Chapter 584: Athena in Danger!

"The coordinates of the Demon Tree Heart have been lost."

In the Dragon Court, within the Hall of Eternal Spirits, the silver dragon furrowed his brow slightly, whispering to himself.

Just moments ago, the Demon Tree Heart, marked with a time imprint, had suddenly vanished from Garon's perception. To be precise, the time imprint had been discovered and erased.

"The Demon Tree Heart itself shouldn't have this capability. The Lord of the Nine Hells didn't obtain the Demon Tree Heart, so did the Abyssal Will intervene? Or was it some demon prince or archduke?"

Reflecting on the events in the Abyss, Garon began to sense something amiss.

"Why did the Lord of the Nine Hells come directly to snatch the Demon Tree Heart from me?"

The silver dragon looked puzzled.

According to the Lord of the Nine Hells, obtaining the Demon Tree Heart would allow him to create strategic equipment that could resist and nullify the Abyss's oppression.

Whether he coveted the Abyss or was being cautious, fearing that the Abyss might grow strong enough to swallow Hell, equipment capable of resisting and nullifying the Abyss's oppression was crucial for the devils of Hell.

It was entirely understandable for the Lord of the Nine Hells to take action to seize something so important to him.

However, Garon felt something was off.

He introspected, quietly pondering and recalling the events based on his inner unease. Eventually, his mind settled on the blood-red, calm eyes of the Lord of the Nine Hells.

"Indeed, the Lord of the Nine Hells is a devil king, adept in schemes and conspiracies, and possesses sufficient credibility."

"If he wanted the Demon Tree Heart, he could have chosen to trade with me."

"Devils are known to understand the human heart well, and the Lord of the Nine Hells must have known that I am not opposed to trading with devils."

The silver dragon blinked and pondered, "However, from the beginning, he had no intention of trading the Demon Tree Heart with me. Instead, his attitude, though friendly, was commanding, using an authoritative tone to demand that I abandon the Demon Tree Heart, which directly angered me."

"Could it be... that the Lord of the Nine Hells deliberately provoked a fight with me, giving the Demon Tree Heart a chance to escape?"

As a deified time dragon, Garon possessed incredible time-related abilities.

His thoughts often represented the true course of the river of time. In other words, it was highly likely that this was the truth.

Whether it was because Garon thought this way, causing future changes.

Or if the future was indeed this way, merely allowing Garon to learn in advance.

Or perhaps it was related to both—it was a complex issue.

Targeting the Demon Tree Heart, the Lord of the Nine Hells, the Abyssal Will, and other entities, Garon attempted to foresee the future. However, what appeared in his platinum eyes was a dense fog of purple, blood-red, deep black, and glaring white colors.

It exceeded Garon's current power, making the future in his eyes blurry and indistinct.

"Even if I see it, due to my intervention, the result might not be accurate."

Garon shook his head slightly, not disappointed by the unclear result. The future, unlike the fixed past, was always changing every moment. What he saw was merely the most likely outcome, a tributary that could be referenced but not fully trusted.

Immediately, the silver dragon turned his head, shifting his gaze.

Beyond numerous precious gemstones, emeralds, precious metals, divine artifacts, and so on, amidst the countless primordial wild gods sealed in time amber, was Garon's unhatched offspring, a dragon egg. The egg had quietly grown to eighteen meters tall.

Dragon eggs are not fixed in size after laying; they continue to grow.

It was already larger than most adult true dragons and showed no signs of stopping, with the aura inside already reaching the legendary level.

"Born legendary... and perhaps more."

Traditional legendary dragon offspring are born as legends. Given that its parents are no ordinary legendary dragons, its starting point will undoubtedly surpass that of an average legendary dragon.

"When it hatches, it might already be at the demigod level."

"No, Garon, you can't think this way, or it will quietly influence this child's future trajectory."

Garon shook his head to clear his thoughts.

He was no longer what he used to be. A subconscious thought could alter the flow of the river of time, especially for weaker beings. Garon's thoughts were their unchangeable fate, bound to happen. Even a prosperous world, if Garon believed it would eventually perish, would likely head towards destruction, regardless of the process.

"Deification of time... like the god controlling the river of time."

"Huff... I once thought that after reaching the level of strong divine power, my strength would increase more slowly. But it seems this is a new beginning."

Buzz!

In an instant, the silver dragon's form vanished from the Hero's Realm, unfolding into the tangible form of a time dragon, appearing in the Astral Plane.

It was as if he was the center of the endless rules of the Astral Plane. The Astral Scepter emerged inch by inch, also manifesting on the scales of the time dragon's chest.

The time dragon spread its wings, encompassing the endless Astral space, matter, beings, and everything within its wings. Simultaneously, its mental will and time power wove together like threads, forming a heaven and earth net, step by step, inch by inch, covering the river of time within the Astral region.

During this process, the Astral Scepter emitted a gleaming silver light.

The silver light of the Astral Plane coordinated with the rules, assisting the time dragon—their planar lord—in better and more efficiently mastering the river of time within the Astral Plane.

The will of the Astral Plane had recognized Garon as its planar king.

In most cases, the planar will preferred a puppet-like planar king, partly because planar will was prouder than the gods, unwilling to be controlled by them. Indeed, the status of planar will was higher than many gods or quasi-gods.

However, after Garon became the planar king, the Astral will gradually sensed that this planar king was extraordinary, even carrying a sense of being above the multiverse.

Even during the great battle between the Nine-Faced Dragon God and the Celestial Emperor, the Astral will hadn't felt this way.

Recognizing Garon's uniqueness, the Astral will relinquished its last bit of resistance, fully cooperating to receive future returns and become an eternal, indestructible planar will.

"Efficiency has increased hundreds, thousands of times."

"And the stronger I become, the faster the efficiency will snowball."

Garon's gaze deepened like the starry sky, feeling the gradual control over the river of time. Compared to doing it alone, this was much faster.

The river of time within the Astral Plane was gradually becoming his strength, just like in the Hero's Realm.

It's not just boasting; if the Lord of the Nine Hells dared to come to the Hero's Realm now, Garon was confident enough to ensure he would never return.

Soon, the Astral Plane would become such a realm too.

"With the right method and enough power."

"Even at the level of strong divine power, my strength can still progress at an unimaginable pace for ordinary gods."

Garon had a premonition.

Once he controlled the river of time in the Astral Plane, he could at least reach the level of a quasi-god rank 18, directly increasing two ranks, and this was a conservative estimate.

Settling down calmly.

The vast, form-like time dragon, measured in light-years, closed its eyes, immersing itself in the blissful sensation of gradually controlling the river of time.

Later.

The demon princes and archdukes in the Abyss resumed their conflicts shortly after a brief truce.

The Wolf Spider faction, having lost the Heart-Devouring War God and the Spider Queen Lolth, was significantly weakened. Still, it remained the largest faction with the demon prince Wolf Spider, the Chaos Queen, and the Great Mother of Beholders as high-ranking powerhouses, along with numerous demon lords following them.

However, facing the targeted attacks from the Worm King and the King Slayers Alliance, as well as the Immortal Dragon Queen and the aid from Garon, the Wolf Spider legion's momentum waned.

Under such circumstances, the devil faction, having intervened once in the Abyss war, re-entered the scene.

Devil lords and dark infernal generals guarded the Abyssal Plain, steadily building numerous hellish facilities, nurturing hellish beings, generating hellish energy, and clearing abyssal aura, gradually expanding their influence layer by layer into the deeper Abyss.

The Lord of the Nine Hells took personal action, and ordinary demon lords could not stop the devils' advance.

The first five layers of the Abyss quickly fell.

Until the devil army reached the sixth layer of the Abyss—the Abyss of a Thousand Eyes!

This layer resembled a bottomless black hole, surrounded by countless flickering eyes of various colors, glowing in the darkness, accompanied by low demonic growls. The eerie wind carried piercing sounds, like whispers of curses and evil, mysterious, quiet, and terrifying.

Buzz!

Blood-red light from Hell rippled like water waves, covering and radiating throughout the Abyss of a Thousand Eyes.

The ruby devil staff appeared, tearing open space, constructing a vast hellish gate.

Countless devils emerged from it.

Hellish aura clashed fiercely with the abyssal aura.

The Lord of the Nine Hells hovered silently, overseeing everything. Hellfire gradually surged, step by step, burning away the abyssal energy.

The billions

 of devil soldiers were not there to assist the Lord of the Nine Hells in battle.

They primarily served as information points, a medium for transmitting hellish aura, countering abyssal power, and reducing the oppression on devils in the Abyss.

The ruby devil staff shaped the hellish domain.

Terrifying hellfire rampaged through the Abyss of a Thousand Eyes, turning many resident demons to ash, including a special species—the Beholders.

The Abyss of a Thousand Eyes was mainly the stronghold of the Beholders, their world.

Moreover, it was the territory of a powerful god, the Great Mother of Beholders.

Boom!

A surge of divine power erupted from the deepest part of the Abyss of a Thousand Eyes, crushing many devil soldiers. At the same time, countless eyes embedded around the Abyss simultaneously opened, their gaze fixated on the intruder.

As before, the devil king remained in his blood-like cloak, black and red robe, with ruby-like deep eyes, unfazed by the countless eyes focusing on him.

The eyes in the Abyss of a Thousand Eyes carried maddening evil power.

Most beings, except Beholders, had to carefully avoid their gaze; otherwise, they would face a miserable fate.

But when the countless eyes all looked at the Lord of the Nine Hells.

The king of Hell seemed unaffected, expressionless, with cold eyes.

Whoosh!

A sinister wind seemed to blow from the deepest part of the Abyss of a Thousand Eyes.

A light like an opening eye illuminated the area, instantly dimming the hellish blood light.

Then came the owner of the eye—the Great Mother of Beholders.

She had twisted flesh tendrils, dull colors, and a round body embedded with numerous eyes, emitting green, red, or blue light. At the center of her body was a giant black eye, surrounded by dense nerve threads.

She resembled the primordial Sun God.

The difference was that the primordial Sun God did not have eyes covering his entire body or long trailing blood vessels.

"I've heard the Great Mother of Beholders possesses unimaginable mental power and is a master of evil philosophy and art."

"I would like to test it."

The Lord of the Nine Hells spoke like a humble and polite seeker, but his expression was unchanging.

The Great Mother of Beholders looked wary.

However, she showed no sign of backing down.

To give up her territory... even to the Lord of the Nine Hells, was impossible.

The low whispers resounded in the Abyss of a Thousand Eyes.

"Very well, I too wish to see the power of the king of the Nine Hells."

Buzzing. Billions of eyes in the Abyss of a Thousand Eyes simultaneously emitted dreamy, mesmerizing light, while the Great Mother's body faded, merging into the endless light.

On the other side, the world in the Lord of the Nine Hells' eyes spun.

In an instant, it seemed he was in another world.

The sky, the ground, the air—everything was made of eyes, vertical, horizontal, round, and compound eyes. Countless eyes from all creatures in the multiverse crowded together, turning in unison.

Suddenly, even the Lord of the Nine Hells' cloak and robe sprouted eyes.

Each ruby on the devil staff turned into a slippery eye.

His skin cracked, and strange eyes emerged.

The Lord of the Nine Hells himself seemed to be transforming into a blood-red eye.

"This is my mental world, the true Abyss of a Thousand Eyes!"

The Great Mother's whisper echoed, sometimes near, sometimes far, ethereal and unreal.

"Impressive."

The Lord of the Nine Hells looked around, praising.

Whoosh!

A cluster of black and blood-red flames ignited, instantly burning away the eyes around the Lord of the Nine Hells.

"All Hellfire Demons are masters of hellfire, and the best among them can even make gods wary. Their hellfire—all originated from me."

Hellfire, the most dangerous substance in the Hell Plane, was the creation of the Lord of the Nine Hells.

The flames around him formed scales, a long body, and sharp teeth, turning into a lifelike evil serpent, black-scaled with blood-red eyes.

The serpent, carrying unimaginable evil power, slithered through the countless eyes. Wherever it passed, no matter how strong the eyes were, they were corrupted, turning into flames and merging with the serpent.

The Great Mother continuously released extraordinary divine power, generating more eyes.

But more were destroyed by the Lord of the Nine Hells.

The Great Mother of Beholders was clearly at a disadvantage. If not for her territorial advantage, she would have already lost.

The Abyss of a Thousand Eyes was gradually falling under the devils' control.

The Wolf Spider faction was in dire straits.

Additionally, the devils' invasion of the Abyss, though displeasing to the demons who had battled them for eons, couldn't be stopped due to the relentless internal conflicts among the demons.

The Great Mother of Beholders, targeted by the Lord of the Nine Hells, would fall if she didn't retreat.

Moreover, the upper Abyss, where the devils were expanding, was primarily under the Wolf Spider faction's control.

The Worm King and the King Slayers Alliance were pleased to see this.

The three factions—the Worm King, the King Slayers Alliance, and the devils—were jointly besieging the Wolf Spider faction.

Over time, the once largest demon prince faction was now on the brink of collapse.

...

Olympus Multiverse, Heaven, the Throne Room.

The gods gathered in the resplendent hall, gazing with various emotions—sympathy, vigilance, hatred—at Hades, the god of the underworld, suppressed and sealed by Ares, the god of war, and Athena, the goddess of wisdom.

Hades, with a haggard and withered face, looked despondent and dim, lacking the radiant, high-spirited eyes of the gods. He was surrounded by a foul death aura, with faint sounds of wailing souls.

The three brothers of the king of gods.

The sea god and the king of gods had similar majestic, strong, and imposing forms. Compared to them, the god of the underworld appeared old and decrepit, hunched and trembling.

"Zeus, Poseidon."

Hades, covered inside and out with sealing runes formed by extraordinary divine power, lifted his head and hoarsely questioned, "My two brothers, you occupy the lofty heavens and the endless seas of the mortal world, yet despite this, you still fear or covet my desolate underworld?"

He seemed very angry, and the wailing around him grew louder.

"You truly believe I would guide the judges to open Tartarus? Ridiculous."

"We defeated the Titans together; I understand their threat. How could I release them?"

"Besides, I was asleep in the palace of the underworld when Tartarus's seal was broken, knowing nothing about it."

Hades, understanding the situation, did not resist when his divine power was sealed by the god of war and the goddess of wisdom and was brought to Heaven.

He knew that resisting would only confirm suspicions that he had secretly orchestrated Typhon's escape.

Hades knew he had done nothing.

Although he had indeed dreamt of overthrowing Zeus while sleeping in the palace of the underworld, he hadn't released the monstrous Typhon.

"Who is framing me?"

"I've stayed in the dead underworld for so long, yet I've drawn someone's attention to frame me?"

"Did Zeus orchestrate this himself, or is Poseidon shifting the blame, or is it some other god discontent with me?"

Hades' gaze swept over the gods, feeling aggrieved.

For a moment, everyone seemed like the mastermind framing him, especially his two brothers, the prime suspects.

Though the Olympian gods were unified, they constantly schemed and plotted against each other, lacking genuine unity.

In fact, if a finite multiverse were unified without discovering the infinite multiverse's truth, having no external enemies to fight, and lacking a supreme god king, it would easily fall into such a situation.

Without external enemies, the gods became enemies among themselves.

Zeus, the king of gods, remained unmoved, with eyes flashing with thunder, speaking solemnly, "The mastermind remains unknown, but your significant suspicion is undeniable."

After a pause, Zeus continued, "However, no matter what!"

"Hades, as the god of the underworld, you neglected your duties, failing to manage the underworld properly, leading to Typhon's escape from Tartarus."

"Regardless of the mastermind, you cannot evade responsibility."

Zeus declared, "Deprived of the title of god of the underworld for a thousand years, sealed and suppressed under Mount Olympus as punishment."

"When the truth is revealed, a trial will be conducted!"

He gazed at Hades, saying, "Hades, do you have any objections?"

Hades stared at Zeus, silent and unmoving.

"Good, it seems you have no objections."

Zeus then consulted the other gods. With no objections, he stripped Hades of his title and sealed him under Mount Olympus with a thunderbolt.

Then, rewarding the gods based on their performance during Typhon's attack on Mount Olympus, Zeus handed out some trivial rewards.

When it was Athena's turn.

Zeus gazed at her with a smile on his stern face.

"Athena, my proud daughter."

"You were brave and fearless in the battle against Typhon, leading the charge, and were unfortunately injured."

If not for your thunder spear, Athena wouldn't have been hurt, muttered some gods.

"Your meritorious service deserves a rich reward."

"You may choose what you desire."

_________________________

[Check out my Patreon for +200 additional chapters in all my fanfics! $5 for all!!] 

[w w w . p a t r e o n .com / INNIT]

[+50 PowerStones = +1 Chapter]