The two devil generals, Bephron and Hutijin, knew they were outmatched and faced a dilemma: fight to the death or retreat. Faced with the Solar's impending, brutal punishment, they made entirely different choices.
Bephron immediately teleported away with his elite legion of Ice Devils, while Hutijin chose an honorable death. He resolutely fixed his sights on Zariel, the proxy goddess of duels on the battlefield, and charged at her.
Zariel merely raised her head, and the charging devil general and his ice drake mount began to melt rapidly. Before they could reach her, the ice drake collapsed with a crash, hurling Hutijin into the air before he slammed into the ground.
When Hutijin regained consciousness, he discovered to his horror that Zariel stood before him, staring down at him. The Solar slowly raised the two swords in her hands.
"The last light shall fade."
In that instant, pure terror flooded the devil general's entire being, and his head burst beneath the Solar's blade.
With their commander dead, the Devil Army began to fall apart. The highly mobile, airdropped Helldivers quickly hunted down the remaining soldiers and officers, clearing a vast area near Cania's walls. By then, Cania's icefield walls had fallen completely.
After retreating to Mephisto's Tower, the devil general Bephron fully understood the gravity of this invasion. He immediately alerted all the Pit Fiends in Cania who had been fighting independently. Upon learning of the defending general's death, the Pit Fiends all sensed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rise through the ranks. Only then did they begin mobilizing their troops, and only now did Baator's war machine truly begin to turn.
However, with raging magical storms tearing across the divided continent, few devil legions could respond immediately. Three forces stationed near Cania began to move: a Pit Fiend army led