Abyssal Lord of the Magi World

Zatiel could stare at the woman through the Corrupting Mist Cocoon since he controlled it. As for the Rank 9 Archdevil, her sight seemed capable of crossing every obstacle in her path.

The Neo-Demon had no idea who this Archdevil was. He had killed every Devil in Avernus and Dis in his past life, so this one must be one that rose during his absence.

All Devils are paranoiac by nature, so the fact there was no information about this Rank 9 Archdevil was not something odd. She may only show herself because she was sure no witnesses would be left.

Luckily after seeing the erratic state of her consciousness, Zatiel managed to decipher how she found him.

Archdemons would only bother to do a random check-up of their soldiers once every few thousand years, but Archdevils were much more diligent.

The woman must have attempted to communicate with the Rank 8 Archdevils under her command, and once she failed, head to their cities.

Silent Death could trick an average Rank 9 life form, but if one already knew there was something wrong, the chances that it would work were little.

However, even if the woman knew someone was killing their subordinates, Zatiel and Hades hid their presence very well and constantly moved.

The Iron City of Dis was immense, and unleashing the full power of her consciousness would have alerted the duo, so she took a different path.

Zatiel deduced that the Rank 9 Archdevil fused threads of her consciousness into millions of Devil Lords without these ones realizing anything.

That was a dangerous plan since those consciousness threads were almost defenseless, and if someone powerful were to destroy them all at once, it would severely harm the woman, but she still did it.

Those consciousness threads lacked the power to transmit information and could only tell the woman when a Devil Lord perished, which was not very useful since death was common in Baator.

Nevertheless, she kept an eye for places where thousands of Devil Lords perished at an astonishing speed, like what would happen in each city assailed by the Corrupting Mist.

The minor signs of threat Zatiel felt came from those Devil Lords carrying the Rank 9 Archdevil's consciousness threads.

Zatiel had to admit that this Rank 9 Archdevil was very cunning, and by using proxies, her scheme managed to hide from his senses.

The Shadow World Hand kept tightening its grip around the Corrupting Mist Cocoon, and it would only be a matter of time before the cocoon shattered. Yet, Zatiel kept looking at the Rank 9 Archdevil with complete calm.

The Rank 9 Archdevil found the Neo-Demon's disposition odd. Anyone else in his situation would be frantically searching for a way out, but not him.

She saw how the Realm Avatar took out a blue book, but that only made her smile.

Hades did not bother with the Archdevil's expression and intended to activate the blue box, but to his surprise, the sealing of space enforced by the Shadow World Hand surpassed the might of the artifact.

There was no way the duo would not have planned an escape route in case of danger, but it seemed that things would not be so simple.

The blue box was a one-time use Peak Rank 8 Artifact and could even allow them to escape from normal Initial Rank 9 Spell, but the woman's Shadow World Hand contained the might of an Omega Law formed with the Law of Shadows.

Even if the Law of Shadows' offensive power was weaker than the Law of Darkness, it allowed a domain over space that could come in very handy.

Zatiel's eyes narrowed as he noticed that the blue box failed, but still, he did not lose calm. Instead, he made his aura explode and fused the red and blue lightsabers.

When the Rank 9 Archdevil saw Zatiel raising the new lightsaber to his forehead and pouring strange energy into it, she only sneered.

She was sure there was no way the man could unleash an attack that could destroy her Shadow World Hand, and even if he did it by some miracle, she could always send another.

"Reverse Samsara Slash!" Zatiel spoke those words and waved the red-blue lightsaber. His target was not the Shadow World Hand but the space around Hades and him.

The Rank 9 Archdevil was confused as she did not understand that attack's purpose, but the next moment shock filled her eyes.

The space that Zatiel hit, which the Shadow World Hand had locked down, experienced a complete do-over, and every form of sealing in it vanished.

She did not hesitate before making her energy explode, increasing the might of the Shadow World Hand around the Corrupting Mist Cocoon and sending many more forward.

Unfortunately for the Rank 9 Archdevil, it was already too late.

Zatiel smiled toward the woman as the Rex Somniorum Eye glowed, teleporting all the Depravitas into it.

Just before the Shadow World Hand could crush the duo, Hades activated the blue box and teleported them out of Baator.

A burning rage replaced the shock in the Rank 9 Archdevil's eyes as she saw her prey fleeing. She unleashed the full power of her aura, triggering earthquakes all over the Second Cycle of Hell.

The earthquakes baffled some of the Devils, but that was nothing compared with what happened next. Hundreds of millions of Devil Lords began to scream in agony before their bodies exploded.

The Rank 9 Archdevil could have taken a softer approach to recover her consciousness threads, but how could she care about the fate of those Devil Lords in her current wrathful state.

Zatiel and Hades were oblivious to the Rank 9 Archdevil's fury as they traveled through hidden layers of space and appeared a few seconds later inside the Neo-Demon Realm, above the White Sun.

The Realm Avatar immediately began to channel white flames to heal his body. As for Zatiel, he had already fully recovered thanks to his bloodline and Myriad.

"That Archdevil was undoubtedly powerful. If she had not attempted to capture us alive, it would have been much harder for us to escape."

Zatiel nodded as he heard Hades' words. Her scheming mind could not compare with that of the King in Yellow, but she could become a threat if allowed to grow stronger.