Chapter 3229: Belphegor’s Threat
Chapter 3229: Belphegor’s Threat
Date: Unspecified
Time: Unspecified
Location: Myriad Realms, Dark Realm, Seven Prince of Hell Territory, Pandemonium City, Center of Pandemonium Volcano, Millennium Volcano Heart Natural Array
As I hid in Mommon’s herbal garden in the Millennium Volcano Heart Natural Array as one of its demonic beast gardeners in Maworm form, I asked Mommon how familiar Belphegor was with Pandemonicum City and whether he could infiltrate it without being noticed and make it to the center of the volcano.
Was it necessary for me to rush into hiding so suddenly? Yes, it was. I believed Belphegor was already inside the city and even the volcano.
The fact that Belphegor saw an opportunity to get rid of other faction leaders when the Bloodrools came knocking to buy the rights to the Card World, while the other faction leaders saw an opportunity to make easy money, proved that he had been entertaining the idea of assassinating the other faction leaders of the Seven Princes of Hell dark faction to gain full control of the dark faction. However, knowing the reality that without the other leaders, the dark faction would be reduced to a mere noble-class faction, he had to curb his greed.
This meant that every time Belphegor visited Mommon in the center of Pandemonium Volcano, he might have mapped out how he would assassinate the latter if he wanted to, like when you wait in a long line at the bank and can’t help but think about how lacking the security is. Before long, you find yourself wondering how you would rob the bank if you were to do it.
I believed Belphegor might have already had a plan in place to assassinate Mommon in his dear Pandemonium Volcano when the need arose. It wouldn’t be surprising if an opportunistic fellow like Belphegor had already been preparing for such a day. Though I don’t think he had the patience for that, considering how short-sighted he was with Corey Park.
If you see a talent, you train and raise them, not ruin and kill them. If he had used Corey Park properly, returning her father’s soul instead of trying to meditate and destroying his soul and antagonising her, the Seven Princes of Hell would have seen better days.
Yes, their ways and mindsets were different, and sooner or later, they would have parted ways, but a smarter person would have tried to part amicably.
Take my relationship with the Card Celestial, for example. It didn’t feel threatened by my presence. Instead, it offered me choices: to become its vassal and continue to live on its generosity or make it on my own with a little investment from it.
As a native of the Card World, the Card Celestial’s will fragments were very useful to me. The Card Celestial had every reason to fear my rise to celestialhood, yet it gambled on a bigger picture instead of focusing on short-term gains. Yes, killing me would remove a looming threat to the Card Celestial, but investing in me would make way for something much bigger.
All I was saying was that Belphegor was every bit as scheming and conniving as what made him a great devil merchant, but in the end, he was a scavenger, thinking only of the opportunity before him and not of what was yet to come.
It showed in how, when the Bloodrools came, he didn’t see an opportunity to climb to newer heights with his brothers. Instead, he saw a chance to kill them and become the sole king of the well, a frog content to rule a puddle of darkness while the sky above him went unseen.
’Master, I received a text from Belphegor,’ Mommon reported through Hive Spirit.
’Well, what does it say?’ I asked, wondering if he was already in Pandemonium City or perhaps the volcano.
’Master, Belphegor demands that I willingly forfeit my position as one of the last two surviving faction leaders of the Seven Princes of Hell and quit the dark faction in the next ten minutes, or else he will detonate the explosion-type True Relic he created using a couple of Celestials’ will fragments and hid deep in the bowels of the Dark Realm underneath the city. He specifically said that if I try to leave the city without quitting the dark faction, the explosives will explode, taking the city down with me,’ Mommon informed me of the contents of Belphegor’s message indifferently. ’Also, if I were to do as he says, not only would my city be unharmed, but he would also offer me the amount the Bloodrools offered for the rights to the Card World, paying me from his own pocket as my severance pay.’
’I see. Either he gets his way or he takes you down with him, that conniving bastard,’ I said, walking out of the herbal garden and switching back to my human form. ’I guess finding the Bloodrool assassins who should have assassinated you guarding your city instead must have tipped him off about you having gained the Bloodrools’ favor.’
"Master, I think he is bluffing. He can never place an explosive True Relic made using two World Will fragments underneath the city. The demonic beasts lying in the bowels of the Dark Realm would have sensed it and fought to devour it. The allure of not one but two World Will fragments was not something the demonic beasts could resist. The ground beneath the city would be as peaceful as it is now," Mommon spoke his mind, giving me his opinion based on his experience with Belphegor in general and his duplicity.
"No, the True Relic he speaks of is there, and it has to have been there for quite a while now," I asserted, having already guessed that Belphegor would have made plans to deal with Mommon if a chance arose. I just didn’t think he would be so prepared. I guess his plan to kill the other faction leaders would have come sooner or later, even without the involvement of the Bloodrools. They were just the catalysts for what was inevitable.