Chapter 149: Descent (2)
The ground trembled slightly as a colossal figure struggled to squeeze out through the Portal. It was a giant standing over twenty meters tall, its head crowned with two massive, curved horns pointing straight at the sky. Its dark skin looked as though it were clad in a layer of thick, heavy black armor.
Intricate blood-red runes marked its exposed black skin. These crimson runes flared periodically, illuminating parts of its torso to reveal countless tiny black blood vessels pulsing beneath the surface. Thick white mist puffed idly from its broad nostrils, and its powerful physique seemed to harbor the divine strength to overturn mountains.
Its blood-red eyes swept the surroundings, and many of the nearby demons gave it a wide berth.
A Fallen Titan! Lynn's eyes lit up. He hadn't expected to find such a rare prize.
This was a legendary bloodline creature, extremely rare even within the Abyss. They were rumored to be the descendants of a batch of divine primordial titans that had fallen into the Abyss.
Because of their race, Fallen Titans had an extremely low birth rate, keeping their numbers scarce in the Abyss.
The one before him had likely not yet reached adulthood. An adult Fallen Titan stood at least forty meters tall, and it was said that the purer a Fallen Titan's bloodline, the taller it grew.
Besides, this was a titan!
An absolutely legendary life form.
Lynn's heart fluttered.
He cast a clarity spell on himself to cool his mind, then calmly brainstormed four different schemes of deception.
Lynn's eyes flickered constantly as he discarded them one by one.
New ideas kept surfacing in his mind, only to be tossed aside.
Even a discarded fingernail from a legendary life form would be top-tier research material.
That was from a wizard's perspective, of course. Yet even for a demon lord, a subordinate with a legendary bloodline was incredibly rare; once matured, it would become a formidable combatant or a worthy challenger.
"Alright, stop plotting. Your brain is practically glowing," Dyo sighed.
Watching Lynn continuously cast clarity spells on himself until his head flashed like a beacon, Dyo—who had once ruled an empire and witnessed countless devious tricks—knew exactly what he was scheming.
Lynn masked his embarrassment with a smile. "Well, this titan is just really big."
"If you want the Fallen Titan, I can give it to you," Dyo said, glancing at him.
Lynn's eyes brightened, then quickly dimmed.
Dyo was agreeing far too readily; there had to be a catch.
"Then what is the price?"
Lynn asked.
After a moment of silence, Dyo said, "Two conditions. First, help me invade this plane. I can sense that it is vast and filled with powerful creatures."
Dyo looked toward the distant sky, where two giant dragons were locked in a fierce battle.
"Very well." Lynn feigned prolonged contemplation before finally nodding in agreement.
Dyo didn't expose his playacting. It wasn't as though she had never dealt with wizards before. Constructing this kind of summoning array cost a wizard virtually nothing, and it carried no real price.
Since cooperating with demons was an old routine for the wizards of the Abyss Wizard Academy, the moment she arrived, she sensed that she wasn't the first demon to descend upon this plane.
"The second condition: become my daughter's teacher." Dyo looked at Lynn.
Lynn narrowed his eyes. This time he wasn't feigning thought; he was genuinely considering the offer.
He had intentionally put on a thoughtful act earlier just to give Dyo a sense of accomplishment in seeing through him. He refused to believe she didn't know how little it cost wizards to summon demons.
The second condition, however, was no simple matter.
Becoming Kathryn's teacher meant forging a genuinely close relationship. At this stage, however, Dyo's assistance would benefit him far more.
"I'm not even a formal wizard yet. I could introduce Kathryn to a real wizard," Lynn replied after a moment of thought.
"I don't want anyone else. I only want you." Dyo stared straight at him.
Lynn thought for a long time before nodding. He looked toward the distant kobold tribe. "Then we have a deal."
"We have a deal."
"Flesh, fresh flesh!"
The summoned demons grew restless, sensing the exuberant vitality radiating from the massive gathering of lives not far away.
To them, the intense attraction was like a fragrant, meaty bone dangled before a pack of starving dogs. Had Dyo not been suppressing them, the demons would have already rushed over to start the slaughter.
"Attack. All living creatures ahead are your spoils of war." Dyo issued the command.
Unable to wait any longer, the demons swarmed toward the kobold and gnoll tribes.
Some demons even repeatedly used blink abilities to accelerate their advance.
As the statue lit up, the sound of surging tides echoed from the void.
A giant eye gradually condensed out of the nothingness, radiating an intensely oppressive presence.
The entire mountain range felt as though it were being watched by that single eye.
Sensing something was amiss, the black dragon in the sky suddenly let out a shrill screech.
Damn it, just what kind of abominations had these people summoned to subjugate it?
"My offerings—" Maesys froze.
That colossal single eye scanned the mountain range back and forth dozens of times.
Where was his kobold tribe?
What happened to the promised buffet of at least ten thousand kobolds!
Crossing planes to descend consumed a massive amount of power. Without offerings, this entire trip would be a dead loss.
Suddenly, Maesys noticed something.
"The dragon in the sky is off-limits," Lynn reminded Maesys.
"What's so interesting about a little lizard? I just noticed something fun."
Maesys's giant eyeball rolled as he spotted something amusing.
In the distance, at the edge of the mountain range.
A golden torrent of cavalry charged into the foothills.
The Count of Mount Heidu flew at the very front. His cavalrymen gazed up with adoring reverence at the figure in the sky; that purple-gold robe was the battle dress of their deepest faith.
It was said that the Count of Mount Heidu had originally been an ordinary commoner, serving as the most inspirational rags-to-riches model in the entire empire.
He had fought his way through bloody battlefields, earning a personal audience with the King, who bestowed upon him the title of military count along with vast tracts of land.
Countless commoners idolized him.
Suddenly, a ripple of blue light washed down from the sky ahead.
The Count of Mount Heidu abruptly raised his head, a fierce glint flashing in his eyes.
He drew the longsword at his waist, its blade coated in a layer of silvery ripples, and slashed outward with all his might!
The sword strike was sweeping and ferocious. The air was practically torn in half, and a violent gale whipped up a tempest that flattened large swathes of the tree canopy on both sides as the longsword transformed into a bolt of silver lightning erupting from the ground.
The silver lightning plunged into the wave of blue light, vanishing like a stone dropped into the sea.
"Impossible!" the Count of Mount Heidu blurted out.
The next moment, the blue light crashed down from the sky, swatting him out of midair and straight into the earth, leaving a deep crater behind.