Bel

Amidst the fierce, turbulent storm, the devils shivered, not daring even to breathe loudly; all of them knew Bel had been in a foul temper lately. Cassius, however, remained calm and composed, remarking nonchalantly, "What is this, Lord Bel? Is this how you welcome an ally? Or is this unique hospitality typical of Avernus?" "Of course, Your... Majesty Cassius. You have grown even more formidable." Trembling with suppressed rage, Bel forced down his fury, nodded stiffly, and offered insincere pleasantries. At this moment, Bel felt as though he had swallowed a thousand flies. The Hell Lord knew that although this greedy red dragon had brazenly seized a portion of his authority, he still had to rely on the dragon's aid in this Blood War—which was surely why the red dragon was acting so brazenly uninhibited. Cassius was well aware of this as well. He held leverage over Bel, bound by the infernal contract; no matter how furious Bel became, he could not openly turn against him. With a dark expression, Bel extended a massive, grotesque claw in an inviting gesture. "Please follow me, Your Majesty Cassius. This place is still part of the Blood War's combat zone—it is far too noisy, and we risk having our intelligence intercepted. Let us speak in detail inside the palace." "Very well." Faint light shimmered across Cassius's body, and within moments he transformed into a tall, armored half-dragon, following Bel toward the inner ring of the Bronze Citadel. Inside the palace, magma flowed freely, and pungent white smoke choked the air. At the center stood a throne forged from demon skulls and broken blades. This palace had originally been built by Bel, only to be seized by Zariel during the previous coup in Avernus. Now, after centuries of twists and turns, it was once again in his grasp. Bel seated himself upon the infernal throne, clasping his hands together, his face clouded with gloom as he glared at the humanoid red dragon. Cassius maintained his unruffled demeanor. With a wave of his hand, a seat formed of solidified lava rose to match the height of Bel's throne. He sat down cleanly, meeting Bel's gaze. Acrid smoke drifted between them; the air grew stagnant once more. Bel was the first to break the silence, speaking in a low voice: "Your Majesty Cassius, forgive my bluntness... but you have breached our contract." Cassius pointed a finger toward the ground. "That contract was signed under the witness of the River Styx. If I had truly violated its terms as you claim, the will of the Styx would have dragged my soul away long ago. So why... has there been no reaction?" He chuckled and continued, "Furthermore, Lord Bel, I fail to see what you are getting at." "Stop playing dumb, Cassius!" Hellfire flared in Bel's eyes. He slammed an armrest of his throne, issuing a furious growl. "The authority over Avernus! Where is the authority left behind by that wretched bitch Zariel? I can feel that power—it must be in your hands!" Only then did Cassius clap his hands together, wearing an expression of sudden realization. "Ah, so that is what you meant." Bel's tone turned chillingly cold. "Cassius, return the rest of Avernus's authority to me, and our cooperation may continue." "Naturally, I am willing to cooperate with you, but..." Cassius shook his head, fixing Bel with a cold sneer. "That is my spoil of war. What reason could you possibly have to demand I surrender it?" Furious and exasperated, Bel's voice turned hoarse: "The contract, of course! You promised me that you would do everything in your power to help me become the Lord of Avernus! But now, I do not even possess the complete authority! How can I be the true ruler of this realm?" Under Bel's fury, magma churned and subterranean fire spewed forth. A suffocating pressure rolled out, making the entire Bronze Citadel seem to tremble. "That was not in our contract." Cassius's eyes were aloof as he replied casually, "What I wrote was that I would assist you to the best of my ability in slaying Zariel. I never said... that I would grant you the full authority of Avernus." "You are more like a devil than I am," Bel ground out between clenched teeth, squeezing the words from his throat. "Thank you for the compliment." Bel glared sullenly at Cassius, thoroughly infuriated and his mind racing, yet he was helpless against him. The dragon had not breached the contract, nor was Bel certain he could defeat him in battle. How was he supposed to reclaim what rightfully belonged to him? Back then, Cassius had already contacted multiple Lords of Hell, while Bel was merely a duke lurking in a forgotten corner of Avernus. With the fleeting opportunity before him, he had lacked the leverage to dictate terms and was forced to passively accept the treaty drafted by the empire. Bel had assumed that once Zariel was dead, taking the position of Lord of Avernus would be guaranteed given his strength and foundation. Yet he had never imagined that in her dying moments, Zariel had played one final hand, bequeathing thirty percent of Avernus's authority to the Cinder Emperor. Wait... there was another way. Within Hell, there existed a being even greedier, stingier, and vastly more powerful than this red dragon. Asmodeus, the Lord of the Nine Hells. Toward the supreme ruler who had once cast him down from his seat as Lord of Avernus, Bel harbored no small amount of resentment, yet the ember of that grievance was thoroughly quelled by an overpowering dread. That entity was simply too ancient, too enigmatic. Though eras had shifted and gods had fallen, Asmodeus remained firmly entrenched as the Lord of the Nine Hells, unshakeable and unchallenged. Even the mighty Mephistopheles, Lord of the Seventh, dared not challenge him openly, able only to covet that supreme seat from the shadows. At this thought, Bel broke into a vicious grin and threatened in a low voice, "Everything in Hell belongs to the Lord of the Nine Hells. Surely you understand this truth, Cassius. As a creature of the Material Plane, you have usurped infernal authority—are you not afraid of incurring His punishment? Return the authority to me. What should not belong to you will never be yours." Cassius smiled as if he had anticipated this all along, wearing a distinctly playful grin. "Indeed, everything in Hell belongs to the great Lord of the Nine Hells. Ah, I nearly forgot to tell you—not long ago, Lord Asmodeus traveled to the Material Plane to meet with me. Our conversation went splendidly, and we even struck an... unexpected deal." Cassius placed deliberate emphasis on the word "deal," as if worried Bel might miss the implication. "What?" Bel's expression shifted drastically. Brow furrowed, he leaned forward. In a flash, Bel understood. The Lord of the Nine Hells did not trust him and questioned his loyalty, seeking to balance him through Cassius's involvement! The very stone he had lifted to crush his foe had ended up crushing his own foot! Looking at the devil, Cassius added, "Lord Bel, as your ally, I would be delighted to govern Hell together with you—and Lord Asmodeus is more than happy to see it happen. Rest assured, as long as I am here, you will be able to wield the full authority of Hell, no different from the true Lord of Avernus." Bel's fists clenched tightly, veins bulging along his forearms. He laughed out of sheer fury: "Fine! Splendid, Cassius! I truly cannot thank you enough. You are indeed an ally worthy of the name, scheming against me as well!" Cassius rose from the lava seat and said calmly, "Bel, rather than fretting over how to reclaim what was never yours in the first place, you would do better to think about how to win this Blood War. You were deposed last time precisely because you faltered in the Blood War. If the demons overrun Avernus... you won't even keep your title as Lord of Hell in name." "You—" Bel burned with uncontrollable wrath, but he knew Cassius was right. If Avernus fell, he could never endure the punishment of the Lord of the Nine Hells. Thus, Bel had no choice but to swallow his teeth and his anger. Cassius smiled and said, "Bel, have you still not realized? As your ally, I am sharing your burdens! While I may temporarily hold authority over Avernus, I am not a native of Hell. I pose no threat to your position, and I can even help amplify your strength. This is clearly a win-win." Between his Silver Tongue ability and his staggering Charisma score of 40, even Bel was subtly swayed. Indeed, though this rapacious red dragon held a portion of Avernus's authority, he could never become a Lord of Hell—because he was an outsider. Unlike the chaotic Abyss crawling with evil deities, under the command of the Lord of the Nine Hells, deities who resided in Baator—such as Tiamat—could never obtain Hell's true authority or ascend to the throne of the Nine Hells. Yet Bel's heart was still brimming with hatred. He had plotted for centuries only to fail to secure the complete authority; his frustration was readily imaginable. Sharing his burden? What nonsense! This was nothing more than insatiable dragon greed! *Boom!* "Hold the line!" "Slaughter them all! For the great Abyssal Mother!" Outside the Bronze Citadel, the shrieks and howls of demons mingled with the war cries of devils into a deafening cacophony. The battle was escalating rapidly. Relying on advanced siege defenses, strict discipline, and home advantage, the devils had established over a dozen defensive lines outside the citadel. Under the adept command of their officers, the infernal soldiers shifted back and forth in near-perfect coordination, practically butchering the demons. A deluge of arrows and fireballs rained down in volley after volley. Devils bearing infernal iron spears formed an unbroken, wall-like phalanx, driving back the disordered demons and leaving mountains of corpses in their wake. In a matter of minutes, tens of thousands of demons perished, their carcasses igniting and releasing billows of foul-smelling black smoke. Compared to the demons, the infernal legions behaved like a true military force. They were born artists of war, whereas the demons facing them were at best a mob of rabid beasts. Unfortunately, when facing demons outnumbering them by dozens or hundreds to one, even the finest infernal legion felt stretched to its limits, swiftly submerged by the demonic tide. Once dragged into a chaotic melee, the devils lost their tactical edge entirely, left to be devoured by demons like crops swarmed by locusts. Cassius even witnessed a pit fiend besieged by thousands of demons and ultimately torn to shreds. Before long, the outermost defensive line was breached. The devils deployed nearly all their reserves, using every means at their disposal and risking their lives to defend the Bronze Citadel. This was not because the devils were fiercely loyal to Bel and eager to die for him; it was simply because they knew that if the demons overran Avernus, none of them would survive. "The situation on the battlefield is growing dire. Avernus hangs by a thread..." Cassius turned and looked toward the distance, remarking placidly, "Bel, tell me about the current situation. We remain steadfast allies, and the Abyss is our shared enemy. At this juncture, we must set aside our differences and join forces to face them." Bel scoffed at the notion of "steadfast allies," but recognizing the urgency of repelling the demonic invasion, he could only say in a grim voice, "This Blood War offensive was launched jointly by three ambitious demon lords: Kostchtchie, the Wrath Lord; Mastiphal, the Sovereign of the Hunt; and Ishinix, the Blackwater Lord. As far as I know, these three demon lords have rallied nearly twenty million demons, pouring madly into Hell with the intent of razing my Avernus to the ground." Bel placed heavy emphasis on "my." Cassius's attention was elsewhere, however. Frowning, he asked, "Twenty million?" Even now, including newly conquered territories, the total population of the Cinder Empire barely reached thirty million—yet these demon lords could field an army of twenty million! Bel sneered. "Thanks to you, Cassius, I was unable to close the abyssal portals the moment they were discovered. Of course their numbers are vast. Still, throughout the endless ages of the Blood War, invasions of this scale have happened hundreds if not thousands of times. It is hardly unusual. Abyssal demons are like grains of sand in a desert—inexhaustible. Were it not for the chaos power required to transport them into Hell, those demon lords would probably have brought over a billion demons and drowned all of Avernus beneath a demonic tide." Remembering the three million demons that had invaded the Cinder Empire, Cassius understood. He then asked, "And what are the backgrounds of these three demon lords?" Bel replied, "Kostchtchie, the Wrath Lord, rules the twenty-third layer, the Iron Wastes. He is the most powerful among the three, hailing himself as the Frost Giant King. Possessing the legacy of the giant pantheon, he is a quasi-deity-tier existence. As for Mastiphal and Ishinix, I do not know where their domains lie. The Abyss is infinite, after all; even the Lord of the Nine Hells cannot know every layer." There were only nine Lords of Hell, and almost every one of them was a powerhouse who had risen through cutthroat competition and countless machinations. Demon lords, on the other hand, numbered in the hundreds or even thousands. While they too rose through brutal slaughter, every layer of the Abyss differed, and their strength varied wildly. Mighty demon lords like Demogorgon and Orcus rivaled the gods, whereas the weakest could even be slain by mortals. "Frost giants are old adversaries of mine," Cassius said, meeting Bel's eyes. "I will help you hold off Kostchtchie. The other two lesser-known demon lords I leave to you. In addition, I will bring an army of at least three million Starfallen to Hell, most of them classed individuals. However... I have one condition." Bel's face darkened. Staring coldly back at Cassius, he spat, "Heh. Dragon greed truly knows no bounds. Speak, then. What else do you want?" Smiling, Cassius pointed toward an infernal map mounted on the wall. "A colony... or more precisely, a concession. The empire requires a leased territory in Avernus with administrative autonomy, extraterritoriality, and unrestricted teleportation rights. Otherwise, we cannot transport such a massive army into Hell." "Very well. I hope that this time... you are true to your word." Looking out at the demonic legion swarming over the horizon, Bel ground his teeth even harder.