The Illicitous Dungeon

"This human kingdom his its trump cards deep!" The infernal knight demon commander ground his teeth beneath his helmet and grit his teeth. "To think they managed to tame and use Fifth Step Monster Lords, not to mention use them so openly!"

The Neth'rite Demon Kingdom had a territory four times the size of the Maple Dragon Kingdom, but there was only one Fifth Step Monster Lord within it. This was because the blood and flesh of a Monster Lord were incredibly valuable for all kinds of demonic rituals. Not only could they be used to power cataclysm level magic, they could be used in demonic rituals to empower the bloodline too.

They were ticking time bombs within a kingdom, so the demons had long since hunted them all down and turned them into resources for the elite upper class demons to further strengthen themselves. The only remaining Monster Lord was a sinister sin ouroboros that had fed upon demons and had evaded hunting for centuries due to its uncanny ability of nigh immortality.

The demons were greatly different from humans or any other race. The demon gods didn't care whether they lived or died, so they wouldn't protect them from a Monster Lord. They instead viewed such a monster as an opportunity to weed out the weaklings and force the remaining to become stronger.

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White flames burned over the ground that had turned into magma. The casualties to the demon force from this attack had been enormous as even the most fire immune demons simply evaporated in the face of these flames. Not even blood remained as the temperature was so hot the enemy weren't burned so much as they were annihilated.

"Spellweavers, cursemasters! Enhance our soldiers and turn them into beserkers!" The demon commanders ordered their battalions in their mother tongue. "Ritualists, prepare to summon high class demons. The battlefield is rich in souls!"

The demon army picked themselves back up immediately and charged into the city wall. The behemoth-like creatures rammed their heads into it and caused the entire was to shake as if threatening to collapse, whilst smaller demons clawed at the polished bricks and climbed atop one another.

Everest's web traps constantly sliced apart demons, but two filled the hole for every one that died. The army was thinning, but this just meant their elites were taking the stage.

The sky turned blood red as giant magic formations filled with twisted formulae in demonic runes appeared.

"Disrupt their magic!" Styx commanded his army to prevent as much of the demon's offence as possible.

The humans were winning, but the demons' ritual-class spells could rapidly change the tides.

Several Fourth Step devils that were left over from the previous city attacked at this point. The skin of this type of devil was like a white carapace and their razor sharp teeth and claws could tear through almost anything. They tunneled through the wall, creating channels for demons to get into the city as well as emerge on the top of the wall in the middle of the defenders.

Styx was ready for this as a second line of defender were waiting inside the walls to prevent the demons from having access to the civilians.

The battle reached its climax and devolved into pure chaos. Demons climbed atop the wall from both the outside and tunnels, others breaking away from the battle in the sky and frantically attacking the defenders atop the wall.

The demons were crazed, not caring about their own lives as they chewed and clawed at the humans defenses. Humans had a wide plethora of techniques while the tiger beastmen were the biggest predators atop the wall, almost dancing through the battlefield and slaying countless demons.

The giant ritual-class demonic spell still hung above the battlefield, using not just the fallen humans, elves and beastmen, but also the demons as fuel. Styx tried to interrupt it, but he didn't understand the demon's magic well enough and all the human mages and archers attempts had shown no effect of the magic.

He could see the flow of mana, constantly flowing into it from the battlefield, but he was helpless to stop it. He knew Aura would be able to consume it, mana and ritual combined, but he couldn't leave his core unprotected for even a moment.

The demon commanders joined in the battle at this point alongside the devils. The devils breathed miasma and death on Styx's defenders, causing monsters and people to shrivel and wilt into death, their bodies breeding grounds to release more miasma that would make others nearby sick.

"Die, human scum!"

One demon commander held a giant flaming claymore that cut through magic and armor like a hot knife through butter. He was like an unstoppable tank that nobody could stop.

Another was a vampire that wielded blood as a weapon, and if he ever started to run out, would merely pull more out of the nearest human or elf. He licked the blood of one elf off his lips as his eyes lit up in delight. He transformed into a swarm of bats whenever he was in danger and would reappear elsewhere on the battlefield.

For the humans, it was good that Dragon's earlier surprise attack had killed most of the demon commanders and limiting the death and chaos the Fourth Step demons could wreak upon the battlefield.

There were still plenty of other dangers lurking atop the walls. Succubi and incubus demons exuded charm magic upon the defenders, causing them to turn their blades on one another whilst the sly demons snuck behind them and slit their unprotected throats whilst they never realized how they died.

It almost appeared as if Styx was losing, but this was not the case at all.

Everest remained beside Styx to ensure he was not harmed and only killed the demons that attacked. Styx also held a long sword whilst his avatar's body emulated countless skills inside of it. With how fast he could process information, he could even kill a Third Step demon by himself.

Dragon would move around the battlefield and clean up areas where the demons were close to overwhelming the defenders before returning to Styx. His agreement was to protect Styx, the dungeon, not Lagoon Porter City. However he had held guilt since being unable to help when he needed it the most against the human Goddess, Eve, and had since been helping him in matters outside of their agreement.

Him breaking his promise had deeply harmed his pride.

"Dragon, go clean up the battlefield," Styx commanded the white haired person in a white suit beside him, Dragon's human form that he had returned to. "Actually… deal with that first."

The giant ritual magic above the city finally reached the point of satiation and emitted a deep and profound humming sound that one could feel in their chest.

What Styx did not know was that demons would usually set up multiple soul and mana absorption arrays across a battlefield, even holding more localised sacrifice ceremonies to summon devils they could control more. This type of array that absorbs everything like a singularity was one of their most powerful tactics and had been used in the past to deal with especially powerful Monster Lords.

All summons could remain in the mortal plane for a limited time, determined by the quality and number of sacrifices. Control measures were also put in place so the demons could control the devil from the abyssal realm.

This threw all control aside and poured everything together to summon the most powerful entity possible. It couldn't be controlled and would simply rampage as soon as it was summoned, killing friend and foe alike. It was the fantasy world equivalent of a nuclear bomb. Drop it in the middle of the city then sit back and watch as the city is destroyed.

"Fuck!"

Styx cursed as the sky cracked open and a twenty-story tall devil dropped out. It was a balefire daemon, a creature from the pits of the abyss and was symbolic to slaughter and chaos. It was incredibly powerful too, its strength only a step below that of godhood.

"Get it out of the city!" Styx roared at Dragon just as he transformed back into his original form and charged at the infernal devil covered in flames and jagged carapaces, its horns extending up above its grotesque head and causing the air itself to ignite.

A small portal opened beside Styx and a weary and bloodied covered Therina strolled out of it.

"Darling… the dream realm is incredibly turbulent. Fear and panic are setting over the city so it is becoming harder to move through it. People's nightmares come to life in there…"

Therina swiftly threw several throwing knives that killed several flying creatures and pulled out a thin rapier made of soulium. She thrust the weapon forward and illusory creatures leapt out from her twin wisp like tails, rapidly mutating into twisted monsters that then attacked the demons.

"Your powers over the dream realm are increasing."

"Nightmares are a part of the dream realm too. It is difficult, but I am learning."

Styx had been deeply impressed by Therina's growth in strength ever since she evolved into a lithic naiad. She was currently <Lv. 39> and waiting for the right moment to Class Up again, whilst Styx hoped she would be able to evolve once again and become even stronger.

This dream monsters summoning technique for instance, whilst only available when people were afraid or having nightmares, was incredibly powerful. The creatures were a strange construct that neither steel nor magic could touch, yet they could tear their targets into pieces. Just like a monster in a nightmare, the only way to survive was to run and hide, preying it never found you.

"I found you~~ Hehe~" A slovenly female voice laced with sexual allure spoke in a twisted, but high level of the human tongue, "Lord of the humans~"

Styx abruptly turned his head and saw the most attractive succubus he had ever laid eyes on. She had long black hair down to her waist and intoxicating pink irises that were vertical slits. She wore little more than a thin and loose strip of fabric around her bust and waist, hiding her genitals but creating a risque look that they could be exposed at any moment should a gust of wind blow by.

A thin and weak looking tail with a pointed tip swayed behind her, occasionally rubbing up across her bare waist and navel as if inviting others to come touch her.

Her skin was pale and flawless, her giant breasts jiggling and hips swaying with every movement she made. Every action of hers was designed to entice men, and she wouldn't have it any other way.

Her strength wasn't to be underestimated as she was of the Fourth Step and had an entire arsenal of both exotic and erotic techniques that would drain a man of his life essence before he even knew it.

"Darling!" Therina called out in panic upon seeing Styx targeted by the licentious demon commander.

Everest also moved the dice up the succubus with invisible threads, but before anyone could move, that succubus' eyes glowed pink and a strange murky barrier extended out from her.

"Pleasure Call!"