GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

The defenders on the wall noticed his arrival. He received a personal welcome when the massive ballistae shot their giant flaming harpoons at him. They must have found his 30-meter figure to be an eyesore.

The giant harpoons struck his body and exploded covering him in flames. The flames died down but he was unarmed. Many more were shot at him and they hit him too. All he did was smile to himself. Then he grabbed one in the air and hauled it back at the wall. The resulting explosion made him laugh.

He sighed and said. "Same walls but different people. What a pity."

The defenses of the central domain have changed and it fills him with nostalgia. Normally, the sky ought to be covered with harpoons as the sentries on the wall fire volleys upon volleys. At least that's what his father told him about the war that occurred 10,000 years ago.

In that war, all the demon nobles attacked the demon lord. They came with their full army and siege weapons. They were welcomed with destruction raining from above. The energy cannons produced massive area of attack damage while the ballista directly crippled individuals that didn't die from a single hit.

Middle-rank demons couldn't scale the wall and high-rank demons will be shot down like birds in the sky. This wall stopped everything that didn't have Accumulation. The demon lord personally forged the ballista and they are manned by high-rank demons. It is why they are very dangerous even to demon nobles who don't protect themselves with Accumulation. The wall forms a circle around the energy well and it has blocked out intruders for thousands of years.

But the threat of the wall has fallen. The wall remains the same. Even the ballistas are still there. But the ones that can use it are few in number. There's a scarcity in the workforce manning the defenses. This is because the demon lord took most of her manpower to the Zargoth desert but she returned alone. She took a gamble and she lost. She lost badly.

It is common knowledge that trying to kill someone is not a sin, but failing to kill is a sin. She failed to kill the Ominous Reaper several times and now she will pay for her sins. Except she has fallen so low that the Lord of Chaos doesn't consider her worthy of his time anymore. So, he sent the dukes to collect payment for her transgression on his behalf.

Baal shook his head as he flew over the wall. Then he zoned on his prize and flew toward it. He encountered little resistance on his way to the energy pillar. The demon lord seems to have run out of subordinates to do everything. The central domain is mostly empty now. Buildings are unoccupied and the city is mostly empty. The few demons that are still present are either in hiding or have met a very unfortunate fate.

Baal flew over the central domain and arrived at the energy pillar. What he found there was expected. There is a confrontation in front of a large black pillar about 1 kilometer wide. The pillar is not solid. It just looks like it. It isn't gas or liquid either. If it is then something must be stopping it from spilling, splashing, scattering, and clinging to stuff that passes through it.

The energy pillar is an enigma. It is like soft foam. A high-rank demon can touch it and use it to leave the plane. A mid-rank demon will die if they touch it as they are overwhelmed by the concentration of sin energy of the pillar. High-rank demons can fly by using their mind to push on the world. They use their minds to keep the sin energy away from overwhelming them. Even they are not safe from the concentration of sin energy within the pillar.

But the high concentration is a boon for demon nobles with pinnacle rank energy. They have unified their energy and won't blow up when they touch the energy well. They can even bind the energy well to themselves and become a demon lord. That means they will have to defend it. They will have to fight off usurpers or their control will be taken from them.

It is why an obese demoness is being surrounded in front of the pillar. Someone powerful has ordered her death and yet she remains composed. She looks normal for a demon. She is just 10 meters tall. There are two small horns on her head. She also has a tail. If not for the aura coming from her, you wouldn't know that she is the demon lord.

Looks can be deceiving but demons are very sensitive to power. They need to be. It is how they are able to recognize threats and identify their position in the food chain. So they can all sense the great power contained within the small demoness.

The other thing off about her is her gaping maws. It is not a mouth. She doesn't have a mouth. She has not one, but numerous maws. There's one on her head. It has taken the space where the eyes, nose, and ear should be. Or maybe it ate them. She doesn't have those organs on her face. Just a head with a dark hole ringed with sharp, jagged teeth.

The largest maw is on her stomach. It has giant teeth and a giant slobbering tongue. There are others on her fat body but they are small compared to the one on her stomach. They may be small but they are not harmless. They can extend out of her body, widen, and snap up prey before withdrawing back to her body. They only look small to fool others.

'I wonder who it might fool. Those maws don't look harmless at all. Then again, I didn't become demon lord so it must be working somehow.' Baal thought to himself as he gazed at her.