After the Lord of the Abyss Awakens - Chapter 61.2

On another side.

The Continental Human Alliance had been very busy these days, with constant meetings big and small, people coming and going, looking hurried.

“What about the situation with the Great Empire of Hammurabi?”

“They’re inclined to handle it on their own, and have politely declined our offer of assistance for now.”

“Why?”

The people from the executive department expressed confusion about this. In times of national crisis, even concerning matters related to all of humanity, why would they refuse the Alliance’s help? Was it because they were currently the most powerful empire on the continent? Were they fearless and didn’t need help?

The Intelligence Department shook their head and explained. “It’s probably because they can’t expose too many state secrets. The Alliance has people from all countries, with spies from various nations inserted openly and covertly. Their country has been severely affected by spies in recent years, so they’re particularly cautious in this regard.”

The Executive Department paused, “That’s understandable. As the continent’s premier empire, the Great Empire of Hammurabi is surrounded by wolves and is the country most affected by espionage.”

Someone else added. “However, at the same time, they’re actively seeking help from powerful individuals.”

She was referring to the recent efforts of the Hammurabi Empire’s Knight Order to find people everywhere.

The Intelligence Department said. “Strong individuals are different. When it comes to divine kingdoms, unless the other side engages in a harmonious war, there’s no place for those below level 80.”

The Law Enforcement Department questioned. “The Divine Kingdom of Destruction wouldn’t engage in a harmonious war, right? I don’t think they’d follow the Goddess of Harmony’s rules.”

“But violating the Goddess of Harmony’s rules would surely trigger a debuff.”

Without much precise intelligence, the higher-ups could only discuss broad issues vaguely.

They had considered sending people to infiltrate the Divine Kingdom of Destruction, tried and failed.

Currently, the most valuable intelligence was that — the one in charge of the Divine Kingdom of Destruction was Federi, an ancient vassal of the God of Destruction.

A notorious race destroyer, who massacred most of the goblins, enslaved nearly half of the dark elves, known for his cruelty and ferocity, his true form was an evil dragon.

According to investigations, He revived over 100 years ago, then quietly developed, devouring hundreds of his kind before finally regaining his strength. Fifteen years ago, He invaded the remnants of the Divine Kingdom of Destruction, devoured part of the God of Destruction’s power, and in the name of the God of Destruction, restored his prestige. He widely recruited intelligent forces from the subspace to jointly invade the continent, starting with eliminating humans from the Great Empire of Hammurabi, aiming to return the continent to the era of gods, relegating monkeys back to being monkeys, only fit for entertainment.

This intelligence was obtained at great risk, and was basically confirmed to be true. The only unclear thing was whether Federi was truly the God of Destruction’s vassal.

Although He claimed to be so and could indeed use the God of Destruction’s power, was He really?

Whether He was or wasn’t meant two completely different possibilities.

If He was, it could mean Federi represented the will of the God of Destruction, which is to say, they were about to face the resurrection war of the God of Destruction.

If He wasn’t, it could be just Federi acting independently, causing trouble in the name of the God of Destruction.

The former was undoubtedly a great crisis for all of humanity, affecting not only humans but also various races, and even gods were no exception, as many gods had participated in dealing with the God of Destruction back then.

If the God of Destruction were to revive, how could He not seek revenge on those gods?

It could well be another war of the gods.

Just thinking about it was terrifying.

As they talked, they became anxious, considering whether the current combined strength of humanity could cope with this crisis.

The meeting room fell silent.

Until the sound of a door opening broke the silence, and a tall, imposing female knight walked out.

Her armor was somewhat damaged, she raised one hand, her fingers bloodied, the base of her thumb split, but she didn’t rush to heal herself. Instead, she came here first, her face grave as she said, “You’re discussing this at the right time. I have bad news for you.”

Everyone was stunned, realizing it was definitely not good news.

Someone asked. “What is it?”

Jesyl said, “The Goddess of Fortune has sided with the Divine Kingdom of Destruction.”

Everyone immediately drew a sharp breath, their faces extremely grim.

The Goddess of Fortune had been missing for so many years, and today she suddenly appeared, but sided with the Divine Kingdom of Destruction?

What kind of situation was this?

The Goddess of Fortune was a special conceptual god fully capable of turning the tide of battle. She had always been neutral, bestowing blessings on various parties as she pleased, which is why there hadn’t been any issues.

But now you’re saying she’s taken a side, and it’s the Divine Kingdom of Destruction. Isn’t this dooming humanity to destruction?

“Are you certain?”

The elderly members of the Intelligence Department immediately stood up, their palms sweating.

How they wished it wasn’t true.

But Jesyl regretfully nodded, “I’m almost certain. Her characteristics are very distinct, it’s definitely her, and the divine artifacts reacted too. It’s absolutely her true self.”

Everyone was almost suffocating.

The Executive Department asked. “Is it possible that she’s just there, but hasn’t taken a side?”

Jesyl said, “I’d like to think that too, but honestly, is that possible?”

Their expressions varied as the news was immediately uploaded, alerting the higher-ups.

The higher-ups immediately said, “The Divine Kingdom of Destruction has controlled the Goddess of Fortune… Not just the Great Empire of Hammurabi, but all of humanity will struggle to escape destruction. What on earth is going on? We must investigate this thoroughly and quickly!”

“Yes!”

“Anyone in the Alliance who’s free must cooperate with the investigation! If there are any problems, tell me, I’ll coordinate. Understood?”

“Yes!”

The Alliance was tense, with people rushing back and forth in the corridors. The higher-ups immediately issued an emergency assembly order, calling for all available level 70 and above powerhouses to gather at the Alliance headquarters.

As the news spread outside, it caused a wave of panic to varying degrees.

“The Goddess of Fortune chose the Divine Kingdom of Destruction?”

“Luck isn’t on our side anymore?”

“Shouldn’t the Great Empire of Hammurabi just surrender? Maybe if they give them the divine body, there might still be hope.”

Voices from the public continued, becoming more terrifying as they spread.

The Goddess of Fortune taking a side was such a crucial matter. Even the most ignorant person could realize the crisis of this situation. After all, as long as one is human and has some abstract concepts in their mind, they would know the importance of luck to humans and other living beings.

But they couldn’t control this information, because the Goddess of Fortune had indeed appeared, openly attending the state banquet of the Divine Kingdom of Destruction as an honored guest, warmly welcomed by Federi.

Wasn’t this stance clear enough?

“She must have gone mad, right? Is it because she has too many enemies and can’t handle them anymore, so she’s setting up a trap to kill all her enemies?”

“Very likely. With her capricious nature, what wouldn’t she do? She probably doesn’t want to hide anymore and wants to go on a killing spree.”

“Actually, have you noticed, it’s not just the Goddess of Fortune, there are several other famous gods who have taken sides too…”

****

The news spread increasingly severe, and even reached the group responsible for finding the heroes.

Eve couldn’t help but pay a little more attention for a few seconds, and said in disbelief. “Luck… to side with the destruction, how could such a thing be possible.”

The power of the Goddess of Fortune is absolutely one of the most abnormal powers. If this is true, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Sword Saint Simon, upon hearing this, thought, “Anyway, let’s just finish our own work first, and quickly find the heroes.”

Eve turned back, looked into Simon’s eyes, and said in a complex tone, “If the heroes return, it may not be the right time. They have been saving the human crisis for thousands of years, but in the end, they may still have to lend a hand.”

Simon shook his head, “We are just helping the Lord of the Abyss find His friends, and I think… at this point, the heroes can do whatever they want, after all, their achievements are so great, who would dare to kidnap them.”

In Simon’s view, how great are the heroes’ contributions to the local humans? Greater than the cornerstone, even if they were to destroy the Humans Era in anger one day, he would still think the heroes are entitled to do so.

Condemnation? Ridiculous.

Simon, clear about the rights and wrongs, supplemented. “I actually hope the heroes can stand by and let us save ourselves.”

As he spoke, a resolute and determined look flashed in Simon’s eyes, as if he was willing to go to his death.

Eve didn’t comment, was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly said, “By the way, I’m a bit curious about how the Lord of the Abyss knows the heroes.”

Simon paused, then spoke in a more restrained tone, “Didn’t the Intelligence Department speculate before? The Lord of the Abyss may have originally been a human. Since he was human, it’s not surprising that he had dealings with the heroes.”

Eve suddenly said, “Could it be someone recorded in history?”

Simon shook his head, “That’s unknown, someone in history who could know all five heroes at the same time…”

He stopped midsentence, because he couldn’t recall anything either. Simon was just a swordsman who didn’t read much, to be honest, he didn’t know much about specific history.

Eve said, “We’ll have to look it up at the Historical Research Institute, we can’t figure it out ourselves.”

Simon nodded, then suddenly thought of something. “By the way, have we been overlooking something all along?”

Eve was puzzled. “Overlooking what?”

Simon picked up the history book on the table, flipping to the second and third pages. “At that time, the human countries summoned a total of seven heroes…”

****

Half an hour ago, the Divine Kingdom of Destruction.

Aelioge easily broke into the castle with Little Black.

Little Black’s divine power was still a bit weak, so he simply turned back into a little black bird and perched on Aelioge’s shoulder.

The little black bird eagerly commanded, “Fifteenth Brother, to your left, Fifteenth Brother, to your right, be careful in front!”

Aelioge’s face grew increasingly dark as he scolded, “Can you stop making noise?”

As he spoke, He had just twisted the neck of a bone dragon, effortlessly dealing with a few hundred monsters at the level of eighty or ninety.

The little black bird deeply recognized Aelioge’s power, and urged, “Hurry up and go inside, I sense the presence of humans!”

Aelioge’s gaze turned to the front.

It was a dark corridor, the end of which could not be perceived, probably connected to some subspace or domain.

“Domain”, a fully-fledged existence would have its own domain, which is a space of its own. Any living being entering the domain must obey its rules.

Entering the domain of His god was undoubtedly a dangerous thing.

But the other party had already thrown the bait in front of them, if they didn’t go and see what it was, wouldn’t that be cowardly?

The little black bird was originally enthusiastic about the charge, but suddenly also felt something was wrong.

“This presence doesn’t feel quite right.”

“Is it a human? A god?”

Just then, the corridor suddenly flickered in and out of view, as if the space was unstable and could disappear at any moment.

The clue to the Hero Justin’s whereabouts was right in front of them, Aelioge frowned, but ultimately chose to go in.

The surroundings were deathly silent and cold, the darkness like that of the deep sea, permeating the entire space.

Even the little black bird, as a god of the underworld, shuddered at this, never having felt such a frigid divine presence before.

If even a god felt uncomfortable here, for any humans, it must be utterly unbearable.

The perception range of a fully-fledged existence should be extremely vast, but here it was limited to the five senses alone.

Facing the heavy darkness and the pervasive uncertainty around them, Aelioge walked calmly, heading straight into the depths of the great altar.

It was only here that there was some light.

Weak candlelight emanating in a semi-circular pattern on the walls illuminated the scene on the altar.

The little black bird’s gaze fixed, then it was dumbfounded.

Aelioge appeared at the edge of the altar in an instant, his eyes falling on the sealed blood-red coffin.

He could sense that there was someone inside, and it was most likely the Hero Justin.

His aura was weak, on the verge of extinguishing.

Aelioge acted decisively, ready to open the coffin immediately.

But at the same time, the lurking danger suddenly erupted, as two fully-fledged assassins split open the space and attacked Aelioge without warning.

They were not just fast, but had also used causality weapons, their strikes guaranteed to hit and kill, impossible to dodge, the blades ignoring any defense. Like all assassin professions, they expended all their magic power at the start, seeking to annihilate in a single blow.

The little black bird was completely unable to react.

But Aelioge had already sensed it, his hands spreading open, as if he could casually shatter their desperate assassination attempt.

But the unexpected happened.

Aelioge suddenly experienced “misfortune”, and the flawless magic flow he had never faltered in before abruptly stuttered for a moment.

A flash of bewilderment crossed his eyes, and although he quickly regained his composure, the assassin’s blade nearly grazed his throat.

How was this possible? Aelioge dodged sideways.

However, immediately afterwards, “misfortune” continued to occur.

In the interval when he tried to summon his magic power again, a third assassin suddenly appeared behind him.

This one was stronger than the previous two combined, and with ultimate luck enhancement, all his buffs surging, he seemed poised to thrust straight into Aelioge’s heart.

The little black bird was terrified and almost screamed.

At that moment, a dark shadow surged, actually intercepting the assassin and crushing him on the spot.

Aelioge seized the opportunity to deal with the other two on the left and right, then immediately turned his gaze to the black shadow.

The darkness around Beelzebub dissipated, and he elegantly patted his hands, calmly turning his clear-cut pale face back towards Aelioge.

“Aelioge, are you touched?”

Aelioge seemed momentarily stunned.