Chapter 462: Rodin
Due to the darkness of the Demon World and the lack of celestial bodies, there was no exact time measurement. About two days later, the demon lords brought their troops and gathered near Demon King City.
During these past two days, Roy had occupied Mundus’s lair, Demon King City, confirming his ident.i.ty as the current ruler of the Demon World.
Demon King City was quite large, and the roads were very complicated. Seeing the various buildings in Demon King City, Roy found that many of them had the style of angels, and sculptures of Mundus were everywhere. These sculptures varied in size, but without exception, they all had the specific appearance of a bearded angel with wings on his back.
From this, it could be seen how twisted Mundus’s mentality was. He was clearly a demon, but he always fantasized about becoming an angel-like G.o.d…
Roy felt that the fundamental reason for Mundus’s mentality was nothing more than a denial of his original situation. Although Mundus was a demon, he wanted to deny his demon ident.i.ty. He thought that he should become an angel, just like how some men in the human world wanted to wear female clothing to become dazzling…
Therefore, it was not incomprehensible that this guy had ganged up with the Lumen Sages of the other world. The connection between the Lumen Sages and the angels might be what Mundus really wanted. Perhaps he wanted to use some method to get rid of his demon ident.i.ty and become an angel…
If angels becoming demons was called degeneration, then what should demons becoming angels be? Purification? Sublimation?
In any case, it was normal for an unprofessional and incompetent ruler of the Demon World like Mundus to be replaced. After Roy settled in Demon King City, he ordered the demons to destroy all of Mundus’s statues, and they executed his will.
After the demon lords brought their troops and gathered around Demon King City, Roy summoned them for a war meeting.
Over the past two days, both the Demon World and Heaven had sent several small-scale reconnaissance teams to the opposite side through the spatial channel. The two sides eliminated these scouts without exception, but there was still some intelligence sent back.
The intelligence sent by the demon scouts allowed Roy to understand a little bit about the situation on the other side.
On the other side of the spatial channel was not the main material world (human world) of the opposite twin world but the Purgatory s.p.a.ce where Heaven was.
This made Roy wonder if the Purgatory s.p.a.ce of the Demon World and the Purgatory s.p.a.ce of Heaven were originally one. They each wrapped around the original twin worlds, and they were a world model similar to a double-yolked egg. But because the two worlds had different orbits, when they were far away from each other, the Purgatory s.p.a.ce was torn into two, forming the Demon World and Heaven. When the two worlds were close to each other, the spatial channel connecting the Demon World and Heaven appeared again.
This theory obtained the general approval of the demon lords. Being able to become a demon lord meant that they had a certain degree of research into s.p.a.ce, and the world model Roy mentioned was exactly what the demon lords conjectured.
After communicating with the demon lords, Roy learned that this spatial channel had actually appeared several times over the past thousands of years. But because the angels had retreated and Mundus ruled the Demon World, he had not launched an expedition against Heaven. In addition, Sparda had sealed him later, so everything was even more peaceful. Every time the channel appeared, there would only be some sporadic battles, which were caused by angels or demons accidentally entering the channel.
It was only recently that Mundus was about to break free from the seal that he began to search for this randomly appearing spatial channel again. His goal was naturally to recontact Balder on the other side. Sparda sensed his intention to find the spatial channel and felt that nothing good would happen, so he did not hesitate to use his body as the price to seal the spatial channel that had just appeared.
Now, Mundus had fled to the other side and even taken away the Ouroboros Marks of the demons. Under these circ.u.mstances, the demons were bound to chase after him to bring them back, so the dark clouds of war would cover both sides again. Not only did the demons start preparing for war, but Heaven probably sensed that something was amiss and was definitely gathering troops now.
Inferno Overlord Berial, Madama Styx, and the other demon lords were originally generals of Mundus, and the total number of demon troops under them was terrifying. When Vergil had previously incarnated as Urizen, the demons he had summoned from the Demon World were less than a fifth of the demon lords’ troops. The troops in the hands of these generals were the main force of the entire Demon World, which had been acc.u.mulating over the course of tens of thousands of years.
To be honest, Roy was secretly rejoicing. If not for the fact that the demon lords were in a hurry to compete for the position of the ruler of the Demon World and had rushed over without bringing their armies, he might not have been able to subdue them so quickly. If the demon lords had brought their armies, even he would have had a headache. With tens of millions of demons, even if most of them were low-level demons, they could have completely crushed the enemies with their immense numbers.
In fact, Berial and the others were regretting in their hearts now. But the s.h.i.+p had sailed, and they had even signed a demon contract, so they could not even renege…
“We don’t know the specific number of troops on the side of Heaven at present!” Madam Styx said during the meeting. “But what we can be sure of is that there are definitely a lot. The fertility rate of angels is low, but these ancient angels have special methods. They have also developed for a long time in the opposite human world. Among the faith and secret arts they have spread, there’s a special way of transformation. Some humans who believe in them can be transformed into low-level angels through ‘self-sacrifice’, so it’s certain that the angels have acc.u.mulated many chips over the years.
“However, we demons have never ignored them. In fact, after discovering the existence of the ‘dark clan’ in the other world, we have been lending power to the Umbra Witches to let them fight against the angels and Lumen Sages!” Madama Styx pointed at herself proudly. “I am one of them. I once bestowed the incantation to summon me to the Witches. This incantation has been pa.s.sed down among the Witches for generations, and they can summon my projection through the incantation!”
Hearing this, Roy could not help but look at the silent Sparda next to him. It seemed that Sparda was not the only one who had been to the other world.
Madama Styx continued, “In addition to me, there are also some powerful demons in the Demon World who have bestowed power to the Witches. In fact, every time the spatial channel appears, the Witches will be strengthened, and powerful demons will contact them. And the offerings that the Witches use to summon demons to fight are the souls of the angels they killed…”
Roy was sitting on a large throne and tapping his finger on the armrest. He asked thoughtfully, “In that case, the Demon World actually knows a lot about the other world, right?”
“Yes, but this understanding comes from and is limited to the cognition of the Witches!” another demon lord said. “Since the Witches and angels are enemies, it’s naturally impossible for them to know the specific situation of Heaven.”
“The angels are gathering on a large scale to prepare for the war. How is it possible for the Witches not to know such a big move?” Roy asked. “Can you contact them and get them to send back information?”
Madama Styx explained, “There are two current Witches. One is named Bayonetta, and the other is Jeanne. Both of them are very powerful Witches, but they are humans after all. If the Demon World invades Heaven, it’s hard to guarantee that we won’t affect the human world. Therefore, the Witches are also very vigilant against demons. I think it’s impossible to count on them… It’s better to find that b.a.s.t.a.r.d Rodin than to find them!”
“Rodin?” When Roy heard the name Bayonetta, he sighed inwardly. It’s really her. But then he was attracted by the name mentioned by Madama Styx.
“Yes, Rodin!” At the mention of this name, Madama Styx and the other demon lords all had bitter and hateful looks on their faces. Two demon lords even cursed softly. After a while, Madama Styx stabilized her emotions and continued, “He is a powerful demon, but in fact, he is a demon that fell from being an angel. When he was in Heaven, he was a formidable angel, and it was said that his strength was infinitely close to that of an Archangel. But later, for some reason, he actually fell! The Demon World speculated that it might be because of internal strife. After all, those ancient angels are not as harmonious, united, and loving as they claim to be…
“After Rodin fell, he became an equally powerful demon, but he did not come to the Demon World to live. Perhaps due to his special circ.u.mstances, he can stay there for a long time as a demon… He has been living in the human world and is quite close to the Umbra Witches!” Madama Styx explained. “Although he stays in the opposite human world for a long time, he occasionally appears in the Demon World. Every time he appears, he will attack some powerful demons and s.n.a.t.c.h their demon armaments. Sometimes, he will even kill these demons and directly use their bodies as materials to make weapons and equipment. He’s likely using them to supply the Witches…”
Benia, who was sitting behind Roy, could not help but ask, “Looking at you gnas.h.i.+ng your teeth, it seems like you’ve all been attacked by him?”
The demon lords were silent, but this was equivalent to tacit agreement.
“Is Rodin stronger than Mundus?” Roy asked with a frown.
“I don’t know. I can’t compare! They’re very likely to be equal!” Berial replied in a low, m.u.f.fled voice. “His situation is too special. Although he has fallen to become a demon, he still seems to retain his angel body. He’s an absolute anomaly.”
Having both a demon and angel body at the same time? Roy was stunned. Is… he a nephilim? Or…
Madama Styx concluded, “Although this guy is very hateful, because he was once an angel, he should be the one who understands the situation of Heaven the best. If we can find him, we will definitely know where Mundus went and what he wants to do after entering Heaven. It will be easier to capture him…”