Avernus, the first layer of Baator.
It was a scorched, rubble-strewn wasteland whose desolate monotony was broken only by jagged ridges and steeply sloped hills.
In the distance, a colossal pillar over two kilometers tall towered above the plains. Built entirely from twisted demon skulls, it stood as a sinister monument to the bloody spoils reaped from the Blood War.
A blood-red glow suffused the sky, where stray fireballs danced and plunged through the haze. Deep chasms scarred the ground below, frequently echoing with wretched screams—the agonized wails of petitioners wandering in torment.
Before a gate assembled from giant spinal columns stood two rugged devils, their chins bristling with thorn-like beards.
Grasping rust-pitted cleavers and clad in mismatched pieces of armor, they chatted casually, paying little mind to their duties.
"Man, this guard post is boring as hell. Not a single intruder in sight. I really envy those guys deployed to the Material Plane."
"No kidding. Word is they barely have to lift a finger to reap hundreds of mortal souls in that City of Sunrise. Sounds like paradise."
"Heh, keep dreaming. Devils of our rank should thank our lucky stars we weren't dumped onto the Plain of Infinite Portals to butcher those lunatics. The Blood War's front lines never lack for cannon fodder."
"Fair point. The City of Sunrise, once favored by the Sun God... Tsk, tsk, only Lord Zariel's inner circle gets to visit a feeding ground like that."
"Instead of wishing for a transfer to Auguste, we'd have better luck hoping a few stray mortals stumble right into our laps."
Passages connecting to other planes were fairly common throughout Hell. Mortals referred to these portals as "Gates of Curses," and they were typically guarded by devils to ward off intrusions by demons and mortals alike—just as these two bearded devil soldiers were supposed to do.
Right as they were swapping ideas on how best to torture any mortal unfortunate enough to drop through, ripples suddenly stirred at the center of the bone gate. A human stumbled out into the open.
"Wh-Where is this?"
The human wore tattered rags, looking emaciated, pale, and entirely harmless. At the sight of him, the eyes of both soul-hungry bearded devils lit up at once.
"According to Lord Zariel's rules, any outsider must be reported immediately..."
"Report it? You're still too green! A mortal soul like this is the sweetest treat there is. High devils would fight over it in a heartbeat! But if we keep quiet, we can savor the taste of fresh soul-stuff ourselves..."
"Right! It's just a feeble mortal anyway. There's no way he slips through our fingers."
With that in mind, neither bearded devil moved to activate the communication circle. Instead, they stalked forward step by step, flanking the mortal with savage grins, their minds already churning with sadistic ways to torment him.
A bearded devil sneered, "Ignorant mortal... Do you have any idea where you are?"
"D-Devils! Actual devils! Could this... could this be Hell?! Did I just stumble into Hell?!"
The human's legs buckled in sheer terror, and he collapsed to the ground. Face ashen, he babbled incoherently like a man driven half-mad with fright.
The other bearded devil leveled his cleaver in front of the human, thoroughly invigorated. "Bingo, mortal! Welcome to Hell—our playground!"
"Hahaha! To think a mortal would pop up in a backwater like this. What a lovely surprise!"
The bearded devils stood towering over the human, laughing without restraint. The barbed, bramble-like whiskers on their chins quivered and writhed, lending them an even more grotesque visage.
They had expected the mortal to lose what little sanity he had left, perhaps even fainting outright while giving off that rich, succulent scent of terror they relished so much.
To their astonishment, he did neither. His eyes went wide as he stared up at the bearded devils, and a greasy, insolent smirk spread across his face. "What do you mean, 'surprise'? Translate it for me. What the hell does 'surprise' mean?"
"..."
Both bearded devils froze in place, cleavers held slack, caught completely flat-footed.
What's going on?
Did the mortal get scared out of his mind?
One of the bearded devils scratched his head with a claw, answering with genuine confusion, "No need to translate. You're the surprise!"
The second bearded devil chimed in, "Stupid mortal, why would that need translating? We already told you!"
With shocking velocity, the "human" sprang off the ground, bringing with him a fierce, coppery gust of bloody wind.
Veins bulged along his forehead, sharp fangs protruded from his lips, and he roared in furious agitation: "I told you to translate it for me! What the fuck does 'sur-prise' mean?!"
"Ambush!"
"Damn it! This bastard isn't mortal! We've been tricked!"
Horrified, the two bearded devils scrambled backward, howling at the top of their lungs in an attempt to alert higher-ranking devils.
Yet it was already too late. Prey and predator had traded places in the span of a single breath.
"Translate it for me—what the fuck does a motherfucking surprise mean!"
The "human" chuckled mockingly. Hovering midair, he thrust out two hands tipped with razor-sharp nails, unleashing a pair of deep, abyssal vortexes shrouded in black mist from his palms.
Bloodfiend Black Hole!
Under an overwhelming gravitational pull, gravel and boulders were ripped into the air, and both bearded devils flew backward toward him. They thrashed wildly, screaming in terror.
"No—!"
"It's a vampire! Damn it, whose thrall is this?!"
"Kill him!"
The two bearded devils were yanked straight into the "human's" palms. Struggling with every ounce of their strength, they swung their cleavers backward, blades whistling through the air.
Squelch! Crack!
Like punctured balloons, the burly bearded devils withered and shrank. Every drop of blood was violently drained from their bodies, leaving behind nothing more than two filthy, desiccated husks whose chin-whiskers still twitched faintly.
Flump.
The drained husks dropped to the scorched ground like discarded rags.
The "mortal" hovered suspended in the air. Though still deathly pale, a crimson gleam flashed across his dark pupils. Thick blood mist swirled around him, and a crimson cape billowed dramatically at his back.
"Tsk. Now that's what I call a surprise."
The vampire—or rather, Langlibaitiao—gazed down at the dead bearded devils with haughty disdain, speaking in the drawling, mocking tone of an aristocrat.
A split second later, someone violently yanked the hem of his cape, sending him stumbling headfirst toward the dirt. His refined vampire-lord persona vanished instantly.
"Alright, cut the melodramatic bullshit! Dragging it out just to kill two trash mobs—you never miss a chance to steal the spotlight, do you?" European Emperor cursed irritably.
Tiansheng Zhankuang kept a steady expression, his voice low. "Keep your heads on a swivel. This is a super-high-difficulty instance packed with every monster imaginable. If we draw the archdevils over, we're wiping for sure."
Anyezhilang piped up from the side, "He's right, Boss. Now that we're in Hell, let's not push our luck."
"You guys have zero appreciation for dramatic flair," Langlibaitiao scoffed dismissively. He drifted back down to the ground and uncorked a vial, splashing a few drops of potion over the bearded devils' remains.
In an instant, the shriveled skins crumbled into fine gray powder, scattering on the blood-scented wind without a trace.
Looking up at the blood-red sky, then out toward the colossal pillar of bones bridging earth and heavens, Langlibaitiao drew in a deep breath of air thick with sulfur and gore. He sighed in satisfaction. "So this is Hell. What a fantastic place."
The other three looked at him like he had lost his mind. "What on earth is good about this dump?"
Langlibaitiao smacked Anyezhilang upside the back of the head. "I can forgive those two for not getting it, but aren't you a vampire too?
"No sunlight, evil and necrotic energy everywhere, and endless mobs to kill—this place is practically a holy land for vampire players to grind levels!"
European Emperor sneered, "As long as you don't end up as someone else's EXP pack."
Langlibaitiao whipped around, his pale face flushing with indignant rage. "Did anyone ask you? You're just a cross-dressing weirdo, who gave you the right to bark?"
"Who are you calling a cross-dressing weirdo?!"
"I'm talking to—"
Suddenly, the brand on Langlibaitiao's right arm flared with fiery light, and an irritated voice echoed directly in their minds.
"Enough, contractors! I did not expend power to transport you into Hell just to listen to your endless bickering!"
A fawning smile broke out across Langlibaitiao's face. He patted his chest reassuringly. "Of course, of course, Lord Bel!
"We definitely won't let your high expectations go to waste! We'll work diligently, ensuring top quality and ruthless efficiency to finish the mission, all to advance your noble cause of reclaiming Avernus..."
"..."
Langlibaitiao rambled on like an unstoppered bottle until the fiery brand dimmed completely, only stopping with evident reluctance.
Tiansheng Zhankuang rubbed his polished bald head, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly, and finally sighed. "Alright, cut the chatter. Let's get moving on the objective."
All four were players bound by contracts with devils. Each brought distinct strengths and considerable combat power to the table—the very "reinforcements" Cassius had promised.
Over a hundred such elite squads had been scattered throughout various corners of Avernus, all sent to aid in the assault.
However, the team led by Langlibaitiao and Tiansheng Zhankuang boasted the strongest overall combat rating among them, with an average character level reaching twelve. Naturally, their employer, Bel, paid them special attention.
Whoosh—
A sudden howl of wind cut across the upper atmosphere, followed by a heavy pall of fiendish pressure rolling over the land.
A powerful devil clutching a steel fork swept past through the crimson skies, broad bat-like wings spanning over a dozen meters as they flapped with deliberate cadence.
Covered in iron-like scales, sporting massive curving horns, and trailing a whip-like tail, his terrifying appearance marked him as a high-ranking fiend of Hell: a horned devil.
The horned devil scanned the ground with turbid, hateful eyes. Detecting something amiss near the Gate of Curses, he roared, "Where are those two lazy runts?!
"Worthless curs, lower than lemures! How dare they abandon their posts against Lord Zariel's explicit orders! I'll feed them to the Abyss!"
He circled the Gate of Curses several times, finding no trace of the bearded devils, before wheeling away in frustrated fury toward the horizon.
...
"Phew, that was close..."
Anyezhilang finally exhaled. Had he not been an undead vampire, he would have been drenched in cold sweat and trembling all over.
"Avernus really lives up to its high-risk rating. Even a neighborhood security captain is this terrifying," European Emperor remarked, genuinely unsettled.
Tiansheng Zhankuang stared toward the horizon where the horned devil had vanished. Clenching his fists, he murmured, "A Challenge Rating 15 devil... I wonder just how tough they really are."
Langlibaitiao pulled back the enchanted cloth draped over the group, scoffing, "If not for my Cloak of Concealment, you would've wiped on arrival. Why haven't you knelt down and called me Daddy yet?"
European Emperor fired back, "If you hadn't wasted time clowning around, we would've slipped away ages ago!"
Seeing tempers flare before the mission had even properly begun, Anyezhilang stomped his feet in distress, unable to get a word in.
In the end, Tiansheng Zhankuang stepped forward, slinging thick arms—each broader than an average man's torso—around both of their shoulders. He smiled with intimidating geniality. "Teammates need to set aside their differences and work together to get the job done.
"Don't you agree?"
Under Tiansheng Zhankuang's "tender" gaze and the crushing pressure of his grip, Langlibaitiao and European Emperor stiffly shook hands.
Anyezhilang pulled out a parchment map and pointed toward a titanic, mountain-sized complex looming in the distance. "Look, that should be our objective."
At the center of Avernus lay an austere, imposing, and unfathomably vast fortress-city: the Bronze Citadel.
It was renowned for its twelve concentric ring walls, each bristling with countless infernal siege engines. The city teemed with tens of thousands of low-ranking devils preparing to march toward the front lines, sufficient to muster multiple Blood War legions.
At the dead center of those twelve concentric rings stood the private redoubt of the Archduke who ruled Avernus: Zariel.
"Intruders..."
"They're right here..."
"I smell mortals... don't let them escape..."
Tiansheng Zhankuang monitored the shifting air currents, picking up faint, chaotic sounds on the wind. His expression darkened. "If we stay here, that horned devil might double back and crush us.
"Besides, the nearby fiends have noticed the commotion at the Gate of Curses. They're already closing in to box us in."
"Lang-beast, where's your cloak? Whip it out, quick!"
"It only works once per day for three minutes! Resisting that horned devil's gaze burned through its remaining charge, so..."
"Useless piece of trash!"
European Emperor whipped out a scroll of divination. Blue radiance flared within his eyes as he scanned their surroundings. "The southwest is their weakest flank. There's only a pack of imps and a single spinagon over there."
"Then we..."
"Then we punch right through!" Tiansheng Zhankuang declared with unshakeable confidence.
"Roar—!"
With a thunderous bellow, Tiansheng Zhankuang transformed into a mountainous juggernaut of raw muscle, wrapped in infernal chains.
Boom!
Entering his Rage, he charged like a runaway mountain, crashing straight through the rampart and flattening more than a dozen ambushing imps into bloody paste.
Langlibaitiao took to the air, unleashing hundreds of vampire bats from his cloak that swarmed the surrounding devils, draining them dry in seconds.
"Intruders!"
"Don't let them get away!"
"Kill them!"
The fiends snarled and shrieked, yet none dared advance against Tiansheng Zhankuang's terrifying rampage. From the fortress in the distance, the horned devil beat his massive wings, launching back into the sky.
"Damn it, that security captain really is heading back!"
European Emperor pulled another spell scroll from his pack and chanted the incantation. An intricate, rotating circle of arcane runes formed beneath their feet.
"Things are getting hot, time to bolt!"
The surrounding space warped and folded, their silhouettes flickering like ghosts—the unmistakable signs of teleportation magic.
Crack!
With a sharp pop, all four vanished from the spot simultaneously.
The horned devil arrived a moment too late, forced to watch their silhouettes dissolve into thin air.
Balked of his prey, he slashed his claws and wildly swung his steel fork, unleashing an agonizing roar of fury into the heavens: "No—!"
Chapter 687