Chapter 642: The Queen’s Surrender

Realizing she had fallen into the enemy’s trap, the Lamia Queen was merely surprised and not overly worried. She also had confidence in her own strength— a newly appointed lord was at most at the level of a true god, with most being demi-god demons. It was extremely difficult for ordinary demon lords to create avatars like true gods; thus, the only forces they could deploy beyond their true forms were soul projections akin to extensions of a true god’s will. To seize and control a realm, a soul projection with only two or three-tenths of the true form’s power was far from enough, let alone those with even weaker projections. Therefore, to achieve her goal this time, the Lamia Queen sent out her true form. Having risen from an ordinary Lamia through countless schemes and battles, she had long developed an unshakable composure, especially as she was one of the most skilled deceivers among the abyssal Lamias. This demeanor satisfied Donald, who was observing her secretly, as he already considered this demon lord as a future subordinate. When they arrived at the Howling Fortress of the Wolfman King and saw it still in its original state, the Lamia Queen confirmed that the new lord had indeed just taken power and hadn’t had time to transform her castle, so she had to use the previous lord’s space. “It’s easy to imagine such a lord isn’t very strong, right?” As the Lamia Queen Melissa muttered this to herself, a figure wrapped in a cloak appeared before the fortress. “Are you the new lord of Layer 422? Wasn’t it said it was an Abyssal Demon Master? Do you prefer to take a human form?” “That’s not right…” While puzzled, the demon lord instinctively sensed a crisis and saw that the space around her had been sealed by layers of divine light—so powerful that it was beyond anything she had encountered since becoming an abyssal lord. “Who are you?” Hearing the Lamia Queen’s astonished question, Donald lifted his new cloak, revealing his true appearance. Seeing his dark skin, near-perfect figure, and handsome face, Melissa immediately exclaimed, “A dark elf? No. Which deity’s avatar are you?” No demon could fail to recognize the divine aura of a true god, as they, as beings of the lower realms, were inherently opposed to the true gods of the upper realms.

“You may call me a Demon Hunter, as the one who will soon become your master. I also have an official title in the Pantheon—Nature Guardian!” Donald said slowly.
The Lamia Queen was initially shocked upon hearing this, then immediately displayed her striking figure and sneered mockingly, “How amusing! Though the title ‘Nature Guardian’ sounds impressive, I’ve heard of it in the Abyss as well. But to think you can defeat me with just a mere demi-god avatar is nothing but delusional!”
Rather than getting angry at the Demon Lord’s mockery, Donald explained, “Firstly, you’re wrong—I’m not here to defeat you but to subdue you directly. Secondly, even if it’s just an avatar, it’s not something a mere lower-tier demon can withstand!”
With that, Donald snapped his fingers lightly, and the surroundings underwent a drastic change.
“What’s going on?”
Feeling herself instantly pulled into another space filled with powerful rules and divine forces, Melissa screamed out in alarm.
There was only one possibility for such an environment: a true god’s realm.
“How could you bring a god’s realm to the Abyss? Do you intend to descend into a demon god?”
Donald didn’t bother explaining the existence of such an otherworldly realm beyond even the upper gods’ imagination. Relying on his authority as a semi-master of that realm, he imposed layer after layer of rule-based suppression on the Lamia Queen, the ruler of the Abyss.
In the end, the 20-foot-tall female demon queen barely had the strength to speak, forced to kneel under the oppressive rules of the upper god’s realm.
Feeling humiliation and fear, the Lamia Queen cried out, “You can’t kill me! I bear the marks of Osthadius and Grant. If I die, they’ll immediately sense it and track down the killer’s presence. Even if you hide in a corner of the multiverse, you’ll still be found!”
“Don’t worry! I won’t kill you. Didn’t I say I’d subdue you? This is a contract prepared for you. By signing it, you can regain your freedom and continue as your Lamia Queen and ruler of Layer 570!”
With a kind expression, Donald summoned a contract forged from divine power and floated it in front of Melissa.
But after reading its contents, the Lamia Queen’s expression grew increasingly grim.
Even with her years of experience in scheming and political manipulation, she couldn’t find any flaw in this contract.

The other party suppressed her without even lifting a hand, placing her within a divine kingdom. Their strength and wisdom far surpassed those of ordinary true gods. It was undeniable that she had no choice but to submit, but signing such a powerful supreme contract meant she would have to serve them forever, until one of them perished. At the thought of this, Melissa was extremely unwilling.

“Have you thought it through? You should know that my contract is quite fair even across the entire multiverse. As long as you don’t want to betray me, aside from having to do my bidding, you’re completely free otherwise! This is far better than those harsh master-slave contracts!”

Donald understood the mindset of a powerful being like the Lamia Queen well. Powerful beings valued their dignity. So, although this contract had no loopholes, it still offered relative freedom and contained no humiliating demands.

Melissa’s expression changed repeatedly, but in the end, she chose to yield and accept Donald’s terms. Compared to bending over to Osthadius in order to retaliate against Grant and find a powerful ally, having such an agreeable true god as her master was at least better than enduring the brutal and rude advances of a destructive monarch. Thinking about how she had endured even that situation, this contract didn’t seem so unacceptable anymore!

Donald watched as the contract took effect, activating the power of the River of Fate, before smiling as he lifted the restraining rules from Melissa’s body.

“Now that you’re one of us, get familiar with the environment here first. Then I’ll take you to meet your companions. In the future, your main task will be to communicate with them and carry out the missions I assign!”

With that, he showed her around the general surroundings of the Kingdom of Truth before leaving the divine kingdom and returning to the Howling Fortress to meet Astymos, the Lord of Hell, who was fighting against the Will of the Abyss.

In fact, the Lamia Queen’s mistake was her overconfidence in her own strength—she dismissed the new lord as insignificant and, thinking she had an advantage, tried to use her seductive tactics on Donald. Unaware that the Truth Book and the Book of Fate, two high-tier divine artifacts, acted as a shield, her previously effective methods suddenly failed. Even as a higher god, she couldn’t influence Donald’s mind through mere mental seduction.

Donald took advantage of the time when Melissa was harboring malicious intentions, using the rules of the Hell dimension as cover to set a trap in the divine kingdom, easily capturing the Lamia Queen.

If Melissa could launch an attack first rather than trying to achieve her goals through temptation, Donald would still have to put in extra effort even if he managed to subdue the Lamia Queen in the end.
When the two of Donald’s servants, both descended from demons, met, they had different motives: Astymos wanted to get hold of the Lamia Queen, while Melissa aimed to use this companion to win her master’s favor and ease restrictions on her own.
Donald didn’t try to guess their intentions. He asked the newly appointed Lord of Hell, “Astymos, how is things progressing?”
Still in his previous state, Astymos replied, “Master, rest assured. I’ve already taken control of over 80% of the core of Hell. Even if the Will of the Abyss mobilizes greater forces, it can no longer regain control of Layer 422!”
Hearing this, Donald smiled and said, “Good work! Since Melissa needs to secretly infiltrate the Abyss to gather information for us, it’s not convenient for her to show up right now. I’ll send her away. Until we complete the final step, I’ll still be responsible for protecting the safety of the Hell dimension!”
“As for you, Melissa, as long as you don’t interfere with my plans, you can act freely. Seek out as many benefits as possible. With your skills, I believe you shouldn’t face any danger!”
The Lamia Queen had already learned from Donald about their ongoing plan and was furious at her true god master’s audacity, though she also felt a hint of admiration.
Even as a demon lord with the power of a true god, she wouldn’t dare to rebel against the Abyss. The Will of the Abyss didn’t even need to take action itself—just sending one of its three rulers to send an avatar would suffice to eliminate the source of trouble.
But her master clearly had great confidence in himself, showing no fear even facing the hostility of the entire Abyss.
After sending the uncertain Lamia Queen away, the struggle between Astymos and the Will of the Abyss reached a critical moment.
If it were a full-scale confrontation with the Will of the Abyss, not even ten or a hundred Astymoses could succeed, as it was a mighty will that surpassed even that of higher gods.

But the weakness of the Will of the Abyss lies in the fact that it is merely a combination of the wills arising from numerous abyssal planes and the forces of evil and chaos; these wills are usually scattered. This gave Donald an opportunity to let Astymos act first without alerting the Abyss, establishing his own rules in Plane 422, before suddenly rebelling and seizing control of part of the plane’s core before the Will of the Abyss could react. With Donald using a high-tier divine artifact to create a barrier, it was initially difficult for the Will of the Abyss to drive out Astymos’s will, while the other wills of the Abyss were isolated and could only control demons to break this blockade. Unexpectedly, due to their greed, these powerful demon lords were almost all drawn away by the emergence of the King of the Undead, thus neglecting Astymos and the Hellish Plane, the main culprit behind the Abyss’s wrath.