Something else is coming.
Small patches of shadow drift over from the other side of the passageway, vanishing into the air. The shadow assassins move silently; they are the Shadow Fiends at the pinnacle of their evolution, capable of assassinating even gods in wars of the past. The alarm set by the black-robed mage sounded. These stealthy demons flickered in and out of the energy lines, while Eryan's assassins also blurred into the air. A hunt and a counter-hunt were about to unfold.
This was not Tasa's concern.
The dungeon's true form had been waiting underground for a long time. Her body would not be infected by mere undead beasts, her blade was sharp enough to cut down horned demons and ogres; if she spread her wings, soared into the blue sky, and plunged into the midst of the demonic sorcerers, those Abyssal mages hurling curses and plagues would be scattered to the four winds, routed and left in disarray.
If Tash and Victor were to enter the battlefield together, the fierce battle would be decided instantly; local defeats would be halted immediately, casualties would be greatly reduced, and they themselves would not have to pay a heavy price—but that is not possible. Tasha's significance extends far beyond that of a battlefield trump card. In this war where the odds are evenly matched—or perhaps even tilted against us—every piece on the board, including Tasha herself, must be carefully considered. Even the slightest miscalculation in deploying high-tier combat power could prove fatal.
Just as the dragons and dragon riders have yet to enter the fray, Tasha and Victor remain in the dungeon, biding their time.
The time has come.
The passage between the Abyss and the Material Plane has strict throughput limits. Abyssal units that can pass through range from weak to strong, and the same applies to beings from the Material Plane. The formidable entities of the Unconventional Dungeon—former Abyssal Lords exiled and reshaped by the Abyss—are so powerful that, like the "big guys" barred on the Abyss side, they are kept out by the passage, which has not yet been fully opened.
Part of this passage relies on Victor's power; he can use methods akin to backdoor programs to allow them to pass through one round earlier than the Demon Lord-level monsters. They have endured and waited for so long, and the moment has finally arrived.
The Shadow Fiend represents the pinnacle of that branch of demonic evolution, one of the major demon species, while the high-tier Shadow Assassin is the immediate precursor in the Shadow Fiend's evolutionary tree—the stage preceding the Lord-class demons.
Tasha took a step forward and embraced Victor. Victor wrapped his arms around her waist, clasping his hands firmly behind her back. From the opening deliberately left in the back of Tasha's battle armor, the jet-black tattoo on her pale skin suddenly unfurled, transforming into a pair of massive wings with razor-sharp edges.
The hidden trapdoor opened, revealing a deep chasm right in the center of the battlefield. A horned demon, having just dispatched its opponent, swung its chains and charged toward the gaping hole leading downward. It leaped into the abyss and instantly turned into a cloud of shattered flesh. The force of his punch sent blood and flesh flying backward, not a single drop touching the two soaring skyward. Victor withdrew his fist, watched the battlefield rapidly shrink below, then looked at Tasa, who was carrying them both aloft with her flapping wings, and laughed, "Too bad I can't 'fly side by side' with you."
The last four words were spoken in flawless Mandarin. Ever since Tasa began teaching him the language of this other world, Victor had taken to tirelessly misusing idioms. "That's not how you use that phrase," Tasa chuckled.
"But my pronunciation is spot-on, right? Doesn't hearing the language of your homeland feel comforting?" Victor, unsurprisingly, shifted the focus.
"What about you? How does it feel to be returning home?" Tasa tilted her chin toward the Gate of the Abyss, which was drawing ever closer. "Is it so comforting that it stirs your heart?"
"It's more than just stirring my heart—it's making my blood boil," Victor said with a grin, revealing a mouthful of jagged teeth. "I can't wait to see those old friends."
Demon sorcerers fluttered around them like a flock of startled birds. These demons stared at the visitors from the surface in confusion, unable to determine what they actually were: the black, horned demon lacked the scent of the Abyss, while the woman who did carry the Abyss's scent had bony horns, demonic wings, and the scent of dragon claws mixed with other, indistinct auras.
The native Abyssal creatures were thoroughly bewildered. The overwhelming aura of beings from the Upper Realms caused the demons to flail wildly; a vague sense that these were "not their own kind" made them restless. The impulses to obey, evade, and attack swirled chaotically in their minds, and for the moment, not a single spell landed on them.
It didn't matter anyway; Tasa carried enough talismans. While they had limited effect against enemies from the Abyss, they were just right for dealing with these flies.
Her slender arms appeared no different from those of a human, yet she could effortlessly cradle a demon a full size larger than herself in her embrace, lifting it hundreds of meters above the ground, freeing Victor's hands to deal with the portal between the Abyss and the Material Plane. All the groundwork was in place; only the final step remained. Victor's fingers tapped and glided through the air, as if manipulating an invisible touchscreen, as if stirring the surface of a still pond.
The ripples of magic spread out.
That had once been the "backdoor" left by the Serpent of Lies. Those demon lords had exploited Victor's contingency plan, divided his legacy among themselves, and built the passage upon his corpse. These bandits and thieves had gained many advantages, but they would pay a price.
"Come," Victor murmured in Tarsha's ear, "let me introduce you to my utterly wretched homeland."
The passage opened to them, as if a hole had appeared in the fuselage. The pull suddenly grew stronger; Tasa didn't need to flap her wings—they were naturally sucked inside.
Total darkness.
Whether called a portal or a passage, neither term truly captures this scar connecting the two realms. It was the last remaining link between the Abyss and the Material Plane, the final point where the two planes overlapped—like two train cars connected by a single strip of tape. The natural connection had been severed; this passage was anything but natural. And as they slipped through, it felt as though they were flattening themselves into a sheet of paper and forcing their way through a door crack. Tash felt a dull pressure on her eardrums, as if she'd plunged headfirst into the deep sea.
Total darkness surrounded them; even her eye with dark vision was useless, for there was nothing here to begin with—it was like a void created by a modeling error. There was no up, down, left, or right; time and space were imperceptible. Passing through the fissure would consume only a very, very brief moment in reality, yet that fleeting instant was stretched into seconds, even minutes, here. Tasha suddenly felt a void in her arms; Victor was gone, replaced by a sudden flash of light.
She couldn't tell if she "saw" it or "sensed" it, but the thing simply appeared, terrifyingly close—less than half a step away. Tasha saw—
Black… mountains?
Her entire field of vision was filled with it; whether she tilted her head up or down as far as she could, she saw only the same scene. Gigantic, mirror-smooth black plates lay in overlapping layers, obscuring one another to form a half-circular shape. After a few seconds, Tashada realized they were scales.
This was a very, very large snake.
No, just something that resembled a snake. A real snake wouldn't grow such menacing spines, nor would it have a pair of curved, pitch-black horns.
It felt strange. Standing before this colossal presence, Tasa was so small she could see only a tiny portion of it directly in front of her, yet at the same time she could see the whole—the entire serpent, stretching thousands of meters from its sharp tail to its horned head. She knew what it looked like, knew what it was, knew who it was. Tasha reached out toward it. Just before her fingertips touched it, the scales quivered, parted, and a massive yellow eye opened.
The eye was right before Tasha, its diameter longer than her own height, like an amber-colored floor-to-ceiling window. Within the dusky iris were mesmerizing radial patterns, as lustrous as jewels, as dazzling as a cathedral's stained-glass window. The vertical-pupiled eye fixed its gaze on Tasha, and within it she saw reason and savagery, saw the stars, and saw herself.
What does it feel like to lock eyes with a colossal beast?
Her heart skipped a beat; she felt her own existence as insignificant as dust, yet as vast as the universe itself. The sensation was like soaring through the skies at dawn, a thousand meters above the ground, watching the clouds part as a crimson sun bursts forth—the world vast and boundless, yet lying at your feet. The colossal serpent, towering from the earth to the heavens, was so terrifying it sent shivers down her spine, yet she couldn't tear her gaze away. Tash suddenly understood the thrill a dragon rider must feel upon seeing a dragon. How beautiful, she thought, like a mesmerizing nightmare.
"A minor side effect," a soft rustling sound whispered in her ear. "A tiny illusion. Did you see 'me'?"
The colossal serpent vanished, and the human-form Victor reappeared in Tasa's arms. His skin was warm, his eyes a dull yellow; the hue of a floor-to-ceiling window was condensed within them, once again reflecting Tasa's face. He had never truly vanished; it was merely an illusion. Moments ago, Tasha had glimpsed the fulcrum of the passageway—she had seen Victor's true form.
"Your eyes…" Tasha said, searching for the right words, "are like twilight."
The amber eyes narrowed, and Victor smiled—not like a cold-blooded creature, but more like a playful fox. "That sounds nice." he said, "Much cooler than 'chocolate.'"
The blackness around them was thinning, and the pressure bearing down on them was slowly receding. The sound of air flowing returned to their ears, and light reappeared before their eyes; the blue sky they'd left behind had turned into a dizzying shade of purple. They had successfully reached the Abyss.
This was somewhere within the Abyss.
They hadn't taken the standard route—of course, only a fool would follow the path used by the Abyssal invasion forces. Except for special cases like Victor, all demons were confined to the single passage connecting the Abyss and the Material Plane. The entrance to that passage in the human world had already become a battlefield, while the Abyssal end was choked with hordes of demons, all scrambling to get through. If they appeared at that entrance, it would be like plunging headfirst into the thick of the enemy; they'd likely face a horde of major demons waiting to come through.
Tasha and Victor weren't here to fight one-on-one. Their sole mission was to sneak in, destroy the portal's anchor points before the demon lords could enter the Material Plane, and end this war. Once that was done, they could use Victor's "Portal" spell to slip back out.
This was the ideal scenario—one that was, in all likelihood, highly improbable.
Victor's "Dark Door" spell hurled them to a random location in the Abyss. The moment they arrived, they tore open a Scroll of Concealment, granting them a brief period of invisibility.
Tasha had once been favored by the Abyss; in that favor, she had "seen" the Abyss. Now, as she looked around, the world of the Abyss appeared exactly as she had envisioned it.
Here, the sky was purple, and in the distance hung three suns of eerie hues—in one place, a blazing sun hung high; in another, lightning lashed through hail. The soil was a deep, dark purple, every inch saturated with the blood of demons—from the amniotic membranes of Abyssal spawn to the mangled limbs of great demons. None were eternal victors; all were but sustenance for the Abyss. She saw a blood-red river flowing beneath her feet, cutting through a scorching expanse of land billowing with thick smoke. Suddenly, the earth rumbled in the distance; a earth dragon rolled over, and the river of blood shifted course.
This was the Abyss—similar to the place Tasha had glimpsed within the Abyss's will, and similar to the homeland in Victor's memories—yet completely different. The more they looked around, the more somber their expressions grew.
It was too quiet, too clean.
The environment of the Abyss was incredibly harsh, and a crucial part of that harshness was the Abyssal creatures.
Demon spawn were born in specific patches of soil; the Abyss was so vast that these spots were as numerous as the stars. Before their eyes had even opened, they began devouring one another, busy offering themselves as sacrifices to the Abyss from the moment of birth. Demons at every stage of evolution and in every evolutionary branch occupied every corner of the Abyss; at every moment, countless fortunate ones survived and evolved, while countless unlucky ones were torn to shreds and turned into nourishment. From the skies to the depths of the earth, whether amidst lava or rivers of blood, every corner is a battlefield. Blood and screams are everywhere; this chaotic plane moves with such speed, the carnival of the apocalypse is everywhere, brimming with frenzied vitality.
It shouldn't be like this now.
Tasha flew beneath the purple sky, where only the sounds of wind and lightning echoed; aside from them, no other living creature soared through the air. The ground below lay desolate. Looking down from this height, Tasa saw towering mountains and deep gorges, rivers and deserts—but not a single monster.
The Abyss was deathly silent.
"Have all the demons gone to the portal?" Tasa muttered to herself.
"Then we really are far from the portal," Victor chuckled, though the smile vanished in less than a second. "I wish I could tell you that," he shook his head. "But even during the busiest of the Main Material Plane campaigns, the Abyss has never been this desolate… It's simply impossible for the Abyss to be this empty."
It is not some powerful overlord that drives the demonic plague, but the demons' instincts—the Will of the Abyss. Just as blood gushes from a wound cut into a human body: the wound is the portal between the Abyss and the Material Plane, and the blood is the nearby demons. No matter how severe the periodic bleeding, it is impossible to drain every last drop of blood from a person's body.
Even during the most ferocious demonic invasions, demons do not pour out en masse.
In the years leading up to an invasion, Abyssal spawn are born in great numbers, providing ample cannon fodder for the coming onslaught. But once the Abyss's assault on the Material Plane begins, any unevolved spawn will no longer be drawn to the rifts; they will simply go about their business, fighting and growing. Demons near the rifts are driven by a craving for souls and flesh, while those far away—and unable to move there easily—are completely unaware of the rifts' existence and won't waste time on long journeys.
The Abyss's invasion is utterly disorganized, yet the Abyss operates by its own set of laws, ensuring the survival of its creations. Even a plane whose core is "Chaos" possesses its own natural laws.
What is happening in the Abyss?
"Should we keep going?" Victor asked. "I can sense where my body is, but looking at this state I'm in, I don't think charging straight ahead is a good idea."
"Of course we're continuing," Tasha said.
Severing the portal is the best method—and the only one. The more they realize something is amiss with the Abyss, the less they can count on stalling until the portal closes. Tasha and Victor had no doubt that if the Abyss were truly cornered, it would go down in a desperate last stand, ensuring that no life on the Material Plane could survive.
"If I hadn't been banished by the Abyss, I could try to figure out what's going on," Victor said. "I have the power and the means now, but I don't have enough access—I can't even get into the Abyss's outer layers."
"You need access to the Abyss?" Tasha asked.
"Yes, just the surface—the deeper, the better," Victor said regretfully. "We don't have any Abyssal artifacts here…"
"I'll go."
"What?"
"I said I can," Tasha said. "I've been favored by the Abyss."
The dungeon now possesses Abyssal attributes.
Abyss: You once received the favor of the Abyss's Will. Even though its gaze has long since faded, the mark of having once been a child of the Abyss remains forever in your soul.
The Abyss's favor had long since vanished, but the Abyss's mark remained within Tasa's soul. Tasa was, in effect, registered with the Abyss; when dealing with it, she could receive certain privileges.
"You know what kind of danger that entails, don't you?" Victor said.
Tasha, who possessed the Abyss's attributes, was not a creation of the Abyss; she did not belong to it. Yet, to a certain extent, she held authority over the Abyss. The Abyss granted her special favors, much like a loan shark craving collateral from a debtor.
The Abyss craved Tasha's soul.
"I know," Tasha said. "I was prepared before I came."
"It's not like before," Victor warned again. "We're inside the Abyss now; this is the Abyss's domain."
Tasha kissed him to silence him. The demon sighed and said, "Then let's begin."
Tasha began to cautiously interact with the Abyss.
Whenever progress was made in leveling up or merging and restructuring, the titles that appeared played a significant role; in comparison, "attributes" seemed to have a lower profile. But in reality, titles required specific conditions to be used, whereas attributes were always present—much like the difference between active and passive skills.
Abyss, Nature, Dragon—not a single attribute was useless. When Tasa possessed a certain attribute, she could converse with beings of the same attribute. The proud soul of a dragon could interact with her as an equal; the Heart of Nature and the Tree of Life grew peacefully in her courtyard; and when she opened her soul within the Abyss, she could briefly tap into the Abyss's will.
This was a dangerous yet useful privilege.
Tasa's will seeped quietly and slowly into the Abyss. No matter how cautious she was, the moment she truly made contact, the impact was still more ferocious than a tsunami.
He had arrived.
He came from all directions, from every corner—from a breeze brushing her cheek, from a ray of light cast by the three suns… Tasha immediately understood what "home field advantage" meant. During that clash with the Fiend Simon, the Will of the Abyss had leapt out from who-knows-where; no matter how swift, its manifestation still took time. Now it was different—Tasha was inside it.
It was as if the air enveloping her body had suddenly turned into a viscous gel, as if the ground beneath her feet had suddenly opened its countless eyes. This plane was alive; it had simply not noticed her before. The Abyssal Will had once left a mark of favor upon Tarsha's soul; when she called upon it again, it came, bearing a frenzied passion and a chaotic craving.
Tasha felt the Abyss once more; her senses swept across the entire plane with this surging tide.
She saw vast stretches of barren land. In a place where harmless plants are hard to find, the absence of demons made it resemble the surface of a desolate, dead planet. In many places, there were circular depressions—once petri dishes for demonic spawn. Now, the dishes were dry, and not a single insect remained. It seemed as though all the living creatures of the plane had crowded into that small patch of land. Before the passage to the Main Material Plane, one could still glimpse the former prosperity of the Abyss; they jostled one another but did not attack. The Ever-Hungry Moving Stomach floated quietly beside a flock of fluttering Deathbirds, while Hellhounds and Skeleton Ghosts coexisted peacefully—as if lions and antelopes sat side by side, quietly lining up.
Tasha suddenly broke free. Unharmed and exhilarated, it took her nearly half a minute to snap out of that sickening euphoria, only to be overcome by a wave of nausea.
A sigh seemed to emanate from the Abyssal Will as it slowly separated from her.
It was as if she had crawled out of thick tar; that intense odor and sticky sensation lingered for a long time. The Abyss's ability to "taint" was so powerful that every "benefit" it offered was a trap—the more one took, the deeper one fell.
Fortunately, this brief encounter had already borne fruit.
Victor was Tasa's contract holder; as long as she was willing, he could borrow her senses. As a former demon lord, that brief glimpse of the Abyss had provided him with ample information.
"There's good news and bad news," Victor said. "Which do you want to hear first?"
"The good news," Tasa replied this time.
"The good news is that none of the demon lords have 'demon generals' anymore," Victor said. "During the decline of the plane over the past few hundred years, the number of newly born Abyssal demons has dwindled. High-ranking demons have struggled to advance, and the Great Demons at the pinnacle, in order to prevent themselves from being demoted or degenerating, have devoured all their direct subordinates. Even so, they still couldn't escape the decline."
"No demon lords left?" " Tasha asked, not holding out much hope.
"There are, but they've been demoted by half a rank, equivalent to the Archdemons of the past," Victor sighed. "But that's also the bad news. They've been demoted—which means these Greater Demons, whose power is only slightly weaker than before, can now pass through a round earlier."
Just as Tasha and Victor entered the Abyss, the first Demon Lord arrived on the Material Plane.