Vengeance

"Boom!" Another deafening roar shook the battlefield. At the commander's order, over a dozen steam tanks fired in unison, their main cannons converging on a single point to wipe out thousands of demons from the earth in an instant. A massive breach tore open in the center of the demonic horde. Trailing plumes of churning steam, the iron behemoths drove straight into the gap, their colossal steel rams hurling countless demons into the air before rolling right over them with unstoppable momentum. "Charge!" "Drive them back into the Abyss!" Amidst the ringing blast of war horns, the Empire massed seven divisions to spearhead a central breakthrough. Led by the steam tanks, more than a hundred thousand imperial soldiers plunged into enemy lines in a crushing wedge. "Boom!" "Boom! Boom!" Artillery thundered relentlessly from the rear, laying down covering fire for the advance and deployment of the infantry and steam tanks. The steam tanks tore through the enemy ranks like a hot knife through butter, relying on the peerless destructive power of their magitech steam cannons to eliminate the most dangerous goristros and retrievers with pinpoint accuracy. Infantry followed close behind to provide support, shielding the tanks from flanking maneuvers and attacks from the sky while clearing the obstacles ahead. They concentrated heavy firepower on the Abyssal drakes and airborne monstrosities descending from the clouds. The Cinder Empire's combined-arms coordination of infantry, armor, and artillery was already proving its worth. Bolstered further by an array of supernatural forces, the imperial assault grew ever more relentless. Wizards in the rear cast spell after spell without pause. Fire, lightning, and radiant brilliance crisscrossed the battlefield, wiping out demons with ease. Having seized initial air superiority, the Cinder dragonflights swept over the demonic host time and again, dropping devastating white phosphorus shells that triggered monstrous explosions. Regiments of dragon-blessed paladins advanced in steady lines like moving fortresses, striking down the fiercest fiends standing in the path of the Empire's advance. Before long, under this fierce counteroffensive, the demonic forces began to buckle. The battle lines of the Abyssal legions were mercilessly shattered and torn apart. "Roar—!" A hulking carnivex stepped into the path of a steam tank, slashing out with mantis-like scythes to shear through the vehicle's outer plating. Nearby, however, imperial soldiers opened fire without hesitation. A storm of bullets pelted the carnivex's chitinous exoskeleton, ringing out in a relentless metallic clatter. From among the players farther back, volleys of arrows enchanted with armor-piercing, purification, and other effects streaked forth, plunging straight into the beast's flesh. Fireballs, lightning bolts, and streams of acid poured over the carnivex, washing over the towering demon in a torrential barrage of magical energy. "Where are the casters? Keep the DPS up! Cover the tank carry!" "Die, you overgrown bug!" "For the Empire!" "Awoo!" The carnivex bellowed at the sky, tearing into the tank with redoubled frenzy in an attempt to vent its murderous bloodlust. Right then, a resounding draconic roar shattered the air above. "Roar—!" Even the carnivex was stunned by the terrifying dragonfear, freezing in place with its entire body trembling faintly. A dozen Redscale Conquerors swooped down with irresistible force. Driven by the immense kinetic energy of their high-altitude dive, their lances pierced clean through the carnivex's carapace, impaling its torso and limbs. Alger, commander of the Redscale Conquerors, swept his Everburning Greatsword through the air. Amid the sickening crunch of severed flesh and bone, he cleanly lopped off the carnivex's head. "For the Empire!" Wyverns circled high above, letting out shrill, piercing shrieks. By now, they held near-total dominion over the skies. The grotesque airborne monstrosities no longer had the strength to hunt wyverns—not with dozens of true dragons actively hunting them down. "Roar—!" With a furious roar, a white dragon over twenty meters long pounced upon an Abyssal horror. First, she ripped open its mucus-slicked bulk with her razor talons, then unleashed a blast of bitter, freezing frost deep into the wound. With a muffled groan of agony, half the creature froze solid. It plummeted from the sky and smashed against the ground, shattering into a spray of frozen gore. "Moo—!" A goristro strode forward with thunderous steps, scooping up a boulder from the earth and hurling it with crushing force, flattening dozens of imperial soldiers. "Look out!" "Need a tank to soak the damage! Fast!" Facing the swarming Starfallen Legion, the goristro's eyes glowed crimson as foul, scorching steam snorted from its nostrils. It hoisted a massive hoof and brought it crashing down, throwing its monstrous weight into the earth. "Boom!" The ground fractured and heaved, instantly crushing dozens of players beneath the frenzied goristro's tread. Dropping to all fours, the goristro scraped its hooves and charged like a titanic bull, bent on trampling everything before it to dust. Yet standing in its way were no fragile mortals. Instead, it met dragon-blessed paladins clad in heavy plate, locking their massive tower shields in tight, disciplined ranks! "Boom!" The goristro slammed violently into their line, yet not a single tower shield shattered, nor did their tight formation buckle. The dragon-blessed paladins did not let out so much as a cry of dismay. Chains of blazing fire linked them firmly together, distributing the brunt of the impact across the line, while the dragonfire scorching their shields flared outward, searing blackened fur and blistered flesh across the goristro's hide. The goristro glared down in fury at these presumptuous "little runts," completely bewildered. According to the limited experience stored within its walnut-sized brain, these human-like creatures should have been easily pulverized and sent fleeing in terror. Why hadn't its sheer strength crushed these puny mortals? Why didn't they show any fear? Yet as the dragon-blessed paladins looked up at the goristro, their golden eyes flickered with flame, gleaming with... excitement. "Kill!" Raising his greatshield, Anthony commanded with cold resolve, "Slaughter this demon! Offer its head upon the altar as a blood sacrifice to the Dragon Lord!" "A blood sacrifice to the Dragon Lord!" "Kill it!" The dragon-blessed paladins raised their spears and greatswords, roaring fanatic battle cries in unison. In an instant, the tide turned. Moving in tight coordination, the paladins surrounded the goristro, thrusting their spears from every direction. Fiery spearheads pierced deep through hide and muscle, leaving the brute battered and bleeding. Paladins in the rear raised their swords to summon pillars of flame from the heavens. The fire crashed down upon the goristro's head, engulfing and charring it. "Awooo—!" In mere moments, the goristro bellowed in agony, thrashing frantically as gouts of blood poured from every wound. "To serve as an offering to the Dragon Lord shall be the final honor of your life!" Leaping into the air, Anthony hurled his spear, impaling the goristro straight through the chest and piercing the thumping heart surging with Abyssal power. "Crash!" The goristro, over ten meters tall, collapsed heavily to the ground, splitting the earth and throwing up clouds of dust. A goristro of this size was rare even in the Abyss, prized by demon lords as siege engines and battlefield champions. Yet here, it had fallen in the chaos of battle, brought down by the concerted assault of dragon-blessed paladins. "Well done, everyone." "The eyes of the Dragon Lord behold all things. At this very moment, He watches your fearless deeds." Surrounded by his paladins, Anthony stepped forward, drew the greatsword from his back, and cleanly severed the massive bull head. The dragon-blessed paladins reached out toward the severed head in unison. Wild tongues of flame engulfed it instantly, reducing it to ash. In the end, the goristro's head vanished entirely, leaving behind not even cinders, while the flames on the ground blazed all the brighter, a draconic phantasm roaring amidst the pyre. Clearly, the dragon-blessed paladins had offered it as a sacrifice to His Majesty. *** At that moment, surrounded by high-ranking demons atop the hill-sized Abyssal colossus, Leo—or rather, the demon commander—glared at the steadily advancing imperial army and its overwhelming offensive. He nearly ground his teeth to dust, irrepressible hatred boiling within his turbid eyes. "Again..." "It's happening again! These damned useless scum can't even destroy a bunch of lowly mortals!" The scene before him brought back vivid memories of that unforgettable war ten years ago—the war that had stripped him of everything. Back then, he had commanded an army he thought invincible, only to be met by the Empire's furious artillery and unstoppable onslaught. Only this time, both sides were far more powerful. "Damn it... damn it all!" "This time, I wield the might of the great Abyss! How could I lose to a rabble of mortals?!" Raging tongues of flame burst from Leo's eyes, projecting an immense pressure as the chaotic power of the Abyss danced wildly in the air. Red-and-black flames erupted from the ground, scorching several unfortunate lesser demons to cinders on the spot. All the surrounding demons shivered in terror. "Lord Leo is furious..." "Hahaha, they're going to pay for this!" "Foolish mortals, daring to enrage a demon like him!" Whispers rippled through the fiendish ranks. Leo Bosque, the agent of Jerlazax, was known as the "Spirit of Vengeance." In the years since his transformation into a demon, acting on Jerlazax's will, he had devoured millions of wretched, filthy souls across the Abyss, amassing an immense reservoir of Abyssal power. His strength had reached unprecedented heights; it was said that with the aid of the Demon of Vengeance, he could rival certain demon lords. "Boom!" Leo Bosque leapt down from the back of the Abyssal colossus, kicking up plumes of dust as he struck the earth. "Cassius—!" He threw his head back and bellowed at the heavens with all his might. Blazing fires of vengeance erupted from the fiend's eyes as purplish-black veins bulged across his flesh. Roaring flames engulfed his frame, and the acrid stench of brimstone coiled around him. His ferocious, muscled figure swelled ever larger, and the wings upon his back spread ever wider. "I know you are watching all of this! You should feel fear—and honor—at my arrival!" "Because I will rip your army apart, crush your empire, and destroy everything you possess—just as you once did to me!" His thunderous roar echoed across the entire battlefield, drowning out the roar of artillery and ringing in the ears of every creature present. "Who dares speak?!" "An unforgivable blasphemy!" Anthony roared in fury, and the dragon-blessed paladins seethed with righteous indignation as though their sacred faith had been trampled. "Holy crap? With an entrance this grand, could it be the final boss?" "Wait, his lines sound a bit weird! Connecting this to the previous storyline, could this guy be that old lion from the last expansion?" The players chattered in curiosity, a few of them already deducing the demon commander's identity. "He's making his move!" "These mortals couldn't possibly withstand the commander's wrath!" The demons let out raspy, frenzied laughs, eager for the carnage. Whether fiend, human, tiefling, hobgoblin, blue dragon, or ogre, all eyes turned toward the source of that voice. A demon nearly twenty meters tall, forged of raging fire and raw flesh, burst through the churning smoke into the sky above, terrifying as a living nightmare. Black horns jutted from his brow, and his skin was a raw, flayed scarlet. "Boom—!" The fiend extended his powerful arms, his right hand brandishing a blazing whip of fire, while his left drew a crackling storm greatsword from the chaos. His broad bat-like wings beat slowly, kicking up searing gales. Blinding flames spat from his eyes, making him look like the very avatar of destruction. This was a balor—a creature perched at the apex of the Abyss, the embodiment of demonic slaughter and ruin. "Vengeance—!" "Ruin—!" The balor roared once more, beating his broad wings to sweep across the land and plunge toward the fiercest section of the frontline. "Get clear!" "He's coming!" Seeing the ferocious, unstoppable balor charging in, imperial officers shouted frantic warnings. Yet it was already too late. The balor swung the storm greatsword, its massive blade wreathed in crackling lightning. Cloaked in blinding electrical discharge, the razor edge sheared directly into the imperial ranks. "Boom!" "Boom! Boom!" A deluge of lightning washed across the earth, arcing between fragile bodies to engulf hundreds in an instant. The terrifying blade storm cleaved a steam tank cleanly in two, setting off a violent explosion that killed dozens of nearby soldiers. "Fear—!" Opening his cavernous maw, the balor let out another deafening roar. Lashing his flaming whip through the air, he brought it cracking down violently toward the Empire's drake corps. Crack! The whip, dozens of meters long, tore through the sky like a crimson rift ripping across space. "Roar—!" Amid agonized wails from the behemoths, over a dozen land drakes were struck by the whip and crashed to the ground. Gaping wounds tore across their torsos, their massive frames nearly severed in two as chaotic Abyssal flames continued to consume their flesh. Lightning and fire ravaged the battlefield as fissures split the earth, spewing blistering subterranean fire from the cracks. "Do you see?!" "This is the frailty of mortals! This is the majesty of the Abyss!" High in the sky, the balor roared maniacally, reaping lives at will like a god of death.