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A blood-red sky; brimstone-filled air billowing from the volcanoes lining a rocky landscape… This was Purgatory; an environment that was hostile to all ordinary life.

Suddenly, a tear in the sky opened up to reveal a beautiful figure, floating in mid-air like she was standing on clouds. Her silky, long, purple hair flowed between a pair of elegant, purple wings. A thin smile graced her flawless face- a face so beautiful, a single glance would render you her slave for life. Her very being exuded an aura that could only be described as enthralling.

“Mama!~” At the same time she appeared, a little girl with matching purple hair flew up to her, beating her bat-like devil wings. She plunged into the figure’s arms, blissfully rubbing her face against her chest. “Mama, Mo Na misses you so much!!”

“Hahaha, my precious little Mo Na. I’m not your mama. Strictly speaking, I’m your aunty.” The figure gently picked up the girl and gave her a little peck on the cheeks. “My little Mo Na is the cutest, your aunty just wants to eat you up.”

“You’re not mama!” Mo Na bolted out from her embrace, doing her best to put at least two meters between them. She gazed at the figure from top to toe, her eyes furrowed. “Your body smells like mama… No, that is mama’s body. But you’re not mama! Speak, who are you exactly? Where is Mo Na’s mama?”

“Not bad, you catch on quick.” Ferti’nier smiled at Mo Na then beckoned to her. “If you want an answer, just call out that little thing living inside of you to explain.”

A second after she beckoned, a tome made out of an unknown material emerged out of Mo Na’s chest as if it was a surface of water. It was the Grimoire of the Dead, a book that had taught Mo Ke a great deal in the past. Mo Ke’s dark alchemy was in large part due to the knowledge contained within.

The Grimoire floated between the two of them, and while it wasn’t able to speak directly, the spirit within could communicate with Ferti’nier through her soul. It only took a few seconds before the two of them completed their initial contact.

Ferti’nier; The Grimoire of the Dead; Mo Na; these three all were responsible, at one point or another, for Mo Ke evolving so slowly. This was the first time all three of them came together face to face. There must be a ton for them to discuss. At least it would be so for Ferti’nier…

However, that wasn’t the main story of the day. Instead, it was the massive changes that had happened since the seal of Sable Radiance was broken.

To fully understand the context, one had to first understand the motives of the undead in Gehenna. Even now, they were occupied with assaulting the barriers of the new world they found. By breaking through the dimensional barriers, they hoped to convert the population of that world into undead soldiers. And if possible, turn the world into one of Hades’s. Should that happen, Hades would be able to break through the rank of Prime Deity, reaching unknown heights.

The chances of breaking through that tier were slim, but it was a risk Hades was willing to pay for. That was how an agreement was struck between Lucifer and Hades. As part of the agreement, Hades would provide troops in Lucifer’s invasion of the Western Human Realms once his own invasion of the new world was done.

Because of interference from the Goddess of Light and the other Gods of Order, Lucifer and his Gods of Chaos were unable to directly destroy the Western Human Realms with their divine powers. This fight had to be settled by those below the rank of a deity. In other words, the upcoming apocalypse was at most able to accommodate a demigod.

Yet humans weren’t the only race living in the Western Human Realms, despite what the name would suggest. Should the apocalypse break out, the rest of the races, like the elves, the dwarves, the beastmen, and even the rarely seen sea races would be forced to make their presence known as well. After all, Lucifer’s plan wasn’t to wipe out the humans, it was to wipe out the entire Western Human Realms.

Furthermore, for the devils to be able to occupy the Western Human Realms, they had to terraform the environment of the Western Human Realms. For the majority of devils, a fiery environment was indispensable.

Should the humans gather up a lot of mages to cast a composite ice spell on the area where the devils breached, that would be a disaster for the fire-loving creatures.

All in all, there were a host of problems facing the devils if they wanted to invade the Western Human Realms. But if they were to gain the aid of the undead, the ensuing battle would be one-sided.

Yet an entirely new world was an enticing prize, even with that agreement between the two gods. Just because Lucifer agreed not to vie for it, didn’t mean he had to offer it up either. He had hidden one crucial fact from Hades: Sable Radiance had a dimensional link with the new world!

However, this link wasn’t stable and could only be used once. That vastly limited its use as an invasion point. But should an overlord, versed in the arts of dimensional magic, be sent across using this link, he could then coordinate with the main forces trying to break down the main barrier.

Without that, the undead would have to expend an enormous amount of forces to set up a new link.

Yet a secret couldn’t remain a secret forever, especially not at the level of gods. Lucifer knew of this as well, and that was why Sable Radiance had now turned into a contentious point between the two gods. Lucifer wanted to extract more concessions from Hades, in exchange for this link. But he wasn’t planning on bringing this matter up to Hades, especially not when the other side knew of it and said nothing. After all, the first one to show his cards in a negotiation would lose his initiative.

On the other hand, Hades did not want to pay even more than he had initially agreed with Lucifer. And if he were to suddenly bring up the link now, he would end up looking desperate as well -that was just bad negotiating right there. Thus, the two gods pretended not to know of the link. Even Hades, who came to learn of the link’s existence after the initial negotiations.

Just like that, the dimensional link was kept an open secret between the two, sealed within Sable Radiance for eighty thousand years, till Mo Ke came along…

The situation was no longer the same. The forces of Hades had failed multiple times at breaking through the dimensional barrier, leading to the conclusion that the only way they could do so was with massive sacrifices. With that determination, and the fact that the seal was undone on Sable Radiance, that strange stalemate over Sable Radiance was no longer tenable. Even if it could only be used once, Hades needed it.

He finally told the demigods under him about the dimensional link in Sable Radiance, along with a method to invade the region…

Thus, the undead arrived, army in tow.

(TL: I made some interpretations with regards to the last ten paragraphs.)

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

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