Speed Is King

And an extremely powerful looking one at that!

Ten fearsome horns rose majestically from his head like a crown, and his powerful body was completely filled with natural spiked armor which looked extremely dangerous.

His eyes glowed a deep, devilish maroon and his mouth was wide open in a freaky smile that was not a smile.

"Shaktaba Loparash Tibolaras."

Although Saint Dul'Akharat did not recognize the language, somehow he instinctively understood what they mean.

"I have been waiting a long time for you." The demon had said.

A deep chill had run down Saint Dul'Akharat's spine as soon as the meaning of those words appeared in his mind.

"I am Bathozara, in the service of Balthazoras, the God of Greed. I have an offer for you, powerful one of the higher realm." The demon said.

"An offer? Interesting. Go on ahead and tell me." Saint Dul'Akharat said as he smiled at finally being able to make contact with a member of the Realm of Sin.

He would milk all the information he needed about the Realm of Sin from this Bathozara and then leave him high and dry!

"Of course. But before I do so, please prove your strength by smashing this sphere apart. You have defeated its previous carrier and have proven yourself at least at the Lord level, like me.

But if you can break this sphere, then you will be at least at the Dark Lord level, and the offer that I will give you will naturally contain better terms and more importantly, better compensation." The demon said politely.

Saint Dul'Akharat studied the small black sphere carefully for a few seconds, and determined that it contained no source of energy apart from the little one that powered its ability to communicate across realms.

"Fine." He finally said, and crushed the small black sphere casually with but a single thought.

The demon's eyes widened greedily at Saint Dul'Akharat's display of immense strength.

"Impressive, Esteemed One of the Higher Realm. Dark Lord Bal-Goras of Avarice will take over from me now. Congratulations on your feat." The demon then disappeared from the projection, and another even more powerful looking demon appeared in his place.

This demon was much bigger than the previous one, and had eleven huge horns atop his head. His body was similarly armored and his unsmiling smile was amazingly much more sickening than even the first demon.

Saint Dul'Akharat sighed in his heart and vowed that if he ever had the chance, he would rid the realms of those disgusting smiles.

His day was already half ruined by the sheer disgust those smiles had incited within his heart!

"Powerful warrior of the higher realm. This is an offer from Balthazoras, the most powerful God of the Realm of Sin, the God of Greed." Dark Lord Bal-Goras started without preamble.

"The following are what you need to do. Number one. Swear fealty to Balthazoras, God of Greed. Number two. Find a way to open a star-sized portal from the Shadow Realm into the Realm of Sin.

In exchange, you will receive the following things. Number one. You will be crowned as the ruler of your entire realm after the Balthazoras conquers the Shadow Realm and your realm.

You will be beneath one, but above the rest.

Number two. You will receive a powerful Sin Heart, which will provide you with the Power of Greed. Your strength will instantly increase by more than ten times, and you will be able to wield the power of the Dark Runes, an energy manipulation system unique to the Realm of Sin. With the Dark Runes, your strength will also increase by at least ten times!

None within the Realm of Shadow and your own realm will be able to resist you." Bal-Goras said with an enticing tone.

Saint Dul'Akharat merely smirked at Bal-Goras and shook his head. He was no novice in haggling, and the first rule of haggling was: reject the first offer, no matter how good it was!

"Dark Runes? Horseshit. I can break your Dark Lord grade little ball with just a simple thought. I doubt your Dark Runes are as powerful as you say." Saint Dul'Akharat sneered. "You need to do much, much better than that, little imp. I want your God's blood, ten God-level treasures, and all of the Dark Runes. In advance."

Bal-Goras half snarled in anger at being called an imp, and half smiled in greed at the high price that Saint Dul'Akharat was demanding.

It proved to him that Saint Dul'Akharat was a being worth courting!

"I cannot agree to giving you my God's blood, of course. I do not have the authority to do that. I will need to consult with him first. The same goes for the treasure. But I can give you several samples of Dark Runes for you. Hehehehehe. I am sure that once you have tasted its power, you will be convinced that sooner or later, all the realms will be united under our rule!" Bal-Goras said as he licked his lips greedily.

"Hmph. I will give you one chance to impress me. If I find that your Dark Rune is a weak piece of junk that does not increase my power by at least ten times as you claimed, then don't bother contacting me again!" Saint Dul'Akharat gave him a condescending sneer.

"Of course! Let me give you a Lord level, no a Dark Lord level Dark Rune!" Bal-Goras said eagerly.

"Dark Lord level, the level which this weak ass black ball is made up of? Bullshit. If that's the level you're giving me, then don't bother! Screw yourself and screw your God! Go find yourself another partner!" Saint Dul'Akharat roared in mock anger.

"Wait! Wait! I have a higher grade Dark Rune right here! A Dark Saint level one! Here. Take it as a show of our sincerity." Bal-Goras said hastily and instantly transmitted the details of the Dark Rune.

The pieces of the crushed black ball instantly rearranged themselves into a massive plate full of strange carvings.

It was at least fifty meters by fifty meters!

"Please try it out, and I will contact you once more in ten days. How does that sound?" Bal-Goras said.

"Hmph. Good. Ten days it is." Saint Dul'Akharat said arrogantly and then crushed the energy projection to pieces.