Hell's Handbook

Chapter 331

Ive come to make sure you dont embarrass me. Is that a good enough reason? The Demon Lord sounded a little resigned, and she seemed conflicted. She looked at Azer, who was only left with half his body. Azer, on the other hand, looked excited to see her.

You fool! Youre not here to kill them. Youre here to look for me, arent you? The Demon Lord walked toward Azer. She waved her arm, and the lower body that had been destroyed was restored.

Azer was even more excited. He smiled and said, It was only a rumor but I wanted to try my luck.

What the heck is going on? A fight has suddenly become a romance? What?! snapped Xu Ran in annoyance.

The Demon Lord glared at him, then said, He didnt intend to kill you two at all and was just trying to force me to come out. I didnt think the low-ranking god of yesteryear would have actually grown to reach mid-rank!

Su Jin and Xu Ran looked confused. Azer nodded at the two of them and said, The both of you are pretty capable, even though youre still too reliant on equipment. But youre still growing and developing. Im sure youll achieve great things in the future.

Are you saying we just got played? asked Su Jin.

The Demon Lord nodded without hesitation. If he were just a low-ranked god, the two of you combined would have stood a chance to win the fight. But hes a mid-ranked god, so the difference between your powers is tremendous. The fact that he didnt smite both of you in one second can only mean that he didnt intend to kill you two right from the start. She turned back to Azer and said with a sigh, Why are you looking for me? Dont tell me its because of what happened in the past.

Azer sighed when he saw the look on her face and said, I know emotions are meaningless to you. Im here to persuade you to join us. As long as youre willing to join us, we will let these two fellows off.

Join you guys? The Demon Lord laughed. Is there any meaning to doing that?

Of course. Having a top-ranking deity on the team is very important to either side, said Azer without hesitation.

But the Demon Lord shook her head and said, Thats all in the past. Im not a top-ranking deity anymore. After all these years, Ive lost almost all my believers, so my powers have also declined

Its just a decline. As long as youre willing to join us, the rest will definitely be willing to help you recover, said Azer before the Demon Lord could finish what she wanted to say.

The Demon Lord stared at Azer with a pitiful look in her eyes as she said, Azer, do you really think theres hope? Whatever you guys are doing, whatever the Mad Hatter and the rest are doing do you really think theres any meaning to it?

Meaning! Meaning! When did you become the sort who cares about meaning? We dont have any other choice! For the sake of our former glory, for our future we have to fight even if we dont want to! Azer was practically bellowing by this point.

But the Demon Lord remained as calm as before. She said quietly, Fight? Back when we became new gods, the elder gods and the current gods fought too. What happened in the end? When we became current gods, we fought with the new gods too. But look at what happened. Were now elder gods, and whatever happened in the past will definitely happen again whats the use in fighting?

She sighed and said tiredly, Azer forget it. Just live as well as you can and wait for new gods to appear our task here will also come to an end.

Azer stared at the Demon Lord in disbelief. He shouted, Shiveh! Even if things are really like you said, that were going to die whether we fight or not given what I know of your temperament, even if you have to die, you would want to die fighting! What what in the world changed you?

What changed me? Nothing can change me. I just understand how all of this works now, thats all, said the Demon Lord with a bitter smile. Go back! Leave this universe to me. Even though the gods might not have a long time left, if we can all live peacefully, well leave pretty good memories behind.

Were going to die! Who cares about memories when youre dead?! Azer was very indignant. He knew he might have to put in some effort to invite the Demon Lord to join their faction, but he didnt expect her to turn him down without hesitation.

Shiveh, if you would just go back with me you will understand that our efforts are not in vain! As long as you and me Azer grabbed hold of her arm.

Shiiing! Black sparkles flashed across his hand, and it immediately turned to dust. The Demon Lord said frostily, Ive already told you to go back! Or do you really think that you or the people backing you can force me into doing anything?!

The moment she said that, Su Jin and Xu Ran felt like the whole world around them had fallen into ruins. It was a force that made one feel pure despair. Their psychokinesis could only shrink and hide in the depths of their consciousness. It dared not show even the tiniest bit of itself in the face of this force.

A top ranking deity! Azer looked terrified for a moment, before smiling sadly. He used his remaining hand to punch a black passageway into the air before saying to the Demon Lord, You know that I would never force you. But if you ever change your mind, then youre always welcome to join us! With that, Azer leaped into the dark passageway he had created. The passageway mended itself within seconds and disappeared without a trace.

After Azer left, the Demon Lord slowly weakened her aura again. Once it had returned to normal, her body suddenly went limp and she started freefalling into the ocean.

Su Jin and Xu Ran didnt realize what was going on until the Demon Lord had plunged into the water. Su Jin immediately jumped in. Thankfully, his psychokinesis was enough to help him find her.

After he fished her out of the water, he asked, Whats going on? Your aura is now just like any ordinary human. Where did your powers go to?

Send me back first back to your house. Ill talk about the rest later, she whispered into his ear.

Su Jin nodded and said to Xu Ran, Theres some issue with her body but shes left her medication at my place. Ill bring her back with me first and Ill contact you later.

Xu Ran hesitated, then nodded to say that it was fine with him. Su Jin flew back to S City with the Demon Lord, while Xu Ran returned to the temple in B City.

Once they were back in his house, Su Jin placed the Demon Lord on her bed and pulled the blanket over her before asking, Whats going on?

She smiled bitterly, then said in a slow voice, Its not anything complicated. Im no longer a top-ranking god, but I wanted to still look like one. Its like using a credit card to pay for stuff thats above your income in advance thats how I ended up like this. Im afraid itll take some time for me to restore my powers.

Su Jin was stunned to hear this. When he thought about how she wanted him to bring her back here but did not want to tell Xu Ran about it, he asked, You dont trust Xu Ran?

Theres a bit of that. Hes very powerful and if he can become a god in the future, hed be a top-ranking one. But his personality makes me uncomfortable. Hes someone whos willing to sacrifice everything in order to succeed. If he knows that Im no different from an ordinary person now, that fellow might kill me and rob me of my godhood for all I know.

Su Jin fell silent for a while. He wasnt too sure about Xu Ran himself either. They behaved like old friends, but they had not actually gone through a lot together. Just like what the Demon Lord said, Xu Ran was definitely a successful person, but some of the things he did in order to succeed were a little questionable. Priest Qiu Chan was his teacher, but he was now in a comatose state and his body was being controlled by someone else. Someone capable of doing such a thing it wasnt hard to understand why the Demon Lord did not trust him.

But you trust me so much? asked Su Jin with a laugh.

She glared at him and scoffed, There are only two of you, so Ive got to trust at least one of you, right? I would just say that compared to him, youre not as much of a threat.

He laughed, then asked, Azer asked you to join his faction, and the Mad Hatter did mention before that the elder gods have split into different camps. Could you tell me more details about whats happening?

The Demon Lord hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. I can only tell you that the elder gods are not your greatest crisis. You should actually be thinking about the current gods. They havent made any moves yet, but once they do, they will come down very hard because compared to the abandoned elder gods like us, the current gods still stand a chance for the sake of that chance, they will definitely do anything they can to stop any new gods from rising up.

I have a guess in mind if the Handbook is a tool used for selecting people, but the one controlling it isnt the gods, it means that the one controlling it is an even greater being than the gods. So what is it? Heaven? Su Jin asked suddenly.

The Demon Lord stiffened in shock. She furrowed her brows and said, I cannot answer your question. I can only say that youre very close to the truth. But my advice is before you become an actual god, its best that you dont think too much about this. If you keep pursuing the truth like this, then the moment you find out the truth is the same moment you turn into dust.

Su Jin nodded. He had made a few guesses based on what the Mad Hatter and the Demon Lord had told him, but it wasnt enough to understand the whole truth. But he believed that since both of them had refused to tell him the truth, then it was definitely true that he would meet a terrible end if he pursued the truth with his current abilities.

He went on to ask if she needed anything, but she said she just needed to rest, and she also told him not to tell Xu Ran about what happened to her, in case he got any bad ideas.

After Su Jin left the room, a frosty expression spread across the Demon Lords face. She muttered to herself, Stupid Azer, you nearly ruined my plans. But if I can make use of those idiots, then that would be pretty useful to me. With that, black sparkles shot out from her fingertips, creating a hole in the void. She entered the hole and disappeared.

Su Jins eyes were half closed, but when that happened, his eyes opened again. That doesnt seem like something a god whos lost their godly powers would be capable of doing. This Demon Lord why does she continue to linger in our universe? What in the world is she waiting for?