Ch. 325 Stripping Authority

At this point in time, Russell had no need to continue retaining divine power.

Under his control, the divine power from the Gates of Heaven transformed into a colossal axe capable of splitting Heaven and Hell. He ruthlessly struck it down upon Mephisto's authority, which wasn't a physical entity but a true abstract existence.

As the giant axe descended, Mephisto felt an indescribable, excruciating pain.

Authority was forcefully stripped away.

For Mephisto, it was akin to having his soul torn asunder.

The only difference was that when a soul was torn apart, Mephisto would most likely die outright.

Having authority stripped only caused him to lose the relevant powers and weakened him for a period.

Although the consequences were not particularly severe, it didn't mean that Mephisto could easily endure this loss.

As a Lord of Hell who had lived for tens of thousands of years, Mephisto encountered someone as insane as Russell for the first time.

Whether it was opening the Gates of Heaven in Hell, using the divine power island to contain demonic energy, or forcibly stripping the authority of a Lord of Hell like Mephisto, any of these actions was exceptionally mad.

However, in reality, Russell not only attempted these actions but had successfully carried them out.

The colossal axe formed from divine power, carrying the force of thunderstorms, forcefully cleaved a portion of Mephisto's Lord of Hell authority.

Although it was not a substantial amount that was severed, roughly about one-third, it was still unbearable agony for Mephisto.

This pain, originating from the core of his soul, was impossible to endure with brute physical strength.

At this moment, Mephisto couldn't help but think of the countless souls he had burned with Hellfire.

He felt like the pitiable soul that he had once incinerated with Hellfire, experiencing a pain intense enough to drive someone completely insane.

However, unlike his usual torment of human souls with Hellfire, the pain of having authority forcibly stripped didn't last long.

To ensure that the colossal axe formed by divine power could completely sever a portion of Mephisto's authority, Russell employed all of the divine power within him.

This meant that he only had this one chance.

The authority that had been severed, guided by the Divine Sun Power, quickly arrived at Russell's Ocean of Divine Power.

Subsequently, it began to merge with his divine power island, which had already undergone a transformation.

After merging with demonic energy, Russell's divine power island had turned into an apocalyptic landscape.

As Mephisto's Lord of Hell authority started to integrate with Russell's divine power island, the island underwent a second round of transformation.

Firstly, his divine power island began to visibly expand.

If his previous divine power island was only about ten square kilometers in size, it was now rapidly expanding to around one hundred square kilometers.

Then, the island, which had become grotesque and seemed like the apocalypse was imminent, underwent an even more thorough transformation.

Volcanoes on the island started to erupt madly.

A pitch-black thundercloud gathered in the sky above the island.

Silver-white lightning bolted down like roaring beasts, targeting the island.

The peculiar red plants on the island, which had already turned red, seemed to suddenly come to life, growing rapidly and behaving like animals.

Lastly, the Ocean of Divine Power, which had previously radiated a rainbow-like brilliance, began to turn blood-red.

No matter how you looked at it, Russell's current divine power island and Ocean of Divine Power were far from normal.

In fact, Russell's current state was indeed abnormal.

Even though he had forcibly merged demonic energy with his divine power island, demonic energy was fundamentally different from divine power.

Demonic energy not only polluted his divine power island but also contaminated his Ocean of Divine Power.

Fortunately, the amount of demonic energy he had just merged was not substantial, so the pollution of his divine power island and Ocean of Divine Power was still manageable.

However, when he began to use the divine power island, now infused with demonic energy, to carry Hell-related authority from Mephisto, the situation took a turn for the worst.

In simple terms, his current actions were somewhat like adding fuel to an already blazing oil fire.

If Mephisto had suffered extreme pain from having his authority forcibly stripped, Russell was now experiencing the terrifying sensation of divine power and authority conflicting with each other.

Neither the Divine Sun Power nor the authority from Hell was willing to accept the other's existence.

The authority of the Divine Sun Power and the authority from Hell both despised each other's presence.

As a result, they turned Russell's divine power island and Ocean of Divine Power into a battleground for an unending war.

Although Russell was the owner of the divine power island, he currently had no way to completely control it.

Ever since the divine power island merged with demonic energy, his control over the island had visibly declined.

Now, even the authority on the Divine Sun Power was beginning to loosen, let alone the divine power island.

However, this didn't mean he was powerless.

Regardless, this was still his divine power island.

He couldn't prevent the pollution of the divine power island and the authority of Hell from contaminating it, but he could provide the island with enough energy.

Normally, the divine power island would automatically absorb energy from the Ocean of Divine Power, continuously expanding itself.

However, passive absorption was not as effective as conscious, active absorption.

What Russell was doing now was actively controlling the divine power island to absorb energy from the Ocean of Divine Power.

As for whether the Ocean of Divine Power was now polluted and no longer pure, that was not a concern he should be focusing on.

The only thing he needed to consider now was suppressing the demonic energy he had forcefully taken from Mephisto using his Divine Sun Power and using this demonic energy to carry the authority he had stripped from Mephisto.

Using Mephisto's demonic energy to carry Mephisto's Hell-related authority.

It must be said that this situation was somewhat akin to the saying that "if you don't have weapons, your enemies will provide them for you."

Although it was an unavoidable method, at this moment, it was all that Russell could do.

Time flowed steadily.

With Russell's active control, the divine power island's efficiency in absorbing energy from the Ocean of Divine Power had greatly improved.

The Divine Sun Power, which was previously evenly matched with demonic energy, began to dominate.

The loosening authority had firmly reattached itself to the Divine Sun Power.

While Russell was busy suppressing Mephisto's demonic energy and using it to carry Hell's authority, several kilometers away, Doom was fending off the demons attempting to interfere in the battle.

These demons, who had responded to Mephisto's summons, came here with one purpose: to assist Mephisto in defeating Russell and claim the reward Mephisto had promised them.

As for what kind of reward Mephisto had offered, it was straightforward.

Mephisto pledged that if they aided him in defeating Russell, all demons who participated in the battle would be given an opportunity for promotion.

Whether they were low-level demons or high-level demons, as long as they participated, Mephisto would personally oversee their promotion ceremony.

For the demons in Hell, promotion was second only to life itself.

In order to gain the precious opportunity for promotion, these demons didn't even mind devouring their own kind to obtain that slim chance.

All along, Mephisto had been deliberately controlling the number of demons in Hell and balancing the approximate proportions among various levels of demons.

This was not because Mephisto intended to strictly control the quality of demons; rather, it was a necessity.

Hell was only so large, and the more high-level demons there were, the greater the consumption of Hell's power.

If Hell's will was awake right now, it wouldn't be an issue.

However, the reality was that Hell's will was currently dormant.

Otherwise, there would be no need for Mephisto to be chosen as a spokesperson to help manage Hell.

To ensure that Hell's will would awaken sooner, Mephisto had to strictly control the number of high-level demons.

As for lords like him, they were subjects that required even more attention.

In Hell, there were more than just Mephisto who had achieved the lord rank.

But only he has the title of Lord of Hell.

The reason he can have the title of Lord of Hell, besides being stronger than other lords, there is also a very important point, and the most crucial point is that he is the spokesperson for Hell's will.

Otherwise, other lords would not recognize him as the only Lord of Hell.

You should know that demons in Hell are a race that is enthusiastic about usurping power.

As long as there is an opportunity, not to mention Mephisto, even if it is to replace Hell's will, these demons would not hesitate.

Mephisto had once entertained the idea of replacing Hell's will and making himself the true ruler of Hell.

But after trying it, or rather, after being taught a lesson by Hell's will, he promptly gave up on this idea.

Becoming the ruler of Hell is indeed very tempting, but compared to life, it's better to stay alive.

Doom was well aware of Russell's plan, so he was desperately trying to buy time for Russell.

While many demons had arrived, and they were coming from different directions, Doom demonstrated what it meant to fight a thousand battles with one's own strength.

Doom employed spells similar to cloning techniques and formed an almost impenetrable defense around the battlefield where Russell and Mephisto were engaged.

Although many demons were attacking, including high-level demons, Doom and his clones had no intention of retreating.

This journey to Hell was originally to reclaim his mother's soul from Mephisto.

In such a situation, he was willing to give his life if necessary to save his mother's soul.

Russell was currently busy suppressing the demonic power on the Divine Power Island and doing his best to merge the Hellish authority he had taken from Mephisto.

But at this moment, he had not lost his awareness of the outside world.

He could clearly sense Doom's rapidly escalating magical power.

Although he wasn't sure how much magic Doom had mastered, one thing he was sure of was that Doom's magic level was absolutely not weak.

To be precise, on Earth, apart from the Ancient One and the future Doctor Strange, Doom's magical strength wouldn't be inferior to anyone.

Even compared to Loki and Queen Frigga, Doom's magical strength was no less.

If they were to engage in a battle, Doom could even defeat Loki and Queen Frigga when teamed up.

Russell was busy merging Mephisto's Hellish authority.

Doom was fighting desperately to buy time for Russell.

Meanwhile, Great Demon Paris, who was a hundred kilometers away, found himself in a dilemma.

He also sensed the strong magical fluctuations emanating from Doom and knew that Doom was single-handedly taking on the demons who had come to assist Mephisto.

Although he didn't know at which stage Russell and Mephisto's battle was at, Paris knew that Russell hadn't lost yet.

After thinking for a moment, Paris made the most important and craziest decision of his demon life.

He decided to assist Russell and Doom!

From a racial perspective, this undoubtedly meant betraying his own kind.

But Paris didn't think of it that way at all.

Demons were inherently a race that revered the strong.

Hell took survival of the fittest to the extreme.

In such a world, Paris did indeed have a strong desire for promotion.

However, his thoughts were somewhat different from other demons.

He did want promotion very much, but what he wanted even more now was the promotion opportunity that Russell had promised.

Before the battle even started, Russell had told him that if they achieved victory, he would help Paris with his promotion.

Although Mephisto had also offered a promotion opportunity, compared to Russell, Mephisto's sincerity was undoubtedly much smaller.

More importantly, Paris's intuition told him that the battle between Russell and Mephisto would most likely end with Russell's victory.

This could be seen from the fact that Mephisto hadn't resolved the situation with Russell and Doom yet, and even needed to summon other demons for help.

After taking a deep breath for a few seconds, Paris sped towards Russell and Doom's direction.

One hundred kilometers, whether it's far or near, depends on how you look at it.

When Paris arrived at the defensive line formed by Doom, he saw demon corpses scattered all around.

At this moment, Doom, like a magical god whose magic power would never run out, was madly releasing his magic, throwing out one spell after another.

After sensing Paris's presence, Doom furrowed his brow slightly.

He knew that Russell had a very good impression of Paris and even promised to promote Paris after the battle.

However, upon sensing Paris's aura, Doom's first reaction was that Paris had also joined Mephisto's camp and intended to assist Mephisto in attacking them.

Just as he was about to cast a high-level spell directly to kill the traitor Paris, Paris's voice reached him.

"I'm not here to attack you; I'm here to assist you."

As soon as he spoke, Paris fluttered his bat-like wings and engaged in battle with an intermediate-level demon, fighting alongside him.