Chapter 1 Claws, Fangs, Flesh, Steel

Claws, fangs, flesh, steel, magic, blades—everything was mixed together as if thrown into a mad meat grinder. The battlefield, swept by howling winds and blinding sandstorms, was a constant spectacle of death. It was the kind of battlefield one only saw in nightmares, an image from the old world of madness, disorder, darkness, and chaos. All sorts of corrupted and bizarre creatures fought, monsters attacking monsters. There was no tactic, no order, no formation. Every combatant only wanted to destroy the other and savor the spoils in the most primitive and savage way. As more and more corrupted, twisted creatures were torn to pieces and smeared across the land, the entire battlefield descended into frenzy. Even the howling winds across the wilderness were suppressed, leaving only blind roars and a cacophony of mad cries.

The Holy Knights of the City of God’s Grace circled the edge of the battlefield twice before finally plunging into the fight with difficulty.

They initially tried to coordinate offense and defense with the "monster legions" that charged out of the dilapidated camp. However, all attempts at communication and cooperation failed. Both sides were consumed by madness. The battlefield, a scene of bestial brawling, was unlike anything they had ever known. So they had to abandon negotiation and charge straight into the fray, killing as many of the demons pouring out of the Chaos Storm as possible.

The two monster legions in the melee reacted very differently to this sudden third force. The demons from the Chaos Storm were like sharks smelling blood, lunging to tear at any target that appeared. So a large number of them immediately swarmed the Holy Knights. But the strange legions from the dilapidated camp completely ignored these changes. They stubbornly attacked their original targets, showing neither goodwill nor aggression towards the Holy Knights.

It was as if the latter did not exist.

This chaotic slaughter continued for some time. The demons from the Chaos Storm were vast in number, so even with their superior equipment and combat prowess, the Holy Knights could not gain the upper hand. The armed priests who flew in the air also returned to the battle line as the fight went on. They had completed their divine power buffs on the entire legion and two rounds of aerial attacks on the enemy. Their next task was to preserve themselves and prepare for the inevitable increase in casualties. Continuing to fly in the air was too dangerous.

High Paladin Leonidas was one of the legion's vanguards. He wielded a heavy golden greatsword as if swinging a blazing ring of fire. This "ring of fire" vaporized three Chaos demons in mid-air, temporarily relieving the pressure on his comrades. Then he looked up and saw the combat priests descending from the air one by one, returning to their specific positions in the battle line.

The descent of the combat priests meant that the first stage of the battle was over. The Knights' initial charge and the spellcasters' bombardment advantage had ended. What followed would be a meat grinder-like attrition. Human flesh and blood and the priests' healing magic would be the mainstays of the legion. Whether they could repel the demons before these forces were exhausted would determine the ultimate outcome of the battle.

Leonidas wiped his face, raised his greatsword again, and prepared to finish off a large hybrid demon wreaking havoc on the flank. But then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw a scene he would never forget for many years to come.

On the horizon, a dazzling light suddenly appeared.

It was as if dawn had suddenly appeared in this nightmare world shrouded in dark mists. The light quickly broke through the darkness and rose on the horizon. Then, several huge figures appeared in the light.

The figures made him almost think he was seeing scenes from religious murals—there were burly, towering rock giants clad in golden light, silver-white beasts like wolves but five or six meters tall, creatures flowing with lava, their whole bodies radiating heat like a scorching hell, and a spherical monster that rolled forward, as if made of intertwined giant pythons...

Above this charge of huge creatures, swarms of bats and bizarre machines with tentacles formed a cloud that blotted out the sky, sweeping in with thunder, lightning, and ice storms...

Before this unexpected team even approached the battlefield, it declared its position with its actions:

Two thick arcs of electricity leaped out of the bat swarm, carving two scorching ravines through the Chaos demons. Where the arcs leaped, monsters turned to ashes, and even the earth was scorched into a terrifying molten state.

Vivian's unique magic—Poor Man's Lightning—the name was made up!

Then, two metal arrows spitting flames streaked across the sky, arcing gracefully into the rear of the Chaos demons. After earth-shattering explosions, two mushroom clouds rose into the air.

Hao Ren's unique magic—Bombing Humanitarian Care—the name was also made up!

After two such large-scale AoE attacks, they immediately drew aggro from the mindless Chaos demons, pulling nearly a third of the monsters out of the battlefield, negating the need for many of Hao Ren’s planned tactics.

What followed was a melee.

The battle was intense. In this Forgotten Abyss dominated by Lokenmarton, even the most ordinary Chaos monsters seemed to be greatly strengthened, their combat power nearly doubled out of thin air. But in the end, the cannon fodder-level monsters could not achieve a qualitative change through quantitative means.

The ten Wardens provided decisive military security.

Despite thousands of years of weakening and hundreds of years of complete slumber, the ten Wardens, including Gordon, still displayed incredibly powerful combat capabilities. After receiving the accidental infusion of power from the "Artifact Disc," each of them had recovered at least seventy or eighty percent of their strength. In the eyes of these warriors who had fought Lokenmarton head-on for so long, the Chaos demons were nothing more than cannon fodder.

The remaining Chaos demons were quickly wiped out by the unidentified Holy Knights and torn to pieces by the "monster legions" from the dilapidated camp.

The smoke cleared, the dust settled, and Hao Ren began to gather the scattered autonomous machine swarm, preparing to contact the mysterious Holy Knights from the "City of God’s Grace." But then Elizabeth came hopping over, a bit of demonic fire still burning on the demon girl's horns. She tugged hard at Hao Ren's sleeve: "Uncle Ren, Uncle Ren, they seem to be going back!"

Hao Ren looked up and saw the survivors of the "monster legion" from the dilapidated camp wandering blindly across the battlefield. They gathered some broken weapons and pieces of wriggling flesh, emitting unintelligible murmurs and growls. Then, as if they didn't see the Holy Knights and Warden giants around them, they reformed their messy, disorganized ranks and headed back towards their camp.

Nangong Sanba stepped forward to stop a monster and ask about the situation, but was completely ignored.

Actually, Hao Ren thought he should push his sister, who had rolled away, back first...

After the battle, the mysterious Holy Knights quickly reorganized. They dispatched a team to return to the City of God's Grace to report the victory, and another team stayed behind to clean up the battlefield and collect various samples. Then, several people who looked like high priests flew out of the ranks and landed in front of Hao Ren's group of suddenly appearing "heavenly reinforcements."

The leader was a dignified old man with a gray beard, wearing white holy robes trimmed with gold, holding a platinum staff, and wearing a metal halo engraved with runes on his head. These adornments were similar to those of Kalaxius. When the old man arrived in front of Hao Ren and his group, he looked up in shock and awe at Gordon, King of the Mountains. As a high priest of the Goddess's Church, he knew the twenty-one Wardens enshrined in the Holy Image Palace, and was familiar with the image of each Warden. So he could naturally see that these giant-like rock figures were ten of those Wardens!

"You are...the King of the Mountains?" the old man said in disbelief. Although he had come to this Forgotten Abyss, he never expected to see the legendary King of the Mountains Gordon in this situation. And according to the information left by the Pope...weren't the Wardens supposed to be corrupted?

Gordon, King of the Mountains, nodded: "Indeed. You are Holy Domain people? Why are you and your city here?"

The old man took a deep breath, calming himself: "We are following the instructions of His Holiness the Pope, entering the Forgotten Abyss to participate in the Martyrdom War..."

Before he could finish speaking, Kalaxius's voice suddenly came from behind Gordon: "Verol?"

He had been helping several church knights dispel the Chaos Curse they had contracted in the battle, and had just arrived in time to see the combat priest who had come to negotiate.

"Kalaxius?" the old man was also surprised. "How are you here? Goddess be praised...I thought you were dead in Ansu!"

"Goddess be praised!" Kalaxius couldn't hide his excitement at seeing an acquaintance. "I'd rather ask you, how did you all get here? This...Noah? Benjamin? Auplins? Are you all here?"

One name after another popped out of the high monk's mouth. Kalaxius looked dizzily at the bishops and holy knights behind Verol, unable to understand the situation for a moment: "Could it be...is that city on the plain really the City of God’s Grace?!"

"Is there another City of God's Grace?" Verol asked back.

Seeing that the two were about to start reminiscing, Hao Ren quickly found a chance to interject: "Other things can wait, do you know the origins of that...the legion that looked like monsters? I saw you fighting alongside them."

Although he was also curious about how the City of God's Grace had been transported here, Hao Ren was even more curious about this question!

Verol looked at Hao Ren with some confusion, but quickly noticed in surprise that this seemingly ordinary stranger seemed to be the core of this team!

When he spoke, even the King of the Mountains Gordon and the other warriors who looked exceptionally powerful were nodding slightly, listening attentively.

After a brief moment of surprise, the high bishop calmed down and sighed softly: "They are not monsters, they are the last battle group stationed in the Forgotten Abyss."