NOVEL WEB Chapter 231 Seeking Help
Hearing this, Lu Hong's attack grew even more frenzied, but the long spear, powered by the convergence of three Divine Powers, still failed to break through the protection of the demonic array and ultimately dissipated in the palm of his hand, exhausted of Divine Power.
"I told you, it's useless. Stop wasting your energy. If you escape now, there may still be time," Archimonde said with a confident smile at the corner of his mouth, as if everything was going according to his plan, without any flaws.
At the same time, the demonic array that had been persistently pushed by Lu Hong seemed to lose its patience and, the moment the long spear disintegrated, emitted a strong backlash.
Even with Lu Hong's quick reflexes, he was blasted a hundred zhang away by the impact of the Magic Power.
Catching Lu Hong, Song Quan immediately advised, "Archimonde isn't lying. It's still possible to escape now. Even if Archimonde has absorbed the Magic Power of the Demon King, he has not yet obtained the Heart of Hell and is still confined to the realm of Hell. Once we leave Hell, we will be safe. But if we insist on staying in Hell... our lives are at risk."
The Lionheart God had an unwilling look in his eyes, "Can't we really give it a try?"
Song Quan gave the other a glance, "Give it a try? If we wait until Archimonde has completely absorbed the Demon King's power, we won't be able to escape. Trying is to gamble with our lives! Since Archimonde has already actively sabotaged the Demon King's revival array, our objective has been achieved. Now is the right time to leave Hell."
"Are you so certain Archimonde has no way of obtaining the Heart of Hell?" asked the Ancestor Dragon, his expression extremely grave, for he had already felt the powerful aura radiating from Archimonde, which had surpassed his own.
"This..."
Song Quan was stumped by the question. How could he guarantee that? Irritation welled up inside him, "I can't be sure of that."
"Then we can't just let Archimonde continue like this. Today he has drawn the Demon King's power; it's very possible that tomorrow he will obtain the Heart of Hell. When the Hell's armies once again ascend to the Star Sea, who could stop them?"
The Lionheart God joined in, "I also agree with the Ancestor Dragon's view. This battle seems inevitable. Better to fight in Hell than in the Star Sea."
"Then we wait, wait for Archimonde to withdraw the array on his own," decided Lu Hong with finality, and then he settled down to meditate, restoring his Divine Power and adjusting his state.
"You... are you idiots?!" Song Quan was exasperated, "If you won't leave, can I?"
"Take care, no need to send you off," Lu Hong waved his hand, "Oh, and could you visit other dimensions while you're at it, see if you can find and bring other Heavenly Gods from the Star Alliance out of Hell?"
"I can." Song Quan didn't want to lose his life, even if the Star Sea perished. As long as he hid in his divine kingdom, not even Archimonde, no matter how powerful, could detect him concealed in the void.
With Song Quan gone, the Lionheart and Ancestor Dragon both also sat in meditation to recover their Divine Power.
Within the distance of a wall, Archimonde's power grew stronger every second, and after half a day, had broken through the upper limit that the Ancestor Dragon could sense.
"The Hell Demon King really was formidable," murmured the Ancestor Dragon, "I had always thought it was my Endless Forest that had held back the main force of Hell. Yet Archimonde has clearly absorbed less than half of the Demon King's power and already far surpassed me. I can't imagine how you gods managed to fight the Demon King back then."
The Lionheart was silent for a moment, then said, "I don't know; perhaps if I hadn't traveled through time, I would."
Indeed, the Lionheart God also sensed something was amiss. His strength compared to the Demon King's was as vast as the difference between an ordinary Heavenly God and himself—apparently an insurmountable chasm.
Upon introspection, the Lionheart God couldn't believe that a hundred years of growth would enable him to reach the level needed to contend with the Demon King.
After speaking, both their gazes shifted to Lu Hong.
Feeling their intense stares, Lu Hong shrugged, "Don't look at me. I don't know either—probably the Demon King didn't use all his strength back then, or maybe someone restrained him."
At that moment, Lu Hong recalled what the Goddess of Fate had once told him—the War God had joined forces with the Lionheart to kill the Hell Demon King, a feat they accomplished with the help of the Netherworld God, likely the erstwhile Lord of the Underworld.
However, Lu Hong wasn't very clear about the strength of the Netherworld God, so he asked the Ancestor Dragon, "Dragon Bro, what do you think about the Netherworld God's power?"
"To be honest, I am not too clear on that. Although the Netherworld God, after her revival, did battle with me, she had not yet recovered most of her strength—she had only been revived briefly. Considering she's one of the living Primordial Deities we know of, her strength is definitely not to be underestimated."
"Then, could we perhaps find her to fight for us?" Lu Hong suddenly voiced a whimsical suggestion.
"That's a good idea, but how could we contact her?" inquired the Ancestor Dragon curiously.
"I've heard the Netherworld God doesn't like being called by her old name, so let's try to summon her with her original title." Saying this, Lu Hong shouted loudly, "Netherworld King, Netherworld King, Netherworld King!"
As the call of "Netherworld King" echoed three times, a curse power seeped from the void and assaulted Lu Hong's Divine Soul.
Unfortunately, at this time, Lu Hong's Divine Soul was stable and nearly immovable. The power of the curse, after exerting the strength of nine oxen and two tigers, hadn't been able to affect Lu Hong at all, and could only depart in frustration.
"Is this supposed to be effective?" Ancestor Dragon's eyes widened as he looked around. "It seems like nothing's happened, huh?"
"One person's strength is limited, you try as well."
Urged by Lu Hong, Ancestor Dragon also raised his voice and shouted three times, "Lord of the Underworld, Lord of the Underworld, Lord of the Underworld!"
Just like before, the power of the curse infiltrated the Demon King's dimension, attacking Ancestor Dragon's Divine Soul. Sadly, Ancestor Dragon's Divine Soul was just as powerful, and the paltry power of the curse could not shake it, and once again, it retreated, disheartened.
After waiting for several minutes, there was still no movement.
"Lionheart God, you give it a try."
"Okay." Upon hearing this, Lionheart God nodded and again shouted the name of the Lord of the Underworld.
And that pitiful curse power once again escaped into the Demon King's dimension, and as you can imagine, in the face of a top-tier Heavenly God, the curse power left by the Netherworld God was still limited. Moreover, with the passage of time, it had weakened by eighty percent compared to the original, and it could only bully lower-class Heavenly Gods and those below.
After three more shouts, there was still no reaction.
Ancestor Dragon and Lionheart looked towards Lu Hong, "What should we do next?"
"Then let's shout together."
"Lord of the Underworld, Lord of the Underworld, Lord of the Underworld!"
"Lord of the Underworld, Lord of the Underworld, Lord of the Underworld!"
"Lord of the Underworld, Lord of the Underworld, Lord of the Underworld!"
"Lord of the Underworld, you big ugly moron!"
Amid the chorus of calling the Lord of the Underworld, suddenly, an incongruous voice appeared, followed by Ancestor Dragon and Lionheart both turning their gaze squarely on Lu Hong, who had blurted out the insult.
"Why...why are you all staring at me?"
"You're done for." Ancestor Dragon wanted to say more, but a wave of furious will swept over, quickly locking onto the meditating Lu Hong.
The three looked up, and sure enough, it was the Netherworld God, but only a wisp of a divine shadow had come.
The Lord of the Underworld stared down angrily at Lu Hong and chastised, "Audacious, to dare insult this deity, you should be sentenced to death!"
With that, the Netherworld God raised his hand and from the void gripped a black Divine Power spear, smashing it down hard towards Lu Hong.
"Nono...Nono?!"
In the instant he saw the Netherworld God's face, Lu Hong was stunned. "Nono, is it really you?!"
Hearing Lu Hong's call, the Netherworld God's shadowy image paused, and the spear in its hand dissipated.
But in a moment, the Lord of the Underworld regained consciousness, his eyes filled with murderous intent: "War God, how do you know the name Nono?"
"Netherworld God, whatever grievances you may have with the War God, please look to your right. Archimonde is drawing power from the Demon King and is about to become the new Demon King. When that happens, the Star Sea will be decimated, and your Underworld won't escape calamity either!"
As Ancestor Dragon spoke, Lu Hong also snapped back to reality, suppressing the longing in his heart instead of continuing to call out Nono's name. It seemed that Nono had indeed succeeded before, occupying the Netherworld God's body, but he lacked Nono's memories. It looked like there was some problem with the posession. If the issues with the Hell Demon King were successfully resolved, he would certainly have to have a serious conversation with the Netherworld God.
Upon hearing this, the Netherworld God cast a glance to the right, then said indifferently, "What's that to me?"
"Then you might as well give up on your Underworld, and just be a shrinking turtle from now on!" Ancestor Dragon was angered by the Netherworld God's response. "Wait until we're all dead in battle, then you can go deal with Archimonde alone!"
"How so? I went head-to-head with the Demon King myself before. A mere Archimonde, a piece of trash drawing on the stale remnants of the Demon King's power, even needs me to join forces with you? If you can't defeat such trash, you're even more pathetic!"