Chapter 47: Failure

  After stabilizing her foundation, Septima unleashed the energy she had hidden until now.

  Fury over what had transpired earlier coiled within her, a venom demanding release.

  She intended to show them her wrath.

  One person dominated her thoughts.

  A person who had gotten in her way before.

  A person who, in this hopeless end of the world, had outshone her domain.

  A person she had to defeat for her plans to succeed.

  Memories, previously fragmented, began to coalesce after her ascension to a new level of power.

  The strange man, the familiarity she felt earlier—it all clicked into place, and the understanding irritated her.

  The realization fanned the flames of her anger, making them burn even more fiercely.

  She quickly located the echo of Justinian's energy near Belisara's tornado.

  Then, according to the plan with Maleficius, she shot into the air, heading straight for him.

  Today was the day she would overcome the curse that weighed upon her and obtain the power of a devilish virtue.

  She was one of many powerful individuals who intended to kill the Grim Judge today.

  Time did not stand still on Ignatius's mountain, either.

  There, deep in his paranoia, the fiend set up yet more safeguards against monitoring from other devils.

  It was expensive magic, but Ignatius never skimped on safety, and the small area of his residence allowed for truly incredible effects.

  "Well?" his friend asked, clearly irritated by the fanfare.

  The Emptyhead sighed heavily, struggled with internal hesitation, took another sip of his drink, and finally began to speak.

  "The first piece of the puzzle is that for the last twenty years, I couldn't have possibly gotten on anyone's bad side."

  "You were in prison, after all..." Greedius interjected.

  "Exactly! What's more, the magic traps I found on my mountain seem to come from a very old period!"

  At this, his interlocutor frowned.

  "Meaning?" he asked after a short pause.

  Ignatius, emboldened by the drink, shrugged his shoulders animatedly.

  "I don't know that much about magic, but I think a decade, maybe even two, is a very possible scenario."

  The brawny devil watched him in silence.

  "This proves the matter could have happened just after I was imprisoned, but not long after," the Emptyhead continued. "I assume the perpetrator didn't know my absence would drag on for so long."

  Weighing his words, he finally dared to move on to the conclusion.

  "I am sure this whole situation is not new, but is the result of forces that have been in contact with me for at least two decades!" he revealed, a truth that was shocking—given his level of intelligence.

  "This cult that supposedly attacked my place of imprisonment is a red herring. It doesn't exist!"

  After hearing these conclusions, Greedius looked at him in a new light. He thought for a moment, then glanced at the clock once more.

  "And what of it?"

  At this, Ignatius, now swaying like a seasoned drunkard, delivered his final point.

  "It's all connected to that old affront!" he declared, pulling a stack of papers with strange symbols from his tunic.

  His friend squinted. The papers showed a symbol of three overlapping triangles, each containing the numeral I. There was also data concerning a privileged infernal family from one of the higher hells.

  When Greedius looked questioningly at the Emptyhead, the latter explained in a frightened, conspiratorial tone, "About twenty years ago, I seduced a fine she-devil from this powerful aristocratic family. If you look closely at these symbols, you'll see they are almost the same!"

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  Greedius's eyes widened. He looked from his friend to the family's crest, then to the symbol of the mysterious cult.

  The resemblance was... questionable.

  "You're unbelievable..." Greedius shook his head with a smile.

  The situation began to amuse him so much that he couldn't stop himself from laughing—a low, terrifying sound that sent a sudden chill through Ignatius.

  The Emptyhead would have gladly shown his guest out and evacuated to some other, secret room, but something strange was happening.

  To his horror, he discovered he couldn't move.

  Simultaneously, Felix's already unstable tornado worsened.

  It became evident to even the common crowds that the golden boy of the current generation would not manage the ritual.

  "What's happening to Faustus?!"

  "This doesn't look good..."

  "They say the Grim Judge was snooping around him recently!"

  The local imps found increasingly absurd explanations. For those familiar with the matter, however, the situation was clear.

  The tornado had turned a blood-red color, and the force attacking the young devil grew stronger by the second.

  "If he doesn't give up soon, this will be his end," Maleficius said bluntly to the other rulers.

  The devil did not share their pain—this adept was a danger to Septima, after all—but the fall of such a magnificent talent stirred some emotion even in him.

  Boruta was about to reply when something on the surface of the moon changed.

  In the spiritual dimension, Felix, enveloped by the body of a legendary serpent, bit into the crystal on the reptile's forehead, releasing all its accumulated energy!

  The hurricane outside flashed with a bright light, then began to swell!

  The devils held their breath as the whirlwind grew, never stopping, until it was twice its previous size.

  "That's..."

  "It's much larger than the Grim Judge's!"

  "That's right! Felix is our best talent!"

  Excited shouts rang out.

  A surprised Eusebius clenched his fists, seeing his ward was still fighting. He shot a satisfied look at Boruta, whose damnably sad expression shattered his hopes.

  The voyvode sighed heavily and shook his head.

  "This won't end well..." he said.

  Unfortunately, he was right. Although the energy around Felix had increased significantly, the ritual remained far from successful.

  Soon, pieces of flesh began to tear from Felix's body, revealing a truly macabre sight.

  The devils of the 66th dimension held their breath as their most fortunate son teetered on the verge of death.

  While the entire dimension was in an uproar, Belisara opened her eyes.

  Having just stabilized her foundation, she smiled, feeling the multiplication of her power. Something else pleased her as well.

  'What could you possibly want, Justinian?'

  Looking at the boy who, like her, had come from the Kingdom of Peace, she guessed his hesitation.

  'With that unfortunate expression, he's really quite cute.'

  A confrontation between them was inevitable, and she had prepared for it thoroughly.

  Despite her planning, Belisara was, in the end, a mortal being, and mistakes could happen.

  The she-devil looked into the eyes of the young man standing nearby.

  'I don't regret not killing him at our first meeting, though.'

  Back then, under the moonlit sky of the 66th dimension, she had panicked upon discovering his origins.

  Later, learning more about him, she had guessed the type of person he was... and the past associated with it.

  A lot of time had passed since then. It was thanks to Justinian that she had escaped the terrible situation on the Mountain of Envy and Conflagration.

  "I see you haven't been slacking with your cultivation."

  Her tone contained a bit of her usual feistiness, but it was restrained.

  People went through mourning differently; there was no point in toying with his emotions.

  The risk was even more inadvisable because Mister Twardowski did not allow interference or communication with the dimension below. Greedius would be unable to help her if needed.

  The boy was silent for a moment before nodding. Without taking his eyes off her, he slowly stated his purpose.

  "Why does Felix claim that you killed Aldona?"

  The question made her blood run cold. Despite her preparation, the risks of dealing with powerful cultivators made control difficult to maintain.

  Still, she was experienced. She put on a bitter expression and sighed heavily.

  "So, the news has reached you as well..."

  Her voice was laced with a deep sadness that such a situation had occurred.

  "Half the dimension is talking about it."

  Hearing this, she shook her head, remaining silent for a few seconds as if carefully weighing her words.

  "Just as Greedius wanted."

  Justinian frowned, a reaction that did not escape the she-devil's notice.

  "Didn't it strike you as odd that I wasn't the one to confront Felix when he appeared before the Mountain of Envy and Conflagration?"

  Before the boy could answer, Belisara gave him a mocking look.

  "The ruler of my mountain did it on purpose, so you wouldn't return quickly from the ritual."

  She closed her eyes for a moment, as if struggling with a difficult decision, then clenched her fists.

  "Greedius wants to destroy your mountain!"

  The moment the words left her mouth, a stream of blood flew from her lips, and the she-devil fell to her knees.

  Blood poured more and more, until she collapsed on the ground, motionless.

  It looked as if a magical restriction in her body had activated, punishing her for what she had said.

  Justinian took a step through the air toward her, but then something strange happened.

  The area around began to glow, slowing him down.

  Before he could react, a magical formation—prepared specifically for someone at the first level of Foundation Stabilization—activated.

  A powerful stream of energy exploded exactly where the young man stood.

  Belisara, witnessing this, rose from the ground, smiling as if the whole affair had been child's play.

  In his secret room, the master of the Mountain of Plague and Misfortune lay motionless, eyes wide open.

  His gaze screamed, but someone had sewn his mouth shut—a fitting metaphor for his situation.

  The poison administered in the wine was designed to paralyze for a specific period.

  "Don't stress, old friend. There's no point, in your final moments," Greedius XXIII tossed at him, checking that all the masking spells were working.

  When the surroundings seemed secure, he nodded with satisfaction and approached the motionless Emptyhead.

  He had waited over twenty years for this magnificent moment. The time had finally come.

  "Don't hold it against me. That's just how the world is; you can't move up without eating someone else."

  Saying this, Greedius pulled the gloves from his hands.

  On both were the same toothed mouths that Belisara had on one of her own.

  Greedius approached his former friend and, placing a hand on his stomach, began the process of consumption.