Myriad Devils-Chapter 211: The amusing Empyrean battle, the first of its kind
Apocalypse.
The infernal realm had the unspeakable.
Below the unspeakable, there were the four Apocalypses and twelve Antigods. These sixteen were labeled as the source origins for magic.
Anon knew very little about the infernal realm, but even he could infer that these existences were practical gods.
And amongst them, there were four that were spoken in even more reverence than the rest, and they were known as the four Apocalypses.
No one knew the internal affairs of practical gods; however, any mortal related to an Apocalypse would be incomparable amongst mortal existence.
On the earth above, the two armies had already begun to clash.
Before his eyes, Anon observed the apostle of apocalyptic death. She was a haunting figure dressed in flowing black garments, and her entire head was covered in a black veil.
She held a bone pole three or four times her size, to which a massive black banner was attached.
The words etched on the banner transformed, and not long after, the banner depicted a ghostly army trapped within it.
She did not speak, and when the clouds merged, forming the battle cloud, a deathly silence quickly spread in all directions.
Die, please die...
Please, embrace me...
Embrace death, embrace me...
Faint whispers rode on the wind, causing Anon’s ears to twitch.
Without exchanging words, the apostle of apocalyptic death gently shook the banner. An eerie atmosphere, with swirling mist and moving shadows, shrouded her surroundings and quickly spread across the battle cloud.
Following this were the sounds of terrifying wails and despairing roars.
The aura of death quickly unfurled, and at the same time, legions of armored figures crawled out from the mist-covered cloud.
They were obviously moving corpses, an army of the dead that numbered in the hundreds. More and more crawled out of the cloud, and hundreds quickly became thousands.
However, what was more striking was not the numbers but the individual aura that encompassed each member of the army of corpses.
Upon perceiving their aura, Anon frowned.
’What madness,’ he thought. ’Such an aura greatly surpasses fifth worlders. Don’t tell me that this is an army of ancestor-level corpses?’
But what was an army without a general or two?
As thousands of figures crawled out of the fog-covered cloud, there was a momentary silence before the wails and roars dramatically increased.
In front of the army of the dead, several figures crawled out of the cloud. Their auras were comparable to the flame daemon in terms of oppressiveness.
Anon sighed.
This army itself did not make him apprehensive. He was an Empyrean, making all those who were not Empyreans, glorified nonentities at most.
However, for the apostle of apocalyptic death to be capable of nurturing so many glorified nonentities, and a handful that were invincible amongst glorified nonentities, it only hinted at her brilliance.
The army of the dead separated into several battalions, each led by a general of the dead.
Anon did not bother with utilizing his damaging daemon battle art. Only the blackening flood battle art was enough to run rampant, and the white blip battle art would make him invulnerable.
No...
’I was unable to perfect my undying flame battle art. Now is the perfect time...’ he smiled and assumed a battle stance.
Simultaneously, several legions made their move. One legion was tasked with engaging Anon, separating itself into several smaller units by the orders of its general.
They attacked from above and from atop the surface of the Empyrean cloud.
Another general led their legion in attacking from a longer range. They worked in unison with the first legion, attacking with dark magic spells.
The third and fourth legions supported the first two, whilst two more protected their queen, and the last legion waited to strengthen any legion that needed reinforcement.
But Anon did not care about order.
From the moment the rune appeared on his forehead and dark fire spewed out of his body, he ran rampant across the battlefield.
Limbs flew madly, but the army of the dead moved even when their head was cleaved. But under the undying flames, even their bodies were burned asunder.
The battle cloud was soon doused in dark flames, and the numbers within the army of the dead continuously dwindled.
However, the apostle of apocalyptic death had an aura of calm and control.
By the time three and a half legions remained, Anon’s slaughter finally slowed down. Since the beginning of the battle, shrouded in his Empyrean aura, Anon radiated an ethereal calm.
But this calming aura was ruined by the perplexed frown on his face.
Since the apostle of apocalyptic death had shaken her banner to summon her army, she had already attacked with her killing move!
But this killing move was not the army itself.
As the aura of death surged, and the entire battle cloud was obscured by it, the death aura had also pierced deep into his bones, delving even deeper into his body.
In a sudden, the death magic spells saw their power dramatically increase, and their effect on Anon intensified greatly.
Anon felt his blood desperately attempt to flow in reverse, his organs failing, and his tissues degenerating. More importantly, an unnatural drowsiness attacked his mind, with the death aura slowly seeping into his soul.
The apostle of apocalyptic death was waiting for this precise moment. When the death aura seeped into her target’s soul, it meant that their end was now predetermined, and everything was within her control.
As more death aura seeped into Anon’s soul, an elusive, previously invisible string appeared before her weighty gaze.
What she saw, no one else could perceive.
She was the favored daughter of Apocalyptic Death. No contracted daemon or human could compare status with her.
Incomparable from the very conception.
As the string solidified before her gaze, her fingers wrapped around it and then...
Following the sound of a snap, life was extinguished.
And though life was extinguished, she observed, but more importantly, he also continued to observe.
The apostle of apocalyptic death tilted her head, perplexed. To which, Anon revealed a mysterious smile and replied whilst opening his arms wide, as if embracing the death magic originating from the army of the dead that continuously struck out at him.
"Curse, blood, undying fire, and now death magic. What can I say?"
He pinched his chin, seemingly in thought, "Why do you all attack the soul so much?"
"No, the soul is the foundation of a daemon’s strength, so it makes sense that killer spells target it, my bad... Well, that’s just pitiful, because you seem especially reliant on soul-targeting too."
Anon sighed and showed a pitiful expression.
The death aura seemed to come alive, and all pretenses were abandoned. The aura of death concentrated around Anon’s figure and surged into his soul.
Smiling, he welcomed it with open arms.
The moment the aura of death seeped into his mind realm, the endless turbulence of the death aura transformed into little droplets of grey smoky liquid, instantly swallowed by his excited soul.
Shutting his eyes, Anon reveled in the sensation.
How to say... it was a coldness that could only be described as standing atop Mt. Everest with the buns out and little brother dangling.
This was a cold aura that his soul seemingly cherished and savored.
By the time Anon opened his eyes, the pair of golden suns encompassed by dark rings had a vertical grey slit running down its center.
Anon cackled madly, his cold laughter shaking the entire cloud. Though he smiled, his expression was cold, and his eyes radiated an even more intense coldness.
Such a gaze was too detached.
This was a gaze that could not originate from a human being with six desires and seven emotions.
With the weight of an Empyrean’s gaze amplifying this sense of detachment, a simple glance would likely drive mortals to the brink of insanity.
The apostle of apocalyptic death had not shown any reaction nor voiced anything during the entirety of this battle; however, when that gaze landed on her, she could not help but stumble back in disbelief.
That kind of gaze...
Was that not her own gaze?
"W-What are you?" Her voice lacked emotional depth, but it was clear that she was shocked, and maybe even frightened.
Rubbing his chin, Anon nodded with pleasure.
"So death’s disciple also feels fear. Interesting, interesting, worthy of noting down." He stepped toward the apostle, though the army of the dead blocked his path.
However, his right index finger twitched slightly, and the sound of crackling thunder followed. Just this was enough to resonate with the lightning principle.
A flood of black lightning fell, opening a path toward the apostle who resisted the lightning.
’The only difference between me and someone with a spirit affinity for lightning is my lack of resistance towards it; otherwise, can’t I be considered a triple principled stellar genius?’
Anon smiled.
Such a smile stuck to his face, frozen.
It wasn’t just the smile, though...
His right foot had not yet landed on the cloud, but his entire body had come to a halt. He was completely frozen in time.
So too was the apostle of apocalyptic death.
The world growled and space violently trembled, but facing the incomprehensible, it was already commendable that it held the incomprehensible back for a fraction of time.
Space crumbled, and a grey hand, with five claws for fingers, stretched into the inverted sky dimension from a boundless darkness.
It grasped at the apostle of apocalyptic death.
But an indescribable power appeared, and even the incomprehensible hand was forced to come to a halt, "If you send your children into my territory, they are under my authority."
In reply, a scratchy voice resounded, "Oh, Great Infernal God, please understand my plight."
As this voice fell, space cracked and shattered, and the entire dimension began falling apart.
This was not done intentionally.
Thereafter, the indescribable power disappeared, and the incomprehensible hand returned to the boundless darkness behind the veil of space, with the apostle of apocalyptic death also disappearing.
The shattering dimension instantly healed, and time seemed to flow once more.
Anon’s foot landed on the battle cloud, but he came to an abrupt halt. He was not frozen in time, but he was absolutely stunned.
He just stood in stunned silence, staring at the empty air.
