Morpheus's helmet looked bizarre!
Dane didn't know how to describe the thing; it had a pair of large, oval eyes like an alien, a rounded head, and a long, segmented proboscis resembling a human spine.
The entire helmet even bore a strange resemblance to Beelzebub's inexplicable appearance.
But the advantage was that this helmet, unlike Dream Sand, did not possess a fully independent consciousness.
It was just a helmet.
So Dane could use it directly. Although the helmet looked peculiar, Dane tolerated it for its special abilities.
Dane placed it on his head, and instantly, it was as if he had entered another realm.
Through the helmet's eyepieces, he saw not his current location but the Dream World.
He found that he could control the helmet to see every inch of this realm.
Even Dream Lord Morpheus himself!
It was a tall, thin man with a pale complexion and messy hair.
And as Dane's gaze fell upon him, Morpheus also felt the gaze from somewhere in the void.
He suddenly looked up at the sky: "Who is it!"
Through the helmet, Dane could communicate with him, so he spoke: "Hello, esteemed Dream Lord."
From the voice, Morpheus could confirm that this was absolutely a voice he had never heard before.
So he simply asked: "Who are you?" 06
Dane thought for a moment and replied:
"I am your competitor, Dream Lord. You have been away from the Dream World for too long, so long that your realm has fallen into decay, and four dream domains have slipped from your control."
Morpheus had not yet returned to his realm at this time; he had just regained a little of his power from Cain and Abel.
Cain and Abel were the brothers from the Bible; a long time ago, Morpheus took them in.
And he also wrote a letter of commission, giving each of them control over a portion of the Dream World.
During Morpheus's imprisonment, it was their efforts that prevented the legends and dreams of the Real World from falling into utter chaos.
However, their strength was clearly insufficient to subdue the one hundred and six thousand and two hundred vassals, so they could not prevent some vassals from breaking away.
To reorganize the Dream World, Morpheus retrieved his letters of commission from the two of them, restoring a portion of his power.
The Endless Family was just that capricious; if they couldn't handle their own tasks, or didn't want to and wished to slack off, they would delegate authority to others.
Death was the same; she was the Death of all life in the multiverse, and one can imagine how much work she had every day.
So occasionally, she would delegate a portion of her authority to a God of Death she found agreeable, and Dane had thus gained some of her power.
But Death herself probably never imagined that Dane would not use this ability to diligently work, but instead would increasingly pursue his own self-interest, now even setting his sights on her brother.
In short, since the Endless Family could distribute their power, they could naturally reclaim it when necessary, except in special circumstances.
For example, as now, most of Morpheus's power had been exhausted by casting the Dream of a Thousand Cats, and he no longer had enough power to control the Dream World.
Unlike the absolute binding of magical artifacts to oneself in Eastern cultivation or Xuanhuan Worlds.
Without enough power, even Morpheus, the original Master, could not simply recall all the artifacts with a thought.
And this was precisely why Dane needed to race against time; once the Dream Lord's power recovered a bit more, he would have more means to retrieve his artifacts.
Dane saw this very clearly, and Morpheus quickly understood that someone wanted to seize his power.
With a stern face, he asked: "Since you dare to speak directly to me, it proves that you must have obtained a few artifacts. Which ones?"
Dane stated bluntly: "Except for the most important one, all the others are already in my hands."
"Do you know what you are doing?" Morpheus couldn't help but question.
"I certainly do, Morpheus. I think we will meet again, and then, it will be time to decide the true ownership of the Dream World..."
After speaking, Dane's voice drifted away.
Morpheus stood in the desert between the Real World and the Dream World. Suddenly, he smiled.
"Interesting. I didn't expect there to be such an interesting fellow in the Real World nowadays."
He was not angered by Dane's affront; instead, a long-dormant competitive spirit arose within him.
"I am the Lord of Dreams, the fated Master of the Dream World. No one shall take it from my hands!"
Having reaffirmed his belief, Morpheus walked forward with faltering steps.
He needed to find his loyal servants first, and perhaps some other help.
Two of the three artifacts were lost; he was under great pressure... In Hell, Dane took off the helmet.
Declaring himself directly to Morpheus was a plan that had been decided beforehand.
Unlike those other miscellaneous gods, if Dane wanted to openly take over the Dream World, he had to defeat the other party honorably, and only then could he inherit everything.
This could be considered a medieval legacy, much like the battle for the throne in Aquaman: defeat your opponent in plain sight, and you have the right to inherit everything from the loser.
However, such a duel did not mean he couldn't use underhanded tactics. Medieval duels were a coexistence of fairness and treachery.
Fairness was to be maintained during the duel, but before the duel, both parties were allowed to use various means to weaken their opponent.
For example, was it fair for Aquaman to fight Orm with an artifact? He had already lost once, was it fair to fight a second time? But after he won the second time, he immediately took the throne.
Dane was merely respecting the Western tradition: treacherous, yet honorable!
With matters in Hell concluded, he did not linger. The aura of Hell still made him a bit uncomfortable.
Moreover, he knew that Beelzebub's Death would soon spread throughout Hell.
Lucifer had retreated to the Real World and no longer managed the affairs of Hell. One could say that "Satan" now basically meant Azazel monopolizing power, and surely many demons would be dissatisfied.
Hell was about to undergo a new round of major warfare, and he did not want to get involved.
Before leaving Hell, Dane specifically visited every Hell Gate to ensure that each one was tightly shut.
You demons can fight all you want in Hell, but you are not allowed to affect the Real World. If a few Demon Kings could die, that would be for the best.
And just as Dane expected, the news of Beelzebub's Death quickly spread throughout Hell.
All the Demons who received this news were greatly astonished.
But more Demons suspected it was Beelzebub's trick; after all, these Demon Lords loved to play such conniving games all day long.
Among all the Demons, Azazel was the quickest to learn the truth of the matter, because he had planted his own people in Beelzebub's territory.
And his informant had already told him that Beelzebub's Death was indeed a fact, and his body had already been found.
While Azazel was shocked, he also realized this was a good opportunity; with Lucifer not appearing, he was the most powerful Demon Lord in Hell.
Perhaps he could truly break tradition and become the only Satan in Hell in billions of years.
So he immediately issued an order to all Demons in Hell in the name of "Satan":
"All Demons are commanded to appear before me within one human month; those who fail to attend shall be killed for disrespect!"
As soon as this order was issued, it instantly caused an uproar.
The Demons were not fools; at such a critical moment, Azazel dared to issue such an arrogant order in his own name, which clearly meant that the news of Beelzebub's Death was true.
This also caused many Demon Lords with some strength to become active in their hearts, but they were still observing.
Although Azazel was one of the three "Satan", he was not taken seriously by them; they cared more about Lucifer's intentions.
Not all Demons were as oblivious to their own status as Beelzebub and Azazel.
Many old Demons who had experienced Lucifer's sole rule of Hell knew very well how powerful Lucifer was, and they had to be careful.
So they patiently waited for one human month, and Azazel's summoning successfully began.
Many Demon spies saw Azazel flaunting his power alone on the high cliff; he had clearly begun to consider himself Satan, no longer mentioning the names of Lucifer and Beelzebub.
And those two "Satan" did not appear.
After the grand gathering ended, seeing that Azazel had not suffered any targeting from Lucifer, the other Demon Lords became excited.
The first to act was the Rock of Eternity; on this day, the five great Demon Lords gathered, and they were:
Satan, who was one of the "Satan" in Hell's history, swore to reclaim the throne after his position was usurped, and thus insisted on calling himself "Satan".
Aym, formerly one of Solomon's seventy-two Demon Gods, holding the rank of Duke, commanding 26 Demon legions.
Belial, once a fallen Angel, acquainted with Lucifer.
Asmodeus, a famous Demon from Jewish mythology, appearing in the Book of Tobit. He was also recorded under the alias Asmadai in the demonologies of Regai and Pseudo-Enoch.
Crateis, a solitary Demon whose origin was a mystery.
The purpose of this gathering of these five Demons was to discuss how to kill Azazel and seize the position of "Satan".
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