Virus King - Chapter 318

Chapter 318: Scarlet Square! The Second Round Begins!

TL: YYang

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

It had gone by so quickly that it even exceeded Chen Bai’s expectations.

During these days of waiting, Astaroth had not come to trouble him again. It seemed that the matter which had caused her to leave so abruptly the other day was indeed of great importance.

But that was fine—it allowed him to smoothly proceed to the second round of the First Embrace Ceremony, advance to the third round, and ultimately enter the Path of Life and Death in Hell.

His priority was to obtain the Authority of Greed. As for everything else, it was utterly irrelevant.

The token for the First Embrace Ceremony was a blood-red medallion.

On the medallion was a massive bat, wings spread wide as if about to take flight.

The bat appeared to have emerged from a bath of blood.

This morning, to his surprise, the token’s bat opened its mouth and spoke!

“Contestant Zero, please proceed to Scarlet Square to participate in the second round of the First Embrace Ceremony! If you are more than two shichen late, you will automatically forfeit your eligibility for the ceremony!”

“Zero” was just a random alias Chen Bai had chosen. The conditions for participating in the First Embrace Ceremony were remarkably open.

As long as one met Lilith’s requirements for appearance and bloodline, they could join the ceremony.

Having stayed in Blood Moon City for three full days, Chen Bai was no longer a clueless newcomer!

In these three days, he had gathered plenty of critical information about Hell.

For instance, Lilith had only joined the ranks of Hell a mere century ago.

Initially, the only one under her command was Cain, who had joined voluntarily.

However, she had since managed to recruit a significant number of Hell’s Demon Lord-level figures.

She had even earned the right to expand her own influence and faith within Hell.

Moreover, it was true that almost no one in Hell now remembered the name “Satan.”

Quite the opposite, in fact—all demons, as well as every other denizen of Hell, unanimously believed that His Majesty Beelzebub was the true ruler of Hell.

Even those participating in Lilith’s First Embrace Ceremony revered the King of Hell far more than they admired her.

That said, this trend was gradually diminishing.

In reality, Beelzebub and most of the True Gods of Hell paid little attention to the affairs of their subordinates.

In other words, Beelzebub barely cared how many Hell Lords chose to pledge allegiance to Lilith.

Hell, despite appearing to be a plane ruled by True Gods within a hierarchical society, was governed by gods who were largely indifferent to their subordinates.

The key difference was that Beelzebub and Lucifer did not rely on the faith of demons for their existence.

While faith could slightly enhance their Authority, the effect was negligible.

Thus, Beelzebub showed little interest in Hell’s internal squabbles.

However, even if Beelzebub lacked enthusiasm for ruling all of Hell, his overwhelming power had firmly established him as Hell’s Emperor, erasing every trace of Satan’s existence in the process. This was an undeniable fact.

In some ways, Zepar had not lied to him—this was merely the truth.

Of course, Chen Bai was not Satan. Such matters were of no personal concern to him.

As things stood, Beelzebub was still the nominal supreme ruler of Hell.

These were all pieces of information Chen Bai had gathered during his time in Blood Moon City.

They not only deepened his understanding of Hell but also inspired new ideas.

It seemed that, in a sense, the True Gods of Hell might not necessarily all be his adversaries!

Previously, Gimon had sold him one hundred Phoenix Feathers. According to Satan, Gimon was the younger sister of Balam.

Perhaps her divination abilities had allowed this fortune-teller demon to glimpse something in the future.

If he had to guess, the greatest obstacle to his goal of returning Hell to the Abyss might indeed turn out to be Beelzebub.

Having pieced together these various thoughts, Chen Bai had not wasted these three days idly!

Scarlet Square was located at the very heart of Blood Moon City.

Chen Bai thought it was called a square, but to him, it felt more like an endless plain paved entirely with blood-red bricks and tiles.

It was massive.

The cities in Hell were worlds apart from the mundane and evolver-free modern civilization of Blue Star.

Almost as soon as Chen Bai stepped onto Scarlet Square, the token for the First Embrace Ceremony floated gently out of his hand.

Then, in the next instant, as though some invisible force had intervened, rows of tiny letters began to carve themselves into the token.

[Contestant: Zero, Number 0104521, please proceed to Secret Realm 13! Upon reaching a point where only three contestants remain within the Secret Realm, you will automatically exit and advance to the next round!]

The faint, void-like text on the token caused Chen Bai’s eyes to flicker rapidly. Before long, his gaze locked onto a specific direction in the distance.

There, an invisible marking seemed to materialize, displaying the number 13 in the same Abyssal Hell language.

That was the place.

Chen Bai’s speed burst forth instantly. He paid no attention to the many figures gathering around Scarlet Square. His blood-red, streamlined form moved with astonishing velocity, especially for someone of his level.

The First Embrace Ceremony was brutal in its testing, perfectly aligning with the overall style of Hell.

Thus, strength was an absolute necessity to stand out here.

The majority of the contestants ranged from level 28 to 30, with some already at the peak of level 30.

Although the official range of eligibility was levels 10 through 30, hardly anyone below level 20 participated.

After all, no one came here to die.

At level 21, Chen Bai’s level was slightly too low for comfort.

Meanwhile, Chen Bai failed to notice several figures seated at the far end of Scarlet Square, watching the events unfold through massive blood-red screens.

One of these screens displayed Chen Bai’s perspective.

A young man with blood-red hair and golden highlights frowned as he spoke:

“… So that’s the little one with human blood? His strength is far too weak. If he dies within the Secret Realm, won’t he fail to complete Her Excellency Lilith’s mission?”

Beside him, Zepar glanced at a figure cloaked entirely in black, with only their eyes exposed, and dismissed the conversation with a wave.

“With Rika’s strength, does she really need anyone else to accompany her back to the God and Devil Trial Grounds?”

“Enough. The second trial has already begun.”

Astaroth’s gaze gleamed with a mix of cunning and resentment. She was already itching to make this human understand the price of daring to cross her.