Chapter 391: Masters of Sin (II)

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Chaos ensued within Saehtyn's throne room as the other Lords, save for Belphegor, who was much more occupied with finding something to devour, and Beelzebub, who remained in a funk upon realizing that he wasn't the first to come across something.

On the other hand, Asmidia continued to nibble on her finger while glancing around the room, with her gaze mostly falling upon Saehtyn and Lucifer. Compared to the rest, these two actually seemed to understand the gravity of the situation and were focused on it.

However, Lucifer's reaction was much worse than Saehtyn's. Which was odd, seeing as how Saehtyn was generally the one to blow up and do so thoroughly. After all, his title as the Lord of Wrath wasn't acquired while sleeping. There rested an unbridled rage within him.

Still, Lucifer wasn't far off, except the fact he couldn't accept this outcome spurred his strong reaction. "Just what is the meaning of this? Who dares to have the gall to attempt to dethrone me? I'd like to see them pry my authority from my dead hands!"

A burst of dark gold energy caused a tempest in the room as Lucifer became riled up, even touching upon the source of his power. However, if a Lord was allowed to run amok, it was safe to say that at least a quarter of a Ring would end up in ruin.

While it was far from what a Daemos could do, it was still extremely terrifying, to say the least. After all, there were some Noblesse who couldn't even destroy a single mountain in a Ring's terrain. 

So, being able to destroy approximately 25% of a Ring was already a calamitous power. Thus, Saehtyn couldn't allow Lucifer to spiral out of control. Since this was his Ring, he could exercise a domain that effectively neutralized Lucifer's power.

Which is a reason the Lords would never agree to fight inside another's Ring. The location alone was enough to provide a substantial advantage.

Granted, the suppression wasn't absolute. Eventually, it could wear off if the Lord who imposed it exhausted too much of their strength. Fortunately, no one inside the throne room was involved in a scuffle, and Saehtyn was only using this authority to keep Lucifer, so he didn't need to worry about growing tired.

Nevertheless, as the prideful being he was, how could Lucifer sit back and allow this to happen?

An even stronger surge billowed from his body and directed a deadly glare towards Saehtyn. "Do you have the permission to use that type of authority on me?!"

"Is this my domain or yours? You're creating a disturbance, yet you throw a fit when I try to rectify that? Do I need to put you in your place?!" Saehtyn bellowed with a fiery ripple circulating his eyes. Furthermore, a flame even stronger than Hellfire appeared in his palms, albeit only tiny wisps.

However, they circulated through his gargantuan battle ax before enveloping the finely made blade in a terrible aura.

Once that appeared, everyone in the throne room quieted down. After all, the flame Saehtyn was currently wielding was the same flame that all demons feared—Purgatory's Blood. Although it was in his nature to avoid this usage, being around Lucifer always brought out Saehtyn's most dreadful wrath.

Finally, Lucifer stayed his hand and controlled his seething aura, "I yield. But only because you hold the advantage. This would have gone differently if we were in Suprenis and not Ashiraem."

"Whatever you say. Just know that we are not in Suprenis," Saehtyn grunted.

"Unf~!! I just love it when you two fight. The flames passing between you two just make me so hot! Do you any of you boys perhaps want to… touch me?" Asmidia chimed in while biting her lips with a seductive wink.

Unfortunately, neither of the two fell victim to her charms. But a guffaw did echo behind them as Belphegor immediately said something disturbing. "Oh, by all means. I'll eat you up. I'll devour you until nothing's left!"

"Ew," Asmidia said with a visible frown apparent on her enthralling lips, "I'd much rather be burned than have that happen."

"W-what!? I'm just as strong as these two. I devoured his Infernal River and swallowed Lucifer's Fear Devouring River. Yet, neither of them were the wiser," Belphegor exclaimed while also incriminating himself to seem like a more fit target.

"What a moron. Did you really think we didn't know it was you? We just didn't care because they both have refilling properties. After all, they're linked directly to the source of their respective Ring. You can never devour that much. Your fat ass stomach would explode," Lucifer scoffed.

On the other hand, Saehtyn grunted in agreement before directing their attention elsewhere, "Now, can we get back to the important matter at hand? We need to understand just why one of our authorities over our rings has been revoked. And, why it is only the most basic one at that."

"Didn't we already locate the culprit? It has to be the presence of that new yet mysterious household. Although it is infantile, for some odd reason, the signal felt... archaic," Lucifer answered while recounting the sensation he felt when the alert passed through the Nihilistic Rings.

Before then, they experienced no issues with their authority. So, the most plausible answer would be that the origin of the household was the issue. But, for some reason, Saehtyn felt this wasn't the correct answer. It was too simple and while the ripple was irregular; he didn't sense any malice from it.

In other words, the intention of the wave wasn't to disrupt, it was simply to alert. But, if that was the case, then just was the issue with the Nihilistic Rings?

"While that may be true, I fear it is the wrong answer. Think about it. To forcibly strip our authority would take a demon who has achieved the Daemos level. After all, this current order was erected by a dying Daemos.

"So, only their equal could interfere with. That, or something greater," Saehtyn said while rubbing his chin in deep thought.

Though it was removed from the tablets, inheriting the position of a Lord gave access to a type of forbidden information. For example, the current council of the Nihilistic Ring was chosen by a Daemos who originated from the era of the First Monarch. 

In fact, it was someone Fuhrer was all too familiar with. But, he wasn't aware of this matter because of the fact that he lost his Daemonic Abilities long before this council was created. Not to mention, it was only a makeshift council, so it truly wasn't important to Fuhrer.

The only thing that mattered to him was that the Nihilistic Ring's safety was ensured. Outside of this matter, he could care less if they micromanaged themselves. As long as their actions didn't endanger the race, then he didn't trouble himself to learn about these minute details.

Still, it now held importance, for if the Lords were to get the wrong impression, then they could very well trace the false source of their problems back to Apollo. And, if that happened, then the outcome would be unknown, especially if they did so before Apollo could make any substantial improvements.

As he was now, he was still no match for even a single Lord. A mere primary or initial purity was child's play before them. Appearing before them now and wishing to hold onto his life was simply outlandish!

"Well, if that's not the cause, then what do you suppose the reason is?" Lucifer questioned. As they were fairly young, these 7 were not alive during the reign of the First Monarch. Hence, they also weren't aware of the deep-rooted enemies the race possessed. Or, at the very least, it didn't cross their minds as it was extremely long ago.

But, Saehtyn's expression became complex as he heard this question, "Do you all remember the tome from when we accepted our positions as the master of our Sins?"

"Of course! If you remember, why wouldn't I?" Lucifer answered immediately.

"Da fuck do you think? That was the day I could never stop being hungry," Belphegor complained.

"Do you think my mind is shit? If you remember, you better believe I do too, or we'd have to trade mind because then I'd think yours to be better than mine," Beelzebub clicked his tongue, speaking an incoherent mess. 

Finally, Asmidia squeezed her legs together with a euphoric expression, "THE best day of my life. I've never felt pleasure like that again in my life. Especially since none of you will fix this naughty girl~".

"WHAT?! I just offered t-

"Shut up, I'm not talking to you," Asmidia said in an ice-cold tone, causing Belphegor to simmer down immediately.

Conversely, Saehtyn was once again taken aback, 'Always a competition with nothing getting done. Nevertheless…'

"Then you all should recall the original appearance of the Sins. Now, do you recall the images they showed up right before granting half of their power?"

"Vaguely. It was just some odd beings and some other malarkey that made no sense," Abaddon uttered while issuing a prolonged yawn, "What of it?"

"I'm willing to bet you almost slept through it. Despite those images, I was compelled to ask a few questions, and what I learned is quite… intriguing? I guess," Saehtyn said before pausing for a brief moment.

"Well, what the hell is it? What is this damn suspense," Mammon yelled at the top of his lungs, seeking the answers that Saehtyn possessed.

"Well, there are 4 other races. Two of which we share bad blood with. And, get this, one of them managed to infiltrate our ranks before," Saehtyn said before recalling an offer made to him. It was too good to be true, almost fishy even.