The insidious cunning and treachery of devils had left a deep impression on Raylin. What changes would ripple through the entire Hells the moment a devil managed to break free of its shackles?
Just the thought sent a chill down his spine, and yet the Nine Hells had never been short of ambitious schemers.
"Of course, there's also the possibility that the Eight Lords of Hell, through their machinations and overwhelming power, carved up what should have been the ninth domain's authority and divided it among themselves, merging it into their own — thus maintaining the balance of power…"
Raylin immediately considered another possibility.
And while he had been lost in thought, he had inadvertently relaxed his control over his aura and authority, instantly alerting a colossal existence.
"This ancient, noble presence — only a Lord of Hell could possess such might. Who is it?"
Accompanied by a deafening dragon's roar, an enormous five-colored dragon crawled out from a cavern beside the massive base of the skull pillar. It bore five savage, terrifying dragon heads, each a different color. With every step its massive claws struck the ground, triggering a minor earthquake. Compared to this creature, the Legendary dragons Raylin had previously encountered might as well have been infants.
"It's the guardian here — the five-colored dragon,
It was evident that the creature must have wandered out many times before, because the lesser imps and low-ranking devils surrounding Raylin showed not the slightest panic.
Unfortunately, the aura Raylin had leaked had lasted only an instant before vanishing completely once more.
Tiamat's five enormous heads sniffed the air in puzzlement, and in the end, having found nothing, the dragon reluctantly retreated into its lair.
The street quickly returned to its calm and order, streams of traffic flowing as before. Raylin gazed at the cavern where the dragon had disappeared, a contemplative look on his face.
"So that's the guardian of the Bronze Citadel — the five-colored dragon Tiamat! A colossal dragon-class creature with power rivaling that of a deity!"
In that brief moment of contact, the Chip had already captured a massive amount of data on the creature and projected it before Raylin.
[Tiamat, the Five-Colored Dragon (Colossal Dragon) — Strength 40, Agility 10, Constitution 35, Spirit 28 Innate Abilities: 1. Breath Weapon (Supernatural): Each of Tiamat's five heads can unleash a different breath attack, including cold, acid, poison, lightning, and fire.
2. Frightful Presence: Tiamat can unsettle enemies simply by existing. This ability functions automatically whenever Tiamat attacks, charges, or flies overhead.
3. Spellcasting: Tiamat is a 20th-level cleric with the Evil and War domains. (Tiamat also gains the powers granted by those respective domains and possesses the corresponding divine spell slots.)]
4. Quasi-Spell-Like Abilities: Tiamat can use the following spell-like abilities three times per day as a 20th-level Bloodline user: Command Plants, Control Weather, Darkness, Dominate, Fog Cloud, Gust of Wind, Mirage, Plant Growth, Suggestion, Swarming Insects and Beasts, Obscuring Mist, and Ventriloquism.
Feats: Alchemy, Bluff, Concentration, Diplomacy, Intimidate, Knowledge (Dragon Lore), Sense Motive, Spellcraft, Survival, Combat Casting, Flyby Attack, Improved Critical, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (Dominate Domain Power), and Hover.
"This is the true power of a legendary creature that has lived for ages. Not only are its attributes formidable, but it also possesses rich experience and vast knowledge. With the accumulated weight of its innate abilities and feats alone, it commands strength no less than that of a Demigod…"
According to
Although most of those demons were chaotic and mad, like stray dogs, their numbers—often exceeding those of the devils by more than twentyfold—had dealt the Bronze Fortress several devastating blows.
Yet the devils, relying on order and cunning, had never allowed the demons to breach the Bronze Fortress. They had even planned multiple campaigns to assault the Abyss, gaining the upper hand in the struggle against the demons.
However, the clash between Order and Chaos showed no signs of ever reaching an end. Some even suspected that the conflict between devils and demons would continue until the very edge of the multiverse.
Moreover, the prolonged warfare had given
An elite standing devil legion under his command, led by the Eight Archdevils, had seized the right to station itself within the fortress during one particular demon siege, gradually wresting control of half the Bronze Fortress.
In the outward narrative, Tiamat had gradually been relegated to the role of a mere symbol and guardian of the Bronze Fortress.
"A single Bronze Fortress, with an area of influence covering less than a third of Avernus—and only half of that under control at that…"
Leylin shook his head, feeling that Asmodeus, the so-called Lord of the Nine Hells, had done a remarkably poor job.
"Demons! The demons are coming!"
"Stray dogs! A massive wave of stray dogs is approaching!"
Suddenly, a piercing alarm blared. Leylin's brow furrowed as his projected divine sense immediately detected a vast mass of chaotic forces moving toward the Bronze Fortress.
The enemy made absolutely no attempt to conceal its approach, having been detected from a great distance.
"Start preparing dinner!"
Eight massive and malevolent auras rose, representing the highest rank among devils—the power of the Pit Fiends, second only to the Lords of Hell themselves.
"The Eight Archdevils—Asmodeus's loyal hounds are on the move. If that's the case, this siege is nothing more than a scheme targeting the demons?"
Leylin's eyes flashed. With the orderliness and caution of devils, it was impossible for an attack on their stronghold to happen without prior warning. The only possibility was that the devils had orchestrated yet another scheme, hoping to use the Bronze Fortress to lure in the demons' fighting forces and annihilate them.
In fact, this kind of plan had been repeated numerous times before, yet the demons still fell for it every single time, howling as they charged in. Chaotic and evil by nature, the demons abandoned all planning once bloodlust took hold, and the glory of assaulting the devils' stronghold was more than enough to turn their simple minds to mush.
But Leylin soon stopped smiling.
He discovered that, following the orders of the Eight Archdevils, all the devils within the Bronze Fortress were moving in an orderly fashion, as if an invisible network were executing commands of coordination.
Soul Shells followed Lemures, Lemures followed Barbed Devils—these low-ranking devils formed neat squads, typically led by mid-ranking devils such as Hook Devils, Imps, and Agonizers, who in turn followed behind high-ranking devils like Bone Devils, Hamatulas, Horned Devils, and Ice Devils, forming large battalions. At the very top stood the Eight Archdevils. An immaculate hierarchy materialized in an instant, much like the division of labor within a beehive or anthill—worker bees, drones, and queen each performing their own tasks, combining into a system of exquisite precision and flawless coordination.
"This is... the power of authority!"
Leylin immediately grasped the essence of this network—it was the natural disparity in station and the difference in commanding power.
The Eight Archdevils were Pit Fiends, occupying the highest rank among devils. Moreover, they carried authorization from Asmodeus himself, having obtained partial authority to act on behalf of Hell's primal force! Even though this was only a second-tier delegation of power, the combined rank of eight Pit Fiends was more than enough to suppress all opposition and seize control of every devil in the entire Bronze Fortress!
By the same token, any Lord of Hell held absolute power of life and death over high-ranking devils of the Abyssal Fiend rank and below, able to determine their promotion or demotion on a mere whim! Even devils serving other lords would be naturally suppressed, since the essence of Hell was the same throughout.
"According to the rules of Hell, if there were another Pit Fiend currently within the Bronze Fortress, it could retain a degree of freedom—but it would still have to obey the Eight Archdevils' joint commands. It could forcibly resist, of course, but the price would range from torment to demotion, depending mainly on the judgment of the Lord of Hell it served..."
Leylin looked at the devils around him. They had clearly retained their own consciousness, yet showed not the slightest resistance to the Eight Archdevils' orders. Even high-ranking devils serving other lords quietly obeyed their instructions, as if this was simply what they were meant to do.
"This is the authority of the world's primal force—a single tier of difference is like heaven and earth..."
Previously, he hadn't sensed it in detail, but now that he had noticed the distinction, Leylin instantly perceived an enormous primal force network through his own authority.
A vast will surfaced from the depths of the network and ultimately connected to the Eight Archdevils—there was even a message meant for Leylin, though he completely ignored it.
[Beep! Data network detected. Automatically acquiring highest-level authority. Processing!] Chip was already running at full speed.
"Eight Pit Fiends working in concert can indeed dominate the entire Bronze Fortress—even the chromatic dragon Tiamat wouldn't dare overlook them. Pity..."
Leylin had a strong premonition that with a single thought, he could instantly take over this network, becoming an existence above the Eight Archdevils and commanding every devil in the Bronze Fortress.
After all, his own authority came from Beelzebub, a Lord of Hell of the Second Layer—infinitely superior to the second-tier proxy authorization granted to the Eight Archdevils.
Unfortunately, if he did so, he would instantly expose himself to the other Lords of Hell, which ran counter to his original plan.
"Chip! Begin camouflage!"
Once the Chip had finished fully analyzing the demon rank network, Raylin immediately issued his command.
[Ding! Task confirmed. Camouflage protocol initiated. Background operations enabled!]
The Chip responded faithfully.