Death... and me
chapter-1981

That was true. It was obvious that it was important, but the twins still had no idea why it was important.

"It's a deciding factor." Fagund was the first one to talk.

Of course, the twins didn't understand that, with so little to work with. "What do you mean?"

Fagund looked at Rui, who just nodded back. It wouldn't take more than a minute for Titia, Doohan, and Salahi to arrive at the meeting hall, so Fagund used Divine Sense from that point onward. 'This isn't the only competition. In fact, there are five different competitions to decide who'll be keeping the Underworld Relic for the next thousand years. The Underworld Soul Guiding Contest is one of those competitions.'

'Underworld Relic?' Neither Rean nor Roan knew about it.

*Pin!*

Immediately, the Soul Gem System activated.

[The Underworld Relic appeared right after the division of the Universe. Due to the power it provides, it's safe to assume that this relic is made with one of the Universe Foundation Fragments.]

[New Quest Available: Get close enough to the Underworld Relic. The system will check if a fragment is contained inside.]

[Time Limit: Unlimited]

Rean and Roan glanced at each other for a moment but didn't say anything. The moment they heard about the Underworld Relic, they kind of imagined the system would show itself again. If there was something surprising, it was how the system didn't give any rewards or failure conditions in its message.

Of course, Fagund didn't hear the system and simply continued to explain. 'At the moment, it's being kept by Elder Devil Mephisto's clan. The Underworld Relic was an item that we believe appeared during the formation of the Underworld. The clan that holds the relic will receive a boost in cultivation speed by the laws of the Underworld.'

'So, it's a Devil Stone that provides more Divine Energy?' Rean and Roan asked back.

Fagund shook his head as he replied, 'No, it has nothing to do with Divine Energy. Well, you still need Divine Energy to cultivate. However, it'll become way easier to cultivate if your clan's Elder Devil has it. Do you remember when we talked about a devil's influence?'

Rean and Roan nodded in response. Back in Fraghal City, they heard from the devil they killed that they couldn't talk anything about their master. That they were under the influence of the High Devil from Fraghal City. Such things happened in all areas controlled by strong devils, and the Underworld wasn't any different.

'Every single devil under a certain devil's influence will benefit from the Underworld Relic. Well, Elder Devils have already reached the peak of the universe's cultivation, so they can't increase it. Nevertheless, it's extremely beneficial to their clans. Not only that, but it also grants a considerable boost in strength to the Elder Devil themselves, even if their cultivation can't progress anymore.'

The twins nodded in the end. 'So it can be directly linked to the overall strength of the top clans. No, it probably works for smaller clans as well. It's just that smaller clans without Elder Devils don't have a say in it.'

'That's correct.' Fagund confirmed the twins' words. 'One competition is held every 200 years. They're fixed topics, and Soul Guiding is one of them. Well, I was really lucky to find you two in the Realm of Gods. The Underworld Soul Guiding Contest is the only one where Void Tempering Realm is the limit. The other four competitions also have limitations, but they're much higher.'

'I'm surprised that the Elder Devil holding this relic is even willing to give it away this easily,' Rean couldn't help but comment.

'Hahaha!' Fagund laughed in response. 'Give it away that easily? Do you think it was always like this? Dream on! A long time ago, the devils would go into huge wars because of this relic. The worst part was that you couldn't hide it. No formation, skill, or any other trick can prevent Elder Devils from feeling its location. When the Elder Devils themselves battled, much was lost in the areas they fought. The one holding onto it would always be in danger.'

'It wasn't before the Elder Devils lost too much that they understood that one Elder Devil would never be able to keep it safe by themself. Sure, the relic gave this devil a boost in strength, but it would be ridiculous to believe they could fight all the others on their own. The relic wouldn't stay in the same hand for more than two or three hundred years on average. Sometimes not even a decade.'

'In the end, these five competitions were created by the Elder Devils themselves. The clan that wins it will keep the relic for a thousand years. There's also the rule that Elder Devils are prohibited from taking part.'

'I can see why your clan considers this competition so important.' Roan admitted that it was a much better method than the Elder Devils fighting each other. 'If the relic could be hidden, it would be another story. But since it couldn't, then they came to the best decision. Only a single Elder Devil can use it, after all. Alliances would be useless if the others could only watch. Not to mention that the rest definitely wouldn't just stay still during it.'

Fagund agreed with him. 'There are more reasons why this happened, but the ones you mentioned are also part of it. Don't ask me why they decided to have five competitions instead of one. They had their own plans in mind. In any case, the clan that wins the most of these contests will receive the Underworld Relic.'

'What if five clans get one victory each?' Rean thought it was definitely possible.

'Then these five clans will choose one representative with a cultivation realm limit and have them fight. Same thing if, for example, two clans get two victories. It's just that only these two would fight for the right of having the relic.'

Suddenly, the door of the meeting hall opened again as three Light Devils entered the room.

Seeing that, Fagund finally finished his explanation. 'Anyways, that's basically the reason why these competitions happen.'