Chapter 278: End of the Abyssal Blood War, Secret Conspiracy (6000)
"Old Demon Dragon!"
Lucifer, who had been backstabbed by the Old Demon Dragon, let out an angry roar that echoed throughout the entire Abyss.
The Three-Headed Demon Dragon, over a hundred kilometers long, appeared out of nowhere, grinned a few times, and its three heads unleashed three streams of black dragon breath directly at Lucifer! The Old Demon Dragon had dominated the Abyss World for countless epochs.
Let alone Lucifer, even Mephisto, the Old Devil, when he was alive, was only considered a junior in front of the Old Demon Dragon.
He unleashed these three streams of dragon breath. Lucifer, completely caught off guard by the Old Demon Dragon joining Odin's sneak attack, was instantly engulfed by large swathes of pitch-black flames.
Black flames swirled, and Lucifer was blasted over ten miles away.
And just as the Old Demon Dragon's strike succeeded, several divine artifacts simultaneously appeared beside Lucifer.
The incredibly sharp Axe of Gluttony struck Lucifer's back, and the slender Crimson Rose Rapier pierced his kidney.
A heavy flail hammer was swung fiercely onto Lucifer's head. Lucifer frantically swung his longsword around, but the sword light only struck emptiness.
The Old Demon Dragon, Beelzebub, and the others, having succeeded in their sneak attack, had already retreated far away, silently putting away their respective weapons.
Looking at Lucifer at this moment, he was undeniably a miserable sight. His head, which had been clawed with several blood holes by the Old Demon Dragon, was severely caved in, and most of his thirteen demonic horns were broken.
A bright, clear hole ran from his back to his chest, faintly revealing the pitch-black heart that had also been pierced by Odin's Gungnir.
Behind him, a hacking mark extended down from his neck to his back. This single axe blow had even severed one of his Fallen Angel wings.
Lucifer covered the wound on his waist with his hand.
Hiss!
Dark blood continued to spray out from the hole in his waist. The Crimson Rose, a divine artifact longsword originating from Lilith, perhaps due to her vampire trait, had attached a vicious magic spell to the injured area, preventing healing.
"You!" Lucifer glared fiercely at the Old Demon Dragon and the several Hell Lords who pretended nothing had happened.
"That was Ancient One and Odin, and you actually helped them!"
Beelzebub unhurriedly used his Axe of Gluttony to file his fingernails. After blowing on his smooth nails, Beelzebub, whose massive figure was reflected in the compound eyes of flies that would trigger trypophobia, said, "Pride, have you forgotten our identity? We are demons, and demons should do what demons are supposed to do!"
Lucifer was furious and gritted his teeth, saying, "You don't think these minor injuries can kill me!"
"Hehe! With the protection of the Abyss Blood Moon, we naturally don't intend to kill you. However, these injuries are enough to make you slumber for a hundred years. By then, the ownership of this Abyss will surely have been decided!"
Lilith's blood cloud under her skirt enveloped her entire body, concealing her until she was almost just a shadow. Not only her, but Beelzebub, the Old Demon Dragon, and several other Abyssal Lords had also cast layers of protective magic around themselves.
Ancient One's mysterious space gate opening method and Odin's Gungnir, which was said to never miss, indeed awakened their long-dormant fear of the two from their distant memory.
The alliance that Ancient One and Odin had established over countless epochs had turned the entire Reality Dimension into their Sanctuary.
If the Hell Lords truly joined forces, they might not be unable to gain the upper hand with their numerical advantage. Unfortunately, as Lucifer's fate showed, these Hell Lords were like a group of piranhas. As long as one was injured and showed weakness in front of their kindred, the result would be a group attack by their kindred, being completely devoured.
"You want to kick me out of this Abyssal Blood War, but there are so many of you, and there is only one Abyss!" The inverted hexagram black holy light in Lucifer's eyes flickered. In the sky, the Blood Moon, representing his authority, continuously projected blood-colored moonlight, repairing his body. At the same time, large numbers of Fallen Angels appeared, guarding him in the center.
"Arrogant Lucifer has also learned to use the stratagem of dissension. Regardless of who ultimately gains ownership of this Abyss, kicking you out is never wrong. In the current Reality Dimension, you are being hailed as the Demon King of Hell!"
Beelzebub, holding his Axe of Gluttony, looked at Lucifer and sneered repeatedly. However, his figure subtly moved away from the nearby Old Demon Dragon.
The black dragon flame still burning on Lucifer made him extremely cautious of this Old Demon Dragon, fearing that the Old Dragon might suddenly spray him.
Moreover, with Lucifer's fate as a precedent!
Beelzebub subconsciously glanced around. Although they had immediately used the Abyss Origin to seal space spells, he still felt a prickling sensation on his back, fearing that Gungnir might stab out from behind!
"Hmph! Since you are so interested in Mephisto's authority, then I give up! I wish you good luck!"
Lucifer glanced around at the Hell Lords who had attacked him, seemingly wanting to engrave their faces deeply into his mind.
"After enduring this strike, Lucifer will be in slumber for at least a hundred years. I hope the successor you have chosen can grow up within these hundred years! And take on the mission of protecting the Reality Dimension!"
In the Asgardian Golden Palace, Odin carefully wiped his beloved spear with a piece of parchment.
Hearing Odin's words, Ancient One, who was sitting opposite him drinking tea, smiled noncommittally: "A hundred years, perhaps! The one I have chosen is not the type to passively wait for enemies to come knocking!"
Just as Lucifer, surrounded by a crowd of Fallen Angels, was about to withdraw from this Abyss, a commotion suddenly came from the Devil's Plain beneath his feet.
From the already incomplete ruins of the Devil's Plain, among the piles of demon corpses, hundreds of bony arms stretched out.
Accompanied by grating 'ga ga' sounds, dozens of Skeleton Soldiers slowly pushed aside the demon corpses and climbed up. Green ghost fire flickered in the eye sockets of these Skeleton Soldiers, sending shivers down one's spine.
Their upper and lower jaws gnashed as they looked up at the several Hell Lords in the sky.
"Bolvar!?"
Lucifer stopped his departure. The Hell Lords, looking at these seemingly hostile Skeleton Soldiers, all turned their gaze towards one Hell Lord.
The Lich King, who governed the Necrotic Abyss, shook his head:
"This is a type of dark magic, Skeleton Soldiers summoned by those Necromancers from the Undead Abyss.
The bone sword dull blade they use doesn't have much killing force. These Skeleton Soldiers are slow-moving and, in this Abyssal Blood War, are even inferior to Abyss Worms. They often don't even qualify as cannon fodder!"
The Lich Lord Bolvar clearly didn't want to take the blame for this. He explained, "The Skeleton Soldiers should be related to the humans who just appeared. They must be the dark magic of Human Wizards. However, what do they intend to do by summoning these Skeleton Soldiers with little killing force? To take action against us? Hehehehehe… What are they holding?!"
Bolvar, who was just sneering dismissively at these Skeleton Soldiers, widened his eyes in surprise. The dozens of "Skeleton Soldiers" uniformly bent down and picked up heavy modern firearms from under the piles of demon corpses!
Subsequently, these dozens of assault energy rifles, missile launchers, and man-portable anti-ship missiles were simultaneously fired at Lucifer and the others.
Perhaps it was because they understood the principle of picking on the weak.
Most of the targets aimed at by these Skeleton Soldiers were none other than the heavily injured Lucifer, who was planning to leave this Abyss.
Far away, tens of Abyssal Dimensions away, Kane, using the power of the Demonic Heaven Blood Transformation Blade, gazed into the distance at the Devil's Plain. He had transformed into a White Tiger beast form. His two muscular, thick forelimbs vigorously shook the Ghoul White Bone Banner in front of him. Looking at the indistinct shadows in the bloodlight, Kane's mouth curved into a grin.
Who said Skeleton Soldiers could only use cold weapons like swords and blades? And these weren't Skeleton Soldiers, but Skeleton Demons refined by the Boss.
Under the Boss's leadership, these Skeleton Demons had evolved from the cold weapons era into modern High-Tech Soldiers. Their combat strength had increased by more than a hundred times!
Especially when the man-portable warheads carried by these Skeleton Demons were loaded with metallic hydrogen.
Kane and Lane, as Boss Tang's confidants, naturally knew that these Hell Creatures and Demons were their future enemies.
Passive defense, waiting for these Hell Creatures to invade Reality, was not the style of their little group.
When they first started, if they encountered Gangs causing trouble, the Boss would drain the blood of those Thugs and their Bosses overnight and turn them into zombies.
Kane still remembered the Boss's original words: "Law, this thing is just toilet paper made by the powerful for the weak. When you encounter an enemy, take action first. Law and those Superheroes give them a chance to reform! I will also give them a chance, I will send them to Heaven for education!"
So, fifty small, neat mushroom clouds appeared above the Devil's Plain.
According to Tang Song's Arms Company's advertisements to the military forces of various countries around the world: The new generation of individual missiles has immense force, excellent sound and light effects, and leaves no pollution residue. They are effective for hitting fighter jets, bombing aircraft carriers, and even three shots can destroy a Chitauri warship.
To promote their own weapons, Tang Group's subsidiary Arms Company even imitated Yuri's life story and hired a Hollywood Director to film a heavily modified version of Lord of War.
The film's plot blended various elements such as arms dealer, alien war, and end of the world.
In the film's ending, the climax, Yuri, as the arms dealer, after overcoming numerous hardships, finally delivered a Tang Group-produced individual missile to the military at the moment the Chitauri spaceship invaded Earth.
The film's ending showed the military finally launching the missile, destroying the invading Alien Forces.
Undoubtedly, this was a typical Hollywood-style popcorn movie. It was a box office hit upon release.
Of course, some also said it was a complete advertisement. From cars, to aircraft, to delicacies, jewelry, and even the firearms used by the military, the film was full of Tang Group's shadow.
But it couldn't stop the film's box office from being incredibly popular. Even Tang's Arms Company's orders surged by three hundred percent because of this film.
Some brothers from certain Eastern countries who loved freedom were even willing to pay three times the price to purchase the energy firearms and individual missiles launched by Tang's Arms Company.
Hmm? Some people even tried to custom weapons from Tang's Arms Company through Dark Web channels. As for their desired impact target, an aircraft carrier flying in the sky? This? That terrorist organization that placed the order clearly didn't anticipate the saying about officials and bandits being one family. Well, who would have thought that the Master of the High Table, the Head of the largest Intelligence Organization on the Dark Web, the King of the Underworld, was actually the true controller of S.H.I.E.L.D., a Lackey Organization under the World Security Council.
This small organization, based on opposing the World Security Council's tyranny, instantly vanished like a bubble under the armed special operations assault dispatched by S.H.I.E.L.D. Deputy Director Frank.
Getting back to the point, above the Devil's Plain, even though the quick-acting Fallen Angels raised black sacred power barriers, and even though some quick-reacting Fallen Angels dove down, spreading their wings, intending to hack at these "Skeleton Soldiers"! Still, thousands of Fallen Angels turned to ash in the firelight.
As the Fallen Angels dove down, holding up black inverted cross swords, just as they were about to eliminate these weak and pathetic Skeleton Soldiers.
These Skeleton Soldiers were surrounded by black energy, the emerald green ghost fire in their eyes instantly surged, turning into eerie bloodlight, and bone spikes grew from their joints. Countless talismans also flickered into existence.
Before these Fallen Angels could react, bone wings covered in talismans suddenly grew from the backs of these "Skeleton Soldiers," and they suddenly shot up into the sky.
Sharp claws tore at the Fallen Angels' chests, and powerful bony arms grabbed the Clerics' bodies and fiercely pulled outwards. The unsuspecting Fallen Angels didn't even have time to scream before they were torn limb from limb and ripped into fragments.
These Skeleton Demons simultaneously spat out a ball of black energy from their mouths. Hidden within this black energy were faint green firelight, instantly turning dozens of Fallen Angels into white ash.
Lucifer was somewhat frantic. The thousands of subordinates he had just brought from the Abyss Territory were instantly killed or injured. Shaking with rage, Lucifer had to personally take action despite his injuries. The ancient longsword in his hand flashed, sweeping past the flying "Skeleton Soldiers." Countless black marks simultaneously appeared on the bodies of these Skeletons, and they, along with the weapons in their hands, turned into countless fragments and fell back into the demon pile.
After destroying dozens of Skeleton Demons with a single strike, Lucifer let out a cold laugh and dragged his crippled body into the Blood Moon.
"Lucifer will be in slumber for at least a hundred and fifty years this time!" The sharp-eyed Lilith giggled.
"I don't think so, at least two hundred years!" Beelzebub weighed his Axe of Gluttony. "The annoying stumbling block is gone, why don't we have a blood battle now to decide the ownership of this Abyss!"
"Don't forget, Ancient One and Odin are still restless outside. I don't want to end up like Lucifer. I think we should stick to the old rules, let the little things below have another blood battle, and whoever wins gets this Abyss!"
"Hmm?"
As the several Hell Lords were planning to start another blood battle to contend for this Abyss, the middle head of the Old Demon Dragon suddenly lifted, looking suspiciously into the distance.
He had just detected a space fluctuation. It was very far away, but just as he was about to confirm the source of the space fluctuation, a strange but extremely sharp energy appeared, severing his probe.
"It's over! Boss's order is to gather these Dark Council personnel and then withdraw from Hell!"
Lane stood beside the main body of the Demonic Heaven Blood Transformation Blade, urging this magic treasure, which had devoured and fused with a world origin and was undergoing transformation towards Pure Yang. He severed the probing gazes and then looked at the personnel of the Dark Council on the Plain, who were confined by Sentinel robots and Nova Warships.
Just as Boss Tang ignited the flames of war in Hell, the Vatican was bathed in golden sunlight, as if the great Lord was always protecting them from the sky.
On the ancient street, every oval pebble, every brick seam, every piece of mottled granite reflected the golden sunlight, causing all Believers who came to the Vatican to exclaim—City of Glory! In the Secret Temple located a hundred meters underground beneath the Central Cathedral, which was entirely white and covered with a thin layer of silver foil, well-trained Bodyguards in various uniforms bustled about. At least one reinforced squad of Elite Soldiers guarded every corridor entrance, and outside the passages of many key departments, there were even some Clerics with powerful auras assisting Black-clothed Bodyguards in guarding.
In the Meeting hall, seven of the twelve Cardinals stationed in the Vatican were present, along with the Heads and Family Heads of over thirty Consortiums from various countries around the world, gathered together. The Pope, wearing the Crown of Thorns, sat at the head seat.
Strangely, within The Church, the Old Pope, who had always been declared seriously ill, looked exceptionally energetic.
Besides the Pope, figures like the Grand Inquisitor of the Inquisition, and three other Cardinals, including some Important Figures with esteemed status, were not in this Hall.
The entire Hall was silent, with no one speaking.
The Hall was quiet, with only a virtual screen continuously playing satellite footage, repeating it over and over. Occasionally, the screen would shake, emitting a low electronic vibration sound, making the Hall seem even more lifeless.
The Black-clothed Cleric standing on the podium in the Hall spread his hands and looked at the crowd below: "How about it, gentlemen? Dividing up Tang Group is enough to fill everyone's appetite. What our Church wants are the things in his hands, and our interests are aligned!"
A fat, white-haired old man with a large head stood up: "Mr., Tang Group is a giant. If you want us to deal with them, you'd better offer some substantial benefits."
All the Freemason members present laughed.
The speaking Cleric glanced at the Pope.
The Pope leaned over and whispered a few words to a Cardinal beside him, then nodded towards the speaking Cleric on the podium.
After receiving the Pope's signal, the Cleric spread his hands and spoke very straightforwardly to the audience below:
"So, why are we all gathered here? Tang Group's expansion has infringed upon your interests. They are like a giant, gentlemen, you just need an excuse?"
The Hall fell silent again. Everyone looked up and down at the speaking Cleric and the Vatican Hierarchy in the front row with extremely secretive gazes.
What the Cleric said was correct. Tang Group's speed of expansion on Earth was getting faster and faster, like a giant. Although Tang Song had made the entire pie bigger, for them, they should be getting a larger share.
The Cleric scanned the High-level Staff of the Freemasons in the Hall. These leading figures stared at him with eyes glowing green, like starving wolves.
It seemed that unless these guys saw benefits, they would always be hesitant. After seeing the Pope nod, he took a deep breath:
"According to our understanding, Tang Group, Stark Industries, Weyland Industries, and Oscorp currently possess one hundred and twenty types of technology far exceeding this era, including the Arc Reactor blockade by Tang Group and Stark Industries…"
"If you cooperate with our Church to defeat Tang Group, our Church can also provide an additional set of Level 1 starship design and manufacturing blueprints—"
At this moment, everyone's eyes lit up.
The Pope, sitting in the front row, turned his head to look at the Cardinal beside him, whispering with a worried gaze:
"Lord, do we really have to take out the starship design drawing? Once human society enters the interstellar age prematurely, I fear it will influence the faith in the Lord!"
The cross deep in the Cardinal's eyes flickered with holy light: "No matter, as long as we can obtain the Lost Paradise Mountain, the Lord's power can be completely implemented in the Reality World. By then, at worst, we can just unleash another World-Ending Flood and cleanse this World anew!"
World-Ending Flood, the Pope felt a pang of bitterness in his heart, but he respectfully lowered his head and said nothing more.
Since this one descended, the Vatican was no longer under his sole control.
At this time, in the Meeting hall, an Asian Elder lightly coughed. He straightened his back.
"Although the conditions you offered are very high, you must know that the safety of the Cosmic Cube's Space Gate is in the hands of Tang Group. Because of the safety of the Space Gate, we are worried that the countries behind the World Security Council will side with Tang Group.
Our people have tried to decipher that piece of Beast Hide, but that energy composition…"
"Our Church can provide a substitute! The Space Gate belongs to all of humanity, they shouldn't monopolize it!"
After receiving a signal from the Cardinal beside him, the Pope directly stood up, turned around, and spoke to the crowd.
No matter how much was said, it was all for interests. The alliance of the Freemasons was to deal with Tang Group. All The Church needed to do was give them a push with a little bit of interest.
After reaching a consensus on interests, it quickly came time to formulate action strategies. A well-dressed Old Gentleman stood up. He reservedly bowed to the Hall! His suggestion was to use the power of media. The first step was to dismantle Tang Group's reputation, for example, by denying Tang Group's contributions during the Chitauri Invasion, claiming that the Chitauri were able to invade Earth only by colluding with Tang Group. Tang Group and Oscorp's biotechnology and illegal human experimentation. Their power of public opinion could completely subvert the image of both.
Another Middle-aged Man stood up. He said steadily, "Utopia, we can use this point to impact Tang Group and provoke conflict between Mutants and Tang Group. As far as I know, a large portion of Mutants hope to control power themselves, rather than it being in the hands of Tang Group. We can guide this group of Mutants who yearn for freedom and democracy. We can win over Magneto and Professor Charles."
A White-haired, Solemn-faced Old Man stood up. He coughed violently a few times: "To prevent Tang Group's supernatural power, we have conducted multi-faceted research. We have currently formed an effective supernatural power. If necessary, we can completely carry out a decapitation strike on Tang Group's High-level Staff in real-time!"
One Important Figure after another stood up. Public opinion suppression, smear campaign, using the pretext of justice. According to the methods of these Important Figures, if Tang Group did not submit to them, they would be nailed to the pillar of shame in history, reviled by the People of Earth for countless years! Many people present exchanged glances, and those people nodded in agreement.
(end of chapter)