Chapter 636 Epilogue 2 The future belongs to the young after all
The candlelight flickered and the tip of the quill rustled on the parchment.
Although magic mirrors have become widely used in Hell today and handwritten notes have become outdated things that cannot keep up with the times, Herky Stone still likes the feeling of the pen tip writing on paper.
How many world masterpieces were written tenderly or passionately by lonely authors in the dead of night like this?
As a scholar, Herky Stone prefers to record history in the traditional way.
"It's been eighty years since the Fraud Calendar, and Avernus is celebrating the eightieth anniversary of the Grand Duke's accession to office.
“Among all the demons, I am afraid that only He will be loved by all demons from the bottom of their hearts. But the demons do not understand that their lives today are not much better than they were eighty years ago.
"The bloody battles that could kill them at any time have been replaced by the undead. Most demons no longer need to worry about the bloody battles, but they need to work hard throughout their lives, and the money they earn is barely enough to 'hire' the undead to replace them in the bloody battles.
"But they don't know that the value they created is actually enough to exchange for a good territory. Zombies that can be mass-produced by just throwing a piece of rotten meat require the devils to work for a whole year to exchange, and these undead will be scrapped for various reasons before they can even go to the battlefield once..."
Putting the quill back into the inkwell, Herky Stone blew on the ink.
Hell has changed a lot in a few decades, and the horrific inflation has been accepted by the devils in another way. It seems that there are fewer tortures such as death and violence, and life seems to be getting better and more convenient, but the smarter the devils are, the more they can see the problems of hell.
The devils of the past could still think about fighting for a future, but in today's Avernus, there is no future at all.
All the demons can only be swept into the torrent and then drowned.
Of course there will be ambitious people who are unwilling to give in. In the past eighty years there have been more than forty rebellions of varying sizes, but the result has always been the same.
The fraudulent Grand Duke didn't even lift a finger, and the so-called rebel army collapsed on its own. They were either torn to pieces by the fanatical devils who supported the fraudulent Grand Duke, or they killed each other due to internal disagreements.
To paraphrase that adult, "Hell is the place least afraid of rebellion, because heroes will not appear here, and the proportion of self-righteous idiots is too high. Even if there is cooperation on the surface, everyone is thinking of taking advantage of loopholes in their hearts."
Every rebellion only resulted in further filling the coffers of the Devil's Archduke.
All in all, Avernus is thriving under the management of the Grand Duke of Deceiver, and the various souls it produces are becoming more and more refined.
What? A soul that fought bravely and was not afraid of death? It wouldn't even be ranked in the collection of the Deceiver Grand Duke.
Only those naturally smart people who can see through everything but cannot change no matter how hard they try, and whose souls ultimately end in various ways, are qualified to be sent to auction and become the collection of the Devil's Archduke.
Such a hell satisfies the gods and the laws of hell.
The torture of these sinners should start from the spiritual aspect.
The screams caused by torture have been heard by the whole hell for thousands of years and have become tired of them. However, the despair of drawing a sword and looking around with a confused heart has only just begun to be tasted by the laws of hell.
This resulted in the power controlled by the Deceiver Grand Duke becoming increasingly stronger, to the point where the smiles on the faces of the Devil Grand Dukes in other levels of hell became increasingly brilliant, well, a fake smile is still a smile.
This fraudulent archduke will not remember who is particularly polite to him, but he will definitely remember who is not polite enough to him.
It is precisely because He treats you equally and indiscriminately, regardless of whether you are a low-level inferior demon or a devil archduke, and carries out mental torture without distinction, that the position of the Archduke of Deceiver becomes more and more secure.
Hecky Stone couldn't help but sigh that he was lucky and was in the right position, so his life was pretty good now.
There are many lucky people like him.
Gareth, the good brother of the Devil Duke, eventually became a god, and after being promoted, he ambushed the Deceiver Duke. All the evil gods who habitually came to bully the new gods all fell, and several well-known evil gods were crushed to death and became decorations of Gareth's kingdom.
Although he clearly had the opportunity to compete for the position of God of Death, Gareth eventually became the racial god of the Headless Horseman with the help of Jaeger.
It’s strange to say, the Headless Horseman is just an undead, and the undead are not a race to speak of. Undead in different shapes are still undead.
However, Jaeger was still powerful. He helped Gareth become the god of his race, just like the King of Ghouls.
From then on, the Headless Horseman would become an undead soldier that could not be created by necromancy, and would become a "sub-undead" race that could reproduce on its own.
Like ghouls and liches.
Ghouls are transformed through special virus infection, liches reproduce through special rituals, and the Dullahan can now be transformed through a special beheading ritual, but the premise is that Gareth, the God of the Dullahan, will not stop it. In other words, as long as Gareth is unwilling, it will be difficult for a new Dullahan to appear in this world.
This gave the necromancers in the mortal world a headache. If they let the undead continue to play like this, it would be difficult to even create skeleton zombies in the future.
Hecky Stone felt it was a pity. It would be great to be the god of death. He wanted to be one too, but it seemed that no one was qualified now.
The former members of the Mourning Poets Society haven't changed much, except that they have become gods one after another, and the quality of the members has increased a lot.
The position of the God of Death is still undecided. Yugasi, the ghoul who most desires to become the God of Death, has been expelled because he stood on the wrong side before and violated the rule that members of the poetry society cannot fight each other.
But ten years ago, Jaeger brought a young child into the poetry club.
I heard that he is only 26 years old this year and is a necromancer with outstanding talent.
Although he was a necromancer, it was a first for a living person to join the Mourning Poets Society. It can only be said that Kelemvor really didn't want to do this anymore, so Jaeger was a little anxious.
Herky Stone turned his head and looked at the wall. There was a huge oil painting on it, which was the memory left behind when the Mourning Poets Society got together.
Heki Stone still remembered that he had to remind Amberxiu to transform into a human form, otherwise he would look like a skeleton soldier in front of a group of legendary undead.
The mourning poetry society at that time was really lively.
Hecky Stone retracted his gaze and said with emotion: "Alas, but according to the president's standards, who else but that guy is qualified to be the god of death?"
Jaeger's standards for the Grim Reaper are too strict. He no longer wants to find a candidate who will get tired of the job and quit after working for a few years. However, the job of the Grim Reaper is too boring, yet very important, and the mental pressure is not small.
The undead were emotionally stable, which was the best choice. But the undead would go crazy when they encountered obsessions, which was unavoidable even after becoming gods.
Jaeger is the typical example of someone who wants both. He wants the undead to be emotionally stable, and he also wants the undead to be able to transcend his own obsessions.
Who else then? Of course, the fraudulent Duke.
Ever since he met the goddess of fate, the life of the Deceiver Grand Duke became clear. He ruled Avernus for decades with a smile on his face. Many demons thought that the Grand Duke was too kind and easy to talk to.
This old friend no longer persists in resisting the illusory fate and lives a life that is too comfortable.
And precisely because he was too comfortable, Jaeger's invitation had no appeal to him at all.
In a few years, this hell may not belong to Asmodeus anymore. Why should he give it up and become a lonely god of death?
The Grim Reaper has too many rules, and Jaeger is keeping a close eye on things, so it’s impossible for him to let Amberxiu do whatever he wants.
Therefore, Jaeger was ultimately unable to convince Amber and could only choose to continue training new people.
After his thoughts wandered for a while, Herky Stone picked up his quill and began to write his history of hell again.
“Although the Grand Duke of Deceiver has no intention of invading and plundering other planes, the magic mirror he created continues to have an impact on the heavens and myriad worlds. The magic mirror has been integrated into every aspect of each plane and has almost monopolized the dissemination of knowledge.
"After dark, recite a spell to the magic mirror, and the omniscient blue devil will appear to answer any of your questions. You can exchange it with the same knowledge, but if you cannot provide the corresponding knowledge, you will have to pay with your soul.
"This dangerous contract has attracted countless ambitious people. Mages pursue dangerous magical knowledge, the powerful pursue the secrets and weaknesses of their opponents, and the humble hope to obtain the pursuit of changing their lives from the devil. These greedy souls are the most precious materials in hell, and this business has prevented the Grand Duke of Fraud from actively printing soul coins for many years. His wealth is simply not enough to spend.
"The gods of Mount Heaven were quite dissatisfied with this, and even Oghma, the Lord of Knowledge, once thought that this was a wrong way to spread knowledge, but in the end they were unable to curb mortals' greed for the unknown.
“The gods are not omnipotent after all.
"The same is true for the Archduke of Deceiver, except that he is a devil who is more easily satisfied and knows how to control his desires. A few years ago, there were rumors that Asmodeus, the Lord of Hell, hoped to marry the Archduke of Deceiver to his daughter. If this were to succeed, the Archduke of Deceiver would undoubtedly be the next Lord of Hell.
"But rumors are just rumors after all. This devil archduke is loyal in his feelings. Those goddesses who had bad rumors about him were eventually proven to be just pure friendships. Oh, except for Lady Misty Leila.
"This goddess has taken the initiative to invite him on more than one occasion, and has never concealed her thought that she could only pledge her love to him in return, but in the end, she did not get what she wanted. However, the fraudster has also said more than once that friendship is friendship, and transactions are transactions, and that when cooperating with each other, one should not mix too much personal emotion, which is unprofessional.
"But privately, I have also asked the Grand Duke of Fraud what he really thinks, and his answer is more straightforward. He believes that a moment of pleasure is not worth paying the price for tens of millions of years of his life. Now that he has a happy family, why should he let himself suffer the pain of being repeatedly revisited tens of millions of years later just for a little benefit?
“Such a deal is undoubtedly a loss-making one.
"As the author said, this devil archduke knows how to restrain his desires better than other devils. Even if the other party is a goddess, a believer of the Lord of Storms, or a pet that he keeps by his side..."
As Hecky Stone's pen reached this point, he felt a little dizzy. This description didn't seem right.
Quickly burn the one in front of you and write it again.
"The Duke of Deceiver is a devil who knows how to restrain his desires, which is what makes him different from other devil dukes. I have also heard rumors that when the Lord of Storms used his own believers as a gift to give the Sea Kingdom Princess to the Duke of Deceiver, he immediately saw through the Lord of Storms' sinister intention to sow discord.
“The fraudulent Grand Duke said that he believed that a great woman who dedicated her life to her faith and country would not have only love in her heart. Sending Ariel as a tool to sow discord was like burying pearls in the wall as sand, which was the most regrettable waste.
"The Lord of Storms rarely admitted that his prank had failed, and gave Princess Ariel true freedom, and promised to protect the Kingdom of Raging Tide from any natural disasters within a hundred years.
"Finally, the Devil returned to his hell, and Princess Ariel ascended to the kingdom of Talos.
"A friend of the author once met the princess by chance and asked her if she was really relieved. Princess Ariel smiled and said that compared with the future of millions of people in the Kingdom of Raging Tide, that encounter was just like seeing a white whale on the waterway. It was a pity to miss it, but it was only a little bit of a pity.
“Having witnessed that reunion after such a long time, I believe that although the two were very different in status and race, at that moment, they could be called bosom friends.
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
“Young and frivolous people always like stories about love and lust, but for those legendary figures, it is these most intense and impetuous emotions that are first worn away by time. Only true ideals and pursuits can be polished into dazzling gems…”
Hecky Stone felt very happy writing this paragraph.
Although I have added many subjective opinions, it is better not to write a book without personal opinions.
Just as I was about to touch up it a little more, I heard a loud bang and the door was kicked open!
Herky Stone was quite annoyed. Every author whose thoughts were interrupted would have the urge to stab someone. But when Herky Stone saw that the person rushing in was a little girl in her early teens, he immediately smiled and rubbed his hands and said:
"Donia, why are you here?"
This little girl has flowing golden hair, a perfect elf-like face, and a pair of eyes as bright as stars. She is totally out of place in the environment of hell.
If she walked on the road, she would probably attract a bunch of terrifying demons who would eat her alive.
But in Avernus, no devil dared to lay his claws on the girl.
Because her name was Tonya Rotolev, and she was recognized as the second princess of Avernus.
As for the first one, it is Her Highness Melina who likes to ride a warhorse around.
However, Tonya was not the child of the Grand Duke of Deceiver and Lady Rose. Tonya was a student of the legendary wizard William Harvey, and the teacher of the great wizard William Harvey was the Grand Duke of Deceiver.
This disciple seems to be a little distant from him, but everyone knows that the Grand Duke of Fraud treats the Second Princess as his own child and treats her no worse than Princess Melina.
As a little princess who grew up in hell, Tonya was not a good girl, and kicking the door was already considered polite.
With a sweet smile on her face, Tonya said to the dwarf vampire, "Grandpa Stone, Tonya is here to ask for your help. I heard that you are going to the mortal world to collect folk songs recently, right?"
Herky Stone is now a famous writer in Hell. Every once in a while, he can leave Hell in the name of collecting folk songs. In fact, he is giving himself a vacation and enjoying the wonderful blood of the mortal world.
"Donya, you don't want me to take you out of hell, do you? I dare not do that!"
Tonya stared at Hecky Stone with her innocent big eyes, but Hecky Stone would never dare to take the little princess away without permission. If anything unexpected happened, there would be a major earthquake in the Nine Hells.
But just as she said the words of refusal, Tonya's eyes began to sparkle, and her pupils rolled like dice. Until she looked at the oil painting on the wall, she said slowly: "Grandpa Stone, those manuscripts behind the oil painting, "Hell and Ocean Love", "The Night of Rejecting the Goddess"..."
"Nine levels of hell, Tonya, please stop reading!"
Herky Stone's eyes almost popped out of his head. He waved his hands, and the door that had just been kicked open was instantly closed, and several magic locks were put on it.
Tonya smiled slyly and said to Herky Stone, "Grandpa Stone, you don't want others to see these manuscripts, do you?"
Thirty layers of magic arrays covered it up, and she discovered it?! She is indeed a child raised by the devil!
Herky Stone said helplessly: "Donia, why do you want to run away from home suddenly?"
Dong Niya said firmly: "I want to find my teacher! He said he would come back in three years. This is already the sixth year. I must catch him back!"
Herky Stone recalled that he hadn't seen Harvey for several years. After being promoted to Legend, the boy became just like his teacher, looking like an old man who wanted to enjoy his retirement.
At that time, Tonya was just a soul embryo, and Harvey's main task was to raise her. This took decades, and by the time Tonya hatched, Harvey had become an old man with white hair.
It was a problem that could be solved with a bottle of youth potion, but Harvey seemed to not care about his own aging. After Tonya grew up to understand things, he left Hell and no one knew where he went.
Logically speaking, Harvey was chosen by the goddess of fate, so generally nothing would go wrong, but his disappearance for so many years is indeed worrying.
It is reasonable for Tonya to go find her teacher.
But Heki Stone only felt that his wish was to blame. How could the problem between them, the master and the apprentice, bring him bad luck? Heki Stone said quickly, "What's the point of you going there if the Grand Duke of Fraud can't find him?"
Who has the widest network of contacts in the universe? The Great Trickster claimed second place, and no other god dared to claim first place. This person was a big shot who could get along with both good and evil. He couldn't find Harvey, so what use was there for a little girl like Tonya? But Tonya said confidently, "Of course I have a way. The goddess of fate gave me an oracle. Now it's time to find a teacher!"
Herky Stone asked, "Did the goddess of fate tell you what would happen if I took you out of hell?"
Dong Niya said: "I can tell your fortune, but once you see the future, you can't change it. Are you sure you want to tell your fortune?"
"Stop! No, thank you! Ever since your teacher's teacher, the prophecies for your lineage have never been good!"
Hecky Stone was afraid that Tonya would blink and tell him that he would die tomorrow. Fate is a very strange thing, so it's better not to do divination for no reason.
"But since it's the oracle of the goddess of fate, why don't you just tell the fraudster directly? Why do you have to do it secretly..."
As soon as he finished speaking, the door that had just been closed was kicked open again!
This time, the heavy wooden door was kicked directly into pieces.
Her Royal Highness Melina, the First Princess of Avernus, appeared in front of the two with her hands on her hips.
"Are you two planning on escaping from hell secretly?!"
Hecky Stone looked at the debris on the ground and wondered if the two princesses had planned to trick him. Tonya panicked as soon as she saw Melina.
If we were to say who is the most frightening person in Avernus, it is not the fraudulent Grand Duke who smiles all day long, nor is it the Lady of Roses, but Aunt Melina.
Don't be fooled by her silly appearance. If she suspects you are lying to her, she will immediately draw her sword and kill you. Yes, she will fight just for the suspicion. This is the way of life of Princess Melina in hell. Anyway, no one in hell dares to hold her Highness responsible.
Hecky Stone was about to explain, but he heard Melina say, "Why didn't you take me with you when you ran away from home?!"
…
An hour later, the gates of hell opened, and two princesses of hell, one big and one small, came to the mortal world with vampires who looked as if they wanted to die.
When the gates of hell slowly closed, Amberxiu and the Withered Rose showed up.
"You just let these two little guys get away like this?" Withered Rose complained, "Do you know how many enemies you have? What if Melina and Tonya encounter an accident?"
Amber Xiu said, "The goddess of fate appeared in person on the day Tonya was born to bless her. There won't be any accidents with this child. Even if there are, it's just training. Melina has been rampant in hell for so many years. If she is not allowed to experience some training, I'm afraid she will really be a fool forever. Let them go. I also want to know where Harvey has gone. He didn't even leave a message."
Seeing that Withered Rose was still worried, Amber took her hand and said, "Children will eventually grow up, and we old guys should accept our age. What follows is their story."
(End of this chapter)