As Frenese had said, there was no instant repercussion for his opposition, even when Velvet didn’t know if Andras had noticed one of his Devils deserting, remaining still instead of attacking the fairy-sprouting tumors, unlike the other ones, who went to do just that.

Aside from the half-woman spider, who appeared close to Frenese due to Velvet pulling on his summon, relocating him, the other Devils had appeared separated from each other.

Devils are territorial by nature, with only one for each Hell Realm, so, if two summon their hell in the same place… She didn’t know what would happen, but, seeing that Frenese’s hell had prevented the spider’s from taking root, it probably was first come first served.

The other Devils were summoning their own hells, but their expansion stopped once they collided one with another.

Velvet moved behind Frenese, using him as a wall between the spider Devil and her. If her knowledge wasn’t wrong, that Devil was Ars Chryses, the Knowledge Devil that owned the hell where Hyde resided.

And she knew that Ars Chryses had noticed her, even as she backed off from them, away from Frenese’s hell.

Luckily for her, the place that should’ve been occupied for Frenese was close, letting her settle down there, summoning a smaller hell than the rest, since some of it already had been claimed.

The hell of a knowledge Devil started as a blue, inky sea, with pages swimming over it, filled with inscriptions; of spells, information or detailed drawings, Velvet didn’t linger over them, unsure if looking was safe.

Frenese was able to mentally break any mage from the Gluttony Paradigm or derived from it inside his hell, so the same could be applied for Ars Chryses. That was one of the main reasons why a mage needed to call for Andras Apolyon’s protection before entering a Hell Realm.

Something she couldn’t exactly do at this time, since the Deriliam in question was above her, trying to kill them.

At least He stopped attacking towards the ground, not planning on stomping over His own Devils, letting them start culling over the number of fairies.

And, the introduction of Devils inside the dream had finally collapsed the threshold that prevented Velvet from accessing her Esca and, through it, the Primeval Sea, yet, since it was a dream, all her materials, papers and things weren’t with her.

She could still use her own skin, since the physical wounds taken on the dream didn’t carry over, and it was a valid material for a knowledge mage. Some books and scrolls were made of animal or human skin, after all. But she wasn’t at the point where needing to do so, at least for now.

Velvet had another resource at her disposition first, the chains.

Since Andras had knocked down the Custodian, the chain's behavior had been erratic; continuing to target Him, yet missing their previous organization, the movements aimless. The Custodian could merge back into the dream to move around, having done so previously, which meant that Andras' attack had probably sealed her somehow.

No, not probably. For the first time in the dream, Velvet could feel the chain's movements deep in her mind, exactly like when she first got her Esca, and started to feel the Primeval Sea’s influence around her.

So right now, she could feel the membrane separating her from the chain’s control, one previously closed off completely due to the Custodian's Authority over them.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

With a single push, she could break that barrier, obtaining control of the chains.

But that was a risky gamble. The kind that could kill her if things went awry. The Custodian wasn’t dead, Velvet could still feel her presence deep in the dream, and once she was free, she would retake her Authority, possibly retaliating against Velvet. And not only that. Until now, Andras hadn’t paid attention nor targeted her, but if she claimed ownership of the chains, that would soon change.

And, she had no hope of even defending herself for a second, were He to attack her.

She had come into the dream as an observer. From the start, she had no intention of participating, nor confronting Andras or the Custodian. And, unlike the time when Frenese got unsealed and tried to eat them, she had choices. Exits.

She didn’t have the need of risking her own life for Cardomos, nor Lothrigern. She didn’t have to remain there, being able to wake up if things got too complicated. From the start, she could’ve run away.

Knowledge mages weren’t the kind that jumped onto a potential death if they knew that they had other choices. Hell, Velvet was the first that would escape, surrender or go along with someone else’s wishes if doing so meant securing her future wellbeing. Something she had done several times by now.

She could always try again later, as long as she lived. Winning or losing didn’t matter as long as she could keep going.

The Devils were efficient, constantly culling the no longer infinite number of fairies, even when some of the fairies fought back, their curses and spells slowing some of them. Yet the difference in power was evident, with each Devil being a realm ruler, and the fairies simply being more in number, not power.

Velvet didn’t doubt the existence of stronger fairies, but the ones here were simply to help Lothrigern teleport, not fight.

And, stronger fairies weren’t necessary for Him. With each blink, Lothrigern appeared next to the fairies closer to a Devil, killing them with no effort. Devils, rulers of Hell Realms, some of which were colossal in size, towering over her, got torn to shreds, insides turning inside out, flesh, stone, bones… whatever material composed their bodies broken and bended as tree bark, with roots, branches and leaves being birthed from their bodies.

Devils like Frenese, who were able to destroy mages with no effort, went down like feathers in the air, just by being close to the Deriliam. Lothrigern didn’t even look at them, disappearing as soon as He appeared, uncaring.

Devils of hundreds, thousands of years, falling like houses of cards. No, they even weren’t allowed that, the trees born from them keeping their corpses standing, sculptures mocking Andras Apolyon.

That was what happened to mages that summoned Him, what she’d been warned about.

But the Devils didn’t falter. Even as roots grew from their bodies, even as they twisted, the cracking noise running through the dream, their lives ending, they continued slaughtering the fairies.

“They don’t even flinch.” She told Frenese. “Do Devils not feel pain or fear?”

“Is feeling pain or fear a crime? Does running away deserve a punishment? We Devils are the end of humanity’s sins.” Frenese six eyed gaze fell on Velvet. “ I do not feel fear nor pain, only hunger. My only wish is to devour until nothing is left.”

Velvet sighed, taking a deep breath.

“But don’t forget, what separates a mage from a witch is the same thing that separates a Devil from a demon. You’ve yet to reach the point where knowledge is the only thing guiding you.”

She knew that, just like she knew that Frenese wasn’t devouring the fairies and dying to Lothrigern like the other Devils because of her, of her and their pact.

Frenese could die and not care, but she wanted to live. That by itself allowed fear to settle, the kind that only appeared when one could run away.

“Dammit.”

She very much wanted to wake up, and yet…

“Cover me.”

Retreating into her mind, she reached for that membrane, feeling it push against her own mind at first, bending and stretching to its limit, before snapping, the silence of its destruction not matching how she felt about it.

Even so, Velvet grabbed the chains, merging them into her mind, body and Esca.