Chapter 969: The Battle for the Tower (I)

Hell, a place in various myths and legends that stands in opposition to Heaven, is said to be where the souls of the wicked fall, burned by endless flames and subjected to all manner of torturous punishments as retribution for their sins in life.

Hell in DC resembles the mythological Hell in some ways, but is not identical; in truth, it does not punish sinful souls—rather, all souls that have made pacts with demons or cannot enter Heaven are drawn here.

DC’s Hell also differs from Marvel’s; Marvel’s Hell is merely a dimension, and though it calls itself Hell, it has no fixed duties.

Mephisto claims to be the Lord of Hell and the sole Satan, but in truth, he is neither the Lord of Hell nor the only Satan.

Mephisto may call himself Satan, and other dimension gods may do the same—it is not an official title, merely a self-proclaimed one; the dimensions they control are merely their own territories, not public spaces, and the souls they harbor are merely their personal collections, belonging to the dimension’s master.

DC’s Hell, however, assumes certain public responsibilities: it must house souls that cannot ascend to Heaven nor dissipate on their own, and the demons within may make deals with humans, exchanging various conditions for the ownership of their souls.

Moreover, power transitions within DC’s Hell are extremely complex; besides Lucifer, many other beings have once held the title of Satan—the true Lord of Hell.

First, one must mention the First Fallen, God’s first creation, His companion, the embodiment of His conscience; but one day, he deemed God mad, refused to remain by His side, and was banished to Hell.

He is called the First Fallen because he was the first being to arrive in Hell, and at that moment, he became Satan, the true ruler of Hell.

Later came the Second and Third Fallen; the First Fallen divided his power among them, forming the triune structure of Hell—until the arrival of the Fourth Fallen, Lucifer Morningstar, who shattered the First Fallen’s rule.

Lucifer was God’s favorite son; after quarreling with God, he fell to Hell and immediately ousted the First Fallen from the throne of Satan, claiming rulership for himself.

He then delegated his power to several demons, including Beelzebub, Azazel, and Belial; among them, Belial deserves special mention—he is one of the oldest demons in Hell.

Though his name may be unfamiliar, his two sons are renowned: one is the antihero demon Etrigan, the other is the legendary great wizard Merlin.

What happened afterward is known to all: Lucifer grew weary of Hell, constantly traveling to the mortal realm, even opening a bar on the West Coast.

He simply walked away, leaving Hell in chaos; the triune rule of the Satans had been stable enough, and though powerful demons still ruled their own territories, major decisions were always made by the Satans.

But now Lucifer—the most powerful and most respected—had fled, leaving the triune rule with one leg missing, and the thickest one at that; naturally, others began to stir.

Meanwhile, Maze, temporarily filling Lucifer’s role, had to constantly travel to the mortal realm to plead with Lucifer to return, while also monitoring Hell and suppressing the demons with treacherous intentions—she was utterly exhausted, her mind a tangled mess.

But this suppression could only last so long; eventually, Archduke Astaroth launched a rebellion, seeking to shatter the triune rule and become the sole Satan.

When Shieler jumped off the cliff, Hell was still at war: Archduke Astaroth had gathered several other powerful demons and was attacking Beelzebub’s territory; Azazel, wary of Belial’s stance, kept him contained on the other side, while Belial remained watchful, though many of his subordinates were already restless.

Constantine only saw Shieler plunge into Hell’s endless flames; precisely because of those flames obscuring the scene, he did not notice that Shieler’s landing spot was remarkably precise—he fell directly onto the front lines of the war between Astaroth and Beelzebub.

At that moment, both armies stood ready: magma demons raised their arms and roared, shadowy masses coalesced into towering black giants, hellish sandworms erupted from the ground, and saraphim—floating beings covered in eyes—hovered above all demons, watching the battlefield.

The two sides faced each other across the distance, shouts echoing across Hell’s hills and deserts, awaiting only the generals’ command to unleash total war.

But then, the thick clouds of Hell suddenly split open, and beams of flame poured down onto the dark, barren land; as the meteor fell with a piercing whistle, countless ancient demons lifted their heads from the shadows—this sight reminded them of the long-ago fallen Morningstar.

With a thunderous “boom,” an arrow pierced Hell’s earth, splitting the ground into a vast fissure; as the rumbling of the earthquake spread, nearly all demons struggled to stay upright.

When the dust cleared, the demons stared closely and saw a towering spire, leaning crookedly at the center of the battlefield.

As the most brilliant mage of the past century, Constantine never sought power from lowly soldiers on the battlefield when borrowing demonic strength—he dealt only with demon lords, at the very least.

And when Shieler declared he would repay Constantine’s debts, he made agreements with the demon lords—not with these frontline foot soldiers—so they had no idea what had transpired.

Some might wonder: if Shieler had already settled all debts with Constantine’s creditors, why wasn’t his soul immediately divided upon falling? The reason lies in the unique nature of his soul.

To demons, most human souls are small, soft morsels—easy to snatch, swallow, and savor.

The debt-collecting demons originally thought the same: when they heard someone would repay Constantine’s debts, they scoffed, dismissing it as fantasy; demon lords did communicate, and all demons knew exactly how much Constantine owed.

【Currently, the best app for audiobooks is Huanyuan App. Install the latest version.】

This debt could not be repaid by one or two people—even if Constantine could deceive a few demon lords and split his soul to pay them, it still might not satisfy his creditors’ appetites.

But the source of this news was Lucifer, the long-absent yet still recognized Lord of Hell; though many demons resented his prolonged absence, they still acknowledged his power, and thus grew curious about this bold claimant.

So, the vast majority of demon lords gathered at the designated location to witness what Lucifer was up to.

But when Shieler and his soul tower appeared atop the cliff at Hell’s edge, every demon lord erupted in excitement—they saw boundless sin, like a brilliant gem forged from countless souls.

All the lords were dazzled by this radiance, and each felt: this gem would be the most dazzling jewel upon their crowns after they crowned themselves Satan.

No demon did not wish to become Satan; Archduke Astaroth had already moved, and war was inevitable. Whoever seized this sword at this moment would naturally strengthen their power and gain greater advantage.

To obtain this unique soul, one must act first and intercept it; since Shieler fell from Hell’s edge, there was still distance to reach Hell’s interior—if one seized and devoured the soul during transit, no other demon could reclaim it.

Thus, the instant Shieler began to fall, countless hands reached for him—then all the demon lords froze.

The one who jumped was human, but mid-air, he transformed into a tower—and this tower had an incredibly hard shell; countless demon claws scraped against it, sparks flying, yet not a single one could halt its descent into Hell.

Shieler’s Mind Palace plunged deep into Hell’s ancient, solid earth, carving a new great rift, becoming Hell’s own Leaning Tower of Pisa, and crucially, subtly altering the battlefield’s tense equilibrium.

Astaroth dared attack Beelzebub precisely because he sought an easy target; he lacked the courage to storm Lucifer’s palace and gamble on whether Lucifer would return from the mortal realm to crush him—so attacking Beelzebub’s territory was his test.

Everything had proceeded smoothly: Astaroth assembled considerable forces and advanced toward Beelzebub’s border; Beelzebub offered no extreme reaction, merely mobilizing his border demons—the two sides faced off for days, until finally, sparks flew and full-scale war loomed.

But then, Lucifer suddenly sent word to Hell: someone would repay Constantine’s debts; all creditors should gather at Hell’s edge to claim their returns.

Astaroth and Beelzebub both held debts from Constantine, but neither had dealt with him much—in short, they had never been tricked by him, bore no deep grudge, and were in no hurry to reclaim those debts; they went to Hell’s edge only to gauge Lucifer’s stance.

But they never expected this fallen soul to be so valuable; thus, both Astaroth and Beelzebub tried to intercept it—unsuccessfully—and when they turned back, they found the prize had landed precisely on the border between their territories, with countless demonic eyes greedily fixed upon it.

Now Astaroth and Beelzebub were truly in trouble; Shieler’s dazzling entrance, besides leaving a deep psychological scar on Constantine, had awakened the appetites of most demon lords.

For demons, most human souls are only enough to fill a tooth gap; if numerous, they might fill the stomach, but offer no true delicacy. Humans with innate magical talent have fragrant souls—but their quantity is too small, insufficient for a full meal, merely a taste.

But Shieler was different: he possessed both quality and quantity—rich in emotion, vast in sin and virtue, countless stories, and brimming with soul energy—a sumptuous feast.

When Astaroth and Beelzebub realized this enormous pie had fallen onto their heads, their first reaction was not to order their armies to charge—they immediately commanded all demons to halt and retreat from the tower.

They both understood: this would be their best leverage to secure allies and rally support—but only if they first secured the tower’s sphere of influence.

Meanwhile, within the tower, Marvel Shieler stood by the window, watching the demonic army advancing fiercely toward the horizon, sighed, and said:

“I told you before—that guy is the most petty Shieler in the entire world.”