Chapter 457: Wrath
Translator: imperfectluck
Chaos Evil God Donatis was rather hesitant as he stood in a patch of fog. Just one moment earlier, he had been standing on the battlefield, observing the enemy that he had sworn to kill. Yet at the next instant, he found himself lost in a patch of fog.
“He’s able to forcefully change my location without my noticing?”
Despite having experienced countless battles against powerful opponents throughout so many planes, this strange scene still somewhat confused Donatis. Even though his expression didn’t change, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy in his heart.
The tactic of divide and conquer against more powerful opponents was quite a common strategy. It was quite obvious that he was now the divided one who was now alone.
Clang!
Donatis didn’t immediately act. Instead, he inserted his greatsword into the ground and appeared to close his eyes and enter a contemplative trance. He was actually using his unique combat instincts to observe and sense this world which had become distorted even further.
Donatis wasn’t waiting for his own allied reinforcements. The fog had gotten even thicker to the point where it was impossible to even see his own fingers. But imperceptibly, the fog had become red and bloody.
“Asmo?”
Donatis attempted to mentally contact Asmo, the commander of all his heroic spirits. Asmo was a fallen hero who forever remained calm while giving wise and decisive opinions. Yet, Asmo didn’t instantly respond as he always would. Instead, the only response that Donatis received was a strange roaring sound with limited intelligence.
“Ahh!!! Why can’t I kill them all… Die, die! All of you go die!”
Under a strange interference, his other heroic spirits also responded with nothing more than chaotic thoughts, as if they had all gone insane.
Not only that, Donatis had lost the ability to sense the exact location of all his subordinates. Although he could clearly sense that they were nearby, he remained unable to see any of them or receive any coherent responses.
Donatis was rather astonished at this situation. Unlike other Demon Lords that summoned expendable cannon fodder, War God Donatis would only respect true courageous warriors. It could be said that there wasn’t a single weak existence in his heroic spirit army. All the weak ones would be culled out by the endless amount of battles.
Not only that, Donatis only summoned the elite of the elite into this battlefield. Some of the more powerful ones would even have the power level of True Gods. How could these heroic spirits all be vanquished so easily?
And, after the fallen heroic spirits entered this plane, they obtained the recognition of the dimensional law as they were also dead. Not only were they strengthened by the aura of death here, the heroic spirits even gained the property of endless revival, just like their opponents. That was because this was supposed to be a country for the dead.
Strengthening one’s enemy sounded rather foolish? That was just how dimensional laws worked. The dimensional laws would limit specific targets and always have the same result. As long as conditions were met, there would be no difference.
Unlike dimensional laws that could be manipulated in other dimensions, Roland created a dimensional law of death in Hell that was even more “rigid” than others, which also allowed this dimensional law to have greater “restraints” and “adaptability”.
“Since the dimensional law has been set, I would never allow it to be trampled on so easily. If Law can be adjusted because of someone’s identity, status, or characteristics, then what makes us any different from the Gods’ churches? Why would we need to exist?”– Roland Mist.
Donatis didn’t feel reassured or relieved at all when his enemy appeared to foolishly strengthen Donatis’s fallen heroic spirit army. That was because he knew that Soul Worlds represented what a person desired the most. Ever since Donatis entered this world, he could detect just how distorted and insane the dimensional laws here were. Being able to create such a Soul World was already the best evidence of Roland’s extremeness and insanity.
And since willpower was capable of transforming into concrete strength, that meant extremists and the insane were the most difficult type to deal with in this world. Extremists’ stubbornness would always create Soul Worlds with ridiculous restraints and effects, while it would be impossible to predict the laws of an insane individual’s Soul World.
Still, doing nothing wouldn’t be a solution to this predicament at all.
Finally, Donatis chose to step forward. But, the moment that he took the first step, the entire world distorted around him yet again.
“…This… is… a battlefield!”
That’s right, this was a blood-red tundra that stretched for as far as the eye could see. Even the land had been drenched red with blood. Countless souls were currently fighting against each other here, including ghostly knights, butchers with vegetable knives, and undying heroic spirits. No matter how powerful, glorious, honorable, or what they believed in, they were nothing more than ordinary soldiers here.
This was the most insane of battles where all souls lost their sense of reason. They were using sharp weapons to slash each other, or even tearing into each other with teeth and hands. They ripped off their own heads and innards to toss at each other. Their only thoughts were to tear apart the enemy before them. Every moment, a flag and its holder would be slashed to death. But the next instant, countless souls would revive and begin fighting again.
At this battlefield, even the strongest of heroic spirits was no different from a butcher. Their originally clear eyes now contained nothing apart from distorted insanity and bloodthirst. In fact, Donatis witnessed some of his most powerful heroic spirits on all fours, tearing at each other as if they were wild dogs. No matter if these fallen heroic spirits had been venerated kings or glorious heroes in the past, they had become nothing more than raging beasts being controlled by wild, raw emotions.
“Asmo? Diboer? Kalii?”
Donatis was rather hesitant to identify these figures with the fallen heroic spirits that he knew. However, the master’s summons still received no response. These souls that had died multiple times and constantly revived here had already lost their most basic senses of logic and reason.
At the end of the red mist, Roland was currently standing there in his silver robe and mask, apparently enjoying the scene before him.
“A battle for the sake of justice? A Holy War for cleansing evil? A battle for the sake of survival space? Don’t joke around. Since you all love to find so many excuses to fight, then let me give you a reason to fight each other here for all eternity, just like the wild beasts that you love to be.”
When Roland turned around, his holy robe of Law was glowing with the pure light of Law. Yet, the lich’s vicious skeleton face was evilly laughing maniacally. The insanity and distortion on Roland’s face caused even Donatis’s expression to flicker.
“Welcome to Hell. This is the first of the Seven Circles of Hell, the Bloodbath Inferno. Those who casually take the lives of others, love to slaughter, participate in war, and revel in bloodthirst, yep, along with so-called heroes and outstanding talents, and anyone that participates in war and takes others’ lives, no matter the reason, excuse, or identity, shall all fall into this Circle of Hell.”
And when Roland noticed Donatis looking at him, he suddenly bowed, filled with evil intentions, as if he was a friendly host.
“My venerated War God, please forgive me for the impolite greeting. But, I feel that as you’re a War God who’s the literal incarnation of War, this Bloodbath Inferno is the most appropriate place to greet you at. Do you happen to like it? Or, perhaps you’re not enjoying your subordinates’ performance of fighting against each other? Or, perhaps you’re intending to personally participate?”
The silent War God didn’t respond verbally. His greatsword which glowed with a murky black attacked through all dimensional limitations, acting as his only response as always.
However, his greatsword that was always able to pierce through even dimensions met with an opponent. A gigantic monster standing in the red mist blocked his greatsword.
The red mist was blown away, revealing the identity of the beast in the fog. Even Donatis inhaled a cold breath at the sight.
This beast was truly fearsome to behold. Its physical appearance was similar to Cerberuses, and its blood-red body was as large as a mountain. Its gigantic back was on fire, as if it was a living volcano. One of its dog heads was currently biting on to the War God’s greatsword.
As if the dog was dissatisfied with its master’s restrictions, its three heads were endlessly roaring and its blood-red bestial eyes were filled with cruel joy of the desire to slaughter. Its limbs and tail were covered in the flames of Hell, while its toxic saliva directly corroded everything that came into contact with it.
Not only that, this dog’s other two heads were busy tearing and devouring other souls which were once venerated heroic spirits that it was now easily trampling upon. Although its master was restraining it, this incarnation of Wrath was still unable to stop itself from slaughtering.
“Oh my, someone as frail as me is unsuited for direct battle. My little cutie will be playing with you – my Little Bas…
“Bastian! Bastian the War Hound!”
“WOOF!”
The gigantic hound’s roar contained an endless amount of anger within it. Even in front of its master, this hound of Wrath that entered its combat form was unable to restrain its infinite amount of anger.
“Alright then, I’ll allow you since you requested it, Little Bas.”
“Call me Bastian!”
“Yep, Little Bas! I know, no need to emphasize.” “…Fine, whatever.”
In the end, the magic hound helplessly gave up on having Roland call him Bastian instead of Little Bas. But despite this almost comical display, Donatis didn’t dare to look down on his opponent. He already recognized this undead magical hound, but Bastian was now far different from before in terms of strength and imposing aura.
“He possesses the Concepts of Wrath, War, and Slaughter? He’s at minimum a High God’s level? So this is his Divine Kingdom…”
Donatis could sense that this tremendous beast was completely compatible with the dimensional laws of this location, as if this was the beast’s Divine Kingdom. If this beast was the master of this Divine Kingdom, then naturally that meant Donatis was an invader who came uninvited into this Divine Kingdom.
And, even Ayer would be unwilling to invade other Gods’ Divine Kingdoms in ordinary circumstances, as invading another Divine Kingdom would be endlessly troublesome with a huge price to pay.
As for Donatis, he considered the level of his opponent to have escalated from troublesome to slightly dangerous.
Roland laughed upon seeing how the Chaos War God was becoming ever more cautious.
“Allow me to reintroduce him to you. This is the Hell King of the First Circle of Hell, the Bloodbath Inferno, the Overseer of those who commit the crime of Slaughter, Hell’s hound who represents Wrath and the Sin of War…”
“Bastian!”
The furious magic hound roared out his own name before I could finish. No longer able to suppress his anger, he instantly started attacking. One head spat out raging flames, one spat out an icy chill, and one spat out death breath along with beginning to tear and bite. Even when facing a Chaos Main God, this incarnation of Wrath still chose to begin the battle.
A stench and toxic mist started spreading. The inferno flames were more than powerful enough to destroy any soul. Even a God would tremble in front of the hound of Wrath’s anger-filled attack.
However, Bastian was facing no simple God. The gigantic dog, who was even taller than the War God, didn’t even get close before a swing of Donatis’s greatsword cut through Space itself.
Shining thin trails continuously cut through Space where the greatsword sliced. The void could faintly be seen through the dimensional tears, but the next moment, the dimensional tears were instantly fixed.
“So what if you’re a powerful God now? Countless souls have died to my sword already.”
Donatis swung his greatsword again, tearing through Space once more. Bastian’s body viciously crashed into the ground, creating a tremendous crater while also crushing an innumerable number of souls that were currently fighting.
“Ha, as expected of the undefeated Chaos War God. However, you’d better not underestimate my Little…”
“It’s Bastian!”
The magic hound that was nothing more than scattered pieces of a corpse still angrily roared. And, the next instant, he stood up again as a magic hound that was even larger than before. Not only that, his strength had increased by almost ten percent.
The war hound of Wrath was currently twitching all over as his already ridiculous muscles strengthened even more. Even the inferno flames around his body became fiercer than earlier.
Anger would make the magic hound even stronger, and the dead were unable to become deader in this plane of Hell. This dimensional law was just as effective on the Hell Gods. When in Hell, how could the Gods of Hell, who were already dead, become any deader?
If Donatis was unable to find a method to deal with this, Bastian would only become ever larger and stronger through his anger. As Donatis was a War God who specialized mainly in only physical attacks, it seemed as if he had met the most troublesome opponent in his entire life.
The next instant, the war hound charged at Donatis yet again. Although Bastian was larger than earlier, his movements had become even more agile.
The magic hound that had just died unhesitatingly challenged the Chaos War God yet again. And, perhaps the end result would still be the same, but what about ten times, one hundred times, or one thousand times later? Perhaps the undefeated Chaos War God would finally meet his first defeat and die here.
“Chaos War God? Ptui! If you strip away the reputation that was obtained through slaughtering, doesn’t that make you into a butcher and evil hound that’s the same as me? Come, let us enjoy a fun fight.”