章節 428: Chapter 428: Lord of the Shadow Shoals: "Holding a Grudge Shouldn't Extend to the Abyss, Right? Watch Me Perform!"
On the chaotic battlefield, the vampire lord crushed a blood-red crystal.
A vivid red bat flew out from it, streaking towards the ground like lightning and disappearing into the earth in an instant.
Other great demons, who were at a disadvantage in their fights against the mechanized units, sighed in relief upon seeing this. Their expressions twisted into grimaces of defiance as they looked around at the encircling mechanical army.
"Thinking you can conquer our Blood Shadow fortress?"
"Humph, this will prove to be your most foolish decision."
"Wait for the powerful demon lord to come and deal with you."
Time continued to pass silently.
The din of battle, filled with demon roars and the rumbling of machines, resonated through the air, a stark contrast to the quiet passing of time.
From above, looking down at the ground, the demon army could be seen retreating under the siege of the mechanical legion, being pushed back towards the position of the Blood Shadow fortress. Their maneuverable space was shrinking bit by bit.
Unless something unexpected happened.
This war, if it continued for a while longer, would see the demon army utterly defeated and the fortress breached.
Meanwhile.
In another layer of the bottomless abyss.
The 89th layer, the Shadow Sea.
The vast and endless black ocean, starkly different from the oceans of the prime material world, churned below the seemingly boundless surface. Occasionally, waves revealed indescribable shadows writhing, slithering, and sliding deep within the sea, even the sound of the waves echoing like the moans of some monstrous creature.
This was the Shadow Sea, the realm of the ancient sea god Dagun.
At the outermost areas of the Shadow Sea, there lay a stretch of gray-white sandy beaches, surrounded by bizarrely shaped rocks crisscrossed throughout, and the mournful wind non-stop, while the black waves rolled ashore, leaving behind severed limbs, wriggling unknown tentacles, pale bones, and other detritus.
The Shadow Sea was dangerous, and even demons largely dared not venture here.
Most demons living in this layer resided in the Shallows, the domain ruled by the Lord of the Shadow Shoals.
Though minuscule compared to the vast and boundless Shadow Sea, the Shallows were still a sizable territory, only under the rule of the Lord of the Shadow Shoals with the tacit consent of the ancient sea god.
At the peak of a tall, curving promontory within the Shallows.
Facing the gentle sea breeze, a castle-like structure stood, with many patrolling demons visible around it, clearly indicating it was no abandoned castle.
This place was the regular residence of the Lord of the Shadow Shoals.
Deep within the castle, the pale-skinned, slender lord, looking every bit the languid noble, admired a pulsating purple stone, playing fondly with it.
It was one of the rewards from his excursions into the chaos beyond.
"Just a trip to the prime material world, using my stealth abilities, I've managed to exchange a small price for many treasures, at least in my view, very little was paid."
"The so-called eternal and time dragons are nothing special, it seems."
"They'll surely be furious about the staff segments taken from them, but what can they do about me? No matter how powerful, they wouldn't dare venture into the Shadow Sea to slay me."
"Just thinking about an incensed newly ascended dragon god makes me quite happy."
Under the dim light, a pleased smile spread across the face of the Lord of the Shadow Shoals.
Neither in fame nor in reputation could this demon lord compare to Garon now, but that made him all the more delighted. After all, as a minor lord in the abyss, he had managed to trouble Garon, and there was nothing Garon could do about it, hiding in the abyss.
Suddenly.
A streak of blood light swept across the Shallows, heading straight for the depths of the castle.
The demon guards noticed the bat within the blood light but only watched warily for a moment before turning their gaze away.
The blood bat entered the castle, passing through several walls to fly straight to the Lord of the Shadow Shoals, finally crashing into the outstretched pale palm of its master, merging with his body.
"Oh? Blood Shadow fortress is currently facing a massive attack from the mechanical legion."
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals's eyes flickered with knowledge of the war unfolding on the Plain of Abysses.
The fortress lord wouldn't contact him unless absolutely necessary, a fact well understood by the Lord of the Shadow Shoals.
Since he received the message, it meant the fortress on the Plain of Abysses couldn't withstand the Devil's War Army's assault and needed his help as the demon lord. Given the never-ending bloody wars, this wasn't the first or
second time such a situation had arisen.
"However, is it really prudent to leave the Shadow Sea for the Plain of Abysses at this time?"
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals furrowed his brow.
After offending the eternal and time dragons, the Lord of the Shadow Shoals had planned to hide in the Shadow Sea for a century before doing anything else.
He was somewhat aware of the dragons' vengeful nature, but since he usually stayed in the abyss and rarely interacted with dragons, he figured that even if they held a grudge, their desire for revenge should subside after a hundred years.
"Could this be a trap set by the eternal and time dragons to lure me out of the Shadow Sea?"
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals looked wary.
But after a moment's thought, he shook his head, muttering to himself, "No, the Plain of Abysses is still part of the bottomless abyss; even if they wanted to lure me out of the Shadow Sea, they wouldn't set an ambush on the Plain of Abysses."
"How could they be involved with the mechanical legion?"
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals pondered silently.
Inside the Devil's War Army, only a few archdevils knew the mechanical legion was under Garon's command; the demon side did not know where the mechanical legion had sprung from.
After determining that the likelihood of Garon seeking revenge was minimal, the Lord of the Shadow Shoals lifted his head, his eyes taking on a haughty look.
"Even if the eternal and time dragons dare to come to the bottomless abyss to fight me on my home turf, who wins and who loses is not yet certain."
"I doubt they have the courage."
"It's a pity, really. If it truly were the eternal and time dragons trying to lure me out, I would relish the opportunity to show them the strength of our demons."
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals shook his head, sighing with a look of regret.
With that thought, the Lord of the Shadow Shoals stood up, his cloak swirling as he transformed into a streak of blood light and vanished from the spot.
The Plain of Abysses.
Blood Shadow fortress.
Flames fell like rain, and heavy cannons fell like meteors toward the fortress.
The sounds of destruction, as if they would never cease, filled the air.
The demons' roars were growing weaker under the relentless pressure from the mechanical legion, their living space being compressed step by step, numerous demons' blood reddening the barren ground, bodies of demons mutilated beyond recognition scattered everywhere, twisted and burning metal wreckage also everywhere.
In the sky.
The vampire lord was in perilous straits amidst the encirclement of Mechanist Angels and Demons.
Other demigod great demons were in similar danger, all in perilous situations.
However, just as another great demon was about to falter.
The skies suddenly changed.
The already eternally dark red sky of the Plain of Abysses turned blood-red at this moment, as if a curtain made of blood had enveloped the area, the distinct smell of blood growing intense, threads of blood light forming and dancing non-stop, entering the bodies of the demons.
The battered demons seemed as if they had been injected with adrenaline, their spirits lifting.
"The noble Lord of the Shadow Shoals, my lord, you have finally come!"
The vampire lord and other great demons looked excitedly towards the center of the battlefield.
Unbeknownst to them, a figure similar in size to an ordinary human, clad in a black and red cloak, with pale, sickly skin, had appeared there, quietly hovering thousands of meters in the air, his gaze coldly sweeping over the surrounding scene.
Among the demons and machines, his stature was inconspicuous, even insignificant.
But just by quietly hovering in the air.
A terror-inducing oppressive force belonging to a demon lord spread out like a tangible storm, solidifying the surrounding air as if it were a solid substance.
"Hiss, looks like the big boss has appeared."
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals's unusual aura immediately caught the attention of numerous Mechanist players.
"Hit it with a cannon first."
From the rear, the Mechanist players operating the ultra-long-range heavy cannons, although not communicating, nearly all had the same thought upon seeing the Lord of the Shadow Shoals, simultaneously targeting and firing their cannons.
Boom, boom, boom!
Numerous energy shells were fired, densely targeting the Lord of the Shadow Shoals.
Faced with the sky full of artillery fire, the Lord of the Shadow Shoals revealed an elegant smile.
He raised his arm, waving it at the approaching group of shells.
Instantly.
A gigantic blood-red hand, several thousand meters in diameter, formed and covered the vision of countless demons, sweeping towards the cluster of energy shells, exploding them all in a rumbling sound, while the blood hand appeared only slightly faded, seemingly unharmed overall.
The Mechanist players were incredulous,continuing to bombard the Lord of the Shadow Shoals.
At the same time.
Far from the front lines, where the ultra-long-range heavy cannons operated by the Mechanist crabs were stationed, the ground suddenly began to seep blood, transforming the stony terrain into a swamp of fresh blood that bubbled and swallowed up the Mechanist crabs.
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals, with his black and red cloak fluttering autonomously, stood imposingly.
Whoosh! Countless blood-red bats surged from the hem of his cloak, swarming out ahead of one another, filling the sky with the flapping of their wings.
These blood-red bats were constructs of energy with a terrifying corrosive quality.
Everywhere they passed, metal and machinery could hardly resist, and various energy shields were easily penetrated, even legendary mechanical units were not spared.
Hundreds of thousands of blood-red bats crowded together, forming a blood-colored tornado that swept towards the Mechanist Angels and Demons who were besieging the vampire lord.
Both demigod-level Mechanists retreated explosively, trying to dodge the bat tornado.
The Mechanist Angel was slightly slower, getting caught within it.
Its blade flashed as it desperately cut through the swarming bats, creating gaps and tears, but more blood-red bats surged forward, sealing every opening and completely engulfing the Mechanist Angel.
Boom!
Unable to escape, the Angel's engine detonated, a blinding white flare rolling out from within the tornado, shredding bat after bat into wisps of blood vapor, which then evaporated outright.
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals, who had been observing from the center of the battlefield, raised an eyebrow.
"Not a bad little gadget, but that's about it."
He looked towards the site of the Mechanist Angel's self-destruction, maintaining the demeanor of a demon lord and high above, made his evaluation.
The appearance of the demon lord had immediately dealt a significant blow to the mechanical legion.
In just a few minutes, a demigod-level Mechanist Angel was destroyed.
Below demigod level, countless Mechanists were annihilated by the endless blood-red bats, greatly boosting the demons' morale and starting a counterattack against the mechanical legion.
Without a peer to contend with, a nearly demigod-level power was enough to turn the tide of the entire battle, which was also why the mechanical legion was stuck in a bottleneck, with large bases being destroyed by demon lords repeatedly.
With only demigod-level forces at the top.
Facing the targeted attacks of a demon lord, the mechanical bases were utterly powerless to resist.
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals strode through the billowing smoke and fire of the battlefield, a faint smile on his pale face as if he were not in a warzone but strolling through the exquisite garden behind his castle.
Wherever this demon lord's figure passed.
Within a radius of several kilometers.
All mechanical units exploded violently, scattering like shrapnel, and from their metallic bodies flowed strange, lifelike blood.
At the same time.
Swoosh! Two dark beams of light pierced through space, aiming directly at the Lord of the Shadow Shoals.
A blood-colored ovular shield appeared on the surface of the demon lord, showing only faint ripples under the assault of the dark beams, with no signs of breaking at all.
The demon lord stood still, looking up at the sky.
In his view, there was a massive steel dragon, entirely made of black metal and imposingly large— it was the Tyrant True Dragon once piloted by Garon.
The dark beams were the destructive death rays emitted from the eyes of the Tyrant True Dragon.
Looking at the Tyrant True Dragon, the Lord of the Shadow Shoals smiled slightly.
He plunged a hand into his own heart, then pulled outward.
A sword that seemed to be forged from rubies, a blood-colored longsword, appeared in the Lord of the Shadow Shoals's hand.
The next second, the Lord of the Shadow Shoals's body turned into a streak of blood light, disappearing from the spot in an instant, reappearing on the metallic head of the Tyrant True Dragon.
Zzzt!
The Tyrant True Dragon's horns surged with powerful energy, blasting towards the Lord of the Shadow Shoals, its tail also rising, the tip transforming into a dark cannon barrel aimed at the demon lord.
But before this, the Lord of the Shadow Shoals's ruby sword had already slashed down.
The blood-colored blade flashed by, cutting a line from the head to the tail of the Tyrant True Dragon.
The Tyrant True Dragon's body stiffened.
Then, split in two, its metallic body crashed to the ground, creating a massive depression with a loud crash.
"Being cleaved by my Weeping Blood Sword is your honor."
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals withdrew his gaze, looking towards other half-god-level Mechanist constructs shining brilliantly on the battlefield, preparing to begin a massacre.
On the plain below,the bisected Tyrant True Dragon, with sparks still jumping at the severed section, drew the attention of surrounding Mechanist constructs. They swarmed over, transforming into parts that replaced the damaged sections. The two halves of the dragon's body then fused back together, rearing its neck to blast a plasmatic breath at the Lord of the Shadow Shoals.
"Ah? It can recover?"
"It seems I need to cut you into smaller pieces then."
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals glanced down at the Tyrant True Dragon with a light flicker, dodging the plasma breath with an effortless shift.
Meanwhile.
The surface of the Tyrant True Dragon's metallic scales lit up with magma-like red light, rapidly spreading across its entire body. The temperature around its core rose exponentially, evaporating the blood on the ground and distorting the air.
Engine Overload!
Not just the Tyrant True Dragon.
All six of the mechanical dragon series, each a demigod-level construct, activated engine overload at this moment, running their systems and bodies at maximum capacity, abandoning their original targets to converge on the Lord of the Shadow Shoals.
"Ha, attacking a demon lord in the Abyss with demigod bodies?"
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals smiled without changing his expression, gesturing for the great demons who wanted to assist him to stand back.
Whirring!
The six mechanical dragons approached from different directions, their bodies aglow with the intense heat of overload, rushing towards the Lord of the Shadow Shoals.
"Let's see what's so special about you mechanical constructs."
A gargantuan blood-colored claw reappeared, shadowing the sky, immense and domineering. As soon as it materialized, it violently swept towards the mechanical dragons, intending to crush them all in one fell swoop.
The mechanical dragons coordinated their response.
One dragon's chest armor split open, launching a dense matrix of physical missiles. Another swept its wings to generate a mountain-crushing supersonic wave. Yet another opened its mouth to unleash an energy breath not inferior to that of a real dragon.
Boom, boom, boom!
The blood-colored claw was significantly weakened by the combined assault of the mechanical dragons, turning translucent.
Two Tyrant True Dragons' horns glowed brilliantly, extending the light throughout their bodies, then they lowered their heads and charged, piercing through the blood claw, tearing it apart.
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals paused briefly, his smile slowly fading as his expression darkened.
This attack wasn't casual; he had used his true power.
While the Lord of the Shadow Shoals wasn't known for direct combat, he was still a demon lord of near-demigod power, far above everyone else on the battlefield and not really on the same level—almost a dimension apart in terms of power.
He had expected to destroy these mechanical dragons with one strike, but they had resisted.
This challenge to his authority did not sit well with the demon lord.
"If that's the case, then play along with me."
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals snorted coldly.
His body began to emit a dense, substantial blood light, rapidly expanding and transforming. In an instant, he became a grotesquely large black and red bat, its wingspan nearly ten thousand meters, obscuring the sky.
Here in the Abyss, with no suppression from the prime material plane, the demon lord could unleash his full power without constraint.
With a single flap of his wings, a violent gale formed, and the shadowy bat wings enveloped three of the mechanical dragons within their reach.
The mechanical dragons' wing areas erupted with blinding vortex-like light, accelerating them in an attempt to escape.
But it was in vain.
The wingspan was too vast, the speed lightning-fast, striking all three mechanical dragons within its range.
Boom, boom, boom!
Three spherical explosions, each kilometers in diameter, lit up like miniature suns.
The mechanical dragons detonated their engine cores in the explosion, but the chaotic energy released couldn't penetrate the blood light shrouding the demon lord's wings.
A fully committed demon lord, if injured by opponents of a demigod level, might as well find a place to die.
That would be too shameful.
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals looked at the remaining three mechanical dragons, his bat-face contorting into a ferocious expression.
The three dragons turned and fled without hesitation.
Their engines overloaded to the maximum, causing their metallic armors to nearly shatter, but the overburdened machinery granted them even greater power, and their flight speed increased dramatically.
"Hmph, think you can escape from me?"
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals's wings beat, his body streaking across the sky, casting an immense shadow on the ground as he chased the mechanical dragons. The mere pressure of his passage was enough to fling numerous demons and machines into the air.
Quickly.
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals caught up with the mechanical dragons, appearing directly above them.
A massive shadow enveloped the mechanical dragons. With a sweep of his wings, he stirred up a ferocious storm infused with a thick scent of blood. As he prepared to strike at the mechanical dragons again, an unexpected interruption occurred.
Suddenly, countless chains emerged from thin air, intertwining and forming a dense net that ensnared the Lord of the Shadow Shoals.
This sudden twist shocked the demon lord; the scene was all too familiar to him.
This was because not long ago, he had seen these same chains used to trap the entity known as Chaos Aftermath.
It meant one thing:
"The eternal and time dragon!"
"Cursed! I need to escape quickly."
"These chains can't hold me in the Abyss."
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals's heart sank.
Despite intending to confront Garon, the urge to flee dominated his instincts now.
He struggled violently, blood-colored flames bursting from his body, but he quickly realized that the chains binding him were unusually resilient.
Even as they slowly started to break under the intense heat of his blood fire, the rate of their disintegration was frustratingly slow.
"What is this? What kind of chains are these?"
Panic set in as the Lord of the Shadow Shoals took a closer look. He noticed that the chains binding him differed from the arcane chains used on Chaos Aftermath. Each link was solidified with the essence of time, imbued with an eternal stasis that made them nearly indestructible.
Time Chains.
A new temporal ability created by Garon after studying and refining the arcane chains, using Time Stop to permanently fix the chains at their peak form, tailored specifically for the Lord of the Shadow Shoals.
Meanwhile.
A colossal silver-grey dragonic figure burst into the sky, transforming into an enormous beast far larger than the current form of the Lord of the Shadow Shoals. In the absence of the prime material world's restrictions, Garon's dragon form, even without invoking his Titan Transformation, could achieve a size where public kilometers became a more appropriate unit of measure.
This was Garon's titan form, so immense that his body could almost serve as a habitat for living creatures.
The colossal dragon, towering like a mountain, planted its feet on the ground, standing firm as its front claws reached out toward the ensnared Lord of the Shadow Shoals.
With a deafening crash, the Lord of the Shadow Shoals's body was crushed between the mighty dragon claws.
In an instant, his form was reduced to gore.
Then, the gore turned into a spray of blood, attempting to escape Garon's grasp. But around it, time came to a standstill, and the blood droplets froze in place.
"Hmph, that is the fate of those who defy this dragon. Even hiding in the Abyss will not save you from death."
Garon's voice boomed as he clenched his claws, consolidating the scattered blood droplets back into the form of the Lord of the Shadow Shoals, now frozen in a small amber of time, his face locked in an expression of horror.
The Lord of the Shadow Shoals had been caught in a time reversal trap without a chance to use his skills for concealment or escape, quickly subdued by Garon's decisive actions.
From his appearance to his aggressive move and final capture of the Lord of the Shadow Shoals, everything happened in just a few breaths.
At this moment, powerful waves of evil energy surged from all directions, rapidly closing in on Garon's position.
Other demon lords had sensed the presence of this unwelcome visitor.
Having accomplished his goal, Garon saw no need to linger.
Using time travel, he vanished into the ripples of the Time River. By the time the other demon lords arrived, Garon and the Lord of the Shadow Shoals were nowhere to be seen.
Enraged, the demon lords unleashed their fury on the mechanical legion, utterly destroying it. But the value of this mechanical legion, when combined, was far less than that of a single demon lord.
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