Chapter 741: The Lord of Dusk

The reinforcements from the Orc Godhood arrived just in time. First was Obakos, the prince of the ancient demon race, whose presence alone halted the advance of the Radiant Alliance. Followed by Baphiment, the King of Tauren, and Devigus, the Lord of Pupae—these two powerful Abyssal Lords also led several other demon lords to the scene.
The Dictator must have paid a heavy price to invite such formidable allies, even more powerful than gods. The arrival of Baphiment, the King of Tauren, was understandable to the true gods and powerful observers present, as this demon lord, who served as the god of the Tauren race, had some connection to the orcs. Although Tauren and orcs were not the same race—though Tauren looked quite similar to orcs in appearance—Tauren were rare. The emergence of the Orc Godhood presented an opportunity for Baphiment, who longed to expand his influence among other races and strengthen his own power.
Devigus, the Lord of Pupae, was not truly a god nor descended from demons; he was the King of Chaos Beasts. Yet he possessed the strength of a mid-tier god and was the ruler of the 558th layer of the Bottomless Abyss, the realm of Infinite Melting. His power far surpassed that of Baphiment. Together with the prince of the insect race and several other demon lords, though their numbers were still far less than those of the True Gods of Justice, they were sufficient to help the Orc Godhood defend its realm against the Radiant Alliance’s attack.
It was obvious to everyone that the Lord of Dawn’s plans had failed this time. If Jerome, the God of Justice and Warriors, had not been held back by the Destroyer Lord on the ninth layer, then with Ivan and him joining forces as higher gods, they could have defeated these reinforcements and successfully invaded the Orc Godhood. But while Jerome was occupied dealing with the Destroyer Lord, he was also distracted by Eustachius. After all, facing an opponent like the Destroyer Lord, no one dared to be careless or divert their attention.
Realizing the mission was impossible and to avoid heavy losses for the alliance through head-on confrontation, Ivan immediately ordered a reversal of the army’s attack, sending them back from the 18th layer of the Barbarian Lands to deal as much damage as possible to the Bottomless Abyss.
The Orc Godhood wanted to take advantage of the situation, but the Radiant Alliance operated with precision, and with over twenty true gods covering their backs, they gave the orcs no chance. The orcs were forced to return to the Barbarian Lands, where they were invited back into the godhood by the Dictator for unknown discussions.

After such a blow, although the Orcish pantheon was not damaged at all, it was severely weakened and likely unable to take any major actions in the short term. Moreover, the most urgent problem was that the King of the Undead had reclaimed Tanatos and once again reached the rank of an upper god, posing a great threat to Ughesh’s position as aAbyss giant. They had no energy to engage in other actions.

“Ivan’s attack on the Barbarian Lands ended in such a fizzle. It seems Ughesh anticipated that Ivan wouldn’t let the Light Alliance suffer too much just to settle his personal grudges. Ivan is also decisive—he only needs to achieve some success in these seventeen layers to gain a firm foothold in the Pantheon!”

“After this battle in the abyss, it will likely be difficult to strike at Ivan. Your Highness Matthews, won’t you take advantage of this opportunity?”

Donald’s analysis was clearly understood by the Fallen Monarch, but he disdained taking advantage of others’ misfortunes or using deceitful tactics. Instead, this powerful ancient god emitted an endless aura of decline and twilight from his eyes. Without answering Donald, he chose to take the final step toward achieving divinity right then and there.

The once-clearing Barbarian Lands became turbulent again as the master’s power shifted, with a dim light illuminating the entire divine realm. A not very bright but unmistakable star shone in the heavens. The emergence of this powerful upper god caused the entire multiverse to feel as if it were descending into twilight.

Donald, who was nearby, was also affected, feeling as though a force of impending dusk, signaling the end of all things, was enveloping him. Fortunately, Donald was a newly ascended god and still relatively young even among mortals, so he wasn’t fully swept away by this force. Protected by a high-tier divine artifact, he was not greatly affected and quickly recovered.

Once sober, Donald couldn’t help but admire Matthews’s choice. Matthews hadn’t chosen to disrupt Ivan but instead achieved the status of an upper god through legitimate means—this in itself posed a significant threat to Ivan. This left the Lord of Dawn, who led the Light Alliance in battle in the abyss, hesitant.

The high-profile emergence of an upper god quickly caused a stir throughout the multiverse. When the Lord of Dawn learned, through Matthews’s unhidden actions, that the new upper god was actually a clone of his former rival whom he had framed, even Ivan, the upper god, felt extreme crisis.

Ivan knew all too well the power of that former ruler of the ancient pantheon, which was why he tried every means to steal the power of the Lord of Light and frame and suppress his incarnation. Yet he never expected the other party to recover to the power of a supreme god so quickly, and that divine authority even gave him a sense of impending doom, as if his own downfall was imminent. Ivan was unaware that, as a divine authority derived from the realm of the sun, Dusk precisely counteracted Dawn. Dawn represented realms such as renewal, growth, and life, but Ivan was so obsessed with mastering the powerful sun realm of the ancient Lord of Light that he neglected to explore the divine authority of Dawn; otherwise, he could have surpassed the limits of a supreme god long ago. In fact, Ivan was only one step away from becoming a true god, but he took a detour that widened that gap even further. Matthew, the Fallen Monarch who wielded the divine authority of Dusk, not only escaped the Abyss and returned to the heavens but also regained his former strength, becoming a powerful supreme god and the Lord of Dusk. From now on, there would be no Lord of Light, no Fallen Monarch—only the Lord of Dusk. “Congratulations, Your Majesty, the Lord of Dusk!” Donald, who witnessed this scene, was the first to offer his congratulations. “Thank you for your help, Your Majesty Donald!” The two true gods exchanged a glance, without unnecessary formalities—everything was conveyed silently. At this point, Donald had completed half of the Lord of Light’s mission; the rest was simply to deal with Ivan, the traitor, the Lord of Dawn. At that time, the Lord of Dawn was still torn between returning to the heavenly kingdom to await Matthew’s revenge or continuing to fight in the Bottomless Abyss. But since Ivan had reached this stage, he was far beyond an ordinary true god. After careful consideration, he chose the latter option. First, he knew Matthew would not take the opportunity to attack him while he was fighting in the Abyss, as that went against Matthew’s usual behavior and would also anger the gods of the higher realms. Second, if he withdrew from the Abyss world without achieving any results, it would be difficult for him to explain his actions upon returning to the Pantheon. The other supreme gods would surely not hesitate to take advantage of his weakness. Thus, Ivan decisively chose to continue attacking the lower layers of the Abyss, determined to cause the Abyss to lose at least two layers before he could return triumphantly.