After the Fist venerable sent the rookie supreme devil packing back to the abyss, it had gone to inform the ancient supreme that it served, the Supreme of Black Frost, Bast.
After hearing the information brought back to him, the Ancient Supreme couldn't help but giggle under his breath.
The entire ordeal was funny to him, every part of it, including the naivety of that person who easily defeated Umon. To think it could be someone so arrogant in that world, how could anyone not fear the abyss? They must not be aware of the true might and vastness of the abyss.
" Stop groveling in your defeat and request a council of the ancients."
....
In a vast palace that seemed to be made of obsidian, there were twelve individuals sitting around a huge, demonic-looking table, each sitting on their own custom thrones.
One of them spoke with a deep but melodic voice, "So, why don't we just flood this so-called Evergreen world with our vast armies and change its name to "Everblack", ha ha ha ha."
"Calm down, Sin, we have to make sure we carry out the mission properly. It's a delicate process, and our father will be beyond displeased if we don't feed him a pure world core."
The first to speak was a female ancient supreme devil known for her tortuous methods, Sinvanganza. The other voice was from a supreme all of them considered their elder brother, Lizerath.
He had the most knowledge of everything outside of the abyss and he's the oldest of the supremes, at least from what they know, and he is also the one who coordinates communication with the lord of the abyss.
Lizerath spoke again, "We'll send three ancients and 4 elder supremes over to ensure the complete eradication of any resistance. The seven who will be going can pick their own armies and will be decided amongst yourselves. You have three dark cycles to prepare, pick, and prepare the force. I have other worlds I'm plotting on, so don't request my assistance anymore.
....
Back in Evergreen, every force was making preparations, and the church was the busiest. This is because the churches have the best and most efficient methods to deal with devils. They were also the ones figuring out a way to close the world gate.
The news of the Fist Venerable's eradication of the abyssal army and message sent back to the abyss spread far and wide across the entire Evergreen world. Unbeknownst to the insignificant inhabitants of this world, that was all a plan of the major powers.
They wanted to demonstrate the might of one powerful being from Evergreen to the abyss in order to earn some borrowed time. If the Abyss took the demonstration seriously, they would take the time to prepare properly before invading. If they took it lightly, they would send a more powerful supreme which would also be demolished, further diminishing the abyss' forces.
While the Abyssal ancient council and preparations was happening, Horo , his father and others were training growing stronger concurrently.
His father was still in slumber, but his body grew, continued to transcend, and grew tremendously beyond imagination. Horo worked to synergize his Aether path and Tattoo path, which in turn gave him a boost to his darkstar force and made it become its own path due to the convergence of the former two.
He held a trump card related to his darkstar force.
He also worked on the applications of his blessing and his other paths. That was until he felt the entire world tremble. It felt as if the vilest thing in existence had just stepped foot on Evergreen.
He wasn't the only one that felt this feeling, everyone strong enough could perceive the same thing he did.
This feeling, it was the arrival of the abyss itself. The ancient supremes and their underlings had arrived.