mijobooks Chapter 214: Ascalon
Chapter 214: Ascalon
The days quickly bled into weeks, and the crimson landscape of the 7th Firmament became entirely synonymous with the terrifying expanse of the Chaos Order.
With the Gateway of Life and Death successfully restored to its peak functionality, the massive spiritual bottleneck that had plagued the realm for centuries vanished completely. Millions of trapped souls flowed smoothly into the higher layers every single day, leaving behind a clean, quiet underworld that was finally ready for complete colonization.
Adonis Kingsbane did not allow his legions to rest. Under his absolute command, the combined forces of the Howling Keep, the Demonic Monkeys, and the newly absorbed shadow-claws marched across every remaining sector of the layer.
One by one, the rebellious Demon Kings were systematically hunted down. Those who knelt were integrated into the imperial vanguard; those who let their pride dictate their actions were instantly obliterated, their demonic cores crushed to pieces under the weight of Adonis’s heavy boots.
Now, three weeks after the fall of Malphas, Adonis sat inside the grand audience hall of the central citadel, a towering fortress of black marble that once belonged to the High Overlord of the layer.
Sirius walked into the grand hall. She approached the silver throne and bowed deeply, ensuring her low-cut armor provided a familiar, alluring view for her Emperor.
"The final outer perimeter has been secured, my handsome Emperor. The total count is officially complete. Ninety-eight out of the ninety-nine primordial territories are now flying the black banners of the Chaos Order."
Adonis took a slow sip from his crystal goblet,
"And the last one?"
"The Ash Barrens," Sirius replied, straightening her posture and resting a hand on her hip. "Demon King Azazel has barricaded himself inside his fortress of burning sulfur. He has refused every single messenger we sent. He claims that he would rather turn his entire territory into a smoking crater than offer a single drop of wine to a human conqueror."
"He sounds exceptionally brave. Or exceptionally stupid. Which one is it, Sirius?"
"Stupid," Sirius laughed, "Definitely stupid. He is a level eighty-eight fire-fiend who thinks his lava moats can protect him from a level ninety-nine anomaly. I was preparing to lead the vanguard to dismantle his walls tomorrow morning, if that pleases you."
Before Adonis could answer, the massive iron doors of the audience hall were violently thrown open.
Snark the Imp came tumbling inside, his small leathery wings flapping so frantically that he accidentally lost his balance and skidded across the polished black marble floor, stopping right at the base of the throne’s dais.
"My Emperor! My Emperor!" Snark squeaked in a blind, trembling panic,
"It is not Azazel! The Ash Barrens are gone! They are completely gone!"
Adonis lowered his goblet, face turning serious. "Speak clearly, little demon. What do you mean by gone?"
"The entire territory was vaporized in a single second! A massive beam of white light descended directly from the higher firmaments! It did not just melt the fortress; it completely erased the earth! The sky over the southern border has turned entirely white!"
Sirius frowned deeply,
"A beam of white light? That is impossible. The atmospheric density of the 7th Firmament does not allow for high-tier holy manifestations. The system rules prevent it."
"The system rules are currently being rewritten. Ascalon has finally grown tired of watching me break his toys it seems."
The air inside the grand audience hall suddenly grew suffocatingly heavy. The ambient temperature, which was usually warm and filled with the scent of sulfur, dropped to absolute freezing in a matter of seconds.
Hummmmm.
A low, resonant sound vibrated through the stone walls, shaking the massive pillars of the citadel. The red light filtering through the stained-glass windows of the hall began to distort, turning a pale, sterile gold.
"What is this pressure?" Sirius gasped as she took a defensive stance in front of the throne. "It smells like... the upper heavens. But it is entirely too concentrated."
"Stand back, Sirius. You cannot fight what is coming through that doorway," Adonis commanded, stepping past her with a calm, unbothered expression
A golden rift inside the hall.
From the center of the golden rift, a figure slowly stepped forward.
It was not a mechanical construct like the Soul Warden, nor was it a massive beast. The entity possessed the physical form of a young man, standing roughly six feet tall, with long, braided silver hair that floated weightlessly around his shoulders.
His face was impossibly beautiful, carved from flawless white jade, with eyes that resembled two burning golden suns. He wore a simple, unadorned white tunic, and a long, slender silver rapier hung casually at his waist.
The moment his feet touched the floor, the dark marble beneath him turned completely pure white, the chaotic ether of the underworld violently pushed away by his mere presence.
[System Notification: Major World Event Triggered.]
[Warning: Divine Manifestation Detected.]
[Target: Avatar of Ascalon (The God of Swords)]
[Level: ??? (Suppressed by Layer Restraints)]
[Status: Hostile Entity Present.]
The young man looked around the grand audience hall, his golden eyes filled with an absolute, detached expression that treated everything in the room as completely beneath his notice.
He first looked at the screaming silver faces carved into the throne, then at Sirius, and finally settled his gaze directly onto Adonis.
"So," the Avatar spoke, voice soft, "You are the bug that has been disrupting the spiritual harvest. The little mortal who thinks he can build an empire in a garbage pit."
"And you are the thief who hides behind marble masks," Adonis countered smoothly. "I must say, Ascalon, your true face is remarkably fragile. I expected a god to look a bit more intimidating than a delicate street performer."
Sirius let out a sharp, nervous breath, her eyes darting between the two entities.
"Adonis... Be careful. His level is immeasurable."
"Because a fragment of infinity cannot be weighed by a finite scale, little succubus," the Avatar of Ascalon said coldly, "You should have remained in your kennel, demon. Serving this mortal will only ensure your absolute erasure."
"I serve the true Emperor!" Sirius spat back, her courage returning as she stepped closer to Adonis’s side.
"You are just a parasite who steals the dead because you cannot inspire the living!"
The Avatar did not get angry. He simply smiled, a cold, lifeless expression that contained absolutely no human emotion.
"Inspiration is a tool for the weak. Obedience is the only currency the universe recognizes. Adonis Kingsbane, you have cost me four trillion units of high-grade spiritual essence. Do you have any idea how many divine arrays those souls were meant to fuel?"
"I do not care about your construction projects," Adonis stated flatly. "The souls belong to the system, not to your furnace. If you wanted them so badly, you should have come down here to collect them yourself instead of sending your pathetic puppets."
Hummmm!
The Avatar took a single step forward, and the silver rapier at his waist hummed with a terrifying, high-pitched frequency that caused Snark to let out a whimpering cry and cover his ears.
"I am a god of the Upper heavens, mortal. My true body cannot descend to this shallow layer without completely collapsing the structural integrity of the entire world. This vessel is merely a shadow of my intent, constructed from the condensed faith of a hundred worlds. Yet, even this shadow is enough to rewrite the laws of your little kingdom."
"You talk entirely too much for someone who claims to be infinite. If you came here to kill me, draw your needle. If you came here to negotiate, you are wasting your breath." Adonis said.
"Negotiate with a bug?" the Avatar chuckled softly, shaking his head. "How incredibly amusing. No, Adonis. I came here to give you an ultimatum. The 7th Firmament is merely the base of the cosmic ladder. You have conquered it because I allowed you to clear out the stagnant elements. The Demon Kings were growing lazy. Their efficiency was dropping. In a way, you have done me a great service by consolidating the territory."
Adonis narrowed his eyes. "You intentionally let me destroy your vanguard?"
"A vanguard is disposable. The souls of the living demons you have gathered are now highly concentrated, well-trained, and packed into dense legions. They are far more valuable to me now than they were when they were scattered across ninety-nine separate keeps. I am offering you a position, human."
"A position?" Sirius interrupted, her voice filled with pure venom. "You want to make him a slave?"
"I am offering him the title of High Warden of the Lower Layers," the Avatar clarified, looking directly at Adonis. "Kneel before the Golden Light. Swear your Chaos Sword to my service. You will lead your newly unified demonic army upward into the 6th and 5th Firmaments, conquering them in my name. You will manage the harvests, and in return, when the Golden Heavens are complete, I will allow you to ascend as a minor deity. You will no longer be a mortal anomaly. You will be a permanent fixture of the divine order."
The room fell into an absolute, tense silence. Snark looked up from the floor, his tiny heart hammering against his ribs as he waited for his master’s response.
Sirius kept her gaze fixed on Adonis’s face, her heart clenching with a sudden, desperate fear that the Emperor might actually consider the offer of godhood.