Abyssal Lord of the Magi World

"Bip... Following the Ruler's command."

After the voice of the NRAI manifested itself in Zatiel's mind, an invisible force entered Oliver, Tomas, and the rest of the members of the Heavenly race. They trembled, and the next second, their souls were extracted from their bodies and poured into the metallic floor.

Zatiel's eyes were cold as he saw the hundreds of new crystal statues that appeared in the 9th layer of The Final Purgatory. Oliver and Tomas were at the center while the rest of the members of the Heavenly race were surrounding them. The faces of the dukes displayed what could only be described as unbearable regret, while the rest of their people showed pure agony.

Unlike the rest of the statues in the layer, the ones of Oliver and Tomas were tiny, measuring less than ten centimeters, and the ones of their people were even smaller.

Slowly runic lines began to appear on the surface of the statues of the members of the Heavenly race. If your soul was strong enough to resist the pressure they generated and your perception reached a high enough level, you could see the true nature of these runes.

Their bloodlines, their law comprehension, their techniques, their mentality, their hopes and desires, everything about them could be understood through these runes. Due to these characteristics, they were a treasure trove to any life form.

A skilled Rune Master could decipher the mysteries of their bloodlines and create a runic set that emulated the abilities they granted, or a Magic Creator could integrate them into his creations. Powerful individuals could learn the theory behind the technique they learned through their lives and benefit from the experience they developed over them, allowing them to copy those skills or even improve them and make something suitable for them.

One could use the runic lines in the statues to obtain their law comprehension. Emulating the law comprehension of others would harm your foundation and make the advance to the Minor Completion level almost impossible, so for the Neo-Demon race who had the Soul Seeds was not worth it. But if you only used them as a reference and not the core of your law comprehension, they could be beneficial.

"So the soul of a Rank 4 life form creates a statue of approximately ten centimeters." Zatiel focused a moment on the statues of Oliver and Tomas before looking at the more than two meters tall statues around him.

Every single one of the millions of statues present in this layer was a Rank 6 life form before having their soul placed into this black pyramid. Some of them were the absolute leaders of their worlds, while others were puppets put in place by Beings of Law to control their territories, but either way, they were existences worshiped by countless people.

Life forms like them were so powerful that their emotions could manifest themselves in the physical plane. The extreme hate and resentment that corroded their soul were so great that it formed the black fog the statues were constantly releasing. The power of the Incarnation of Death and Destruction was high enough to have stopped this gas from being created, but why would he stop such a great training tool and weapon from developing?.

The noise that depicted the madness that invaded the mind of the individuals in this layer kept filling Zatiel's surroundings, but he couldn't care less. They may have enjoyed glorious lives before, but now they were nothing more than batteries, and in fact, they were the lowest type present in the pyramid.

Zatiel gave one final look at Oliver's statue, and a smile appeared on his face as he imagined what he would have to endure from now on.

"Enjoy eternal torture." After having fulfilled his promise, the Neo-Demon picked the shadow cocoon and flew to the sky, where a runic formation was present, and the moment he touched it, he and the cocoon vanished from the 9th layer.

He appeared in another layer, just like the previous one, with a metallic floor and crystal statues filling it. The difference, however, was that these statues were larger, almost ten times bigger than the ones present in the 9th layer, and the black gas they released was more powerful.

Zatiel appeared in the 8th layer of The Final Purgatory. This was not his final destination, but the seal and protocols put in place inside the black pyramid forced him to begin at the last layer and gradually progress to the first one.

The Neo-Demon ignored the cries of agony around him, and he advanced to the runic formation in the sky before disappearing once again.

He kept advancing through the layers of The Final Purgatory. The higher the Neo-Demon rose, the greater the crystal statues became, but their numbers decreased. It wasn't long before the black gas that filled the layers grew powerful enough to affect Beings of Laws.

By the time he reached the 3rd layer, there were less than ten statues, but they were even larger than stars. The runes that covered them were unimaginably complex and released a pressure that could crush even the strongest Rank 6 life form if they take even a glimpse of them.

They adopted all kinds of monstrous forms that portrayed the true nature of their souls, and not a single one of them could be considered anything else than a completely evil being.

Zatiel was so small that he could not even compare to a finger of these statues, and they were just a representation of the might of their souls. They were beings of absolute power, and if they managed to escape, they would throw the entire universe into chaos for hundreds of thousands of years.

Luckily, he had the protection of the Black Hole Runic Set and white membrane, or else the power of the black gas and pressure of the runes would have erased his existence.

Just like in the statues in the lower layers, they reacted to Zatiel's presence, but although they released an aura full of negative emotions, they all still had their rationality intact, and wisdom could be seen in their eyes.

The souls sealed in The Final Purgatory experienced time millions of times faster than in the rest of the universe. However, to the entities in the 3rth layer, even eons of solitude and agony could not break their wills.

The Neo-Demon felt all types of messages reach him, but he ignored them. The more time he spent on this layer, the more energy the white membrane would consume, and since he had nothing to say to them, he just flew to the rune formation in the sky and proceeded to the next layer.

The 2nd layer of the Final Purgatory was different from the others. Unlike the black gas that filled the previous layers, this one was saturated by a white fog.

Instead of negative emotions, what this fog expressed was peace, harmony, and order. Nevertheless, this did not mean the white fog was less dangerous than the black gas.

The white fog could push the soul of an individual into a quiet dream, from where they may never wake up.

In this layer, there was only one crystal statue, and unlike the others that were black, this one was white. The fog was so thick that it concealed the figure of the statue, but if the ones in the 3rd layer could compare to stars, the size of this one could equal a moon.

Zatiel focused on the white statue and saw how its eyes glowed. The next moment less than ten meters away from the Neo-Demon, a man materialized.

This man was averagely handsome, with short blonde hair and a kind face. His appearance was nothing special, but the aura that overflowed his body made clear he was someone unique and that even the great powerhouses of the universe would only bring shame to them if they compared with him.

The Ancestor of the Neo-Demon race could feel a righteous spirit coming from this man and a resolute personality that would never back down under any situation.

Zatiel knew that his senses were not tricking him since this man was someone who would endure the most horrible fate possible if that meant protecting his people and the rest of the life form in the universe.

The man kept his eyes closed, but it was clear he had no problem perceiving his surroundings. He focused on Zatiel and gave a small bow before speaking.

"I have been in this place for a very long time, and I have managed to understand some of its properties and unique capabilities. I know how special this floor is and for you to be the first person to arrive at this place means your identity can only be one. It is an honor to meet The Blight of the Nine Hells, The Butcher of Archdevils, The Master of the Ancient Baernaloths, The Devourer of Baator and Abyss, the one and only Incarnation of Death and Destruction."