Chapter 686: The Iron Duke
Although the information provided by the Lord of Glory was vague, Donald already had a plan in mind. Matthews was likely a manifestation of the Lord of Glory, while Ivan was a former subordinate god. Both were in a state of rebirth. To seize the immense power of the Lord of Glory, Matthews was tricked by the Lord of Dawn into becoming a demon god. However, the Lord of Dawn’s goal was clearly to ensure Matthews’ complete destruction in his confrontation with the other gods. Yet, as a former manifestation of the Lord of Glory, Matthews managed to escape from certain death, though he had to become a demon god to avoid Ivan’s traps!
As a former subordinate, later friend, and now enemy, Matthews naturally distrusted and resented Ivan, who in turn feared Matthews greatly. Desiring to fully obtain the power once belonging to the Lord of Glory and advance further on the path to supreme divinity, Ivan would stop at nothing to harm Matthews in return for past kindness.
Even though Matthews had fallen to the side of his greatest enemy and become a demon god, he remained a thorn in Ivan’s side—something that had to be removed to achieve peace.
Since the River of Darkness could not yet connect the main world with the higher realms, it was difficult to comprehend its power in the divine kingdoms. Asstimos’ projection was out and had not returned, and it was unknown whether his mission had been successful. Taking this opportunity, Donald decided to strengthen his control over the River of Darkness to gain an advantage in future encounters.
Strictly speaking, the River of Darkness was under his control—even the higher gods could hardly take it away. But “difficult” did not mean “impossible,” so caution was necessary!
Meanwhile, the demon possessed by the projection of the King of Hell had already passed through the passages of the Plain of Endless Abysses and arrived directly at the fourth layer of the Abyss: the Great Abyss.
In the era of the ancient demons, when the Abyss was vast but lacked many layers, most of the initial inhabitants of the bottomless abyss preferred to stay in the Plain of Endless Abysses while secretly exploring the deep pits leading to lower layers, aiming to claim more territory.
But some impulsive demons favored a more direct approach. They mobilized many of their kind to carry out a meticulously planned massive magical project, attempting to dig a tunnel deep into the bottomless abyss to reach its surface and connect most of its regions.
The disaster caused by this reckless action was unpredictable, shaking the entire abyssal realm. It even claimed the lives of twelve ancient demon lords. But as the uprising subsided and the dust cleared, a cavern-like fissure that seemed to extend infinitely downward appeared in the abyss. Exploration of this vast crack revealed countless teleportation portals scattered across its steep, hanging rock walls, each leading to different layers of the bottomless abyss. The Great Abyss could be regarded as a transit point connecting most of the lower layers of the abyssal realms, resembling the hollow cylindrical area at the center of a spiral staircase in certain buildings on Earth—both from above and below, the sight was breathtaking. Only, the abyssal “building” was far too massive, complex, and chaotic to exhibit such spiral beauty! For explorers from outside the abyss, the Great Abyss remained a mysterious and unfathomable existence, less popular than the Vast Abyss Plains of Pazunia on the first layer of the abyss. At least the portal pathways to various realms in the Vast Abyss Plains were relatively fixed, though they still couldn’t guarantee a safe transfer to the desired realm, risking accidental arrival in unpredictable and dangerous areas. For abyssal demons, however, they preferred using the teleportation portals in the Great Abyss to travel between different parts of the abyss. Thus, from the emergence of this layer onward, competition over the Great Abyss sparked numerous large-scale battles within the abyss. Although the ancient demons had once reached an agreement regarding its use, the rebellious new demons could not tolerate such cooperation. Exploring the Great Abyss was one of the most perilous acts in this realm, yet also one of the most rewarding adventures. Some demon lords claimed that many of the extensions of the Great Abyss were their domains, but the infinite depth of this layer made such claims impossible to fulfill, even for entities like the three giants of the abyss! As a result, these competing demon lords preferred to send their minions to guard the teleportation portals leading to specific areas rather than other neglected, vast regions of their own layer.
These abyssal forces remain in the areas they protect and do not interfere excessively with one another. However, due to the chaos in the world of demons, many still cannot resist attacking their rivals. Thus, this realm has become the most persistent and vast battlefield in the abyss. Falling debris and the corpses of slain demons pose a serious threat here; it’s possible that the moment you step through a portal to a relatively safe plane, some unidentified object might crash down, disrupting spatial laws and causing unknown changes in teleportation.
This situation changed with the rise of the Fallen Monarch Mathius. At least in the territory controlled by this powerful demon god, safety through the use of portals is largely guaranteed.
The Fallen Monarch has occupied a large portion of the fourth layer and is the most influential among all forces involved in the affairs of the Great Abyss. Essentially, the vast area from the second layer to the twenties belongs to his control. To travel between these planes, one must obtain permission from Mathius’s subordinates, who are in charge of guarding the portals.
Unlike most other demon lords, Mathius’s subordinates are mostly intelligent beings who have fallen from other planes, with humanoid races from the main world being the most common. As a result, they generally lack the chaotic tendency of demons to kill for the sake of killing, instead tending toward orderly or neutral evil factions that kill for their own interests.
If one can decipher the traps in their language, these guardians can even be more trustworthy than humans from the main world.
So, if you want to travel to these planes in the shallower layers of the abyss, bribery or relationships built through prior transactions are the best ways to communicate with these guardians. Of course, getting them to owe you a favor is an even better strategy, as it’s more reliable than simple bribery.
At this time, the demon inhabited by Astymos’s projection entered the Great Abyss through a crack in the Vast Abyss Plain. What he was looking for was Mathius’s Fallen Kingdom, the 19th layer of the abyss that leads to the Fallen Monarch’s stronghold.
This is a divine kingdom that has fallen into the abyss—once Mathius’s divine kingdom in the heavens.
Compared to many large abyssal planes, Mathius’s Fallen Kingdom is not particularly large among the numerous planes of the abyssal world, but it is still as big as an ordinary mid-tier god’s kingdom.
Most likely because the realm of the gods as a whole declined into the abyss, this pleased the Will of the Abyss, which granted the ruler of this plane virtual divine powers on par with those of larger planes. This was the foundation that allowed Matthews to rise to become one of the Fallen Monarchs and the Three Tyrants of the Abyss.
As a region of utmost importance, standing outside the portal to Matthews’ Fallen Kingdom plane was none other than his most loyal servant, the Iron Duke Dispat.
Dispat was not one of the followers Matthews acquired during his time in the upper realms. In fact, when Matthews was still a god in the celestial realm, he had few followers in the multiverse—no proper religious organization at all—and was an obscure true god in his home world, rarely mentioned.
Yet Matthews’ own power continued to grow steadily, which piqued the curiosity and envy of other gods. Otherwise, after the revelation of the Evil Origin, not so many true gods would have succumbed to temptation and turned against Matthews!
Dispat used to be a noble in his home world. But due to his kindness—or perhaps cowardice—he held a high position without the cunning and tactics befitting one of his rank. As a result, he was seen as weak and easy to exploit by those he trusted. He not only lost his status and wealth but was also forced into exile, becoming a ruined noble.
Though enraged by being betrayed by his loyal subordinates, Dispat did not abandon his beliefs. He resolved to become a powerful professional and reclaim everything that belonged to him. After enduring numerous conspiracies and hardships during his years in exile, during one adventure, driven by the immense profits of a discovered treasure, he suffered double betrayal—by friends and love. Exhausted both physically and mentally, and hunted by his former friends and lover, Dispat chose to leave his home world and descend into the endless abyss.
His kindness and passion cooled completely, and Dispat transformed into a symbol of coldness and ruthlessness. He carved a bloody path through the abyss, earning the favor of the Will of the Abyss. Not only did he acquire half-abyssal bloodline, but he also became the demon lord of a small region.
That small region happened to be in a plane at war with Matthews’ domain, which by then had reached the level of a mid-tier godly demon.
Although his nature had changed greatly, Dispat wasn’t the same kind of creature as demons; he was more rational. For him, the demon lord Matthews was a better choice than ordinary demon lords. Realizing that this war was a great opportunity for himself, Dispat took advantage of the chaos to launch an attack from behind, leading to the defeat of his former demon lord and allowing him to surrender that plane to Matthews. Thus, Dispat became Matthews’ most loyal subordinate. Though these stories weren’t widely spread in the Abyss, most powerful demons and demon lords were aware of them. Moreover, since Dispat was now one of the famous demi-gods in the Abyss, many of his past experiences had been uncovered. Don’t think that demons are simply idle creatures who only know how to kill; in fact, most demons under their lords are quite gossipy! And demon lords are like stars in the Abyss world—every move they make naturally attracts attention.