Chapter 30: The Abyss Is So Vast
In countless legends about the Abyss and demons, survivors always describe the monsters' appearances in terror: flames, deadly poison, and towering, grotesque physiques. And demons are indeed exactly such creatures.
Almost all monsters from the Abyss possess powers related to fire and poison. Their bodies are tough, surpassing steel. Except for lesser demons and worms, most species are generally over two meters tall. Their innate, bizarre souls allow them to wield terrifying magic within the Abyss, but this doesn't mean they cannot manipulate magical energy in the normal world—it's just suppressed by more than half. Such fearsome power makes them widely feared in the outside world.
There are many types of demons. Even the most basic Abyss worms have strange mutants, not to mention the higher categories. But without a doubt, the most well-known and most powerful type of demon is the Abyss Flame Demon.
As the name implies, an Abyss Flame Demon has a body completely covered in blazing flames. Beneath the flames, which reach temperatures of over a thousand degrees, its true form is a black, viscous substance similar to petroleum. This black, sticky matter constantly releases intense fire energy and radiates an invisible, intangible poison. This poison can cause ordinary people to age, lose vitality, and develop deformities and mutations in various parts of their bodies. Historical records note that where Flame Demons have passed, frogs grow extra legs, and lizards grow two heads. This terrifying toxicity is so potent that it can render land barren for decades, causing astonishment and unease.
Abyss Flame Demons have no fixed form; their true essence is that mass of black, viscous substance. If one were to describe their initial state, it would be roughly similar to a Flame Slime, but infinitely more dangerous. However, once a Flame Demon awakens to intelligence, it will consciously shape its body—these terrifying beings at the top of the Abyss's food chain will devour various metals and monsters, using that sturdy steel and bone to mold their own form, thereby constructing a humanoid shape.
Thus, there are humanoid Flame Demons and draconic Flame Demons. For these monsters, form is changeable. The larger the body, the more powerful the Flame Demon, and the greater the harvest after killing it. After all, the substances that can withstand the erosion of a Flame Demon's flames and toxic body, serving as the skeletal framework for its construction, are extremely rare. They have always been raw materials for forging divine weapons and legendary tools.
And now, the one Joshua had grabbed from the Abyss and pulled onto the Mycroft Continent was a five-meter-tall humanoid Flame Demon.
The Flame Demon Syndicate still hadn't figured out what was happening—it had been wandering in the Boiling Sea of the Blazing Inferno on the thirty-seventh layer of the Abyss, searching for worthy prey and rare metals in the toxic soup long polluted by sulfur and heavy metals. But somehow, a hand had suddenly appeared, ignoring its resistance, and yanked it out of the Abyss. After that, it was suppressed by a terrifying power, unable to move or speak, and thrown here.
But now, it finally understood.
This human in front of it was the one who had grabbed it from the Abyss. And this human was a terrifying existence that could casually reach into the Abyss and pull out a demon. Syndicate could only feel fear. As a high-ranking Flame Demon, it had seen many powerful beings, but this was the first time it had encountered such a casual and domineering method.
"Now, tell me everything you know about the recent situation in the Abyss."
Joshua stood before the Flame Demon, holding a book radiating a strange magical aura. This was the "Ipos' Book" he had obtained from the Imperial Royal Mage Association, a tome that recorded many secrets about the Abyss. He had just used the power within this book to forcibly summon this Flame Demon from the Abyss.
Syndicate trembled. Under the pressure of this human's gaze, it felt as if its very soul was being seen through. It didn't dare to resist and began to narrate what it knew.
"Great... great lord, the Abyss has been in chaos lately. The sixth layer is at war with the twenty-third layer. Several Abyss Lords and a massive demon army are engaged in a bloody battle on the twenty-third layer. Most of the demons from the sixth layer's Molten Sea Fire Prison have been conscripted. I was afraid of being drafted, so I fled to the thirty-seventh layer to take refuge."
Joshua frowned. War between Abyss layers wasn't uncommon, but a large-scale conflict involving multiple Abyss Lords was rare.
"Continue."
"Also, the Five-Colored Dragon Clan has occupied one of the Abyss layers and renamed it Dragon's Rest Abyss, officially becoming one of the Abyss races. And on the seventh layer, there's a massive anomaly—the continent at the world's center is experiencing violent earthquakes, so intense that even demons find it hard to endure."
These pieces of information were all things Joshua had never heard of in his previous life, or only knew from thick setting collections. Now, everything was so close to him. An Ultimate-rank Abyss Flame Demon was respectfully and fearfully recounting these major events that had once seemed distant but were now very near.
Joshua fell into deep thought.
But before he could ponder for long, a flash of holy light appeared, and Archbishop Atanis, who had rushed over, arrived behind him.
This place was a remote suburban plain of Moldavia. The old archbishop could clearly see the warrior's figure, like a sun in the energy vision. After arriving beside Joshua, he didn't greet him first but looked in surprise at the great demon sealed nearby, unable to speak or move, lying paralyzed on the ground. Then he turned to the warrior and said, "Joshua, I just sensed the fluctuation of a demon summoning—"
"It was me."
Emerging from his contemplation, Joshua replied succinctly. He turned to look at the old archbishop, raised the book in his hand, and waved it: "I was planning to ask a demon about the situation, so I used this Abyss Grimoire to grab one out."
Shouldn't it be "summon"? The verb is wrong. Blinking, the old archbishop had no energy to care about the warrior's grammar issues. His mind was sharp, and he immediately connected it to the topic he and Joshua had discussed not long ago. So the old man frowned and said, "What's wrong? Is the disappearance of the two Legendary mages related to demons? What level of demon could capture them? Even an Abyss Lord couldn't do that."
"Think differently, Atanis." Joshua shrugged. "Maybe they went there on their own."
With that, Joshua explained his discovery of the phenomenon at the Great Aias Mountains, emphasizing the residual space-time fluctuations around the demonic aura.
"I've already obtained the coordinates of three Abyss layers from the Ipos' Book." The warrior concluded with this sentence. "Tomorrow morning, I'll find Master Nostradamus and have him check which three coordinates those residual space-time fluctuations lead to. If they match, then we can confirm that the two Legendary mages went to explore the Abyss of their own will, not that they disappeared."
"It's not just that, is it, Joshua?"
But the old archbishop keenly detected the warrior's tone. He had known Joshua for a long time, and the other's words and actions weren't complicated, so Atanis easily saw through his true intention: "If confirmed, you'll want to go into the Abyss yourself to find them!"
Facing the old archbishop's definitive words, Joshua showed no displeasure at being seen through. He smiled lightly and said, "Of course. Logically speaking, they disappeared on my territory, so I naturally have to personally confirm the whereabouts and safety of two Legendary experts."
"Secondly, the Abyss is so vast." The warrior paused, then continued, "I want to go and see it."
"It's that simple."
And at that moment, as if by coincidence, a thunderous sound rumbled from the distant sky. A massive figure was weaving through the clouds. Joshua and Atanis both looked up. With their perception, they easily identified the true identity of the being hundreds of miles away.
It was the warrior's captive, the Ultimate-rank Blue Dragon Sukrash.