Chapter 365: The Clash of the Abyssal Lords

The King of Force Demons didn’t make Donald and the others wait long. Within ten days, the demonic army from the Barbarian Demon Realm had arrived at the valley where the Necromancer Castle stood—this was the area where the two realms currently overlapped. It was also a place where neither of the Abyssal Lords could rely on the power of their own domains, allowing for a fair battle!
“The show’s about to begin. We can no longer stay in Senior Chikofield’s Necromancer Castle!”
“Alright, see you then!”
The High Lich had originally intended to persuade the three of them to leave temporarily, as once the Bone Duke entered, his formidable strength and control over his subordinates would easily reveal any signs of outsiders in the castle!
Although Donald knew he had the protection of the Book of Truth, allowing him to hide in the castle and shield himself from the senses of a demi-god-like immortal being, he still didn’t want to constantly drain his divine energy. So, the three of them decided to hide in the valleys surrounding the castle, observing and waiting for the two Abyssal Lords to arrive. Once the battle began, they would look for an opportunity to take advantage!
With Chikofield’s advance warning about the demonic activity, the armies of immortals from the Bone Wasteland had also begun to arrive. By now, no less than tens of millions of immortal troops had gathered around the Necromancer Castle.
Though this massive number included a significant proportion of low-grade skeletons and newborn zombies that would disintegrate at the slightest touch—about over 50%—there were still many elite black-iron rank skeleton warriors, as well as ghoul and skeleton mages with bronze-level strength, making up the core forces.
With such a large number of expendable troops in front, they could at least wear down the enemy’s large groups of minor demons.
From an outsider’s perspective, both sides seemed evenly matched. Excluding the similar overall combat strength, the undead had a numerical advantage, while the demons possessed relatively greater individual strength. Thus, the outcome of this battle was still uncertain—any unexpected event on the battlefield could determine the winner!
By the ninth day, all the high-ranking demons from the Barbarian Demon Realm had arrived. They ordered the minor demons to set up camps on the other side of the great valley for their powerful demonic leaders to reside in.
As soon as these high-ranking demons arrived, a foul and tyrannical aura spread far and wide with their presence.

Such a powerful aura couldn’t be achieved merely by gathering legends and golden demons together. Thus, Donald easily deduced that one of the main characters in this grand drama—Ahaz, the King of Demons, lord of the eighth layer of the abyss, and the demi-god demon Skullcrusher—had arrived.

When the demon army reached the battlefield, they didn’t charge in immediately as usual but instead gathered restlessly in front of the gorge under the restraint of the higher-ranking demons. Outsiders, not understanding why, thought perhaps these demons had changed their ways. Unbeknownst to them, Skullcrusher, who had remained hidden in his camp, was taking the opportunity to gain more power to gain an advantage in the upcoming battle!

However, this situation didn’t last long. On the eleventh day, with the arrival of Yezin, the Bone Duke, who had received multiple urgent reports from Chikofield, battle was imminent. The army of the undead sent a hundred thousand fodder soldiers to test the enemy’s strength first!

The demon army of just a few hundred thousand faced tens of millions of undead creatures without any fear. For the attack of a hundred thousand undead, the demon commanders from the Barbarian Demon Realm sent only a hundred or so bronze demons along with over ten thousand minor demons to confront them!

The first battle, which was mostly a test, ended quickly, with the demons emerging as the clear victors. Although the Bone Wasteland had a hundred thousand undead, most of them were low-level fodder aside from a few elite bronze commanders, whose strength was only at the early to middle stages of black iron. Even a single ordinary strong adult from the main world could defeat them with caution, not to mention those minor demons whose strength was mostly above the advanced stages of black iron and who had exceptional close-combat skills.

With the help of hundreds of bronze demons providing quasi-magical support, it took them losing eighty percent of their minor demons to completely wipe out that hundred-thousand-strong undead army. Seeing that the demons still used the same old tactics without any innovation, the Bone Duke confidently ordered his commanders to lead their troops into battle, while he himself challenged his old rival, Ahaz!

In fact, in such conflicts between abyssal realms, the ultimate outcome often depends largely on battles between their lords. Otherwise, even if the enemy manages to invade and reach the lord’s castle, if they can’t defeat that lord, they won’t be able to seize much of the realm’s territory!

So the Bone Duke still intended to engage in a real fight—whether to advance or defend his territory depended entirely on whether Ahaz’s strength was truly as weakened as the rumors claimed!
“Poor muscle-brained fool, do you dare come out and fight?”
Standing only nine feet tall, the Bone Duke wore magnificent noble robes, floating above the canyon. His exposed bones shone with a pure gold color, and a powerful soul flame emitted a pale blue glow from his empty eye sockets, making him appear extremely terrifying and eerie!
In contrast, the golden-level Skeleton Kings and Zombie Lords under him, though glowing faintly with gold light, were still far from having their entire bodies turned into gold!
This provocation in front of both sides greatly boosted the morale of the Undead forces. Although undead armies didn’t really need morale, it was still good to suppress the enemy’s confidence!
A deep, angry voice came from the Demon Camp.
“If you want to fight, then fight—just don’t regret it!”
Hearing Ahaz’s reply, the Bone Duke felt something was off, but the arrow was already on the string; he had no choice but to shoot. Besides, this wasn’t his first encounter with the King of Strength—there had been dozens of battles over the centuries, and both sides knew each other’s strengths well. He didn’t believe Ahaz could suddenly rise to a level where he could defeat him!
So the Bone Duke prepared thoroughly, waiting for his opponent to appear!
“Boom!”
The King of Strength struck with thunderous force, his explosive power tearing through the tents as his massive body shot like a cannonball toward the Bone Duke in mid-air.
The Bone Duke wasn’t to be outdone either. Without any intention of dodging, he chose to meet the attack head-on.
The twenty-foot-tall, mutated King of Strength was vastly larger than the nine-foot-tall Bone Duke, but the latter’s bone body, seemingly forged from gold, contained a terrifying strength comparable to that of a mammoth, allowing him to stand toe-to-toe with the mighty King of Strength!