Chapter 491: Invading Cinderfall!

One Day Later

___ Cinderfall, Gate Stone ___

Buzz!

The massive circular Gate Stone stood beneath the crimson moons like an ancient monument forgotten by time, its surface almost completely covered by thick vines, moss and patches of black lichen. Since the night of the coup attempt, the structure had been under constant military watch.

Two full legions had been stationed around the gate, their soldiers occupying temporary camps that stretched across the surrounding fields while their commanders maintained strict orders to prevent anyone from entering or leaving Cinderfall through the Gate Stone.

Connections originating from other realms could still be established, but anyone physically attempting to cross through this gate was to be stopped and sent back immediately.

The entire realm was effectively under lockdown.

Two demigod dragons commanded the forces stationed around the Gate Stone, each responsible for roughly fifteen hundred soldiers. Their crimson armor reflected the moonlight as they stood at the front of the formation, their hands resting casually near their weapons while their senses remained spread across the surrounding area.

They had stopped countless travelers, and the routine had become almost boring. Whoever arrived would be intimidated by the sheer number of soldiers and turned around.

Neither commander expected anything unusual tonight.

Buzz!

The runes carved into the ancient stone suddenly began illuminating one after another, their crimson light crawling along the circular structure until every symbol was glowing brightly. The soldiers immediately straightened, their attention snapping toward the center of the gate as the empty space within the stone ring began filling with a spiraling mass of crimson light. The air grew heavier as the Gate Stone completed its connection, and several soldiers instinctively tightened their grips on their weapons.

Then a figure stepped through.

He wore black ceremonial robes that moved gently in the night breeze, his long hair hanging loosely around his shoulders in disarray. A young pink haired succubus walked beside him, a cloak draped over her head and shoulders as she remained close enough that their arms occasionally brushed.

The man did not appear concerned by the thousands of soldiers surrounding him. He simply looked ahead with an expression of calm indifference.

The nearest demigod commander immediately stepped forward, his voice booming across the gate.

"Turn back by the order of His Majesty!"

The words had barely left his mouth when his expression changed. His eyes widened as his gaze traveled over the stranger’s ceremonial robes and finally settled on his pale human face. He suddenly understood exactly who stood before him.

A human prince!

There were only two such beings in the Underworld.

The commander swallowed hard as the realization settled over him. If the man standing before him was not Sol, then he could only be the Prince of Lust, the same prince whose name had been spreading throughout the Underworld because of his impossible rise, his defeat of Kaizer and the massacre that had recently taken place in Velmora.

Damian.

The soldiers behind their commander began whispering among themselves as recognition slowly spread through the formation. Some had never seen him before, but everyone had heard the stories. Others immediately noticed something far more disturbing.

Despite standing only a short distance away, they could not sense anything from him. No demonic force, no pressure, no aura of strength. It was as though the man standing before them was nothing more than an ordinary human who had somehow wandered into a military camp.

Damian raised one finger.

"THIS FOX ANSWERS TO NO ONE!"

Purple mist exploded from his body.

It spread outward with terrifying speed, rolling across the ground and swallowing soldiers before they even understood what was happening. Within seconds, the mist had formed a massive dome around Damian, Loth and all three thousand soldiers. The commanders attempted to react, but their minds were already being invaded by the strange power.

Illusionary Domain.

Buzz!

Every soldier froze.

Their bodies remained standing, weapons still in their hands, but their eyes suddenly turned pink. Their consciousness had been dragged into an illusion so complete that their physical bodies had become completely defenseless. For the briefest moment, the entire military force was reduced to three thousand motionless figures.

That moment was all Damian needed.

Brrrrrrrr!

Darkness gathered around his free hand.

The Abyssal Flames erupted from his palm, black flames so deep that they seemed to swallow the crimson moonlight around them. Damian thrust his arm forward without hesitation, and an enormous wave of darkness surged across the battlefield.

There was no explosion.

The flames simply consumed everything they touched.

Armor vanished. Weapons vanished. Flesh vanished. Even the screams of the soldiers were swallowed as the flames devoured their voices before consuming their bodies. The two demigod commanders never had the opportunity to break free from the illusion. Their resistance disappeared alongside the thousands beneath the advancing darkness.

Loth stood beside Damian, staring in horror as the cracks across his face became more pronounced. She had witnessed his cruelty before, but there was something fundamentally different about watching him erase three thousand soldiers in seconds. There was no anger in his expression, no hatred and no hesitation. He simply regarded their deaths as an obstacle being removed.

Then Damian closed his hand and the Abyssal Flames vanished. When the purple mist dissipated, Loth stared ahead.

Nothing remained, not even ash.

"There isn’t even a corpse," she muttered, her voice trembling despite her efforts to remain composed.

Damian glanced at her before casually sweeping her off her feet and carrying her against his chest.

"Hold tight, dear," he said in a voice completely devoid of emotion.

Loth instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.

The world suddenly distorted.

She felt no movement beneath her feet because Damian had not taken a single step. Instead, the buildings in front of them appeared to rush toward them at impossible speed. Streets stretched and folded while the scenery blurred into an indistinguishable mass before snapping back into focus.

They were standing in the middle of a completely different town.

Loth blinked repeatedly as she looked around. Buildings surrounded them on every side, demons walked through the streets and merchants shouted from stalls, yet nobody seemed to notice that two strangers had suddenly appeared in the middle of the road.

Bathin’s movement technique was still something she struggled to comprehend.

The ability did not feel like ordinary movement. It felt as though space itself had been persuaded to bring Damian wherever he wanted to go.

Loth looked around carefully before lowering her voice. "For a border town, there is a lot of military presence here."

Damian’s gaze traveled across the streets. Soldiers were indeed everywhere, moving in patrol groups and checking merchants, travelers and anyone carrying suspicious-looking goods. The news of Fulgur’s rebellion had clearly transformed even the smaller settlements near the borders into military checkpoints.

Damian found the situation more amusing than concerning.

Three thousand soldiers stationed at the Gate Stone had just disappeared, and these people were still carrying on with their routine without the slightest idea that the threat they were supposed to prevent had already entered their realm.

"When they learn what happened at the border gate, they will reinforce this place even further," Loth said. "It will become much harder for us to move around without being noticed."

Damian rolled his eyes and lightly tapped her forehead with one finger.

"If they discover us, we will simply kill everyone."

Damian shrugged.

"Wrath is already badly injured. If he comes after me now, I might just end him and take his inheritance for myself."

He leaned closer until his face was only a few inches from hers, his expression completely serious despite the absurdity of his statement.

"Now come on. We have a wounded dragon to save."

He finally put her down and began walking and Loth hurried after him.

Under normal circumstances, Damian would never have brought someone as inexperienced as Loth into enemy territory, especially when the entire realm was searching for a rebel demigod. But leaving her behind in Velmora was hardly reassuring either. He had already seen how quickly his wives could become overprotective, and he had no intention of returning from Cinderfall to discover that someone had killed his new concubine out of jealousy.

They blended into the evening crowd and moved through the streets without drawing attention. Damian deliberately slowed his pace, allowing the flow of pedestrians to carry them toward the central market. Loth remained close beside him while Damian listened to conversations around them, occasionally glancing at merchants and soldiers whenever something caught his attention.

Most of the conversations were predictable.

People spoke about Fulgur.

Some condemned him as a traitor. Others whispered that he had finally lost his mind. A few quietly admired his courage but immediately lowered their voices whenever soldiers passed nearby. Most, however, simply repeated the same information that had already spread throughout Cinderfall. Fulgur had rebelled, fought Wrath’s forces and disappeared.

Nothing useful.

The market gradually began emptying as the night deepened. Shops closed one after another while merchants packed their belongings and hurried home. The number of people in the streets diminished, and with fewer desires surrounding him, Damian’s senses became increasingly clear.

For most of the evening, the countless emotions around him had blended together into an unpleasant mixture. Desire, fear, anger, greed and suspicion constantly overlapped, making it difficult to identify individual sources. Now, however, the crowd had thinned enough for Damian to isolate each presence.

Then he noticed something.

His gaze shifted toward a small trinket stall. A cloaked demon stood behind it, quietly packing his remaining merchandise into a large sack. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the stall. It contained cheap jewelry, carved stones, small magical ornaments and several trinkets that looked as though they had been collected from various parts of the realm.

Yet the animosity coming from the merchant was impossible to ignore. It was not directed toward Damian. The man had not even noticed him. His hatred was directed toward the soldiers patrolling the streets.

Damian’s eyes narrowed.

The emotion was far too intense for an ordinary merchant who simply disliked military patrols.

He walked toward the stall.

Loth followed, although she remained puzzled by Damian’s sudden interest in the stranger.

As they stopped directly in front of the merchant, the demon continued packing his goods without looking up. He was completely unaware that the Prince of Lust was standing only a few steps away.

’Why are we standing here?’ Loth’s voice entered Damian’s mind through their connection.

Damian’s lips curved slightly.

’Because my friend might have the answers we need.’

His amusement disappeared almost immediately after the merchant finally stood up.

Damian’s eyes became cold.

’Ifrit.’

The demon towered nearly ten feet above the ground, his entire body appearing to have been forged from living fire. Crimson skin stretched over a powerful frame while flames constantly rolled across his shoulders, arms and head. Yet unlike the Ifrit Damian had encountered on Earth, this demon produced no smoke and displayed none of the chaotic energy normally associated with an awakened Ifrit.

That alone made Damian curious.

The Ifrit slung the sack over his shoulder and began walking away. Damian gave Loth a subtle signal and she immediately followed.

They maintained a respectable distance while trailing him through several streets, taking care not to attract attention. Eventually the demon arrived at a modest brick house located away from the busiest part of the town. For someone belonging to one of the Underworld’s most powerful bloodlines, the residence was surprisingly ordinary.

The Ifrit unlocked the door and stepped inside. Damian approached immediately and his foot stopped just before the threshold.

The door slammed shut.

Loth glanced at him in confusion. "Is there a problem?"

Damian stared at the doorway.

His eyes narrowed as his senses traced the faint energy embedded within the frame. The array was nearly invisible, carefully concealed beneath the ordinary appearance of the house. It had been designed specifically to react to demonic force, meaning anyone carrying such power who crossed the threshold would trigger it.

Damian slowly pulled his foot back.

"There is a demonic array at the door," he said, his expression becoming thoughtful. "It can only be triggered by someone carrying demonic force. If I had stepped inside, I would have taken an explosion directly to the face."

Loth’s eyes widened as she stared at the closed door.

"That means..."

Damian smiled and he looked at the humble house again, his interest in the strange Ifrit increasing considerably.

"He’s our man."