Chapter 41: The News That Shook The Entire 66th Infernal Realm

  Silence reigned on the Mountain of Plague and Misfortune, undisturbed even by the wind. Justinian sat in his dormitory room, the chill of the old floor seeping into his very bones.

  For the past few weeks, he had been training relentlessly, trying to increase his chances in the upcoming Foundation Stabilization ritual.

  Yet, he still couldn't find peace. Aldona's disappearance and Belisara's secrets weighed on his mind like gloomy clouds that couldn't be dispersed.

  'What Boruta said about Belisara doesn't match her story about being imprisoned in the church.'

  It was clear that only one of the versions was true, and the boy had a strange feeling that... it wasn't his friend's version at all.

  'If she lied to me then, what is her connection to the Kingdom of Peace?'

  Above all, however, there was a more important question that resonated ever more strongly in his head.

  'Where else did she lie to me?'

  The blood in his veins ran cold at the thought that this lie could also concern Aldona's disappearance.

  The boy tried to push such thoughts away, repeating to himself that there was no evidence and it was all just speculation.

  However, a mind once poisoned by distrust has a tendency to sink deeper and deeper into a spiral of similar thoughts, and so it was with Justinian.

  In such moments, only heavy training brought him a sense of relief, where he perfected his saber-fighting skills and his techniques.

  Franciscus noticed his state and tried not to add to his problems with his presence. This also involved taking the pipe with the ghost of Doctor Totius for safekeeping, as the phantom was always ready to utter brutal words unsuited to the mood of the moment.

  Time did not stand still throughout the dimension, and changes were appearing on each of the mountains.

  On the Mountain of Envy and Conflagration, Belisara had solidified her position as the representative adept. Few remembered that not long ago she was fleeing from Sagittarius; now she was a hero to the local devils and someone who represented their chance for glory.

  On the Mountain of Research and Development, strange rumors began to circulate related to the most talented devil, upon whom even the voivode looked with a warm gaze. They said that Felix Faustus was a mental wreck!

  Many devils had seen him drowning his sorrows in alcohol, which he had never before consumed in excess. He became explosive, and even the ruler of the mountain couldn't talk sense into him.

  In these turbulent days, the Mountain of Darkness was no exception to the rule. Devils gossiped that the strange explosions of light on the mountain had intensified during this time, and Septima had supposedly reached the fifth mark of Ki Gathering.

  Thus, more days passed in the dimension, until only a week remained before the start of the ritual concluding the Holy Pilgrimage. It was then that unexpected news shook the entire hellish dimension.

  At the foot of the Mountain of Envy and Conflagration...

  A tragic spectacle was unfolding before the eyes of the assembled adepts.

  Felix Faustus, the ideal of devilish youth, looked like a pathetic shadow of his former self.

  His elegant robes were wrinkled and stained, his perfectly styled hair hung in dirty strands, and his handsome face was marred by several days' worth of stubble and puffiness from alcohol. He stood, swaying on his feet, and roared towards the entrance of the mountain.

  "Belisara! Come out and face me in battle!"

  A crowd had gathered around. The devils who had recently looked at him with admiration now whispered with a mixture of pity and contempt.

  His magnificent aura, which had always surrounded him, was gone. All that remained was pain, pure and destructive. The news of Belisara's promotion was the final slap in the face for him—a reward for the murderer of his beloved.

  Nearby, footsteps echoed from the mountain. Heavy, slow steps that could not belong to Belisara.

  Greedius XXIII himself appeared at the threshold. He was powerful, broad-shouldered, and his belly undulated with every breath. He looked at the adept with amusement.

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  "Felix, my boy. What are you looking for here? Have you perhaps lost your way in search of Eusebius's mountain?"

  His voice was clearly indulgent.

  "You've had too much to drink. Go back to your mountain and sleep it off."

  "You won't tell me what to do, you fat pig!"

  Felix snarled, his voice soon breaking with despair.

  "Send that bitch out to me, or I'll come for her myself!"

  The crowd froze upon hearing this.

  "A public insult to a mountain ruler?" "Has he truly gone mad?"

  The devils watching the spectacle whispered among themselves.

  Greedius, however, continued to smile, as if downplaying the situation. He only wagged a finger in the direction of the dimension's golden child.

  "Watch your words, young friend. I am showing you mercy, but my patience has its limits."

  "Your mercy?!"

  Felix laughed hysterically.

  "She killed her! Your new pet killed Aldona, and you gave her a reward!"

  At that moment, something inside the young devil snapped. With a wild, inhuman roar, he lunged forward. There was no technique or strategy in it, only pure, blind fury. He attacked the ruler of the mountain.

  Everyone held their breath. It was suicide. Greedius, surprised by the behavior of the dimension's greatest young genius, reacted instinctively.

  With a lazy, almost casual motion, he waved his hand. Felix, rushing with all his might, hit an invisible wall and fell to the ground with a dull thud, spitting blood.

  "You're really not helping yourself,"

  He muttered, looking at the fallen adept with disapproval.

  "What did you really expect, throwing down such a challenge?"

  Slowly, with the majesty of an executioner walking to the scaffold, he descended.

  The crowd stepped back, creating an arena for the inevitable execution.

  Greedius did not rush. Although the young adept's belligerence was irritating to him, he didn't want to kill him. After all, he hadn't established good relations with him earlier for nothing.

  Felix struggled to his feet. Only hatred drove him now. He knew he had no chance. The power difference between him and Greedius was like the chasm between an ocean and a puddle.

  The mountain ruler was someone who had achieved Foundation Stabilization, a powerful being whose very aura could crush weaker devils. And yet, he could not give up. He owed it to Aldona.

  The fight was a farce. Greedius stood almost motionless, his hands clasped behind his back, and with a disappointed expression, he dodged Felix's desperate blows. Every attack from the young devil, which not long ago had inspired awe, was now parried with a single finger or a lazy wave of the hand.

  "Is that all you've got, my young friend?"

  He asked in a bored tone.

  "I'm afraid that even if I allowed a duel, you wouldn't stand a chance against Belisara."

  Those words were like a stab with a knife.

  Felix cried out in pain and fury, gathering all his remaining power. He knew he had only one chance.

  He stepped back, and a calm, focused energy flooded his body. It was the technique whose demonstration Justinian had observed on Eusebius's mountain!

  All his ki, all his will, all his pain and sorrow accumulated in a small ball of energy. It did not radiate heat or light. It was quiet, modest, and deadly dangerous.

  Shockingly for the bystanders, it didn't end there. Soon, Felix began to add his life energy to the projectile!

  "Last Spark."

  Greedius observed this with curiosity. He knew this attack. Its extraordinary precision and concentrated power had once even caught Boruta's attention, and not without reason.

  'This kid is a really good investment,' he mused, watching the preparation for the projectile's launch.

  Finally, a glint of decisiveness flashed in his eyes, and the moment the energy ball shot out, unerringly towards the secluded, cultivating Belisara, Greedius vanished from everyone's sight.

  He reappeared in the air, right in front of the projectile, extending his hand towards it! There was no explosion, no boom. There was only a quiet hiss, as if a drop of water had fallen on hot metal.

  Felix fell to his knees, exhausted.

  For a moment, nothing happened. Then, Greedius slowly lowered his gaze to his hand. On his richly decorated gauntlet, a small, scorched hole had appeared. And beneath it, on his rock-hard skin, was a tiny, white mark. A non-healing scar, no bigger than a mosquito bite.

  Absolute silence fell. Everyone had seen it. Felix Faustus, driven to the brink, had managed to leave a mark on the body of the mighty Greedius XXIII.

  The smile vanished from the mountain ruler's face. His eyes, until now full of arrogance, blazed with pure, murderous fury.

  It wasn't pain. It was an insult. This worm, this drunken whelp, had dared to leave a scar on him. He had dared to mark him publicly.

  "You..."

  Greedius rasped, his voice now an inhuman growl.

  Before anyone could react, he moved. There was no more grace or playfulness. There was only brutal force. The first blow broke Felix's arm with a crack that echoed across the clearing. The second crushed his ribs.

  Although the mountain ruler had not intended to kill him, the kid deserved a serious lesson.

  Soon, the broad-shouldered devil raised his powerful leg to shatter the young adept's remaining bones with a final blow.

  "Enough."

  A figure appeared between Greedius and his victim. It was Eusebius. The ruler of the Mountain of Research and Development did not look like a powerful warrior, but his presence emanated such strength that even the enraged Greedius stopped in mid-motion.

  "Stay out of this, Eusebius. Your adept insulted me. He must pay."

  "He has already paid,"

  Replied Eusebius, not taking his eyes off Greedius. His gaze was devoid of emotion, which made it even more terrifying.

  "He is my adept. I will decide his punishment."

  The newcomer declared, and the air around him began to tremble.

  "Touch him again, and I swear, Greedius, that not even your immortality will protect you from my wrath."

  For a long moment, the two rulers measured each other with their gazes. Finally, Greedius, still seething with fury, withdrew his leg. He spat on the ground right next to Felix's mangled body.

  "Get him out of here before I change my mind."

  Without a word, Eusebius bent down, lifted the broken, unconscious body of his adept as gently as if he were carrying a child, and turned away. Before disappearing, he threw one last glance over his shoulder, directed not only at Greedius but at everyone present.

  What neither he, neither none of the observers noticed was the strange glint in Felix's eye just before the adept lost consciousness.