Death... and me

"Okay, let's get this over with." Rui then used his Divine Sense to call a few devils waiting outside the room. 'Titia, Salahi, Doohan, come inside.'

Those three devils immediately entered the room, already knowing the reason for that. "We are here, clan master."

"Tapir, we only need one of them, right?" Rui mentioned. "Which one got the most souls during the five days?"

Tapir looked at Titia, who took a few steps ahead. "It was me, clan master."

Rui nodded in response. "The last slot is yours." With that, he looked at Salahi and Doohan. "The two of you are free to do whatever you want. However, I don't want anything to go wrong, so don't leave the clan's territory. I'll give you access to extra cultivation resources for the efforts you put in your soul-guiding training up to this point."

Salahi and Doohan were delighted to hear that. "Thank you, clan master."

"You can leave now." Rui just waved his hand, sending those three out.

Rui talked for a while with the twins, Fagund, Tapir, and Fleus. It was decided that the twins would not leave the Light Devil Clan until the start of the competition. Rui wasn't afraid of an assassination attempt, though. Getting inside his clan and passing through his clan's High Devils simply wouldn't happen. Let alone if he was there.

Rui did summon the Elder Devil meeting, although only a few of them took part. That wasn't a problem anyway, as the others would be told of the meeting's contents later. Unfortunately, neither Rean nor Roan would find out what happened in that meeting. They heard from Fagund that once Rui came back, he seemed to be in an especially good mood, but he didn't comment on what happened.

"So, he got something from the Mephisto Clan, huh?" Rean couldn't help but comment.

Fagund could only nod in response. "That's most likely it."

"Nothing wrong with that. Rui couldn't simply ask for Mephisto to be killed or to be banished. That would never happen. Mephisto is one of the stronger Elder Devils, isn't he? Each Elder Devil is considered one of the pillars of the Underworld, after all," Roan explained. "But then again, the other Elder Devils couldn't let Mephisto get away without paying the price. Whatever it was, you can be sure it was beneficial for Rui and the other Elder Devils."

"So what now?" Rean asked back. "Did Rui ask us to do anything, Fagund?"

Fagund shook his head in response. "Not really. It seems like you have to stay here until the day of the Underworld Soul Guiding Contest, and that's basically it. Don't worry, though. I can guarantee that you will receive the reward you asked for."

"Fine by us." Rean and Roan were happy. As long as they could enter the Swamp of No Return, the rest didn't matter as much. The devils could resolve their own differences later. As for the twins, they had Rean's skill to change their own body structures, so they could literally become different devils once they were separated from the Light Devil Clan.

There were only two years before the competition started, so the twins didn't try to go anywhere. They got Celis, Kentucky, and Luan to cultivate in the Dimensional Realm or train anything else they wanted while they did the same.

During these two years, Beelzebub also established himself in the mountain's depths. His much superior Divine Sense allowed him to catch the approach of any devil, which prompted him to stop absorbing dead souls that arrived in his range.

Though, it wasn't like no one noticed anything. The devils that passed by that area would often be puzzled by the scarceness of dead souls. Fortunately for Beelzebub, that was already an area considered not to receive as many dead souls as other locations, so the devils that passed there didn't mind it too much.

Beelzebub's altar already showed signs of cracking. Access to dead souls was definitely helping him free himself. He also prepared escape routes in case he was found, so Beelzebub wasn't afraid even if he was found. 'Mephisto, Moloch, and all the others... all of you just wait. Beelzebub is coming back really, really soon.'

Back in the Realm of Gods, the news that the spirits, humanoids, and the demon beast races would attack the devils' territory spread quickly. Even faraway continents, separated from the continents at the center of the Realm of Gods, were being summoned. Countless experts gathered nonstop near the Gods' Dividing Barrier.

The same happened for the devils as more and more of them traversed the Temporal Path to enter the Realm of Gods. It would still take several decades, but that was nothing for cultivators and the rest.

Eventually, the day of the Underworld Soul Guiding Contest arrived. Rui himself came out of his residence and gathered a few of the other High Light Devils. "Fagund, you'll stay. Where are Gean, Doan, and Titia?"

Fagund knew that he wouldn't be allowed to go to the contest. "They're waiting for you at the entrance of the Light Devil Clan. We also prepared many more Dark Element High Devils to follow you there, clan master."

Rui had another job for them, though. "There's no need for the Dark Element High Devils to come. They will stay here to protect the clan and you while I'm gone."

"Yes, great grandfather." Fagund nodded and opened the way for Rui.

Rui then used his spatial powers and disappeared from the room. The next moment, he was already in front of the Light Devil Clan's entrance, looking at the devils who would follow him. Naturally, Rean, Roan, and Titia were there. "Let's go. Our Light Devil Clan already has a victory, just like the three other clans. If we get this victory, the Underworld Relic is ours for a thousand years!"

*WOW!*

The devils of the Light Devil Clan cheered, all excited to see the contest. By now, many of them heard that their Light Devil Clan seemed to have a trump card. Now they just had to see if their trump card would work.