Chapter 19 - Inferno (Patreon)

"On the Inferno. Of the Melabranche. Alichino. Arbariccia. Cagnazzo. Calcabrina. Ciriatto. Draghgnazzo. Farfarello. Grafficacane. Libicocco. Rubicante. Scarmiglione. Malacoda."

***

It took around half an hour for Yhwach to reach the 3rd Layer of the Lucifaad's Research Facility, where the Melabranche were sealed. He needed to disable an entire bunch of defenses and Wards manually to be even able to go into the 3rd Layer, which was holding the Melabranche. 

After he had unlocked the entrance to the 3rd Layer, he walked for half an hour until he reached the end of the tunnel, which led to a small room, which was a teleportation array to the 3rd Layer. 

It seemed that there was no physical connection between the 2nd Layer and the 3rd Layer of the subterranean place. This was in the case that the Melabranche broke out, then they would need to carve through the several tens of kilometers of the hardest rock just to reach the 2nd Layer of the Subterranean area.

When Yhwach reached the teleportation circle that would bring him to the 3rd Layer, he inserted the Administrator's codes that he obtained from Zaorama Nebiros, who was, most probably, resting very well in the prisons of the Hindu Pantheon.

Shortly after she spoke with Valiana, he received a message from her stating that they were already in the process of evacuating and transporting the research samples, raw materials, and other precious things from the facility to the Hindu Pantheon through the stable portal they had created.

Coincidentally, they were finished around the same time when Yhwach arrived at the teleportation circle that was leading to the 3rd Layer of the subterranean area.

***

3rd Layer of the Lucifaad's Research Facility

The sealing chamber of the Melabranche was an enormous ritual chamber suspended over a sea of molten lava. The architecture was gothic and ancient, with intricate carvings and towering pillars reinforcing the sense of power and mystery.

This was done on purpose, because this wasn't just an ordinary molten lava, but the one that seeped in Mana, powerful enough to kill even beings like Satans or Dragon Kings. Everything that was within the chamber was created in this place, was created to either kill or weaken the Melabranche in case they went berserk.

At the center of the scene, an elevated platform made of dark metal or stone juts out, accessible only via a narrow, fortified bridge that extends from the cavern's edge. The bridge was lined with short, sturdy stone railings, giving it the appearance of a heavily defended passage.

The platform itself was an octagonal structure adorned with glowing runes and elaborate engravings, possibly symbolizing arcane power. At its heart was an ominous emblem, etched into the stone floor, reinforcing the idea of powerful entity beings sealed in this place.

Fiery braziers burn atop ornate pillars, casting an orange glow that contrasts with the cold blue light emanating from the massive altar at the far end.

The altar, set against a towering crystalline structure, glows with an ethereal blue light, giving it a mystical and otherworldly presence. On the altar, there was a mixture of Arcane symbols inscribed in them which exuded an aura of deeper mysteries.

The background consisted of cavernous rock walls, partially illuminated by the molten lava below, with dark recesses hinting at unknown depths. Chains appeared to support the platform, reinforcing its suspended, precarious nature.

The combination of fire and ice-like elements, along with the gothic and infernal architecture, was a testament to the dark power of the Melabranche, which was both revered and feared among the Devils of the Old Satan Faction, as the Melabranche were always some sort of mystery to the Devil Race.

They were far older than the Devil Race, as they existed a long time before Helel fell from grace and became Lucifer. This wasn't just the place where the Melabranche were sealed, but it was also the place where they were found in the depths of the underground area beneath the Lucifaad.

Only after that did Lucifer rework the entire area to act as the sealing vault for the Melabranche.

Yhwach looked around as he felt the thick air penetrated by sulfur, as the heat was distorting his vision like a mirage.

In the center of the octagonal platform, there were the stone statues.

Upon this elevated platform stand twelve towering statues of demons, each hewn from blackened stone, their forms twisted in grotesque, otherworldly perfection. Some possess multiple arms grasping long-forgotten weapons, others have bat-like wings unfurled as if frozen in flight, and a few bear horns that spiral toward the cavernous ceiling like infernal spires.

Their hollow eyes seem to burn with an unseen fire, and their expressions are a mix of wrath, despair, and eternal vigilance.

These were the Melabranche.

Alichino. Arbariccia. Cagnazzo. Calcabrina. Ciriatto. Draghgnazzo. Farfarello. Grafficacane. Libicocco. Rubicante. Scarmiglione. Malacoda.

The statues of the Melabranche were scarred with ancient runes, pulsing faintly with crimson light, as if whispering secrets to those who dare to tread upon it. He didn't understand these runes, but he could recognize them as Primordial Runes of some sort, in Ancient Enochian Language that he vaguely could understand.

The lava below churned violently, casting flickering shadows that make the statues seem to shift, their ominous silhouettes stretching and twisting against the cavern walls.

"Well... the good news is that, the Seals are still working as they should."

Yhwach stated that he checked the Ancient Enochian inscription, as the Ancient Enochian was a very rare dialect of the Angels, and it was rarely spoken. At the same time, it was Power Language, meaning even the simplest words had power in Ancient Enochian, so it was very powerful ritualistic language for the Angels.

He wasn't really surprised that Helel used the Ancient Enochain as the ritualistic luneagne when he was sealing up the Melabranche.

At the same time, what was surprising him, was that, Helel was able to use the Primordial Runes like Odin, though compared to the God-King of the Nordic Pantheon, the Lightbringer's usage of the was rather crude, but that was from the inexperience not from a proper understanding of the Primordial Runes.

Yet, what Yhwach noticed was that the Sealing Incriptions and Runes were already weakened a bit... which was rather problematic, and in some cases, they were already cracked, which could pose minor problems if he wanted to bring them out through teleportation.

"Transporting them out could be dangerous... if they break from the seals it would be really fucked up situation. At the same time, I don't have really that many different solutions for this situation."

Yhwach muttered as he pondered over how to solve the things. 

"Great Sage, conduct a scan on the integrity of the Sealing Runes on the statues. We cannot awaken them prematurely during the transportation."

Preferably, Yhwach would be happiest if the Melabranche were not awakened at all, until they were able to wipe out their consciousness and reforge them into one singular weapon that would become his Divine Tool and Symbol of Power.

<Scanning the Target: Melabranche.>

<Scanning. Initiating the Analysis of the Targets: Alichino. Arbariccia. Cagnazzo. Calcabrina. Ciriatto. Draghgnazzo. Farfarello. Grafficacane. Libicocco. Rubicante. Scarmiglione. Malacoda.>

<Scanning at 58%.>

< Interference in the Scans was discovered. Running the diagnosis.>

< Insufficient calculating power.>

<Insufficient privilege.>

< Attempting to rewrite the privilege.>

<Connection to the Cardinal World denied.>

< Attempting to bypass the Dimensional Gap.>

<Bypassing the Dimensional Gap.>

<Bypassing the Dimensional Gap failed.>

<Analysis of possible action.>

<Solution Found. Activating the remnant Primordial Rune in the Inscription. Accessing the Divine Authority of the Golden Grace. Permission for the Evolution Required.>

Yhwach watched this in wonder as he knew what the Great Sage was attempting to do.

It was attempting to evolve into the Ultimate Skill.

In the end, even though it was risky, Yhwach gave the Great Sage permission as he felt that the Unique Skill started the work almost instantly.

<Announcement. Evolution of the Unique Skill Great Sage has been initiated.>

<Searching for the nearest Cardinal World.>

<Searching.>

<Match found.>

<Bypassing the Dimensional Gap through the Divine Authority of the Golden Grace.>

<Miracle achieved.>

<Connection with the Aurbis Cardinal World has been established.>

<Evolution of the Unique Skill Great Sage has commenced.>

<Unique Skill Great Sage has been evolved into the Ultimate Skill Lord of Unspeakable Lore Hastur.>

When the Evolution of the Unique Skill Great Sage ended, he felt a wave of power and a certain degree of satisfaction that he had obtained the Ultimate Skill. 

In the Tensura, the Ultimate Skills, as the name implies, granted their wielder the ultimate power to control the very laws of nature. The only ways to counter an ultimate skill are with another ultimate skill, Administrative Authority, Ultimate-Level Magic, God-Grade equipment, or divinity, although it all boils down to willpower. 

If unique skills are born from one's individuality, ultimate skills are born when unique skills are brought beyond their limit.

That is why no Ultimate Skill is identical. A strong Will and Soul, as well as being a Spiritual life-form, are necessary to awaken an Ultimate Skill. Similar to all Skills, a large amount of energy is consumed and converted to awaken them.

Through certain methods, Ultimate Abilities can be imparted to those who have not naturally awakened them. One of the requirements is that the recipient must be a spiritual life-form to qualify for it.

Cardinal World...

According to the Great Sage previously, the Cardinal Worlds were the pinnacle worlds in the Cosmos that were capable to giving birth to the strongest and most powerful beings. Due to that, Great Sage needed to connect to the Cardinal World for the successful evolution because the Draconic Deus wasn't enough to facilitate the birth of the Ultimate Skill.

At the same time, Yhwach tried to ignore the name of the Ultimate Skill.

Hastur the Unspeakable, one of the most fearsome Outer Gods in the Lovecraftian Mythos, and having the Ultimate Skill named after Outer Gods wasn't probably something that he was most thrilled about because of the connotations that it represented.

Nevertheless, he would need to figure out the sub-skills of the Ultimate Skill Hastur the Lord of the Unspeakable Lore, right now he needed the Ultimate Skill to conduct the comprehensive scan on the Runes that were on the stone forms of the Melabranche.

"Hastur, do the comprehensive scan on the runes on the Melabranche, and if they could handle the teleportation process."

Yhwach gave the task to the Ultimate Skill Hastur the Lord of the Unspeakable Lore, as the Ultimate Skills went to work instantly.

<Task accepted.>

<Analysis on the Runic Inscription has been initiated.>

<Processing.>

<Processing.>

<Analysis on the Runic Inscription on the Melabranche has been completed.>

<There is approximately an 87% chance that the Runic Inscriptions that are sealing the Melabrnache would withstand the teleportation process. 10% that the Runic Inscription would be severely damaged from the process and fall apart shortly after the teleportation is completed and 3% that they would fall apart the moment the teleportation is initiated and the Melabranche would be unsleaded the moment they are teleported to another side.>

These numbers were actually far better than Yhwach had initially expected from the US.

"Most probably, we can't really recharge them or patch them up?"

Yhwached asked if there wasn't any possibility of recharging the Runic Inscriptions on the Melabranche, but he could see that the Runic Matrix was damaged in several places and he didn't have the necessary knowledge nor power to repair the Runic Matrixes, not to mention repairing the entire Runic Inscription on each statute.

That was vastly beyond his current scope of capabilities.

<Negative. The Charging Matrix is damaged and it's not working.>

Ywhach frowned but nevertheless the numbers were still very good. To be sure, he decided to send a message to his father to await at the destination. If something went wrong, he would be there to subdue the Melabranche and contain them safely so they wouldn't create any problems.

If the Melabranche started wreaking havoc, it would be a grave problem.

Especially if all of them got unsealed, including their Malacoda who was rumored to have reached the Level 8 and could give a run for their money even against some of the strongest beings in the Draonic Deus in his full form.

"Ts... prepare the teleportation process. We are bringing them out."

Yhwach stated to the US, as he then went to every single statue of the Melabranche and placed a teleportation rune on each one, which would then teleport all of the Melabranche Statues to the Divine Realm of the Hindu Pantheon

***

Dimensional Gap, Around the Same Time

The Dimensional Gap was the endless space between the various worlds that were located within the Dimension Gap itself. Aside from Draconic Deus and various pocket dimensions, the Divine Realms and other locations, there were many different worlds.

And the Dimensional Gap itself was just one of several distant areas of the Aurbis.

The Dimensional Gap was rather lucky to be located on the outskirts of the Aurbis, because due to that, it was protected from all dangers of the Aurbis and the powerful entities that were existing within the Aurbis, were not paying any attention to it.

The Dimensional Gap was a very silent and quiet place, because it was protected from the outside interventions. 

Suddenly, at the outermost part of the Dimensional Gap, a small crack started forming as the tiny part of the Dimensional Wall that was surrounding the entire Dimensional Gap had fallen, and a small hole appeared in the Dimensional Gap.

***

Divine Realm of the Hindu Pantheon, Mount Kailash

When the teleportation circle has been closed and all twelve stone statues were finally transported back to the Divine Realm of the Hindu Pantheon, Yhwach actually sighed in relief.

They obtained the Melabrache, which was a tremendous achievement because these things were perfect for his own Divine Tool with the possibility of creating an Ultra Divine Tool as the Hindu Pantheon Divine Realm had only three Ultra Divine Tools.

One of them was Trishula, the Ultra Divine Tool and Symbol of Power of Shiva, another was Thunder Vajra Spear that belonged to Indra, and the Sacred Angel Sword that belonged to Tashamal, who obtained it from Yahweh himself. 

Who gave that Ultra Divine Tool to his strongest general on the battlefield so that she could bring down the enemies of the Heaven. It was rather ironic that it, in the end, fell to the hands of the Hindu Pantheon. 

Now, Hindu Pantheon would obtain the 4th Ultra Divine Tool.

Finding materials for the Ultra Divine Tool in the Draconic Deus was extremely hard because not many things and objects met the requirements for the material that was suitable to be the building block of the Ultra Divine Tool.

When Yhwach stepped out of the portal, his father and the members of the Asura Enforcers were already waiting and were ready to fight against the Melabranche if they got unsealed. 

Fortunately, though, they didn't really get unsealed, and nothing had happened.

Seeing that this was the case, the Asura Enforcers took the unconscious Devils into their custody, mainly Zoarama Nebiros and Zaran Naberius, who were their most prized prisoners and most important ones.

Though they also brought with them some of the Ultimate-Class Devils of the Old Satan Faction that they managed to capture, or even those who were killed, as their corpses were literal treasure troves.

"It seems that you were successful in your endeavors."

Shiva said as they saw the Ausra Enforcers dragging the devils to their dungeons. 

He didn't think that his son and his companions would be able to capture someone like Zaorama Nebiros due to his cunning, the man was, and it was last to impossible even to locate the devil.

Asura Enforcers were the strongest members of the Asura Species in the Hindu Pantheon; they were the most powerful warriors, the most skilled, and the best of the best in the singular organization that worked directly under the command of Shiva.

"Yes... old Zaorama got more comfortable in the place and we were able to ambush him rather easily. Only due to it were we able to capture him alive and in good condition. Though... the number of the failsaves that the man had is almost staggering."

Yhwach said as he started unloading his personal pocked dimension and pulling out the things that he had brought from the Lucifaad's Research Facility. Mainly trinkets and other things like gold, gems, and precious things. 

Most of it came from the vaults in the Lucifaad's Research Facility that were being used by Zaorama as the funds to run the facility and buy things that were needed for the experiments or pay the people working in there.

Some of it, was also the personal property of Zaorama Nebiros, who was hiding large parts of his personal wealth in his office, in several spatial pieces of equipment, in the case that he needed to flee from the Old Satan Faction.

If it came to that, he had everything prepared for the escape.

"We should think of some methods of how to properly reforge them into the Ultra Divine Tool. The first thing that we need to do would be wiping out the consciousness of the Melabranche..."

To reforge the Melabranche into one weapon, they would need to wipe out their consciousness, even at the price of diminished results, because this would basically take much longer for the geniue Ultra Divine Tool to be born.

"Brahma and Vishnu as the Gods related to the Creation should be able to do something about that."

Shiva stated that it would be no easy task, especially to the Malacoda who was the most powerful of the Melabranche. Even Shiva was considering Malacoda of being worthy foe of attention and being cautious about him, due to the Malacoda's power.

"Well... that's our only option."

The fact that he had obtained the complete Melabranche was something that needed to remain as a secret for as long as possible. Not to mention, the fact that the Hindu Pantheon would obtain another Ultra Divine Tool wasn't something that the other Pantheons and factions would be that pleased about.

For the Gods, especially the Divine Beings, the Ultra Divine Tools that were attuned to them were the best method of unleashing and elevating their power. 

One Ultra Divine Tool was worth more than a whole bunch of high-level combat Gods.

Even the Celestial Court had just something around five Ultra Divine Tools with the most famous being the Blade of Tathagata, Cane of the Sage and Robe of the Sage. Perhaps they had more as the Three Realms of the Celestial Court were enormous and there were many treasures that were born in that, so the number five seemed a bit on the lower spectre. 

Nordic Pantheon had four that they admitted. 

Gungnir, Mjølnir, Casket of the Ancient Winters, which contained the Essence of the Fimbulvetr and the Eternal Fire of the Muspelheim. However, when it came to Odin, everyone knew that the old man was hiding some other treasures because he wouldn't tell everyone about their precise strengths and the number of artifacts that their faction possessed.

Though...

Having an Ultra Divine Tool and someone who was capable of unleashing the power of the Ultra Divine Tool were two separate things entirely.

Like the Celestial Court, which had several Ultra Divine Tools, only Okhwang, the Jade Emperor, was capable of properly using them to their full potential, together with his wife, who was a user of another Ultra Divine Tool of the Celestial Court.

Yhwach knew that the Ultra Divine Tool that would be forged from the Melabranche won't be powerful right from the start, as they would do some really severe tampering with the Melabranche and wipe out their consciousness.

"We should prepare for this properly. This cannot be rushed because if we want to create another Ultra Divine Tool, especially the one that would be growing together with you in time, then we need to ensure that everything is perfect."

His father knew that this matter couldn't be rushed and that they would need to prepare a lot of supplementary materials and various things for the process. Forging the new Ultra Divine Tool was no easy task, and the Hindu Pantheon needed to invest a lot in it.

Unfortunately, the Pantheon was without a Smith who could achieve that as they would first need to find someone who could handle the smithing process. Unfortunately, even though it seemed like a good idea, one couldn't just use the Divine Authority of the Creation onto it.

"Well... that would be certainly problematic. What about the Dwarf King Eitri?"

The Dwarves were an ancient race of skilled forgers and blacksmiths who hail from the realm of Nidavellir ruled by King Eitri. They were close allies of the Asgardians, and after being asked by Odin to create the mighty weapon Mjølnir they forged it for him.

They also forged Gungnir, the Ultra Divine Tool that Odin was using personally. They lived in the Nidavellir, one of the Nine Realms of the Yggdrasil, the Divine Realm of the Nordic Pantheon. 

The Nidavelir had the appearance of a neutron star located within the Yggdrasil itself and housed numerous caverns and forges. Even though the dwarves were in a good relationship with the Nordic Pantheon, or rather more precisely in a good relationship with Odin, the God-King of the Aesir and Vanir, they were not technically their vassals.

Just a close ally or something like that.

And the Asgardians were tracking care of the protection of the dwarves and helped them in their endeavors like procuring metals and ores for them, while the dwarves were using their forges and skills to supply weapons, gears and artifacts to the Aesir and Vanir.

"That's a good choice... but it would be pricey. The dwarves are not cheap on this kind of task."

Shiva considered getting into touch with the dwarves of Nidavellir, though there was also the fact that it would be a very expensive endeavor. The dwarves would want a lot for the work, as forging an Ultra Divine Tool was a very challenging task.

At the same time, there was also the risk that it would reach Odin's ear, but that was something that they could live with. Especially now, when the three Pantheons have achieved some sort of equilibrium and alliance with each other.

"We could pay them with the research data on the Melabranche. The dwarves have been trying to master the art of crafting the Soul Equipment for ages, but they have always failed. I doubt that they would pass on the opportunity to obtain the prime research data on both, Melabranche and Sacred Gears from me. The rest of the payment could be negotiated to the raw materials and protection to their faction, like the Nordics are doing."

Yhwach knew that even though the dwarves were going to ask for a lot, it wouldn't be much of a problem as he was already prepared for it. He knew that due to a lack of Smith God on the necessary level among the ranks of the Hindu Pantheon, they would need to outsource this job.

He found it rather ironic.

Normally, the people were outsourcing things to India, not from India to other states.

Though that was for the humans.

For the supernatural entities, it was nothing new.

"That could work. I will take care of everything; you go and place the Melabranche in the Sealing Vaults. I already had them prepared in the depths of the Mountain."

Mount Kailash was a huge place, like really, really huge, because the mountain itself was almost continent-sized as it was one of the main regions of the Divine Realm of the Hindu Pantheon.

Within the deepest parts of Mount Kailash, there were several vaults that served as storages for the treasures that the Hindu Pantheon gathered. The Melabranche would be sealed up there until they were properly researched, and they had a method of reforging them that was guaranteed success.

Until then, the Melabranche would be resting there, though it wouldn't be really for a long time, because the Hindu Pantheon was investing a lot into the creation of a new Ultra Divine Tool.

Another thing was that they had the topic of nekoshou that they had obtained from the Lucifaad's Research Facility as they would need to do something about that, or to be more concrete, Yhwach would need to patch her up.

That would be rather problematic due to the extensive damage to her DNA and Genome Structure, but fortunately, with the complete research of the Old Satan Faction and the entirety of the Super Devil Project on hand, he was confident that he could do it.

He would need just some more time to organize the data and go through them because there was a mess in the data that they had obtained from the Old Satan Faction, and some serious re-organization was needed in this aspect.

Zaorama was keeping rather messy in the research data, and he would need some time to set the records straight so he could better understand them. Right now, his priority is to devise a method to stabilize the DNA of Subject Zero-X, though a lot of work has already been done by Zaran Naberius and Zaorama Nebiros.

He needed just to polish the situation and supplement it with enough power, though Yhwach has decided to make a few tweaks here and there. One of the main tweaks to the process was that he decided to sacrifice the Zaorama Naberius during the ritual and refine Zaorama's very own being to strengthen the DNA of Subject Zero-X.

Using the Blood Essence of the Level 5 High Ultimate-Class Pure-Blood Noble Devil was probably the best ingredient that one could use in the stabilization of the Genome and the disintegrating DNA of Subject Zero-X.

Obviously, that would be done only after he had extracted all memories from Zaorama's mind, because the old devil knew too much. He was probably one of the few people in the entire Draconic Deus who knew the true extent of the Old Satan Faction and who also had some knowledge of the moves of Rizevim Livan Lucifer.

Due to that, Zaorama Nebiros was a very precious prisoner for the Hindu Pantheon and the Hindu Pantheon was going to extract everything from the old man's mind. Everything that he knew because, well... his knowledge about Magic, Technology, and Magical Technology was equally precious.

Everything would be extracted from his mind.

However, he wouldn't be doing that personally as that would be rather hassle and not really worth the effort. Someone else who was more proficient in the Mind Magics would do this, or rather, it seemed that they were already doing that.

Both Zaorama Nebiros and Zaran Naberius were related enjoy their stay at the prison of the Hindu Pantheon where they were being tended by the interrogators. Soon enough, everything that he knew would be in their hands, and he could initiate the ritual to repair the DNA of the Subject Zero-X.

Yhwach knew that it was Kuroka.

It was undeniable that after she would be woken up, she would want to return to the Underworld for her younger sister, though he doubted such a scenario would be possible for several reasons.

One of them was the time factor because, by the time Kuroka was healed, he seriously doubted that she would be able to return to the Underworld.

It won't be long before Zaran Naberius's disappearance would be dropped onto her shoulders, and some old coots in the Devil Council would decide that she was responsible for the disappearance of her master or that she killed him, destroyed the body, and fled.

Another problematic thing was that, once she was awoken and healed, the last thing that Yhwach wanted was for her to go to the Underworld, be captured by the New Satan Faction, and interrogated for information about the Hindu Pantheon and so on.

No doubt, that some with half brains in the New Satan Faction would want to get their hands on the information about the Hindu Pantheon, Old Satan Faction or anything. She was rather blackmailable due to her younger sister and under-experienced torturer from the New Satan Faction; she would fold very quickly.

Something like that couldn't be allowed for several reasons.

There was no way that he would allow the crucial information about the Hindu Pantheon and also information about the Old Satan Faction that Kuroka possessed to fall into the hands of the New Satan Faction.

Even though the Old Satan Faction were the enemies of the Hindu Pantheon, they were still rather useful pawns against the New Satan Faction, Grigori, Church, Heaven, Olympus, Vampire Clan, and a few other minor factions that Yhwach could use them.

To achieve his end, he planned to awaken Kuroka en proper only when he was confident that she wouldn't have the possibility to return to the New Satan Faction, probably in two months.

Then it would be safe.

If everything went perfectly, he could take Kuroka together with him to America because soon enough, they would be going out once again to see what the hell was going on in there with Zeus and Poseidon as they started fighting again.

And this time, it was already becoming rather problematic.

Their squabbles were already becoming more and more prominent over the past time, and if they openly started fighting, then it would reveal the entire Supernatural World...

Not like Yhwach was against it.

He would be glad for a war of such proportions, and the revelation of the entire Supernatural World was something that he was wholeheartedly welcoming because he considered it an utter disgrace that they were hiding from mortal sight.

Only due to the Yahweh's machinations.

But it wasn't time.

Even he understood that fact.