"I think I just saw a ghost."
Satanah was preparing teleportation magic while turning her head to speak to the group, her face showing a puzzled expression as if something was bothering her.
The search had ended, and no one had found any traces of blood race activity. This place seemed to be intended for transformation into a theme hotel, but unlike Satanah's hotel, it wasn't vampire-themed.
"That's irrelevant."
Su Ming quietly waited for the teleportation gate to open. Satanah's magical combat power was strong, but her teleportation technique was excruciatingly slow, just like Hel's. Their power systems didn't quite align with spatial magic.
"I was on the first floor looking for something earlier and felt like someone was watching me. When I turned around, I seemed to glimpse a distant white shadow merging into the wall. It wasn't a soul; I couldn't sense it."
Satanah was still in a state of worry, her brows furrowed, eyes fixed on the ground.
"Restless spirits won't destroy the world. The task of the vampires and Inhumans takes priority now." Su Ming saw the teleportation gate had opened and tilted his head, indicating for the group to enter: "If humans die out, you won't get any souls later."
The one least involved with this was Hel. She never relied on Midgard's souls to live. If all the Earthlings were wiped out, the most affected would naturally be Mephistopheles. Other Lords of Hell, apart from Secret Guest, would suffer considerable losses.
With humans alive, it's like harvesting chives; there's always a flow. If humans suddenly perish, it's like draining a pond to catch fish.
Thus, when the Lords of Hell invade the Main Dimension, it's rarely about destruction but more about domination. They inherently wish for humans to exist.
Hel maintained her icy demeanor and stepped into the teleportation gate: "Actually, based on this, you could form an entire Demon King Alliance Army. Dozens of Lords of Hell, billions of demon armies, all at your disposal to root out your enemies from the ground."
"I don't plan to annihilate vampires or Inhumans. The Supreme Mage's duty is to maintain balance; they are still useful." Su Ming followed in her steps, behind him was a Fire Skeleton leading a horse: "Besides, if so many Demon Kings and demons were allowed into the Main Dimension, how would we drive them out afterward?"
"Sure enough, you plan to abandon us after using us." Hel stepped through the teleportation gate, setting foot on another snowy ground, without a trace of warmth in her breath.
Satanah seemed to understand something and furrowed her brow: "So, you promised to help me retrieve Hell... actually to make me leave the Main Dimension? You're so devious."
"Don't you want your Hell back?" Su Ming glanced at her; this wasn't devious at all, merely leveraging her inner desires.
Isn't the Daughter of the Demon allowed to tempt him with desire, while he can't exploit her desires in return?
The more Satanah seduced, the more she revealed her weaknesses, her desires in various aspects were intense, sometimes even overshadowing reason.
A typical demon demeanor.
Since she wanted to get back her Hell, then this was a weakness to exploit.
Su Ming would fulfill their agreement, but if after the agreement she didn't want to leave the Main Dimension, he'd use a Giant Sword to send her back to Hell...
By then, only a homebound Hel would remain as the Lord of Hell in the Main Dimension, a situation more stable than during The Ancient One's era.
Sure enough, Satanah fell into hesitation, she certainly wanted Hell, but she also wanted to retain the opportunity to stay in the Main Dimension. Yet their contract didn't mention this. At the time, all she thought about was her own Hell, forgetting about Earth residence rights—ahhh!
She frantically tore at her hair, her long black hair all tangled like a pile of weeds, even messier as the night wind blew.
Now, Deathstroke clearly wouldn't sign any supplemental agreement. Despite the mask, it felt like Deathstroke had an overall plan for her, and she unknowingly fell into a pit.
Darkness, this new Supreme Mage is too dark...
Hel glanced sympathetically at the crestfallen Satanah, gently embracing her shoulder in comfort, the two sharing the same plight.
Deathstroke also grasped Hel's greatest weakness, which wasn't her cloak, as after all, stealing Hel's cloak required advanced skills and speed.
Hel's greatest weakness was her relationship with Loki, and the current Loki... killing him was too easy. Once Loki was gone, Hel's existence would be erased by a time paradox.
Which is precisely why, although future Loki who creates Hel can be freely killed, Su Ming spared the current Loki. Hel is needed for the Twilight of the Gods; she must exist.
But Hel didn't know that Su Ming wouldn't kill the current Loki, so she was on tenterhooks.
Of course, without holding their leverage, how could Su Ming join forces with demons?
As long as they couldn't kill him, they had to obediently comply. Even if Hel and Satanah attempted to assault him jointly, the Evil Spirit Knight beside him served as an insurance, thanks to his contract with Mephistopheles, Su Ming was half a boss to the Fire Skeleton.
They were very clever, hence they dared not.
Such a troupe with hidden treacheries should be maintained like this, not relying on speeches or lures but on concrete threats and coercion.
However, conspiracies and machinations can be quite entertaining; a team of smart people is, evidently, easier to lead. Su Ming didn't have to do everything, he just needed to wait while smoking.
........
"This seems right, give Satanah a point."
From afar, Su Ming heard the sound of music, a melodious waltz emanating from the dark castle nearby.
Vian Castle is situated on a cliff, concealed by a forest. The river below the cliff is frozen, but one can imagine how magnificent the scenery would be in warmer days.
The unfamiliar waltz does not exist in Deathstroke's memory; it must be a piece composed by the vampires themselves.
Satanah lifted her head from Hel's embrace, weakly asking, "What's the use of scoring points?"
Su Ming drew his Great Sword and floated off the ground: "It's useless; the points here can't be exchanged for Hamburgers."
"Ugh!" Satanah slumped back down: "I'm going on strike, anyway, as long as the contract says to help you deal with Dracula."
"Then I'll contact Marduk and negotiate a condition for him to help... Su Ming wasn't afraid of strikes, demons are meant to be exploited: "Didn't I hear somewhere that his Daughter of the Demon plans to ally with outsiders to deal with him?"
"Devil! You truly are a devil!" Satanah shouted in despair, but even so, she had no choice but to float up and prepare for battle; if she didn't work for Deathstroke, it would be dangerous.
Su Ming smiled and gestured to the Evil Spirit Knight to break down the door: "I am Deathstroke; the devil is far behind me. Cooperate well and you won't miss out on benefits."
Hel sighed softly and the spiked helmet appeared on her head again. She drew a black Spiral Spike from the air and followed the Evil Spirit Knight.
The giant firearms blasted open the castle door with one shot. The four of them traversed the courtyard filled with statues and painting stands, directly charging into the castle hall.
Many elegantly dressed men and women were shocked by their appearance, but the hellfire clearly made them uncomfortable. These almost-perfect-looking men and women immediately bared their fangs and Sharp Claw, dropping their wine glasses and rushing towards the door.
"Leave no one."
Su Ming issued the order to the three, while he casually floated low in the air, quietly smoking as he had said before.
This place is truly luxurious, the castle's decoration is several grades higher than before, and it's more spacious and brighter.
It's unclear what the vampires were thinking; they all have night vision abilities, yet the castle is brightly lit. Is it to reminisce about their life as Earthlings?
But this suits Su Ming, as the lighting allows him to carefully identify the paintings on the walls. Some of the landscape paintings seem to be the work of famous artists, perfect to take back to decorate the office.
Wilson Enterprises is lacking in heritage; historical treasures need to be used as embellishments. As long as it's recognizable as an old painting, he can have experts identify who painted it later.
These vampires have such hard heads. Even if they didn't recognize Hel and Satanah, the smarter ones should know what a burning knight signifies.
In front of the Evil Spirit Knight's hellfire, these vampires of this level are not worth mentioning at all.
The so-called Advanced Vampires are essentially those born better than the lower ones. Their blood grants them additional spell-like abilities, like turning into a Bat to fly or casting simple Dark Magic. What era is this? They don't even have Weapons.
Forget about pulling out firearms; at least they could hold a sword?
Nope, they just bared their teeth and brandished their long fingernails, rushing over with expressions vicious enough to look like they were planning to devour them alive.
The few Blood Race charging ahead were blasted to bits by Palham's shot as they jumped up to fly at the three. The burning embers exploded instantly, falling like snowflakes in the lavish hall, as if painting black flowers on the red carpet.
The surrounding Blood Race suddenly froze.
"Huh? These Golden Candlesticks seem to be in Florence style, dead lighting candles is a waste. Better give them to those in need." Meanwhile, Su Ming walks over to the wine table to loot, rummaging through and collecting every candlestick into his backpack.
And while the vampires were dazed, Hel immediately summoned countless spikes from the ground, as if a gigantic Hedgehog suddenly emerged in the hall, impaling the opponents on the spikes.
She swiftly walked over and used the black spiral spike to cut off one head after another.
Hel was quite skilled with Martial Arts, casually waltzing through the complex terrain, leaving only blood and heads flying everywhere.
"These pillowcases are also nice, embroidered with gold thread, and smell good. Are they filled with petals?" As the battle line advanced, Su Ming arrived at the sofa, picked up a few pillows, sniffed them, and stuffed them into his bag.
Not all vampires were fixed by the spikes; some dodged initially, and others broke free as Black Smoke after being pierced. But before they could escape, small Fireballs were thrown directly at them. Satanah's Flame Magic was also complete, and facing agile enemies, she chose the more widespread Fire Rain.
Similarly, Hellfire has extraordinary effects on carbon-based creatures. Instantly, clusters of black ash exploded again.
"Hmm... Bone China teapots, Golden Plates holding human blood jelly, crystal shoes..." Su Ming arrived at the rest area by the wall and made a heap of things disappear.
While others work, he cleans the battlefield, delegating the tasks rather reasonably.