Volume 5 Chapter 0110 The Twin Snakes of Order Return - I, The Dragon Overlord

The battlefield at the boundary between Hell and the Abyss was a scene of utter devastation. With the sudden involvement of the Nessus Legion—a force described only in legends for a million years but never seen—the demons' slight upper hand in the Blood War was immediately nullified. The devils' order surged infinitely, suppressing the demons' chaos. The enormous demon army crumbled like a landslide. Each member of the Nessus Legion was born from the blood of Asmodeus, the King of Baator. Even the mightiest demons, such as the Balor, were mere foot soldiers in the face of this million-strong legion, which comprised the mightiest devils. Moreover, this army reached numbers in the millions. Outside of the Baator King's legion, even if the other eight lords of Hell combined their forces, they could muster only tens of thousands of devils at most—a mere fraction of the Nessus Legion's strength. Hell's emperor had been accumulating power for a million years—a staggering feat. This force was hoarded for the express purpose of allowing Him to become the 'Serpent of Order.' Now, with the opportunity to ascend beyond divinity before Him, the once-cautious King of Baator was no longer restrained. He unleashed His entire legion, heedless of losses or casualties, to wage a campaign of annihilation against the demon army. For Asmodeus, as long as He could ascend beyond divinity, both devils and demons, even all deities, would merely be subjects under His rule. There was no time better than now to unleash His accumulated power. As long as He could assist Louie in completing the domain of order and goodness, shifting the dichotomy from order versus chaos to good versus evil, it mattered not if not a single devil from the Nessus Legion survived. Asmodeus would emerge as the ultimate victor. Under the assault of this legendary legion, the demon army, millions strong, utterly collapsed. Devils naturally excelled at using the rigor of order to overcome larger foes, and when faced with a devil army of such overwhelming numbers and quality, the chaotic demon forces stood no chance. The boundless devil army tore open the demons' lines, invading their final stronghold, the Blood Red Citadel. At this moment, even the demon lords who hoped to watch safely from afar could not avoid being drawn into the Blood War, forced to engage personally in the slaughter. The demon lords' involvement temporarily relieved the demons, halting the devil army, led by the Nessus Legion, outside the Blood Red Citadel. Though the demons' fortress was on the brink of collapse, if the fighting continued like this, perhaps under the demon lords' leadership, the demons could maintain their current position. "See, conquer, slaughter!! Lords and dukes of Hell, now is the time for you to demonstrate your loyalty to me. Enter this Blood War and massacre more demons for me!! Your slaughter will become your badge of honor. Any duke who achieves enough merit will be appointed as a lord of Hell. Any lord who does not exert their full strength will have their power stripped away!" "…Those who pledge loyalty to me shall receive power and authority; those who defy me shall turn to ashes in Hell's fires. I swear it in my name as King of Baator, Asmodeus!" Suddenly, every devil's ears resounded with the grand words of the King of Baator. In an orderly Hell, lower-ranked devils must serve higher-ranked ones, unless they can seize power from their superiors through deceit. When the Lord of Hell's voice echoed among the devils, the absolute hierarchical pressure assured them this was indeed Asmodeus, the true King of Baator, not a pretender. This master of Hell, reigning for a million years, had not fallen; He remained enthroned in Nessus. When the Lord of Hell made a vow, the devils were driven to frenzy. Bound as they were to the realm of order, devils held oaths in utmost regard. They frequently ensnared souls with verbal traps, yet also fell prey to them. Under an oath, deceived devils could not resist becoming slaves. Thus, regarding the King of Baator's vow, no devil doubted it. They believed that achieving great merit would surely grant them greater power and status. "My father has never been so serious before." The Erinyes Queen's beautiful visage contorted with both ferocity and fear, as she spoke to the other hellish lords: "…He has always lived cautiously and unassumingly, making Him appear less like the ruler of Hell over the past million years. This lulled us into a false sense of security, believing we could usurp Him." "…But this time, He is earnest. Should we not give our all, He will likely punish us. If any of you underestimate His power, believing you can defy His orders, do so at your peril. As for me, I am heading to the frontlines!" As Asmodeus’s daughter, the Erinyes Queen knew better than anyone the immense power her father wielded. Despite His cautious nature, which could be likened to a penchant for self-preservation, it in no way diminished His might as the ruler of Hell. The Eighth Lord, Mephistopheles, visibly oscillated between disappointment, anger, and begrudging resignation until finally, this great devil conceded, "…Follow the King of Baator's orders. As long as He lives, as long as He dwells in Nessus, we have no chance." In the past, this lord attempted to usurp the King of Hell's throne but was easily subdued by Asmodeus, who found amusement in Mephistopheles's rebellion and forgave His disloyalty. This left Mephistopheles mortified by the King of Hell's condescension but also cowed by His strength. If not for the persistent rumor that the King of Hell had long since perished and Asmodeus's three-millennia absence, this Eighth Lord would not have dared to entertain notions of usurpation. Now, as it seemed Mephistopheles was about to succeed in his three-millennia-long conspiracy just as the Eight Lords prepared to vie for supremacy, the King of Hell reemerged. Mephistopheles couldn't shake the feeling that the King of Baator was toying with him—that His absence was a ploy to mock him. Still, despite his inner fury, Mephistopheles dared not defy this sovereign again, and he joined the other hellish lords, diving into the fray alongside the devil army against the demons. With the entrance of hellish lords and archdukes onto the battlefield, the demons' tenuous defense completely faltered. The devils poured into the Blood Red Citadel, and demon lords began to fall one after another. With the citadel's fall, it was only a matter of time before the 'Abyssal Plains' fell to the devils. Rosalind gazed in terror at this scene. At a critical moment, she made the right decision: to abandon all her subordinates and her territory, the 'Abyssal Plains,' and flee deeper into the Abyss, aiming for the dominion of the Succubus Queen, Shadela. Some demon lords, not wholly blinded by the Blood War, also made rapid retreats. Since the first Blood War began hundreds of thousands of years ago, there had been no decisive victory for either side. Previous victories, whether by devils or demons, were pyrrhic. Typically, either side would retreat shortly after invading the other's territory. However, this time, it seemed the devils might push into the Abyss, conquering several layers of its planes. A ceaseless sea of order was boiling, aiding Louie in consolidating his power of order until its strength reached a critical point, stabilizing his 'Order Divinity' firmly at level 20, in alignment with Asmodeus's pseudo-divinity of 20. From then on, the twin serpents of order were fully prepared, only waiting for one to devour the other and transform into the primal 'Order.' Simultaneously, throughout all planes of the San Soliel world, the power of the earth was vibrating. The earth's might boiled to its zenith, and phenomena resonated across different planes, as a star symbolizing true divinity blazed into the sky, seizing the highest point among the gods, and began overlooking everything. This signified the Earth Goddess completing her fusion of divine roles, ascending to the pinnacle of true divinity, following closely after the Prince of Lies.