The Paladin in the Abyss-Chapter 637 - 661: The First Army

Chapter 637 -661: The First Army

“What a pleasant surprise,” the Flame Demon rumbled, his voice like the muffled thunder of a summer day. “What did I say to you before? No one can escape the blood war; someday it will find you. When that day indeed arrives, will your sword blade still be sharp?”

“Of course, Lord Babos,” Sonam raised her head, gazing at the towering Barlow Flame Demon, “In fact, they are sharper than ever before.”

“We will soon find out if that is true,” the Flame Demon Babos raised his head, his burning eyes sweeping over the crowd behind the Serpent Demon. “Hmm… Is this your troop? A bunch of mortal mercenaries?”

“They are all skilled hands.”

“It seems so…” the Flame Demon nodded, “Taran and Tu’a will arrive soon, and the army will depart immediately. I’ll give you a free favor—let your men take the lead. No need to thank me.”

“……As you command, my lord.”

Despite appearing somewhat hesitant, Sonam expressed compliance. She turned around, issuing the departure orders to the flag bearers who were commanding the various captains. The orders quickly spread throughout the army, and Lancelot, along with the others, stepped forward towards the west. As he walked, he looked towards the city wall, and the Succubus Lord, as if sensing Lancelot’s gaze, turned her head to look at him.

‘Goodbye, my lady.’ At this distance, the telepathic connection still functioned perfectly. ‘I’ll bring victory back to you.’

‘Victory alone is not enough.’ Tijana commanded, ‘You need to come back to me too.’

Lancelot smiled, waving vigorously at his lover before turning and walking away without a backward glance.

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Accompanied by the captains’ loud curses and threats, Lancelot’s legion became the first in the Demon alliance to march towards Volcano Fortress. More ironically, some of the mercenaries even cheered loudly, as if this were an honor worth celebrating.

“What are those people howling about?” Bruto asked Lancelot, puzzled, “Although I’m not afraid to be the first to rush at the enemy, isn’t this treating us as cannon fodder?”

“Have you forgotten? Besides the weekly pay, for every demon killed, Twin Bridges Town pays an additional bounty,” Alamir responded on behalf of Lancelot, “Twenty Gold Coins for a small demon, fifty for a Beard Demon and Thorn Demon, a hundred for a Bristle Demon, five hundred for a Chain Demon and Bone Demon, two thousand for a Horned Demon, five thousand for a Desire Demon, ten thousand for an Ice Demon, fifty thousand for capturing a Desire Demon, one hundred thousand for a Demon Refinement…”

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freeweɓnovēl.coɱ.

“Wow, that does sound pretty good,” Bruto’s eyes lit up instantly, “Did that Flame Demon mean this as a favor to Sonam, referring to the opportunity for us to make money?”

“On the contrary,” Lancelot spoke calmly, “A dead mercenary receives no consolation money. This is meant to help Sonam save on expenses.”

“Oh,” Bruto grimaced, “Then we must smash their little scheme.”

Following the group was the ‘Destruction Horn,’ Goel’s brigade of Giant Bull Demons, and behind them was Black Armored Flame Demon General Babos and his massive legion. Before the portal disappeared on the horizon, another Flame Demon, covered in white flames, had also appeared. Lancelot remembered that Lord Wu’an’s Chief Ambassador had mentioned the three Flame Demon Generals were ‘Barter the Slaughterer’ Babos, ‘Pale Blazing’ Tu’a, and ‘Hammer of Burning’ Taran; the latter presumably was the one yet to show up.

The moving Demon Legion, rather than resembling an army, looked more like a group of nomads herding livestock. These ‘livestock’ were actually the Coward Devils, considered the lowest of Tanari ranks—something foolish mortal Scholars might have opinions on, but who cared about their thoughts? To the residents of the Abyss, Prime Demons were mere mindless supplicants, twisted into grotesque, contemptible forms by the plane itself; whereas at least the Coward Devils had some intelligence, capable of thought, communicative in the language of the Abyss, and suited for long marches (unlike the Aberrant Demons, whose twisted joints and limbs only allowed them to limp).

More importantly, Coward Devils had fairly strong bodies, strong enough that most denizens of the lower planes would need to swing their arms twice to kill one—obviously more fitting as cannon fodder than those that could be dispatched with a single blow. Besides, if one could ignore the stench that might knock a mortal unconscious, the meat of the Coward Devils was actually quite good, though only while they were still alive.

The role of shepherds was played by a special kind of Demon—Babu Demons. These dark-skinned beings with barbs growing on the backs of their heads typically acted as Tanari conscription officers and, within the army, managed vast numbers of cannon fodder, herding them on marches, commanding their charges against the enemy, and killing any who hesitated or rebelled.

The seemingly out-of-character role of the Babu Demon managers was partially explained by legends about their origin. It was said that Asmodeus’s daughter, the Duchess of the sixth layer of Barto Hell, ‘Succubus Queen’ Graecia, once fought a duel with ‘Lord Wu’an’ Grazzt. During the battle, the daughter of the Lord of Nine Hells stabbed Grazzt with a demonic sword, and the blood that dripped from the Abyssal Lord’s wound fell to the grounds of the Abyss, birthing the first Babu Demon in the Multiverse.

Due to the force of order contained in Graecia’s demonic sword, Babu Demons naturally understood the value of order and excelled in satisfying their twisted lust for power by leveraging their master’s authority while sparing the Higher Rank Demons from having to make good on their threats, thus securing a special status for Babu Demons within the Tanari community.

However, the origin story of Babu Demons also corroborates another famous rumor from the Bottomless Abyss: that ‘Lord Wu’an’ Grazzt was once a Demon Archduke dissatisfied with the power structures of Hell and thus came to the Abyss. After all, it was Grazzt’s own blood, so the force of order in the demonic sword seemed quite far-fetched.

But in Twin Bridges Town, Babu Demons were very rare, and Lancelot had never seen them perform their primary duties: dragging idling Demons into the blood wars. Meanwhile, Coward Devils were almost unseen in Tijana’s forces, seemingly lacking any formation as cannon fodder.

Normally, the ratio of cannon fodder to Middle Rank Demons in a Demon Legion wouldn’t be less than five to one, but the garrison of Twin Bridges Town could be called a purely elite force, composed of Berserk Demons, Brezu Demons, Arrow Demons, and other Middle Rank Demons. Lancelot had never thought about the reasons behind this, but today he had a strange impression: perhaps the Tanari residents of neutral towns like Twin Bridges Town and Mogrondale were relatively mild-mannered, not as belligerent or easily provoked as regular Demons, as if they all had a special past that made them see the world and themselves differently from the Fiends familiar to mortals.

One thing was undeniably certain—Twin Bridges Town was much stronger than it appeared, perhaps because Tijana wanted to keep a low profile, or perhaps maintaining a large army of cannon fodder wasn’t economical, or possibly because Tijana couldn’t find a General she could trust. Lancelot himself tended more toward the last speculation.