"Great Master!"
When Chu Hao arrived in the Hayes homeworld through the unstable spatial portal, having received the coordinates etched by that demon, the first thing that greeted him was a vast, dark, and ruined world.
Everywhere, towering buildings lay in decay. Their surfaces bore the terrifying corrosion marks left by chemical reactions and uncontrolled magical energy.
Every patch of land, every river, even every breath of air, was permeated with deadly chemical toxins and residual curse magic.
This was a real, dark world—destroyed simultaneously by technology and magic!
Chu Hao closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the essence of this world.
"Fss…"
Opening his eyes, he commented lightly,
"The air is full of the scent of corrupted souls and poisonous smog. How… interesting!"
"It's been a long time since I've seen such pervasive curse magic, especially as an environmental, lasting curse."
He then turned his gaze to his side.
Next to him, a legendary demon, covered in scars, knelt respectfully amidst a pile of soldier corpses, trembling with excitement.
This was the first time it faced the great ruler of the Abyss, the master of the entire Endless Abyss.
"Master!"
"These are the coordinates I offer to the Endless Abyss!"
Around it, dozens of crimson Abyssal runes, formed from souls and flesh, floated slowly in midair.
These runes, perceptible only to Abyssal beings, represented the coordinates of this world.
As mentioned before, every demon, regardless of strength or whether it perishes in the new world, instinctively carries the essence of the Abyss into any new world it enters.
Through slaughtering the native inhabitants, these demons use the victims' flesh and souls to solidify the coordinates of the world, offering them to the Endless Abyss.
Or, in a simpler method, if a demon dies for any reason in the new world, it leaves behind a "soul coordinate" to guide other demons and Abyssal entities to arrive gradually.
Either way, this world would sooner or later establish a connection with the Endless Abyss.
Demons, in all worlds, are like termites and cockroaches in a house—impossible to eradicate.
And they only increase in number!
"You've done well."
Chu Hao looked at the demon beside him, nearly humble to the point of submission.
"What do you wish for as your reward?"
The demon, still afraid to raise its head, trembled even more in excitement.
"I want… power! And territory! Yes!
"I also want countless servants! I want to enslave them!"
Demons do not understand the deceit of other intelligent beings.
They express their greed fully.
If they have contributed, they expect to claim their reward—whether it comes from the Endless Abyss or is taken from the enemy.
Chu Hao nodded silently. That nod alone acknowledged the demon's desires.
Although greedy, this demon's contribution earned it everything it desired.
Its luck had given Chu Hao an extremely rare opportunity: a chance to encounter a "naturally evolved" god in this hidden world, potentially a mid-level deity!
At that moment, Hayes soldiers from this dark, decayed world finally arrived.
The small earlier forces had been torn apart by the legendary demon, their essence contributing to the world's coordinates.
Now, the arriving Hayes forces numbered over one hundred thousand.
Infantry, aided by hundreds of heavy alchemical machines, sealed off the area around the abandoned spatial portal.
Additional magical troops and elite forces were still on their way.
In contrast, on Chu Hao's side, there was only one demon and himself—the godly ruler from the Abyss.
The numbers were not even comparable.
Yet, seeing so many troops attempting to "surround" him, Chu Hao only smiled coldly.
Then…
He demonstrated the terrifying power of a "true god," a being from a higher life tier.
"Descend."
With just those two words, a catastrophic earthquake erupted across the world.
The ground beneath Chu Hao cracked and shattered, forming chasms comparable to ocean trenches, spreading continuously.
Countless fissures radiated outward, following his gaze, crawling across the world.
Meanwhile, all Hayes soldiers heard horrifying sounds filling their ears.
Some were the cackles of demons, some the roars of Abyssal entities, and others the eternal screams of corrupted Abyssal souls, tortured endlessly…
Suddenly, a massive claw—mountain-sized—burst from the depths of the fissures.
As it grabbed the land, all chemical pollution and curse magic in the world vanished, "miraculously."
These were replaced by a far more severe and inescapable contamination:
The pollution of the mythic creature, Yum.
A being whose existence embodied disaster and filth.
"Master…"
Yum, with eight heads, humbly placed Chu Hao atop its heads, emerging from the chasm in a terrifying posture.
Behind it, endless demon legions and innumerable Abyssal entities poured out.
This was the full extent of Chu Hao's power as a true god.
Representing the Endless Abyss itself, he could, at will, anchor portions of the Abyss across other worlds.
Chu Hao lowered his gaze, looking at all the beings of this dark world, at the palace exuding dread at the edge of the horizon, and murmured almost to himself:
"Next… let me see your true face…"
"Hidden deep within this world…"
"The Mad God?"