"Report! The Gate of Limbo is under attack!"
"Blackwater Pass has ceased responding! The heretics have crossed the Acheron River!"
"Contact with Archangel Huomeini has been lost! The Fourth and Eighth Choirs have been completely wiped out!"
"Heretic movements detected on the outskirts of the City of Sorrow! A massive horde of heretics is closing in on the cages! We have received an urgent plea for reinforcements from the Saint's Praise Legion—"
Inside the Central Sanctuary, an endless stream of catastrophic reports poured into the ears of Legion Commander Kong Sai. Beside him, all of his aides were pale with terror. The elite forces deployed in full strength had achieved not a single victory; instead, they had been cut down one after another.
Having grown accustomed to trampling over the impotent fury of heretics in the past, they found reality impossible to stomach when confronted by fully armed steel demons.
Even with absolute superiority in numbers, the moment they realized the enemy's weapons could strip away their divine power and inflict genuine agony and trauma, their morale shattered after just a few clashes. Vast swathes of angels were routed by demons numbering less than a third of their own ranks, scattering in desperate flight.
In a mere half hour, the invading heretics had driven straight from the outer perimeter of Limbo into its very heart, already reaching the City of Sorrow at its center.
Encircled by four rivers of black water, blood, lava, and tears, the magnificent city—a miracle forged by the Holy God—was steadily engulfed by the shadow of the heretics.
Faced with airtight defenses and the terrifying firepower of fire cannons capable of incinerating any foe in an instant, those monsters mutated into steel charged forward in fearless waves, relentlessly probing for weaknesses along the perimeter.
Even when grievously wounded and blown apart, as long as they dropped into the lava to rest for a moment and gorged on ash and sulfur, they could restore their bodies faster than angels could regenerate—growing only more hideous and ferocious in the process.
"Useless! Trash! Every single one of you is fucking useless!"
A savage four-winged demon plummeted from the sky, braving the barrage of fire and thunder cannons as he descended.
The pair of iron wings shielding his chest was covered in fractures, battered and shredded under the bombardment, but two freshly sprouted wings unfurled from his back once more. Sweeping to and fro, he slashed, trampled, impaled, and butchered every angel in sight.
The viscous flames clinging to him like necrosis to bone surged fiercely, melting iron, yet the incandescent demon laughed like a madman.
Slowly closing his hands, he ground the head in his grip to pieces bit by bit. Amidst a crisp crunch, blood splattered outward.
*Crack!*
A brand-new iron wing extended from the burning flames across his back!
"Cry! Scream! Louder! Make it louder!"
Yan Fei roared with laughter, plunging forward with wild abandon as if traversing empty ground. The spear in his hands skewered every angel in his path like a roasting spit.
Stripped of their divine power, the utterly defenseless angels were unable to die, serving instead as meat shields held before the enemy weapons and gunfire until they were completely pulverized into puddles of pulp.
Watching these emissaries of the Holy God—once so lofty and untouchable—reduced to such miserable, pathetic wretches, he could no longer contain the joy and madness welling in his chest. Shrugging off the agony of burning and tearing flesh, he strode forward once more.
Kill! Kill! Kill!
Slaughter every last one of them! Wipe them out, hunt them down, leave none alive! Every single one must die! Throw them all into the fire, burn them all to ash!
The burning demon laughed maniacally, completely lost in bloodlust.
Yet in a fleeting moment of trance, a distant cry seemed to echo from dead memories.
In the darkness, amid the foul stench, broken remains and hollow eyes reflected his pale face, calling out over and over.
"Brother—"
He froze where he stood.
In that split second of distraction, a broken angel lying in a pool of blood gripped a spear and thrust it viciously forward—only to be caught. From the side, a hand reached out, clamping onto the spear and crushing it to powder.
Snapping back to reality, Yan Fei lifted his eyes. Overcome with fury, he lunged forward, stomping the mangled angel into paste, foot after vicious foot.
He stopped only when not a single scrap of bone remained in the gory mush.
"Yan Fei! Yan Fei!"
The comrade who had stepped in grabbed him, shouting angrily, "You're charging too far ahead! Didn't you hear the order?"
"Mind your own fucking business!" Yan Fei whirled around, snarling in annoyance. "If you lot could keep up, we wouldn't have this problem!"
The commander had anticipated this and paid it no mind, simply saying, "This is Mr. Ji's order."
Yan Fei fell silent. After a long pause, he clicked his tongue in frustration and turned his head away.
"...I got it."
"Go down and rest first. You'll still be in time for the assault on the Central Sanctuary," the commander said, patting his shoulder without another word. "Don't worry, we'll save a few for you."
Yan Fei watched in silence, spread his iron wings, and soared into the air.
Even more demons rose from the lava, fearlessly surging through the breach he had torn open and storming the ramparts of the City of Sorrow.
The outer wall—breached!
Meanwhile, back at the Gate of Limbo, more and more sinners bound by chains in the sea of fire were being carried toward the train cars.
Some were drawing their last breaths, while others drooled, dazed as wooden statues.
According to the prior plan, they were all brought onto the train first for centralized treatment to stabilize their condition, while also being placed under guard.
Regrettably, just as Ji Jue had anticipated, not everyone felt grateful.
"What are you doing?! What on earth are you doing?!"
Despite having been dragged from the sea of fire, the rescued man wailed and wept as if mourning his own parents, struggling violently, kicking and flailing at the camp fighter who had brought him back.
"Ruined! You've ruined everything!" The sobbing man pounded the ground, his voice hoarse with accusation. "Two more years! Just two more years and my sins would have been atoned for! The Holy God! The Holy God took pity on me—"
In an instant, countless people in the surging crowd wanted to rush forward and beat him, but they were kept in check by the steel demons maintaining order.
Only Ji Jue, wearing a genial smile, stepped up and patted him on the shoulder.
"Very good. You have passed the test."
"Huh?" The sniffling man stared blankly.
"Your loyalty has earned the Holy God's praise," Ji Jue said solemnly. "The Holy God told me just now that He loves believers like you, and even instructed me to extend your sentence by another hundred and eighty years. Well then, you may start anew now. Men, send this devout believer back. Remember to find him a spot with the highest temperature to display his piety."
Immediately, a grinning demon hoisted him up with one hand, spreading his wings and taking off into the air. Faint wails and shouts could still be heard drifting from the sky: "No, no, wait! Wait! I—I can join too—"
Unfortunately, no one cared.
In the dead silence, Ji Jue turned around, smiling at the stunned sinners behind him. Suddenly, he raised a hand and tossed a black stone knife onto the ground.
Beneath its sharp, obsidian-like rocky surface, a faint crimson glow swirled. As a prototype for Pan Ying, it was far too crude, but in this dream, it was more than enough.
"Aloof and looking down upon the mortal world, the Holy God may cast sinners into Limbo at His whim to relish their suffering, but I am different from your Holy God. At the very least, I will give you a choice.
"Even if the Realm of Ultimate Bliss is so distant and unforgiving, the gates of Hell remain wide open to all—all it requires is that you spit upon your deity. From then on, you may break free of your shackles and regain your freedom. But do not forget: accepting this sin is the price of throwing yourself into Hell."
At that moment, a golden goblet manifested in Ji Jue's hand. The crimson blood wine misted with a sweet aroma as he slowly raised it toward the crowd.
"So choose, everyone. You only get one chance."
He smiled, proclaiming to all the slaves and sinners, "Will you kneel and remain slaves, or will you sever your chains, drink this wine, and draw your blades against the loathsome god?"
In the sudden silence, heavy breathing sounded as countless eyes widened, looking at the blood wine in Ji Jue's hand and the knife at their feet.
Some backed away in terror, trembling, wanting to cry out in protest yet lacking the courage to open their mouths.
Sobs and wails echoed; weeping and lamentation filled the air.
Yet in a mere instant, an unhesitating voice rang out.
"Me first!"
From the crowd, a woman whose body was half-burned to cinder limped and crawled forward. She snatched up the knife from the ground and plunged it without hesitation into the slowly regenerating head of an angel.
A hoarse shriek instantly erupted from the head before it crumbled into ash.
Gasps and shrieks rose from the crowd; several tearful onlookers nearly fainted in terror at the sight.
Yet the woman gripping the stone knife could not help but smile.
Uncaring of the consequences of incurring the wrath of Tiancheng and the Order, her face, crisscrossed with char marks and open gashes, beamed with euphoria. She nearly cheered aloud, laughing through tears.
"Drink, but remember—"
Ji Jue offered her the golden goblet and told her, "This is not some so-called destiny; this is the choice you made."
With her mangled hands, the woman cupped the golden goblet and raised it with trembling arms. She gulped the wine down with great effort. The moment she finished, the goblet clattered to the ground.
A scream tore from her throat as she collapsed, writhing in agony.
It was as though she had swallowed burning coals and molten lava.
Amid her shrill wails, charred flesh and shattered limbs split open and sloughed away, and her tattered garments were torn to shreds by steel thrusting out from her flesh.
When the screams finally ceased, the reborn demon knelt prostrate on the ground, offering veneration and gratitude to her creator.
Next came a second, a third, a fourth... As more and more sinners drank the blood wine, those hesitating or retreating in the crowd grew all the more conspicuous, yet Ji Jue did not care in the slightest, turning a blind eye.
He had never liked forcing anyone.
Whether refusing or hesitating, both were choices all the same. Regrettably, neither chose his side—and so what did their life or death have to do with him?
When the first failed transformation occurred and someone was burned to ash amidst agonizing wails, the hesitant grew even more hesitant.
Ji Jue had no interest in explaining either.
Those who feigned total devotion on the surface while withholding even a scrap of faith, constantly spewing dark malice within—better for them to be turned into crafting materials.
Those who wavered between two sides brought about their own doom, and those who hesitated and stalled were beyond saving.
Meanwhile, more and more steel demons took to the skies, brimming with hatred and fury, launching their counterattack against the once-exalted angels.
The entire realm of Limbo was engulfed in turmoil.
Gone were the monotonous wails and laments of the past, along with the dull, stifling gloom. Everything that had once been hell in name only was rapidly unraveling; in the frenzied slaughter between demons and angels, Hell had finally become what a hell was meant to be.
With the injection of fresh reinforcements, the heretics' offensive grew fiercer by the minute, breaking through defense after defense and tearing into the City of Sorrow like a split bamboo, drawing ever closer to the Central Sanctuary!
Inside the sanctuary, Legion Commander Kong Sai was drenched in cold sweat.
Things having come to this, there was no other way—
Chapter 523