The Devil Envoy

The mysterious voice came from behind, shocking Ace as he turned around abruptly, almost revealing his presence in the process.

The voice seemed to surround Ace, but when he looked at all of the phantoms again, all of them were in the same dormant state. Their eyes wide open and staring at the Seventh Demon Lord they belonged in.

The body of the Seventh Demon Lord was where they resided and without him, they were just like children who have lost their father. Without their parents to stay alongside them, they were stranded in the wilderness by themselves.

Awaiting the day the Seventh Demon Lord wakes up from his deep slumber. But in their eyes devoid of life, there was something peculiar Ace noticed about the phantom behind his back right now.

There were still signs of life in the eyes of this phantom, but it was extremely faint that Ace only noticed now.

"Were you the one that called out to me just now?" Ace whispered towards the phantom silently, hoping that it could understand his intentions.

The phantom was Ace's only chance to awaken the Seventh Demon Lord and without its assistance, he had no other way to awaken the dormant soul of the Seventh Demon Lord.

"You were able to hear my voice?" The phantom that had attempted to reach out to Ace blurted in surprise, but just like the previous time, the other phantoms including the corrupted phantom were unable to hear its voice.

This phantom then went on to conjure a magical whirl of energy. This amount of spirit energy being used in this process was gradually yet exponentially increasing, as Ace perceived it to be related to a portal of sorts.

The next moment, memories surged into Ace's mind. Memories from the Seventh Demon Lord himself, from the perspective of the Seventh Demon Lord.

Ace could sense himself being sucked into a tidal wave as his physical body revealed its presence, collapsing onto the ground with his consciousness drifting away.

The corrupted phantom soul wasn't one to let this opportunity slip by as it tied Ace's body up with sturdy ropes, that even Martial Emperors wouldn't be able to break free from without external assistance.

The corrupted phantom soul then proceeded to place Ace's body on the floor right before the Seventh Demon Lord.

Held in its hand was a tattered scroll, wrapped around by a red string around the middle section. Pulling on the red ribbon knot used to secure the contents of the scroll, which seemed to be extremely important.

The corrupted phantom soul then proceeded to open the scroll and recited ancient characters from within it, raising its right hand to summon an altar from the barren ground while its left hand held the scroll.

The corrupted phantom scroll then manifested a gust of wind to place Ace's unconscious body on the altar. After all the preparations were in place, the corrupted phantom soul broke out in menacing laughter that startled the other phantom souls that panicked and scrambled around in fear.

The corrupted phantom soul grabbed onto a whip coated in black with sharp thorns that traumatised the other phantom souls that tried to escape from this living hell, the last resistance of their will to await the return of the Seventh Demon Lord fading away.

In the meantime, Ace was gradually beginning to understand the current circumstance of the Seventh Demon Lord and how the events led to him being sealed away.

"Are you really sure that you want me to seal away your powers? You should know that once this happens, you would be one with the Demon Race, that would one day rise up to contest against humanity and demons."

The mysterious figure clad in a robe that covered its appearance asked, the robe of his preventing the Seventh Demon Lord from perceiving its true appearance. Based on the deep tone of the voice, the mysterious figure was most likely a man.

The determination was written all over the face of the Seventh Demon Lord, his body writhing in pain just like a worm helpless on the ground as the countless insects devoured his flesh, their sharp fangs penetrating through his layers of defense and sinking into his bones, causing him immense pain that led to his face contorting in pain, yet he was helpless against this.

The mysterious figure spectated the scene as though it was an entertaining movie scene, except for the fact that the gore and cruelty were true. Kicking away the skulls that were clustered around his feet, the mysterious man approached the Seventh Demon Lord with footsteps that resounded in his ears.

"Argh...get away from me…" The Seventh Demon Lord groaned in pain, his arm reaching towards the ankle of the mysterious man, who had already squatted down just so that his murky nails could graze his face, causing streaks of blood that might never heal.

"Is this seriously the leader of the Seven Demon Lords that was instructed to join us? Just what is that hidden talent of yours that made the Devil Lord order me to guide you back personally."

The face of the Seventh Demon Lord twitched in pain, but beneath the pain of his was a concealed smile.

"You may be an envoy of the devils, but that doesn't mean that you have the qualifications to know my secret."

"Are you seeking death right now?"

The Seventh Demon Lord was taunting the Demon Envoy, that was the only opportunity he could seize in order to execute the plan of his. If it succeeds, then he might be able to break free from the restrictions that were binding him.

Viewing all this from the perspective of the Seventh Demon Lord was an overwhelming experience to Ace, he could sense the determination of the Seventh Demon Lord in enduring this inhumane pain, just to execute that mysterious plan of his.

If Ace had a choice, he would rather suffer the pain of the Seventh Demon Lord and understand his thoughts. Being a spectator from the first perspective seat right now, was a test to the limits of his curiosity that was boundless.

Ace wanted to know why the Seventh Demon Lord would accept the current status of his and suffer this inhumane torture, when he most likely possessed the strength to defeat this Devil Envoy regardless of the powerhouse behind it.

There was also a possibility that the strength of the Seventh Demon Lord was sealed, or that he was poisoned, but all these are just mere hypotheses without solid proof to back up his words.

"That's right, I'm seeking death, who would rather suffer this inhumane torture instead of entering the cycles or reincarnation?" The Seventh Demon Lord emphasised on the word 'reincarnation' as he stared at the Devil Envoy menacingly, blood leaking out from his mouth in laughter and agony.

"Don't blame me for being merciless then." The eyes of the Devil Envoy lit up in hatred as energy gathered into those murky nails of his that were dyed purple by the mysterious energy.

"Don't even think about reincarnation after I destroy your soul and body!" The Devil Envoy stabbed its sharp nails towards the head of the Seventh Demon Lord, only for it to be stopped by a mysterious hand that grabbed him by the neck.

The injuries on the body of the Seventh Demon Lord were healed by a mysterious relic that Ace could not identify, the only thing he could remember about it was the mark of a dragon claw on a gem.

The Seventh Demon Lord stood up from the ground, the opened gaps on his body closing up as though they were never present to begin with.

"If it wasn't for the fact that I demanded to take your life, the Devil Lord would have already made this trip personally. After all, weaklings such as the Devil Lord are nothing but an ant in my eyes. The only one that has an equal standing to me in this Divine Realm, is the Devil Marquis himself, the one that stands at the apex of devilish cultivation."

"Just who in the world are you?"

"No one in this world knows my true identity besides those standing in the Mystic Sage Realm. Only those standing at the apex have the qualifications to even know the name of the strongest cultivator."

The Devil Envoy knew that his life would come to an end and considering the number of sins that he had committed until now, he figured that he had probably offended the Seventh Demon Lord in some ways.

"I won't be taking your life, but I'll be splitting a fragment of my powers into your body and the chosen one who sees this entire situation, will be the one you follow for the rest of your life when the other seven phantoms souls merge into your soul. Don't resist."

The Devil Envoy knew that he had no choice but to obey the orders of the Seventh Demon Lord as he lowered and head and agreed to the conditions, asking, "What about my identity, am I supposed to be the Seventh Demon Lord that once fought against the heavens with the other six, or am I just the Devil Envoy myself?"

"It doesn't matter, the chosen one will know your identity." The Seventh Demon Lord replied coldly as he executed his plan, saying towards Ace who was currently spectating his actions from his perspective.

"Young cultivator, I hope that you can save the other six and become the next Mystic Sage cultivator that can save the Divine Realm and the rest of the cultivation world."

The next moment, Ace's body jolted up, only for his body to tug on the ropes restricting him to the altar and causing him to gasp from the sharp pain.

"Don't worry young cultivator, everything you've seen until now is only an illusion, as for why I was punishing the other phantom souls, it was to force them into your body willingly so that they can become a part of your strength and help you to step into the true cultivation path from the Martial Lord Realm onwards."

Stories

"What do you mean by that?"