"Bang!"
"Ahh!"
Red Hood fell heavily on the ground. It didn't hurt, but it was frightening, the entire thing felt like a dream. Except, he didn't wake up from the dream despite the high-falling scene.
Once he managed to crawl out of it, he found that Shiller was already waiting for him at the gates of Devil Castle.
The two of them walked through the magnificent gates from the drawbridge. Hanging on top of the castle wall was a blood-red battle flag that was written in universal demon language, it read "Long live Azazel."
Azazel was a black cloud floating in the air, within it were countless eyes radiating a golden light. When he saw Shiller and Red Hood approaching his throne hall, he asked in his unclear low voice.
"Shiller, what brings you here?"
"Of course to have a talk."
"I need no Pope, no exchange of power, no trigger of war, no revenge, no envious demons or angels, and am uninterested in anything outside my palace."
If Azazel had a head, it would probably be put on the shake right now.
Before Shiller started talking, Azazel's nurous eyes were already gazing at him, then he said, "If you're about to say you or your student want to be my Pope, I'll call on Lucifer."
"No wonder you've lived so long, and even managed to share Satan's power from Lucifer's hands, your Majesty Azazel."
"No need for complints, if you've got nothing, please leave."
"I do have so matter to discuss." Shiller began pacing around Azazel's palace, lowering his head to speak. "When Lucifer first arrived in Hell and usurped the place of Satan, he gave his power to two demon kings in Hell and ford a new trinity. These two demon kings were you and Beelzebub."
"Later, the ancient Demon King Beelzebub was not satisfied with this. He wanted to monopolize the position of Satan. And that stupid Duke Astro of Ashtoreth, he even started a protracted war in Hell."
"Everything is over." Azazel said with a deep voice. "Thanks to you and your student, Batman, Hell is incredibly peaceful now. No matter what you offer, I don't need to negotiate with you. I am enjoying my current power and status, and I don't need more."
"Is it so? But you have a significant number of agents in the human world."
Though Azazel didn't have eyebrows, but Red Hood could tell, Shiller's words imdiately dampened Azazel's mood.
"Are you threatening ? But I have not violated the agreent between Heaven and Hell. All my agents have voluntarily signed a contract with , and I have not mistreated them. At least compared to those demons who like to torture their believers, I am tolerant enough."
"Of course, Your Majesty, but have you ever considered, you're being a bit too lenient?"
The eyes inside Azazel's black fog squinted slightly. Shiller stopped pacing, turned his head to face him, and said: "I know what you've done to humans. You continuously lower the threshold of the contract, lend more and more power, make the power more adapted to the human body, continuously increase the number of mages, and reap more interest."
"Indeed, it's a good idea. You are making the Magic realm more and more dependent on you. The longer this lasts, the less independence the Magic Realm and the mages have. Ultimately, they can only kneel at your feet, praying to you for power."
"Do you want to prevent all this?" Azazel's tone beca more profound, even threatening.
However, Shiller just shook his head leisurely and said: "No, I want to promote all this."
The countless eyes hidden in the darkness of Azazel widened instantly, then he heard Shiller say:
"If I'm not mistaken, your plan has now reached a bottleneck. If the number of mages expands any further, it will attract the attention of angels. According to your agreent with Heaven, you should not interfere with the normal order of the human world."
""What is normal is in the hands of angels, and you have no say. As soon as you cross the line, they have all the reasons to hit you. The Church is still the best weapon in their hands."
"Your Majesty Azazel, you've invested a lot of force in the early stages to expand the base of believers. But now, due to your agreent with Heaven, the number and scale of believers have reached a bottleneck. So, how are you thinking of recovering your investnt?"
Azazel was slightly confused. It's not that Shiller's speech was tricky to understand, but Azazel was more aware of the current dilemma of Hell.
Ever since humans appeared, the demons have always been portrayed as villains. So, their expansion of believers was much harder than the angels'. The demon kings of Hell spent a great deal of money to open up this shortcut to Magic Realm.
The mages not only did not feel ashad to ask the demons for strength, they even took pride in borrowing more and faster. This was an important stronghold for the demon lords to stand against the angels, hence it's crucial to protect it.
But, as Shiller said, the number and power level of the magic world are almost saturated now. If it continues to expand, it could potentially be purged by the Church. The Witch Hunting mission from back then was a result of the demon kings testing their limits.
On the surface, the Demon Lords can't compete with angels. The human world is still the Church's territory, and demons can only do so private trading. Why would people believe in you instead of the Church, if you don't provide stronger power?
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