This Lich Requests More Remuneration
Chapter 543 - 486 Breaking the Skull

Chapter 543: Chapter 486 Breaking the Skull

Goddess Tiamat and Zariel truly came to blows.

Literally, came to blows.

Upon hearing the huge disparity, Goddess Tiamat couldn’t control herself and revealed her true form as an evil dragon with five heads.

The five heads seized Zariel and bit her furiously, as raging flames instantly engulfed the entire world.

In terms of the level of divine power, Goddess Tiamat possessed only weak divine power, but the massive bodies of those five evil dragons were so formidable that calling her a deity with weak divine power was an accurate measure of her true strength.

In her panic, Zariel clumsily parried with her flaming longsword, barely fending off Tiamat’s deadly attacks, and in a moment of carelessness, one of her flaming wings was torn off.

That excruciating pain drove Zariel to madness.

"Damn it! Tiamat, do you really think you can beat me?!"

With a roar from Zariel, the entire palace was shattered by towering flames, followed by the angry roars of countless devils.

Portals opened up one after another beside Zariel, and the elite troops she had been cultivating for years appeared, roaring at the five evil dragons.

Goddess Tiamat didn’t stop her assault either; with a collective roar from her five dragon heads, she summoned an overwhelming number of red dragons!

The red dragons of the Githyanki paled in comparison to this mighty host before them.

The two armies collided mid-air, like two tsunamis crashing into each other, instantly spraying countless "splashes."

These were splashes made of blood, sulfur, and lava, constantly bursting wildly into existence, with countless powerful lives falling every second.

Had it not been for Mammon protecting the magic mirror at the critical moment, this fragile mirror would have been destroyed in the aftermath of the first collision.

Zariel and Tiamat’s forms became enormously huge, like heroes and monsters fighting atop mighty waves, battling until the sky was darkened with debris.

The entire first layer of hell shook.

A single breath from Tiamat could spread for miles, creating rivers of molten lava upon the earth. Zariel’s sword could slice through space, leaving traces in the sky as brilliant as fireworks that seemed permanent, turning into scars in the heavens.

Such terrifying power would have destroyed the world on the Prime Material Plane had this conflict between the two hell lords occurred there.

No one knows how long the battle lasted, with demon and giant dragon corpses piling up into mountains, until Zariel roared, "Tiamat! Don’t push me; I am the true ruler of the first layer of hell!"

At Zariel’s call, the abstract concept of the world materialized, appearing as countless chains that tightly bound Tiamat’s immense body.

This was the power of the lord of a plane.

Although the first layer of hell was not Zariel’s divine realm, it was still a plane entrusted to her management by the ruler of the Nine Layers of Hell, naturally allowing her to harness the entire plane’s power.

However, such a way of fighting seemed somewhat like cheating, akin to using hacks when one is losing.

No matter how strong Tiamat was, she couldn’t resist the power of an entire layer of hell; the chains tightened more and more, covering all five of her dragon heads.

But Tiamat, as if mad, let out an angry roar at Zariel: "Zariel, do you think you can subdue me with the power of hell?! If you dare, kill me; otherwise, I will devour you!"

The giant dragon struggled furiously, pulling at these chains of the world, causing the entire first layer of hell to start shaking.

Mammon, seeing that things were going awry, realized that if this continued, their lord of hell would be awakened.

That was Mammon’s former father-in-law, whom, although Mammon had won his approval to become the lord of the third layer of hell, Mammon also resented deeply. If not for the former Lord of Hell’s interference, how could he have been separated from his love Lasia and forced to turn to the pursuit of wealth instead?

But despite his resentment, Mammon was well aware of the lord of hell’s terror. Absolutely, they could not allow this father-in-law to make an appearance; otherwise, all three of them would face punishment.

Thus, Mammon flew directly into the battlefield, grabbing Zariel’s sword-wielding hand with one hand and the breathing dragon head with the other.

"Enough!" Mammon exclaimed excitedly: "You are devils, and devils value contracts and cherish wisdom most of all!"

Although Mammon was a miser, he had his capabilities; otherwise, he wouldn’t have qualified to suppress the third layer of hell. Holding back both grand dukes of hell with one hand each, Mammon said excitedly, "Tiamat, isn’t it the most normal thing for devils to meddle with contracts? If you didn’t spot it yourself, that’s on you. What’s there to be angry about? Haven’t you deceived mortals into signing unfair contracts before?!

"And you, Zariel, you’ve been a fallen angel for so long, is it right to fly into a rage when your deception is uncovered? Do you have any dignity left as an archduke of the devils? Accept defeat when you lose; that’s the devil’s spirit of contract. Do you two idiots really want to wake the Lord of Hell? If you want to die, don’t drag me down with you!"

With the name of the Lord of Hell uttered by Mammon, both Zariel and Tiamat calmed down a lot.

Nominally, Asmodeus was only the ruler of the Ninth Level of Hell, but in reality, He dominated the entirety of Hell.

Asmodeus delegated His authority, allowing devils like Zariel to rule over individual layers of Hell, but if He wished to reclaim that power, it would be a mere thought away.

Asmodeus was never one for mercy, and should He be roused, no matter the reason, the three of them would meet dire consequences.

Especially Zariel, who was once resolute in death before capitulating to Asmodeus’s own intervention, thereby falling into devilhood.

With the World Chains gone, Goddess Tiamat regained her freedom, yet she did not continue her assault on Zariel, but rather reverted to her Half-Dragon form.

Zariel also sheathed her Flaming Longsword and retracted her fiery wings, biting her teeth but remaining silent.

Mammon breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that these two fools had finally cooled down a bit.

"Well, isn’t it just a tale of scheming and being out-schemed? Haven’t you seen enough of it after so many years in Hell? If you can’t trick someone, concede defeat. We all have eternal lives, and winning or losing isn’t limited to today."

Mammon truly looked down on outsiders like Goddess Tiamat and Zariel, who lacked any demonic grace. Should it be about winning or losing, one should maintain an elegant demeanor. They act as if they’re demons from The Abyss, always fighting desperately.

On the other side of the Magic Mirror, the Goddess of Wealth watched as three Lords of Hell bickered and drove down the price to vie for a cooperation opportunity in her presence, feeling utterly delighted.

She never expected that her first move after a prolonged silence would spur such a fierce competition among the three Lords of Hell.

The Goddess of Wealth even felt her Divine Power rising steadily; it was unclear whether it was because the Soul Bank was nearing establishment or because the three Lords of Hell were bargaining with Her.

Especially since not even a Deity could be sure about everything concerning concepts.

There were rumors that the Lord of Knowledge once contemplated banning most mundane gossip-filled chronicles, but later found that such books often sold better than the orthodox and rigorous histories and were more eagerly discussed, allowing knowledge to infiltrate memories in a domineering and rogue manner.

This is the limitation of a Concept God.

After all, not having entirely lost self-concept, there are still likes and dislikes, and judgments can be erroneous.

Therefore, even the mightiest Concept God may fall due to their own mistakes.

Having experienced much, the Goddess of Wealth was now extremely cautious and modest. Even though the three Lords of Hell had literally come to blows, She still strived to stay calm, pressing the price down bit by bit.

The devils, having calmed down, accepted the Goddess of Wealth’s suggestion and began their gritted bidding.

After a round of haggling, Mammon successfully joined the Soul Bank project, and he was also willing to participate in the marriage coercion campaign against the Koutao Mermaid Goddess.

Amberser was required to pay a hiring fee of eight hundred thousand Soul Currency. This eight-hundred-thousand Soul Currency would be invested into the initial operation of the Soul Bank, with Mammon holding a twenty percent stake.

For Goddess Tiamat, the hiring fee was ten million Soul Currency, which would also be invested in the bank operation, but her share was only ten percent.

Goddess Tiamat was dissatisfied, feeling that after exposing Zariel’s deception, She should have netted at least forty million Soul Currency, and the bank shares should be over sixty percent.

Unfortunately, the Goddess of Wealth wouldn’t grant Her wishes.

Now that the Koutao Mermaid Goddess was nearly reduced to Weak Divine Power due to being swindled, it hardly mattered to also lose Goddess Tiamat. The Goddess of Wealth wasn’t even sure She would grant the latter a chance to act as a mercenary.

With Mammon stirring the pot, Goddess Tiamat chose to lower her stake and hold onto the Soul Currency, keeping six million for Herself and investing four million into the bank for shareholding.

As for Zariel, her hiring fee was only six million, though it should have been eight million, but two million was allocated for Goddess Tiamat as compensation. Regarding the shareholding, Zariel also held only ten percent. The Goddess of Wealth did not allow Her to invest all Her Soul Currency into the bank, so like the others, she invested four million for a ten percent share.

The three Lords of Hell combined held a forty percent stake, contributing an investment of sixteen million Soul Currency. The remaining shares of the bank were temporarily kept by the God of Alchemy; further bidding would take place in the future.

There were too many Lords of Hell, and the Soul Bank’s involvement was too significant. Once it officially opened, countless Lords of Hell would covet this lucrative opportunity.

Both Amberser and the Goddess of Wealth were well aware that their own stake could not be sizable.

Ten percent was already pushing the limit, any more, and the other Lords of Hell could easily conspire to expel the outsiders, ending the venture and swallowing those millions or even billions of Soul Currency for themselves. They could easily revert to their feudal and backward economic models without being at a loss.

Thus, the Soul Bank was destined to be a project that looked appealing but wasn’t highly profitable.

The real prize was Amberser’s currency printing ability; his Soul Currency would gradually replace the current "True Money" circulating in Hell, essentially driving out good currency with bad.

By then, the true Lords of Hell would likely take issue.