Book 8, Chapter 50 (1/2)
Lord Of The Abyss
Not feeling threatened by the loud voice, Richard walked directly into the middle of the hall. A wave of his hand prompted his followers and rune knights to file in as well, entering battle formation around him.
Tiramisu was the last to enter, and the ogre lord kicked down the doors before he joined the rest of the troop; he wanted to make sure that the exit wouldn’t be sealed off. Seeing this, the self-proclaimed abyssal lord grew even more enraged, “Disgusting insects, I will burn you all in lava for ten thousand years!”
The palace started shaking violently, rocks falling from up above as an enormous conscient gathered to attack the souls of those present. A few of the rune knights immediately paled, almost paralysed with fear, while even Kellac and Asiris had unnatural expressions on their faces. Spellcasting didn’t matter the slightest when it came to a direct contest of souls.
Richard was the only one who remained entirely unaffected, his legendary might showing itself as he took a look around and said dully, “A lord of the abyss? You don’t even sound like a lesser lord, and even if you were, there’s no need for your arrogance here.”
“Even your gods have to crawl before me!” The demon’s growl turned even more fearsome, its spiritual attack trying to pin Richard to the ground.
“Not my gods, but there’s a limit to my patience. This ends here!” Richard raised his right hand, blue astral sparks forming in his palm. Similar flames formed all around the palace, dancing in the air like a magnified version of the display above his hand as they started burning through the thick fog all around. The fog seemed to be absorbed by the flames as they passed through, making them brighter and more powerful.
The demon suddenly let out a cry of pain, “These flames, how can they burn souls? How can you conjure something so powerful? Who are you? What kind of fiend are you?!”
The mournful cries almost brought the rune knights to fainting, but Richard merely sneered, “I’m Richard Archeron. Curse me all you want, but fuck right off to the abyss for now.”
The sparks in Richard’s hand quickly grew in number, mirrored by the flames in the hall until there were hundreds of blue fireballs rushing around. The demon’s cry immediately went up in pitch, but its powerful conscient was swept away like a current until it completely disappeared.
“I’ll be back!” a faint voice rang through the hall, the change so sudden that even Richard was a little surprised. He growled in disappointment; he had hoped it would press the attack and give him a chance to catch its soul.
With the mind controlling them having vanished, the fog in the palace immediately faded away. This mist had been a physical manifestation of the conscient’s spiritual power, which was why Richard had burnt it up. With the demon lord having escaped, Richard just clenched his fist and all of the flames flew back into his body.
“Tch, escaped so fast,” Richard muttered under his breath, looking around a few more times before shaking his head helplessly. He then ordered the rune knights and winter soldiers to spread out and probe the magnificent building.
The palace was enormous, larger than even the hall upstairs. It seemed to be created naturally and was devoid of decoration, but at its end was a tall darksteel platform with a throne. The arm rests were in the form of demons facing each other, a classic design for abyssal lords.
Once the mist cleared, the sheer size of the platform and throne became all the more apparent. The demon that occupied it had to be at least a hundred metres tall, signifying great might in a society where a being’s power was represented by their size. At this height, even if one wasn’t necessarily an archlord that controlled an entire layer, they were still much more powerful than a lesser lord. To Richard’s knowledge, no lesser lord was big enough to occupy such a throne.