CHAPTER 613

【 DEMON LORD SAMAEL 】

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Among the endless realms that comprise the Abyss, none are more profound or more vast than the seven great layers of Hell.

Each of these layers is ruled by a malevolent entity who has merged their soul with the very core of the realm, making the land itself an extension of their will.

These entities are known as the Demon Lords.

Their strength and very existence are tied inseparably to the layers they command, making them the most fearsome and dominant beings within the Abyss.

As such, so long as the Realm of Hell exist, the Demon Lords cannot truly be slain, for their soul will always return to the core origin of their infernal dominion.

Collectively, these Seven Demon Lords are considered the nominal leaders of the entire Endless Abyss.

These seven are ranked in order, yet their hierarchy is reversed in proportion to the layers in which they govern.

Azazel, whom Evé captured is one of these seven. Known as the Demon Lord of Lust (Harmony), he is ranked seventh and presides over the First Layer of Hell.

Samael, by contrast, is the name of the second-ranked amongst them, also known as the Demon Lord of Wrath.

Samael is an ancient existence, far much older than Azazel.

He governs over wrath, temptation, and corruption, wielding power of terrifying magnitude.

In fact, According to old legends, Samael was once the first six-winged Seraphim born among the angelic race. He already existed during the Genesis Era as the archangel of Neo, King of the Gods and ruler of that age.

However, after Neo’s mysterious disappearance, Samael had betrayed his own kind. In the process of ascending to the throne of King of the Angels, he fell into corruption, thus becoming an Evil God. Ultimately, he claimed dominion over the Sixth Layer of Hell.

According to the mythos that spread throughout Seigües, Samael attained his title as a Demon Lord by devouring a colossal mythical serpent from the cosmic void.

As a result, his form mutated during his ascension. Once a handsome angel, he became a monstrous being with the head of a serpent and the body of a man.

His three pairs of wings did not evolve into twelve radiant angelic wings like those of the King of Angels. Instead, they twisted into three pairs of grotesque bat wings.

Now, as Evé gazed upon the cold and sinister figure before her, fragments of knowledge about the Seven Demon Lords flashed through her mind.

There could be no doubt it.

This serpent-headed angel exuding a malignant aura was none other than Samael, the Second Demon Lord, who had disguised himself as the fallen dwarven god, Barolte.

“When did you discover the truth?” Samael asked coldly, his gaze locked upon her.

Eve smiled faintly.

“Perhaps… it was even back during the very first battle between the elves and the demons. After all, a fallen Evil God of dwarven origin, no matter how powerful, should never have been able to summon so many demons with such ease.”

From the very beginning, Eve had harbored doubts about this being known as “Barolte.”

When the players were first summoned into the Sealed Lands, she observed their battles closely. It was then she noticed a troubling pattern:

The number of demons lurking within the underground tunnels was far too excessive, far beyond what a single fallen deity could reasonably control.

Moreover, many of these demons did not resemble corrupted dwarves at all. On the contrary, they seemed more like creatures spawned from an Abyssal Hive.

Although Samael had deliberately selected demons whose appearances resembled dwarves in order to maintain his disguise, Evé had already seen the creatures that Azazel summoned within the Demon Lord’s Labyrinth. As a result, she immediately recognized the resemblance.

These greater and lesser demons which inhabited the Sealed Lands were almost identical to Azazel’s minions, to the extent that even the players were able to defeat them using strategies they had specifically developed against the demons in the Labyrinth.

And only the Seven Demon Lords, being the rules of Hell, could possibly possess such an ability to create Abyssal Hives and summon demons on such a vast scale.

Therefore from that moment onward, Evé had already harbored some suspicions about Barolte’s real identity.

As for why the dwarves and their patron deity, Dorft, failed to perceive the deception as she did, the reason was simple.

They were not beings naturally inclined toward combat. In fact, as far as she knew, Dorft had seldom crossed paths with Evil Gods and spent most of his time devoted to forging, secluding himself within his dominion.

Furthermore, since the God of the Dwarves could not descend personally into the realm of Seigües, Dorft had no means of examining the state of Barolte’s soul up close as she did.

As a result, even now, Dorft likely still remained oblivious of the true identity of the entity sealed beneath the Dwarven Kingdom.

—No.

Perhaps, in the beginning, it truly was Barolte.

But not anymore.

Eve’s eyes flickered with resolve as she fixed her gaze upon the wavering aura of the figure before her. She raised the Scepter of Life, preparing to annihilate and utterly consume Samael.

She had no intention of dragging him back to the Demon Lord’s Labyrinth to accompany Azazel.

It was not because she was unwilling, but because she was certain that the incarnate body he currently inhabited was not Samael’s true form.

If it had been, then his strength would not be so weak. At most, this incarnate body he’s possessing contained only a fragment of his divine power, which was far too weak to contend with Eve’s own divine incarnation.

So most likely, this was merely an incomplete incarnation of Samael.

As for the method by which this incarnate body had been forged, Evé already harbored her own suspicions.

Behind her, divine radiance surged like a tidal wave. The pressure of her divine power filled the air, causing Samael’s expression to falter.

“W-Wait!” he cried, his voice sharp with urgency. “Do you not desire vengeance against the gods?”

“I know it well… you must harbor hatred for the Pantheon. After all, it was they who betrayed the Mother of All Gods and the Elves!”

“I know your heart burns with anger. We can join forces, Evé. Together we can exact retribution! There is no conflict of interest between us. We can cooperate, drag those arrogant beings down from their lofty thrones, and wipe out the humans who persecuted the elves—one by one!”

“Evé, you are the one who ascended as the new Elven God, the patron of Elvenkind of this Era. Have you never longed for vengeance?”

“Do not stifle the fury within you. Those hypocrites deserve punishment!”

“I can feel it—your rage, the emotions you struggle to suppress. Join me, Evé! Let us make those Heavenly Gods tremble beneath our wrath together!”

Samael’s tone grew fervent, his gaze fixed upon her with a strange intensity, as though willing her to yield.

Yet Eve answered only with a cold glance, her voice cutting through his words like steel.

“Do not waste your efforts trying to tempt me. It shall not work.”

This was the consequence of lacking the proper information.

Unaware of Eve’s real identity, Samael attempted to sway her by appealing to the perspective of a newly ascended elven god. Yet his efforts were in vain.

Still, Evé remained vigilant. She had no intention of continuing to exchange words with the Second Demon Lord.

After all, his divinity encompassed “Temptation,” and every moment spent speaking with him increased the risk of exposing something she wished to keep hidden.

For Evé was not without secrets of her own—secrets she would never allow Samael to uncover.

With that thought in mind, a potent divine light coursed across her body as Evé summoned arrows of radiant power once more.

The arrows shimmered with blinding brilliance, releasing a crushing pressure that filled the palace halls. The very walls trembled, groaning as if they might collapse under the weight of her divinity.

Samael’s expression shifted, urgency flashing across his face as he cried out:

“Eve! As an elf, do you not wish to know the truth behind why the gods struck down the Mother of All Gods? Do you not long to uncover the true secret of the holy war that took place a thousand years ago?”

At his words, the trembling walls stilled. Evé narrowed her eyes and cast him a cold, wary glance.

“Speak.”

A gleam flickered in Samael’s eyes, his lips curving into a sinister smile.

“Leave this place, and I will tell you.”

Evé remained silent for a long moment, her expression unreadable. Then, without hesitation, she released the divine arrows. Under Samael’s astonished gaze, the radiant bolts tore through his body with merciless precision.

“Forget it,” she said softly, her voice calm and resolute. “I have no desire to know, after all.”

Sacred radiance flared within Samael’s incarnate body, and with a furious roar his will gradually disintegrated.

Without his conscious control, the corrupted divine essence mingled with abyssal energy within the body began to churn violently, while dark divine force spread outward, corroding everything it touched.

If allowed to continue, this corruption would consume the entire region, leaving behind nothing but a desolate wasteland tainted by the abyss.

Naturally, Eve had no intention of allowing that to happen.

After all, these very corrupted energies were the reason she had come here in the first place.

Raising her hand, she invoked her [Absorption] skill, unleashing a powerful suction force that drew the raging power from Samael’s incarnation into her grasp.

The corrupted divine energy swirled into a vortex, funneling its vile and tainted essence directly into her being. The intrusion weighed heavily upon her, and Eve’s brows furrowed slightly in discomfort.

Faint dark blotches began to spread across her skin, which was the first signs of corruption taking root.

Yet Evé paid it no heed.

Instead, her hand rose gently to the Crown of Nature resting upon her head. At her touch, the artifact shone with a soft radiance, its light encasing her like a protective veil.

Slowly, the tainted energy was suppressed, its violent surges gradually subsided beneath the crown’s glow.

This was one of the crown’s main functions: to regulate and harmonize energy. Though it could not wholly purge corruption, it was capable of restraining it for a time.

Yet it could only suppress.

After all, what she’s using here was merely a divine incarnation, not her true form. Though her incarnation carried a fraction of her true body’s power, it lacked the full capacity to absorb and refine abyssal energy.

This meant that, through her incarnation, she could purify and assimilate small amounts of abyssal power, but anything excessive was beyond her ability.

Upon assessing the energy within Samael’s incarnation, Evé concluded that it contained no less than two thousand five hundred units of corrupted divine power. Even with reduced conversion efficiency, it would still provide her with nearly two thousand units of divine energy.

That alone was already a considerable harvest.

Naturally, to fully refine this power she had just absorbed, Evé would need to return to her true body. For now, she could only store it temporarily.

Once she had finished extracting the corrupted divine energy from Samael’s incarnation, its appearance suddenly began to change.

The serpent-like angel’s body rapidly withered and shrank, regressing into the figure of an aged dwarf.

Although the dwarf’s form was badly corroded by the power of the Abyss, a closer look revealed a striking resemblance to one of the figures carved upon the palace’s walls.

Moments later, the body slowly crumbled into ashes.

“So it was just as I suspected. Samael’s will had indeed invaded Barolte’s body and eventually reshaped it into his own divine incarnation,” Evé murmured as she watched the ashes scatter into the air.

“The truth behind the thousand-year holy war… I nearly forgot that Samael possesses the Divinity of Temptation. Had I allowed him to speak further, I might have revealed something I should not.”

She shook her head as the Demon Lord’s final words echoed in her mind.

When Samael had shouted those words at her, she had truly hesitated.

Although she already had a general understanding of why the gods had besieged the World Tree, Samael’s allusion to a “true secret of the holy war a thousand years ago” had undeniably stirred her curiosity.

Yet in the end, it was nothing more than that—a fleeting curiosity.

Once her thoughts had settled in, she quickly realized that she could not truly threaten him. Samael’s true body was absent, and what she faced was nothing more than an incarnation he sought desperately to preserve.

Under such circumstances, Evé could not discern whether his claims held any truth or were merely calculated falsehoods meant to sway her.

More likely, his words had been nothing but a ploy to weaken her resolve.

In hindsight, Samael, with his Divinity of Temptation, was in many respects more dangerous than any of the other Demon Lords.

Evé even suspected that Barolte, the dwarven god who had fallen long ago, might have been drawn into corruption by Samael’s words alone.

So, rather than risk being deceived by uncertain claims, she resolved to act decisively: destroy him and claim the power she had intended from the start.

There was another reason she had chosen this course of action.

Her brief exchange with Samael had reminded her of someone else she had neglected all this time—someone who was more credible and more easily susceptible, and therefore could be forced to reveal the secrets she wanted to know.

“Come to think of it, I have never questioned Azazel about anything. He too is a Demon Lord from ancient times. The secrets buried in his mind must hold invaluable treasures,” she muttered to herself.

At that same moment, deep beneath the Elven Forest within the Demon Lord’s labyrinth, a certain Demon Lord—who had once been a Sovereign of the Abyss and powerful enough to challenge the gods themselves—suddenly shivered.

“Tch, fuck. Which mythical being is talking crap about me this time?”

He cursed in Earth slang, scratching his head with a mixture of irritation and apprehension.

With a casual shrug, he regained control over the demons, unleashing a new wave of obstacles against the raiding players while continuing to toy with them in his role as the labyrinth’s boss.

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