"Are you ready?"
Damien had the two kneel before him, then used Violet's permission to connect with their origins.
"Don't resist. Follow my guidance and…"
"Swear your oath to me!"
Turning Little Black and Little White into subordinate gods wasn't difficult.
With Violet on their side, exploiting loopholes that had never appeared in the Campione world was like shooting fish in a barrel.
As for the oath, Little Black and Little White didn't need to think about it—Violet had already prepared a ready-made subordinate-god contract for them.
And so, after reciting the subordinate-god vow from the bottom of their hearts, their bodies began to dissolve into particles.
Just as Damien and Violet had expected, the two were not expelled from the Campione universe, nor were the stolen Heretic God divinities of Lucifer and Lilith returned.
They remained at Damien's side, only they could no longer manifest in the material world as freely as before.
"What a strange feeling."
Testarossa could see Damien, yet she was not beside him or anywhere else.
It was different from being a guardian spirit.
Because Testarossa and Diablo had already left Athens, and there was no sign of Damien nearby.
Looking around, the space was an overall deep blue, giving it the feel of an elven forest straight out of a fairy tale.
Crystal-like trees towered overhead, and strange glowing mushrooms grew at their feet.
Every now and then translucent little creatures flashed through the grass and flower fields before vanishing.
"This place feels a bit like the underworld where we devils live."
Diablo looked around with interest. "Interesting. Different worlds, yet they both have similar underworlds where spiritual life forms dwell."
"Lord Damien."
Even though Damien was nowhere nearby, both Diablo and Testarossa could still sense his presence.
The connection was hard to describe in words.
They could only be certain of one thing: the real distance between Damien and them had never changed.
"What is it?"
In the material world Damien heard Diablo's call and answered, "I'm leaving Athens. What about your side? Does anything change when I move?"
He and Little Black and Little White were extremely far apart in space, yet Damien could still communicate with them at any time.
Because the rules of the Netherworld differed from the material world, Damien could sense the existence of his two subordinate gods.
And Little Black and Little White could observe Damien's actions through spirit vision.
"We can see you!"
Testarossa now had three fields of vision.
One belonged to her main body back in the Demon Lord's castle, one was the fantastical and eerie Netherworld, and the last was locked onto Damien's projection as he headed toward the outskirts of Athens.
"Good."
Damien said, "I'm fine on this side. You two can try using your power inside the Netherworld."
"Understood."
Testarossa agreed without hesitation.
Diablo, however, seemed to have his own ideas. "Lord Damien, I'd like to explore this spirit realm first."
Diablo could not remain in the human world for long, but he could roam the Netherworld indefinitely.
"Go ahead."
Damien naturally wouldn't stop them. "If you have any plans, Little Black, Little White, you can decide for yourselves. You don't need to ask me."
"Yes!"
After cutting the link with Damien, Diablo looked around and chose a direction to begin his exploration.
"Is that okay?"
Testarossa wasn't worried about Little Black's safety; she was more concerned that his random wandering might cause Damien to lose the ability to summon him.
For example, if he accidentally died inside the Netherworld.
"No need to worry."
This time the one answering Testarossa's question wasn't Damien—it was Violet.
"Lady Violet!"
"Primordial Black, explore the surroundings first."
"Yes!"
"Primordial White."
Violet said, "Let me explain the concept of the Netherworld to you."
"Understood."
Facing Violet—Damien's chief aide—none of the subordinates dared to act casually. They listened attentively.
"The so-called Netherworld is known by different names depending on the culture, civilization, or mythological system."
"Heretic Gods call it the boundary between life and death."
"The Japanese call it the Netherworld, the Chinese call it the Nether Realm or the Underworld, the Persians call it the Spirit World, the Greeks call it the Ideal Realm, the British call it the Astral Netherworld."
There were also names such as the Fairy Realm, the Spirit Realm, the Mental World, the World of Thought, the Realm of the Mind, the Campione reincarnation space, the non-real domain, the void land between the human world and the divine world, and the gap world of Yomi.
"This is a peculiar dimension located between the realm of life and the realm of death."
It is said to be a place that records every event since the birth of the universe, along with every possible future event.
It is a vast world made up of countless disconnected, non-continuous spaces or barriers, like a spider's web of countless independent realms linked together.
Normally only thoughts or souls can enter, but magicians and the like can bring their physical bodies here.
Only by continuously purifying the soul until reaching a state of complete enlightenment can one remember what they experience inside this space.
It contains Heretic Gods weary of wandering the human world, great magicians or saints who have attained immortal divinity, and high-ranking fairies and spirits whose power rivals fairy kings.
In short, the chaos inside the Netherworld is far more complicated than the international situation in the material world.
"Speaking of which, I remember that if a Heretic God enters the Netherworld they should be able to build their own divine domain."
Damien's voice suddenly cut in, interrupting Violet's explanation. "Little White, can you do that?"
"Lord Damien, you're still here?"
"Yeah."
Damien sounded a little embarrassed. "The journey was too boring, so when Violet appeared I started listening in."
"Ahem!"
Diablo added, "Actually, so was I."
"Ehh~"
Testarossa was speechless, but considering that the Netherworld had no concept of spatial distance, everyone was essentially connected at the soul level even if they appeared to be in multiple separate spaces.
"Anyway, Little White, try building a divine domain first."
"A divine domain, huh…"
Although she had become a subordinate god, that only meant she could no longer manifest in the material world.
From the perspective of the Netherworld, Testarossa was still a Heretic God.
Therefore she also possessed the power to create her own divine kingdom inside this dimension.
^^^
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