Volume 5 Chapter 0109 Order Shock - I, The Dragon Overlord

At the junction of the Endless Abyssal Plains and Hell, the demon and devil armies were locked in battle, an endless clash stretching beyond sight, even for an Abyssal Lord like Rosalind, who could not fully perceive the terrifying mass of both forces. Amidst the chaos, Rosalind found herself struggling to distinguish between demons and devils. Countless beings were entangled in combat—some being torn apart, others devoured, still more slaughtered—as spells and energies like fire, lightning, and frost engulfed the battlefield. Blood had turned into rivers, carrying corpses and severed limbs on its scarlet tide. As a demon, incredibly, Rosalind felt fear. As an Abyssal Lord, she was no stranger to carnage; in the struggle for the Endless Abyssal Plains, she had directly or indirectly claimed the lives of over a hundred thousand demons. She had thought herself inured to blood and death. Yet, standing upon this battleground, she realized she had underestimated this most dreadful war of San Soliel. From atop her fortress of steel, Rosalind gazed toward the other bastions, noticing many demon lords who wore expressions as fearful as hers. Each of these demon lords, newly emerged since the "Era of Cataclysm," bore a look of terror. Even a few ancient demons who had survived the "Era of Cataclysm" were jittery, though their demeanor was better controlled than that of the newer entities. The blood war was uncontrollable—it was then Rosalind understood this point. The strategic withdrawal agreements she had made with her divine father, allowing the retreat of the Abyssal army for the devils to breach, aiming for heavy demon casualties, was an impractical tactic amidst the blood war. These demons, enmeshed in the blood war, had lost all reason under the force of war and slaughter, their minds singularly fixated on killing the enemy, completely disregarding their lord's commands. The worst part was yet to come: the 'Burning Legion'—the demonic army entrusted to her by Louie, comprising 'clone demons' intended to follow orders like 'orderly demons'—had also started to become tainted by the blood war, making command impossible. Even these clones began to gain awareness in the blood war, an awareness fixated on a singular purpose: to kill! Even Rosalind herself struggled to control her actions. Immersed in the atmosphere of war, she felt her reason slip away, driven by an instinct to leap into the fray. She knew this impulse was problematic; entering the blood war might mean her death. Thankfully, she had remained at the rear, out of the fighting. Had she been involved in the battle, she might have already lost all rationality, devoured by the chaos, until the war's end—emerging either as a victor granted immense rewards or as a dismembered casualty. Rosalind suspected she was more likely to become a casualty, as some more powerful Abyssal Lords who had joined the fight early on had already seen a third of their number killed. The remainder had no choice but to keep fighting, trapped within, with no escape. The fragility of an Abyssal Lord's potential death in the blood war was shocking. Yet, some lucky ones who slaughtered enough enemies might survive and ascend as new Abyssal Lords. Beyond her fear of the blood war, Rosalind felt a deeper anxiety—the failure to fulfill the task given by her divine father. What punishment awaited her? Though this mission's failure seemed to be due to her father's miscalculation of the blood war's horror, Rosalind's demonic intuition told her it wouldn't absolve her; punishment would come. What she feared more than physical punishment was the stripping of her powers and authority—a demon's most unbearable loss. Worse still would be the fear of being abandoned by her divine father, replaced with another child from her mother. Gritting her teeth, Rosalind resolved to seek her mother's guidance, pleading for a path forward. Just as she conceived this thought, a commotion erupted on the battlefield. Alarmed, she peered into the chaotic fray, yet the numbers were too overwhelming to see what was happening, heightening her anxiety. It didn't take long for Rosalind to discover the cause: a formidable devil army had joined the fray! This devil legion, a staggering million strong, had perforated the demon ranks with frightening prowess as it entered. The devils, in their ordered formation, exploited the disruption to wreak havoc, their sharp advance widening like a breached dam. This devil legion, seemingly born for the blood war, comprised extraordinarily powerful devils. Witnessing their might, Rosalind realized the demons were likely to suffer defeat in this battle. Though unaware of the legion's origins, it accomplished what Rosalind could not: carving a path of blood for the devils toward the steel fortress. 'Could this devil army be my divine father's backup plan?' At this, Rosalind felt a profound reverence toward Louie. Surely, He did not err; any oversight regarding the blood war was due to her own assumptions. It seemed He had not shared the true plan with her, instead embedding a fearsome legion amongst the devils. While abyssal demons were clueless about this devilish army, the eight lords of Hell knew precisely: "Is that the Nessus Legion?!" "Impossible! Did Lord Asmodeus really not perish?" "So He has been watching us from Nessus all along? No—I am the true Lord of Baator!" "Our struggle for Hell's dominance was never hidden from Him!" "Hmph, this is just like my father—He loves watching weak vermin despair under His control." "The Nessus Legion's first appearance in a blood war signifies Asmodeus lives; we have been deceived and mocked!" The lords of Hell were beyond angry—overwhelmed by a profound terror toward the King of Baator, ruler of Hell for a million years. Even the defiant among them quaked before His cunning and power. Meanwhile, Louie, in the fortress of Nessus, felt a surge of energy as he linked his fake devils through divine transmission. With Asmodeus' consent and support, Louie's power merged with the Nessus Legion, making the mightiest force in Hell a part of him. The primordial power of order resonated intensely, elevating Louie's spirituality to boundless heights, as though he stood once more at the world's dawn, witnessing the incarnation of the serpent of order, now manifest within him as the serpent itself!