Death... and me

Mephisto couldn't help but ask. "Where did you find those two?"

"Find?" Rui didn't fall for that. "I told you I had invested a lot in them. There was no such thing as me finding anyone here." It wasn't a total lie. To be more specific, it would be better to say that the twins fell on his lap by sheer coincidence.

Mephisto continued to ponder the issue and finally made a decision. "Alright, continuing with this shit will only waste everyone's time. The High Devils can continue the competition as they see fit. I'm calling Glanvi back. Rui, let's make the transfer."

Rui looked at the other Elder Devils and saw that they also agreed with it. Well, they had to. After all, this contest had been ongoing for countless years. They all knew what would happen if they started to refuse the results. In the past, there had been no lack of strange circumstances that gave victory to some specific clan in specific contests, and this was just one more of those.

Rui approached Mephisto and extended his hand. In exchange, Mephisto did the same thing while holding the Underworld Relic. The two Elder Devils then seemed to create some kind of connection between themselves and the Underworld Relic. After that, the golden light of the Underworld Relic began to intensify, enveloping Rui. At the same time, some golden specks of light came out of Mephisto's body, entering the relic.

The other Elder Devils looked at that with obvious jealousy in their eyes. Some of them had the opportunity to keep the Underworld Relic in the past, so they knew how good it was.

Eventually, the golden light of the Underworld Relic came back to normal as the relic rested on Rui's palm this time. The transfer was complete, with Rui being its new holder. "I can feel its connection with my Devil Core. No wonder everyone wants to be its holder, even if it's for only a thousand years. I feel like I could beat anyone at my level now."

Mephisto nodded in response. "The Underworld Relic attracts the laws of the Underworld to increase its holder's strength. That's something no other item can copy. Well, at least no other item here in the Underworld." Nevertheless, Mephisto warned Rui. "Don't forget. You might become hard to deal with, but that doesn't mean you can fight all the other Elder Devils on your own. You better not entertain the idea of breaking the rules."

"Hmph!" Rui obviously knew that. "Everyone who tried that is now gone. Not even their souls remained. Not to mention their clans were destroyed in the process as well. Just so you know, I still value my and my clan's lives more than this thing. Of course, I'll use it to increase my clan's power for the next thousand years. Not to mention that I'll also participate in the next five contests to see if I can keep it for another thousand years again."

Mephisto shrugged his shoulders after that. "I did the same, and so did everyone else who held it before. Some succeeded, but most didn't. I simply failed this time, that's all. I'll definitely try again during the next five contests."

Eisheta, Mavis, and the other Elder Devils agreed with Mephisto. They would have done exactly the same thing.

Back in the Path of Reincarnation's periphery, the participants were approached by other devils from their clans, who told them that the competition was over. Most of them were taken aback, not understanding why it ended in just a single day. It was supposed to be three, after all. It was even harder to believe that it was because the winner had already been decided.

Of course, the twins' group was the only exception. Rui's subordinate told them that Roan had won the competition. That was obvious since they would reuse most of the souls being brought to be released. After all, it would have been weird if they didn't. "Well, at least they ended it earlier."

The twins quickly made their way back with everyone. Since they had won, Rui could finally allow them to enter the Swamp of No Return.

While they did that, Mephisto had a Divine Sense conversation with Rui. To be more specific, he decided to talk about the resonance he felt between the relic and the brothers. It's not that he wanted to. Instead, Rui would notice it straight away once he brought the relic in front of the twins, so hiding this information would be useless. He didn't know if Rui already knew about it, but he had to try.

Rui looked back at Mephisto with surprise in his eyes. 'What do you mean resonance? It was you who used it to attack them.'

Mephisto shook his head. 'I didn't. Sure, I went a bit too far in keeping the Underworld Relic, but I paid you back for that attack. However, the thing you saw earlier truly had nothing to do with me. The relic really resonated with those two devils of yours. Only I was able to feel it because I was the holder at that moment. Now that you've become the new holder, you'll definitely be able to feel it as well. I'll ask once again, where did you find those two?'

Rui pondered a bit, not knowing if Mephisto was telling the truth or not. After a moment of thought, he decided to give it a try himself. 'Wait for them to return. If this resonance you told me about really happens, then we can talk about it a bit more.'

Mephisto was satisfied that Rui at least considered that option, especially after he attacked Rui's participants back then. 'Good. Let's keep quiet about it for the moment. We might be up to something here.'

Rui nodded and waited with the other Elder Devils for their participants to return.

Eventually, the meeting hall door opened as the participants entered. Naturally, the twins and Titia were there as well.