Angels, Devils, and Demons

Demons are masters of indulgence. Even the most extravagant kings on earth cannot compare. And the tavern that Li Lin and his companions have entered is no exception. Unlike the Prime Material Plane, there are no drunken thugs causing them trouble, nor will they drink watered-down wine. The food here is always clean and delicious—perhaps even sweeter, considering the possibility of poison seeping into it.

"I need the blood of a virgin, 500 milliliters. Remember, she must be between 10 and 16 years old, untouched by any man, and must be quite beautiful..." Angela didn't even glance at the menu in front of her, adorned with jewels, silver thread, and a gilded cover, but instead ordered directly. She watched Gabriel's increasingly grim expression as he heard her request. "... Blood must be drawn using silver utensils, kept at room temperature. I have no desire to taste the disgusting flavors of you devils. Of course, an angel would be even better."

The last sentence is a very obvious provocation.

"Snort!"

Facing Angela's smug gaze, Gabriel snorted coldly and turned his head away. But what he saw was the succubuses below the railing, posing and dancing with their snow-white buttocks swaying. So Gabriel could only turn back and look out the window at the blood-red sky. However, after seeing the demons flying by from time to time, the archangel simply closed his eyes completely, choosing to ignore it.

In the end, Angela got what she wanted. After all, demons were always adept at tempting mortals, and they could easily satisfy Angela's demanding requests. Li Lin ordered a glass of iced water to soothe his throat, which was a little sore from the dry air of the Nine Levels of Hell. Anna remained silent beside him, taking small bites of the fruit from the Upper Planes on the plate in front of her. Even in this filthy Hell, they still retained a certain degree of freshness and cleanliness. Of course, Gabriel swore he didn't want to know how these fruits, which could only be cultivated and grown in a kind world, had been sold to this damned place.

Long, magically enhanced curtains shielded him from the outside heat, and a relaxing fragrance permeated the luxurious, comfortable jeweled leather chair. Li Lin closed his eyes, carefully considering the current situation and the various counterattacks the God of Justice might launch. Although he was still no match for him in terms of skill and power, this didn't mean he could achieve true victory—annihilating the enemy's army was merely a means to an end, not the end result. No matter how many times Li Lin destroyed or banished the God of Justice, as long as he couldn't completely eliminate him from the world, the war would continue. Moreover, frankly speaking, if the Goddess of Theft failed, Li Lin would have to consider using even more dangerous methods to achieve his goals.

A heavy horn sounded throughout the fortress, and with that sound, the lives of the demons immediately changed. Although Li Lin couldn't see the demons outside, fully armed and wielding whips and weapons to drive their slaves, mercenaries, and lower-ranking demons forward, what happened inside the tavern was enough for him to realize the problem. Several demons who were enjoying themselves with lustful demons had to stand up and reluctantly leave the tavern. Most of the others who had originally planned to continue indulging in their pleasures also left. Considering that many of them were high-ranking demons, this was very likely a harbinger of another Blood War.

Li Lin gently shook the bell beside him, and soon a demon came to their table. It bowed humbly, carefully maintaining a safe distance from the guests—especially the one with white wings.

"Is there anything I can help you with, esteemed guest?"

What happened?

Li Lin opened his eyes and stared at the devil before him, which startled the devil. He noticed a terrifying flame burning in the mage's dark eyes, and he couldn't even look away, searching for a way or excuse to escape danger. Although he was in the safest tavern, the poor fellow now realized that the danger he faced might not be much better than facing a drunken devil.

"Oh, distinguished guest. This is a signal that the Blood War is about to begin. Those damned demons always attack us at the drop of a hat, but we always defeat them utterly..."

"A battle against a demon?"

Li Lin thought about it carefully for a moment, then continued to ask.

"Where is the battlefield? It's been a long time since I've witnessed the mighty figures of demons in battle... Perhaps this will be a good opportunity."

"This..."

Upon hearing this, the little devil was immediately speechless. Normally, it could have used its nimble tongue to incite these seemingly powerful adventurers to join its demon army, thus gaining a considerable reward and perhaps even a promotion. However, the little devil remained silent, as the dazzling white wings continued to flutter before it. Clearly, the little devil deemed this an inopportune moment to speak. But the magical flames burning in Li Lin's eyes left the poor devil with no other choice.

"They are heading towards Glory Fort, esteemed guest. We've heard that the chaotic demons are gathering into a large army to launch an attack, so we demons naturally cannot afford to be complacent either."

Upon hearing this, Gabriel immediately opened her eyes. She stood up, and in her surprise and anger, holy flames suddenly erupted in all directions. The little devil quickly retreated several steps, staring at the angel before him with fear and unease, beginning to regret his careless words. However, Li Lin made a gesture, which allowed the archangel to calm down somewhat, making her understand that she was still in the devil's territory, and therefore had to abide by the devil's rules.

"Thank you for the good news."

Li Lin took out a handkerchief to wipe the corner of his mouth, then stood up.

"The food was very good, I liked it very much."

With that, he turned and walked out, Gabriel hurriedly following him, while Angela stared at the trembling demon with a sinister smile. He then finished the last drop of blood in his cup, rose, and left. Only Anna remained seated, holding a piece of fruit in her hands, taking small bites. When the demon hesitated and looked up again, trying to remind the young lady that her companion had left, Anna was no longer in her seat.

"We must get to Glory Fort immediately, sir Arcane Mage."

Gabriel rushed over to Li Lin's side, switching places with Anna who was originally supposed to be there. Now, the little girl took Gabriel's place and followed behind Li Lin, reaching out to tightly grasp Li Lin's mage robe as they slowly moved forward.

Why are you in such a hurry?

Angela, on the other side, clearly disagreed.

"According to you, that chicken farm has been here for many years, so these kinds of attacks are nothing new to them. Why are you so nervous? Are you some kind of jinx, causing them to face a life-or-death crisis the moment you arrive?"

"That's not what I meant at all."

Gabriel frowned; she had long understood that trying to persuade Angela logically would not work.

"However, we can help them reduce some of their casualties here..."

"What's the point of this?"

Angela pursed her lips.

"If they were weaklings who could be killed by demons, I wouldn't care. In my opinion, these demons are the best filter. Only those hens that can persevere and survive under this level of attack are worthy of being tamed by their master. Otherwise, what use would I have for a bunch of useless people? To run a brothel in Heaven? So, how many shares do you plan to buy?"

"You...!"

Gabriel decisively gave up on continuing to argue with Angela on this matter and instead turned his attention to Li Lin.

"Arcane Mage, I..."

"I know, that's why we're walking here right now."

Li Lin calmly pointed to the ground before them, and to the faint silhouettes of the demon army they could see in their line of sight. They resembled a writhing horizon, forming a thick, dark line lingering in the distance. In fact, approaching them revealed tens of thousands of demons advancing, exhaling an evil aura and emitting an unbearable stench. Driven by the whips of other, higher-ranking demons, they raced forward at top speed. Even so, their ranks remained perfectly orderly; this was the unparalleled power of order at work.

"But we should get there faster..."

"Even if we get there before the devil, what good will it do?"

Li Lin's question left Gabriel speechless.

"Don't forget, Miss Gabriel, you are no longer an angel who worships the God of Justice. Although your power still comes from kindness and justice, you are fundamentally different from those angels now. You don't need to draw power from the gods like they do. So, how can you guarantee that they will listen to your explanations?"

As he spoke, Li Lin raised his head and looked at the bright red sky in front of him.

"I can guarantee that if you show up there now, you'll most likely end up fighting those angels. Maybe you won't, but what difference does it make? If our intelligence is accurate, you'll still face attacks from demons and devils. Even so, are you still planning to go?"

"Of course, Arcane Mage."

Gabriel stopped in her tracks, meeting Li Lin's gaze directly without flinching.

"Indeed, they might be deceived by that evil god, turning their weapons against me instead of friendship. But that cannot be a reason for me not to go there to rescue them. I am an angel; my very existence is to sacrifice myself, to protect goodness and justice. I believe in them. They were once my sisters, my companions. We faced all kinds of evil and death together. But now, although they may not necessarily be on my side, I believe that my yearning for goodness and justice remains unchanged."

"Since you put it that way..."

Hearing this, Li Lin shrugged.

"Then I can escort you there. However, I hope you will take good care of yourself, Miss Gabriel. It is certainly important to uphold kindness and justice, but do not forget that once you die, the kindness and justice you uphold will cease to exist."

Thank you for your advice.

Gabriel nodded slightly in thanks.

Soon, with the emergence of magical power, her figure began to blur. The powerful magic penetrated the constraints of space and distance, taking everything away from her. When Li Lin lowered his hand, the angel was no longer there.

"Without a doubt."

Angela stared coldly at the empty ground.

"When we get there, we'll surely see her hanged corpse. This time, I'll definitely turn her into a zombie, and then I'll come back and laugh at her stupidity!"

"My angel sister... is gone... Father...?"

Anna peeked out from behind Li Lin, looking at her father and waiting for his answer.

"Let's continue our walk."

As for this, Li Lin doesn't seem to have made any other decisions.

"Even for us, facing an attack from thousands upon thousands of demons and monsters would be unwise. We should just stay behind them and wait for the messengers of God to destroy them... They know far more about this than I do."

When Gabriel awoke from the dizziness of the teleportation spell, the imposing silhouette of Glory Fort reappeared before her eyes. But the archangel quickly noticed something else: the crimson sky trembled behind her. Though the vast horizon was empty, the emanating evil aura grew ever closer. In the unseen distance, a terrifying army of demons was gathering and advancing. Without further hesitation, the archangel transformed into a beam of white light and charged towards Glory Fort.

The pure, holy light was dazzling against the dark sky filled with evil and blood. In fact, the angels guarding Glory Fort had already spotted the light and drawn their longbows, ready to annihilate any enemy before them. However, the holy aura emanating from the light made them hesitate. The angels never believed they could endure this evil Hell alone for long, and in fact, they never did. So, when they saw a lone angel approaching, they widened their eyes in astonishment.

But when the angels discovered the true identity of this figure, the shock they felt was even more intense.

"Gabriel?"

Appearing before the angels was Gabriel, holding a gleaming spear, her two pure white wings radiating intense spiritual light, her pristine white robes shielding her from the filth. At this moment, the archangel seemed unchanged—or rather, she had become even more holy.

However, the angels did not immediately lay down their weapons, for they had learned from their God that their beloved archangel had lost divine favor and would suffer eternal punishment. Yet, she did not appear to have fallen into depravity or evil; on the contrary, even as arrows pointed at her own people, she stood tall and proud, displaying her unique grace.

"Gabriel."

Soon, an angel pushed through the crowd and walked up to her. She carried a long sword that was burning with flames and quietly gazed at the angel who had once been her superior.

"What's going on? How did you get here? If I remember correctly, because of the mistakes you made in the Prime Material Plane, the great gods should have stripped you of your divine power."

"That's true."

Gabriel gazed quietly at the angel before him and nodded slightly.

"I understand your confusion and your questions, but now is not the time to discuss these. I just received intelligence that those chaotic and evil demons are planning an attack on you, and those clever and cunning devils are already prepared to seize the opportunity to intervene. I think..." Gabriel glanced around. The holy halo that should have enveloped Glory Fort was now much dimmer. Whether it was due to the influence of Li Lin's defeat of the God of Justice, or the demons' relentless deaths finally fulfilling their purpose, the holy power here was extremely weak. The forcibly distorted environment was gradually returning to normal under the influence of the characteristics of the Lower Planes —returning to the embrace of evil and death. Clearly, the holy power was so fragile that it might completely fail after just one more attack, and the demons were obviously planning to do just that. Although Gabriel didn't know what had happened here since he left, it seemed that the reality was not as optimistic as he had initially thought.

"Perhaps that's the reason."

"Lord Gabriel, who exactly are you...?"

The angels didn't have time to finish their sentence, because at that moment, a series of chaotic roars rang out. When the angels turned their heads, they saw a ferocious and turbid tide spreading from the horizon.

The demons launched their attack.