The Plague Lord, the embodiment of pestilence and death.
After being sealed for so many years, the Demon Axe had no intention of remaining a mere axe. Instead, it had been secretly making preparations, its greatest trump card being its clandestine connection with the Demon Lord of Layer Seventy-Nine.
Long ago, the Rage Lord possessed the ability to pierce through the planes and reach the Material Plane. Given the Plague Lord's similar position in the hierarchy, it naturally possessed a similar capability.
In other words, each of these Archdevils from the Abyss's deepest layers could easily reach the Material Plane—provided they could find it.
The Bottomless Abyss was unfathomably deep, and its spatial structure wasn't a simple vertical hierarchy. For instance, the Rage Lord resided on Layer Eighty, but ascending from there wouldn't necessarily lead to Layer Seventy-Nine; it could just as easily lead to Layer Seventy-Eight or Layer Eighty-One.
Even worse, one could easily become lost and end up on Layer Sixty or Layer One Hundred and Sixty.
The Bottomless Abyss was like a colossal labyrinth, making it exceedingly difficult to force one's way out. Even if one managed to reach the Shallow Layers and break through to the Material World, there was no guarantee they would arrive in Hysilens' world; they could just as easily end up in another.
The Demon Axe's predecessor, the Rage Lord, once had a sudden whim—an unbearable itch to fight and a particular desire to kill something unique. Thus began his decades-long odyssey through the labyrinthine Abyss.
After decades of relentless searching, the Rage Lord finally found a correct path and blasted through it, arriving in the Material Plane of Hysilens' world.
However, the Rage Lord's dimensional breach was so cataclysmic that the world's True God had long since prepared an ambush. The Rage Lord was cornered and transformed into his current wretched state.
Thus, Demon Lords rarely invade the Material World. One reason is simply the difficulty of finding this world, or rather, the near certainty of ending up in another realm entirely.
The second reason is that not every Demon Lord suffers a sudden fit of madness, spending decades searching for a fight. Many Demon Lords prefer to remain in their territories, enjoying the comforts of their realms. Why risk it?
This time, the Plague Lord of Layer Seventy-Nine had precisely locked onto the Material Plane and pulled Hysilens and Arthur directly to Layer Seventy-Nine. It was clear that the Rage Lord had revealed their exact coordinates to the Plague Lord.
Rumble~
Suddenly, Hysilens felt the ground beneath her tremble violently. She watched in horror as the small mushrooms scattered across the ground, as well as the towering mushroom trees several meters tall, all began to "stand up" from the earth. They sprouted limbs, their faces contorting in terror as they fled in every direction like frightened animals.
In less than a minute, what had been a mushroom "forest" transformed into a barren, flat plain.
The rumbling grew louder, and the tremors beneath her feet intensified. Hysilens looked up to see what appeared to be an entire mountain moving in the distance, lumbering toward her position.
This was the Plague Lord of the Seventy-Ninth Layer of the Abyss. Its body was as colossal as a mountain, supported by six crab-like legs distributed across its massive frame. Two colossal arms flanked its sides, the right hand wielding a colossal dark green scythe.
Despite its colossal size, Hysilens searched in vain for the creature's head. It wasn't until a voice boomed, "Ha ha! Rage, you've finally agreed to accept my love!" that she realized its eyes and mouth were embedded in the center of its torso. To put it another way, it was like two caves and a small stream halfway up a mountain—normally, who would even see that?
This Demon Lord... its appearance was truly unique.
Furthermore, Hysilens observed that the Plague Lord's body was covered in a dense layer of glowing green mushrooms. Insects larger than humans crawled across every inch of its body, and swarms of bugs as thick as storm clouds swirled around it, creating a truly nauseating spectacle.
Just as the Rage Lord's mere presence on Abyss Layer Eighty had scorched the entire plane into molten lava, on Layer Seventy-Nine, every virus in this plane emanated from the Plague Lord. It was like an ultimate pathogen. If this creature were to appear in the Material Plane, it wouldn't even need to act deliberately—the entire world would erupt into a massive plague.
Gah! Arthur, standing beside Hysilens, vomited again and began coughing violently. His complexion was ghastly; merely standing in this plane and catching a glimpse of the Plague Lord had instantly afflicted him with a severe illness, causing his condition to deteriorate rapidly.
Considering that Barbarians possess exceptional physical resilience—and Arthur was among their finest—the fact that he fell ill so quickly meant that an ordinary person in his place would likely already be a maggot-infested corpse.
Hysilens was already contemplating whether to send Arthur back immediately. After all, it would only take Tribios a moment to open a Century Gate.
At that moment, the Plague Lord extended its tongue and licked its entire head like washing its face, then said, "So, if I eliminate these two fools and set you free, you'll agree to be with me, right?"
Upon hearing this, Hysilens' brow furrowed deeply, her expression resembling an elderly person trying to use a modern smartphone.
The Demon Axe had long possessed a means of contacting the Plague Lord, but it had never been used, undoubtedly due to some hidden cost. Yet Hysilens had never imagined the price would be becoming his wife?
The main reason was that Hysilens found the Plague Lord before her utterly repulsive. Even just now, after the Plague Lord had licked its face, she clearly saw the creature's tongue curl up and deliver several insects directly into its mouth, devouring them. After all, its entire body was teeming with insects.
Hysilens turned to look at the Demon Axe. Despite having only one eye, she could clearly discern the emotion of disgust radiating from it. After a moment's hesitation, the Demon Axe steeled its resolve and said, "Yes... but you'll have to wait until I go to the Material Plane and snatch the Prayer Beads! I need that thing!"
"Then, I'll alter my physiology and become your wife for the next five hundred years, you bastard!"
The Rage Lord was naturally male, but for a Demon Lord of such immense power, gender was merely a trivial matter. It could perfectly control every muscle in its body, undergo Rebirth by Fire, and switching genders was a trivial matter.
In fact, gender alteration was the least of its capabilities. If it so desired, it could even shapeshift into a white-haired, red-eyed beauty.
It was clear the Rage Lord had sacrificed a great deal for those Prayer Beads. Sealed within the axe for centuries, it had remained silent until now. But for the sake of the beads, it was willing to risk everything.
The Plague Lord, however, chuckled and said, "No, I don't need you to change gender. Just come as you are!"
A stunned silence hung in the air for several seconds. Hysilens could see the eye on the Demon Axe widen, bloodshot veins filling almost every inch of the white sclera. The Demon Axe wore an expression of utter bewilderment, confusion, and terror.
"Dude, this isn't what we agreed on!" it protested.
"What's different?" the Plague Lord countered. "I just love conquering guys like you!"
"This... I, I, I can back out, right?" the Demon Axe stammered.
"You're already in my domain," the Plague Lord sneered. "Do you really think you have time for that?"
In the next instant, the Demon Axe whipped around to face Arthur, a torrent of flames erupting from its blade. The inferno engulfed Arthur entirely, and his condition visibly improved before their eyes. The searing heat burned away every trace of disease from his body.
The Demon Axe, its voice sharp with panic, cried out, "Arthur, you're my true brother! I'm lending you all my power! Run!"
Arthur slowly rose to his feet, straightening his chest, his gaze fixed on the distant mountain-like figure of the Plague Lord. "But where can I run to?"
He was currently on Layer Seventy-Nine of the Bottomless Abyss. Even the Rage Lord had taken decades to escape this place in his prime. Was he supposed to spend decades running too?
For demons, whose lifespans stretched to near infinity, time held little meaning. But Arthur was merely a Mortal; decades represented the entirety of his life. From the moment he arrived here, he had mentally sentenced himself to death, unable to imagine any means of escape.
If I can't run, then I'll fight!
Instead of retreating, Arthur took a step forward. Seeing this, the Demon Axe nearly wept. "Come on, man! Even with my full support, you can't possibly defeat it!"
Even at his peak, the Rage Lord had never been confident of victory against the Plague Lord. And now, with the Rage Lord still sealed and its power limited, how could they possibly stand a chance?
At that moment, Hysilens spoke calmly, "It's alright. I'm here."
Silence hung in the air for a few seconds. The eyeball of Demon Axe swiveled to gaze at Hysilens, its voice filled with surprise. "Wait, who's this?"
"Hey, sis, who are you?"
In truth, not only Demon Axe was taken aback. Arthur himself was stunned, asking, "You are...?"
Demon Axe had been completely preoccupied with the Prayer Beads and the trade, its attention focused solely on Arthur and the Plague Lord. Naturally, it hadn't noticed Hysilens. Arthur, meanwhile, had fallen ill the moment he arrived and was only now recovering his senses, so he hadn't noticed her either.
Hysilens couldn't help but wear a helpless expression as she turned to Arthur. "I am Hysilens, Dux Gladiorum under the Imperator. I was invited here to duel you."
Arthur's jaw dropped. "Huh?"
Having fought alongside Pan Ming and Aria earlier, Arthur had witnessed their formidable strength firsthand. He acknowledged both as extremely powerful warriors, admitting that he couldn't guarantee victory against either of them.
Normally, Arthur would have assumed that one of them was his intended opponent. But now it seemed that wasn't the case after all?
A sphere of water materialized before Hysilens. She plunged her hand into it and withdrew a long, crimson blade. "Some things came up," she said, "so I'm a little late, but it's no big deal."
Her gaze shifted to the distant Plague Lord. The creature showed no urgency, silently watching the group discuss their strategy as if observing a play.
After all, this was its territory. From the Plague Lord's perspective, now that Arthur, Hysilens, and the Demon Axe had entered its domain, they were already its captives, free to be toyed with as it pleased.
The Plague Lord chuckled darkly. "Have you finished your little discussion? Rage, even if you disagree, it doesn't matter. I quite enjoy the feeling of coercion. Hehehe~"
Arthur could clearly feel the Demon Axe trembling in his grip, its entire "being" shuddering. The power surging from the axe intensified steadily.
In truth, a significant portion of the seal had long been broken, but the Demon Axe had been hoarding its power, refusing to grant Arthur access to it. Now, however, it had no choice.
"Arthur, my brother!" the Demon Axe roared. "Don't let go! My happiness for the next five hundred years rests entirely on your shoulders!"
To be honest, Demon Axe didn't have much faith in Hysilens. But just as it thought this, a divine power as vast as the sea erupted from her, coalescing in the air to gradually form the shape of a whale.
In the seventy-ninth layer of the Abyss, Hysilens had sensed that this place did indeed have an ocean. However, it had long been completely polluted. Calling that substance "water" would be misleading; it was more akin to liquid bacteria and viruses. Even Hysilens, the God of the Ocean, had very limited control over this abyssal seawater.
This stuff was far more terrifying than the "Eternal Ganges" of the Northern Territory. At least people in India still dared to drink from the Ganges, but the seawater in the abyssal sea in Layer Seventy-Nine was pure poison!
Unable to manipulate the existing seawater, Hysilens had no choice but to conjure her own from thin air. This would exponentially increase her divine power consumption, undoubtedly diminishing her combat effectiveness in this realm.
Yet truth be told, if given the choice between fighting the Plague Lord in the sea or here, Hysilens would prefer this battlefield. She couldn't fathom the catastrophic consequences should the Plague Lord fall into the ocean. Would the sea ever be habitable again?