After passing through the massive barrier—
Orsaga felt his body once again return to its fleshy, physical form.
He casually glanced at the other demons beside him.
Only about one-third of them remained!
The weakest among them had already been eliminated and reshaped into other creatures during transit—mindless husks, from the look of it.
The teleportation array beneath them hadn't dissipated yet, still carrying them rapidly through the air. Through the shimmering magic, he could clearly see a massive net-like structure in the sky, separating the sky from the earth entirely.
It had the unmistakable aura of a dimensional divide.
'Someone had split the sky and the ground of this world into two distinct realms.'
Looking down at the mostly intact terrain and the still-clear skies, Orsaga gained a bit of clarity.
This had to be the work of the world's native inhabitants—a measure to minimize damage.
Demon Lord Ignarok and his elite army were likely still entangled in battle within the aerial dimensional rift, locked in combat with the strongest defenders of this world. The main demonic force had yet to truly penetrate.
Given their strength, if they had launched a full assault on the native plane, the environment wouldn't be in such good shape—earthquakes and cataclysms would be the norm.
In simpler terms, the current situation was like a group of burglars trying to force their way into a locked house while the owners desperately held the door shut.
Orsaga and his companions were the ones tasked with making the door crack open just a bit—enough for Demon Lord Ignarok to force his way through and start wreaking havoc.
The greatest danger in all of this?
If the top-tier native powerhouses freed up their hands, they'd be able to swat this infiltration party like flies—just like that golden giant hand from earlier. Without interference, it could've wiped out their entire suicide squad in an instant.
'Let's just hope we don't run into any passing bigshots who squash us just for fun…'
With that thought, Orsaga let out a whistle and smirked.
——
More than ten minutes later, Orsaga and the rest had traversed an unknown, vast distance, finally arriving at a new region.
Here, the clouds above had turned from white to a deep, blood-red hue.
This was what it looked like when the land had been tainted by Abyssal energy.
They had finally reached the home turf of the Abyssal creatures.
Upon entering this territory, Orsaga could feel the world's suppressive forces weaken significantly—his powers surged back to around 60% of their full strength. A bit more time and he'd be completely restored.
Having flown at high speeds for so long, he could now feel the teleportation array's magic fading.
They were starting to descend.
BOOM!
From hundreds of kilometers per hour in free fall, they hit the ground with a brutal crash.
A massive cloud of dust, dozens of meters high, exploded from the impact.
Before he could even get his footing, Orsaga heard a loud whooshing behind him—
It was the sound of other demons crashing down!
Just like dumplings being dropped into boiling water, one after another, they were hurled from the sky by the residual force of the teleportation.
Several demons plummeted toward him, and without hesitation, Orsaga struck out—several sweeping tail-whips like a divine dragon, sending them flying hundreds of meters with shattered scales and gushing blood.
"Savages."
After kicking that pile of trash to death, he had the honor of claiming the first kill among this detachment of Abyssal troops. Even if it was just a few teammates, it still counted—dead is dead, after all.
Retracting his leg, he looked toward the distance—he could feel many gazes fixed upon him.
Scanning the horizon, he spotted what looked like a military camp.
Well… if you could even call it that.
"Military camp" was far too generous. It was more like a ragtag cluster of earthen mounds. It didn't even qualify as a proper refugee camp. All sorts of abyssal creatures were chaotically running around within.
From the sea of countless demons, many eyes were clearly fixed on him.
'Must've been my handsome form and dashing moves that caught their attention.'
Orsaga nodded to himself, then gave a casual wave to his adoring fans.
——
He and the other newcomers didn't have to wait long. Soon, a figure flew out from the shanty-looking camp.
The creature had a humanoid upper body, but its lower half resembled that of a griffin.
Judging by the scent, it was probably some type of demon—but in the Abyss, who could tell? The place was crawling with freaks and mutations.
With a hawk-like head, the newcomer swept his gaze over Orsaga and the rest. Then, using a strange artifact, he drew away the mindless, modified creatures that had lost their intelligence.
Only then did he speak, in a calm and unhurried tone:
"I serve under Lord Ignarok in the Demon Legion. I currently command this camp. You have two choices:
One—join my unit and follow my orders.
Two—go solo. But don't forget the terms of the contract you signed."
It all sounded quite democratic.
But Orsaga suspected the real reason was that the hawk-headed demon simply wasn't strong enough to control them by force.
From what he could sense, this guy was only a greater Demon. Among Orsaga's own batch of arrivals, there were already dozens at that same rank.
No surprise, then, that many demons turned and left immediately—some soared into the sky, others burrowed into the ground.
They'd chosen to go solo.
Orsaga was among them.
'Being someone else's lackey was never part of the plan—not even temporarily!'
Unless… there was a bonus involved.
If the pay was right, he might reconsider. Maybe.
——
After the more ambitious—or rebellious—demons departed, the hawk-headed demon turned to the ones who stayed and said:
"Head into the camp and rest. Take some time to recover from the world's suppression."
He knew these guys sticking around didn't mean they were loyal. At best, they were just putting on a show. Most were probably already scheming betrayal.
Not that he minded. He was used to it.
Despicable, shameless, bullies to the weak, cowards to the strong, backstabbers, and power-hungry traitors.
That was just what demons were.
Every single one of them was a potential double-crosser.
In this den of lunatics, the only thing keeping him safe was his identity—
—a temporary envoy appointed by Lord Ignarok himself.
So long as no one was bold enough to defy Ignarok or violate their contracts, no one dared to lay a finger on him.
And that alone earned him a decent measure of respect.
__
T/N:
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