Chaos Crown

Chapter 632, Final Test (End of this Volume)

Although one of the Eight Demon Generals died in battle, it was not a big loss to Hell.

On the bloody front line of Avernus, the Eight Generals of Hell are famous. It is rumored that the Eight Generals of Hell are living legends. They have been fighting on the front line of the bloody battle since the establishment of Baator Hell. From the dawn of time to now, no one knows what kind of crazy wars they have experienced. They are simply living fossils of bloody battles.

But those who know the inside story know that the Eight Demon Generals is just a "title". Many of these titles have changed owners for countless generations during the endless years of bloody battles. Once a demon general dies, a new big devil will soon take over his title and continue to be active on the battlefield of bloody battles under the name of the Eight Demon Generals.

Victory seemed to come a little too easily.

Upon hearing the news that one of the eight demon generals had died in battle, the devil duke Bayer of Avernus simply sneered.

Bayer, who was an expert in bloody battles, watched as the enemy was manipulated step by step.

In fact, as soon as the Chaos troops entered the Knuckle Fortress, Bayer ordered his loyal lieutenant, the Devil Duke Balzefin, to lead the cavalry corps of the Devil Kings across the mountains and cut off the retreat of the Chaos army.

Even the Chaos Knights' mounts were unable to cross the towering and steep mountains of Avernus, but the Devil Cavalry, who only knew how to ruthlessly execute military orders, were not afraid of the rugged terrain at all, not to mention the Devil Ghost Assassination Units that came and went without a trace. The three fastest Chaos armies were trapped in the rugged mountain roads, with their retreat routes cut off and in front of them was the impenetrable steel defense line of the Devil Legion, with towering peaks on one side and the roaring Styx on the other.

However, the Chaos Lords did not know this. Just when they thought they were about to drive out the Devil's army, a war cry sounded from behind. The Chaos warriors looked back in horror, only to feel the earth shaking under the hooves of the Hell's steel horses.

Eight thousand Nightmare Riders formed two huge arrow-shaped charge formations and charged forward like a scalpel cutting open the chest of a corpse. Leading this spearhead attack was none other than Grand Duke Bayer of Avernus himself.

The Chaos army, attacked from all sides, could neither retreat nor organize a defensive line and could only be forced to tighten their defenses and sit and wait for death. Some were driven into the River Styx and melted on the spot, some were squeezed into meat paste, and some were simply suffocated to death by the piled up corpses.

Bayer watched the battle with satisfaction from the top of the mountain - it was more of a massacre than a battle.

The first to fall was the Nurgle Champion. He encountered the charge of the Pitfall generals and was pierced through the abdomen by the dark spear of the Stygian Memory Thief. The Stygian water penetrated directly into his body, and finally melted into a pile of bones in the spray of Stygian water.

On the other side, the Khorne champion who was making a surprise attack on the rear of the demons realized in an instant that the Khorne warriors and the Great Demon Gildas of Khorne beside him had fallen into the madness of killing. They were unable to communicate or give orders, and were unable to provide tactical support.

The Chaos Lord laughed wildly and waved the giant blade in his hand amid the flying broken bones and blood. He didn't care that he already had hundreds of lacerations on his body. He insisted on fighting a bloody battle with the devil. The Tzeentch wizard was still casting arcane magic in the air, but he could no longer break through the Bone Demon's defense as before. The devil wizard fired ice magic arrows at the Tzeentch wizard in the air, and the devil cavalry was also approaching him murderously. If he continued like this, he might not be able to save himself.

The Slaanesh army felt unwilling to see their friendly forces being eaten away bit by bit and pushed into the River Styx.

The leading Slaanesh commander summoned his most trusted war chieftains and ordered their troops to push back the demon cavalry even a little.

At this time, Bayer's troops who were deep in the enemy camp also felt the enemy's counterattack. In order to avoid being surrounded, he reluctantly retreated temporarily, leaving a small window. This gave Archaon an opportunity. The Chaos Apocalypse Marshal ordered to leave behind the war-mad Khorne warriors as cover for a difficult retreat.

However, the Khorne berserkers who gave up everything to fight also attracted the attention of the Devil Duke. The Bayer Guards began to move forward to destroy the Khorne troops who advanced. Even though the Blood God's warriors did kill several times more enemies, they were ultimately no match for the endless stream of demonic troops - the endless stream of demonic reinforcements from the Nine Hells.

One by one, the warriors of Khorne fell, until finally, the proud champion of Khorne, Baptista, still stood, pierced by dozens of iron spears, but still cursing the foul army of demons.

Bile gave a barely perceptible nod of respect for his worthy foe's fighting skills before ordering the horned devil to dismember him.

The Battle of Knuckle Fortress ended here, with both sides barely able to draw, and the bodies of the Chaos and Demon armies who died in the battle covered the ground.

However, this battle made Bayer feel very bad.

The Demons had already sent out all their elite troops, with eight thousand heavy cavalry alone, and they were able to wipe out three Chaos regiments and two Chaos Champions. The Chaos Marshal on the opposite side even just watched.

Although three Chaos regiments were defeated, there were far more than three Chaos regiments on the other side of the river. Bayer estimated that there were more than a hundred times more.

Grand Duke Avernus was prepared for a protracted war and he commanded his large army to withdraw to the Bronze Fortress.

However, this was the opportunity Archaon had been waiting for.

When Bayer ordered the entire army to retreat, the elite of the Eight Dark Demons were responsible for the rear guard. They launched a final volley at Archaon's army and slowly retreated. However, before this group of elite demons composed of Legion Demons, Bone Demons, Horned Demons, Blood Armor Demons, Steel Demons, and Pain Demons withdrew from the battlefield, they were completely submerged by the molten gold that fell from the sky.

The figure of Succubus Nun Queen Yuanchou emerged from the clouds, and an abyss bloody army of more than 200,000 led by sixty-six Balor Flame Demons stood beside her.

Only a true god of the abyss like Yuanchou dares to participate in such a gathering, and only a true god with the mark of chaos, Yuanchou, is worthy of communicating with the Chaos Apocalypse Marshal Archaon.

"Did I come at the wrong time?" Yuanchou asked with a smile to Achan who was sitting on Delga.

"No, you've come at the right time." Archaon noticed the Eye of Slaanesh's Power on Grudge. He didn't care whether Grudge joined or not. The Four Chaos Gods gave him the task of testing Aaron, but to Archaon, Grudge was not an enemy in this situation.

Archaon was not stupid enough to figure out who his friends were and who his enemies were.

Raising the Kingslayer, Archaon pointed at the demon army.

At this moment, the demons of Avernus were finally caught in a bitter battle, and the Chaos Apocalypse Marshal ordered all his subordinates to completely eliminate the demons of Avernus.

The war begins.

The army of hatred slammed into the gun array of the devil army, thousands of berserkers rushed into the devil's position, and the bloody madmen of the bottomless abyss howled with joy, their bodies trembling with each blow. The bloody demons temporarily put aside their internal strife during the killing: the Balor fire demons slashed and killed wantonly, the giant bull demons ran wildly and used their heads to knock through the devil's defense line, and the six-armed snake demons twisted their bodies to reap the glory of the bloody battle. They leaned on their love of sadism in the enhanced magic and charm of hatred.

However, they were unable to break through the demon's defenses.

The Legion of the Blessed Sons of Nurgle marches into battle, the plague bearers of the three Grot brothers striding through the demons' trenches and clearing a path through the thick-skinned Great Unclean Ones. These disgusting warriors are eager to share their corrupt gifts with the Hell of Baator, and they are greeted by Bayer's elite Bronze Fortress Guards.

Avernus' core quickly filled with rotting flesh and broken bones, and the two sides seemed evenly matched.

But soon, the devil saw a big fat man with stains on the horizon. The Nurgle great demon Korgath appeared from the rift in time and space. The fatherly Plague Father Legion arrived. They were the warriors chosen by Nurgle - Nurgle's favorite mortal warriors. The Plague Army dragged their heavy bodies and dragged the cauldron of boiling plague into the battlefield.

Despite the arrival of reinforcements, Avernus's flanks still held firm, and the Devil's Forge Catapults continued to spew death upon the enemy. As long as the devil's elite held the line, these war machines would crush the enemy.

Bayer ordered the Flame Walker Corps, one of the Eight Demon Generals, to support the front line, but they failed to do so. A fiery red comet storm hit them, four bloodthirsty demons fell from the sky, and several hellish demons died on the spot.

But the demons of hell were not to be outdone. They leaped onto the back of the great demon and pierced the body of the Blood God's Will with their sharp blades.

The corpses of four great demons and eighteen pit fiends were piled up together, and thousands of Khornate steel bulls charged past on their backs.

Archaon's 180,000-man army, the 200,000-man bloody legion of Enmity and Avernus's army of hundreds of thousands of demons deployed their battle lines and launched an unprecedented war in the first layer of hell.

One round, two rounds, three rounds.

Ten rounds, twenty rounds, fifty rounds. Endless attack and defense, just like the cruel and crazy bloody battle of ten thousand years.

Bones were broken, blood was shed, and the land of Avernus witnessed the eternal battle, again and again, ten thousand times, another day, another ten thousand years.

But today is different.

In the bloody battles of the past, the devils successfully held their positions with superior tactics, indomitable morale, and better equipment. The devils' mastery of military technology is unparalleled, just as they are fanatically devoted to conspiracy and intrigue.

What is shocking is that in this bloody battle that was like a meat grinder, the situation changed this time and the devil was the first to collapse.

No matter how many times the Demons had fought off the millions, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of Abyss Demons in the bloody battles in the Abyss, they were now destroyed by the terrifying fighting power of the Chaos army. Even the lowest-ranking Chaos Marauders - before they were chopped into pieces by bloodthirsty axes or burned to ashes by demonic fires - made their opponents pay a price many times their own.

Today, Bayer's army is like an isolated island in a colorful ocean, its edges slowly eroded by the endless waves.

Archaon's legions cut through the daemon army's seemingly impenetrable shield wall, Khorne bloodletters swarmed through the Legion's phalanxes, unnatural multicolored flames burst from the halberds of Tzeentch's chosen warriors, and the gods' great daemons unleashed all their power on Avernus's army.

To the warbands and chapters of the Chaos Grand Marshal, the bloodbath was a glorious spectacle presented to them by the gods.

Once again, the vengeful demons of the abyss poured out of the Ten Thousand Abyss Plains, accepting the call of hatred and joining this glorious bloody battle.

The devil's defense line was shaken by hundreds of rounds of fierce attacks, but new spearmen quickly filled the gaps in the formation, and the devil's army officers tried their best to maintain their positions.

But this time their opponent is Archaon.

For every demon or chaos warrior that gets cut down, ten more demons or chaos followers will come charging forward.

Not to mention that Archaon also has a huge number of auxiliary troops of abyss demons.

At this moment, Tiamat's Ashabi Dragon Demon Legion could no longer hold on, and Arkhan, the half-dragon chosen by the Five-Colored Dragon Queen, was forced to lead the Five-Colored Dragon Queen's legion to withdraw from the battlefield.

From then on, the Bronze Fortress was completely surrounded.

Grand Duke Bayer of Avernus realized that the final moment had arrived, and he decisively dispatched the most elite troops of Avernus, the Nessus Warguard from the ninth layer of hell. Every member of this elite force was born from the bleeding wounds of Asmodeus himself, and they had never joined in a bloody battle. Under Asmodeus' arrangement, this legion served as a reserve force, preparing for the future war that foreshadowed the end of the world.

These warriors prepared to add to their glorious deeds in the final moments, but even their most severe order could not avoid the inevitable end.

The apocalypse behemoth Delgar circled the battlefield from high above. Archaon set his sights on the Grand Duke of Hell who dared to resist him. Grand Duke Bayer of Avernus did not like to fight in the front lines like Zariel did. He just observed the battlefield from the bronze fortress. The phalanx of Nessus's team guarded their master, and twenty Pit Hell fiends formed a wall of armor around him.

You dare to stop me?

The uncontrollable rage of the Three-Eyed King caused the sky to gush with boiling blood, and the banks of the Styx collapsed under the torrent of divine power of the Grand Marshal of Chaos Apocalypse, drowning all the devils and demons in the cursed river.

After kicking the three-headed beast Delgar's butt, the Apocalypse beast flew towards Grand Duke Avernus like a meteor explosion. A group of hell missiles shot at the approaching three-headed beast, but Archaon was not hurt at all. The hell magic disappeared in the contemptuous eyes of the Grand Marshal of Apocalypse.

Bayer simply raised his scimitar, and a row of angel heads on his belt continued to howl.

The demon army watched expressionlessly as their own army was defeated around them. The Legion's shield wall was broken. The demon tide howled as it swept through, slaughtering indiscriminately wherever it went. The Chaos Demons were approaching. Bayer calmly told Asmodeus's scroll master his final observations.

"Hell's weapons are not very effective against demons. Hellfire magic machines and magic bombardments are more effective." At this moment, the giant beast was only twenty steps away from Bayer and his men. The flames spewing from Archaon's third eye were nothing more than a pile of bones that were about to be burnt to the Nessus guards.

Bayer picked up his long sword and pointed it upwards. The elite Devil Guards immediately drew their weapons to meet the enemy. The standard-bearing officer of the Hellfire dug a wound of several centimeters on the neck of the Apocalypse Beast, and the Eternal Chosen chopped off his head with a backhand swing. Two of the Eight Demon Generals launched a series of attacks on the Grand Marshal of the Four Chaos Gods, and were then bitten in half by the Tyrant's mount.

The Nessus warriors who rushed towards the Everchosen were melted one by one, leaving only Grand Duke Avernus standing alone.

Bayer flicked his robes and spread his wings.

"It is your honor to die by my sword." The roar of the Eternal Chosen rumbled.

"Me too." Bayer simply raised his flaming scimitar.

Delgar's speed was terrifyingly fast. Bayer barely blocked the attacking jaw with his power, and then stabbed his sword into the neck of the three-headed beast. The hellfire spread, and the three-headed beast screamed and bent upwards. The hellfire storm swept across the Chaos Apocalypse Marshal and his mount. Bayer then summoned a meteor explosion, engulfing where Archaon was.

However, the strongest hell magic could not harm Archaon at all. The Chaos Apocalypse Marshal raised his sword and slashed it, tearing the hellfire apart and piercing Bayer's shoulder.

Grand Duke Avernus dodged round after round of blows from the sharp blade, each of which was just a hair's breadth away from his neck.

This was a duel of unimaginable speed and fury. Attacking, parrying, and slashing, both Grand Marshal of Chaos Apocalypse and Grand Duke Avernus displayed all the skills in their endless lives. During this time, countless demons intended to rush up, but Archaon signaled that he would give Bayer a chance, a chance to challenge himself.

There can only be one victor at the gates of the Bronze Fortress.

After summoning seven or eight ice demons in succession, all of which were torn to pieces by Delga, Bayer finally used up his magic. Without his meat shield, Grand Duke Avernus's movement slowed down a little under the rounds of attacks, and the jaws of Delga's Nalgar head immediately bit his chest tightly, burning him with pain.

Then the Tzeentch head of the Apocalypse Beast tore off the flaming scimitar of Grand Duke Avernus, and Bayer, who was unable to fight back, was lifted up. What greeted him was the ruthless eyes of the Everchosen hidden behind the gap of the Overmind's Crown.

"Good, good fight." The Devil Duke panted, "I am inferior to you in skills, so I admit defeat."

"You are not bad." Archaon affirmed his opponent: "You remind me of an old friend."

The Kingslayer was cut down, and Bayer's head flew up.

In the 1371st year of the Valley Calendar, a piece of news that shocked the multiverse exploded like thunder in the minds of countless divine powers.

Avernus, the first layer of Baator Hell, fell, and Grand Duke Bayer of Avernus and his eight dark demon generals were all killed in battle.

The Nine Levels of Hell became the Eight Levels of Hell?
The Pantheon was extremely surprised, and many gods began to pay close attention to the follow-up developments of the bloody battle in the abyss.

The devils moved to the second level of Baator, Dis, to prepare to resist the offensive of Chaos Apocalypse Marshal. Asmodeus, the Lord of the Nine Hells, convened an emergency expanded meeting of Baator, and all the devils were mobilized to prepare for this unprecedented test.

Likewise, Aaron, who rescued Elminster, knew that after the Nine Hells, it would be his turn to face Archaon.

Therefore, before that, he had to complete the final step of preparation to impact the powerful divine power:
End the battle in heaven between Mother Su Lun and Sister Shar.