Chapter 35 – The Chains of the Abyss

The city of Abyss Maw lay in utter ruin.

Silence.

Not the kind of silence that follows victory—but the kind that comes when something far worse has been born.

The once-feared 9th Demon Belphegor was no more.

Kuragami stood amidst the carnage, his white hair stained with black demonic blood, his purple eyes glowing with a newfound hunger. His forgotten sword, now pulsing with an even darker energy, hummed in his grip.

The thousands of demons who had once served Belphegor cowered before him. Fear-stricken. Speechless.

Kuragami had not just defeated a Demon Lord—he had devoured him.

He turned his gaze towards them, and in that moment, they all understood.

He was not an enemy they could fight.

He was not a ruler they could betray.

He was something far worse.

And then, without a word, they knelt.

A new King had arrived.

A Stirring in the Abyss

Far beyond Abyss Maw, within the Dark Citadel of Demon Kings, the air trembled.

The Demon Kings who sat atop the Hierarchy of the Abyss felt it.

A shift.

Something unnatural.

The death of a Demon Lord was not rare. But the way Belphegor had vanished—his very essence consumed—was something far more dangerous.

The Demon King himself stirred from his throne.

"He is coming."

His voice echoed through the chambers, and for the first time in ten thousand years, the throne room was silent.

For the first time, true fear gripped the strongest of demons.

Kuragami's Next Target – The 8th Strongest Demon

Kuragami turned his attention forward.

One down. Nine remain.

If he was to uncover the truth of his existence, he had to continue his journey. The Demon King would not reveal anything until he stood before him—as an equal.

And so, his next destination was set.

The 8th Strongest Demon.

A name that had not been spoken in centuries.

A legendary executioner who had ended the lives of thousands with his cursed blade.

A demon who ruled over Oblivion Keep, a prison where even the strongest beings were sent to be forgotten.

A demon who had once stood against the Demon King himself—

And lived.

His name was Asmodeus, the Death Warden.

And he was waiting.

—End of Chapter 35—