I Regressed With a 10,000x God-Tier Multiplier-Chapter 34: The Betrayal II

The eastern flank of the Grand Army was a chaotic storm of blue fire and shattering bone.

Lucifer’s Aether-Steel Dragoons did not break formation. They held the line with mechanical perfection.

Their rapid-fire aether-cannons tore through the charging Undead Knights, reducing the heavy skeletal cavalry to piles of smoking ash and rusted iron.

But the undead swarm was massive. For every knight the Dragoons vaporized, two more skeletal horses burst out of the dense, necrotic fog, completely ignoring the destruction around them.

Lucifer sat perfectly still on his Nightmare Steed. He watched the slaughter with swirling void eyes.

Suddenly, a loud, whistling screech cut through the heavy air above him.

It was not the sound of an undead spell. It was the distinct sound of high-yield evocation magic. Lucifer looked up toward the eastern ridge, where Lord Vorian’s Iron-Heart vanguard had halted.

The gray fog on the ridge glowed a sudden, bright orange.

"Incoming!" a mercenary captain screamed from the rear guard. "Mages on the ridge!"

Dozens of massive, blazing fireballs tore out of the mist. They arched high into the bruised-purple sky, leaving thick trails of black smoke.

They were not aimed at the undead swarm. They were aimed directly at Lucifer’s rear guard, right into the densely packed ranks of the contracted Awakened mercenaries.

Lord Vorian was not just letting the undead attack. He was actively helping them. The noble intended to wipe Lucifer’s command structure off the map and blame the casualties on the Scourgelands.

Elara spurred her silver mount forward, her golden eyes wide with rage. "He fires on his own kingdom’s lines!"

"He fires on my lines," Lucifer corrected her. His voice was low.

The fireballs plummeted toward the mercenaries. The Awakened fighters scrambled in absolute panic, diving into the mud and raising weak, low-tier magical shields that would do nothing to stop a military-grade evocation barrage.

Lucifer did not panic. He raised his hand.

"Arch-Seraphs!" Lucifer commanded. "Deploy Aegis of the Dawn. Protect the rear guard."

The five hundred Radiant Arch-Seraphs moved in flawless and terrifying unison.

They did not fly into the air to intercept the spells. They stood their ground directly behind the Dragoons.

The angels slammed the butts of their massive, glowing halberds into the dead earth simultaneously. The sound was like a singular thunderclap.

The five hundred pairs of golden wings flared open to their maximum wingspan.

[System: Holy Skill Activated - Aegis of the Dawn.]

[Source: 500x Radiant Arch-Seraph (Tier 3 - Elite)]

[Effect: Projects an absolute invulnerability barrier over all designated allied units within range.]

A blinding, pure golden dome erupted from the Arch-Seraphs. It expanded outward at the speed of light, completely covering the ten thousand terrified mercenaries and the four hundred Aether-Steel Dragoons.

The massive, blazing fireballs slammed into the golden dome.

The moment the destructive evocation magic touched the Aegis of the Dawn, the fireballs simply splashed harmlessly against the barrier, turning into gentle showers of warm golden sparks.

The intense heat was entirely neutralized. The mercenaries huddled on the ground looked up in absolute disbelief as the deadly barrage dissolved into nothingness inches above their heads.

Lucifer lowered his hand. The golden dome held strong, casting a warm, holy light over the dark, necrotic battlefield.

He turned his Nightmare Steed toward the eastern ridge.

"Lady Scarlett," Lucifer said, tapping his comms rune.

"I see it, Commander," Scarlett’s voice crackled back instantly. The interference was thick. "That fat bastard is shelling us! He’s trying to break our formation so the undead can flood the gap!"

"He just broke the King’s law," Lucifer stated coldly. "He attacked an allied force. He committed treason against the Supreme Commander."

Lucifer pulled his longsword from its scabbard. The Carnage Core on his hip, already gorged on the death energy of the Undead Knights, flared a blinding, violent crimson.

"Hold the line against the swarm," Lucifer ordered Scarlett. "The Dragoons and the Seraphs will anchor the defense. I am going to deal with Iron-Heart."

"Are you taking the angels?" Scarlett asked, her voice tight.

"No," Lucifer replied. He spurred his Nightmare Steed forward. "I am taking the cavalry."

Lucifer rode directly into the wall of his four hundred hovering machines. The Aether-Steel Dragoons parted instantly, creating a perfect corridor for their Warlord.

"Dragoons," Lucifer commanded. His void-swirling eyes locked onto the eastern ridge. "Disengage from the undead. Turn right. Form a wedge."

The massive black machines obeyed without hesitation. They ceased firing their shoulder cannons.

Their hovering thrusters flared bright blue as they rotated ninety degrees, facing the steep, rocky slope leading up to Vorian’s position.

They formed a tight, heavily armored V-shape behind Lucifer.

"Overdrive," Lucifer ordered softly.

[System: Unit Command - Overdrive Authorized.]

[Warning: Thruster output exceeding safe limits. Internal core damage possible.]

The low hum of the four hundred magitech thrusters suddenly pitched up into a deafening, high-frequency scream. The blue flames blasting from the base of the machines turned a blinding, violent white.

"Charge," Lucifer roared.

The Nightmare Steed launched forward, its hooves striking sparks against the stone.

The Aether-Steel Dragoons exploded up the ridge. They did not gallop. They flew. The sheer kinetic force of their hovering thrusters tore the dead earth apart, leaving deep, burning trenches in the rocky slope.

They hit the dense, gray fog concealing Vorian’s army.

At the top of the ridge, the five thousand elite knights of House Iron-Heart were hastily reloading their trebuchets and preparing another volley of fireballs.

They expected Lucifer’s army to be a panicked, burning mess. They did not expect a localized earthquake.

"What is that sound?!" an Iron-Heart captain yelled, pointing into the swirling mist below them.

He never got an answer.

Lucifer and his Dragoons burst out of the fog like a black and white meteor.

They slammed directly into the flank of the Iron-Heart formation.

The impact was catastrophic. The heavy, iron-gray plate armor of Vorian’s elite knights crumpled like tin cans under the massive weight and speed of the charging machines.

The Warlord’s charge punched a massive, bloody hole straight through the Iron-Heart lines.

Knights were thrown fifty feet into the air. Shield walls shattered.The deafening sound of snapping iron and screaming men sounded across the ridge.

Lucifer rode at the very tip of the wedge. His Nightmare Steed trampled over the broken bodies of Vorian’s guards. The red light of the Carnage Core washed over his dark armor, illuminating the absolute fury in his eyes.

He all his attention was on Lord Vorian.

"Hold!" Lord Vorian’s panicked voice roared from the center of the chaotic formation. "Form a square! Stop those machines!"

Vorian sat on his massive warhorse, surrounded by his fifty personal bodyguards. He wore his heavy fur mantle and gripped his enchanted broadsword, but his face was completely pale.

He watched in absolute horror as the four hundred Dragoons effortlessly carved through his five thousand elite infantry as if they were made of wet paper.

Lucifer spotted the lord.

He pulled hard on the reins. The Nightmare Steed halted amidst the chaos, rearing up on its hind legs and snorting a massive cloud of black smoke.

The Dragoons instantly halted behind him, forming an impenetrable wall of crackling blue lances and white-hot thrusters.

The surviving Iron-Heart knights scrambled back, forming a desperate, terrified ring around Vorian. Their heavy iron shields shook. They looked at the towering, faceless machines and the dark Warlord leading them.

"Vorian," Lucifer’s voice boomed over the screams of the wounded. "You fired on the Vanguard. You committed treason against the Crown."

Vorian swallowed hard. He looked at the devastation around him. His grand betrayal had lasted exactly three minutes.

"You are a rogue element!" Vorian shouted back, his voice cracking with fear. He pointed his broadsword at Lucifer. "You consort with dark magic! The King gave me the right to command this flank! My men are loyal to Iron-Heart!"

"Your men are dead," Lucifer corrected him coldly. "And so is your House."

Lucifer did not order the Dragoons to fire. He did not order them to charge.

He dismounted the Nightmare Steed. His heavy boots hit the bloody, cracked stone of the ridge.

He raised his right hand.

"I sentence you for treason," Lucifer declared.

He pointed his hand directly at Lord Vorian and his fifty elite bodyguards.

"Gravity Crush."

A sphere of absolute, black distortion materialized directly over Vorian’s command group.

The gravitational pull spiked to one thousand times the normal limit.

The fifty heavily armored bodyguards did not even have time to scream. The sheer pressure slammed down on them instantly.

Their thick iron shields crumpled. Their heavy plate armor bent inward, crushing their ribs and snapping their spines. The warhorse Vorian rode shrieked in agony as its legs snapped under the invisible weight, collapsing to the ground.

CRUNCH.

The entire command group was flattened into the rocky earth. The stone ridge beneath them cracked and gave way, forming a deep, bloody crater.

The Gravity Crush held for exactly two seconds before Lucifer closed his fist.

The black sphere vanished. The intense pressure lifted.

The fifty elite guards were dead, their bodies completely broken inside their crushed armor. Only Lord Vorian remained alive.

The noble lay in the center of the crater. His enchanted broadsword was shattered. His heavy plate armor was bent and twisted, pinning his legs to the ground.

He coughed violently, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the gray ash. He stared up at Lucifer in absolute, unadulterated terror.

Lucifer walked slowly toward the crater. His boots crunched against the broken stone. The red light of the Carnage Core pulsed hungrily, casting long, dark shadows over his Warlord armor.

He stopped at the edge of the depression. He looked down at the dying lord.

Vorian raised a trembling, bloodstained hand. "W-Wait... please... my wealth... my lands... I will give you everything..."

"I already have everything," Lucifer said softly.

He raised his longsword, the blade glowing with pure, crimson True Damage.

He prepared to deliver the final strike, fully aware that the blood of a High Noble would permanently upgrade his cursed artifact.

The Scourgelands had just become a slaughterhouse.