Embers of the Burned Emperor and the Devil

"Your Majesty the Supreme and Incomparably Powerful Embers of the Burned Emperor, you must know that this was not my intention." The demon trapped in the goat's head begged for mercy repeatedly, showing no trace of its previous arrogance.

"Your Majesty, you must believe me! It was the goat personality of the Chimera King! He betrayed me!"

With both Chimera and Red Dragon present, shifting the blame to a secondary personality that he had already devoured was undoubtedly the best option.

However, the emperor did not give him a chance to use sweet words and interrupted him directly.

"Enough with the nonsense, devil. Now that you've trespassed on someone else's territory, how can you not meet with the owner of this place?"

With a single grasp of its massive claw, covered in red dragon scales, the nearly twenty-meter-long Chimera was lifted up like a chick and dragged into the burning Space Rift.

Albert twisted his head and struggled, but was still dragged in without mercy, while the Chimera, who had control of the body, was exceptionally compliant.

However, in that brief moment, the devil's mind raced, constantly considering the next course of action and weighing the pros and cons.

The worst outcome would be being killed by that emperor and reborn in the River Styx Hell. He was a close confidant of Bael, so it wasn't irreversible. "Whoosh—"

With a crisp sound, they left the Chimera's lair and appeared in the spacious Iron Dragon Wing Palace —the place where the emperor entertained guests.

The moment he entered the palace, the devil felt an unprecedented and terrifying pressure. The force surged from all directions, constantly squeezing his body, mind, and even soul.

That power was far stronger than the pressure exerted on him by his master, Bael, or even by the current Lord of Avernus, Zariel, in Hell.

His head hung low, a human-like expression of "fear" appearing on his ugly, goat-like face. He couldn't help but mutter to himself, "Nine Hells, this is simply..."

At that moment, Albert felt like a lonely reef in the ocean, constantly being washed by the surging waves.

In an instant, all the conspiracies and schemes in his mind vanished under this mighty torrent, leaving only one thought in his filthy soul—what is this? It's simply... like a god.

The devil breathed heavily, struggling to lift the goat's head, and looked at the towering figure not far away. He opened his eyes wide again, his expression one of shock.

On the throne made of steel, a giant dragon, over fifty meters long, sat casually.

Even the most talented Bard could hardly describe the Red Dragon's appearance. Its scales were like the parched earth of Hell, its back like a winding mountain range, its wings like open slopes, and its four thick horns like the majestic Keosius. Or rather, the Embers of the Burned Emperor lowered his head and stared at the devil with his pale golden pupils, like molten lava balls, his eyes revealing undisguised contempt.

The Red Dragon merely leaned forward slightly, and the demon felt the world pressing down on him, the oppressive force sweeping in like a tsunami.

"Albert, right?"

"Your Majesty, your majestic figure will be unforgettable for the rest of my life. I have never seen a dragon as magnificent as you."

Albert struggled to resist the oppressive force, barely managing to steady himself before answering tremblingly.

In fact, the devil was not lying. Thousands of years ago, Albert's master Bael, betrayed Zariel without hesitation and became the new lord of Avernus.

But neither Mephistopheles nor Baalzebul trusted him—because he had betrayed his former mistress without hesitation.

Therefore, Bael was constantly worried about retaliation from behind, but with the relentless onslaught of the surging demon army, he had no time to secure his rear. He spent most of his time in the Blood War against the Abyss, inspecting fortifications and devising battle strategies, all of which required Bael to rack his brains.

Thus, Bayer formed a false alliance with Tiamat, the Queen of the Five Colored Dragons who also resided in Hell, giving the latter a territory in Avernas, while Bayer gained the Five Colored Dragons and Abyss (Dragon Demons) as allies.

Zariel was imprisoned inside the Bronze Fortress and subjected to cruel torture. The Abise used sharp knives to cut off small pieces of her flesh, which were then sent to their masters to enjoy.

As a confidant of Bael, although he had never seen the Five-Colored Dragon Queen in person, he had seen many of the Red Dragon sent by the Dragon Queen.

In Albert's memory, those Red Dragon were brutal, savage, and incredibly powerful. They were born killing machines, always able to turn enemies to ashes on the Blood War battlefield. Sometimes they would even kill weaker demons without distinguishing between friend and foe.

But no Red Dragon possessed the supreme majesty of the Embers of the Burned Emperor before him. Just by standing before him, the Emperor trembled and felt the urge to submit.

No Red Dragon could possess such a size, it was as massive as a small mountain, its mere presence enough to shake the entire Anzeta —even Tiamat's male concubines, those powerful Great Wyrm Red Dragon, could not achieve that.

When dealing with such beings, one can only appease them and must never show the slightest disobedience.

Thinking of this, Albert completely abandoned his previous strategy of "threatening the other party in the name of his master, Bael." After all, even if his master himself came to the aid of such a dragon, he might not be able to gain any advantage.

The devil carefully crafted his words and quickly established a new code of conduct for himself—to please the other party as much as possible and demonstrate his own value.

Albert gathered his emotions for a moment, forced a fawning smile, and then began to recite like Bard.

"Supreme Embers of the Burned Emperor, Lord of all living beings in Anzeta, the sole master of this land—Great Your Majesty Keosius, please forgive my rudeness, your body is as majestic as the mountains."

"Enough, you devil! I told you, don't try to sweet-talk me. Do you think I'm one of those muscle-bound bastards?"

Keosius sneered, interrupting the devil's impromptu speech without hesitation, and thought to himself, "When it comes to verbal sparring, even a devil from Hell might not be able to match me with the [Eloquent Speaker]."

"No, no, I was just expressing my feelings; I simply couldn't suppress my deepest reverence."

The demon trapped inside the goat's head quickly lowered its head, humbled to the extreme, its nose touching the ground.

But at that moment, the Chimera had been as docile as a kitten, suddenly took control of its body and knelt before Keosius. Its dragon head said fiercely, "Master, don't be fooled by this pretentious devil!"

The lion-headed creature chimed in, "Yes! This devil wants us to betray him! Luckily, we resisted the temptation, but that reckless goat..."

Keosius was amused by the Chimera's charade. He grinned and looked at the goat's head with a rather intimidating gaze. "Devil, is that really how it is?"

Albert was about to defend himself when he heard the emperor's cold words.

"If you dare to deceive me, I will burn your filthy soul to ashes, so that you can never be reborn in Hell."

Under the oppressive gaze, the seasoned devil felt as if he were suffocating. He could only force a smile and stiffly say, "Objectively speaking, that's how it is."

"Can this be interpreted as Bael declaring war on me?"

Keosius's question terrified Albert. If he really provoked such an enemy, his master would definitely make him suffer eternal torment.

The devil broke out in a cold sweat and hurriedly tried to explain, "Your Majesty Caesus, please don't misunderstand. I had no choice but to do it. It's all Zariel's fault! Yes, that madwoman despicable and shameless usurped the position of Lord Byr Afonas, forcing us to run around looking for powerful beings to fill our army and seek revenge."

I used sweet words to seduce Chimera only because—your familiars are far too powerful!

The devil spoke these words with tears streaming down his face, and they sounded exceptionally sincere.

Keosius's lips twitched involuntarily. He sighed inwardly, thinking, "No wonder he's a devil who makes a living by deceiving and cheating. Even I can't compare to him when it comes to sophistry."

However, although Albert's reasons were cobbled together and rather deliberate, the conversation still steered in the direction that Keosius wanted to see.

Then, the Red Dragon slowly rose from his throne, a look of interest appearing on his majestic face, and a glint of light flashing in his pale golden vertical pupils.

"Zariel?"

"It seems I have something to say to your master. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, and my Embers of the Burned Empire also has some conflicts and entanglements with her."

Albert's eyes lit up immediately, and he exclaimed with delight, "Your Majesty Keosius, I knew it! It was just a small misunderstanding. Ultimately, it's all that damned madwoman's fault. I'll contact Bael Bayer for you right away!"

The devils' joy was palpable. As embodiments of an evil order, their lifelong goal was to rise in rank, and Albert was merely a high-ranking devil.

If he could help his master find such a powerful ally capable of Contend Against Zariel, his status would undoubtedly rise even higher.

As if he had thought of something, the devil's eyes darted around, and he said in a pleading tone, "Your Majesty, could you please let me out first?"

"This noble body of the Chimera King, flowing with dragon blood, is something I, a lowly demon, am utterly unworthy of."

Keosius laughed and said, "Heh heh, I always believe in dealing with things one by one, and that your crimes of trespassing on the Empire and inducing your people to defect have not yet been atoned for."

The Chimera lost one of his personalities, and making you the 'wisdom' of the Chimera for the next few hundred years is a good way to atone for that.

Albert was filled with despair and regretted entering the Embers of the Burned Empire, but he still held a sliver of hope. Although he could not Contend Against against the emperor, controlling this stupid Chimera was not difficult in the eyes of the devil.

But Keosius narrowed his eyes and continued, "Furthermore, as long as you are in this body, your soul's life or death is in my hands. You should think it over carefully."

"Your Majesty Keosius, but..."

"Devil, there are no 'buts'. This is what you deserve. Keep contacting Bael for me."

At the Red Dragon's signal, the Chimera relinquished control of its body, but the demon who had taken over the body it had longed for was not happy. Instead, under Keosius's scrutiny, it carefully drew a magic circle.

Soon, a complex array based on a six-pointed star appeared on the floor, exuding an evil and twisted aura. On it were placed strange sacrificial offerings such as mermaid oil candles, soul coins, Hellstone Egg, and skulls.

The candles were lit, and the ritual to summon the demon began.

Suddenly, a series of piercing shrieks rang out, echoing throughout the palace—the wails and cries of countless sinful souls.

"Sinful souls will ultimately fall into Hell— "

"He is the Lord of Avernus, the nightmare of mortals, the flame that extinguishes hope—"

But Keosius simply snapped his fingers, and the surrounding environment fell silent; the grand, operatic sound vanished.

"It's a bit noisy," Red Dragon said.

Immediately afterwards, the Six-Pointed Star Array suddenly lit up, countless Mars shot into the sky, Hellfire raged, and countless tongues of fire raged out, forming a ferocious and enormous demonic figure.

But the moment the demonic figure saw the Red Dragon, all the flames and black mist vanished, transforming into a handsome young man with black hair and dressed in fine clothes.

He looked elegant, like a well-educated nobleman, but his dark pupils betrayed his identity—a devil, and a former Hell Lord, the great devil who stood at the top of the Nine Hells, Bael.

However, this appearance is not unusual. Among the many great demons in the Nine Hells, Bael is not known for his fighting prowess, but rather for his cunning betrayal, treachery, and ambush tactics, always managing to be one step ahead of his opponents.

Bael bowed slightly and said, "I thought someone was summoning me, but it's you."

He gave a rather amiable smile, and his voice was deep and attractive. "I have long admired your name. I am truly sorry for my rudeness, Your Majesty, Lord of the the North, Emperor Embers of the Burned Emperor. Those were just tricks to frighten mortals."

But Keosius sensed an extremely terrifying aura from Hell from the "entrance ceremony" just now. It was not unintentional, but a deliberate display of strength.

You know my name?

Bael replied with a smile, "Of course, your reputation in Hell is also quite illustrious. Last time, Her Dragon Queen Your Majesty was furious."

Bael seemed pleased to see his ally, who occupied territory in Avernus, suffer a setback.

Facing this being who could barely be considered to be of the same level, Keosius stood up, slightly spread his wings, and nodded in greeting. "Good day, Lord Bael, Hell Lord."

Bael said, "It's a pity that I was once the Lord of Avernus. Now I am just a fallen nobleman."

But Keosius gazed at the devil and smiled at him. "Bael Byr, I believe you will replace Zariel and reclaim the position of Lord of Avernus."

"As long as you cooperate with me and become a friend of the Embers of the Burned Empire."