"This…"
"What is this?"
All the dwarves and gnome soldiers gathered atop the city walls, including Iron Felt, couldn't help but voice a question that came straight from their souls.
The land that once belonged to them had, for some unknown reason, become like this?
The once lush, verdant ground had instantly transformed into barren, twisted black earth!
And as the demon corpses disappeared, the polluted area continued to expand!
If it were only pollution, the soldiers might not have been so terrified.
What truly horrified them was…
On that land, one demon cocoon after another, carrying the nascent demons, was arriving in this world through the Endless Abyss!
The dimensional crystal barriers of their plane had already been corroded…
At this moment, these demon cocoons were writhing frantically…
Terrifying, twisted monsters were about to hatch!
"Open fire!"
Suddenly, a burly dwarf wielding a hand cannon shouted loudly to the other soldiers!
Iron Felt recognized him.
This dwarf was his neighbor and held a higher position—the city's defense officer.
"Fire quickly! Destroy them before these damned monsters hatch!"
With that, the burly dwarf's expertly crafted hand cannon roared to life!
Bang!
A fiery cannonball smashed into a writhing demon cocoon!
Crack!
In an instant, the cocoon burst, and a half-formed small demon was blasted to pieces by the cannonball.
Foul, bloody slime from the demon's corpse splattered across the ground.
Hearing the cannon's roar, the other dwarves immediately reacted, swinging their weapons and unleashing firepower onto the blackened earth.
The gnomes split into two groups.
Those who had lost their battle machines carried ammo and supplies, rushing to support the dwarves.
Those still in their machines leaped into their cockpits, activating the mechanical creations their civilization prided itself on!
Rumble! Rumble!
With the machines powered up, more gnomes descended from the walls, using their weapons to quickly eliminate one demon cocoon after another from the Endless Abyss!
Yet, as if sensing a fatal threat, the cocooned demons, previously powerless, were now hatching faster…
Finally, the first demon emerged from the broken cocoon!
It whispered as it rose from a puddle of blood, opening its eyes to the world…
"…"
Suddenly, it saw the true appearance of this world!
Unlike the memories etched in its soul, it felt the beauty of another world!
Air free of toxins, an environment without harm, blue skies, white clouds… no predators, no enslavement, no…
All of this reflected in its crimson eyes.
Although newly born, the small demon already understood the barren, twisted, terrifying, suffocating nature of the world that had nurtured its evil soul—the Endless Abyss!
The outside world was so…
Thud!
A pair of massive steel legs slammed down on its body.
Blood exploded everywhere, leaving only its head intact, flying off in a daze.
Amidst the confusion, the demon seemed to hear the cold laughter of gnomes from the battle machines.
That was rejection, disdain, the contempt of a powerful civilization toward these evil, corrupted souls…
"!!!"
For some reason, a violent thought surged within its soul, about to be shattered into pieces!
It had once wished to send its soul to this seemingly perfect world… but now…
Death was not the end!
It would return as fragments of its soul to the terrifying "Abyss Hatchery," where, after a series of horrifying "nourishments," it would be reborn as a warrior of the Endless Abyss and rejoin this war!
But now, it had changed its mind!
Like the other demons, it would destroy this world, dragging it… into the Endless Abyss, never to be separated!
The demon's head, struck by a bullet, slowly closed its eyes, now filled with renewed hatred and violence.
And it would return to the battlefield.
---
One hour later…
"Ha ha ha ha!"
"These monsters appearing this time are surprisingly fragile!"
"Yeah, they even startled me earlier!"
Finally, the strong dwarves and gnome warriors, panting, began to rest.
Most of the demon cocoons had been destroyed before hatching, leaving behind only slime and corpses.
Even the few small demons that survived could not withstand the storm of firearms and metal for even a moment.
So, unsurprisingly, the warriors defending their home had won a great victory!
However, the area of black earth continued to expand.
"It's fine. With the protection of the angels, they will send their priests to help cleanse this corrupted land!"
Iron Felt glanced at the ashen-faced defense officer, tossing him the unfinished bottle of strong liquor with a smile.
"Hey, buddy…"
Forgetting the officer's name, Iron Felt improvised.
"Celebrate the victory with a drink!"
Clang.
The bottle hit the dazed officer, bounced, and smashed onto the ground.
The pale officer suddenly pointed tremblingly toward the distance.
In that moment, Iron Felt sensed a strong omen!
He quickly turned to look.
Meanwhile, more soldiers noticed the officer's abnormal behavior.
In an instant, a wave of despair swept through everyone present.
A black-red vortex appeared above their plane!
At the center of the vortex, in the position of the "eye of the storm," an eye representing the will of the Endless Abyss cast a cold, mocking gaze upon them.
Beneath the black-red vortex stretched countless demon cocoons!
Like bamboo shoots after rain, they emerged endlessly from the soil…
Black and red patterns etched across their shells became clearer with every wriggle.
Their outer shells were becoming increasingly transparent!
The thick bodies of the demons inside became more visible.
And this time, there were so many cocoons that even a mage would struggle to count them quickly…
Creak!
Finally, a small demon hatched!
It lifted its head, gazing at this world, at the living beings within it…
Unlike before, this newborn's eyes were filled with violence and hatred!
It would drag this plane… into the Endless Abyss!
"Pray to the angels you serve!"