CHAPTER 102

The apprentice of the Arch Shaman, leading a group of elite wolf riders to scout the path ahead, sighed in relief upon seeing no other creatures — they had fled the area days ago, sensing the breath of their massive army. Dismounting his wolf, he placed a hand on the ground, preparing to cast an advanced detection spell capable of sensing vibrations and movements for dozens of kilometers.

Upon completing the spell and detecting no heavy footsteps or large numbers, he glanced at one of the riders."Orjalish! Khugo Hajaki!""Shogo!"The goblin rider nodded in acknowledgment and turned back to relay the safety of the road ahead to the Arch Shaman.

An hour passed, yet the apprentice, still mounted, decided to personally scout further ahead. But after an hour of separation from one of the scouts, the surrounding stones began to tremble, and his eyes filled with terror."Khugo! Khugo! Khugo!!!—"His words were cut short as the ground beneath him suddenly opened, revealing a fish-like maw that swallowed him and all the soldiers behind him before retreating underground. The empty pit began to fill with earth magic, returning the ground above to its normal state — a sign of the hunters' intelligence and skill in the Abyss. Yet, a question lingered: why would such a colossal creature, nearly a hundred meters tall, hide underground?

Had the Arch Shaman witnessed these creatures, he might have explained their patience and power, as well as the reason they hid — to avoid something that relished hunting such giants.

Time passed, and elsewhere near this hunting ground, a ten-meter-tall creature with a body of black bone and pulsing golden veins walked alongside a being that others might mistake for a mare. The infernal undead and the mare queen were repeatedly confronted by other creatures, forcing them into battle. Yet, they kept their true auras concealed to avoid drawing the attention of a more powerful entity.

"We must reach the Plains of Hidden Death soon," the mare queen said.

Hazard's eyes narrowed with curiosity. After a week of traveling alongside this legendary mare queen, he felt he understood her a little more."Hidden Death? What's supposed to attack us here?"

The mare queen placed her hand on the ground and cast a spell similar to the shaman's, though far more advanced."Apocalypse worms…"

Hazard activated his flight skill, preparing to teleport."You'd best conserve your mana for the fight," she advised, her tone laced with disappointment at his lack of survival instincts in a realm where even gods weren't safe from death.

When Hazard landed, he continued on foot. Their pace was far from ordinary, covering over a hundred kilometers per hour, like a never-ending nine-second sprint from the fastest runner."How much farther to the Cathedral of Destruction?" he asked.

The mare queen's gaze drifted to the horizon."The only place that might help you return is the Cathedral of Destruction… but we're in the territory of the God of Slaughter, who doesn't have the best relationship with the God of Destruction. Best you keep your identity hidden."

Hazard suppressed his divine aura, struggling to master the subtle art."Those who marked you… were they from the God of Slaughter's faction?"

Her eyes flashed with light as rage radiated from her at the memory."One of the Slaughter Legion's dogs… Though most of the gods' direct followers care little for anything outside their conflicts."

Hazard was surprised but couldn't shake a question."Slaughter Legion? One of them?"

Noticing his confusion, the mare queen explained."Powerful gods have different legions, personally trained or selected through rigorous standards. Jared Elian, the legendary three-headed ancient troll, is one of the Slaughter Legion's warriors. Without his help, I wouldn't have been marked."

A legion of legendary beings? Armies numbering in the tens of thousands? Hazard began to realize the gravity of the coming invasion."If thousands of legendary beings attack…"

Time was hard to measure in the Abyss, but back in his homeworld, he had less than eight months. Resolving to grow stronger, he pushed himself to accelerate."Let's hunt some legendary creatures along the way…"

The mare queen shot him a look — did he think hunting legends was as easy as picking vegetables? Creatures of the Abyss weren't ordinary legends. They had endured thousands of years of death and survival, making them far harder to defeat.

Meanwhile, in another part of the Abyss, the three-headed ancient troll stood before the hall where the mare queen had been marked. Towering like a mountain, clad in armor, each of his heads possessed its own name and intellect: one a warrior, one a strategist, one a mage. His mastery over these three domains had earned him a place in the Slaughter Pantheon's Legion and the promise of demi-godhood after ten thousand years of service — with only ten years remaining.

And now, the prisoner entrusted to him had escaped."She's escaped! Escaped! ESCAPED!"

His six arms — each wielding a weapon, from spear to staff — smashed into the ground, his roars echoing for hundreds of kilometers."Find her!"