《Night Ranger》Chapter 679. Choice
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When the Reaper of the Underworld appeared, everyone was shocked.
Especially Feinan's side. If not for the restrictions on the Molten Domain, they would have simply gone in to help Marvin.
The Underworld… In the entire Universe, it was a mysterious and complicated force.
They rarely clashed with other worlds. They were like ghosts, silently maintaining order.
No one knew what kind of place the dead were gathered at upon being reaped.
In Feinan, the soul of an ordinary person couldn't be reincarnated. Only the powerful souls could resist the Underworld and have the possibility of reincarnating, like the Goddess of Truth.
Of course, the Goddess of Truth was a special case. She didn't just reincarnate so many times on her own; she had also been bound by the curse of a powerful being.
And that powerful existence, from what the Goddess of Truth said, should have been Lance himself.
As for the souls of most others, once they arrived in the Underworld, they would become part of it.
In all these years, this hadn't changed.
The Underworld's Sovereign rarely intervened in the matters of the secular world, and despite them having people and avatars in Feinan, no one knew what their goal was.
After all, to the people of Feinan and even the whole Universe, Necromancers were already very mysterious. The Underworld that they served or avoided was a place of no return.
But everyone present here was clear about one thing.
There would only be one case when a Greater Reaper from the Underworld would appear in Feinan, and that was when it was about to take a very important soul!
For someone like Marvin, whose soul was too powerful, a Candle Boat wouldn't be able to bear the weight of his soul. Thus, when he died, an ordinary Reaper wouldn't lead him on a boat to the Underworld, and instead, one needed to directly bring him back.
That time in Arborea, Marvin had already had an encounter with a Greater Reaper. If not for Shadow Thief Owl's timely appearance, that thing might have already taken him away to the Underworld.
And now, he was once again faced with a life-or-death crisis.
He now realized that powerhouses on the level of the Lords of Hell had more resources than just their pure strength to decide the consequences of a battle!
Even though it was only an avatar, even after Marvin beat the opponent in a bloody battle, the Molten Overlord still had the power to push him to the brink like this.
That frightening curse made Marvin feel utterly frigid.
His knees even seemed to petrify.
That showed that the curse wasn't just removing his soul, but it was also solidifying the Order Power in his body!
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And when all the Order Power was completely solidified, Marvin would turn into an eternal statue!
"We have to do something!" Jessica worriedly shouted.
Because of the Fate Imprint, she could feel Marvin weakening!
Unfortunately, although Fate Sorceresses could bypass or ignore most Laws, it was still not enough to interfere in this situation!
'Unless… I use the Plane Will's power…' Jessica clenched her lips, her eyes wavering.
She had always been a very decisive person, but she was actually hesitating now.
She was unwilling to see Marvin get taken out by that curse. But if she drew on the power of the Plane Will itself, despite being a Fate Sorceress, she would have to pay an enormous price!
'Damn, it would be fine if Ding could help.'
Every time this kind of thing happened, she would start missing the arrogant Fortune Fairy that had helped them so many times. She'd had this thought when they were in the Underdark facing the Martyr, and now it was the same.
A lifeform born from a fragment of a Fate Tablet would have knowledge beyond what most people could imagine.
She subconsciously wanted to use her Fate Power Imprint to ask Ding to help, but suddenly, the Copper Dragon beside her lowered his head and murmured, "We need to believe in Marvin."
Professor's voice was resolute and full of charisma as he reassured, "The Curse of the Lord of Hell can't injure him. We need to be on guard for the enemies coming from all directions. We need to consider whether someone might launch a sneak attack when Marvin comes out of the Molten Domain in a weakened state."
After these words, everyone from Feinan's side couldn't help but move to better surround the Molten Domain.
Those from the Astral Sea smiled bitterly, as some of them had indeed been considering something like that. Those peak powerhouses all shook their heads and retreated further away.
Divine Servants were already inwardly cursing, 'Who would have dared to attack Marvin? Is there someone tired of living? Who didn't see the Berserk God getting hacked to pieces by that monster?'
There weren't many people in the Universe that would dare to declare that they wanted to settle their debt with the War God.
The absolute strength and domineering attitude shown by Kangen already thoroughly shook all the invaders.
While the Gods were occupied with the Astral Beast, Feinan's defenders displayed their unity and strength and were successfully suppressing the other forces of the Universe.
If not for the Molten Archdevil being sent back here by Diross, the situation might have already been wrapping up.
After all, Feinan's side had too many powerhouses on the level of Half-Plane Guardians that the outsiders hadn't been aware of, and those defenders weren't afraid to stand against the Gods. This attitude was something they hadn't expected.
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They didn't dare to sneak attack Marvin!
At this point, they only prayed that Marvin really would get taken away by the effects of the Molten Archdevil's curse!
Although there was no real hope behind the prayer, if Marvin really was supported by the Lord of the Scorched Hell and the Goddess of Truth, they wouldn't just blankly watch Marvin die to the Molten Archdevil's curse, would they?
'Even if the curse can't kill him, at least restrain that frightening guy.'
This was what the numerous Divine Servants of the Astral Sea were hoping for.
...
Stuck in the Molten Domain, Marvin's situation was still worsening!
He never thought that his whole body would weaken to such an extent.
None of his powerful resistances could prevent his state from deteriorating, and the Greater Reaper's whispers were already approaching his ear:
"You can't stop the Law of a Hell Lord."
"Your soul is very powerful. Stop struggling and follow me to the place where you belong."
"There, you can get everything you want. Rest assured, we aren't as bad as you think."
Oddly, the Greater Reaper's nasty laugh actually carried an enticing tone.
Its cold breath directly pervaded Marvin's soul, making him feel faint!
'Damn Diross!'
'He sent me the avatar of the Molten Archdevil, but he didn't warn me that this guy still had such a destructive move in reserve!'
Marvin scolded that unreasonable grandfather multiple times as he continued pushing himself to keep moving.
Fortunately, he had reached the edge of the Molten Domain!
Just another large step and he would be free.
With the stacked protection of the Wisdom Chapter and Book of Nalu, Marvin didn't believe that the curse of the Hell Lord would still be able to affect him!
But this huge step made him feel as if he had to climb over a mountain.
The curse power kept spreading, and he already felt that his legs were unable to move!
'Damnit!' He tried exerting all his strength, including his Faith Power, but to no avail!
Marvin felt again that there were still many things he didn't know in this world.
He felt himself slowly weakening.
And everything in his body was being burnt by the black flame.
Only two things were left untouched: an imprint of a golden scale, and another imprint of a three-eyed Greater Devil.
They represented the Goddess of Truth and the Scorched Hell Lord.
'They really did leave an imprint on me.'
Marvin smiled bitterly.
His only choice now was to ask for help from these two.
But the question was, who should he ask?
This was a question worth considering.
...
In the Nine Hells.
"This is quite rash from you, and very impulsive too."
As he sat on the ice-cold throne, a man was smiling gently.
But his tone was extremely terrifying.
A small girl was standing at the bottom of those countless steps, staring up at him.
Her eyes were full of curiosity and devoid of fear.
"You are the first Lord of Hell to violate the established agreement since the foundation of the Nine Hells. If we are to speak of being impulsive, you must be ten thousand times more impulsive than I," Molly coldly said. "Shall we make a bet?"
"I didn't expect that the Goddess of Truth would like betting," Diross remarked with a smirk. "You aren't afraid of me stabbing you in the back?"
Molly was completely undaunted. "Many people want me to die, but unfortunately for them, even Lance didn't succeed. Do you think you are stronger than Lance?"
Diross chuckled, before the icy atmosphere suddenly vanished.
"We originally weren't enemies." His tone became very vague as he continued, "In some ways, we are very similar. At least we still kept our curiosity towards this world."
Molly remained unmoved. "But your curiosity is too much," she rebuked. "You shouldn't have started a civil war in Hell. We both know why Hell was established."
"So?" Diross' eyebrows twitched. "Is that what you want in this gamble? You want me to settle down for a while if you win?"
"Settle down for a hundred years," Molly firmly said. "We'll gamble on who Marvin chooses."
"We both know he has to make a choice, or else he will die."
"Compared to an untrustworthy Devil like you, I think he will choose to ask me for help."
Diross laughed out loud, before settling back into a pondering expression. "You really think he would make this choice?" he asked.
Molly indifferently said, "You can bet that he'll choose you."
But Diross' words were unexpectedly shocking. "Here's my bet: If you lose, you leave and you cannot interfere with the matters of Hell."
"But I won't bet on Marvin choosing me."
"I think that… between the two of us, that guy will choose neither."
After hearing those words, Molly frowned deeply.
...
Back in Feinan, within the Molten Domain, Marvin finally made his decision.
His mind had gone back and forth between the two Imprints, before ultimately stopping.
"Please, help me," he kept repeating in his heart.
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