To find the Primordial Demon Emperors, Sakolomeh already had an obvious lead.
Find Lilith.
If anyone could know the location of the oldest demons of the meta-reality, it was her.
After all, she was considered the mother of all demons.
Finding Lilith would probably make it possible to trace back to the other Primordial Demon Emperors.
And for that, there was only one logical destination:
Hell.
Sakolomeh advanced calmly through the infernal depths while Salomeh walked at his side.
They were crossing an immense corridor plunged into darkness.
At the end of it was a gigantic hall where countless demons gathered.
The place resembled a strange arena.
Everywhere, fights were breaking out.
Demons clashed under the shouts and cheers of spectators.
Most were low-ranking demons.
For them, these fights were not only entertainment.
They represented an opportunity.
Attracting the attention of a higher demon could sometimes offer an ascent toward a higher transcendence.
But that opportunity had a price.
To become the servant.
The favorite.
Or sometimes even the slave of the demon who noticed them.
— Look! Visitors!
— They came by themselves?
— I want to play with them!
Sakolomeh slightly turned his head.
Small silhouettes had just appeared around them.
Imps.
The youngest demons of Hell.
Some could even be considered baby demons.
Their reddish skin glowed slightly under the infernal flames.
Small horns grew on their foreheads while bat-like wings allowed them to flutter everywhere.
One of them landed directly on Salomeh's head.
— Come play hide-and-seek with me!
The little demon immediately closed its eyes with enthusiasm.
— I'm sure you'll never be able to find me!
Salomeh let out a soft laugh.
She gently grabbed the imp before lifting it in front of her face.
— You're quite cute.
The imp immediately smiled.
— So, do you want to play?
— Sorry, Salomeh replied gently. We didn't come here for that.
She released it.
The little demon rapidly flapped its wings before floating in front of her with a disappointed pout.
— Why are you refusing to play?
Sakolomeh observed the scene with a slight smile.
Imps were peculiar creatures.
Naturally, they were not malicious.
They were curious.
Playful.
Almost childlike.
For him and Salomeh, they were completely harmless.
But for an ordinary human, their mere presence could be terrifying.
Because behind their adorable appearance hid considerable supernatural power.
In their games, they often ignored the consequences of their actions.
They could cause disasters without even understanding that they were doing harm.
Fortunately, most remained benevolent.
However, like humans, they could be influenced by their environment.
An imp raised by a cruel demon could become dangerous.
Some occult sorcerers even sought to manipulate them to exploit their spiritual powers for malicious purposes.
The strength of imps came directly from Hell itself.
They grew in one of the most merciless environments in all of meta-reality.
Each infernal region overflowed with murderous intent.
A place that denies magic, the weakest could be reduced to mere spiritual vapor.
The heat of Hell was not only physical.
It was a spiritual heat.
A heat capable of consuming souls that were too fragile.
Around Sakolomeh and Salomeh, the imps continued to fly in groups.
They almost always stayed together.
Not out of courage.
But out of fear.
Higher demons terrified them.
They avoided their domains as much as possible.
That was why they preferred to take refuge in corridors like this one, where they could play among themselves far from the gaze of infernal powers.
As they moved forward through this strange swarm of little demons, Sakolomeh slowly raised his eyes toward the depths of Hell.
Somewhere in this ocean of darkness...
Lilith was probably still here.
One of the imps flew up to Salomeh's height and timidly tugged at her sleeve.
— Say... you know you're taking the wrong path?
Salomeh lowered her gaze toward him with curiosity.
— What do you mean?
The little demon nervously pointed toward the depths of the corridor.
— Those who live at the end of this path are very mean...
Another imp immediately came to stand behind her.
— Yes... they scare us!
Salomeh let out a slight laugh.
— I know they're dangerous. Don't worry about us.
But the imps did not seem reassured.
One of them even tried to grab her by the collar to hold her back.
Unfortunately for him, his strength was so weak that Salomeh kept walking without even feeling his presence.
— Please, don't go!
The imp frantically flapped its wings.
— They're going to kill you! Stay here with us!
Salomeh kept walking before replying gently:
— You should let go of me and stay here instead.
She slightly turned her head toward them.
— Because if you follow us there, it's possible I won't be able to protect you anymore.
The imps immediately froze.
The one trying to hold her slowly released her sleeve.
For a few seconds, they simply watched Sakolomeh and Salomeh move away.
Then one of them shouted:
— Be very careful!
Salomeh gave them a smile over her shoulder.
— They're so adorable...
Her gaze drifted into the void for a moment.
— And to think that some of them may one day become Demon Emperors of Tyranny...
A few minutes later, Sakolomeh and Salomeh finally reached the great infernal arena.
The immense hall seemed alive.
Thousands of demonic gazes instantly turned toward them.
The stands were filled with demons of all ranks.
Even though they were only lesser demons, their mere presence was enough to make the atmosphere heavy.
Malevolent.
As if the air itself was filled with hostility.
— Humans?
— Impossible!
— Normal humans could never survive here!
— They must be transcendent beings!
— What are they doing in Hell?
Very quickly, the murmurs turned into a clamor.
The demons stirred in all directions.
Salomeh simply observed the scene.
She had no reason to fear these creatures.
As an apostle of Morlük, even powerful Demon Kings would have had the greatest difficulty facing her.
Unless, of course, they possessed an exceptional gift granted by a Demon Emperor.
Sakolomeh was about to speak when suddenly—
— SILENCE!
A female voice exploded in the arena.
The roar was so powerful that the entire hall froze.
All gazes lifted toward the heights.
A gigantic black vortex had just opened in space.
Two silhouettes fell from it.
BOOM.
The ground trembled slightly when they landed.
Bakuzan straightened calmly.
Next to him, Erasa immediately set her eyes on the stands.
Her gaze cut through the crowd like a blade.
— I had sworn never to set foot in this place again...
She observed the demons with contempt.
— You are still as stupid as I remember.
No one dared to respond.
Erasa slightly tilted her head.
— Velda was right.
Her voice echoed throughout the arena.
— You are nothing more than puppets serving higher demons.
A demon abruptly stood up.
— Are you crazy?! How dare you—
But before he could even finish his sentence, another demon pressed his hand over his mouth.
— Shut up, idiot!
— Huh?
— Do you even know who stands before you?
The demon frowned.
His neighbor swallowed hard.
— It's Erasa...
His voice trembled.
— One of the most powerful demons that exist.
Then he added in an even lower tone:
— Some even say she is the most powerful demon that has ever existed.
The demon instantly turned pale.
He looked at Erasa with wide eyes.
He had just realized that he could probably have died simply for raising his voice in front of her.
As for Erasa, she did not even seem to have noticed his existence.
She placed a hand on her hip.
Then looked over the entire arena.
— Good.
Her gaze became more serious.
— Where is Mother?