, she began searching for the newcomer's life signatures.
Then, her Qi sense found the strongest person among the group.
However, that person was none other than Nero, which was following Levy around like a puppy. Fortunately, Levy and Nero soon left the Netherworld Realm.
'Tsk. That guy is useless. I can't rely on my kin since they're so obsessed with the Dragon Commandments.'
After the Player Calamity, every race, deities, and immortals focused on recuperating from the damages that the Players had caused. Mu-Nyang was honored as the Heaven Realm hero, and he gained the privilege of absolute protection of Heavenly Dao and a non-aggression pact for the catopus and cathulhu.
No deity could attack, invade, or trespass Mu-Nyang's planets. The Heavenly Dao of Zenith Heaven gave these planets absolute protection, and no one could harm Mu-Nyang's population within their domains.
Mu-Nyang also paid the price. He was restricted that no cathulhu could wander the universe as Heavenly Dao's blessing made them stronger than ordinary deities. However, catopuses were fine since an adult catopus was only as strong as a half-step deity.
The surviving dragons were jealous of the preferential treatment and the fame of Mu-Nyang. They were also angry that they were the vanguard troops who withheld the Players for so long, yet the Heavenly Dao never blessed them.
Driven by desire and jealousy, the dragons gathered together and attempted to capitalize on the situation. They invaded other races and tried to become the rulers of the universe.
Other primordial beings also had the same idea. The Phoenixes and the Qilins mobilized their forces to expand their territories, claiming that they deserved the rewards for their contribution to the first calamity.
Unfortunately, the three races ended up fighting each other because of their greed. They mutually self-destructed because of the prolonged war, which was later remembered as the Second Calamity.
After the dragons, the qilins, and the phoenixes were weakened, the prototype war marionettes, who were born before the first calamity, decided to come out and stop the long war.
Still, the seven war droids were not united. They had a conflict of interests and principles.
Adam sought an ideal peace. He wished that every race could mutually co-exist.
Eve, on the other hand, wished for authority. She wanted all races to submit to the war droids.
Lilith pursued peace, but it was Peace-Through-Power. She planned to extract the genes of all beings and give birth to the strongest race that could rival the sages. Only through absolute strength, peace would follow.
Devil sought freedom. He wanted all war droids to join forces to rebel against the sages and the Heavenly Dao.
Gaea had the opposite ideal of Devil. She hoped that all living beings and war droids would submit to the Heavenly Dao and treasure the weak mortals.
Uranus hated weaklings. He planned to exterminate weaker existences to create a supreme paradise of deities. However, he was in love with Gaea, and he never refused her orders.
As for Pangu, he requested all war droids to protect all living beings as they were created by the Heavenly Dao for this purpose.
The conflict of ideal soon escalated, and Pangu mysteriously disappeared.
After Pangu's disappearance, Gaea and Uranus distanced themselves from the other war droids. Then, they created a new race, the Titans, to be their underlings to fight for supremacy.
Driven by their ideals, the other war droids also began gathering followers and creating their domains.
Lilith created the Netherworld Realm to be her domain. Adam consulted with Sage Nuwa and decided to create a sanctuary in the Dark Forbidden Zone.
Eve followed Adam around at first, but she soon clung onto Devil like a leech. She helped Devil suppress other races until she broke up with him. She then went to Zenith Heaven Realm and became a disciple of a sage.
Meanwhile, Devil created the First Generation War Marionettes and rescued the surviving dragons. The weak dragons immediately joined his faction. In exchange for Devil's protection and cultivation resources, Devil gave the dragons Ten Commandments to follow.
One: Devil's order is absolute.
Two: The Dragons must worship Devil as their god.
Three: The Dragons must not rebel against Devil.
Four: The Dragons must not pursue sovereignty.
Five: The Dragons must be honest, benevolent, and kind.
Six: The Dragons must not kill unless you are attacked first.
Seven: The Dragons must be respectful to their kin.
Eight: The Dragons must not consume souls.
Nine: The Dragons must not use the cultivation method of Yamato-no-Orochi.
Ten: All newborn dragons must be baptized by Devil's blood to inherit his great blessing and power.
In the past, Clem refused to acknowledge the Dragon Commandments. She attempted to use Orochi's cultivation method to strengthen herself and her children. Then, Clem successfully discovered Orochi's secrets. The cultivation method was very simple that she had overlooked the simplest method.
She just needed to fuse her soul with other strong dragons to complete the basic foundation!
However, there was a problem. Most dragons were Devil's fanatic followers. All of them refused to merge with her.
Since Clem had no choice, she sold her body to other horny dragons and conceived many children. Then, she cultivated her children to follow her path and fuse their souls with hers.
Among the children, Cernun was one of the victims. However, Cernun overdid himself and alarmed Devil and other dragons.
In the end, Clem was imprisoned here. And Leviathan, whom Devil had planted here to monitor Lilith, remained in the Netherworld Realm to keep her in check.
Clem ignored Levy and Nero. Then, she searched for others that might be useful.
And then, she found an acquaintance and her followers. Surprisingly, these unlikely friends had been lurking in sneaking inside the upper-floor prison.
The acquaintance was none other than Meng Po, the ancestor of the Meng Clan.
However, her followers were Hell Spawns, aka the creations of an Olympian God and the followers of Gaea and Uranus.
These two factions seemed to be working together, and they were looking for something.
Since Clem was amused, she transmitted her voice to Meng Po.
'Yo, soup-addicted old hag. What are you doing here? Are you looking for your precious tea set?'
The archaic voice of Meng Po instantly replied, 'Shut it, you mongrel. I'm not here for you!'
'Oh, that's a pity. Then, excuse me. I'm going to warm up my throat a bit.'
"AHEM, AHEM!!" Clem loudly gargled to test her voice, threatening Meng Po that she would snitch on them.
'STOP!' Meng Po sounded panicking.
Clem snickered, 'Confess. What are you doing here with Hades' men? I thought you two don't get along.'
'Things have changed.'
'How so? Tell me.'
'A sage recently told me that a new calamity age is upon us. Then, they picked one of my clansmen to be the chosen one to face the calamity, and they blessed my clan with Heavenly Dao's protection. I'm working for them now.'
Clem's eyes narrowed. Whenever a calamity occurred, it involved the entire universe. Moreover, sages from the Zenith Heaven often stirred the chaos and made everything worse.
'And what does it has to do with this infiltration and the cooperation with Hades?'
'Promise me that you won't tell anyone.'
Clem almost burst into laughter as not many people fulfill this type of promise anyway, 'Sure. I give you my word.'
'Good. Well,' Meng Po sounded hesitate. 'A certain mortal will be the center of this calamity. I'm here to secure the insurance.'
'Hohoh? Insurance?'
Clem's face turned solemn as she started to grasp the big picture.
If that [Insurance] was Mao Miaomiao's friends and relatives, the center of this calamity should be Mao Miaomiao.
'Say, Meng Po.'
'What?'
'Take me with you. Release me!'
'Pfft. Hell no. Stay there and repent.'
'Don't you want the use the power of Orochi?'
'I don't. I'm glad the Players killed him! I don't want to see another Orochi ever again!'
'Cool. Well, don't mind me if I contact the guys behind you next. I wonder what that shapeshifting rapist's reaction will be if I offer him my pussy.'
'H-H-HEY! Let's talk! Don't contact Zeus, dammit!'
'HAHAHAHAHAHA!! It was a joke. Well, what do you think?'
'Tsk. Fine. Stay there and shut your trap!'
…
Netherworld Realm, First Hell
The first level of Hell was designed to be a trading hub for newbies, wandering souls, and local demons. However, a section of this place was separated from the civilization.
Several massive stone towers were the eye-catching prisons of the First Hell. These towers floated on Hell Flame while countless bridges linked a thousand massive towers together. Yet, there was only one entrance and exit.
Usually, minor criminals and intruding immortals were locked in here temporarily. However, every building here had been designated as a new home of the new residents.
Wei Yuan sat inside a room on top of the tallest tower. She was isolated and kept here since she had a unique physique and abilities.
After Lilim took over her mother's authority, Lilim interrogated every prisoner and discovered Wei Yuan's Chaos Element Qi. As Wei Yuan was deeply connected to Kishin Douji, Lilim sent her here to be used as a backup bargain chip, just in case they needed Kishin Douji's support.
Wei Yuan looked through the barred window, gazing at the ceiling of the Netherworld Realm. A thousand grotesque creatures with large eyes crawled on the ceiling and stared at the people below.
The Oni sighed. She wondered what she and Miaomiao had done wrong.
'Dion, where is Miaomiao?'
There was no answer from Dion. After Wei Yuan was trapped here, she could no longer use her system. Even the system inventory was not working.
"Hmm."
Wei Yuan looked down and starred at the shackles around her wrists. Two silver bracelets had been sealing her Qi circulation and all abilities.
She was helpless.
'Miaomiao, I hope you are well.'
Wei Yuan closed her eyes. She was on the verge of crying.
But suddenly, the archaic voice of Meng Po resounded in her mind.
'Little girl, do not lose hope.'
Wei Yuan widened her eyes. She looked around, but she couldn't find anyone in her prison room.
'A voice transmission? Who are you?'
As smart as she was, Wei Yuan chose to communicate by using her thoughts.
'An ally. We're here to rescue you.'
Wei Yuan clenched her fists. She swallowed her tears back into her eyes and stood up. Without hesitation, she revealed vital information.
'I'm inside the tallest tower. Lilim is keeping me as a bargaining chip to exchange something from Kishin Douji!'
'Good girl. Wait there patiently. Once we deal with the guards, we'll come for you.'
'Okay!'
…
Three days later
CLICK
Someone approached Wei Yuan's room from inside the tower and unlocked the door. Then, a hunchbacked elderly woman opened it.
Meng Po, the guardian of the reincarnation bridge of the Netherworld Realm, now was in front of Wei Yuan. She looked at Wei Yuan's shackles on her wrists.
She waved her hand, and the shackles were destroyed. Wei Yuan was freed!
"Come. Follow us."
"…"
Wei Yuan glanced at the semi-transparent monsters behind Meng Po. They were all immortal-ranked fiends.
The Oni gulped. She quietly followed after Meng Po.
The elder raised her cane and tapped Wei Yuan's forehead. Then, her entire body became transparent.
'Seal you Qi and don't talk until we're out. Leviathan's goons are still around, so it's best to avoid them.'
Wei Yuan nodded, but she looked concerned. Aside from the fiends, Wei Yuan couldn't see other yin slaves or Miaomiao's friends.
As if Meng Po could read Wei Yuan's mind, she gave the latter a piece of bad news, 'The others will have to wait. We'll bring you out first before Kishin Douji finds out about you!'
'But why only me? Can't you help the others?'
'That was also my intention, but a stupid dragon wants to tag along. I'm so sorry, girl. We have to leave them behind for the time being.'
'Will you come back here to save them?'
'That depends on my boss. I'm sorry.'
"…"
Wei Yuan narrowed her eyes. Then, she suddenly had an idea.
Wei Yuan bit her fingertip and purposely dropped her blood essence on the ground. Her Chaos Element Qi and a split of her consciousness went along with the drop of blood essence. It moved as if it was slime and traveled to the next tower, where Wei Yuan had sensed the other prisoners.
She thought to herself, 'Even if you can't bring the others along, I still know a few tricks.'
…
A day later, a commotion occurred in the Netherworld Realm.
Clem had mysteriously escaped!
The news reached Lilim, who had been busy in the Immortal Realm. She was still searching for Miaomiao's whereabouts.
Enraged, Lilim rushed back to Netherworld Realm. She went to the deepest prison first to investigate.
Lilim stood in front of Clem's prison, but the dragon was no longer there. She turned to Levy, who was supposed to guard this level.
"Leviathan, care to explain?!"
The dragon woman crossed her arms, but her eyes were looking elsewhere. She had been using her abilities to read the memory of this place.
She easily found the identities of the invisible rescuers.
"I'm sorry, your highness.. This is the work of traitors. Meng Po and Hades have betrayed us!"
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦