Volume 5 Chapter 0112 Gods, get ready to submit! - I, The Dragon Overlord

Louie’s true form remained silent, not in any hurry, as countless pieces of information whirled through his mind, contemplating his next move. The current situation was clear: to vie for the singular title of Her Majesty Empress of the Dragon Empire, only he, the Earth Mother, and Asmodeus were in the running. Louie wasn't intimidated by Chauntea, for he already had ways to deal with her. What truly preoccupied him was Asmodeus. As the King of Baator, Asmodeus wielded powers equivalent to Louie’s own, harnessing the primordial force of Order. In essence, this devil could exercise a strength of divine rank 20 within his domain without any reliance on faith-based divine power, instead directly channeling Order’s raw might—a capability only true ancient deities possessed. Although Asmodeus's abilities were geographically constrained, allowing him to fully unleash his power solely within Nessus, the ninth layer of Hell, it also meant that his strength was intertwined with Nessus itself. Therefore, attempting to shatter the ninth layer with external forces was utterly impossible. Even the mighty Terran civilization found itself helpless before Asmodeus’s virtual divine power of 20. If his power stemmed from faith, it might be mitigated by eliminating followers, but dealing with primordial Order meant Terran technology wasn't as effective against him as might be imagined. This encapsulates the limitations of technological civilizations. When faced with an individual of overwhelming might, the entire civilization becomes like a static target, easily destroyed by the individual at even the tiniest detail. Furthermore, concentrating a civilization's power against a singular entity proves to be an arduous task. Simply put, against Asmodeus, who possesses divine rank 20 and commands the primordial force of Order, neither he nor the Terran civilization could decisively best the other. "First, analyze Asmodeus's strengths and weaknesses... He's spent millions of years plotting to become a supreme god. He plans to rend 'Evil' from 'Good' undeniably with no room for failure, evident through his boldness in exposing his schemes, indicating total assurance of success. "...Although I'm uncertain how he intends to communicate with the mindless Chaos of the Abyss, his confident manner suggests he possesses a method unknown to me... Should devils and demons join forces against the Prime Material Plane, all its combined life forms would be no match. Evil would undoubtedly gain the upper hand. "When Evil prevails in the Prime Material Plane, my power would diminish. The united demon and devil forces would besiege the Upper Planes. The Good forces would weaken drastically. Should Evil momentarily dominate San Soliel's world, even for the briefest moment, the Order part of me, which embodies Good, would fracture, drawn to Asmodeus like a magnet, enabling him to become a supreme god." In Louie’s mind echoes of potential futures formed, not through prophecy but through synthesizing and processing the existing information, easily deducing Asmodeus’s plans. This was the open ploy of the King of Baator. Even knowing this plan would leave Louie powerless to stop it. The Abyss and Hell, the realms with the mightiest conventional forces, were only halted by their perpetual conflict between demons and devils. But together, opening the gates to the Prime Material Plane, no force except the gods could stand against their armies. The demons and devils of the Blood War alone could sweep the world, not to mention that they represented only a fragment of their full might. "Astute as Asmodeus is, he'd likely strike deals with the gods, ensuring that divine petitioners are unimpeded in their return to their divine realms. In such a scenario, Evil and Neutral gods might well abandon their resistance against this devil king. Only the gods of Lawful Good alignments would stay resolute." Devils, despite their cunning repute, were remarkably trustworthy if their oaths bore no wordplay. Devils upheld their vows more reliably than gods, who might break promises unless bound by Styx oaths. To a god, followers were crucial—not in their mortality or vitality, but in numbers. A divine being could persist just as long as petitions abounded, with gods being essentially cowardly. If survival was plausible, they’d do whatever necessary. "In any view, my situation seems inescapable... Yet Asmodeus isn’t without vulnerability. Primarily, he’s no god, unable to consolidate incarnations. His combat prowess resides solely within his true form, unlike other gods who have multiple avatars. Against deities, this means facing both their true forms and all their avatars’ assaults." "...Thus, strategizing a means to deal with Asmodeus’ true form becomes paramount. Although nearing supreme godhood, he isn't quite there." Louie’s dragon eyes gleamed. Divine rank 20 isn’t a true qualitative transformation from divine rank 19. Even with primordial Order, or perhaps precisely due to his ability to wield virtual divine power without faith, Asmodeus is deemed this world’s unrivaled duelist. But he still requires formidable battle to overpower a being of strong divine power. Fundamentally, any being of strong divine power could give Asmodeus a run for his money, culminating in a grueling contest where gods would succumb due to inadequate faith-based power. If Asmodeus truly was invincible, he wouldn’t need complex schemes or a million-year plan; he’d simply overthrow the gods alone. Louie, likewise, exercised caution, aware he couldn’t withstand a coalition of gods. Even with Terran civilization, the likely outcome was mutual destruction. While Louie pondered, he already used a ‘spare key’ to connect with the Terran civilization’s Artificial Intelligence on Earth, instructing it to manufacture large-scale Terran weapons of mass destruction. This was Louie’s last fallback. Should he truly find himself at an impasse, this would be his ultimate course. If Asmodeus could seize Order by tipping Good beneath Evil, reversing the strategy meant Louie could attempt to overpower Evil with Good and seize Asmodeus’s Order. Louie’s last resort was, if absolutely necessary, to unleash Terran civilization’s extinction-level weapons to raze Hell and the Abyss, annihilating all devils and demons before decimating the Prime Material Plane. Leaving only the Upper Planes would cleanse the world of nearly all evil, making Good dominate within moments. Even if these weapons couldn’t kill Asmodeus outright, they could sever his hold on Order. However, this strategy's flaw was Louie needing to sacrifice the empire he built in the Prime Material Plane, his daughter Alexia, and former allies, as merely destroying Hell and the Abyss wasn't enough to ensure success. Just as Asmodeus planned to conquer the Prime Material Plane first with his infernal army. The Prime Material Plane harbors both Evil and Good; it’s either let Good outshine Evil or obliterate the plane entirely. Louie saw no alternative. "Let’s hope there won’t be a need for this ultimate measure. If it comes to that, I’ll owe Alexia an apology.” Alexia wasn’t an upper realm creature nor a divine servitor; she belonged to the Prime Material Plane. Should it be annihilated, all beings rooted there would perish. Nonetheless, Louie envisioned a path forward amid adversity. Just then, an ethereal chime rung—the Earth Mother was about to make an announcement to the gods. Louie clasped the spare key to the Tablet of Fate with a wry smile, declaring, "…Oh gods, under the Tablet of Fate, bow before me!"