My great thanks to TodaBruh, who kindly chose to use some of his free time to be my beta reader!
Glyu-Uno, homeworld of the Dragon species, city of Valdrakken.
Summer Rose, once Huntress of Remnant and now Huntress of the God-king Aeon (and wasn't that something she was still struggling to adjust to!) was left staring at her surroundings with no small amount of awe.
Being on Earth had been one thing, but at least Earth had been a human world. This world was very much not, and the countless aliens all around her were a very stark reminder of that fact.
Because, seriously, Dragons! Actual dragons! Summer had to hold herself back from squealing in excitement at the very thought. Remnant had stories about dragons of course, but they were just that, stories.
Being in the middle of a city full of them was something else entirely. Looking up, she could see many bronze shapes in the sky, flying across the heavens above.
And even on the ground, there were many coming and going across the (very) wide streets, amongst the large variety of alien people running around, living their life.
"This place is amazing." said her twin, looking at everything with delighted blue eyes only matched by her own bright silver eyes, just as full of joy and delight.
"It is." Summer agreed, turning and pivoting all around to try and see everything. Alien merchants plying their wares, alien couples and their kids running around, strange music filling the air and bright colors everywhere (though with a clear favoritism towards bronze, considering who ruled this city.), it was all beautiful in a very alien way.
"And we're not the only ones enjoying the place." mused her twin, and Summer turned towards the two young-looking women Aeon had charged them to watch over.
Nctosa and Nctolhu, the twin white-haired, purple-eyed women who looked like humans but were in truth daughters of two Eldritch deities, were looking at everything around them with the kind of delight that only two people stuck in prison for a very long time only to be suddenly freed could possess.
If Summer and her twin looked like tourists taking in the sights, then those two somehow managed to stand out even more to the locals.
Partially because of the raw power both women exuded casually, their divine ancestry shining through even when they were keeping a low profile, but also because the two Summer and the last of their little group had to stop both of them from pranking and messing with the locals over 20 times in the last hour alone.
Summer could appreciate mischief, sure, but those two girls outright thrived off it. As it is, both Summer had to stop several fights from breaking out after the twins had stolen things from various stalls and sneakily put them in other people's bags before calling them out as thieves.
It said something that, even with both Summer keeping an eye on them, they still almost got away with it several times in a row.
Of course, they did have a trump card to keep them from going too far: the last member of their little group was terrifying enough to make even the white-haired twins behave themselves.
Which really isn't surprising, Summer couldn't help but think, glancing somewhat nervously herself towards the being sitting calmly on his twisted version of a horse. That guy is making my instincts scream in terror every time I glance his way.
Perdition, the Eldritch embodiment of the concept of Doom, born from the result of countless Eldritch fighting and dying in the war that shook this world to its core, was an infamous figure for all who knew of him, and Summer wasn't blind to the way that people everywhere took one look at him and promptly tried to hide. She was pretty sure most of them might not even know who or what he was, they simply were acting on instincts alone.
Which made sense. Having the living embodiment of the Doom of civilizations and species casually making his way up the streets of your city wasn't something anyone would react well to.
Summer herself, despite all the powers she possessed nowadays as a Huntress of the Dream, still felt uneasy around him, the same with her sister. Such was the man's power, and the sheer dread his mere presence was capable of inspiring in others, like a cold chill running down your spine, the certainty that danger was close, the animal instinct screaming that something was wrong.
Still, both Summer managed to fend off their instincts well enough, partially thanks to their shared lover. Aeon had that same edge to him sometimes, the only difference was that he kept it mostly hidden at all times.
But they had experienced a fraction of his darker, Void-focused self in the past, and that had been… an experience.
Summer shook her head, looking up at the entrance of the palace where they were headed. A gigantic building with the color bronze preeminent everywhere, the wealth and elegance of the place would make many King of Remnant or Earth green with jealousy. Unfortunately, none of them were here to enjoy the sights. They were here because they had an important mission to perform, and one that Summer was both dreading and anticipating.
After all, it was one thing to know that afterlives existed, it was another to charge straight at the literal Abyss full of legions of demons. She may be a Huntress, one brave enough to fight things like Salem in her stronghold, but even she had to balk at the idea of invading such a place!
Still… Summer wouldn't back down. Not considering the purpose of this mission.
Someone had to save the baby bronze dragons kidnapped by demons, after all. They wouldn't be babies anymore, but even so… How many of them were still alive, how many could still be saved, and in what state they would be found in were all questions with grim answers, she knew that, but they had to try.
A flash of memories coursed through her, small, bright silver eyes under red and black hair- bright purple eyes, under golden hair- reaffirmed her determination.
As a mother, the thought of any child left to the nonexistent mercy of literal demons was unacceptable. That they happened to be dragons, literal mythological creatures from her youth, made it all the more tragic to her. The thought of charging the Abyss made even her worry… but for something like this? For a cause so righteous?
Summer Rose became a Huntress to save people.
And no amount of literal demons will stop her from doing so.
Her gaze fell on the tall, golden-eyed man standing in front of the palace, surrounded by soldiers and other bronze dragons in humanoid forms, his expression grim and determined. Her Eyes saw the golden blessing upon his soul, Time itself having blessed this man as one of her own, though she could also see that blessing echoing from him to the rest of his dragonflight.
Nozdormu, the leader of the bronze Dragonflight, looked at their team of five and nodded respectfully at them all.
"Good. You are here on time. The others are all ready. Please follow me, and we'll get started."
Summer glanced at the others in her team. Two immortals Huntresses, two daughters of Eldritch Gods, and one eldritch embodiment of the concept of Doom, soon to be rejoined by an entire army's worth of Eldritch battle-priestesses and actual dragons blessed by Time herself against a fortress full of demons in the depths of the Abyss.
All to save the lives and souls of other dragons kidnapped when they were still eggs by said demons.
This was definitely going to be a mission to remember. Especially when this mission could very well lead the Goddess of the Abyss going to war as a retaliation.
Nonetheless…
"Let's go." declared Summer, her expression determined.
It changed nothing to the fact this was the right thing to do. And in the end, that was all that mattered to her.
She might not be able to protect her baby girls right now, but she could protect that of others, and for now-
For now, that was enough.
"We are ready."
Nctosa, daughter of Cthulhu and Kassogtha, looked at the inhumanly pale-skinned woman by the name of Gatcha, the spy-mistress of Lady Azathoth herself.
With thousands of her battle-sisters at her back, she had performed a ritual that would open a path straight into the Abyss where the kidnapped Bronze dragons were kept.
Once there, they would spread out, flood the place, and try to save as many of the dragons as they possibly could. No one had any delusions it would be easy, as most likely all of them would be corrupted and brainwashed to serve the Abyss.
But they had two trump cards in the presence of the blue-eyed mortal called Summer, who would act as a priestess of Lord Aeon, and channel his power to cleanse the dragons of corruption and free them from brainwashing through showing them the Truth once they were all back home.
Even so, it would be a vicious battle. Once through the portal, their second trump card, the leader of the Bronze Dragonflight, will use a ritual to try and nonlethally subdue the afflicted dragons by using their connection to him, but it might not fully work, depending on how corrupted the dragons were, which was why they would need the blue-eyed Summer Rose as plan B.
And that was without mentioning the legions of demons protecting the place, or the two Demons Lords that would be present as well…
Nctosa glanced at her sister, a measure of rare fear in their gazes. Assaulting the stronghold of two Demon Lords was far beyond anything even they had ever done, but in exchange for their freedom, it was a risk they were willing to take.
The Lord of Azathoth had even sworn to personally protect them if necessary, which was a very good thing. Most Eldritch cared little about the Abyss, but none would dismiss the powers of no less than two Demon Lords in their own home. Even with Nctosa and her sister being children of Gods, that did not make them strong enough to casually assault the Abyss freely.
But with all the forces gathered… maybe they could do this. If nothing else, their King certainly seemed to believe it.
"Then do it." came the firm voice of the leader of the Bronze dragonflight.
Catcha bowed slightly, before doing as ordered. The last part of the ritual was conducted-
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!*
-and the portal to the Abyss opened.
They all flinched at the tidal wave of Abyssal corruption that immediately seeped out, along with an impressive amount of heat, except for Perdition. The terrifying being did not even hesitate, and neither did his steed. Charging forward boldly, they went through the open portal without fear, arriving straight in the middle of a wide hall full of demons all sitting on tables and eating things better left unsaid. The majority of the meat on display did not look like it belonged to mere animals.
The demons froze, both at the sheer unexpected sight of a pretty massive portal opening up in the middle of the grand hall of the fortress, and then at the sight of Perdition on his horse.
For a second, nothing happened, and then-
Perdition acted.
HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH-!*
Both him and his horse howled as one, the sound striking pure horror, terror and madness in the hearts of all those who heard it. It spread out, far, far in the distance, across the entire local realm of the Abyss, piercing through walls and soil with impossible ease so that as many as possible could hear it.
His already unnatural form suddenly twisted, becoming nothing more than a black hole in space, warping and twisting everything around him. Colors bled out of existence, every sound turned unnatural and maddening, the sight of all things warped in mind-breaking ways, and down the very depths of their wretched souls, every demon felt the call of Doom.
Perdition's call was a declaration upon Reality. An order upon Existence. A Law made manifest-
The Time of Ending was now.
And as one, the demons answered.
They surged, rushing to their feet and grabbing anything close to them with a single thought in their minds: the death and destruction of everything around them. Devils were creatures of Order, for all their Evils. But Demons? Demons were born of Chaos, pure and violent, and the Call of Doom was one their very souls understood intrinsically. And now, that fact was turned against them as the demons, maddened by the power of Perdition, began ripping and tearing into each other with wild abandon and cruel savagery.
There was no longer any semblance of order. No longer any concept of restraint. The King of the Eldritch had turned the very nature of the demons against them through the power of Perdition, and turned an entire fortress' worth of enemies into raging, frothing at the mouth maniacs.
Nctosa stared, along with all the others, as a grand hall with hundreds of demons suddenly turned into a slaughterhouse. Demons tore each other's limbs and, uncaring of the pain, beat each other to death with them. Some literally began feasting on each other or, in some cases, began eating their own flesh while laughing maniacally. Blood flew in the air along with demonic flesh, the demons cackling as they were covered in the viscera and organs of their fellows, many licking their lips and howling like mad beasts in glee. They shouted wordless war-cry as they butchered each other, chairs taken and then used as makeshift weapons, tables shattered as they were used as battering ram by the largest demons, the walls drenched in demonic ichor as the demons eagerly bashed the skulls of their fellows against them until they burst open.
In less than five minutes, an entire hall full of hundreds of demons was turned into a blood-drenched, gore-covered slaughterhouse, with only a handful of survivors still breathing, some of them, unable to slaughter more of their kinds because of the wounds they had received, tearing into their own flesh instead, cackling madly all the while.
Gatcha finally moved, her and her sisters seemingly unbothered by the sight before them as they rushed forward, killing all the demons still standing and executing all those too wounded to do more than gurgle on their own blood as their throats were slits, one by one.
Then, with one last nod, Gatcha turned towards Nozdormu and calmly told him to get on with the ritual to try and safely take out the corrupted dragons.
Nctosa and her sister went through the portal next, looking curiously at the entire carnage. Even by their standards, that had been quite the display of power, especially when they could feel the madness continue spreading across the entire local demonic realm.
The Summer Twins, however, kept staring at the carnage before them for a long moment, before looking back at Perdition.
"Sis?"
"Yes?"
"If I ever feel that fighting this guy is a good idea, please tie me up and feed me cookies until I get my sanity back."
"Only if you do the same for me."
"Deal."
They shook hands.
Nozdormu, meanwhile, finally shook himself off and stepped forward. "Soridormi, Anachronos, with me." he said firmly, his consort and son following behind him, their own expressions turned grimly determined.
Soon enough, with the help of others of the Bronze Dragonflight, they set up a ritual right there in the middle of the room, cleaning away the blood and gore to get started.
"Iä! Iä! Yog-Sothoth fhtagn! Mgah'ehye ya kin ah na'ah'ehye! f' mgah'ehye ah ot na'ah'ehye lloig! ot bthnk! ot orr'ee! throdogoth l' yog-sothoth! throdogoth l' shuggnglui ng ch'nglui!"
Reality shuddered, Space and Time warping as bubbles of impossible shapes and colors began to fill the ritual site, flowing into each other in maddening, physics-defying ways that gave a headache to all watching. Faintly, at the very edge of their hearing, a cursed melody played off, seeming to come from beyond an ocean of water… or perhaps, as if passing through many closed doors.
A pulse of power left the ritual, spreading into the distance in an instant, every Bronze dragon present shuddering violently as it did, but quickly regaining their focus. The Summer twins looked away from the ritual, their expressions visibly pained and one of their hands going to their heads from the sudden headache, though Nctosa and her sister could stare into the ritual with just a little concentration.
Not that they bothered doing so. Just because they could mostly do so safely didn't mean they should.
"Did it work?" she asked instead.
Nozdormu grimaced, stepping back from the ritual ground.
"Yes and no. I can feel that it did on many of my corrupted kin, but not all. What did work however was the part of the ritual that commanded all of the dragons to come here. I can feel them, both those we already saved and those we failed to. They are all headed here." He declared, sharing a look with the rest of his family.
"The demons are coming, as well." spoke Perdition, his voice sounding like the dying screams of civilizations to Nctosa's ears.
The mortals shuddered at the sound, the dragons wiping their noses of the blood suddenly gushing out, before nodding at him.
"Then, we fight. We fight until the last of my kin is saved… in life or death."
"So be it. Sisters… to battle! For AZATHOTH!" shouted Gatcha, and the battle-sisters behind her roared their agreement, shouting words in Eldritch tongues that made the other mortals shudder slightly at the sound.
Nctosa shared a look with her sister, before nodding.
Time to do what they did best: cause chaos.
And this time, with Divine approval no less!
Azzamon, proud salamander demon of the Demon Lord Flauros, Lord of Fire and Salamanders, slithered on the ground along with the rest of the army towards the citadel where the invaders who dared to attack the Abyss came from.
Thousands upon thousands of his fellow demons followed behind him as they rushed forward, the slowest killed without mercy as they raced towards the hated fools who dared come inside their lord's very home.
Victory was assured, for their Lord slithered behind them, radiating rage and malice in equal measure, his wrath at the invaders a pressing weight upon the land such was his towering fury. Despite whatever foul power had unleashed madness upon the land, it could do nothing against those shielding by their Lord's might, and now his army was moving quickly towards the citadel where the invaders lay awaiting their death.
Azzamon scowled towards the distance at his right, where the army of worms of the Demon Lord Yhidothrus could faintly be seen, rushing towards the citadel as well. Queen Slann (praise her Dark, unholy name!) had decided that the duty to break the dragon whelps the Abyss took from the last incursion upon the Dragons' home was to be a task divided between Lord Flauros and Lord Yhidothrus, as the Lord of Worms was a Demon Lord possessing dominion over Time, and thus better conceptually able to help the growth of the dragon whelps that Lord Flauros alone.
As expected, the reality of things is that both Demon Lords tried everything they could to lay claim to the dragons for themselves, often assassinating the dragons who fell to the worship of one or the other Demon Lord specifically.
Nonetheless, enough of the dragons had grown that Queen Slann (praise be her Dark Name!) had not cared about the infighting, and so far the project to create an Abyssal Dragonflight from the wretches they took from the material plane was going well.
Until now, that is, as these new invaders quite obviously sought to steal what rightfully belonged to the Abyss!
Azzamon swore he would feast upon the flesh of the invaders with delight, and carefully experiment to see if their meat tasted better eaten raw or cooked. And hopefully, he would even get to feast on dragon flesh again! He had gotten the opportunity a while back to devour the flesh of a number of infant dragons too weak to bother keeping alive, and his maw drooled at the memories of their tender, sweat-tasting meat…
A roar echoed around him, and Azzamon snapped out of his memories to grin at the sight of the citadel standing tall amongst rivers of lava and dark, tall hills of demonic rocks.
Finally! "Time to feast!" he howled with glee, a scream picked up by many other salamanders.
With a shout that made the ground tremble, Lord Flauros ordered them to charge, even as the dark forms of adult dragons began coming out of the citadel. Azzamon noticed how many of the corrupted dragons were already making their way to the citadel, and licked his maw. Maybe, if he was lucky, he might be able to backstab one or two and have his own feast right there on the battlefield. Nobody would notice if some dragons died in the midst of battle, right?
Azzamon was just beginning to contemplate how to best eat the dragon he would kill when suddenly, everything-
Went-
Wrong.
His spear snapped to the side, killing a mortal that suddenly stood right where another salamander was a moment ago.
A second crazed mortal roared in rage and tried to stab him with his spear, but Azzamon slithered out of the way and pushed his own spear through its heart with panicked fury.
What is going on? Where did these mortals come from?! He thought in shock.
A roar of pure, utter murderous fury washed over him, and suddenly the mortals were gone, leaving only his fellow salamanders all murdering each other- before freezing, just like he did, at his Lord's wrath, the spell they were under shattering from his power.
"Damned illusion!" he hissed hatefully, suddenly understanding what had just happened.
With a growl, he and the rest of the army once again pushed forward, ignoring their dead and dying as sheer rage gave them strength. The invaders would pay for this!
Rushing over rivers of lava and blackened rocks, Azzamon grinned once again as the citadel came closer and closer, his eyes fixed on the growing number of bronze dragons taking flight above it-
KA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*
Before he was suddenly sent flying forward, screams echoing all around him as explosives detonated, bathing many amongst the army in lava as the underground currents were suddenly blasted outwards.
The salamanders cared little for the lava, but the mortal cultists among them screamed in agony as their flesh melted, causing a delicious scent of cooking flesh to fill the noses of the salamanders, more than a few stopping to feast upon the dead and dying from the explosions.
It took another roar of ever-growing fury from Lord Flauros to finally push order back in the army, though it was clear the Demon Lord was done playing around.
Taking a deep breath, the Demon Lord suddenly spat a stream of glowing corrupted lava straight at the citadel from his massive maw, clearly intent on fighting back against the invaders.
Azzamon, gathering his wits after the explosion, looked with anticipation at the sight of his Lord's attack-
And then, in the distance, standing above the fortification of the citadel, two mortal women appeared.
There was a flash of silver light-
And then the attack ceased to exist entirely.
For a second, the army of salamanders faltered at the sight. The sudden bout of madness enraged them. The explosions left them unimpressed. But this? This was a spectacular display of power and a clear sign of defiance to their Lord.
For a moment, it was as if the Abyss itself froze at the sight of that Silver light-
And then Lord Flauros' fury reached a new height.
The Demon Lord slammed his spear on the ground, and the world became fire.
Azzamon gasped and fell, shuddering as the power of his Lord in his own realm was brought forth without limits.
The ground became fire. The air became fire. Everything became fire, to the point that Azzamon couldn't even hear anything, see anything. It was just all fire. Fire everywhere.
For what felt like an eternity, but in reality had to be mere seconds, Azzamon's world reduced itself to nothing but heat and light.
And then the fire receded at last, and Azzamon wheezed in shock as he was finally able to breathe.
Coughing, he grasped his spear tightly before looking up.
The citadel did not survive the attack of his Lord without major damage. Spires and towers had crumbled away, walls had fallen, and an entire wing of the citadel was straight up gone.
And yet…
Azzamon stared in silent shock at the sight of that same silver light from before, its radiance burning at his very soul the longer he looked at it.
That light had protected much of the citadel, even if not all of it. Whoever was at the center of it, they were powerful enough to survive the full wrath of a Demon Lord in his own realm.
Azzamon shuddered at the thought, feeling a flash of concern course through him at the revelation.
Glancing around, his determination hardened, however. Yes, the invaders were strong, and yes, they had killed many already-
But this was the Abyss.
Thousands had died, but thousands more stood strong. And his sharp eyes could see legions of salamanders demons teleporting on the battlefield, slowly surrounding the citadel with their numbers.
For all the power of the invaders, one did not simply walk into the personal realm of a Demon Lord and expect to survive.
His thoughts paused as the ground rumbled-
CCCCCCCCRRRRRRAAAAAASSSSSHHHHH!*
-before a gigantic worm bursted out of the ground near the citadel, shrieking loudly enough to almost render all present deaf. A moment laters, thousands upon thousands of lesser worms followed, as the second Demon Lord announced his presence for all to hear.
The sight was bittersweet to Azzamon, as it meant reinforcement on one hand… but also a hated rival coming to help.
Still, the deaths of the Invaders mattered more, and he turned his attention back to the citadel.
With dozens of thousands of demons now gathering, and countless more on the way, victory was inevitable.
Even whoever brought that hated silver light into the Abyss could not survive the coming legions.
And his Lord obviously agreed, as his voice echoed across the battlefield.
"CHARGE! SLAUGHTER THEM ALL!"
Roaring a war-cry, one picked up by thousands of throats screaming their hatred as one, Azzamon rushed forward.
No more tricks! No more traps! This time, the enemy would die screaming!
Slithering at full speed towards the shattered walls of the citadel, he easily made it into the courtyard and began rushing into the nearest entrance of the citadel's insides.
Thousands more demons followed eagerly after him.
Unfortunately for them all… Nctosa and her sisters had been the ones to plan the defenses, with the help of a blessed Chosen of Yog-Sothoth.
There was a reason that the Goddess of Time was called the Gate and the Key.
And they were all about to discover it.
Malhath glanced around him suspiciously.
At his back, his fellow salamanders did the same, a measure of unease growing within them.
There was something wrong. Deeply, deeply wrong with this place.
The corners didn't look right. The doors didn't look right. The corridors didn't look right. The shadows didn't look right. The lights didn't look right.
Even the damn stones didn't look right!
It was subtle, yes, but everything was just ever-so-slightly… wrong. Unnatural. Twisted in a way that made their heads hurt to look at and sent shivers down their backs.
"What is going on with this place?" muttered one of the salamanders behind him. "This place used to be normal, not… like this!"
Malthath paused, then glanced at him. "Did you go here in the past?"
"Yeah. I was reassigned two years ago. But back then, this place was normal." scowled the salamander, glancing anxiously at the corners of the corridor they were in. They looked wrong, wrongwrong. "There were mortals screaming in agony, salamanders laughing as they feasted upon their flesh, the occasional sounds of battle as demons killed demons. You know, normal stuff. This is just freaky!" he muttered frantically.
"Stuff it, weakling!" snapped another Salamander, growling scornfully. "Lord Flauros does not tolerate weakness!" Despite his words however, the salamander's gaze was shifting fearfully around the corridor.
The other salamander stiffened, a look of rage flashing on his face. "I'll show you weak-"
"Enough." Malhath snapped coldly. "We don't have time for this." he turned to look back forward, growled slightly at the way the corridor looked wrong, then turned back. "If you know this place-"
He froze.
There had been five of them.
Now there were four.
"... Where did he go?" he questioned, squeezing his spear tighter.
The other salamanders froze, suddenly noticing their missing fellow.
"He was right there!"
"He didn't teleport, did he?"
"Idiot, the wards are up! No one can teleport!"
"Then where is he?!"
"Enough." he snapped firmly. "Let's just get going. We'll torture the mortals into explaining what they did to this place when we meet them."
With that said, he turned and marched forward, the others following closely behind him.
He also tried to ignore the corners of the corridor. They looked wrong. Even more so than before.
The more they walked, the less they seemed to know where they were, however. There were no windows, and no sounds of battle.
Only silence. Heavy, suffocating silence.
And the same, damned, seemingly endless corridor, with all of its countless doors.
Who looked wrong. It wasn't as if any of them were different or anything. If anything they were eerily identical, in ways that caused even more concern. They just… looked wrong.
All of them.
And he could swear some of them were whispering. Laughing. Screaming.
If only he would stop and listen-
"Where in the Abyss are we?" muttered one of the salamanders, his nerves cracking.
"Don't know, don't care!" he snapped, pointedly ignoring everything in favor of slithering forward. "There has to be an end to this damn place!"
"Is there?" muttered one of the other salamanders fearfully. "What if we're stuck with no way out?"
"Then we'll feast on you first." coldly growled Malhath.
That shut him up, and he felt a burst of satisfaction for a moment.
Then they kept moving.
And moving.
And moving-
"... Err, chief?"
"What?!" he snapped.
"There's only three of us left."
He froze.
Turning, he saw, to his horror, that the salamander was correct. They were only three present in the corridor.
Despite the fact that they had been four. Despite the fact that there had been no scream, nor were there any hint of where the fourth member of their group was.
No bloodstain, no dropped weapon, nothing.
For a moment, the three of them stared in silence at where the fourth was supposed to be, before one of the other two salamanders with him snapped.
"Fuck this! I'm outta here!"
"Don't you dare run-"
Malhath's voice died instantly when the fool opened one of the door lining the walls, looked inside, froze with a look of pure, utter terror-
And then a tentacle half the size of the salamander snatched him up before he could even scream, the door closing behind the doomed demon without a sound a moment later.
The only remaining salamander besides Malhath stared in shock, before suddenly breaking out into a mad dash across the length of the corridor-
And then something wrong came out of one of the corners of the corridors. And it was only at this moment that Malhath questioned the existence of corners in a straight line.
The thing snatched up the demon, before disappearing into another corner of the corridor without a sound.
Malhath swallowed hard.
For a long, long moment, he stared in silence.
Opening the doors might kill him. Walking down the corridor might kill him.
He stayed frozen in indecision for a long moment-
And then opened the nearest door, praying to Lord Flauros for salvation.
The Black Hole among a sea of stars on the other side made it clear his prayer was not answered.
Said Black Hole was quite happy to have a free snack delivered to it, however, and gurgled happily as it ate.
"You're alright, sis?"
Summer's blue eyes looked into the silver eyes of her twin, who grimaced, took a deep breath, and nodded.
"I'm fine. It was just… a lot of power." she muttered.
Summer glanced in the distance, where she could see the Demon Lord Flauros, standing tall behind his army with a lot of rage on his face, his red eyes burning with fury.
"Yeah, that's fair. He looked pissed, at least." she said with some humor in her voice.
Her twin snorted. "A shame, truly." she shook her head, her blue eyes hardening as she tightened her grip on her weapon.
"We need to go kill him. This place can't deal with more attacks like these."
"And what about the other one?" she asked, pointing out the gigantic worm with power over Time in the distance.
"Leave that one to us." came the firm voice of Nozdormu.
The Summer Twins glanced at him, the twin white-haired Eldritch at his back, and Perdition at his side.
"You're all sure about this?" she questioned.
Nozdormu nodded with grim satisfaction. "Already, many of the bronze dragons within this citadel have been taken back to our world." he declared, waving towards the portal, where members of the Bronze Dragonflight were busy helping unconscious, formerly corrupted dragons through. "And more will follow. I can feel, through the power of the ritual, the location of all of my kin in this plane. They are all coming here… All we need is to deal with the demons, subdue those dragons too corrupted to have been cleansed by the ritual, and we'll have won. My people can focus on taking care of our corrupted kin until the battle's end, where you can save them, Lady Summer." he bowed his head towards the blue-eyed twin. "Gatcha's people can deal with the armies of the Demon Lord. But we… We must fight the Demon Lords themselves."
A sharp grin spread across his face. "And besides, there needs to be a cost to pay for what they did to my people. Killing them here and now might not cause them to stay dead, since Demon Lords need to be killed twice inside of a year for True Death to take hold of them, but even weakening them will be victory enough."
The Summer Twins stared at him, then nodded. If he wanted to fight, it was not their place to get in the way.
However, their gaze went to the white-haired Eldritch twins.
"And what of you two? We swore to Aeon we would try and protect you." The silver-eyed Summer asked.
The Eldritch Twins shared a look, then smiled at them.
There was something… heavy in those smiles, but also something joyous.
"Do not worry for us. We have no intention of dying to any demons." said one twin.
"Besides, we are Eldritch, it would hardly do more than annoy us at worst." said the other.
""And besides… This is something we must do."" they declared as one, voices as hard as steel.
Both Summer hesitated, but ultimately caved in. The looks in their eyes… They recognized it too well as the kind of looks that could not be defied.
Whatever reasons they had for fighting, it was important enough for them that they would not be convinced otherwise.
Both Summer glanced at Perdition, before smiling wryly. "We don't need to ask, do we?"
"No, you do not." he replied, a note of amusement in his voice. "My King has made his will clear. I will see to it that all goes in accordance with his desires."
"That's a lot of loyalty for someone that, as far as we know, you barely met twice." pointed out the silver-eyed Summer.
Perdition fell silent, before speaking again, his voice sounding slightly softer, something almost… relieved, or even happy, shining through his words. "I had my reasons to meet the King. The answer I got told me all I needed to know."
He said no more, and the Summer Twins decided not to push- this was not the time nor place.
"Then we fight." They turned, facing the Demon Lord Flauros again. Blue and silver eyes narrowed with determination. "For all that is good-"
"For all that is just-" continued her twin.
"-And for the sake of a brighter tomorrow for all of us." finished Nozdormu. "To victory, my friends! Today, we shall make the Abyss tremble before us!"
And with those words, the Summer Twins teleported right before the Salamander Demon Lord, while Perdition, Nozdormu, and the Eldritch twins did the same to the Worm Demon Lord of Time.
And the entire local demonic realm shook as Gods, Demons, and Huntresses clashed.
Summer Rose, Huntress extraordinaire of Remnant, had grown immensely since being yeeted across dimensions.
She had met gods. Fallen in love with one. Gained a twin. Became a supernatural, immortal kick-ass divinely blessed Huntress. She had eaten literally divine cookies, and while she would never say it aloud to anyone, would have seriously considered selling her soul for a lifetime of the stuff. She had helped save worlds, fought zombies and monsters beyond anything she could have ever had nightmares of, and now, well, now she was in literal Hell.
Well, the Abyss to be precise. Hell was apparently two dimensional steps on the right or something. (Don't ask her, her stuff was baking cookies and killing monsters, not multidimensional physics!)
Oh, and she was about to go try and kill a literal Demon Lord, because why not.
Her life, to put it mildly, had gone slightly crazy ever since leaving Remnant. At least back then all she needed to worry about was a single immortal witch!
As she rushed forward, her twin by her side, the gigantic form of the Demon Lord before them bigger than some buildings roaring at them in murderous rage as he raised his equally massive spear (she had seen trees smaller than that thing!), all in the name of saving dragons from eternal damnation, she still found it impossible to regret it.
The only things that tore at her heart were the crystal clear memories of bright silver eyes and purple eyes, looking up at her with love.
This battle hit especially close to heart for her, as this time it was not the parents that were taken from the children, it was the children that were taken from their parents.
The thought of Ruby or Yang taken by literal demons… tortured and broken into becoming slaves to their twisted kind was just…
She felt bile rise in her throat. Her silver eyes shone with power as righteous fury filled her heart.
She had seen the bronze dragons that had volunteered for this mission. The looks of mixed hope, fear and determination on their faces.
It had been their eggs who had been taken. Their children, taken away into the Abyss, to suffer, serve, and die.
For Summer Rose, who only ever wanted to protect others, this was a heart-breaking sight.
But it was also a firm reminder of why she chose to serve Aeon. Why she chose to stay a Huntress, even now.
Reality was far bigger than anything she had ever thought possible. And yet, it was also just as full of pain, horror and death as Remnant.
And just like Remnant, Reality deserved protectors to stand up to those evils.
Protectors… like her.
And so, even as she felt the heat of this damned realm… even as she felt the spiritual corruption of this place pressing down upon her soul, even as she looked Evil incarnate in its red, hateful eyes, Summer Rose did not hesitate.
She kept charging forward, weapon in hand.
And then, the fight was on.
Their blood covering their weapons, both Summer swung towards the Demon Lord. Bright crimson slashes filled the air by the dozens, the hundreds, the thousands. Each of those strikes could wipe out a country from the Earth by the raw power they contained.
They were veteran Huntresses of the Dream. By themselves, they could kill worlds.
However, they were attacking a powerful Demon Lord in his own realm.
Flauros roared, his spear cutting through the air, and attacks capable of killing a world of life were batted away with ease.
Such was the power of a chosen Demon Lord of Queen Slann, Ruler of the Abyss.
Neither Summer blinked. They knew better than to underestimate their foe.
Their Eyes squirmed as they looked at the Demon Lord. Once, the Eyes granted by the Insight could be found within the brains of people, but Aeon changed that for those affiliated with him.
Instead, he shifted the Eyes within the very souls of the people. Without the limitations of flesh, they were less impactful on one's sanity. The soul, infinitely more robust than mere flesh, allowed the Eyes to work with greater efficiency, the knowledge they gave better received by the soul.
Too much Insight gained at once could still be dangerous, but it was still an improvement.
Besides, this way mortal doctors would not suddenly freak out about seeing Eyes inside the bodies of people. That would make things much easier on Eldritch Cultists to hide themselves amongst mortals.
Through their many Eyes, both Summer could see the Truth of the Demon Lord. The concepts of Salamanders, Fire, Volcanoes, Evil and Chaos swirled inside of him like a storm, seeking to impose its concepts upon as many as possible.
The concepts were both fuel and chains. They gave him power, but also bound him to act, think and feel a certain way. It wasn't absolute, the concept of Chaos made sure of that, but a single look at him made it clear that there was not a shred of pity, mercy or kindness within this demon. Their Eyes let both Summer see his Evil, see all of his cruel nature, and they shuddered at the sight, their souls recoiling before the embodiment of Evil that stood before them.
If they had any doubt about the righteousness of their cause, it was gone. A single look at the horror before them was all it took to banish any and all doubt instantly.
So instead, they got to work. The silver-eyed Summer rushed forward, striking with her weapon at her foe, while the blue-eyed Summer held back, and instead called upon the power of her blood to unleash powerful spells upon the Demon Lord.
For all that it was a demon, it still possessed blood, and The Earth Summer used that connection to try and slow him down, move the blood away from his brain and limbs, tried to make his heart beat slower, and more.
Of course, the Demon's demonic power was great enough that it limited the effectiveness of those spells… but it did not stop them altogether.
The Demon Lord did slow down, if only slightly.
However, for now, he could do nothing about it as he was under fierce assault from the silver-eyed Summer, who tried her best to stab him with her blood-covered halberd, while occasionally shooting Dust rounds at him. For all his immense size and the magic affecting him, the Demon Lord was far from slow. No one became a Demon Lord in the Abyss without the skill and power to match.
Their blows echoed across the battlefield, her halberd meeting his spear in a titanic explosion of force and sound, over and over again. Craters began to cover the ground, while lava spewed forth from the battered soil, forcing Summer to carefully avoid it all.
Disappearing in a flurry of rose petals every time his spear almost hit her, she struck at him with her strength and skill, going so fast that any mortal would only see a faint blur at best. Even her once fellow Huntsman and Huntresses from Remnant wouldn't be able to keep up, so fast had she become under the training of her lover and God.
The Blue-eyed Summer, satisfied with her work in slowing down the Demon Lord, then focused on more direct attack spells. From her blood came forth a cloud of Blood hornets, buzzing angrily as they went to swarm the Demon Lord.
The Demon Lord waved his free hand towards them, a burst of lava coming from the ground engulfing most of the swarm, but those that survived kept going until they hit their target.
"RRRRRRRAAAAAARRRRGGGHHHH!"
At which point the Demon Lord bellowed in pain and rage, recoiling as the hornets used their stings to strike at him and sent not venom, but Old Blood into his veins.
The same Old Blood that flowed into Summer's veins, which came from Aeon and Oedon.
Despite the comparatively small doses of Old Blood pumped into him, the Demon Lord convulsed in agony as a sensation not unlike being melted from the inside out radiated from where he had been struck. Thankfully for him, the Old Blood within Summer's veins was not anywhere as potent as that of Aeon, or he would have died, melting into nothing in mere seconds.
Instead, though a burst of raw demonic power, the Demon Lord purged his body of the Old Blood within him, groaning in fury and pain.
The silver-eyed Summer didn't hesitate, striking when her enemy was weak and scoring several vicious blows in quick succession on his torso and limbs.
The Demon Lord was not called such for nothing however and quickly rallied, throwing a punch with such speed at the attacking Summer that she could not avoid it.
KA-BOOOOOOOM!*
Her silver eyes went wide when a sonic boom echoed as she was punched, before she flew backward with a scream of pain as she experienced the unique sensation of taking a punch from a fist bigger than she was tall. Aura or not, Old Blood or not, that wasn't something she could take without feeling it.
She barely had time to blink before she hit the ground, smashing brutally though several meters of rocks before ending up surrounded by lava.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"
She screamed in pain, even as her body frantically tried to heal itself, while her flesh began melting from the heat.
Gritting her teeth, Summer bit back a second scream of agony as she painfully got up and Quickened out of there, making use of the fact the technique turned her body intangible for a moment to go through rock and lava alike.
If it wasn't for her unnatural toughness and incredible healing factor, combined with her Aura, that single attack would have killed her instantly, when combined with the punch and the lava afterwards.
But she was a veteran huntress of the Dream, and so she endured. Stumbling out of the crater she created when she hit the ground with her body still steaming, she quickly took out a Blood vial from her own personal pocket dimension and stabbed herself with it, almost moaning in relief as the Blood and her healing factor finally healed her. The back of her body had been burnt to at least the third degree, and she was pretty sure it was something of a miracle her spine hadn't been hit too hard, but she still shuddered as she felt her muscles, flesh and skin regrow all over the back of her body.
Grimacing at the feeling of hot air on her bare back while shaking the soot and bits of hard, black volcanic rocks off her, she looked at herself with a dry look as she noticed most of the back of her clothes were burnt off, though thankfully her white cloak was still fine, thank to the magic Aeon had put on it at her request to make it "heal" itself from damage. A moment later the front half of her clothes fell over and left her standing naked aside from her cloak, and she sighed, twisting it around to cover the front of her body for now.
Well, such wardrobes issues in the middle of battle was why Aeon told her to keep spares of outfits in her pocket dimension-
The sound of a small rock being kicked behind her made her freeze.
Slowly, she turned her head to look behind her.
Her silver eyes made contact with the eyes of a group of Salamanders staring at her naked ass.
For a long moment, they stared at each other in silence.
And then one of the demons whistled, and another gave her a thumb up.
Summer closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Exhaled.
When she reopened her eyes, the air turned suddenly cold with killing intent, freezing the demons in place.
"You have three seconds to make your prayers. Then you die." she told them bluntly.
One of the demons slowly raised a hand.
Out of sheer confusion, Summer blinked and looked at him.
"What?"
"Does it involve stepping on us, first? Because I think it'd be worth it." the Salamander said.
Summer and the Demons stared at him.
His red eyes narrowed, fixated on her ass. "That, or letting us having a bite first. Either works for me."
The other demons turned and stared at her ass.
One of them nodded slowly.
"He's got a point."
Summer Rose promptly decided that, once she was done with this mission, she was going to drown the memory of the past five minutes with cookies.
A lot of cookies.
Abaddon, Neutral Evil Infernal Realm.
Abaddon. The Infernal Realm that embodies the concept of Oblivion and punishment for mortal souls. Here the Four Horsemen and their courts of Harbingers rule over a population of Daemons epitomizing every iteration of mortal death. The bleak and forbidding wastes of Abaddon are laced through with the glittering toxic ribbon of black waters known as the river Styx, while overhead the sky hangs in perpetual eclipse, a single shrouded star looking down like the lidded eye of a slumbering, malevolent god.
Among the most feared of the Greater Evils of the Infernal Realms are the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Death, War, Pestilence and Famine, rulers of Abaddon and children of the dreaded Nyarlathotep, the infamous Messenger of the Court of Azathoth.
Within the vast, deadly realms of Abaddon stood the personal kingdoms of the Four Horsemen: The Cinder Furnace, dominion of War, clings to the slopes of a volcano and surrounded by plains scattered with massive knife-like projections of obsidian, swathes of ash, smoke, and bone, its forges constantly churning out weapons of destruction and engines of annihilation. These forges have long since bled the volcano's energies dry, and nowadays the daemons use souls as an alternate source of energy. The smoldering haze that drifts from the caldera above is not smoke and ash, but the ruined remnant of the souls used to power the forges below.
The Drowning Court, Dominion of Death. Within Abaddon, the river Styx bubbles up like blood from its polluted soil, winding across the blighted plains, presenting a toxic, mind-leasing hazard, but also serving as a root of travel within Abaddon and far beyond. The most infamous location across the river Styx is the Drowning Court. This realm lies below the Styx's black waters, marked on the surface by a series of boats and artificial islands linked together by chains of moldering ropes. This realm is mobile, meandering along the currents of the Styx into bodies of water like the Sea of Lamentations or drifting up against desolate shorelines to remain docked for days or weeks at a time, all subject to Death's whims.
Plaguemere, Dominion of Pestilence. It is a realm of festering swamps, flooded forest and shallow, acidic oceans. In the heart of the realm lies the Throne of Flies, a towering edifice carved from a gigantic ancient corpse, though few remember if it was that of an ancient god, Protean or something else. The border between Plaguemere and the Sea of Lamentation is hazy, but generally defined by the point where the threat of acidic dissolution becomes greater than that of infestation or diseases.
The Withered Court, Dominion of Famine. It is a realm of biological and metaphysical horrors, a vast wound in Abaddon's landscape that lays bare the awful workings within. Towers of flesh and bones are slowly extruded from the depths with shrieking souls used as mortar to keep the Court's impossible buildings upright. At the center stands The Weeping Tower, a minaret of mucus and pus that pulsate, fluctuates, and trembles with internal lights and screams. Here the hideous experiments on the nature of the soul and its torture and destruction are carried out by its master and his servants.
Others, lesser realms exist within Abaddon, such as the personal realms of the Daemon Harbingers, direct servants of the Four Horsemen, though all of them ultimately serves the same purpose: to bring pain, suffering and torment upon the Petitioners (the name of the souls of the dead in the Afterlives) who found themselves in Abaddon following their judgment by Pharasma.
Most newly-arrived Petitioners die quickly, hunted down like animals by the Daemons of the realm, before being reborn as Daemons themselves, creating a never-ending cycle of pain and cruelty. Those who survived longer, whether by luck or by placing their own survival above all else, inevitably undergo their own transformations. In one way or another, Abaddon will have its due, for Hope did not exist in this realm, only terror and agony, delivered with cruel delight upon the souls of those who earned such torment.
Despite Abaddon being one of the three great Infernal Realms however, it was a rare thing for its inhabitants to ever mobilize in mass numbers. While the Daemons of Abaddon certainly had their fair share of of conquests within the Material Plane, for one of their Ruler was War incarnate after all, they tended to focus on bringing about the downfall of evil civilizations, delighting in bringing torments upon the Damned who yet lived just as much as upon those already dead. The populations of the conquered mortal kingdoms were then forced through various means into becoming more cruel and self-serving, bloating their souls with Sin as if carefully feeding pigs for slaughter, with much the same end result. Inevitably, those kingdoms would become almost devoid of life after centuries of pruning its population, until, satisfied, the Daemons would return to Abaddon, leaving behind shattered lands to serve as warnings to all others of the fate that awaited all who willingly damned themselves with Sin.
As of late however, Abaddon resembled more a kicked anthill than anything else. Legions upon legions of Daemons were gathered into armies, black citadels were carefully supplied while legions occupied them, and the entire realm looked as if it was readying for war… for a simple reason: it very much was.
There was no lost love between Daemons of Abaddon and the denizens of the other two Infernal Realms. Indeed, the focus on punishing the wicked of the Daemons of Abaddon made them quite eager to bring suffering upon the Demons of the Abyss and the Devils of Hell alike.
But for all of that, Abaddon has never fully gone to war as a cohesive whole. While the servants of Szuriel, The female Horseman of War, had waged many campaigns since her birth against Demons and Devils alike, gleefully fighting as a third side in the endless Blood War between Infernal Realms, the other Horsemen cared little about conquest. At most, the Horsemen of Pestilence, Apollyon, and Famine, Trelmarixian, sent their legions to test new creations and horrors they had created, but little else. The Horseman of Death, Charon, especially, embodied death by old age more than any other form of death, and as a result had little desire to actively bring about the end of others. As far as he was concerned, all things mortal would fall to him in time, and so he was more than happy to sit back, and let nature take its course. At times, he would even make deals with others that would seek him out, pushing their death back in exchange for various favors, even pushing back the death of civilizations and entire species, as long as they were willing to repay him for it. For he was Death, and Death was nothing if not patient.
And yet, for the first time, Abaddon was mobilizing for war. Not merely Szuriel's forces were readying themselves, but all Four of the Horsemen had made it clear that all of their forces were to be ready for battle at a moment's notice. For the first time, Petitioners of Abaddon found themselves almost ignored, as the daemons that would usually hunt them down were gathered into armies.
In the great slave city of Awaiting Consumption, the only city within Abaddon open to non-daemons, the Four Horsemen had gathered, their legions filling the streets as they discussed the changing times. The rise of a new Lord of the Eldritch was an unprecedented event, and their mother Nyarlathotep had seemed shockingly fond of the new king as well. Combined with the God's obvious intolerance for the evils of the Abyss, it was the personal beliefs of all Four of them that war was coming, though the talk they had with their mother on the subject made it clear the King didn't actually want it to begin yet.
When combined with the orders they received from his Messengers, it was clear that Abaddon wouldn't join the war immediately, even if it did start. The new God-King of the Eldritch wanted to starve the Abyss in case the war started by sending the souls of all those destined for it into Abaddon instead, while using the Daemons' legions to ensure that the Abyss wouldn't be able to steal the souls back.
It was a plan that was met with both approval and annoyance by the Horsemen. On the one hand, it made a lot of strategic sense to starve one's foe of resources and manpower, and all four Horsemen approved of the logic, especially Famine. On the other hand, it also forced Abaddon's forces to play almost entirely defensively, which did not please War, and mildly displeased Famine and Pestilence, who would have enjoyed wreaking havoc against the Abyss.
Death, meanwhile, cared little. At most, the thought of all the new souls being sent to Abaddon mildly intrigued him, but little more. In the end, there would be mass death in such a war, whether or not he personally acted offensively or defensively.
As a result, and as most often was the case in those times where all four of them were gathered, he played the role of mediator, calming the temper of the other three Horsemen and keeping them focused on the purpose of this meeting. Death, the oldest of the Four, naturally said little, but the other three had long since learnt, if at times begrudgingly, to heed his wisdom whenever he spoke up.
For hours, the meeting went on, going over all the minutiae of preparing a Plane as near-endless as Abaddon was for a war against a foe who, while by the looks of things heavily outnumbered by the coalition it would face, remained one of the greatest Power in the entire Multiverse… and Omniverse beyond that.
And then suddenly, they froze.
Everybody in Abaddon froze, from the lowest of Petitioner, to the mightiest of the Horsemen.
For a new presence had suddenly appeared, right above the city they were currently gathered in.
A presence unlike any they had ever felt… But one that none could mistake as anybody else.
The sheer, raw power of the being… The feeling of pure Authority radiating from him… The incomprehensible nature of his existence, standing far beyond almost all other lifeforms in Creation…
The Four Horsemen glanced at each other, and as one, they stood up, making their way to the nearest balcony of the castle they were in to look up at the floating form of the God looking upon all things beneath him with a Ruler's gaze.
Right and left eyes shining respectively like a glowing star and showing the darkest pit of the Void, the upper half of his face hidden under the shadows of his hood. Robes whose edges seemed to cut through Reality itself, showing the sight of spinning galaxies amidst the cosmic void of space. An Aura of power so immense that it made even the Four Horsemen shudder at the weight of it settled upon their very souls.
To look upon the God before them was to try and contemplate the full, endless nature of Azathoth's Creation. It was to try and comprehend all that has, is, and will ever exist. The full weight of Creation had a will, and its gaze was right now firmly settled upon all of them.
And then, the God spoke, his words bypassing their ears to flow straight into their minds, echoing deep within their souls, the space around the God shattering at the sound of his voice, countless reflections of different times, places, and events showing amongst the shattered shards of Space-Time Continuum.
"I AM AEON, GOD-KING OF THE ELDRITCH PANTHEON AND KINGDOM. AND YOU, DENIZENS OF ABADDON, ARE MINE TO RULE THROUGH MY AUTHORITY OVER NYARLATHOTEP, SOUL AND MESSENGER OF THE OUTER GODS."
His eyes seemed to narrow ever so slightly, the pressure upon them growing, their ears ringing as incomprehensible whispers tickled the edges of their minds with terrifying Truths.
"HOWEVER, I KNOW OF YOUR LAWS. OF YOUR CUSTOMS. ABADDON DOES NOT BEND BEFORE THE WEAK. IT DOES NOT BEND BEFORE THE MEEK. ASKING FOR OBEDIENCE IS NOT ENOUGH TO GUARANTEE IT. ONLY POWER WILL ENSURE RESPECT. ONLY THOSE WHO PROVES THEMSELVES THE MIGHTIEST WILL EARN THE OBEDIENCE OF THE PEOPLE OF ABADDON."
The God seemed to smile, the warmth of countless stars flowing within their bodies as he did.
"SO BE IT. I THUS PROPOSE A CHALLENGE: FOR A DAY, ABADDON AS A WHOLE SHALL UNITE. FOR A DAY? ALL OF ITS DENIZENS, FROM THE WEAKEST TO THE STRONGEST, WILL FIGHT AS ONE. ALL OF YOU SHALL FIGHT TOGETHER…" the God raised his right fist, a smirk on his lips. "AGAINST ME. ALONE, I CHALLENGE THE FULL MIGHT OF ABADDON! IF YOU MAKE ME BLEED BUT ONCE, I SHALL NEVER AGAIN SEEK TO IMPOSE MY WILL UPON YOU ALL. FOR NOW AND FOR THE REST OF ETERNITY, I SHALL LEAVE ABADDON AND ITS DENIZENS FREE TO RULE THEMSELVES. BUT IF YOU FAIL, IF AT THE END OF THE DAY NOT A DROP OF MY BLOOD HAS BEEN SPILLED… THEN ABADDON SHALL BEND THE KNEE BEFORE ME, NOW AND FOREVERMORE."
For a long moment, the words echoed in the minds of all living things within Abaddon. It felt as if Time had stopped, as if the realm itself had stopped breathing altogether before the enormity of what had been said.
A god, a single Deity, had challenged the full might of one of the Three Infernal Realms to an all-out fight.
It was madness.
It was insanity.
It was-
"ABADDON, TO WAR!"
-Glorious.
The scream echoed from Szuriel's lips, who drew her greatsword, Lamentation of the Faithless, and looked upon the God floating above with a look of pure delight and almost religious ecstasy upon her face.
In a blink of an eye, she spread her wings and flew towards the god, seeking to cut him in half.
Before she could even react, a large fist punched her in the face hard enough that all of Abaddon shook under the sheer power of the blow.
With wild, crazed laughter, the female Horseman of War flew backwards off into the distance, though none doubted she would come back quickly.
A second later, the three remaining Horsemen appeared around the God, all seeking to kill him.
A second after that, every living things in Abaddon seemed to roar as one, a scream of gleeful, bloodthirsty eagerness as they seized their weapons and made to charge the God, all of them rushing forward with a single thought on their mind:
To be the one that would make the King of the Outer Gods bleed.
And in the face of it all, Aeon, the Good Hunter, smiled.
Everything after that dissolved into pure, utter chaos for the next 24 hours as an entire realm went to war against a single man.
For the first time in its history, Abaddon went to war.
For the first time in history, Abaddon lost a war.
It said something about its inhabitants that not one of them regretted it.
A.N: Alright! Here is the next chapter in which we continue the events of Love Azathoth!
This time, we begin with the Bronze dragonflight, who in the past had a number of their eggs stolen from them by demons.
Needless to say, they are very eager to get back as many of their people as they can. So, with some background help from Aeon and Yog-Sothoth, they planned the equivalent of a smash and grab within the Abyss. The ritual that Nozdormu used effectively purified the majority of the Dragons from Abyssal corruption, while calling all of them straight to where Nozdormu is, purified or still corrupted.
For those wondering, the Eldritch text means: "Let my kin be free! Let them be free of mind! Of body! Of soul! Glory to Yog-Sothoth! Glory to the Gate and the Key!"
Of course, the Abyss didn't take this lying down, and now not one, but TWO Demon Lords are bearing down upon the assault force, each of them empowered by the fact that they have the "home field" advantage, so to speak.
Also, for those wondering, the monster that came out of impossible angles is a Hound of Tindalos, who serves Yog-Sothoth in Love Azathoth. I did mention in past chapters that various eldritch beings would help the dragons.
Also, the Summer twins finally fight their first Big Bad supernatural being! It… could be going worse? Though I'm pretty sure at least one of the twins would passionately disagree, right about now.Needless to say, that part of the story, she's not going to share it with Ruby and Yang when they finally meet again…
And finally, Abaddon. Where Aeon basically went "Hmm, how can I quickly gain the loyalty of an entire Infernal Realm?"
Also Aeon: "I know, I'll go full Shonen!"
It was super effective!*
Still, with all that being said, I hope you all enjoyed this update! Next time, more dragons, more demons, and the more important question: will Summer Rose successfully drown her embarrassment with cookies?