In a dark corner of Hell, poisonous miasma, blood, and darkness interwove to form a distinctive, bizarre landscape. In the north, mountain ranges stretched with a chaotic clash of tall peaks and deep valleys. Purple miasma permeated like spirits, shrouding the entire forest in a hazy, sinister play of light and shadow.

The trees were tall and twisted, with a chilling air of gloom despite the thriving canopies. The trunks were deformed into eerie shapes by some intangible power. Corroded by the poisonous miasma, the serrated leaves were a deep purple with purple poison secreted from the tips. When the poison dripped to the ground, it blended into the soil and formed deep ponds or rivers in the low points of the valleys.

The territory belonged to Mattea, the Abyssal Spider Queen. Under the influence of her power, all demonic creatures in her territory were poisonous bugs, such as spiders.

Mattea had once been the Lord of Lust’s familiar, with a spider lower body and an enthrallingly stunning woman as her upper body. After she became independent, she was able to create her own familiars. The high-level familiars loyal to her all resembled her in appearance.

In the west, the hellish forest shrouded by darkness was gloomy and dim, the infinite darkness seemingly engulfing the entire forest. The oppressive, heavy atmosphere could be felt by all living beings. Because of the power of darkness, the trees reached up into the clouds like giant black spirits, the crisscrossing branches and leaves forming a dense, impenetrable dome.

This territory belonged to the Lord of Night, Stolas. Most of his familiars looked avian. He was powerful and owned a vast territory, making him one of the top-level demons in Hell aside from the Seven Demon Lords.

In the east and the south was a crimson world that stretched beyond what the eyes could see. The ocean wasn’t a usual body of water, but heated, viscous blood that fluctuated wildly and dyed the dark clouds in the sky red. The blood unleashed its rage and terror like it were a sentient life.

Most creatures inhabiting the ocean of blood were covered in hardy scales and resembled great dragons. The scales, capable of resisting heat and corrosion, granted incredible defense.

The owner of the ocean was the Lord of Blood, Enguema. His power could not rival Stolas, the Lord of Night, but he was a nepotism baby with quite an influential father: Lord of Greed, one of the Seven Demon Lords.

The three demons were the Big Three of the demon alliance.

Poisonous miasma, blood, and darkness surged as three sources of thoughts reached the intersection of their territories, morphing into three figures of entirely different sizes and shapes.

The figure in the north was voluptuous and arousing, the one in the west was a constantly morphing black mist, and from the south-east, an ocean of blood crashed into the land, from which a tall, crimson figure emerged.

“Stolas, why did you ask for us?” Enguema boomed. His speaking voice sounded like the growls of the blood ocean, mixed with the thunderous rumbles of the crimson currents crackling in the sky.

“Is it because of the Black Axiom Sect?” Mattea asked slowly.

It was commonly known that the demons had exhausted their credit of trust so much that it would take tens of thousands of years to recover. Even demons did not trust their fellow demons, let alone humans. Compared to their own kind, demons were more willing to trust angels.

The same was true of the demon alliance. They all had their own plans, and because they put themselves in others’ shoes, they were all paranoid.

I’m plotting against him. Of course he’d be plotting against me, too.

Enguema, for example, had agreed that the alliance would open the Gates of Hell together and divide the harvest fairly, sharing all of the Chosen Land. Yet afterwards, he secretly descended on Dragonheart Island, pulling a great heist.

But then the ancient god descended, and Enguema could do nothing but shudder in fear. He had been the star of the most popular joke in hell during that period.

Then, the Thousand-Eyed Demon took his place.

It wasn’t shameful to fear the ancient god. Any demons would react the same way since it wasn’t so much fear but a respect for life. The Thousand-Eyed Demon was another story. He was one of the seventy-two demon lords and a named demon recorded in the Sacred Tome, more powerful than ninety-nine point nine nine nine percent of demons.

However, he ended up a legendary mage’s and an angel’s plaything, meeting a confusing death. He was henceforth removed from the list of the seventy-two demons, and his territory in Hell had been divided.

One should speak no ill of the dead, so they all laughed instead.

The Thousand-Eyed Demon had been a member of the demon alliance as well, and he also had his own plan.

“The Black Axiom Sect is doing well in Franc, garnering us a large number of followers and accelerating the opening of the Gate of Hell. I asked for your presence for something else,” Stolas said in a low voice. “The Lord of Envy’s familiar sought me out. Knowing that we’re going to open the Gate of Hell, he asks to send his familiars to the human world through it.”

Mattea fell silent. The plan had been going well, but at the last second, one of the Seven Demon Lords found out about it. It was most likely that a member of the demon alliance had betrayed them.

Since this was Hell, she wasn’t angry at all. Why would she be angry when betrayal was a given?

She, for example, had reported to the Lord of Lust about the progress of opening the Gate of Hell a long time ago.

Even one of the Big Three was a traitor, so it was only reasonable for a few of the regular members to be spies. It was a feature rather than a bug in Hell. No one would even be surprised, much less get angry about it.

“Bastard, why would the Lord of Envy know? Who leaked the information?” Enguema snarled. The crimson ocean roared with violent waves, showing no signs of calming down.

Stolas wordlessly watched him as he played dumb. It really wasn’t easy to be a son of one of the Seven Demon Lords. Enguema had been pretending to be an idiot for millennia. He hadn’t actually become one in the process, had he?

Only after the ocean of blood calmed did Stolas say, “I’ve agreed to the Lord of Envy’s request. Now, it’s your turn. Do you agree or disagree?”

“What did the Lord of Envy offer?”

“He offers to help open the Gate of Hell in the human world in half an hour.”

“Why would you take a demon’s words seriously?”

“He’s one of the Seven Demon Lords. I have to believe him.”

“...” x3

The three clusters of thoughts fell silent. Then Enguema raged, “The Lord of Envy is sticking his nose into the Gate of Hell. What does he want? He should know that, given his circumstances, the other demon lords won’t let him off the hook if he opens the gate.”

He analyzed the situation to vent his helpless anger. When his two allies remained silent, he shook his head and said, “I agree, but we’re not handing the Death Knight’s head to him. It’s the key to the Gate of Hell and must remain under the control of the three of us.”

Stolas and Mattea shared the sentiment. They could let Envy use the gate, but not own it.

If the Lord of Envy used force, they would bring their plan ahead and give the key to another demon lord. Then everything would fall into chaos, and the destruction would be mutual. No one would benefit in the end.

“Which familiar is the Lord of Envy sending to the human world? What is he planning to do?”

“Milne.”

“Milne?” Enguema was surprised. “He’s Lord of Envy’s most treasured subject. Wouldn’t it be too much of a waste to use him as cannon fodder?”

Milne was the spoil of war the Lord of Envy had acquired by invading Heaven. He had once been an angel, and after being corrupted by the Divine Comedy of the Seven Deadly Sins, he became a hellish angel serving the Lord of Envy.

All this time, Envy had spared no praise for Milne—not because the angel was extraordinary, but because Envy was the only one of the Seven Demon Lords to have an angel serving him.

In comparison, though Pride had captured and imprisoned a group of angels in his castle, there had never been news of him taming any of them.

Thus, Milne was undoubtedly precious to the Lord of Envy. Envy was so overprotective of the former angel that he constantly worried that the Lord of Lust would grab Milne and make him kneel if he walked around outside. Suddenly sending Milne to the human world...

“Something’s wrong with the Lord of Envy. Milne is a trophy he needs to boast about his achievements. He must have other plans!”

“Milne was once an angel. He can break through the seal on Hell and descend fully to the human world.”

“...” x3

The three demons fell silent once more. They knew that the Lord of Envy had his own plan, but so what? They could not resist him before the Gate of Hell opened, so they had to live with Envy breathing down their necks.

“What if we give the key to the Gate of Hell to the Lord of Pride instead?” Mattea suggested.

“No!” Enguema shot her down immediately. “We can’t change our goal now!”

***

Palis, Franc.

Underground catacombs.

A throne of white bones stood on the top of a skeletal mountain, on which perched the Death Knight with no head, no mount, and no sword. Though he had lost his autonomy because of the demons’ control, he remained proud and dignified, exuding a chilling energy.

Above the mountain of bones was the dome of the underground catacombs. A black portal emerged in the chaotic space, and weaving lines streaked down and morphed into three figures.

The man in the middle had black hair and golden eyes, an unusually handsome face, a slim figure, and an aloof temperament. If he had been projected to Londan, he would’ve attracted men and women alike, making them spread their legs for him readily.

He was Milne, the angel of Hell.

Accompanying him was a man and a woman, both Lord of Envy’s familiars and both good-looking.

Like masters, like familiars. The Lord of Envy was good-looking, so his familiars wouldn’t be far behind in terms of looks.

Seeing the three familiars descend, the Headless Knight huffed, casting his thoughts toward the still-open black portal. He pondered how viable it would be to rush in and recover his head.

Milne observed the Headless Knight curiously, who was quite well-known in Hell. Sensing the knight’s thoughts, he responded with an amicable smile.

The Headless Knight looked away after only one glance, giving Milne the cold skeletal shoulder.

Milne shrugged, unfazed. “Lucy, Dion, let’s go on a tour in Palis. I heard that it’s a prosperous city with a metal tower called... whatever it’s called.”

“Sir Milne, we should be heading to the Republic of Erland in Windsor. It’s Master Envy’s order.”

“The demon lord told you to follow my orders. I’m in charge now.”

The two familiars scowled. They envied Milne for being favored and resented him for his pride. The outsider should be a beggar in Hell. What justified his arrogance?

The two familiars could not voice their thoughts. An angel of Hell was still an angel, and Milne was able to bypass the seal Heaven implemented on Hell, thus descending to the human world with his own body and all his thoughts.

The two familiars couldn’t match his strength. They had to keep their mouths shut if they didn’t want to accidentally die during the mission.

Milne walked out of the underground catacombs with his hands in his pockets, taking in the beautiful, bustling human world. He closed his eyes and took a savoring breath. It didn’t smell like sulfur like Hell did. The human world was wonderful.

Touching his face, he transformed into a noble scion with blond hair and blue eyes, heading straight to the commercial district with his two bodyguards serving as his porters.

Shopping time! Everything would be free for the taking!