Death... and me

As mentioned in the past, the Light Devils exist in the Underworld to keep a balance between the Underworld and Heavens. At the same time, there are Dark Angels in the Heavens, too. Mephisto's group then attacked once again, but they couldn't get the advantage.

The Underworld Relic is the treasure of the Underworld, used to help protect it. In the hands of a Peak Stage Elder Devil, it showed a power that could fight several Archangel at once. It's just that this power only worked in the Underworld, so it would be useless to bring this Relic anywhere else.

However, Rui's opponents aren't Archangels, which was the original intention of the Relic. They were Devils, so the power the Relic could display wasn't as effective against Mephisto's group. Nonetheless, the fact Rui could fight three Elder Devils at the same level as him already showed how powerful the Relic is.

The problem was Devilish Energy. The Relic definitely used a lot of it, and in a battle of attrition, he definitely wouldn't last as long as Mephisto and the others. As Rui fought back, he continued to complain. "But those are the rules of the Underworld. The Elder Devil's Clan that wins the competition will hold the Relic for the next thousand years. There is no way the angels will attack again during such a short time. Why are you being too hasty about it? You could simply wait for the next competition and win it back. I don't have those two with me anymore."

*Bang!*

Another shake made the ground crack as the Underworld Relic shone with Dark Element, Dark Laws, and Space Power. Yet, Mephisto pushed through the destructive power. "That was the plan. Unfortunately, I don't have time for that anymore. I can only break the agreement and take the Underworld Relic back. This battle can stop in a single second if you want. All you need to do is to give the Underworld Relic away. There is no way you can win this? Trying to contact the other Elder Devils is also useless. I made sure of it."

Hearing that, Rui thought about something. "It was that phenomenon that shook the entire Universe, isn't it? You must know something! Tell me! Depending on the answer, I don't mind giving the Relic away. Otherwise, I will not hold back anymore."

Mephisto snorted in response. "If I told you, then I'm absolutely sure you would rather die than give the relic back." Suddenly, Mephisto raised his hand, and an enormous formation activated below the ground where the battle was happening.

"Fuck!" Rui cursed out loud, having failed to detect a formation in that place. Obviously, Mephisto had prepared for a long time. "This is my Light Devil Territory. How did you set this thing up without anyone noticing? There is no way you did it between the time I got the Relic and now. You must have worked on this shit for way longer than that."

"Hahaha!" Seeing the power of the Relic and Rui decreasing, Mephisto laughed and stopped his attack. "In the end, you are still not a Devil. As the leader of the Underworld, I obviously had to have some contingency plans in case things went south. Rui, if you put all your focus on escaping with the Relic, even this formation can't stop you. However, that also means leaving your Light Devil Clan behind. Our group will never give you enough time to take everyone into your Dimensional Realm. Are you sure you want to continue this? I don't mind getting rid of your Light Devil Clan at all. If anything, I welcome such a riddance."

Rui was almost exploding in anger. He was indeed connected to the Angels; he even succeeded in making the Angels come to the Underworld to attack it. But as mentioned before, it was all a lie to attract as many Angels to the Underworld as possible and then get rid of them. Yet, even after he had done so much, this is the end result of his efforts. Rui then looked at his Clan in the distance and at everyone who lived there. In the end, he could only accept his fate. "Fine! I didn't expect I would hold onto this Relic for much longer, either. But there is a condition."

Mephisto nodded. "As long as it is something I can accomplish and you give me the relic back, I'll do my best."

Rui took a deep breath and spoke. "I want you to tell me what that shaking of the Universe was about. For it to be something that forced you to ignore the Elder Devils' rules and come here, it must be something I need to get my Clan ready for."

Mephisto pondered a bit and nodded. "Very well. Give me the Relic, and I shall talk about it. In fact, you would find out about this information sooner or later, so it makes little difference for me. I was just a little lucky to find it ahead of others."

Suddenly, a drop of blood came out of the Underworld Relic, entering Rui's body. With that, the bond to the Relic he had was now undone, and the Relic could accept a new owner.

*Zush!*

Rui then threw the Underworld Relic to Mephisto, who quickly grabbed it excitedly. He checked with his Divine Sense to see if there was anything wrong and finally nodded. "It's finally back in my hands. Even though just a few years had passed, I felt like I was missing a part of me..."

Rui wasn't in the mood to see that emotional reunion. "Stop wasting my time and tell me. What is this all about? What scared you so much to make you seek the Underworld Relic before the competition?"

Mephisto then used his blood to bind the Underworld Relic to himself and put it away. "The one to tell me about that was senior Black Locust."

"Black Locust?!" Rui breathed coldly after hearing this name. That was the name of another one of the Semi-Celestials, experts at the same level as Huban, Gragatou, and Kafan.

Mephisto nodded and deactivated the formation. He wasn't lying. If Rui had put his all into escaping, even Mephisto probably wouldn't have been able to stop Rui since they are at the same level. Besides, the Underworld Relic needs time to readapt to a new master, so the Relic was pretty much useless to Mephisto for the next few days. He couldn't use its power now.

Mephisto then continued. "Senior Black Locust informed me that this Universe won't stay intact for long. Things are about to get interesting..."