Legendary mages compressed elemental planes that had not produced legendary elemental creatures in the void and sent them to Avernus.
Elemental sovereigns and elemental commanders, each as powerful as gods, led their legions to Avernus.
Within the Bronze Citadel, countless Lemures toiled desperately.
They expanded the city, built walls and towers, and constructed all manner of massive war machines.
Every day, countless great ships traveled along the Styx, transporting Lemures from every territory to the Bronze Citadel.
Every day, numerous Bone Devils and Chain Devils oversaw the work, leading these Lemures away.
The fates of most of these Lemures had already been set. Only a small portion would be promoted into Nupperibos.
Most of the rest would die during construction.
Some would be worked to death; others would die in all manner of construction accidents.
Huo Ling often sighed at the dead Lemures, yet the moment he turned around, he issued orders to recruit even more.
"Let the Lemures suffer a little more... I'll bear the blame!"
Once those words were spoken, even more Lemures were sent in from the territories throughout Avernus, from Dis on the second layer of Purgatory... from Cania on the eighth layer, and Nessus on the ninth.
During this process, the Bronze Citadel, which had originally possessed only thirteen layers of walls, gradually expanded to a full twenty-five.
Inside every layer of wall stood neatly arranged barracks, where armies of countless races waited for battle to begin.
Thanks to Purgatory's high-magic environment, the pressure on logistics was greatly reduced.
These soldiers had no need for food at all. There was more than enough mana to fuel their bodies; eating in the Bronze Citadel was merely to satisfy the palate.
Beyond the Bronze Citadel stood several large fortresses, forming a horned formation with it.
These fortresses