How to select the right target for corruption?
For the devils residing in the nine-layered Purgatory (Bator Nine Prisons), this is a study that emphasizes experience and is worth delving into.
The soul, as the most common currency in Hell, the fuel for machines, the foundation material for arrays and buildings, and even the ladder for a devil’s promotion, has a very high value in the Nine Prisons, almost akin to a strategic resource.
Yet, just as the currency in the Material Realm is divided into "gold, silver, copper," there are also significant distinctions in value and rarity between different souls.
A low-level adventurer who spends his days mingling in taverns with goblins, and a legendary existence who has reached the pinnacle and stands at the top of the professional pyramid;
A shabby beggar seen everywhere on the streets, who could die in so dark corner at any ti, and a supre Emperor ruling a vast Kingdom with billions of people.
Their souls’ values are incomparable.
Even the difference in race, be it Elf, Dwarf, or human, offers unique "flavors" to the devils, each having their distinct preferences based on personal taste.
Among these, the most precious and valuable are those souls originally pure, good, and steadfast.
When a devout Priest or noble Paladin willingly falls and signs their Na on a contract, that indescribable ecstasy that almost makes one ascend to heaven can cause even the most experienced devil to tremble.
And before all this, what is naturally and most importantly to be done.
Is how to persuade the target, while remaining consciously aware, to willingly sign their true na on a Purgatory Contract marked with "soul ownership."
Of course, for Saloyan, this has never been a problem.
As a Purgatory Noble with the title of "Baron" from the second layer of the Nine Prisons, "Dic."
Being able to climb to this position, the noble blood flowing in his veins might account for part of the reason, but what he thinks was most significant, are the outstanding achievents he has amassed over countless years.
For him, enticing an intelligent creature from the Material Realm to fall and willingly offer up its soul is as simple as it gets.
Ambition and desire, despair and trauma, pride and conceit, greed and lethargy...
Innately adept at observing human nature, after a brief interaction, he could acutely find the crevice deep within the target’s mind, with only a few words of inducent and a hint of magical deception, sufficient to pry that once ambiguous gap open, transmuting it into a stairway to Hell.
By hiding the true costs in ambiguous terms, laying enormous benefits upfront, burying significant costs in inconspicuous corners or distant futures, and utilizing grammatical and punctuation discrepancies to create logical traps...
Such techniques, refined through countless trials, make them difficult for even the smartest and calst lawyer to uncover.
Compared to all this, for Saloyan himself, picking the right target is actually slightly more difficult.
He has a profound aversion to uncontrollable risks.
No matter how delicious a soul might be, if it’s marked by those Demon Lords from the Abyss, it’s like rat feces in at soup that makes one wrinkle their nose and avoid.
The favored and chosen of the Gods are even more of an initial taboo to discern.
Intercepting a devotee destined for the Divine Country is like stealing from a neighbor’s warehouse, easily provoking the wrath and revenge of related Divines.
Although he has utmost confidence in the power of the lord of the second layer of Purgatory, the esteed "Iron Duke" Mr. Dispater, making enemies for his lord unnecessarily is certainly not sothing a small figure like him should do.
Furthermore, any soul containing divinity could easily destabilize a contract, possibly causing backlash to oneself.
Secondly, souls that were tortured alive, so numb with despair they beco void and valueless, those with powerful curses, and souls with overwhelming power that might "take the upper hand" are targets that Saloyan needs to avoid.
The black-haired youth he briefly encountered during the day, in so respects, didn’t warrant Saloyan’s attention.
Possessing typical strength, he likely just started on the professional path, perhaps a character among low-level adventurers in River Valley Town, but for a "Purgatory Baron" like him, hardly worth noting.
He didn’t even exhibit particularly virtuous or noble qualities, belonging to one of the most common categories of souls in the Material Realm, insufficient to beco his target for corruption.
Yet this seemingly ordinary soul, even to soone like Saloyan who can overlook most high-level devils at the second layer of Purgatory "Dic," approached it and instinctively fell silent without uttering a word.
He... sensed danger.
If a normal human soul is akin to a bottle of clear water.
The soul of this man nad "Xia Nan" was like an odd creation of a clumsy Pharmacist attempting to create new products.
On the surface it appeared unremarkable, but upon careful perception, one could discern the strange aura entwining and winding through it.
Divine? Outer Evil Demons? Or perhaps so existence of a higher tier?
Out of caution, Saloyan dared not even to observe it closely, instinctively pretending not to see and distancing himself.
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