Chapter 636: The Price of Loyalty
The 422nd layer of the Abyss is considered one of the larger realms among them, with a size at least equivalent to the main world before it merged with the Totem Continent, or even larger.
However, the strength of an Abyss realm depends not only on its size but also on the number and strength of its inhabitants, as well as its environment. Although Layer 422 is large, it only has a few million wolves and human slaves among its creatures, with the rest being mindless beasts. Thus, in the eyes of many demon lords, this layer is utterly desolate.
Moreover, the strongest beings in this realm are concentrated among a few foreign undead and demonic creatures. Among the wolf tribes, aside from the king Yenogu, no other demigod has emerged.
The power of the Doomsday Mantra exceeded Donald’s expectations. Even just the fragments that leaked out were difficult for him, as an incarnation of a true god, to resist head-on. If the full power of the Doomsday Mantra were unleashed, it would likely destroy most of Layer 422, if not entirely.
Fortunately, as the rule suppression in this layer grows stronger, the scope of the battle isn’t as widespread as imagined. It has only caused severe damage to the Howling Peaks.
Regardless, this place is originally a gathering ground for the undead sent by Dorisen, combining the cold and deathly forces from the Pale Kingdom. Once Amps takes control of the realm, it will be cleaned up again to remove all negative energy. That’s why Donald chose this location for the battle—so he wouldn’t have to worry too much once fighting begins.
The intense battle was temporarily interrupted by this energy storm. Both sides focused on resisting its effects.
Donald’s incarnation, also affected by the Doomsday Storm caused by the power of the Doomsday Mantra, was now in a poor state. The cloak that concealed his identity had disappeared, and even a magical item manifested from a Book of Truth couldn’t survive such a powerful force capable of threatening even upper gods.
Fortunately, Donald had a stronger power than Fury of Nature protecting him secretly, so he suffered no harm. But without the cloak, his true appearance was revealed, allowing Oscar to easily trace his real identity.
Even magical equipment couldn’t escape this, let alone ordinary clothes, which were even more vulnerable. Thus, nudity was inevitable, and he had no choice but to use his divine power to create another set of clothes. As a human who had been deified, he wasn’t like demons, who had no sense of shame, and he wasn’t used to fighting naked against enemies.
If it were a beautiful goddess, things would certainly be pleasant, but now he was facing Oscar’s immortal avatar, the King of Undead, in the form of the lecherous Yenogu. At the sight of him, Donald felt an immediate urge to destroy him completely.
Faced with Oscar’s enraged avatar, Donald said fearlessly, “Oscar, it was foolish of you to come here. If you withdraw now, you can still save yourself a way out. Otherwise, what awaits you is an unimaginable ordeal!”
Seeing the direct threat from the true god’s avatar, Oscar laughed angrily and said, “What boldness! I’m curious to see what this little true god avatar can actually do. The power of the Doomsday Mantra isn’t something that can be easily mastered!”
With that, he uttered another Doomsday Mantra.
It turned out that in addition to the one Doomsday Mantra remembered by his avatar, Oscar had also had his true form embed one of the Doomsday Mantra runes in Yenogu’s body. After all, only beings of a higher divine rank could sustain such a mantra for long. Lower-ranked beings could only hold it temporarily before being destroyed by its power.
While this would cause this rare true god immortal body to collapse soon, it allowed it to release the power of the Doomsday Mantra twice—something Oscar had to do out of necessity.
But for the King of Undead, who had lost the Book of Doomsday, each use of the Doomsday Mantra he remembered reduced his supply. He was willing to bear such a huge cost this time because he was pushed to the brink by Donald. And if he could defeat his opponent, he might have a chance to take back the Book of Doomsday and the source of evil—making it all worthwhile.
Unexpecting Oscar to conjure another Doomsday Mantra, Donald immediately realized things were getting troublesome. Under normal circumstances, if he couldn’t stop this apocalyptic force from erupting, the 422nd dimension that Amps had just mastered would be ruined, and most of his plans would lose their value.
But if one wants to counter powerful attacks like the Doomsday Mantra that can threaten higher gods, one must use forces of equal magnitude, which would reveal their possession of a powerful artifact and thus attract the envy of the strong beings across the multiverse. However, Donald now has a better solution. Facing such a great danger, he simply smiled, and suddenly a black leather scroll resembling shadow appeared in his hand, adorned with thirteen powerful runes that looked like falling stars. With a flash of divine light, Donald lifted the scroll and tore off a rune that seemed to be on fire. It transformed into a stream of light and headed toward the Doomsday Mantra emitted by the King of the Undead. Another silent explosion of energy occurred—the power of this burning rune was clearly even greater than that of Oscar’s. After neutralizing the opponent’s energy flow, it surged in a destructive force toward Oscar’s location. After all, Donald had drawn upon the power of one of the runes from the Artifact of Doomsday, releasing the Doomsday Mantra at the cost of its own destruction, making it far more intense than what Oscar had unleashed. Since he already had his own Artifact of Doomsday, the one created by Oscar became a disposable tool on par with a high-tier artifact, usable at any time to deal with the King of the Undead—clearly not to be wasted. “Damnous deity! How dare you destroy my Artifact of Doomsday! Are you willing to let the power of the Doomsday Mantra vanish completely?” Seeing his masterpiece treated in such a way, Oscar roared in fury, heartbroken to the point of bleeding. But he knew that the powerful rules of the Doomsday Mantra locked onto its target, and even if he tried to teleport away at that moment, the force of doom would still traverse space to pursue him, seeking endless conflict. As its creator, Oscar understood well the formidable trait of the Doomsday Mantra—it would not disappear unless its target was destroyed. He wouldn’t be foolish enough to try to evade it; that would only be futile and increasingly dangerous. Once the Doomsday Mantra induced changes in the surrounding environment while pursuing its target and absorbed enough catastrophic energy, it would become unprecedentedly powerful, potentially triggering a series of disasters, even destroying several major planes before finally coming to an end. Therefore, the best way to stop this force was to let it destroy a target.
For example, a true god forced into a desperate situation can throw out an avatar or divine artifact imbued with his own essence to defend itself. Once such avatar and artifact are destroyed, his true form may survive. Moreover, if one possesses a powerful higher-tier divine artifact or is already at the level of a supreme god, they can gradually neutralize the power of the Doomsday Mantra. However, with the power of a higher-tier divine artifact or a supreme god, Oscar wouldn’t need to unleash the power of the Doomsday Mantra at all when facing opponents at the lower god level, nor would his treasures be stolen. Thus, Oscar could only choose the first method—finding something to replace himself if destroyed. Just then, the King of the Immortals roared and charged headlong toward the destructive Doomsday energy. At the same time, a thick black smoke, as if possessed by evil spirits, instantly emerged from Yenogu’s body and rushed back rapidly, quickly taking the form of a demon with a sheep’s head. Anyway, this immortal godly body, having carried the power of the Doomsday Mantra, was about to collapse on its own. For Oscar, it was better to make use of it to defend against this attack. By then, the body of the King of the Werewolves had already collided with the power of the Doomsday Mantra. Under Oscar’s deliberate control, this immortal true godly body exploded instantly, destroying half of the Doomsday Mantra’s power. But the remaining half still pursued Oscar’s avatar, which had left the King of the Werewolves’ body, without giving up. Clearly, this king of immortal creatures miscalculated once again. Having had its power drained, its only remaining option was for its own immortal true godly body to explode, but even that had limited strength—insufficient to destroy the entire Doomsday Mantra’s power. “Damn it…” Feeling that even the explosion of a true godly body couldn’t completely annihilate this Doomsday energy, Oscar cursed loudly through the air, then suddenly grabbed Dorison, the King of the Ghouls, his most loyal subordinate, and threw him at the remaining Doomsday energy. “Dorison, my most loyal servant, it’s time for you to serve your master!” As he grabbed Dorison, Oscar used the strong bond between master and servant to instantly cover the King of the Ghouls’ entire body with his own essence. Even if Dorison tried to resist, he would inevitably be caught by the Doomsday energy. Besides, the King of the Ghouls was incredibly loyal to his master, Oscar. Throughout the process, Dorison, forced by his master, knew full well he was going to die, yet he didn’t show the slightest sign of resistance.
Clearly, for Oscar, its creator, the King of Ghouls was loyal to the extent of being willing to sacrifice himself at any moment. Without even having the chance to say a word, the fate of Dorisen, the Lord of the Pale Lands on the 421st level of the Abyss and the King of Ghouls—a powerful undead being who had reached the level of a true god—came to an end at that very moment. Seeing Oscar’s selfish behavior and the King of Ghouls’ selfless sacrifice to save his master, Donald felt utter contempt for Oscar. Faced with such a loyal subordinate, even if he chose to die himself, he would never allow that subordinate to take his place, which only strengthened his desire to kill this twisted and perverse demon.