After adjusting to the sky for a while,
Olthagia turned his gaze toward the nearby Demonic Creatures. Within his vision, everything within dozens of kilometers was clearly visible.
Before long, he had selected a lucky passerby.
His flying form immediately changed direction, heading straight for the target.
Klo, a Spider Demon with the strength of a Low-Rank Demon, wasn't particularly powerful, but within a radius of several dozen kilometers, he was still considered formidable. At the moment, he was hidden more than ten meters underground, carrying out his daily routine of hunting.
Thanks to the fine hairs covering his body, he could detect any creature walking on the surface within several kilometers—even if it was only the size of a fist.
Having already completed three hunts today, he felt about half-full.
Based on past experience, a herd of Demonic Beasts would soon pass by the area, so he decided to shift his position slightly to avoid being trampled.
Those beasts were massive, but their bodies were mostly hard bones.
Unless he was starving, he didn't particularly enjoy hunting such targets—they were dangerous and provided little meat.
It was better to catch a few smaller prey. Though they wouldn't fill him up, at least they satisfied his cravings!
Just as he was lost in thought, speculating about his next catch, his spiritual senses detected movement in the sky.
Surprised, he considered poking his head out to take a look.
The next moment, he felt an overwhelming force crashing down from directly above him.
Danger!
His instincts screamed warnings, and he instinctively tried to dodge to the side!
But before he could even move his limbs, he saw a flaming claw appear right before his eyes.
With a sharp burst of pain, he clearly felt his hardened skull being pierced.
His soul was then ripped out and grasped in the enemy's hand…
——
Standing in the deep crater, Olthagia casually consumed the soul.
He began extracting the information he needed from it.
Soon, the Spider Demon's meager knowledge flowed into Olthagia's mind. After filtering out a large portion of useless garbage, he obtained the details he sought.
The 6,548,257th layer of the Bottomless Abyss—the Lava Wasteland.
A world without night.
This was the territory of Demon Lord Karto.
The entire world was built upon a sea of flowing magma.
The so-called land on the surface was merely accumulated dust and residue over time—magma and flames were the true essence of this place!
Additionally, based on the Spider Demon's memories, Olthagia also learned the location of this Abyss layer's central region.
A place the Spider Demon had never reached.
According to descriptions from other Low-Rank Demons in his memories, flying at several times the speed of sound would take roughly 1,344 hourglass hours to arrive there.
After a moment of thought, Olthagia flicked a small fireball into the distance.
"Boom!"
A crater several meters deep appeared where it landed.
'The speed of sound here is 967 meters per second.'
By measuring the distance of the explosion and the time it took for the sound to reach him, Olthagia calculated the speed of sound in this Abyss layer.
Then, after comparing their respective time measurements, he deduced that one hourglass hour here was roughly equivalent to three hours on Earth.
Finally, the actual distance to the central area surfaced in Olthagia's mind.
'Not too far. Worth a visit.'
If he were still at the strength of a [Low-Rank Demon], Olthagia might have hesitated whether he could reach that place. But now, having advanced to a [Mid-Rank Demon], such considerations were unnecessary. Even in most demon legions, his current strength would naturally earn him a position like squad leader—no longer at the bottom of the food chain. Thus, he had nothing to fear.
This was power he had built upon the corpses of millions of lives through relentless slaughter!
Even with the system's assistance, he had proven he was no weakling.
He could act cautiously, but there was no need to fear anything.
Once the decision was made, his body silently lifted off the ground with anti-gravity effects.
Finding his bearing, acceleration began!
With a sharp howl and deafening sonic boom, he vanished from his original position in a flash of speed.
276 hourglass hours later.
Gazing at the towering structures in the distance, Olthagia felt a surge of anticipation.
This was the first time he had laid eyes on a demon civilization's creations with his own vision.
The moment he saw the city, even as a faint outline, the detailed locations of its entrances and exits automatically surfaced in his mind, as if some force was guiding him forward.
He knew it was a magical effect embedded in the structures, akin to a lighthouse guiding ships to harbor.
In his sight, the city's scale far surpassed conventional standards, resembling a colossal kingdom.
The width of its walls was immeasurable, stretching beyond the limits of his vision, while their height alone reached tens of thousands of meters!
Constructed entirely from dark-red stone and studded with spikes, it stood amidst a vast sea of magma like an insurmountable barrier.
Before it, Olthagia felt a sense of insignificance—he had never witnessed such a magnificent creation!
His anticipation for the city grew even stronger.
After several more hourglass hours, he finally arrived at the city gates.
They were massive doors built from countless piled bones, towering thousands of meters high. Above the entrance hung a golden skull wreathed in black flames. Peering into its hollow eye sockets, one could see what seemed like countless souls burning within, their faint cries and wails barely audible.
'God Bone?'
Sniffing the air and examining the skull, Olthagia recognized from his inherited memories that it belonged to a deity—though his limited knowledge couldn't pinpoint which one.
Still, for a [Demon Lord] to display it as a trophy, it must have been a particularly powerful god.
Olthagia couldn't help feeling curious about these so-called gods.
In his mind, as beings often depicted in legends alongside demons at the pinnacle of the Multiverse's food chain, they ought to be quite delicious and nutritious...
As for feelings of reverence or disgust, he had none. With his current strength, he could easily play the role of a genuine demon god in many lower planes, capable of slaughtering nations and exterminating races. Thus, he harbored no particular emotions toward so-called deities—to him, they were merely higher lifeforms, not necessarily stronger than high-ranking demons.
The trophies hung on the city gates by the Demon Lord Karto served as a clear testament to this.
To ordinary beings, these deities might seem untouchable, but to demons—fellow transcendent creatures—they were nothing special.
As he approached, Olthagia felt the oppressive force emanating from all directions. He recognized it as the city's anti-flight barrier at work, prohibiting any unauthorized creature from flying within its range. So, he folded his wings and descended to the ground, proceeding on foot like the others.
These beings weren't all demons—their variety was staggering. Some simply moved silently, while others adhered more faithfully to the Bottomless Abyss's straightforward rules, fighting as they traveled.
After walking a bit further, a bull-faced demon over ten meters tall, covered in festering sores and clad in standard battle armor, appeared beside Olthagia.
The demon first scrutinized Olthagia's appearance and aura before speaking in a cold voice: "Entry fee."
His manner was no different from a toll collector in the mortal world.
Mid-Rank Demon. Not as strong as me.
Olthagia instinctively compared the demon to himself before glancing at another demon nearby who was also paying the fee. Seeing that the toll was a single Soul Crystal, he roughly gauged the required quality.
With a casual motion behind him, he seized a passing Low-Rank Demon, instantly reducing it to a spray of blood mist. He then refined it into a freshly condensed Soul Crystal.
Ignoring the onlookers who had taken a step back, Olthagia tossed the crystal to the collector and said indifferently, "Keep the change."
Catching it, the bull-faced demon gave Olthagia a cold look before tossing him a token and turning away to collect fees from others—utterly unconcerned about the demon who had just been casually crushed.
In a demon city, even if some rules resembled those of human settlements, the masters here were still demons. Their chaotic alignment and nature didn't change anything—mutual slaughter remained perfectly normal. As long as it wasn't large-scale massacres, brawls, or destruction of city structures, the guards rarely intervened.
Besides, the bull-faced demon could vaguely sense that he probably couldn't defeat this Balor before him.
Not that it stopped him from acting arrogant—losing a fight didn't mean he couldn't put on a show. As a public servant, what was wrong with a little posturing?
Watching the demon's retreating figure, Olthagia burned away the disgusting pus residue on the token with his Blood Flame—filth oozing from the collector's sores—before leisurely stepping into the city.
So big…
Gazing at the road stretching over a kilometer wide, Olthagia marveled like a country bumpkin.
Rubbing his chin, he felt that after becoming an [Abyss Lord], he couldn't afford to lose face when it came to his lair—at least not in terms of grandeur.
"So huge..."
A similar remark reached his ears from behind.
Though he didn't understand their language, Olthagia could still comprehend their words thanks to the innate linguistic abilities of Demons.
Turning his head, he saw several humans dressed in various outfits.
The one who had spoken was a relatively young man among them.
Olthagia had no thoughts about their identities or intentions, nor was he particularly interested in targeting them.
Not just him—even the Demons who craved human souls felt the same way.
Because humans who could venture deep into the Bottomless Abyss, no matter how weak, always had some skills and were generally troublesome. As a result, few Demons here would bother them.
The humans clearly understood this as well. Though they remained somewhat vigilant, their behavior was relatively relaxed.
However, when they noticed Olthagia sizing them up, they immediately gripped their weapons, ready for battle.
Just outside the city gates, they had witnessed Olthagia casually strangling another Demon as easily as snapping a chick's neck.
In their minds, he was an undeniably dangerous target!
Olthagia paid little attention to their hostility. After scanning them for a few seconds, he simply turned and walked away.
Watching his retreating figure, the leader exhaled slightly. His mentor had once told him that the more human-like a Demon appeared, the more dangerous they were. Olthagia's somewhat human-like features gave him an ominous feeling, making him reluctant to engage in combat.
'This damned place... Let's finish the mission and leave as soon as possible...'