Round Two Ends; Round Three, an Even Fiercer and More Spectacular Clash Among the Gods, Begins at Once! (Continued)

"Does this guy not have a head?"

"Not a problem!"

The next moment, a huge amount of blood and rotting flesh burst from Golsmith's headless corpse. The stinking, twisted flesh grew in every direction, becoming a fruit tree hung with goblin heads.

"Damn it, aren't there a few too many heads?!"

"Forget it, this'll do..."

The deformed corpse stood up reluctantly.

At the same time, noises came from the metal compartments in the morgue, and then the doors were forced open from within.

Dozens of corpses staggered out.

They weren't revenants risen from the dead, but puppets possessed by evil creatures.

In the mortal world, they all shared one name.

Demons.

The Nether Realm's corruption warped and mutated the living of the mortal world, twisting their minds and bringing ever more chaos and bloody sacrifices.

And when this frenzied feast reached its finale,

the predators of the Nether Realm would descend upon the mortal world, spreading even more chaos and corruption.

This was the next stage of the Nether Realm's corruption.

The demons' descent.

Not only in the morgue, but throughout the entire Golden Land, every corpse had been seized by lesser demons, becoming physical bodies they could use to walk the mortal world.

Then,

they would cultivate chaos, brew despair, and defile the mortal world into a chaotic paradise.

Then,

they would summon an even greater being.

They needed more hatred, more suspicion, more greed, more slaughter, more arrogance, more suffering...

Only then,

could [Justice] reign supreme.

The servants sang the name of the Nether Realm's master. After the long ages, the Sword of Damocles that had always hung over the Nether Realm Empress would be destroyed today!

A grand invasion by the Nether Realm

had begun!

Thanks to Old Abyss Drinking Tea for the generous donation! What a big spender!!

63. Your Highness Is Such a Scumbag, But I Love It!!

The Golden Land.

The Nether Realm's full-scale invasion had begun. Throughout the Golden Land, the dead and the living alike had become part of that chaotic world, consumed by the Nether Realm's corruption, which had gone off the charts.

The last group of living people in the Golden Land, the mercenaries of the Demon Sword Sisterhood, could no longer sit still.

"Demons are pouring up from the lower levels. We can't estimate their numbers, and we can't locate the Nether Realm Gate!"

"These are [Justice]'s Gospel Blood Knights. They don't need a portal. As long as they have flesh and blood for a shell, they can descend upon the mortal world at any time."

"There's such a thing?! Doesn't that make them invincible?!"

"They're the Nether Realm Empress's army! Be careful. These demons can use the flesh of the living to descend, too!!"

"The lenses show a demigod embryo in the power unit on level forty-six underground. Everyone, be alert!! This isn't ordinary Nether Realm corruption! The demons are trying to summon an apostle!!"

"Captain!!"

Voices from Sisterhood members came from all directions through the communications matrix.

Even though the mercenaries of the Demon Sword Sisterhood had seen their share of battles, they were caught completely off guard by the situation.

After all,

it had all happened too suddenly.

The Nether Realm's corruption had always been present in the Golden Land, and there had long been no effective way to deal with it.

But for demons to flood the entire Golden Land overnight, to the point where even an apostle was about to be summoned... That was a bit too much!

Yesterday, it had only been the level of two little brats playing around. Today, it had become an epic battlefield where demigods clashed!

The corruption level was rising way too fast!

In the blink of an eye, an ordinary infected zone had fallen into the palm of an Evil God, becoming its plaything.

But the Demon Sword Sisterhood had no way of knowing.

For this day,

the Nether Realm Empress and her demons had been plotting for over a thousand years.

Ever since the day the Empress claimed the crown of the Nether Realm King, the ancient god ruins from the mortal world had appeared above her head alongside the glorious crown.

A doomsday cannon aimed straight at the Nether Realm.

Its muzzle would remain fixed on the most powerful deity of the Nether Realm forever. Thanks to the Golden Dwarves' tireless work, it was always ready to unleash a blast powerful enough to slay a god.

And now,

a thousand years after the Golden Dwarves went extinct, the Empress had finally shattered the defenses the primordial gods had established around the Golden Land.

So, in an instant, endless demons poured madly into the Golden Land, determined to destroy the last obstacle to the Empress's conquest of the mortal world!

As for the Demon Sword Sisterhood,

on the captain's orders, they hadn't intervened in the goblins' infighting earlier. They had simply stuck to their mercenary duties, helping clear out some Nether Realm byproducts.

But now, with the Golden Land in complete collapse, demons had flooded its lowest levels in an instant and were invading upward at an astonishing rate.

Fight or retreat—the Demon Sword Sisterhood had to choose.

Everyone was waiting for the captain's orders.

In the Golden Land's central bunker, White Vulture monitored the entire Golden Land with her perception, calmly studying the demons' movements.

In the end, she reached a conclusion.

This place was completely beyond saving!

Only two fates awaited the Golden Land:

Either it would fall into the Nether Realm and become part of the Blood Empress's territory,

or it would be completely purified, until even the very last trace was annihilated into nothingness.

White Vulture immediately activated a spell and connected to the Sisterhood's communications matrix.

Three coordinates appeared before the Sisterhood members.

"Everyone, gather at the nearest of these three locations immediately. Prepare for spatial teleportation."

One response after another rang out throughout the Golden Land.

The Demon Sword Sisterhood began a swift withdrawal from the battlefield.

At their pace, it would take about ten minutes for every member to get out of the Golden Land.

As for White Vulture,

she had no intention of leaving.

In this fallen world, devoured by the Nether Realm,

a beautiful romance was waiting to meet her.

White Vulture eagerly watched the spatial fluctuations within the Golden Land. "...Has Prince Rhine not returned yet?"

The previous day, Rhine Hyun had been dragged into a spatial rift by his Imperial Guards, and he hadn't returned all night.

But White Vulture knew very well

that they would be back after daybreak.

An hour passed.

The Demon Sword Sisterhood had completely withdrawn from the scene.

The demons of the Nether Realm had also occupied most of the Golden Land.

The last line of defense came from the ancient security machines.

They were the final guardians the Golden Dwarves had left for their descendants.

Unfortunately,

most of these ancient machines had been destroyed by each other during the goblins' infighting. The few remaining were nowhere near enough to turn the tide.

White Vulture left the central area and wandered around the Golden Land, looking for any yellow scrap metal the demons might not care about, so she could take some home as a souvenir.

Along the way, whenever the demons saw White Vulture, they trembled and made way for her.

Even the low-intelligence lesser demons bowed down before her.

It was all because, on White Vulture,

they sensed a familiar and awe-inspiring presence.

"She is the Empress's descendant."

A high-ranking demon spoke coldly to its subordinates, who were trembling beneath it.

"Just stay out of her way."

The demons ignored White Vulture and continued spreading corruption throughout the Golden Land.

Not long after,

White Vulture's eyes lit up.

She sensed an unusual spatial fluctuation within the Golden Land.

Prince Rhine was back!

After breakfast,

Rhine and Hela returned to the Golden Land.

On their return visit, this sacred land of the dwarves had become a demon stronghold. Filthy winds blowing from the Nether Realm rushed toward Rhine.

Fortunately, before they entered the Golden Land, Hela had carefully layered protections over her beloved.

The Nether Realm's corruption had no effect on Rhine.

Rhine remained remarkably calm at the sight of everything before him.

After all, events had unfolded more or less as he'd expected.

In fact,

Rhine could be considered the instigator of it all.

Rhine wasn't some madman who worshiped the Netherworld Evil God and hoped the Nether Realm would destroy the mortal world.

It was just that the Nether Realm's massive invasion—even the destruction of the Golden Land—was a necessary condition for him to obtain a crucial item.

A precious treasure Rhine had never had the chance to acquire in any of his previous loops.

For that, Rhine was perfectly willing to move up by ten years the date when [Justice] would destroy the Golden Land.

Rhine: "Hela, let's go."

Hela asked softly, "Your Highness, where would you like to go?"

Rhine: "The lowest level of the Golden Land."