--- Chapter 142 ---
The Devil Race is one of many races in this world.
They lived peacefully for the past 300 years with some horrible choices of actions here and there hidden in the shadows. It changed lately because the devil races surrendered under a new sovereign.
And that new Sovereign is The one and only Devil God, Ars Goetia. Today, the supreme ruler of the devils marched toward the Realm of the Dead to defeat Hades and release the mother of all devils.
...
...
Serafall Leviathan watched a massive white magic circle covering the sky and recognized this as teleportation magic, but never at this ridiculous scale.
"The amount of concentration and control one had to possess for achieving such a feat is... Hard." Ajuka Beelzebub commented casually.
"We have over 580.000 devils participating in this war, so teleporting them all in one motion usually will exhaust energy and even suck one's life dry."
He smiled and added, "Yet, that just shows us how amazing he is."
"I can attempt to do it, but my demonic power will get reduced in 2/3 instantly," Sirzechs said while shaking his head. "Creating a teleporting circle isn't the problem. What matters is that you have to warp space and time correctly, so none of the targets got injured in the journey."
Falbium nodded and added, "Yeah... I know some cases when young devils' imagination went wild when using teleportation magic and cut themselves in the process."
"Well, that was one hundred years ago."
The clan leaders overheard the devil king's conversation and reacted somewhat differently. They are either awed or frightened by Huo Yuhao's prowess, but this is nothing compared to his past achievements.
'At age six, my beloved student transported a fleet of ships thousands of miles away. What you guys witnessed just now is only the tip of the iceberg.' Scathach thought while puffing her chest proudly.
It might sound unbelievable, but Huo Yuhao did it.
Huo Yuhao's lesser divine sense covered the whole area of the Underworld, reaching the Realm of the Dead's border. A place where dead souls are sorted and transported to heaven when their karma is purged clean.
There is also a place called Cocytus or Ice Hell, the deepest part of the Underworld, where dangerous criminals and creatures are "thoughtfully." imprisoned.
"Found it." Huo Yuhao's eyes shone dimly. He snapped his fingers and teleported everyone on the border of Hades's Realm.
Huo Yuhao still floated in the sky and cast a Primordial Rune barrier around the Realm of the Dead, preventing outside breach after their attacks. He doesn't want someone to camp them up from behind.
That would be a bothersome scenario.
"Yuhao-sama, everyone is ready." Grayfia Lucifuge reported, giving him a flat gaze.
Huo Yuhao noticed something weird about his maid and asked, "Is there something wrong, Fia? You're more expressionless than usual."
Grayfia stared at Huo Yuhao and replied, "I don't know what you are talking about, Yuhao-sama. This loyal maid of yours has always been like this."
Seeing her reaction, Huo Yuhao finally understood that Grayfia Lucifuge was jealous. Even though the silver-haired maid has been acting peaceful and collected outside, who wouldn't be mad when your idol doesn't pay attention to you?
Grayfia gets it. There is a vast difference between her and Huo Yuhao.
However, Grayfia also hoped they could become closer and more intimate. That's just her little wish.
And to be honest, Huo Yuhao was at fault here for not paying attention to Grayfia. After the ascend, He handed the devil council works to her and even told her to cook every day.
'I have become such a horrible scumbag...' Huo Yuhao sighed inside.
Huo Yuhao should have learned from Huo Yun'er case with the White Tiger Duke about how abandonment could lead to a bad situation. It would cause a negative impact physically and mentally.
He looked at Grayfia and said, "I'm sorry."
"I'll pay more attention and treat you better."
"Eh?" Grayfia was caught off guard. She was flustered and told Huo Yuhao never to feel sorry. "Don't be like this, Yuhao-sama."
"It's not your fault at all."
Huo Yuhao patted Grayfia's head and added, "How about a date in Kyoto? I'll introduce you to my mother."
"What do you think?"
"D-Date..." Grayfia mumbled to herself, her cheeks flushed in slight redness.
'How cute.' Huo Yuhao chuckled while pulling the Leviathan Axe and Guardian Shield.
Scathach and Qianye Ying'er flew to Huo Yuhao's side, manifesting their martial souls. They are ready to beat some bad guys in Hades's Realm.
"There is a boundary between the Underworld and the Realm of the Dead," Scathach commented lightly. "I can break it, but the space around us will be unstable."
Qianye Ying'er shrugged and added, "That also applies to me. My current light element will burn everything related to dark and evil, so breaking the boundary is a no for me."
"I see..." Huo Yuhao eyed the boundary, smirking because he has a perfect individual for this job. "Fia, come here."
Under Qianye Ying'er and Scathach's gazes, Grayfia floated to Huo Yuhao silently. He instructed the maid to summon her martial soul and brought it closer to him.
Since Grayfia only absorbed spirit rings into one martial soul at the time, she is more prominent in Time Manipulation. A perfect combination with Huo Yuhao's Space Manipulation.
"Well, let's see how compatible we are, Fia." Huo Yuhao observed the black handgun and grabbed it with his hand.
SWOOSH!
Massive Spirit Energy suddenly erupted in the sky. Scathach squinted her eyes and watched the Chains of Heaven manifest like dancing snakes around Huo Yuhao.
"This is..."
"Spirit Fusion?"
Spirit Fusion is the ability of two or more Spirit Masters with similar or corresponding properties to fuse and become one entity or combine their Spirits to form a skill, bringing out explosive power for a short period depending on the strength of the Spirit Masters.
Still, Spirit Fusion is awfully rare and requires Spirit Harmonization. The degree of Spirit Harmonization reflects on the final output power of the Spirit Fusion.
A silver-haired woman with Heterochromia blue and red eyes, having wings made of black chains on her back. She wore a simple white robe with a blue ribbon, releasing a noble aura.
'Is this how Yuhao-sama felt every day? So powerful it feels like the world is moving according to my desire. With a simple hand gesture, even this world...' Grayfia blinked a few times and lifted her hand.
"World-Severing Goddess Manifestation." She drew a handgun out of nowhere and pulled its trigger with ease.
"Trigger Off: World Crisis."
Scathach's eyes widened because a tube-like bullet escaped her vision and flew past the army, reaching the boundary of Hades's Realm.
It pierced through the fabric of space and time, creating a giant entrance or spider web-like crack in the air.
BOOOM!
CRACK!
"Oh, so this is Grayfia's full potential." Scathach eyed the goddess-like manifestation before her. "Even though Huo Yuhao powered her with his Spirit Energy and Chains of Heaven, her future wouldn't be too shabby."
"Not bad."
The tube-like bullet executed by Huo Yuhao and Grayfia Lucifuge's Spirit Fusion established the passage to Hades's Realm, allowing the devil race to march without a problem. They also dealt surprise damage, considering anything on the other side gets annihilated by temporal and spatial storms.
That attack possibly could injure 1st Class Ranked God. After all, breaching time and space is dangerous, even for higher dimensional beings.
The Spirit Fusion turned off shortly after, revealing a heavy-breathing Grayfia. She coughed profusely, feeling dehydrated and exhausted as if she had been working for months without consuming anything. She might be a pure-blooded devil, but this was something else.
Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao barely sweats. He looked at the silver-haired maid wryly and said, "It's your first time, so understandable that you are exhausted."
'Phrasing!' Tian Meng said while lifting one eyebrow.
"Here, take this bean." Huo Yuhao ignored Tian Meng and gave Grayfia a senzu bean to recover her stamina.
"Thanks, Yuhao-sama." Grayfia ate the Senzu Bean.
Huo Yuhao gave Scathach a signal and shouted, "My people, MARCH FORWARD!"
"THIS IS FOR OUR GLORY!"
"FOR LILITH!"
"FOR GLORY!" The army under the clan's leader shouted back.
"FOR LILITH!!"
Scathach jumped to the frontline with the devil kings and led everyone into Hades's Realm. Since this attack was a surprise, there weren't many of Hades's subordinates (Grim Reapers) greeting them.
The God Slayer waved her treasured red spear and slayed everything before her eyes. She scouted the area, telling the devil kings and the devil clan's leaders to sweep clean the rest.
Huo Yuhao waited at the entrance and tried to detect any possible anomaly. After everything was under control, he stepped into the Realm of the Dead, a wasteland with no living creatures.
"That should be the case, but this is disgusting..." He watched Scathach facing the newly-reincarnated devils. "Just how long have Hades been creating new devils?"
"100? 300 years?"
"Yuhao, you might want to see this." Scathach used her spiritual voice.
Huo Yuhao focused his Observation Haki on the location Scathach shared and saw an unknown-looking devil. There is also this skeletal-like being standing beside it.
Hades has the appearance of a tall skeleton dressed in attire worn by high priests, which gives off a creepy aura. Despite having no eyes, his eye sockets can glow to give the appearance of eyes.
'This presence... Dark Lich with unbounded divinity.' Eluxia frowned when sensing Hades.
"Bats..." Hades grumbled in anger. "What does this mean?"
"How dare you attack my realm!"
"You have become so arrogant with the new ruler you had, huh?!"
Hades struck his Skeleton Staff and created numerous magic circles enhanced with divine aura, firing a combination of fire spears and lightning bolts at the devil army.
The devil kings countered with their powers, resisting the divine-powered attacks with slight difficulty. Only Sirzechs and Ajuka could stand while protecting the army behind them.
Serafall and Falbium have a slight problem because Hades's attacks are spreading too much. The Extra Devil Clans' leaders went forward and supported the magic defense.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"I'll start with you." The devil beside Hades suddenly disappeared and charged Sirzechs with a silver energy beam. "You fake Lucifer..."
Sirzechs couldn't react because he was countering Hades's magic with the Power of Destruction and watched the silver beam reach his chest, sending him flying several meters away.
Grayfia's red eyes shook and became colder when seeing this devil. She clenched her hands and furiously shouted, "EUCLID!"
"SO YOU HAVE BEEN WORKING WITH HADES ALL THIS TIME?!!"
Grayfia is angry.
And that's because of her younger brother.
Euclid Lucifuge doesn't want to follow Lucifer's Last Will with her, so she banishes him. He disappeared from the world without an ounce of presence.
She won't be mad if Euclid lives peacefully, but he chooses to work with Hades and experiment with Lilith's body.
Now it was clear how Hades could gain access to Lilith.
Euclid should have shown Hades the secret of Lucifuge's clan, the loyal followers of the original Lucifer.
"Go." Huo Yuhao suddenly pushed Grayfia. "Beat your brother up. I'll handle the rest."
Grayfia solemnly nodded and replied, "I'll be back, Yuhao-sama."
Hades looked at Huo Yuhao and silently chanted his magic, testing how sturdy the rumored blue-haired monster was. Huo Yuhao noticed the divine-powered magic circle appearing one after another near him.
The effect of this incoming attack is around 5 miles radius, capable of killing Soul Douluo instantly.
"Hmm..." Huo Yuhao's eyes scanned the magic circles and disabled them before Hades could launch them. He pointed his finger at Hades with a gun-like gesture and chanted, "Chaos God Slayer Magic."
"Magic Bullets."
Hades's glowy eyes widened because several bullets made of demonic powers suddenly appeared. He created a barrier and was speechless as the firepower exceeded his expectations.
"I thought he was a swordsman?"
"He is actually quite skilled in magic."
Huo Yuhao smirked at Hades and said, "Watch out for your head."
"Huh??" Hades read Huo Yuhao's lips and noticed a purple-haired woman appearing with a red spear. A chill spread in his skeleton body, having a red flash blowing his skull off.
BOOM!
Scathach called for Gae Bolg Alternative and commented, "Oh, He didn't die?"
Hades appeared fifty meters away from Scathach and breathed out nervously. That was dangerous.
That attack made him feel chill, which should be impossible.
"Zeno, you dealt with her. I have to prepare something." Hades ordered his loyal subordinate.
A skeleton in a white robe and hood appeared, brandishing his scythe with darkness. "Yes, my lord." The grim reaper responded.
Scathach tilted her head and questioned, "Hmm, Grim Reaper?"
"Do you think this small fry is enough to defeat me?"
"This is so insulting to my pride."
"I'll send you to the afterlife." Zeno pointed his scythe at Scathach.
Scathach frowned and returned, "You have thick skin for a skinless creature."
BOOM!
And just like that, the war between the Devil Race and Hades has begun.