Just as Li Wei fell into a brief slumber, Levistus, lord of the Fifth Hell, was beaten in succession after Mammon, Belial, and Fierna. The entirety of Barto Hell seemed to plunge into an inexplicable atmosphere of revelry.
Avernus was the most feverish of all. Betting pools had even quietly sprung up in many districts, wagering on whether this newly arrived Archduke of Avernus would keep knocking on doors and toppling the remaining lords of Hell one by one.
How many layers could he fight his way through?
How long would it take?
And by what methods—the possibilities were endless.
Whether that Archduke's claim that he would punch through the Bottomless Abyss was just hot air, they did not know.
But judging by the situation, Barto Hell looked as though it was about to be "punched through" first.
In the eyes of most who came to Hell, or devils who lived there, most of Hell was instead like the silent River Styx, slowly running according to its rules. Though schemes and upheavals arose one after another, they were mostly like undercurrents and whirlpools beneath the riverbed, difficult to see in any direct way.
The lives of most devils tended toward oppression.
If the Blue Star Li Wei had once lived on was in an age of ruthless competition, then Coriel's Barto Hell was a true "hell" where overachievers and the kings of overachievers competed against one another.
Ever-rising battle merit quotas, an eternal shortage of souls, and devil superiors who could never be satisfied—these were like three great mountains pressing down upon every devil's shoulders.
In Barto Hell, it would not cause the slightest ripple if the lowest-ranking Soul Shells and lesser devils worked 007 shifts until they dropped dead from overwork. On the contrary, if some lord proposed a