Demon Bible

Chapter 197: Aftermath

A massive white egg streaked across the sky, vanishing almost as quickly as it had appeared.

Ahriman, meanwhile, wore a terrifying expression. Completely ignoring the copious amounts of slime oozing from its mouth, the demon fixed a death glare on Nemus.

Then, Ahriman vanished, returning to the Abyss.

Within a horrific dimension swirling with black, red, gray, and yellow, Ahriman narrowed its eyes. Breathing in the familiar, foul aura of the Abyss, a glint of anticipation flashed in its gaze.

A terrifying shockwave radiated outward, instantly pulverizing a few Lesser Demons that had wandered over to investigate the commotion.

Having completed its daily quota of slaughter, Ahriman's mood improved significantly as it lumbered off into the distance.

The Six-Armed Naga Demon and the Shadow Demon were both in their weakened states. Standard demons would normally be fine and could likely find various ways to evade danger.

The Abyss was vast, comprised of countless layers.

However, for the sake of convenience, a Demon Warlock would typically bind and summon demons from the same layer. Not only did this streamline the summoning process, but it also reduced the mental strain of managing their Contracts.

Furthermore, Ahriman had secretly memorized the aura of the Six-Armed Naga Demon.Regurgitating its egg had taken a heavy toll, and it urgently needed to replenish its strength.

So, it decided to track down its former colleague to 'borrow' a little nourishment.

Meanwhile, back on the Material Plane, cleanup operations were well underway in the North District of Tail Fin Town, part of the greater Sky Blue Whale City.

A staggering number of Clerics had suffered casualties; anyone who could still be saved required immediate medical attention.

The captured members of the Ben family had to be detained and processed, while search parties needed to be dispatched to hunt down those who had managed to flee.

Someone also had to track down the egg that Ahriman had spat out at the very end. Leaving it unfound was a guaranteed recipe for future disaster.

With the entire local Church mobilized, the more sensible Nobles and factions remained exceptionally quiet, not daring to stir up any trouble.

After all, a major incident like this would inevitably be followed by a severe, sweeping crackdown.

They all wanted to live to see tomorrow, which naturally meant giving the Church absolutely no excuses to make an example of them.

Yet, there was always bound to be a handful of brainless idiots incapable of reading the room.

These fools naively assumed that just because the Church was temporarily short-handed, it was the perfect time to resume the illicit activities they had previously been forced to abandon under strict supervision.

As a result, pockets of chaos began springing up across Tail Fin Town.

Nemus dispatched the lightly injured Holy Knights and a squad of Priests to maintain order in the streets. Turning around, he spotted Krew standing not too far away.

Krew adjusted his glasses, offering a nod and a subtle smile.

They had successfully secured the vast majority of the Demon Warlock's belongings. The man's exhaustive research notes on demons, along with all his hoarded resources and materials, were now safely in Nemus's possession.

With that confirmed, Nemus ordered the communications Priest to report the full details of the incident to headquarters in Sky Spring City.

Given the sheer scale of what had transpired, Sky Spring City would inevitably dispatch high-ranking officials to investigate.

For most people involved, this was actually a blessing in disguise.

Nemus had secured massive merit by slaying the Demon Warlock, while the other Holy Knights had proven their valor by butchering numerous demons.

The only ones who would suffer were those tied to the Ben family, or the negligent officials who had repeatedly failed to uncover the family's dark secrets during their routine inspections.

'At least with this achievement under my belt, securing a transfer to a prominent position in Sky Spring City will be much easier,' Nemus mused. As he processed the endless paperwork, he temporarily seized the vacuum of power left by Bishop Rhine's absence, carefully plotting his next moves.

The emergence of the Demon Warlock was incredibly convenient—the man made the perfect scapegoat. It went without saying that the fallen Floating World Society was already tied to him. However, thanks to a few planted connections, all the suspicious external activities carried out by the Construct Protocol could now be pinned squarely on the dead Warlock as well.

Even the recent attacks on the Nidon Family and the Baiter Merchant Guild could be smoothly blamed on him.

After all, the Demon Warlock had a glaringly obvious motive: advancing to the Golden Rank.

It was painfully obvious to anyone looking that the prior assaults had simply been his desperate attempts to gather the Golden Elixir.

By eliminating the Warlock, Nemus had not only covered his tracks but had also inherited a lucrative stash of resources. For the foreseeable future, he could comfortably accelerate his own plans.

He needed to completely restructure the Construct Protocol during this downtime, molding it into an airtight, highly capable combat organization.

As for himself, he had to steadily manipulate the Historical Trajectory, rapidly pushing his Attribute Value to the Peak Limit to see if he could finally achieve advancement to the Legend Rank.

If he succeeded, he would practically be able to act with impunity across the Material Plane. As long as he avoided provoking a large-scale Advent of Saints, he wouldn't face any real threats.

Yet, Nemus could vaguely sense that while tapping into the Historical Trajectory or utilizing Historical Numbers to reach the Golden Rank wouldn't be terribly difficult, the path to the Legend Rank remained obscured by a thick, impenetrable fog.

In the end, possessing a Historical Number was only one prerequisite for the Legend Rank. As for the remaining conditions, it was likely that not even Westbin had known what they were.

Nemus wasn't stubbornly fixated on becoming a Legend-rank being just yet.

The physical body of Nels had severely limited potential. Even fortified by Nemus's numerous blessings, ascending to the Golden Rank in this vessel would be an agonizingly difficult endeavor.

According to his own estimates, even if he did manage to break through to the Golden Rank, pushing his Attribute Value much higher would be practically impossible. He would likely hit a hard ceiling between one and two hundred. In terms of raw Attribute Value alone, he might end up weaker than that Heterogeneous Demon.

With such a restrictive physical vessel, even Nemus lacked the confidence to guarantee a successful breakthrough to the Legend Rank.

'It's better to play it safe. I shouldn't blindly chase after grandiose goals. I need to maximize my current potential, hit the Golden Rank as quickly as possible, and gain access to the Church's highly classified archives on the gods,' Nemus concluded. His true focus still needed to remain on his Divinity.

He possessed exactly one-fifth of a Divinity. If he could gradually piece it together to form a whole, he might be able to bypass conventional advancement entirely, directly unlocking the profound mysteries of the Mythic Rank. He would become one of the exceedingly rare beings to ascend to mythhood.

Nemus shelved his musings. Without a clearer understanding of the path ahead, any grandiose plans for the future were nothing more than empty daydreams.

Ultimately, he had to take things one step at a time. First, he would climb to a position of sufficient authority. Next, he would gather the necessary information. Finally, he would make his play for true power.

One day, he would inevitably ascend to the very pinnacle of existence.

Right now, he simply had to endure the arduous climb.

Gathering his squad, Nemus proceeded to systematically purge the entire Ben family Estate.

Every room, every document, and every artifact required meticulous scrutiny.

Anything remotely related to the Abyss could not be underestimated.

For instance, a demon might leave behind an inconspicuous mark. If an Ordinary Person with sufficiently dark Desires stumbled upon it, they could trigger the sinister knowledge hidden within. From there, a simple Blood Sacrifice was all it took to re-establish a connection with the Abyss.

A single moment of negligence was all it took to spark another catastrophic Demon Disaster.

It was during this exhaustive cleanup operation that the officials from Sky Spring City finally arrived.

Just as with previous incidents of this magnitude, the Judgment Hall had been dispatched to conduct a thorough review.

Naturally, the man leading the investigation was none other than Gotthard.

The Golden-rank Holy Knight of the Governance Faction.