KaiserBlak
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Chapter 635: Thousand-Faced Duke
🕑 Added 2025-09-15 13:00:19 +0000 UTCThe doll’s eyes gained a hint of sapience shrouded in devilish light, but despite Tianyi raising his guard, it didn’t attack.
“I know that it’s the consensus that devils are dangerous, but it still hurts me that you would be so wary of me, your creation,” the doll spoke. It was a melodic voice that resembled a glass harmonica.
Tianyi was having none of it. He had not appeared in his usual appearance, but in a disguise closer to that of a mage from the Avalon System. “Cut the act. I only created the body, not your mind.”
“Is it not possible that my current state is a combination of doll and core?”
That was possible, but Tianyi did not believe it at all.
The mysterious devil also knew this, so he dropped the act but not the voice. “So how about it? I’m quite interested in how you strengthened your contracted devil. How about making a contract with me?”
Devil contracts. Tianyi had heard about them in fantasy while living on Earth. The most famous contract was between Faust and Mephistopheles. Here, it wasn’t just legend, but reality. However, the consequences of forging such a contract were much more dangerous.
Apparently, it was more common before the Godsfall War, when knowledge of devils was more widespread. The one who wanted to make a contract would inscribe a symbol of one of the seventy-two devil lords. That did not mean the contractor would form a pact with that devil lord. Devils could choose to accept or reject it, but more often than not, it was the devil lord’s vassal devils who accepted the contract and appeared.
Devils would only be attracted to those with powerful souls. And such devils were not the bestial devils Tianyi had encountered from the first to the sixth level, but schemers and corrupters. A devil that formed a contract had to abide by the terms, but that didn’t mean they were without means. Forming a contract allowed the devil to influence its contractor.
If the contractor wasn’t careful, they would lose everything to the devil, so it was a risk-versus-reward type of thing.
According to rumor, the longstanding court mage of Avalon, Merlin, was a hybrid of a human and a certain type of devil. While hybrids were not an impossibility—creatures such as dragons were very prolific in spreading their bloodlines and traits—there had never been a recorded case of devils reproducing sexually. So, the truth of the matter was up for debate.
The thought of forming a contract hadn’t occurred to Tianyi. After all, he didn’t find himself lacking anything. At least, not until now. If it were a devil who had survived the Godsfall War, the trove of knowledge would be priceless. He had to admit he was tempted.
“What’s your name?” Tianyi asked. Just because he was tempted didn’t mean he would act on impulse. Even if he used a realm conduit, he could not guarantee that the contract would not affect his true body. On that matter, could he even form a contract?
“My name? Don’t you know it? It’s Phenex,” the doll answered matter-of-factly.
Tianyi condemned him. “Lies. The real Phenex is already dead. Or perhaps, he was never alive, but a false identity you created for yourself. You must be a survivor of the Godsfall War who masqueraded using his identity.”
The doll fell silent, not even attempting to defend itself.
“Let me see which devil you could be,” Tianyi said aloud—not for the doll, but more for himself. “Among the seventy-two devils of Solomon, few pretended to be others. The most famous of them is Dantalion. You are Duke Dantalion, the Thousand-Faced Duke!”
Actually, Tianyi didn’t know. As he had said before, many devils masqueraded as others. They might not necessarily pretend to be other devils, but they definitely had alternate identities they used in the past. He chose Dantalion simply because he knew the latter was alive and had met him before. So, he became the first choice.
“Kukukuku.” It was a quiet laugh, but the sinister undertones combined with the angelic voice made the hair of anyone who heard it stand on end. “KukukuahahahahAHahAhAHAHA!”
When the laughter finally died down, the doll spoke once more. “Impressive, impressive! No wonder you could contract such a brute devil. You must have controlled your contracted devil without him even realizing it. That poor fool is probably still salivating for your soul, but unknown to him, he’s just a puppet in your hand. I like such contractors the most.”
His words made Tianyi feel a sense of elation, like having his efforts recognized. He quickly broke free of such thoughts. Devils could be the most eloquent of speakers. Even as they prepared to pierce your heart, they would make you let down your guard and even feel goodwill.
Still, Tianyi had some suspicions. Was it really Dantalion, or someone masquerading as the masquerader? For that matter, was the devil duke he met in the Nahui Ollin System the real Dantalion or another fake?
“I guess that lass must have been captured and killed by you too,” Dantalion continued, not at all bothered by Tianyi’s silence. “It was a pity. She had the potential to become an outstanding devil and ascend to the rank of devil lord given enough time. Whether she could become a divine-level devil is another matter altogether. But since we’re technically on opposite sides, I won’t hold it against you. In the future, we may stand on the same front. So what say you?”
His words seemed to carry the undertones of pardoning Tianyi for a nonexistent crime, reflecting his false magnanimity. For that matter, it seemed the Duke Dantalion—Tianyi recognized him as such, at least until he could find evidence otherwise—was a divine-level devil. Or was he pretending to be one to level the playing field for negotiations?
Tianyi had no intention of hiding his divine-level power. He would have summoned the doll inside a remote system if he had. He could not in good faith implicate the denizens of an innocent system for his own actions.
Of course, Tianyi also considered that it might not be possible for the controller to connect to the Phenex Devil Core in the True Nothingness. In that case, he would have to try again on the first level of the Nine Hells Abyss. If Dantalion was a divine-level devil, it could explain why he could immediately interact with Tianyi inside the doll.
The location was so remote that Tianyi suspected the controller would not be able to receive a stable signal. Perhaps the connection went much deeper than that—so deep that the controller could sense the core as long as they were in the same spacetime. That would explain why the Phenex Devil Core became inactive inside the inner realm, as that was a different spacetime.
Tianyi didn’t know if Dantalion knew that the connection broke because of the different spacetime. He hoped the devil duke only suspected that it was a powerful sealing technique that caused him to lose the connection.
On a side note, Tianyi once again renamed the Phenex Devil Core. It was now called the Dantalion Core.
Tianyi didn’t answer Dantalion’s question. His hand reached out. It grew until it covered the doll’s entire vision. Tianyi had deliberately made it so that the doll would leak devilish energy in such a way that it couldn’t be utilized. It was possible to overwhelm the dissipation process, but a large amount of devilish energy and efficiency would be lost—all to weaken its combat potential.
Dantalion did not resist, surprisingly.
The giant hand clenched around the doll. Countless chains appeared and bound its vision and other detecting senses. Only then did Tianyi bring it back into the inner realm, where the connection was lost. Even inside, he kept the seal on it in case of any accidents.
After ascertaining some information, Tianyi did not want to speak anymore. Even if he were to sign a contract with Dantalion, he had to hide his identity as much as possible. Although he had reached the divine level of the Law of Spacetime, no one knew. Even the Heavenly Immortal Court still treated him as a special immortal sovereign.
Tianyi did not plan on divulging his mastery of the Divine Law of Spacetime—not to the Three Thousand Immortal Realms System or the greater All Pantheon Alliance. Had it been before the Heavenly Dao controlled Mengfei, he might have announced it to stroke his ego. But now, he slumbered. It was more conducive to his intel gathering to hide and lurk.
If he announced it, many eyes would be upon him. Not that there weren’t already many eyes.
Divinities with the power of the Divine Law of Spacetime or Divine Law of Space were incredibly rare in the contemporary climate. They weren’t as scarce before the Godsfall War. Rare, yes, but a few pantheons would have one divinity that specialized in the Law of Space.
It seemed that even in the days of yore, such convenient deities were extremely popular. They were the primary force behind the coordination between various pantheons. The devil lords knew this and created a scheme to kill most of them before the last battle of the Godsfall War. They paid a high price but severely disrupted the mobilization of all the pantheons, which led to the tragic battle at the end.
Right now, no pantheon had a space or spacetime divinity. If they did, they were certainly keeping them secret. Many pantheons had trained some demigods that specialized in space, but they could only operate within their own system at best. None of them could teleport across the universe like Tianyi.
Since that was the case, Tianyi had to appear as a divinity of another law or specialization. Before his Law of Spacetime reached the divine level, he was also focused on the Law of Yin-Yang, Law of Life-and-Death, Law of Five Phases. They had not yet reached the same height as the Law of Spacetime before it reached the divine level, but it was close.
Tianyi did not plan on promoting them to the divine level. Although they were powerful and would instantly increase his combat power once they reached the divine level, it was much easier to elevate a simpler law to the divine level.
According to his estimation, the easiest would be the Law of Fire, Law of Water, Law of Earth, Law of Wood, or the Law of Metal. The Law of Wind might also be on the same level, but Tianyi did not plan to choose this route either.
He chose to elevate his Law of Lightning. Certainly, it was not as advanced as the five elemental laws, but that was only because Tianyi comprehended them simultaneously with the Law of Five Phases. According to his estimation, it would be easier to elevate all five elemental laws to the divine level before elevating the Law of Five Phases.
Doing it the other way was much harder, but there were certainly benefits—benefits that Tianyi did not care about because of his unique constitution. On this matter, Tianyi could only send his blessings to Ba Shifang to work hard.
The reason he chose the Law of Lightning was partially because of nostalgia. Before he had even reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, Tianyi possessed the Heavenly Lightning Spiritual Root. Heavenly spiritual roots were the rarest of the rare. Each holder was a genius on the path of cultivation, but the Heavenly Lightning Spiritual Root was even rarer than those. The only spiritual roots rarer were ones like the Heavenly Void Spiritual Root.
It later mutated into the Dao Tribulation Lightning Spiritual Root, but even without the mutation, the spiritual root guaranteed Tianyi would comprehend the Law of Lightning. It was because of Tianyi’s status as a reincarnator and his self-created Nine-Five Scripture that he focused on the Law of Spacetime.
And so, Tianyi had another goal. For now, he halted the exploration of the Nine Hells Abyss.
***
A figure shrouded in darkness sat on a grotesque throne. It resembled a shadow. Its only defining feature was the myriad masks that coated his body. Behind each eyehole was darkness. The throne also had countless faces, of the flesh variety. Each one was stitched together by some sort of thread, forming an uneven texture. The skins of the faces bubbled with pus and fat, causing the throne to be in a state of corpulence.
A shadowed finger tapped the armrest. The edge poked the cheek of the unfortunate face, causing pus and blood to leak out from its eyeholes.
“Interesting, interesting. I didn’t expect that a pawn I set up so long ago would catch such interesting prey.” The voice was like a mixture of everything: the voice of the child wizened by the years, an old maiden’s voice who kept her purity even until death, an ordinary man’s voice, a dictatorial female ruler who conquered the world.
“I was hoping to catch some old friends, but this is so much more interesting. Just where had he taken me? It’s none of the systems I’ve visited before. It was too primitive. Perhaps it’s a new system, one that had not produced a divinity, so it was untouched from the Godsfall War. I’m just surprised that the mysterious divinity could seal off spacetime. He must have controlled the entire system, making him the one and only god. Corrupting such an existence will be hard, but it’s more meaningful. Once I succeed, the entire system will be mine to do as I please!”
“Kukuku,” Duke Dantalion leaned forward as he chuckled, but the force of his laughter soon made him lean back against his corpulent throne. “KukukukuakuahahahahahaHAHAAHAHAAA!”
