Chapter 203:Sinmosa and Sasani (1/2)

Regardless of how things were in Abaddon, our situation right now wasn’t going to change one bit. For now, the best thing I could do was to find a way to enter Abaddon as soon as possible…lest I spent several hundred years wandering around here…the lifespan of a devil made such a wait technically possible but still, a few hundred years would be…unbearable.

Having said that, I ended up spending the next half an hour or so loafing around before the hellhound family finally came out of the cave. Leading the pack was Mama Hellhound who looked noticeably livelier now. The hideous gash on her belly was gone and her body was practically brimming with mana. Looking at her, one wouldn’t have thought that she was a dying hellhound just moments ago.

“Words cannot describe the kindness you’ve shown us today, my savior.” Mama Hellhound stood before me with her family and then, prostrated herself along with family.

Being a little puppy, the baby hellhound didn’t take too well to the uncomfortable posture but just as it tried to stand up, Papa Hellhound forced it down once more with a pat of his giant paws.

‘I guess I can’t really blame the kid for that, after all who enjoyed kneeling, barring those who were craven.’

“There’s no need for that at all, please, just stand up first. I have my own motives as well for helping you.” I rushed towards them and tried to get them to stand up with my hands. “Truth be told, we just came from the Prison of the Dead. We intended to teleport to Abaddon but we had a little accident mid way and ended up here. A while ago, we helped some fire elementals and they pointed us in this direction. That’s how we came to be here…”

I briefly retold our story to Mama Hellhound who first expressed shock and then understanding.

“No wonder…actually, it has been over 80 000 years since we last had a devil appear here. Had it not been for our inherited memories, I’m afraid we might not have recognized you at all…”

‘80 000 years since the last devil? Then what was Arca talking about when he pointed us eastwards? Ah, perhaps in his eyes, hellhounds and Purgatory Warhorses were all different types of devils.’

Strictly speaking, they were all devils of the category, fiendish creatures, otherwise known as devil life forms. From a traditional perspective however, they weren’t devils. To most humans, devils were considered humanoids who evolved from the imp evolutionary tree.

In reality, devils weren’t only the races blessed by the seven original sins. The seven clans built around the sins were merely the most well-known devils; there were still other comparatively weaker devil clans such as the Ice Devils living in Gehenna, or the Wendigos who were once humans but became devils due to their cannibalistic acts. Essentially, there were a huge variety of devil types that weren’t known to humans.

“Can you tell me what happened 80 000 years ago, I’m rather curious about that.” I had a ton of questions I want answered but like all things, they had to be done in order. “According to legends, this land was once a prosperous territory ruled by a Devil King. That Devil King suddenly disappeared, resulting in the land’s eventual decline. I heard all the subordinates of that Devil King disappeared soon after as well. Was all that…true?”

“They are, even though I wasn’t there to witness it personally, but my inherited memories clearly held a record of such an event. The details aren’t known but such an inexplicable event did in fact happen and the kingdom fell apart as a result. The kingdom was known as the Demonic Kingdom of Sable Radiance and was overwhelmingly powerful in its heyday. However, ever since its Devil King vanished, the entire territory has remained sealed up by some mysterious power that bars anyone from entering or leaving…”

‘Kingdom? Demonic kingdom? So the devils actually created a kingdom and even had a king?”

“What was the Devil King’s level?” Devil King, words you would normally find in a novel, and words you normally used to describe a powerful being. Such figures were often slain by heroes in those novels but that didn’t mean they were weak at all. Just the opposite, they were terrifyingly powerful, it was just that the main character halo of those heroes were just that overwhelming. It was for that reason that the words ‘Devil King’ immediately perked my interest.

Mama Hellhound pondered for a moment before finally giving an answer: “Devil King…Devil Kings belonged to the realm of demigods…those above the level of Seven-stars were known as Lords, next came the Nine-stars Overlords, and finally the Ten-stars Devil King…”

Just from the terms alone, I could tell how massive the difference between each power level was. As the name suggested, Eight-star Lords were basically commanders while the Nine-stars were the rulers of a territory. As for Devil Kings…they weren’t even mortals anymore.

According to the ranking system of the humans, Devil Overlords were of the same level as a Sword Saint or a Hierophant.

One thing had to be made clear however, reaching Nine-stars gave one the ability to become an Overlord of a territory but it did not automatically grant them the title. Stil, it was basically impossible for anyone to become an Overlord without that level of power in Purgatory. Naturally, that didn’t mean that there weren’t Devil Overlords who were below the level of Nine-stars. While these exceptions were still known as Devil Overlords, that title meant a lot less when used on them.

With regards to the history of Sable Radiance, Arca and Mama Hellhound both didn’t have too much information on that subject. Thus, I was unable to uncover the truth behind the Devil King’s sudden disappearance as well.

In conclusion, the lands of Sable Radiance were now forbidden grounds that barred thoroughfare completely.

Throughout all that, I also learnt the names of Mama Hellhound and Papa Hellhound; they were Sinmosa and Sasani respectively. As for the little puppy, it was nameless for the time being.