Myth: The Ruler of Spirituality

The battle between Hell and the Abyss, in the short term, actually has no true meaning of victory.

After all, for both sides of the war, what they really aim to do is to completely engulf the other and thereby become the ’sole’ entity again, not an easily achievable goal. Under such circumstances, once the collision of power begins, it likely won’t stop, not even with the death of those Demon Gods who invaded the Nine Hells. Unless one realm is utterly destroyed, the war will never end.

Therefore, what the Serpent of the Central Court refers to as ’accomplishing its mission in one fell swoop’ does not mean ending the war itself but rather ensuring it progresses in a way that better serves the interests of the Nine Hells. After all, for the weaker side, the most important thing is to control the intensity and scale of the conflict.

Just like now, when the entire force of Tartarus presses down upon the nine layers, and Moya, who temporarily bears Its power, personally enters the fray, the pressure on Hell is unparalleled.

Even if Hell manages to repel the opponent this time, if they don’t find another outlet for the conflict between the two realms, the pressure from the Abyss will only continue unabated, not diminished by the death or injury of the Demon Gods.

If one defends for too long, they are bound to fail. The Abyss can afford many losses, but if the Nine Hells lose just once, it would severely damage their Vital Essence. A second loss could bring them perilously close to destruction.

So from the start, this battle was never about completely annihilating the newcomers but about how to use the chaotic thinking of Tartarus to shift the battlefield down a notch.

To bring it to a domain where the Abyss might lose countless times, but Hell could also afford many losses... and there, accumulate the wins little by little, apply reason, accumulate experience, innovate, and eventually turn around the situation between the two sides.

"Let’s hope so. Resisting the pressure of Tartarus is not easy, and like today’s event, I do not wish for a second occurrence,"

a deep voice resonated once more but vanished without waiting for a response. However, the Serpent of the Central Court wasn’t surprised by this, for at this moment, Asmodeus was under far more pressure than It.

But It, too, had not been idle, even as It had been speaking, wisps of power continually seeped out, quietly disappearing into the void surrounding It through some connection.

The amount was not great; each time, only a little was released, reflecting on the faraway, ever-forming and dissipating temporal bubbles, indicating their position had subtly shifted, appearing to draw closer to the body of the Serpent.

However, given such a vast scale, even ’just a little’ was significant enough to be noticeable in reality. If Moya hadn’t been distracted by other matters, she would have been able to detect the changes here, even if she hadn’t been concentrating fully before.

But there are no what-ifs in reality. For the current Mother of Demons, not only does she have more important tasks at hand, but she also firmly believes in the power descending from the Abyss.

With the supreme power of Tartarus at her side, Moya is confident that she has thoroughly anchored the space-time around the great Serpent. It might force its way out, but it could not circumvent the blockade without her knowledge. At least, judging by the Ancient Serpent’s previous space-time abilities, It couldn’t.

"So naive after all... But then again, considering her ’mental age’, she is indeed very young,"

mused the Serpent of the Central Court. Despite being one of the primordial Titan Deities, her actual understanding might not even surpass that of the newer gods from the Third Era; sleeping for too long has its drawbacks. Shaking Its head slightly, the Serpent of the Central Court refocused on the task at hand. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Around It, the overflow of power continued, drifting ’downward’ bit by bit into the deeper layers of space-time in a very natural manner. Nevertheless, any manipulation of these powers would trigger a corresponding reaction from the Power of the Abyss that had locked down around the Ancient serpent, but It didn’t need to do anything.

Because within the Nine Hells, there was a ’beacon’. As though drawn by some instinct, these scattered powers moved steadily and naturally towards it.

All was going smoothly, albeit the time required might be a bit long, with no unexpected events arising. After a while, though, the Serpent of the Central Court suddenly turned to look towards a direction in the Abyss.

Although some distance away, it seemed as if someone was approaching?

No, not approaching, he was merely observing this place through some means. It was not his own ability but rather some property of the Abyss.

The assimilation of foreign power by Tartarus remains as ’extensive’ as ever; although It has incorporated the Kingdom of Flames as part of Itself, even using it to nurture a Demon God, there are still powers that haven’t been fully assimilated. Now, they have resonated and transmitted some images over there.

"An outsider deity, huh... Entering the Abyss at this time, I wonder what their purpose is."

After observing for a while, the Ancient Serpent lost interest in these matters.

As mentioned before, as the Demon Gods were born one after another, the many flaws of the Abyss were rectified. Thus, as the embodiment of the third layer of Hell, the Serpent of the Central Court couldn’t freely observe every corner of Tartarus anymore. Even though It sensed the presence of a newcomer, It couldn’t precisely identify who they were.