Breaking Heads

Tiamat and Zariel were truly breaking heads. In the most literal sense of the phrase. Upon learning of that staggering discrepancy, Tiamat lost control completely and revealed Her true form: the five-headed chromatic dragon. All five heads snapped viciously at Zariel, and raging flames filled the entire realm in an instant. In terms of divine rank, Tiamat was merely a lesser deity, but the body of this five-headed dragon was so formidable that devouring lesser gods in a single bite was Her true measure of strength. Flustered, Zariel parried frantically with her flaming sword, barely fending off Tiamat's lethal onslaught. A momentary lapse in defense allowed Tiamat to tear off half of one of her fiery wings. The agonizing pain drove Zariel into a frenzy as well. "Damn you! Tiamat, do you really think I can't beat you?!" Zariel roared, and the entire palace was pulverized by towering flames, accompanied by the bellowing of countless devils. Portals ripped open around Zariel one after another as the elite forces she had spent centuries cultivating emerged, roaring back at the five-headed dragon. Tiamat showed no signs of stopping. All five dragon heads roared together, summoning a swarm of red dragons that eclipsed the sky! The red dragons of the Githyanki were utterly insignificant compared to the army assembled here. The two armies collided in midair like two crashing tsunamis, instantly splashing up countless "waves"—waves of blood, sulfur, and magma, churning wildly at every moment, claiming countless mighty lives with every passing second. Had Mammon not shielded the magic mirror at the critical juncture, the fragile mirror would have been smashed in the shockwaves of the very first clash. Both Zariel and Tiamat had grown immensely, locked in a brutal clash like a hero and a monster battling atop giant waves, fighting until the sky dimmed and the earth darkened. The entire first layer of Hell shook. A single breath from Tiamat could stretch for hundreds of miles, carving a river of lava across the land. Zariel's sword cleaved through space, leaving brilliant, smokelike trails across the sky—trails that refused to dissipate, hardening into scars across the firmament. Had such horrific power been unleashed in the Prime Material Plane, the world would have long since been destroyed by the clash of these two infernal lords. After fighting for who knew how long, until the carcasses of devils and dragons piled up into mountain ranges, Zariel let out a roar: "Tiamat! Don't push me! I am the master of the first layer of Hell!" At Zariel's call, the abstract concept of the plane manifested into form: billions of chains that bound Tiamat's massive body securely. This was the power of a planar lord. Though the first layer of Hell was not Zariel's divine realm, it was a plane granted to her stewardship by the Lord of the Nine Hells, allowing her to draw upon the power of the entire plane. Fighting this way, however, was rather dishonorable—akin to turning on cheats when one couldn't win. No matter how strong Tiamat was, She could not overcome the power of an entire layer of Hell. The chains tightened relentlessly, ensnaring all five of Her dragon heads. Yet Tiamat seemed driven mad, bellowing furiously at Zariel: "Zariel, you think the power of Hell will make me yield?! Kill me if you have the guts, or I will devour you whole!" The dragon thrashed violently, straining against the world-chains and causing the entire first layer of Hell to shake. Seeing how out of hand things were getting, Mammon realized that if this went on, the Lord of Hell would be awakened. That was Mammon's former father-in-law. Although Mammon had earned his recognition to become the master of the third layer of Hell, Mammon also deeply resented him. Had it not been for the Lord of Hell's meddling, why would he have been separated from his beloved Glasya, left with no choice but to turn to the pursuit of wealth? Yet resentment aside, Mammon understood full well the terror of the Lord of Hell. Under no circumstances could they allow him to appear, or all three of them would face punishment. Mammon flew straight into the battlefield, gripping Zariel's sword-wielding hand with one arm while pinning down the dragon head mid-breath with the other. "Stop, both of you!" Mammon said agitatedly. "You are devils! Devils value contracts above all else, and prize intellect most!" Though a miser, Mammon had real capability—otherwise, he wouldn't have been qualified to hold down the third layer of Hell. Subduing both Archdukes of Hell with either hand, Mammon shouted, "Tiamat, tampering with contracts is the most normal thing in the world for devils! Failing to notice it was your own incompetence, so what are you so angry about? Haven't you ever tricked mortals into signing unfair pacts?! "And you, Zariel! You've been a fallen angel for this long, yet you still throw a fit of rage after your forgery gets exposed? Do you have even a shred of dignity as an Archduke of Hell? When you lose, accept it—that is the true contractual spirit of devils! Do you two useless fools really want to wake the Lord of Hell? If you want to die, don't drag me down with you!" Once the title "Lord of Hell" passed Mammon's lips, both Zariel and Tiamat calmed down considerably. In name, Asmodeus was merely the master of the Ninth Layer of Hell, but in reality, He was the sovereign of all Hell. Asmodeus had partitioned His authority to let devils like Zariel rule their respective layers, but taking that power back would take no more than a single thought. Asmodeus was never one for mercy; if awakened, regardless of the reason, the three of them would certainly be dealt a harsh lesson. Zariel especially—back then, she would rather have died than surrendered, until Asmodeus personally intervened, causing her to fall and become a devil. The world-chains dissolved, restoring Tiamat's freedom, but She did not continue attacking Zariel, instead reverting to Her half-dragon form. Zariel also put away her flaming sword and folded her fiery wings, clenching her teeth without a word. Mammon breathed a sigh of relief. These two idiots had finally calmed down a bit. "All right, isn't this just a case of scheming and getting outschemed? Having spent so many years in Hell, haven't you seen enough of it? If your trick failed, just admit defeat. We all have eternal life; winning and losing isn't decided on a single day." Mammon truly looked down on outsiders like Tiamat and Zariel from the bottom of his heart. They were not devilish at all. Win or lose, one was supposed to maintain poise and grace. Risking one's life over every little thing—did they think they were demons from the Abyss? On the other side of the magic mirror, the Goddess of Wealth felt thoroughly refreshed watching the three infernal lords grit their teeth and drive down prices competing for a partnership slot right before Her eyes. To think that after remaining silent for so long, Her very first move would have three infernal lords breaking heads in rivalry. The Goddess of Wealth could even feel Her divine power surging upward, though She couldn't tell whether it was because the soul bank was drawing closer to reality or because the three infernal lords were bargaining with Her. In particular, even deities themselves might not fully understand everything concerning divine concepts. Rumor had it that the Lord of Knowledge once considered banning most frivolous apocryphal histories, only to discover that such books often sold far better than orthodox, rigorous histories, were far more popularly discussed, and forced knowledge into people's memories in a domineering, brazen fashion. Such was the limitation of conceptual deities. After all, they were not pure concepts devoid of self; they still had their own joys, sorrows, and tempers, and their judgment could be flawed. Therefore, even the most powerful conceptual deity could fall because of their own mistakes. Having been through so much, the Goddess of Wealth was now exceptionally cautious and humble. Even though the three infernal lords had literally bashed each other's heads in, the Goddess of Wealth still strove to keep Her cool, gradually driving the prices down further and further. Once calmed down, the devils agreed to the Goddess of Wealth's proposal and began gritting their teeth through the bidding. After a round of bargaining, Mammon ultimately succeeded in joining the soul bank project and was also willing to take part in the operation to force marriage on the Kuo-toa Goddess. Anbaixiu would only need to pay eight million soul coins as a hiring fee, which would in turn be invested into the soul bank's initial operations, granting Mammon a twenty percent stake. Tiamat's hiring fee was ten million soul coins, which She would likewise invest into the bank's operations, but for only a ten percent stake. Tiamat was dissatisfied. In Her eyes, after exposing Zariel's scheme, She should have pocketed at least forty million soul coins and held over sixty percent of the bank's shares. Unfortunately, the Goddess of Wealth would not give Her what She wanted. By now, the Kuo-toa Goddess had been schemed against to the point where She was nearly demoted to a lesser deity; they truly didn't strictly need Tiamat. If She wanted to be a mercenary, they wouldn't necessarily even give Her the chance. With Mammon stirring up the waters, Tiamat chose to lower Her equity share and keep the soul coins in hand, retaining six million soul coins for Herself while investing four million into the bank for Her stake. As for Zariel, her hiring fee was only six million. It was supposed to be eight million, but two million were taken out to compensate Tiamat. Regarding her share, Zariel also held only ten percent; the Goddess of Wealth would not permit her to invest all of her soul coins into the bank, so she likewise invested four million for a ten percent stake. Altogether, the three infernal lords accounted for forty percent with a total investment of sixteen million soul coins. The remaining shares of the bank were temporarily held by the "God of Alchemy," to be auctioned off again later. There were too many infernal lords, and the soul bank involved far too much; once officially open, countless infernal lords would fix their eyes on this piece of fat meat. Both Anbaixiu and the Goddess of Wealth knew in their hearts that their own share could not be too large. Ten percent was already the limit. Any more, and it wouldn't be hard for those infernal lords to band together, drive out the outsiders, and break off completely. They would simply swallow those tens or hundreds of millions in soul coins, and at worst revert to their backwards, feudal economic state—by any calculation, they wouldn't lose out. Thus, the soul bank was destined to be a project that looked impressive on paper but was not overly lucrative on its own. The real moneymaker remained Anbaixiu's money-printing capability. His soul coins would gradually replace the "real money" currently circulating in Hell, acting to some degree as bad money driving out good. When that time came, the true Lord of Hell might very well have something to say about it.