Chapter 1128: The Scourge Wardens' Pledge

Chapter 1128: The Scourge Wardens’ Pledge

The Godforsaken Land. Sunset City.

This was a terminal realm, a world with no future. From the moment it had fallen, seasons ceased to exist. There was no wind, no thunder, no rain, no snow. The last dregs of its depleted world essence were just enough to sustain this small pocket of what could only be described as Hell.

Sunset City was a lily pad adrift in the cosmic void. Its fate was to be either capsized or to sink into the muck, returning to the universal cycle of energy.

And yet, today, a light snow began to fall.

Inside the palace, the city’s lord, Wilson, stood by a window with an old man, watching the flakes drift down.

“Is this… snow?” Wilson turned to the elder beside him, a flicker of hope in his eyes. “Ancestor, does this mean our world is recovering?”

He didn’t really expect an answer. He’d already given up, resigned to the ashes. Ten years ago, Sunset City had a different name. Wilson had changed it himself after learning the truth of their world—a final, bitter joke. After the sunset comes only darkness, a tomorrow that never arrives.

The old man beside him didn’t speak. He simply extended a hand, letting the flakes gather in his palm. It had been so long since he’d seen something so beautiful. Five hundred years? A thousand? He couldn’t remember. He only knew that after the old world shattered, the cycle of seasons had vanished with it.

This is snow, the old man thought. I’m probably the only person left in this city who’s ever seen it.

Only when the snow in his palm was about half an inch thick did he finally pull his hand back and speak, his voice slow and deliberate. “Yes, Wilson. This is snow.”

He seemed reluctant to let it melt, cradling the flakes as if they were jewels he might never see again.

“Ancestor… we’ve been found, haven’t we?”

Wilson was sharp. In the Godforsaken Land, any change in the weather could only be the result of an outside influence.

“Yes. Our quiet days are coming to an end.” The elder stared at his palm as the snow melted into an ice-cold slick of water.

“Where are they? Where is the enemy?” This was the question Wilson truly needed answered.

The invaders were here, yet no alarms had sounded. No reports had come from the outer territories. The city’s own magical wards hadn’t detected a thing. That was what terrified Wilson. It was also why the old man had remained silent for so long.

“They will reveal themselves, sooner or later,” the ancestor said. “Before they do, you must make a choice. Do you fight, or do you retreat?” He paused. “If you choose to leave all this behind, I have some… private reserves. I can transport us to another plane. But you would have to start over from nothing.”

This sliver of a territory was all that sustained Wilson’s power, barely enough to maintain his rank as an arch lord. To abandon it would be to lose everything.

“Is there really no other way, Ancestor? Can’t we beat them back? Can’t we counter-invade their world?”

The old man looked at his descendant, a flash of pity in his ancient eyes. Counter-invade their world? The sheer audacity. This city was too small. It had constrained Wilson’s vision, his understanding of the true scale of things. He was just a lower arch lord, and the ancestor himself nothing more than a fading demigod phantom.

Still, Wilson was his blood. He would support him.

The elder sighed. He already knew the boy’s choice. “Recall the legions from the outer garrisons, Wilson. If we can hold Sunset City, we have a chance.”

Wilson nodded in firm agreement.

Outside, the snow continued to fall.

High above the clouds, Lumi hovered in the sky, gazing down upon the Godforsaken Land.

So this is a Godforsaken Land?

It was her first time seeing one. She could feel no connection to the natural elements here, only a pervasive aura of decay.

When the world essence is siphoned away and the World Tree withers, this is the result, Orion’s voice echoed in her mind. His will projection shielded her, hiding her presence from the demigod phantom below.

It’s not so bad, actually, Orion continued. Though it’s a Godforsaken Land, it hasn’t been corrupted by the Reaper. The humans who survived here… they can be saved.

He didn’t elaborate that being saved wasn’t the same as living well. The realm’s depleted resources had capped its population and its future. But conquering it would yield a significant number of followers, a fine harvest of faith for Orion.

Go down. It’s time to bring Marina and Soraya through.

“Understood,” Lumi murmured, dissolving into a flurry of wind and snow as she descended toward the blighted earth.

***

Meanwhile, in the first layer of the Abyss, on Starglow Peak.

Half a month had passed. Orion, deep in meditation, opened his eyes and looked toward the west. Half the sky was burning crimson. The clouds churned and the very ground trembled, the disturbance growing closer and more intense with each passing second.

A trio of powerful, resonant voices boomed across the landscape, preceding their arrival.

“I, Eparus, pledge myself and the Scourge Wardens armies to your service, My lord!”

“I, Holrivus, pledge myself to your service, My lord!”

“I, Thronlis, pledge myself to your service, My lord!”

Even Orion felt compelled to rise to his feet, his gaze fixed on the approaching inferno. He could sense them now—three distinct auras of Legendary level power radiating from the heart of the firestorm. Three beings at their peak, leading the chant.

Behind the three massive flame giants marched over a hundred followers of varying sizes. Even the weakest among them was an Alpha.

The sheer scale of this force was staggering.

As the Scourge Wardens armies drew near, the crushing pressure of their collective will sent the lesser abyssal creatures scattering in terror. Orion stood within the spatial rift, watching in silence as the giants approached.

“Today, I, Eparus, offer the loyalty of the Scourge Wardens armies,” the lead giant declared, his voice a tidal wave of sound. “We ask only that you accept our fealty, My lord!”

Orion remained silent. He knew better than anyone that nothing this good ever came without a price. Still, the power on display was undeniable, an irresistible temptation. If he accepted their pledge, he would instantly possess an elite force capable of conquering the Abyss.