The inverted pentagram that represented Hell appeared at the feet of the seven evil gods from the Astral Plane, including Wayne. Black smoke rose in waves, creating black dark clouds in the sky. Eerie, purple-red lightnings cast the land in a chilling, insidious energy.

Amid the chill was a hint of sulfuric heat. It smelled of Hell.

Smedley’s power grew ever stronger until reaching an unimaginable height. As Envy’s familiar, his power had surpassed the bottom and middle-of-the-road demons among the seventy-two demons—the Thousand-Eyed Demon, for example.

Within the dark clouds in the sky, a projected world emerged, and a black python running a thousand meters long patrolled the world. Its sickly yellow eyes, venom-spitting fangs, and chilling black scales were at odds with Hell’s traditional style.

It was Smedley’s body in Hell. He had descended first with his thoughts and then, through the support of the evil gods of the Astral Plane, projected his territory to the human world. Through his territory, he summoned his body.

It was a complex process that required a great amount of manpower and resources, and each step had to be completed without mistake.

Find it troublesome? Be content with a successful descent. Demons would kneel and beg for such a success.

Due to being too powerful, Mid-to-higher-ranking demons like Mattea the Abyssal Spider Queen and Stolas the Demon God of Night couldn’t descend to the human world in the same way. The Seven Demon Lords, who were even more powerful, would have to meet even more stringent prerequisites before descending. Most of the time, they could only send a part of their thoughts, never mind their bodies. As soon as one foot was in the mortal realm, Heaven would sound an alarm for total mobilization!

Smedley floated up to meet the thousand-meter python. It swallowed him whole and completed the integration of the body and the thoughts, announcing his official descent to this world.

The combination of the two pushed Smedley’s power to the peak—his peak in the human world. He would also be stronger in Hell.

The python slowly landed, transforming into a long-haired man in a black robe before touching ground. He looked handsome in a devilish way. His pale skin and sickly yellow snake eyes added a touch of insidiousness to his sculpted features.

Not bad in terms of appearance.

His tremendous energy shook the atmosphere and triggered different natural phenomena, pressuring the evil gods until they could not keep their backs upright. Following their examples, Wayne pushed Mona’s back down.

She was reluctant and only complied after the tentacles groped her a few times.

“What did I tell you about going undercover? You must be committed. Have you gotten complacent out of overconfidence after your recent growth in power?” Wayne asked telepathically.

“I thought you liked me like that, Boss.”

“Um...”

Wayne did like it. He found it an awesome way to satisfy his shameless masculine desire for conquests, but that was neither here nor there. “Don’t lose sight of the situation. We’re going after demons here, so no kinky nonsense.”

While he reprimanded Mona, he recorded the information relevant to Hell with his thoughts, reveling in the full harvest. What did he say before? Demons always made the most generous donation when it mattered.

“I’ve descended to the human world. It is now time to welcome our great master, Lord of Envy.”

Smedley spoke at a deliberate pace. Due to his incredible power, his every word and move influenced the world around him irreversibly. The space in his proximity was viscous, almost turning into liquid. Originally colorless and intangible, space now spread in the form of purple liquid poison. Meanwhile, the projected hellish territory in the sky became more concrete.

He was the most powerful descended demon Wayne had encountered!

The evil gods praised the greatness of the Lord of Envy and murmured about their devotion to faith. Surrounded by them, Smedley raised the holy grail with both hands. Insidious energy wrapped around the golden glow, activating the dim stains of divine blood and reverting it to its past radiance.

Wayne witnessed everything with glinting eyes. He had learned an easy way to awaken divine blood today. It was worth trying.

Praise the demons. They are the true distributors of knowledge.

Smedley muttered under his breath with his eyes squeezed shut. The hisses of his tongue grew in clarity. Thanks to the evil gods around him, the power gathering around the holy grail became ever more terrifying.

A wisp of crimson floated into the air. Saint Patrick’s blood had been restored.

“Mission accomplished!”

Smedley lit up with satisfaction. Though the perfect Blood of Heaven was small in volume, it was enough to fool the damn seal, thus forging a path for his master to descend to the human world in his most powerful form.

But then a ray of golden light hit him from the side, quick as lightning. The holy power contained in the light demanded caution. Smedley manipulated the viscous spatial venom around him to corrode it.

The holy light faded, and the sacred flames dissipated. With the radiance wrapping the Sacred Lance of Heaven gone, the semi-released lance itself was revealed.

Another flash of golden light pierced through the venom, brushing past Smedley as he barely dodged, shooting into the distance.

Holy Light was warm in the eyes of followers of Heavenly Father, representing protection, cleansing, and healing. It was the purest light in the world, capable of dispersing all negativity and darkness.

It was the complete opposite for demons.

The lance sliced open Smedley’s skin and took off a chunk of flesh. Half of his face was gone, leaving his gums and teeth exposed and his flesh damaged. The sacred flames clung to him, making him grimace with pain.

The incredible holy intention was difficult to resist even for him. It could not be dispersed with the regular method, so it couldn’t be the faith magic of human mages.

There was a descended angel! How did they come so soon?

Smedley turned around and saw his ambusher. The Sacred Lance of Heaven returned to pierce through Lord Sanctuary’s chest. With a scream, he detached from his host and became a clump of writhing tentacles, struggling and unable to reshape a body.

Mona raised the lance and stomped on the tentacles as instructed by the script. She was used to doing this, but it was her first time stepping on Wayne while clothed.

A taboo pleasure filled her chest, making her feel all warm and fuzzy, as if she were floating. The memories she had temporarily forgotten rushed back in.

An agitated voice told Mona that she should be stepping on Wayne, that she should be on top of him. Annoyed, Mona shot back: What are you so thrilled about? Am I not on top frequently when I’m naked?

The scandalous argument, supported with moving images, immediately quieted the voice.

With the potent medicine she had developed, Mona was able to keep the illness away. Unfurling her pristine white wings, she shot toward Smedley with her lance held before her in a flash of white light.

“Bastard, you piece of trash, Murphy...”

Smedley snarled. If news got out that he had allowed an angel to go undercover successfully, wouldn’t he become the new joke in Hell in Thousand-Eyed Demon’s place? It didn’t matter if he became the laughingstock since it was a common enough occurrence for demons, but he would be unable to face Lord of Envy after such a failure.

The sudden turn of events prompted Smedley to react instinctively, with no time to dwell on the situation. He crossed his arms before his chest, projecting an ink-black greatsword of venom to block the incoming lance.

Boom!!

Scorching white holy light surged, crushing darkness in an instant and dragging Smedley across the ground until he plunged into the short mountain a thousand meters away, leaving a long ditch. With a rumble, the mountain collapsed at impact.

When Mona fought Umar at the cathedral, she had pulled her punches, but the demon familiar wasn’t going to get the same treatment. In this middle-of-nowhere, she could go all out.

“What’s wrong with you, Murphy? How is this corruption? Is this all you could do with your concept of Life?”

“You’ve wasted your time learning in the Astral Plane!”

The other six evil gods swarmed up to scold Lord Sanctuary for his grave mistake. Then they debated what to do with their dozens of mouths.

“What now? The angel’s here. Our plan’s long exposed. It’s not too late to return to the Astral Plane.”

“Why should we run? Are you so terrified of one angel?”

“You’re right. An angel will only kill us, while the demon lord will make us wish for death. If we run away now, we’ll make both our enemies, and we’ll have nowhere to go.”

“Smedley is evenly matching the angel. With our help, we can win!”

“You sure? He’s beaten up so badly that he can’t even look up.”

“That’s why we’re so important.”

The dozens of mouths reached an agreement in three seconds, confirming their stance and their devotion to following Hell without wavering. Legendary mages never changed. Even after falling, they acted the same way.

Hum—

In the four cardinal directions, magnificent barriers of Holy Light came into being. The white-robed clergy came out of nowhere, each holding a sacred tome and chanting scriptures to enhance the wards.

Four white-bearded old men each took one corner, with Hodgson holding fort in the center to redeem himself. Almost all elites of the Church of Heavenly Father in the Republic of Erland had gathered.

Though the six evil gods weren’t worried about these people, they felt the urge to retreat. Their instincts told them that the church couldn’t have prepared so little if this operation had been long in the making.

Had the Pope come in person?

White wings unfurled from another figure’s back. Holy Light covered the sky and rained down like a downpour, piercing the projected hellish territory and shattering the darkness.

Good news: the Pope wasn’t here.

Bad news: there was more than one angel.

The dozens of mouths hadn’t discussed whether to retreat this time. The barriers had locked down space, too sturdy to be easily breached. The church had come prepared. Since they couldn’t return to the Astral Plane, they had to fight their way out.

“Go after the angel, the three of you. We’ll take down the barriers. Damn Hodgson sold us out.”

“I knew clergy couldn’t be relied on. Those who use Holy Light are cunning!”

“Murphy, how much longer are you going to scream? Stop playing dead and stand up.”

“Ah.” Wayne flipped to his feet and swung his six tentacles around randomly, speaking slowly. “I have a good idea that’ll help you go to hell without confronting the angels.”

“By opening the Gate of Hell?”

“No, this is faster.”

With a wolfish grin, Wayne shot out six tentacles and caught the six evil gods with lightning speed.

“???” x6

They were thoroughly confused by his intention. Did he no longer want to live after a long life? Why was he presenting himself to be corrupted by them?

You aren’t shamelessly after our knowledge, are you? x6