Chapter 898 Archdemon Tournament (EDITED)
Newest Chapter For Highest Tier (May 2022)
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Archdemon of Sloth
Prince From the 7th Circle of Hell
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Every Archdemon Prince in Hell would assume he was a Demon or a Fallen Angel if the white feathers in his wings didn't give him away but as usual, they didn't care as long as Azrael never bothered them.
The Vampire King and the Archdemon of Gluttony entered the scene like a crusader who skillfully rode their chariot.
Everyone was so busy fighting their own battles that they didn't notice his... or more like, their presence.
Archangel Azrael appeared next to Luxen, Ravin, Apollyon, Luxen, and Beelzebub and vanished with them before hosts of angels arrived.
The length of their flowy white tunics went past their feet and their waists were girded with golden bands.
All these Heavenly beings had a skin color that looked like well-refined brass.
Each of the seven Archangels, who led these white-haired fiery blue-eyed angels, held a straight and narrow bronze tube resembling a trumpet and they blew on their mouthpiece to their heart's content.
Holy Fire mingled with Archangel's blood was thrown to the Material Realm and effectively put out the Hellfire that burned the Fae's wings and bodies.
Sloth recognized Archangel Gabriel at the front lines. He commanded hundreds of thousands of angel troops mounted on chariots with horses that had lion heads and multiple tails moving like serpents in an angelic language that made him sound as if he was underwater.
Their mouths exuded holy fire, smoke, and brimstone that could easily kill demons even if the contact was minimal.
The Autumn Courts shook rock and throbbed from the devastation of this war as the relentless Hellfire continued to rain down on the Fair folk.
Before Sloth would have reveled from the sound of screaming found the explosions awesome.
He could have partaken in it if he wasn't tired all the time.
Now, that he was an Archdemon Familiar, he was already singing a different tune.
The Hellfire surrounding the Hallowed Ground was extinguished when it started raining hard.
"Ouch." Sloth frowned and rubbed at his skin as the rain scalded him.
It didn't affect him that much but he could hear agonized screaming from the Lesser Demons before they melted like butter in the air.
It appeared that Archangels manipulated nature to rain holy water on the Legion.
The heavenly rainstorms blessed by the Highest God helped repel these demons when the Garden of the Four Seasons showed up.
The presence of Archangels in this War turned the tables around and this sudden rehearsal will force the Legion to fight the Archangels rather than the Fae.
Now that the Archdemon of Lust and his president were nowhere to be found, the Dukes of Hell took it upon themselves to lead the Legion against the Archangels and execute their leader's commands at all cost.
The Highest Ranked Demons in the Legion called upon a vast amount of souls, evil spirits, and the rest of the Legion to form this giant shadow tentacle monster.
At this point, they were killing machines.
No Master or Summoner couldn't stop them now except the Heavenly Beings who came to the Fairfolk's rescue.
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Vampire King Apollyon
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Apollyon couldn't comprehend what was going on.
At first, he could only see behind the pitch black of his closed lids but he continued to pry them open when he heard a cacophony of creepy voices overlapping against each other.
Why did that buzzing noise make it seem like he was in a burning hot arena while a crowd of spectators watched him from above?
His brows furrowed while his ears strained to hear conversations that would give him clues about their whereabouts.
Was it wrong to pull the Archdemon of Gluttony away from Luxen's new president?
If he didn't stick his nose where it didn't belong, Apollyon would have one less husband of his wife to deal with.
The blond-haired, purple-haired man seemed more dangerous compared to Luxen who flew next to him, because of his appearance.
Apollyon had only glanced at him once, but the black feathers in his wings had made him act by impulse.
Despite living in the Vampire Realm for a thousand years, he hadn't confronted those kinds of creatures before in person.
That was the first time he had seen a Fallen Angel.
This man could have been one of the oldest immortals that ever existed.
The pure white wings they possessed in the past were similar to a dove's but now, each feather was tainted with sin.
The stranger had dark wings similar to a raven while the rest of the demons around him had leather bat-like wings.
Apollyon finally managed to open his eyes and saw all kinds of demons surrounding them, seated on a long wedge-shaped section above.
The scorpion-tailed warhorses who possessed a man's face, lion's canines, and locust-like wings particularly caught his attention.
They were the most bizarre creatures he had seen closest to the battle arena.
Their long hairs were adorned with golden crowns and iron breastplates.
Apollyon immediately assumed they were High-Ranking Demon Guards who had to make sure that no rules were broken.
He couldn't see the rest of the demons clearly due to the thick smoke darkening the air and blocking what little light they had.
He could see the shock in the Demon King and Queen's countenance at the Royal Box as if they had never expected the four of them to be there.
Nevertheless, the two Highest Archdemons in Hell quickly regained composure.
They had no choice but to hold the tournament and become witnesses to either hail the new Archdemon Prince or celebrate the victory of the current Archdemon Prince who had successfully defended his rank.
The Royal Archdemons also had no time to waste and ask for an explanation of how this came to be.
Apollyon also doubted whether he could understand the Archdemons outside the platform to even have a proper conversation with them because all he could hear was gibberish.
A goat-headed demon official suddenly materialized at the upside-down pentagram at the center of the arena. "Welcome to the royal tournament in Hell."
Apollyon tilted his head to the one who announced. "Tournament?"
Was this the tournament he had to participate in to become an Archdemon?
"I don't think we need long introductions. All you have to do is defend yourself from Luxen. Your fault for coming with me when Beelzebub dragged me to Hell." Ravin muttered under his breath as if he didn't want anyone else to hear.
Apollyon straightened his spine and growled, "How do we return, Ravin?"
This wasn't what he had in mind to turn into an Archdemon like Luna. All these obstacles were deliberately contrived to test and challenge him.
Yet, ultimately, becoming an Archdemon, he realized, was never his true goal. "I had to return and give that divine fruit to my wife--"
"Our wife." Ravin turned his head to correct him for the hundredth time but Apollyon still had the same reaction.
His fists were clenched as he scowled at him. "It's simple. Defeat the Archdemon of Lust and you will take his place as the Prince of the Second Circle of Hell. We will get locked here in this dimension if our opponent didn't perish."
So, it was a fight to the death like his wife had told him before.
The four who joined the tournament could only use the Archdemon blade and their sheer strength and those who broke the rules in this dimension will immediately be considered lost.
"I don't want to stay in Hell." Apollyon's tone was casual as he cracked his knuckles to prepare for the fight.
He anticipated that this battle would be a walk in the garden and it wasn't just self-grandeur.
The Wisteria juice and Ravin's venom lying dormant in his system made him feel strong bursts of energy that he could almost mistake as more power and aggression.
The intense demonic energies around him activated its side effects and it was fortunate that staying in the Crystal Cave had helped him handle the supposed insanity that went along with it.
He wasn't obsessed with slaying demons as much as possible like he used to before.
Apollyon had almost killed his pregnant wife during that time.
Ravin nodded his head in agreement and muttered, "You should know that this isn't Hell yet. Not even the Demon King or Queen could come here and kill us because the arena is out of their sovereignty."
"So the Demon King wasn't the one who made this system to establish Hierarchy in Hell but the--"
"Best of luck to you, Vampire King." Ravin cut him off.
Apollyon quickly remembered that Archdemons didn't like to address the Creator in any way that would show how powerful he was than the Demon Race.
"I hope you die and rot in the Ninth Circle." The Archdemon continued.
"In your dreams. I f*cking tried to save you, you bastard." Apollyon replied with gritted teeth.
"Tch." Ravin snorted as he tried to move away from him in annoyance. "It's not like I need your help. I want to return to Amare and tell her that you're gone. And then I'll be the only one he had left." He liked that idea from the way he smirked. "Don't worry I would take care of yours and Luxen's child unless she wanted me to dispose of them."
"Luna isn't that type of woman to abandon her child." Apollyon shook his head in both irritation and disappointment. "You don't know her at all."
The goat-headed official interrupted their discussion and gave each of them a golden chalice that they have to drink from as acknowledgment binding them in this fight.
Apollyon winced at the awful taste of the purple liquid that the golden chalice had contained.
He speculated that it was either Lucifer or the Demon King's blood.
None of their ichor tasted good except his mate's but he refused to waste a single drop even if he wanted to vomit on the floor.
This might be Apollyon's first and last chance to become an Archdemon.
"I see that you are still feeling sour about the position that my father had given me, Beelzebub, that you tried your hardest to raise your rank." Ravin began to have a little conversation with their opponent as he returned the chalice to the official. "But, what do we do if you are still a Marquis?" He jutted his chin smugly and shrugged. "You couldn't possibly challenge an Archdemon Prince and expect to win."
"We will see about that, brother." The Archdemon of Lust drawled and Apollyon's blood boiled upon hearing his voice.
Apollyon's head snapped in his direction but he still tried his best to keep calm as he faced the one who violated his mate.
He drew slow, steady breaths as he kept his eyes on the Archdemon Prince, reminding himself that he should covet his rank in Hell as if he had gone mad with blood lust.
This wasn't the time to lose control because that weakness will be detrimental to his victory.
Victory over the Archdemon of Lust will need his strength, courage, and endurance.
"Do you need forces to this traitor, Luxen?" Ravin gestured at Beelzebub before glancing at the pedestal where Lucifer was seated. "Do you not care about what the Demon King would think?"
Luxen chuckled darkly and replied, "No. I would be the Demon King anyway."
The Fallen Angel tilted his head and smirked. "If I killed you in this challenge, you will never have the chance to see your birth mother again, Ravin. But at least you will stay in the Ninth Circle with your father."
Ravin narrowed his eyes at him. "What do you mean?"
"You are not the spawn of Lucifer. You are the son of the Fallen Angel, Archangel Uriel, and the Queen of the Autumn Courts. The one who you just considered as your father right now is the person who killed the real one."
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