Child of Destiny

...

Atlas World, at the edge of the Aurora Continent.

Paimon was currently sitting leisurely inside the command tent while waiting for his efforts to bear fruit. He had already arranged everything in the Sacred Light Kingdom, and he was now waiting for it to yield some positive results.

Looking at the time, he felt that it was about time for them to harvest the field.

He then took out an orb from his inventory and placed it on the table in front of him. This orb was as big as a basketball while releasing a light that was full of life. There was also a white mist leaking out from it, seemingly releasing the residual energies that the orb could not contain.

Seeing the mist, Paimon took out a bunch of smaller orbs before placing them around the bigger one, arranging them to form an octagram star. It was at that moment when the invisible runes engraved on the table released an illuminating light before it was absorbed by the orbs.

Then the mist leaking out from the bigger orb at the center of the table spread out and got absorbed by the surrounding smaller orbs.

Looking at his work, Paimon nodded in satisfaction before leaning his back on the chair and crossing his arms. It seemed like he was waiting for something to happen.

Swoosh!

It was at that moment when the entrance of the door opened followed by the appearance of a man in mage clothes.

This person was Belial, one of the major leaders of the Pandemonium Descendants. He walked over to the table before sitting across from Paimon, who was leisurely waiting for something to happen.

"You seem pretty relaxed despite knowing that accidents can happen," said Belial while staring at the glowing orbs on the table.

Paimon smirked when he heard that before saying. "There is no need to be too concerned about the things that have yet to happen."

He then paused for a moment before casting his gaze at the biggest orb sitting at the center of the table. "We are only waiting for the extra benefits to happen, anyway. There is no need to be too invested in it."

"We have already accumulated enough life energy for opening the gate, but it will never hurt to get a little more, am I right? If this is successful, then we will be able to make the gate bigger faster and summon the 'Lord' much faster."

Belial shook his head before saying. "You are underestimating the 'variable' a little too much. They are called as such because they always yield unexpected results."

"Even Lucifer is not too optimistic about this. It is better to take this slowly by steadily," he added.

Paimon quickly refuted. "As I said, there is nothing to lose whether it succeeds or not."

Belial shrugged his shoulders when he heard that and did not pursue the subject. Instead, he changed it with another. "The 're-shuffling' seems to be coming up a little earlier than expected."

In their previous meeting, it was addressed that some matters in the organization needed to change.

Paimon smirked when he heard that. "There is no helping it since they are constantly making trouble due to their recent failures."

"The forces under Beelzebub and Mammon will have to change. They will return to their previous post and leave the other two seats empty. We must find suitable people to replace the seat of 'Sloth Devil' as soon as possible before the 'Lords' descended."

Belial nodded his head as he commented. "There are a lot of things that leaked from our side. One is our position that is discovered by Zero. Even though the other people don't know what it stands for, they will learn about it sooner or later, especially when Diablo is already getting closer to other 'variables.'"

"To think that Mammon will get his seat back. It is quite intriguing how he managed to get acknowledged by that 'Lord' once again."

Paimon smirked as he heard that before shaking his head. "I must say that Beelzebub has gotten lucky since right after being placed back to his original seat, the 'Lord' that he represents will be the first one to descend."

As they were discussing, the expression on Paimon slightly changed. He paused and raised his brows as he sensed something.

It took him quite a while to regain his composure before turning to Belial. "It seems like you are right. There are still some accidents that happened despite all the meticulous arrangements that I've made."

"Tsk! That idiot from the Corrupted Cult messes it up. All he needs to do is buy enough time, yet he still fails and even lets the Dragon Centipede run amok."

"Now it becomes the 'compass' that the other side will follow to find where I hid the core," he repeatedly shook his head as found it a pity. He felt that it was a huge waste since the purification ceremony was about to reach its peak.

"That means Amon has failed too," commented Belial as he remembered the other matter that they had to deal with.

"That is to be expected since Diablo's Demon Eyes have improved greatly. Even the leader is wary of such ability. He should have at least gathered enough data for us to analyze it," said Paimon smirkingly.

"So what is your plan?" asked Belial.

Paimon cast looked at the other side and said. "What's the point? Everything already crumbled, there is no longer any point in keeping that core. I will leave it to the Dragon Centipede and let it promote to the next level."

"Then it will destroy everything," he added with an evil grin.

"No wonder you insisted on getting the Corrupted Cult to get involved with this and chose Lodhir to be the 'head' of the operation. You are after the Dragon Centipede all along," said Belial.

Paimon took it as a compliment and shrugged his shoulder. "There is nothing I can do. I have to prepare backup plans after backup plans if I want to reap the most benefit that I can get."

"Unfortunately, I have gotten enough for the next step," he added as he felt that it was a waste not to get that energy core.

Belial shook his head. "You should have taken the seat of 'Greed Devil' instead of 'Mammon'. Your greed sure knows no boundaries."

"Let's forget about it and proceed to the next step," Paimon stood up and collected the orbs on the table. "Now that we can't get more life energy, we can settle with these for now."

"One 'Lord' is more than enough," said Belial as he also stood up. "We should inform the elders of the church now and ask them to prepare to welcome the 'Lord' and his army."

Paimon extended his arms and stretched his waist as he stood up. "I wonder how strong the Bug Tribe of the underworld is."

******

Sacred Light Kingdom

At the pit where Diablo had found the traces of the Dragon Centipede, Shin just arrived and met up with Diablo inside the cave.

When Shin saw the scene in front of him, he could not help but knit his brows deeply before commenting. "I feel that something bad is going to happen."

Seeing the crimson and black runes engraved on the walls and ceiling of the cave that were rhythmically releasing a pulsing and sanguine light, Shin sensed how dangerous to stay in this place.

He then directed his gaze at the center of the ceiling and saw the giant centipede curling and coiling around a huge core, covering it entirely and not letting any part of it be exposed.

There was also a black miasma being emitted from the massive body of the centipede. Shin could sense an immense threat coming from that miasma that seemed to be getting stronger with every passing second.

As Shin was observing the place, Diablo suddenly asked. "Where is your friend? I don't think that we will be enough to handle this overgrown bug."

Shin shrugged his shoulders as he answered. "He enjoyed playing with his playmates there a little too much, so he will be quite late."

Before Shin and Diablo could continue, Solus' voice suddenly sounded inside Shin's head.

[You must be careful when facing that thing, my liege.]

Raising his brows, Shin signaled Diablo to wait before talking to his Elemental Spirit Companion. "Do you know that overgrown thing?"

There was a brief silence before Solus continued.

[If I am not wrong, it is a descendant of the Bug Tribe, a powerful tribe from the underworld]

"The Bug Tribe?" repeated Shin in confusion.

Beside him, Diablo, who heard his words, trembled. He looked at Shin and wanted to say something before. But when he saw that Shin was seriously conversing with his Elemental Spirit Companion, he chose to remain silent for a moment and waited for them to finish.

[Yes, the Bug Tribe. Each member of the tribe is as powerful as the Mythical Creatures here in the lower plane, especially the Bug Queen and the Bug King. Those two are equivalent to Sovereign Beings of this realm]

[If I am not wrong, this centipede must be trying to evolve into its original bloodline. It is using the power of that core to 'return' to its origins, the Grand Centipedeus.]

[It is a leader-level creature of one of the families from the Bug Tribe, the Centipedeus Family. They are known for their strong defenses, sharp claws, and venoms. A leader of the bug family is as strong as a peak Enlightened Being when it's fully grown.]

[Even though this centipede is only a larva covered to the real members of the Bug Tribe, it still has the strength to rival the Ascended Beings of this realm when it competes in its evolution.]

At this point, Solus' voice suddenly grew heavier, containing a serious graveness.

[But what is more problematic about this is the one behind the Bug Tribe. They are known for another matter. The Bug Tribe is the army directly working under the reign of the 'Lord of the Flies' – one of the strongest beings in the underworld and a prince of hell – Demon King of Gluttony, Beelzebub.]

Hearing that, Shin could not help but turn to Diablo, who was looking back at him.

Shin remembered that one of the members of the Pandemonium Troupe had the same name as this Demon King mentioned by Solus. It could be a coincidence, especially when the 'Beelzebub' that he knew was known as the 'Greed Devil', not the 'Gluttony Devil'.

But seeing Diablo's expression, he thought that there must be something more to it.

Understanding the meaning behind Shin's eyes, Diablo knew that Shin must have guessed something, but was not sure if it was true or not.

Diablo nodded his head. "Your thoughts are right. They are somehow connected to those 'Lords'."

Shin was confused as he asked. "But from what I can remember that guy is supposed to have the title of 'Greed'."

Diablo shook his head. "That is right too, but that information that you have gotten from Zero is not that accurate. You guys don't even know why they have such titles on them."

He then paused and explained patiently. "The 'seats' of the 'Seven Devils' of the Pandemonium Troupe is quite special. Anyone can snatch whoever has those seats as long as they are powerful enough."

"There is also a matter of re-shuffling, which directly concerned these seats. If someone continuously fails their mission that is meant for those seats, then they will most likely be demoted or challenged by other candidates to take over those seats."

"Beelzebub is quite a greedy fellow. He wanted to take over two seats by himself and hold it until the time the 'Lords' descended to this realm."

"He snatched the seat of 'Greed' from Mammon while the latter settled with the empty seat of 'Sloth' while gathering his strength. It is not against the rules of the Troupe, so Lucifer just let it be."

"From that time, Beelzebub neglected the missions for the seat of 'Gluttony' and focused on the missions for the seat of 'Greed'. That is how Zero came to know about those seats but have not learned much about their meanings."

"From the most recent intel that I have gotten, Beelzebub must have been kicked out of the seat of 'Greed' by Mammon and settled back in his original seat."

Shin listened intently before asking. "But what is the connection between those seats to the 'Lords' of the underworld?"

"It is as the name suggests. Those seats represent the corresponding 'Lords'," said Diablo before adding. "Each seat corresponds to the 'Seven Princes of Hell' and the players who hold those seats will gain the power of those 'Lords' once they descend to this realm."

"Then how can their names be the same as those 'Lords'? It is not a coincidence from the looks of it," said Shin, voicing out his suspicion.

Diablo nodded. "Of course, it is not a coincidence. Lucifer used a special method to change the names of the players that he had scouted for those seats."

"I don't know how he did it or how he learned about the names of those 'Lords', but he scouted the players that he thought suitable for those seats before leaving them to do the missions meant for those seats."

"He doesn't bother whether the members fight against each other or snatch the seats from other candidates. He just leaves them to do whatever they want until the day of the descent comes."

"At that time, he will decide whether he takes back those 'names' and grant them to others, who are more worthy of it."

"But from the intel that I have gotten, it seems like there is nothing much that has changed. All those scouted by Lucifer still held onto those names and they returned to their respective seats."

Listening to everything, Shin felt that the Pandemonium Descendants were not as simple as they originally thought. They were much more troublesome than what they had expected, especially the ones that were chosen to be a Troupe Member.

It was at that moment when he heard Solus' voice once again.

[My liege, there is another thing that you must know. Once the Bug Tribe starts appearing in this realm, the descent of the 'Lord of the Flies' is near.]

"Does that mean that he is about to arrive?" asked Shin in a solemn tone.

Based on the information that he had just gotten, he could guess that this so-called lord was as strong as a Divine Being from the higher plane. Its subordinates – the Bug Queen and the Bug King – were at least a Sovereign Being after all.

"But how can a Divine Being enter this plane?" he mumbled in confusion.

He heard from Dacula that the Divine Beings would be restricted by the rules of the world, the Heavenly Principles. They were forbidden to step foot on this plane.

[The 'Decent' does not exactly refer to it literally. They are finding a suitable champion that will represent them for the time being before their 'main body' arrives.]

"That is when the Seven Devils of the Pandemonium Troupe step in," he said in understanding.

[Then they are going to open the portal that connects this plane to the Underworld and spread the Demonic Energy that will contaminate the mana of the realm until it becomes a second Underworld.]

When Shin heard that, he could not help but feel that the Pandemonium Descendants were getting more and more mysterious, especially its leader, who had built it.

"Lucifer – this guy must have known a few of the secrets of this game," he muttered to himself as he started to grow more cautious of this mysterious player.

...