Chapter 373 - The Suspicions Fall On Lilith

"So, let's begin with this crap," Lucifer said as he yawned with tears in his eyes.

"Your Majesty, vocabulary." Fire Sorrow said in a stern voice while in her heart she smiled bitterly.

"Eh? Ah... True." Lucifer nodded and leaned back, letting himself fall onto the back of the throne-like chair. "Well... Then let's begin with this meeting...."

Everyone straightened their backs when they heard this. It was extremely rare for Lucifer to summon all the major powers of the Demonic Army in one place. The only time something like this happened was when they were all supposed to come to this castle to report the progress of the different Higher Worlds that each of them guarded. However, such a meeting had already been held four months ago, so it would be another eight months before they should meet again.

Just taking into account the aforementioned was enough for everyone to know that the matter this time was serious and while several of them had their own guesses about the main topic of this meeting, none of them spoke up and waited for the leader to continue.

"Ah... Well... I guess most of you already know what I'm going to say." Lucifer said trying to sound serious, something he failed to do due to the lazy look in his eyes. "That old codger... Ah, I mean the God of Heaven.... He's been a bit noisy recently, interrupting my sleep sessions repeatedly. It seems that the world Petra was destroyed not long ago and some pigeons, ah, that's not right.... Some angels were sacrificed along with the world itself."

The existences inside the hall, regardless of whether they had the qualifications to sit around the large round table or not, managed to ignore some parts of Lucifer's dialogue as they were used to his manner and carefree personality. They all immediately understood the matter in question and several nodded with looks that suggested saying, "As expected."

"What the hell have we got to do with all this nitty-gritty?" Hellscar said noisily with a confused expression on his face.

"If instead of wasting your time trying to challenge Doom Roar you had done your duty, you would probably already be aware of this information that has by now traveled among the eight major factions, Hellscar." An elegant lady wearing heavy plate armor and with two swords sheathed around her waist interrupted.

This lady stood approximately six feet tall, making her considerably tall among females whose appearance was human. Her hair was black, short in a bob style and there was an aura of power between her eyebrows. Her beauty was different from the typical beauties and was more of a brave type beauty which in conjunction with her hardened expression made her appear extremely tenacious.

"Valiant, do you think I have time to waste with these sort of stuff?" Hellscar asked as he looked wide-eyed at the lady who had just interjected, "It's clear anyway that those scared pigeons are just lying!"

"No, they're not lying." Replied Valiant, whose power was that of a Seventh Order existence and the fourth most powerful in the Demonic Army leaving aside Lucifer.

"How do you know?!" Hellscar shouted and was about to pound the table with his big fists but remembering the scene from before he stopped in mid swing.

"You're noisy, Hellscar..."

Valiant ignored Hellscar's shout casually and Lucifer muttered under his breath as his eyes threatened to close at any moment.

"Why do you always have to shout...?" The leader of the Demonic Army muttered before saying in the middle of a yawn, "Fire Sorrow, you do it."

"Okay." Fire Sorrow nodded and then pulled out a strange device from somewhere.

The device was strange looking, it looked like a small round shaped smart floor cleaner. Fire Sorrow set it down in the middle of the table and then injected some of her Mana while mumbling some words in a language that obviously didn't belong to Earth.

Flash!

A faint flash of light shone from the top of the strange circular device and a moment later that small flash grew until it became a sphere. The sphere continued to grow in length and width before finally stopping when it reached about 50 meters of diameter.

Soon, a strange but at the same time familiar 3-D image appeared inside the sphere of light.

The scene shown was undoubtedly the universe, distant stars could be seen shining in the distance and there was even a large planet whose colossal size took up most of the image.

None of them knew what part of the universe was it, however, they all gasped as their eyes came into better focus.

The colossal sized planet did not move, it did not rotate on its own orbit like all planets, worse yet, the planet seemed to be sealed by a thick layer of purplish black ice similar to obsidian rocks. Even more striking, a powerful dark energy was seeping from deep within the ice layers so anyone looking at it for the first time would immediately think about the Demonic Army.

"Firmament Fragment!"

Hellscar's eyes widened and he unconsciously shouted those two words as he abruptly stood up.

Everyone fell silent as they stared at the image displayed by the strange device. However, even though they said nothing, the look in their eyes made it clear that they all agreed with Hellscar's words.

While rubbing his head because of Hellscar's shout, Lucifer said in a low, soft voice like that of a child, "Mhm.... Well... It can only be a Firmament Fragment, and it must be a pretty powerful one at that. After all, there shouldn't be anyone with the power to seal a Higher World just like that."

"Judging by what was visible to the naked eye, the world Petra was finished in an instant." Fire Sorrow gently bit one of her long purple-painted fingernails and muttered, "Even the Will of the World and all Higher Existences were slaughtered in a heartbeat."

Even if it was Lucifer himself, he probably did not possess the ability to do such a thing. At least not using only his natural power. This was because while he was capable of destroying the world Petra, doing so with a single attack was inconceivable and insane.

If Higher Worlds were so easy to destroy the universe would have lost all of its worlds years ago during the countless wars waged by each faction in order to obtain more resources and natural treasures.

"Bloody Succubus Lilith." Valiant suddenly looked at Lilith and broke the silence that had formed after Fire Sorrow finished her words.

Lilith raised her head and said casually, "Do you need something, Valiant?"

Valiant was not intimidated by the icy stare that Lilith's ruby eyes were sending at her. Her expression remained unperturbed as she said in a tone of voice that was neither high nor low, "If I'm not mistaken, aside from those unusual attacks with your sword, you also control the ice element practically to perfection, don't you?"

Everyone's gaze fell on Lilith upon hearing these words and remembering the battlefield five years ago, they unconsciously nodded in agreement with Valiant.

Half a decade ago, a great battle was fought between the eight factions of Higher Existences for the sake of taking control of a new world that had just entered the Fifth Stage of evolution, successfully becoming a Higher World. This had been a very important battle as the Higher Worlds could go for centuries and even several millennia without the appearance of one. Since it was impossible to reach an agreement and everyone wanted the treasures that the new world had to offer, the war was inevitable as always when it came to natural resources.

That was the first war in which Lilith took part as she had only been a member of the Demonic Army for ten years. It was also in that battle that she earned the title of Bloody Succubus which made countless beings tremble with fear when they heard it and the survivors of that fierce and deadly war never wished to meet her again.

Ironically and despite the fact that she received the title of Bloody Succubus, most of the enemies that fell before Lilith did not drop even a drop of blood as they were either completely frozen in ice statues or received mortal wounds that were sealed as soon as they appeared.

At Valiant's question, Lilith's indifferent expression did not change at all and replied coldly, "So what with that?"

This was only the eleventh time they had all met Lilith except for a few chance encounters as they roamed the universe. None of those present knew her too well and she couldn't be said to be particularly close to anyone either. Valiant, on the other hand, was a veteran general in the Demonic Army; a dignified and mighty Seventh Order existence who had been with Lucifer almost from the moment the faction was established.

The difference in status between the two women was huge and if it was in the past Lilith's arrogant words might have made some people angry. After all, it was a tactful rule that the new ones had to respect the old ones; this was so in the factions and it was also so in the Earth jobs.

It was just that the current Lilith possessed the qualifications to talk to Valiant as an equal. Although it was brief and lasted only a few moments, the Battle of the Soul between Lilith and Crow was more than enough for everyone to understand that not only was her charm and beauty impressive but her Soul Power was of extremely high quality!

Although they still weren't sure if she could really overcome a Seventh Order existence in combat with her Sixth Order power, it was undeniable that Lilith was a genius among geniuses and elite among elites.

Since no one wanted to be on bad terms with someone like this, no one gave Lilith a bad face. Moreover, there were also a vast number of men present who were secretly in love or fascinated with Lilith.

Valiant didn't seem to mind Lilith's tone either. Her expression and glance didn't change at all when she said in the same flat and neutral tone of voice as before: "No, it's not much. I was just wondering if you could show off your skill one more time for all of us to see. It's been roughly five or six years since the last time."

Despite Valiant's words, everyone understood that she was suspicious of Lilith to some degree and that was why she made such a request. However, some people looked at Valiant with weird eyes.

"Are you suggesting that I am more powerful than His Majesty Lucifer?" a faint smile bloomed on Lilith's lips and without waiting for a reply she said easily, "Well, I guess it doesn't matter anyway."

Then, under the watchful eyes of all present, Lilith circulated her Mana and with a simple thought, a rune in her soul flashed brightly.

The frost spread at the speed of light with her at its center and before most could react, the entire hall had been frozen. The elegant floor had been sealed in deep black ice, the ceiling, the walls, the plants, decorations, the table, and even the chairs on which everyone were sitting; everything became ice statues without losing their shape.

"Excellent control over mana!" Fire Sorrow couldn't help but praise and a glint of appreciation shone in her eyes as she looked at Lilith.

Lucifer lazily opened his previously closed eyes and murmured, "Just saying but... If the plants died you'll have to give me more clothes."

The corner of everyone's mouth twitched a couple of times when they heard their leader's clear murmur but no one said anything about it.

"Is that enough for you?" Lilith asked casually as she looked at Valiant.

"Um. Wonderful magic." Valiant praised honestly.

While Lilith's dark energy was there, the power behind her ice-like magic was completely different from the divine power exuded by the ice that had wiped out the world Petra and its inhabitants. Moreover, while the color was similar, that was all; similar but not the same.

The color of magic could not be altered so at the very least it was clear that Lilith had not done it herself and Valiant's doubts flew out the window.

"Valiant, isn't it clear that a Firmament Fragment was used? Even His Majesty has said so!" Hellscar bellowed aloud, "Why are you gunning against the Bloody Succubus? Are you jealous of her beauty? Chill, I prefer women like you!"

Valiant didn't even look at him and her expression didn't change at all.

With a single thought from her, the black ice that sealed the entire room quickly receded, and in a few blinks of the eye everything had returned to normal. The warm temperature, the decorations, the plants, the table, the chair; everything was perfect as if nothing had happened.

Seeing that not even a leaf of the plants inside the room was falling or damaged, a glint of disappointment flashed through Lucifer's eyes as he said quietly, "What a pity..."

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