Although the sun shining through the blood-colored dust appeared dark red and devoid of temperature, its scorching heat was actually more extreme than in the material plane. Combined with the rivers of molten lava flowing perpetually along the base of the plain, the temperature in midair exceeded sixty degrees. Even without the myriad curses and toxins saturating the area, ordinary humans still couldn't survive in such an environment.
A crescent-shaped arc of silver-gray light flashed outward, slicing horizontally before vanishing in an instant. Only an illusory, ferocious rift remained, as though it might puncture through this very layer of existence.
The hundreds of demons led by the six-armed, serpentine demon froze in place, as if someone had cast Time Stop on the area around them. One second later, their bodies exploded, dissolving into a sky full of blood mist. Chunks of corpses rained to the ground like hailstones—fragmented, yet eerily orderly.
"You're getting better at controlling the Legendary-tier Sword of Truth's power." Witnessing the scene, Lucian didn't hold back his praise. Natasha wasn't wielding the Epic longsword Sword of Truth this time; she was gripping Pale Justice instead, refining her precise control over her bloodline powers through the slaughter of demons.
Natasha was in high spirits, beaming with delight. "I'm not just a brave knight with nothing else to show for it. I've always had excellent control over my own power—especially the three years I spent in the lower levels of the monastery after advancing to Sky Knight. That was when I truly mastered my will and body..."
She accepted Lucian's praise without the slightest embarrassment, then added with a touch of regret, "It's a pity the only things we've encountered on this journey are high-ranking demons. Forget Demon Lords—we haven't even seen a single Demon Duke or any other minor lord, so there's no way to truly test ourselves and find where we fall short."
"Each layer of the Abyss can support at most one Demon Lord," Lucian explained with a smile. "That means unless a Demon Duke can control the vast majority of its native layer, it can't receive the Abyss's feedback—and without that, it can't advance to the Legendary tier." Although Natasha had crammed on Abyss-related knowledge before they came, she was still far behind Lucian; Demonology was a foundational subject for every mage. "So unless there's some kind of joint operation, the most we'll encounter on the Blood-colored Plain is a Blood Lord."
Within the Abyss, apart from a few exceptional beings like the Lord of the Undead or the Dark Overlord, the vast majority of Demon Lords had no names—only codenames assigned to them by powerhouses of the material plane.
As for the Abyss itself, the currently known Lords numbered no fewer than triple those of the Nine Hells—twenty-eight in total. But just as no one knew exactly how many layers the Abyss contained, no one could say with certainty how many Legendary-tier demons truly existed. Not even "The Observer" Rhein, a vampire prince who had lived for untold millennia, dared make such a claim. Truly worthy of the title "the Endless Abyss."
However, because the Demon Lords constantly waged chaotic wars among themselves—advancing by defeating and absorbing other Lords—the Abyss's overall strength still fell short of Hell, which had only nine Devil Dukes. After Tivtidis, the Duke of Frost and Silver Ruler, was completely destroyed, the Silent Hell saw the emergence of a new Legendary devil a few years later, appointed by the Lord of Hell as the new Duke of Frost. Through the Lord of Hell's recognition, it gained the feedback and enhancement of the Silent Hell's demiplane power, swiftly advancing from Legendary first rank to Legendary second rank.
This new Duke of Frost was rumored to be exceptionally cunning and skilled at deception, earning the epithet "Lord of Secrets."
"Heh heh, encountering a Blood Lord would be great enough!" Natasha craved battle, but she had no intention of dragging herself and her husband into the danger of a Demon Lord's joint operation.
Green radiance swirled around Malfurion, as though countless verdant plants had sprouted from his body—fresh and natural, standing in sharp contrast to the hostile surroundings. He was focused on vigilantly scanning the perimeter, guarding against a surprise attack by a Demon Lord, paying no attention whatsoever to Lucian and Natasha's seemingly casual "picnic" of banter and combat.
Based on the feedback from divination magic—astrology, the Mirror of Destiny, and the like—Lucian kept adjusting their direction of travel. Suddenly, the image inside the crystal ball snapped into sharp focus.
Within a massive stone circle composed of white stone, blood-colored earth rose upward in jagged, eerie formations, resembling a mysterious altar.
The blood-red earthen walls surrounding the altar were covered in intricate, three-dimensional patterns that surged with an irresistible urge to kill the moment one laid eyes on them. These patterns spread outward from the altar, seeming to connect with the entire Blood-colored Plain. Yet above the altar, a vibrant, youthful light-green radiance pulsed—as though the world within was a natural paradise much like Stroup Forest.
Outside the massive stone circle stood a blood-red fortress. Its hardened walls had been cast from the corpses of beings of various races; one could still make out hearts, intestines, and heads among the masonry.
This was the Blood Lord's Castle of Flesh and Blood.
"It really does seem like the source is here…" Lucian murmured, studying the crystal ball with a trace of surprise. "Isn't this going a little too smoothly?"
Once they had located the origin of the expanding Abyssal rift, Malfurion dropped his earlier reluctance to enter. He gazed at the crystal ball with a deep, thoughtful look. "Let's sneak over and investigate first. If we can resolve this quickly, we should. If the enemy proves too powerful, we retreat and gather enough Legendary allies."
"Watch out for ambushes," Natasha said gravely, her earlier battle-bright smile replaced by a solemn expression. "Things have been too easy and too smooth…"
Then again, this did fit the demons' reputation for being incapable of crafting complex schemes.
……
The altar-shaped earthen mound was vast and spacious inside. A dense, lush forest filled the interior, its fresh scent carried on the air. At its center, something emerald-green shimmered, ringed by motes of flickering green light.
Beside the verdant object, a massive demon covered in fine, blood-red scales paced back and forth in agitation. Blood-red flames coiled around the wings spread across its back.
Its most distinctive feature was that it had two heads. One resembled a vicious hound, topped with a pair of curved ram's horns. The other looked like a goat—but with a distinctly human face.
"I told you—I hate this kind of environment! Damn it, I want to destroy this place!" the hound head roared, its golden eyes blazing with madness and destruction.
The human-faced goat head sneered. "You can't even endure this much. You can't even think properly. No wonder I've always been the one suppressing you."
"One day I'll kill you!" The hound head lunged forward, jaws clamping toward its other head, baring its fangs.
The goat head tilted aside, seemingly long accustomed to this self-cannibalism. "You mindless imbecile. Do you want to ruin the plan? Do you want to face punishment?"
The hound head froze abruptly, then snarled with rage. "What good is the plan? We should just charge in and kill them!"
It stopped stirring up trouble. Obedience to superiors was a hallmark of demons' bullying of the weak while fearing the strong—if a superior couldn't crush those beneath them, demons wouldn't hesitate to betray and attack them. In truth, when their chaos reached its peak, they often tried to overthrow their superiors regardless of the gap in power.
"What's the use of telling you the plan? Could you even understand it?" the goat head snorted coldly. "Anyway, we wait here. Once the investigators from the Arcane Council and the elves arrive, we stage a 'fierce battle,' then 'lose' and flee—leaving this place to them, leaving the 'clue' for them."
"Not kill them?" the hound head said in disbelief. "What's the point of that?"
On the Blood-colored Plain, it felt confident it could handle Malfurion. As for whoever the Arcane Council had sent—it couldn't care less.
"In short, we must lose!" The goat head couldn't be bothered arguing with this idiot anymore. For tens of thousands of years, it had been this fool dragging it down, preventing it from ever advancing further.
Similarly, it too believed that on the Blood-colored Plain—where power shifted in its favor—even if Douglas and Aglaia showed up, it could still escape. Within the Abyss, apart from a few exceptions, none of them cared for gathering intelligence. They had thoroughly learned from their quasi-deities.