The delicate, brutal balance of power in hell was in a constant state of being monitored.
A Devil King, an entity of such immense power that they viewed Arch Devils as mere landowners, would eventually sense the disturbance, if they haven't already...
They would come to investigate, to confiscate, or to obliterate. To be caught harboring, or worse, failing to remove such a power from his territory... the consequences would be dire. Obtaining a resource point and territory in hell's 1st layer came with certain stipulations, and maintaining order and balance was one of them.
Failing to do so could mean a loss of territory; he could even lose his status, his power, or his very life...
The risk catastrophically outweighed the potential reward.
In the end, this whole ordeal was because of his initial meddling; something that had already broken the rules.
The decision was made.
The overbearing pressure in the room lifted.
Gorael's voice, when it came as a thought that echoed directly in Kaelgor's mind, flat and utterly devoid of emotion.
"The project is terminated. Cease all previous operations. The asset is too volatile," He abandoned the ship decisively, "Contain the newborn. Ensure his activities do not attract further attention. Cut the losses on this investment... any further activities are now your problem. Do not fail to contain him."
The silence after Gorael's initial command was heavier than the abyssal steel of Kaelgor's armor. The Arch Devil's will was not a suggestion; it was law.
And the new reality was this: the newborn was not to be provoked any longer.
"The trace of my power within that nexus," Gorael's thought-voice resonated, each word a hammer blow to Kaelgor's ambitions, "Is an anomaly by the lower layer's standards. Every attempt you make to seize it, every time he activates that power that echoes from that basin, is a beacon. You are not merely fighting a newborn; you are waving a flag for entities far older and hungrier than you can comprehend." Gorael paused, his emotionless eyes seeming to blaze with cunning, "Beings that are seeking for any given opportunity to intervene with the current distribution of territory…"
Kaelgor remained kneeling, but his mind reeled.
This wasn't about the newborn's strength, it was about Gorael's mistake.
The magnificent runes the Arch Devil had so carelessly carved were a liability. If a Devil King were to detect an Arch Devil's power being misused in the restricted first Layer, the punishment would not fall on Adam.
It would fall on Arch Devil Gorael.
The mighty Arch Devil was no longer commanding a conquest: he was conducting a cover-up operation.
"Your new duty is containment and removal," Gorael's command was icy and precise.
"Establish a perimeter, let no other faction's devil near that basin. You are not there to attack. You are there to quarantine. And… encourage the newborn to advance. Urge him to leave the 1st layer... to take his new toy and go."
The logic was perverse, yet brilliant.
Gorael couldn't remove the evidence himself without drawing more attention. He couldn't let Kaelgor try and destroy it for the same reason; the commotion would be too much.
The only solution was to make the problem solve itself. To have the forbidden power, the 'tumor' he created, to simply grow legs and walk out on its own!
Still, there was certain things that needed to be done in order to ensure that everything went smoothly from this point forward. After all, he had already suffered a major loss.
As this strategy solidified in Gorael's ancient mind, a mysterious, potent aura radiated from the projected eyes.
It was a complex, powerful energy that snaked down and infused Kaelgor's kneeling being before he could react.
Ancient, advanced knowledge burned itself into the lesser devil's consciousness. The forced infusion of knowledge caused his brows to furrow in pain, yet he didn't say a word as the information made itself clear.
It was a grand teleportation magic with an incredibly powerful and exquisitely delicate design: with the ability to translocate a massive object, like an entire nexus point!
"A final option," Gorael's voice was laced with a profound reluctance. This was valuable knowledge, wasted on a subordinate for a mere cleanup operation.
"If he refuses to leave, if the beacon grows too bright… you will move the nexus itself. Erase it from that location. Do not let it fall into another's hands... it's best if you convince the newborn to use the spell himself."
This was the true cunning of a supreme power.
Why wouldn't a newborn take arcane knowledge and the powerful nexus to leave a layer now filled with countless dangers?
All personal anger at the newborn, all annoyance at the failed investment, was discarded like useless slag. The only thing that mattered was the cold, efficient removal of a mistake. The cost, the lost nexus, the valuable magic given to an underling, was irrelevant compared to the existential risk of discovery.
He was swiftly cutting off dead meat before the necrotic flesh could infect more.
Kaelgor, still on his knees, felt the staggering weight of the teleportation magic settling in his mind.
His initial humiliation morphed into a grim, relieved acceptance.
He hadn't been punished, and instead he had been given a vital, if inglorious, mission and the tools to see it through.
"I understand, my Lord. It will be done." His voice was steady, the voice of a soldier who knew his duty, even if it was that of a glorified janitor.
The projection vanished.
Back in the depths of his true fortress, Gorael allowed himself a moment of respite. A situation that could spiral into a catastrophe had plans set in motion to contain it.
The fact that he, an Arch Devil, had to directly intervene and instruct a mere lesser devil like Kaelgor was, on the surface, absurd.
It was beneath him!
A king instructing a mere peasant.
But that was the mark of his foresight.
This was not a matter for intermediaries or slow moving bureaucracy. This required a surgeon's direct, precise touch.
Sending down this command to his direct subordinates, tasking them to do as told, would allow his rivals to notice the commotion.
By dealing with the inconsequential Kaelgor directly, he had swiftly enacted a new strategy and hidden the evidence of his own miscalculation in the most remote corner of his influence.
The interaction was beneath him, but the result, preserving his power, position, and potentially his life, was all that mattered.
The game was saved, even if a few prized pieces had to be quietly swept from the board.
As the projection of the six eyes blinked out of existence, Kaelgor was left alone in the sudden silence.
He remained kneeling for a long moment, the Arch Devil's dismissal and commands ringing in his skull.
'Contain him...'
He was to be a warden, tasked with babysitting a rogue weapon that his master had decided was too hot to handle.
"Hrrrghh~
A low growl of pure frustration erupted from Kaelgor's chest.
At the end of the day, he had failed the tasks that were assigned to him. Thoughts collided in his mind as he sought where he went wrong, trying to see if there was a life in which he completed his mission.
Alas, regrets would get him no where.
Still, the humiliation and annoyance ate at his conscious.