GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

Baal doesn't fear darkness and he isn't afraid of fear itself. He is afraid of very few things which is a good thing. One of the things he fears is Lord Khaos and Xander. He fears Xander because she represents the unknown. He isn't the only one that doesn't know much about her but that doesn't make him feel better because she is the very representation that ignorance can kill.

He was thinking as he flew but he had to stop. A wall suddenly appeared in front of him. It is strange because walls shouldn't appear suddenly and even if they do, they shouldn't appear in the air. He identified the wall to belong to a certain snake when he saw the glittering scales and the rippling muscles beneath it. The hissing he heard behind him all but confirmed his suspicion of who the wall is.

"What? Want to fight?" He asked her confidently.

She has coiled around him. A little more and she will be able to squeeze him tightly. Her head is raised and poised to strike. Her 4 eyes are locked onto him, watching his every movement, like a predator stalking prey but he mustn't show weakness. Showing weakness is taboo for a demon. It will be especially bad for him since murder has been allowed in this venture. He has to put up a front that will make fighting him not worthwhile.

She hissed at him. "Weren't you looking for me?"

Yes, he was looking for her. For her to appear like this is more than to fulfill his wish of finding her. She is hoping to rattle him. She certainly succeeded in rattling him but he won't show it. Instead, he asked her what has been bothering him recently.

"How did you get so much more points than me in the destruction of the churches in that plane called Zargoth?"

He had 110 million points while she had 2.6 billion points. How she achieved it is beyond his understanding. He should have the largest army in the house of Chaos while she has none. At least he hasn't seen any of her legions. So he wants to know how she did it.

Her answer came in a drawn-out hiss. "It's a secret."

Her body began to turn translucent after she spoke. Her flesh turned to shadows, then into black smoke that was blown away into the wind. She had disappeared.

Baal was paying attention to her but he couldn't figure out how she disappeared.

He noted to himself. 'All I can say is that it is not an illusion. Either way, she is my one and only threat. The trick is to make sure her ambush attack doesn't succeed.'

This short meeting has given him more information than he ever had about her. It made him realize how much of a dangerous threat she is to him. Xander doesn't need to join others in ganging up on him. She alone is enough to threaten his life. She can sneak up on him and attack before he is even aware of it. The only way to defeat her is to make sure that her first strike fails. He began making plans toward that objective.

He continued on his way to the center of the plane. Even now he can feel it, a malignant force sitting there and hoarding all that power to itself. A single being has taken ownership of the well of energy of the plane. It is something all high-rank demons can sense. They can sense the sweet power that that single demon is hoarding to themselves and they can sense that it will never be theirs. It is a terrible feeling to experience as a demon. They can see it, they can smell it, they can even taste its remnant power in the air, but they can't have it.

His mark of sin used to feel a longing for it when he was a high-rank demon. That longing has disappeared same as the even more intense longing he felt when he first sighted the Ominous Reaper. He hasn't felt any longing ever since he joined the house of Chaos because he has everything he needs to get stronger.

He might not need the energy well anymore, but it has been made his objective because of the same demon that removed his longing. That doesn't mean he isn't looking forward to it. On the contrary, he is feeling very excited and eager about his task. He doesn't need the power but the act of usurping the current owner will be a pleasurable experience. He will get to scratch that itch he has always had ever since he was a high-rank demon.

Every high-rank demon hates the demon lord. They all want what she has and will like to take it from her. He has other reasons why this moment is very important to him. He was raised to hate, fear, and eventually kill the demon lord by his father who is now dead. His father has died but his dream to fight the demon lord and kill her is still very much alive. Killing the tyrant that terrorized the plane for more than 15,000 years is a dream come true for him. So he is very eager to kill demon lord Beelta.

He advanced quickly toward his target at the fastest speed possible. He soon came upon the coveted central domain. It is the seat of power of the 541st abyssal plane. Whoever controls it, controls the plane. He found it heavily fortified as always. The thick walls of the fortification were made by placing mountains side by side. Then the top of the mountain was leveled and gaps were filled in with boulders.

The wall forms the backbone of the defense of the central domain. The siege breakers, catapults, ballistae, and cannons take advantage of the impregnable wall to beat back invaders. It has been like so for many years but it seems it will end today.