Unfortunately, the one hiding in the forbidden zone wasn't the Divine Ancestor Damien had hoped for.
It was a muscular, dark-skinned middle-aged man.
He wore an abundance of golden ornaments, dressed like an Egyptian pharaoh.
The Netherworld around him resembled a beautiful oasis nestled in the desert.
At the center stood a palace forged entirely of gold. The man sat upon a throne, glaring down at Diablo with fury. "Who dares intrude upon my divine realm?!"
"My name is Diablo. Though in this world you may call me Lucifer!"
As he spoke, twelve pairs of black-and-white angelic wings unfurled behind him. "As for why I'm here…"
"How would you like to be sent back to the realm of myth?"
"Insolence!!!"
The dark-skinned man rose in rage. With a casual wave, a massive obsidian axe appeared in his grip.
One step forward and he was already standing before Diablo.
CLANG!
The clash of metal shook the entire divine realm.
Yet the man's giant axe was stopped cold by a flaming dawn holy sword, unable to advance even an inch.
"Lucifer, lord of Hell—you have no right to enter my divine realm!"
The brief exchange had shown the dark-skinned man that his opponent wasn't lying.
Such power left no doubt—Diablo was a Heretic God.
"Divine-realm enhancement?" Diablo showed no fear. "Perfect. Let's see how much a Heretic God is boosted inside his own domain."
The difference in strength between a Heretic God in the Netherworld and in the material world was enormous.
Especially when standing inside the realm he himself had built, a Heretic God's magical power received a massive amplification.
Normally it would be unwise for Diablo to fight an opponent on their home ground.
According to the Campione world's ranking of Heretic Gods, there were ordinary second-tier deities, first-tier chief gods, and super-first-tier god-king level Heretic Gods.
The man before Diablo was Set—the god of the desert and storms in Egyptian mythology.
Of course, this was the Campione world, so Set's identity was far more complex than that.
None of that mattered to Diablo.
As Damien's familiar, all he wanted right now was to destroy Set's divine realm and force the god out into the material world.
The Netherworld existed in the gap between life and death; no true victor could be decided here.
BOOM!!
Whether a victor could be decided was one thing; whether they would fight was another.
The two stopped holding back and erupted into a world-shaking battle right inside the divine realm.
The commotion even spilled into the real-world desert.
The ground trembled, yellow sand filled the sky, and the entire world seemed draped in a blood-red curtain.
The bizarre phenomenon instantly drew the attention of Egypt's local mystical side.
Yet the disturbance appeared as quickly as it vanished.
Time flowed differently in the Netherworld.
During a clash between two Heretic Gods, the flow was completely under their control.
"A super-first-tier god-king level?" Diablo hadn't managed to defeat Set, and Set hadn't managed to wound him either.
They had fought to a draw.
Crack! Crackle!
Just as Diablo prepared to continue, Testarossa forced her way into the battlefield.
"My, you look rather ragged, Black."
"Is this really the time for sarcasm?"
Diablo sighed helplessly. "My power isn't as strong as before. I couldn't finish him quickly."
In terms of raw combat ability, Set was no weaker than the Zeus they had summoned earlier.
But because Diablo and Testarossa had become Damien's familiars and surrendered much of their strength to him, many of their trump cards were unavailable.
Without those finishing moves, they were at a slight disadvantage.
"Hm?"
On the other side, Set noticed the pure-white goddess who had just appeared.
Judging by her positioning, she and Diablo were working together.
Set was confident he wouldn't lose to Diablo alone, but facing two opponents of the same level was another story.
This was his divine realm, cultivated over centuries.
If he abandoned it, he would be left drifting through the Netherworld.
That alone wouldn't have bothered him much.
The real problem was that without the forbidden zone's cover, Set would be exposed to countless watchful eyes.
Miko and witches with spirit vision, under the control of the Campiones, were constantly searching for descending Heretic Gods.
Set had no desire to be targeted by those god-slaying beasts.
"Who are you?"
Set found he couldn't see through either of them.
Diablo had called himself Lucifer, yet something felt off.
The same went for the woman—he sensed she wasn't truly Lilith.
At least, not the one he expected.
"You may call me Lilith."
"I see!"
Set understood. "You two are gods from outside this domain, aren't you?"
The Campione world acknowledged the existence of parallel universes and alternate worlds, and gods from different realms often differed slightly.
Set therefore suspected the pair were alternate versions of Lucifer and Lilith from another timeline.
"Have I offended you somehow?"
Set genuinely couldn't figure out how he had provoked these two.
Why come looking for trouble with him?
He had descended as a Heretic God centuries ago.
Unlike the violent character described in myth, Set had not rampaged across Upper and Lower Egypt. Instead he had quietly slipped into the Netherworld and built his own divine realm here.
For hundreds of years he had kept a low profile.
At most he stirred up sandstorms in the material world, burying travelers who ventured too close to his anchors.
Don't call him cruel.
For a Heretic God, Set's behavior was far more restrained than most.