Chapter 3227: Belphegor's Plot - I

Date: Unspecified

Time: Unspecified

Location: Myriad Realms, Dark Realm, Seven Prince of Hell Territory, Pandemonium City, Center of Pandemonium Volcano, Millennium Volcano Heart Natural Array

‘I would hate to be Belphegor now.’

These were the first words that came to my mind after I concluded that the Bloodrool race had a bigger plan for Card World than they were showing through their representative’s reply to Mommon.

‘We will handle it.’

Those words had basically sealed Belphegor’s fate. Still, I wouldn’t bet against him. He was a slippery bastard. If there was a way to escape this fate, I’m sure he could find it. I could always increase the odds.

“Share Gideon Grim’s merchant ID with the Bloodrool representative, stating that he can help track Belphegor,” I instructed Mommon, while I used Hive Spirit to inform Gideon, who was accompanying Belphegor to meet other faction leaders to cooperate with the Bloodrool representative, making the Bloodrool fixers know where they could find Belphegor.

Just as Mommon was about to follow through with my orders, his merchant codex rang with multiple notifications. I looked at him, waiting for his report and wondering what was wrong.

“Master, the other faction leaders are simultaneously under attack by a group of ruler-class assassins,” Mommon reported indifferently after going through all the calls asking for a rescue.

Listening to Mommon’s report, I realized that the Bloodrools had also come to the same conclusion as me. They only needed one faction leader of the Seven Princes of Hell dark faction alive to get what they wanted.

I guess they had already made up their minds but delayed taking action while trying to choose which one of the seven faction leaders to spare. Most likely, it would be the one who would help their agenda and take the blame for the murder of the other six faction leaders. Since Mommon offered himself, they took action immediately.

Since the Seven Princes of Hell dark faction was about to come into a lot of wealth because of their deal with the Bloodrools, it would surprise the surrounding forces if one of them got greedy and murdered the others to keep all the wealth for himself.

Nobody would stop to think that maybe it was the Bloodrools who killed the other faction leaders of the Seven Princes of Hell because they had no reason to. After all, the Bloodrools were paying a hefty premium price to buy the rights to Card World. On the surface, the Bloodrools had no motive to kill the other faction leaders. And with the cooperation of the one faction leader they spared, things would continue to appear that way.

Finally, inviting Mommon to attend a party for the Bloodrool allies in the Sunless Realm made sense to me. They were using the carrot-and-stick method to ensure Mommon would stay in line. The carrot was gaining new trade channels within the Sunless Realm, and the stick was, of course, the death of the other faction leaders. Unless Mommon had a death wish, he would stay as their pet for the remainder of his life.

Now, that was the Bloodrools the seven faction leaders knew and the whole of the Myriad Realms knew. The faction leaders should have realized that things weren’t as they seemed when the Bloodrool representative treated them politely and even went as far as to flatter them. They were like frogs in slowly heating water, too comfortable to notice the danger until it was too late.

“Since you didn’t call for help, they should have realized by now that you have betrayed them.”

It was obvious, actually… Wait a minute, why had Gideon not informed me that he and Belphegor were under attack? I immediately checked with Gideon through Hive Spirit to learn that they had visited all the faction leaders and returned to their territory failing to convince even one of them not to sell the rights to the Card World to the Bloodrool.

And Gideon was hundred percent certain that Belphegor wasn’t under attack as he was in his mansion with other devil merchants discussing how to stop the sale of the rights to the Card World.

“Did Belphegor also call for help?” I asked Mommon urgently.

“Yes, Master.”

As soon as I saw Mommon nod, I transformed into my Maworm form and rushed into the herbal garden.

The fact that Belphegor knew when to call for help even though he wasn’t under attack like the other five faction leaders of the Seven Princes of Hell dark faction could only mean he was not only in touch with the Bloodrool representative like Mommon was but also somehow involved in the assassination of the other five faction leaders.

Had Belphegor’s plan all along been to use the Bloodrool representative to kill the other faction leaders and become the sole leader of the Seven Princes of Hell dark faction?

I had found his actions bizarre from the start. His reaction to the Bloodrools approaching them to buy the rights to Card World hadn’t sat right with me from the very beginning.

There was no reason for him to delay the sale of the rights to Card World to the Bloodrools, let alone reject it. Yet, he not only did both but was actively reaching out to the faction leaders, trying to change their minds, even going as far as informing the faction members of the sale and rallying them against it.

Considering how scheming this bastard was, I believe he asked the other faction leaders to give him a day to convince them why they shouldn’t sell the rights to Card World to the Bloodrools. When the other faction leaders actually gave him the time, at the risk of offending the Bloodrool representative, who had a reputation for being petty, Belphegor went around stabbing them in the back.

Belphegor contacted the Bloodrool representative right after, claiming that the other faction leaders were against selling the rights to Card World to the Bloodrools when actually it was him who was delaying the sales of the rights to the Card World to them purposefully.