On the other side, Bella and Aurora both wanted to come out, but I was too worried about their safety. Eventually, I convinced them to stay where they were.

I looked around, and below me, there were pale, red rocks. Fire burned randomly. I appeared to be in some sort of forest, but every tree was also engulfed in the fire. Instead of water, there was even fire in the air!

The first step was using > to summon Furcas. He knew this place a lot better than I did. I also activated my demon eyes, ears, nose, teeth and tongue, feet, and legs. I hoped it would allow me to blend in a little better. With my platinum demonic authority, it wasn't like they could do anything to me anyway. I could absolutely control them.

Furcas explained that we were on the first layer of Hell. This layer was divided into nine concentric rings. At the center was the stairs leading down to the second layer. Usually, on this floor, there would be no demons or other monsters.

Without any monsters, it was easy to traverse through. We arrived already in the fourth circle, so we didn't have to go past many of them.

Around us, all of the roads were broken. The buildings were made into rubble. There was no light, and wandering souls tried to attack us. They were unable to do anything, and, with the power of my domain, we easily assimilated into Persephone. Before we got to the next circle, there were already a few billion souls captured.

The fifth circle was full of black, bubbling, tar-like water. It trapped the souls inside of it, making it impractical to free them and bring them to the world.

On the other side of the river was a large island. Furcas explained that the area of this layer was infinite in the sense that it always increased to accommodate deaths from Earth. He further explained that the island was likewise always growing. From what he could determine about Earth, the system was set up so that those who committed the worse, most heinous acts against each other, as well as those who killed themselves, would be forced into the inner circles lying inside the island.

When we arrived, we noticed a large, metal wall rising infinitely.

"How do we get through?" I inquired.

"I just activate my demonic aura, and it will let us past," Furcas replied.

I followed behind him. When we arrived at the wall, he pushed a spot on the wall, and I saw his aura extend. Suddenly, a narrow passageway opened up. A few sparse torches eerily lit it. We entered and soon arrived in the sixth circle. Here, there were no roads or buildings. Instead, there were mounds of ground, each set aflame by an unknown fire. There were still about one billion souls outside of the tombs. Currently, I had gotten seven billion souls from this journey!

The next area was a river filled with a slimy, viscous, blood-colored liquid. Somehow, spiky trees grew by absorbing this liquid, thrashing out at us as we passed. Luckily, my mana shield was enough to deal with the small hindrance.

The next area, where I gained another two billion souls, was easy to pass. It was just a dry, sandy, barren landscape.

We finally arrived at the gate to the ninth circle. Here, a monster stood guard. It had three human-shaped heads, with their necks connected as if someone tied them in a knot. While the entire body was incorporeal and semi-transparent, there were specks of color in each head, around where the eyes would normally be. The left head had red specks, the middle orange, and the right purple.

Furcas explained this monster only let demons, devils, and those accompanied by them to pass through.

Furcas walked up first. The middle head stared at him for a moment before the purple head pushed him through the barricade.

I followed behind and received similar treatment.

Inside, there was a large pond of ice. Just standing here caused my affinity to jump 23%!

Furcas, unfazed, continued leading me to the center. Unfortunately, there were no more souls here. I decided to quickly check with Persephone.

With Furcas's help, I first received about thirty billion souls from the outer circles.

Name: Persephone

World rank: six-star

Barrier rank: Low, Level 20

Mana circulation: Mana circulation: mid-leveled circuit, innate spells possible, skills unlocked Lv 9,

Owner: Roberto

World source statuses: I/F/W/E/D/G/A/H: operational, low-level

Innate laws: pass

While talking with Persephone about the upgrades, she told me it would only take a few months before the first 300 million humans were born. The timeline greatly sped up thanks to the huge quantity of souls. I also learned that most one-star worlds come with a level twenty barrier on creation; however, since I wasn't a God with my own star, I had to manually upgrade it.

Soon after, Furcas led me to the center of this ice pond. He tapped the point of his sword, and the symbol on his cloak briefly lit up before the ice cracked.

"Let's go to the second layer. The first three are connected directly to your world, but the layers further down are connected to much larger galaxies. Level nine is connected to the entire universe! Since no one before us has come through while living, the passageway hasn't been completed. That's why the ice is cracking, and the steam is rising," Furcas explained to me.

Finally, the ice gave way to a tunnel leading straight down. At the bottom, it looked like there was a manhole cover. When Furcas touched it, the symbol from his cloak was imprinted upon it, causing it to pop off. We went down, and it looked like a sewer.

The liquid flowing through was a black, bubbly, viscous substance instead of water. Furcas used his sword to disturb it, showing that there was clear water beneath.

We continued through the sewers until arriving at a specific turn. After that turn, we arrived at the top of a rock face. Next to us, there was a waterfall of water. The strange liquid created a blockade, preventing it from interacting with the pure, flowing water.

This floor was very small. It was supposed to contain very powerful, possibly immortal beings who died on Earth; however, there wasn't a lot compared to the mortals on the level above.

Furcas completed the same procedure, and we entered the sewers again. This time, there was no hidden water beneath the sludge. We followed the turns until arriving at a water fountain, spewing the black liquid. The fountain acted as an elevator, though we had to cover ourselves in the stuff. According to Furcas, this fountain funnels the concentrated version through the first two floors. It was about one thousand times more concentrated here, and the energy increased my DE by 4930. It also increased my dark affinity by 20%.

All of my demons, not just Furcas, were healed by being near this liquid. Soon, Annie contacted me.

"I can make a spring of devil water in this world if you'd like. It won't affect the other spring."

"Sure," I responded, guessing this stuff was devil water. I would soon be able to enjoy its healing effects if I ever needed to.

The black liquid disappeared, entering my spiritual world for Annie to work on it. Furcas and I went through the elevator to the third layer. Here, according to Furcas, was where some demons roamed. They were mainly lesser demons and didn't serve as any threat.

The elevator landed, surrounded by glass. We were underground, so we had to > up. The surface was covered in red-hot rocks, forming mountains. Situated in them were a few houses. At the base, there was a small village. I stopped my advanced demonic techniques as we continued, wanting to see what they think of a human.

They didn't pay too much attention to me, though. They surrounded Furcas, kneeling down and praising him. They brought some small treasures out and were constantly saying they weren't worthy.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"We seventy-two are very powerful demons. It's obvious that they would worship us. Please collect my treasures."

"Of course I will," I responded. They may be small, but if we get enough, I can build up my already-large treasury to new heights.

We continued for a few days, going through the villages one-by-one. It took us until the middle of February to finish our journey. During this time, I was mostly ignored, but I was praised even more once they learned I was his master. He served numerous political issues, and I spent a lot of time in Persephone while he helped the lesser demons out.

Soon, Valentine's day arrived. I used some of the treasures to make Bella a present. I also used my elementary blacksmithing techniques to make the necklace and my > to add effects. There were five gems. In the center, the first was pure black. The left and right were blue, and the other two were fiery red. The effect I put the two blue gems protected her, and it would help her in dangerous situations, but the gems would crack. The red gems got a part of the power of >, which took a lot of HE to complete. The black gem was special—it held a void wall. That one gem took all of my HE, DE, and MP. It was barely enough.

I was glad she liked it, and we had a nice dinner date. Aurora was the waitress, and Krystal and Kylee acted as hostesses. After our dinner and Bella receiving her gift, our daughters joined in to continue eating some small herbs and other dishes made from the ground in this world.

At this point, we could see the beginnings of civilization blooming. Towns and cities, with technology a few hundred years before the current era on Earth, were popping up. Soon, they'd be filled with people. I was excited for a whole new civilization to blossom.

We arrived at another spring. Like before, I stole the liquid for my spiritual world, and we descended to the fourth floor. I could feel the power of the demons on this floor. They were demons and high demons. The demons had stats comparable to mine, but my powers still exceeded theirs. My power was also better than the high demons. Only the top of the demon knights who ruled the level could compare to me. Luckily, there were no demon royalty present.

Like before, the demons and high demons paid their respects and brought treasures to Furcas, who solved their political issues. They talked about how things had changed since the seventy-two were last seen. Some of them even gave Furcas spell and skill books. I, as his master, likewise got gifts. I stored them so that I could use later if I needed to. With their permission, I entered their libraries and copied their books. The information about demons was very extensive. I learned about a "progenitor." With Annie's help cataloging the library, she was able to find books from the vampire world's library that also talked about this topic. The information I could find didn't provide too many details, but it did show that blood tyrants were known as progenitors. They were close to gods and devils but never quite made it there. I wished there was more information about both progenitors and blood tyrants.

Soon after, we made it to the demon knights who ruled. Originally, they were unwilling to pay their respects to Furcas. They thought his power waned while in captivity and that he could no longer challenge him.

At this point, I stepped in and told them to back down. We weren't here to deal with them, so I didn't want to get involved. Unfortunately, they didn't back down. They issued a challenge to Furcas. As his master, I accepted it for him. I called forth Typhon to easily beat them back. Accidentally, one was killed, even though I instructed Typhon to hold back. There was no animosity, though, as we both understood that loss of life was always a possibility. After seeing my might through Typhon, they finally bowed down in respect to Furcas. In actuality, they were bowing down to me as his master.

As compensation, Furcas took two to join his legions. They readily agreed, hoping to eventually become more powerful.

The fifth layer of Hell was much more difficult to get past. The demon knights and demon royalty here belittled Furcas since he's the weakest of the seventy-two hellfire demons. I had to have Typhon beat a few of them up before they started obeying. For the ones we beat up, we raided their treasuries. We didn't take everything since they weren't entirely enemies. They had a few of the orb-like objects that I made into EXP shards, which allowed my level to increase.

[Congratulations! You have leveled up! Level 17àlevel 18. All stats increased by +18 SP + 36. Calculating Reward.]

[Reward determined. Class ??? Reward: all resistances below level 10 level up! All regenerations increase! MP increases by 800 total, HE increases by 120 total, DE increases by 1330 total. HP: 636 total. Class Skill Lord reward: skill absolute blaze level up! Level five! Skill absolute frost level up! Level seven! Skill fireball level up! Level five!]

[Skill tickets gained: +5.]

[Familiar has consumed 1 skill tickets.]

[Familiar has consumed 1 skill tickets.]

[Demons have consumed 3 skill tickets.]

We continued on, Typhon defeating demon royalty and knights left and right. It was easy for him, showcasing his increased powers and taking down powerful enemies as if they were fleas.

Before we could descend, a group of twenty demon royalty decided to attempt to force us back. They were unhappy with the return of Furcas, and they wanted to continue ruling. Unfortunately for them, even all together, they were no match for my summon.

After defeating the last of them, we arrived at the manhole cover. It looked like we would, again, be forced to trudge through the sewers.

Furcas tried to activate the cover with the strange insignia, but nothing happened. He tried again. This time, the letters flew into the air, but it still would not open.

"Why can't you descend," I inquired.

"I'm not sure. This should work," Furcas replied.

"Let's ask the others," I said. "Do any of you know the trick?"

"No, even I do not know," Balam replied. "This hadn't happened before when we used to rule the lower floor. It should easily respond."

"What if one of them locked it?" Vepar asked.

"Do you think they would?" Amdusias replied.

"Interesting. I never knew they even had the capabilities," Seere said.

"Master, what are your thoughts?" Raum asked.

"I'm not sure who you're referring to, but I can try the elementary unsealing rune."

I tried it, but it didn't work.

"It makes sense the elementary rune wasn't enough if even the demons don't know how to fix this. What about the letters? Do they have anything to do with the seal?"

Furcas asked the dukes and king, and they seemed reluctant to explain how the system worked. It seemed none of the other demons were aware of it, either.

"I guess I'll have to explain. I hope the others don't get mad," Balam began. "Our powers are controlled through a special seal. The letters you see are a part of that seal, which is engraved upon his cloak. Only you can see it, as he has sworn the oath to you. That seal allows you to control his powers, and, once we submit and unlock our true forms, it will allow you to control our powers. The letters are considered the key, and only you can manipulate them.

If you move them around, they spell his name. Once it is correctly spelled, you can restrain his powers as much as you desire. It is the only part that can't be done through verbal/thought-linked commands. The words are part of the seal, so they can also undo the seal if removed. I do not know why they have caused this event, either."

"So, it has something to do with the seal," I responded. I next looked at the letter combination in the air and tried to move it with my hands.

When that was unsuccessful, I used >. This time, I could write the letters out in a straight line. Still unsuccessful, I next tried to organize them in the circular form seen on his seal. Finally, there was a reaction.

The cover slowly turned. It was now loose enough to pick up, which we did. We went down the hole, expecting to find a sewer. Unfortunately, we were somewhere else.

Here, there were giant, flaming mountains. Slowly, the mountains began to move, with giant creatures appearing. They were so large the originally-visible section was only the top of their head!

There were ten of these giants lined up on two sides of a grassy passage.

"What's this?" I asked.

"I've never been here before," Furcas responded.

I found it odd, so I attempted to ask the giants. They did not respond and just stared down upon me. Cautiously, I followed the path forward. At all times, I was on guard and preparing for them to attack. If even the demons had never been here, was it really a part of Hell? How was it connected?

With these questions in mind, I continued past the last of the ten. Here, there were shrubs surrounding a cobbled circle. At the center of the circle, the stones glowed brightly. I asked Annie about them, and she said they hold their own energy generator, which allows them to be so bright. She gave me an odd-looking shovel. It came to a point, similar to a knife, except its edges were folded at 70º angles. When I inserted it into the rock and prepared to push it further, it also lit up.

Apparently, she made this from some of the treasures the other demons offered.

The shovel cracked one stone before it earnestly began its excavation. Automatically, it dug deep into the ground to uncover the entire vein of special rocks. I touched it and transported them to Persephone.

There were a lot of these rocks, and something caused them to form continuously. I wanted to know what it was, so I kept on having the shovel dig deeper and deeper for the source. It took a few days, so, when it finally found the source, it was already March 6th. The source's mana looked like a spawner, and Annie soon explained that it was. It's a special type of spawner that creates a large vein of precious stones. These stones are considered very rare and expensive, due to their energy-generating properties. They had many applications, included powering up weapons. There was another spawner for Orichalcum.

Both of these spawners would only work when integrated into a world itself, so they weren't usually stolen. I, however, could make these veins in Persephone. The spawners were much, much rarer than the stones themselves. According to Annie, even seven-star worlds ruled by Gods may be unable to even have one! My world now had two, after I stole them from Hell.

After getting the stones and spawners, I went to the other side of these bushes. There was a low-sloping hill, with twenty more giants guarding it in the same manner as before the clearing. Like before, Furcas and I crossed through until arriving at the other end. Here, I could feel the fog of the void. I touched the tree wall in front of us, which soon crumbled and revealed the darkness and fog characteristic of the void. Inside, there was a shiny, black, diamond-shaped gem. There was also another object which appeared to look like a needle.

I was worried about the void, but I wanted to see these items. The giants didn't seem to be stopping me—it was almost as if they were leading me here.

What were these strange, mysterious objects before me?