Chapter 1108: The Evil Gods of the Outer Heavens (III)

Boom!

Blood-red lightning exploded from Chen Chu’s body. A savage, domineering aura tore through the hall, shaking souls and breaking every gaze fixed on him.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Thirteen Hell Apostles flinched as pain ripped through their divine souls, forcing their eyes shut. The Mountain Giant slowly shook its massive head, then opened its six eyes again. Its deep, buzzing voice carried a hint of regret. "My apologies, Councilor Chu Batian. I was too shaken by the fact that you hail from the Eternal World and overstepped."

Chen Chu’s cold eyes swept over the Apostles. "It’s fine."

Though he dismissed it, none of them dared look at him directly again. Even those who had shown malice earlier pulled back their auras.

The Mountain Giant leaned forward, its voice rolling through the hall like thunder. "Councilor Chu Batian, this must be your first time entering a planar battle, correct?"

"Yes." Chen Chu nodded. There was no reason to hide it.

The giant’s rocky face broke into a grin. "I have fought in nineteen planar battles, two of them under the direct command of Lord Alvaron himself."

Chen Chu’s brows rose slightly. "So the Lord of Hell doesn’t lead every battle?"

"Of course not." The Mountain Giant shook its head, its voice booming through the hall. "Normally, we wander the depths of spacetime or search for specific locations with artifacts. When we discover a new plane, we lead our armies to invade. If the plane is too strong for us to handle alone, we call on fellow Apostles to strike together, and plunder everything until that plane is dragged into the Supreme Hell."

Its six eyes then darkened with dread. "Only when a primordial-level lifeform rules a plane does a Lord of Hell intervene. Such beings are far too powerful for Apostles like us to fight. We would be crushed under the suppression of planar principles the instant we entered. Take Labio, our current target. A primordial-level lifeform dwells there, and it is extremely dangerous."

The giant’s voice rumbled lower. "When the battlefield opens, Councilor, do not rush in first. Otherwise, you risk becoming that lifeform's first prey."

Chen Chu nodded. "Thank you for the warning."

The Mountain Giant leaned closer to Chen Chu, its voice dropping to a low rumble as it shared its experience of past invasions.

Apostles began by sending "Familiars," extensions of their own power, into a target plane. These Familiars drew hell power, ground down the local laws, and suppressed the world’s principles. They devoured foreign beings and gods, stripped out blood and vitality to fuel their growth, and pressed on until the planes split. Sometimes they dragged entire worlds into Hell. To the inhabitants of those planes, the Hell Apostles, and Lords of Hell such as Alvaron, were evil gods from beyond the sky who brought only ruin.

Chen Chu didn't think too much of this. In his view, this was how the infinite worlds worked: cold, merciless survival of the fittest. The Human Federation was no exception, nor was the Ancient Human Civilization. The weak fell to stronger races and civilizations. The strong seized resources and territory. The difference was that humanity’s methods were less absolute. Unlike the Purgatory Demon Clan, which slaughtered without restraint, or alien empires that enslaved weaker worlds, humans allowed harmless races to join their alliances.

After covering the logistics of planar invasion, the Mountain Giant introduced the other Apostles.

It pointed first to Insect Xiao. This Apostle came from the Blackflame Insect Region of a Great Thousand World. Among those present, it was the strongest and had cultivated for more than a million years. The Mountain Giant had only campaigned with it twice, so it didn’t know the full extent of its abilities. Even so, it knew one thing: during invasions, Insect Xiao released swarms of black insects that devoured everything they touched, even gnawing at the fabric of principles.

Next was Muborack, an Apostle over two hundred meters tall with a body sheathed in black scales. The Mountain Giant had never fought alongside it, but it had heard accounts from others. Muborack was from the Shadow World, an illusionary world that didn’t belong in the "real" world. It controlled every form of shadow, including the silhouettes of its enemies. Some claimed it even had the power to reverse causality itself. One Apostle once watched an enemy torn apart when its shadow split in two; the true form ripped open with it, leaving no defense and no escape.

Then the Mountain Giant pointed to another Apostle crouched on a bone throne. It had a demon’s head, black hair that writhed like tentacles, and a torso shaped like a monstrous bird...

By the time the Mountain Giant finished, Chen Chu had a rough understanding of eight of the Hell Apostles present. As for the remaining five, even Boroedo knew little beyond the fact that they came from different planes and Great Thousand Worlds.

Despite the giant’s friendliness, Chen Chu never let down his guard. Among Hell Apostles, there were no rules against killing one another. On the contrary, they often treated each other as enemies and rivals.

Chen Chu wasn't worried that the Apostles knew he came from the Eternal World. Even if a handful of true spirit level Apostles joined forces, he felt confident he could suppress them.

As for Alvaron, Chen Chu was even less concerned. Apostles could fight among themselves, but as one of the Hell Plane's will incarnate, the Lord of Hell was bound by the plane's foundational, unbreakable principles.[1]

This exchange had given Chen Chu useful knowledge. Not only did he learn how to invade planes and harvest the origin of the world to its fullest, but also how the mythical world differed from the "outer worlds."

One key difference was time. According to Zihuang, the Divine Void Dragon, the war between two Eternal beings had happened just over two hundred thousand years ago. Converted to Blue Planet time, that was a little more than eight hundred thousand years. However, in the legends told by Boroedo and other plane dwellers, the same war had taken place several million years ago. The distortion of time across planes was far greater than he had expected.

Furthermore, the primordial level marked a class of beings so old and powerful that countless planes feared them. Lifeforms from the mythical world and those from other dimensions differed in ways Chen Chu didn’t yet understand. He would need time and observation to uncover them.

As Chen Chu pondered, the scarlet demonic palace suddenly trembled. Blood-red light surged from the palace's depths, flooding outward until a red throne rose high within the distortions of spacetime. Upon it loomed a figure whose true form stretched a hundred thousand kilometers. A jagged crown sat on its head, and a red robe draped across its vast body.

The moment that presence appeared, a suffocating aura swept across the palace. It carried a primordial weight that could drive billions to despair.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Hell Plane quaked. Dark clouds churned, and lava roared like a furious sea. On the plaza outside the demonic palace, thousands of Hell Devils collapsed to their knees. "We greet the great Lord of Hell!"

Within the hall, every Hell Apostle stood and bowed their heads in reverence. "We greet the mighty Lord Alvaron!"

From beneath the hood of the blood-colored robe, a pair of terrifying eyes gleamed. That gaze swept across the Hell Devils and Apostles alike, making them bow even lower under its weight. At last, the eyes fixed on Chen Chu. Only then did Alvaron speak, its powerful will resonating through the entire Hell Plane. "Chu Batian, you have come."

Chen Chu inclined his head in salute. "The great Lord Alvaron summoned me. Naturally, I would not dare neglect the call."

Before a Lord of Hell, whose pressure far outstripped even Zihuang, respect was demanded. In their earlier encounters, Alvaron had appeared only through fragments of will projections, and each projection had been swiftly suppressed by the mythical world’s power. For that reason, Chen Chu could only estimate that Alvaron's strength was beyond the primordial level.

Now, standing before its presence, Chen Chu finally began to grasp the scope of Alvaron's power. The aura rolling off the Lord of Hell was absolute; even the Dragon Emperor of the End potentially wouldn’t survive a single strike from him. On top of that, what stood before him wasn’t even Alvaron’s true form. It was merely a presence projected from a distant fold of spacetime.

This was the warning his Insightful Eye whispered into his mind.

Unbelievable... Just how strong is this Lord of Hell? The Sixth Primordial Heaven? Or perhaps even the Seventh?

As Chen Chu weighed Alvaron’s strength, it spoke again. Its voice rumbled like collapsing worlds, echoing through every corner of the Hell Plane. "I have drawn upon Hell Power and torn open the crystal wall of the world ahead. Prepare for war."

The moment its words fell, the land before the palace split for a million kilometers, collapsing into a vast rift that opened into the void. In that endless void, a blinding white sphere of light loomed, boundless and immeasurable. Even Chen Chu’s vision couldn’t see where it ended.

From the void, blood-red tentacles lashed out across billions of kilometers. They pierced into the sphere, connecting the Hell Plane to it, and twisted into a massive passage where spacetime writhed and bent. The world within the sphere swelled larger at breathtaking speed. As it drew closer, a tide of energy poured out. Through the crystal wall, Chen Chu sensed powerful auras stirring. The inhabitants of that world had sensed Hell’s approach and stood ready to resist.

However, what they didn’t know was that this invasion did not come from a mere projection of the Hell Plane. This time, the Supreme Hell itself was descending. Even Chen Chu’s blood began to boil with excitement. The clash of two planes, and perhaps even the Supreme Abyss joining in, was a battle he longed to witness.

Furthermore, it came at the perfect time. His Demon God Armor of Despair would feast on death, despair, and hatred, from every life struck down by his halberd, turning that energy into an ever-growing defense.

1. It seems what the author is trying to say here is that the Lord of Hell takes form using the will of the Hell Plane. As such, it is restrained by the foundational principles of the Hell Plane. ☜