Chapter 148: Carnival

In fact, as early as the onset of the final battle, upon seeing the Demon Emperor instantly obliterated, one of the Demon Lords already sensed that the situation was turning disastrous.

This particular Demon Lord was the very one who had originally lured the holder of the "Stele of Destiny" into opening the Gates of the Abyss. Relying on a hidden trump card—a primordial supreme artifact—he managed to shield himself from the perception of Grinweil's bloodline ability for a brief period, during which he quietly slipped away from the battlefield.

He tracked down the master of the "Stele of Destiny" once more, claiming he could grant him even greater power, on the condition that he use the sacred artifact to seal the Gates of the Abyss.

To his surprise, the master of the "Stele of Destiny" replied that he no longer required the power offered by the Demon Lord. He had discovered the true essence of power: power resided within the operational rules of all things, and within the chemical and physical reactions between substances. He named this newly discovered power arcane energy.

He even expressed his gratitude to the Demon Lord, thanking him for having lured him into opening the Gates of the Abyss years ago, which had allowed him to enter the Endless Abyss and gather countless precious experimental materials and samples, greatly accelerating his research progress.

Furthermore, he informed the Demon Lord that the "Stele of Destiny" in his possession was also known as the "Stele of Endless Secrets." Alongside the "Gauntlets of Endless Might," it belonged to the three sacred artifacts of the Origin Plane. Although the "Stele of Endless Secrets" leaned more toward capabilities involving information and knowledge—and its potential was still far from being fully unlocked—shielding against the perception of the Blind Prophet's bloodline was a simple task. Therefore, the Demon Lord could safely return to the Abyss without having to worry about him at all.

As for the matter of the Gates of the Abyss, since the abyssal faction had insisted on opening them in the first place, they were now free to handle the consequences however they saw fit.

The Demon Lord flew into an immediate rage. What did "handle however they saw fit" even mean? That terrifying woman was about to break right through, so how could the abyssal forces possibly just leave it be?! He instantly moved to snatch the "Stele of Endless Secrets" from the human. Naturally, his motivation went beyond merely wanting to use the artifact to close the Gates of the Abyss; having witnessed the horrific might of the "Gauntlets of Endless Might," he had also grown greedy for its famed sibling artifact!

Then, the other party smiled and remarked that he happened to be lacking a Demon Lord specimen for his research, and had merely refrained from acting out of consideration for an old acquaintance. Now that the Demon Lord had made the first move, he had only himself to blame.

Following that, the so-called arcane power mastered by the man erupted with terrifying might in his hands.

Fortunately, the true form of this Demon Lord possessed a miraculous regenerative technique akin to that of an earthworm's severed body, allowing him to escape back to the Endless Abyss with severe injuries, thereby bringing the news that there was no longer any hope of closing the Gates of the Abyss.

However, closing the Gates of the Abyss at that point would have been entirely meaningless anyway, because Grinweil and the mages under her command had already slaughtered their way into the Abyss, conquering seventeen layers of the abyss within a single day.

Then came the second day, the third day...

Having long since heard tales of this woman's terror and knowing that she had begun her assault on the Abyss, Grilsdorph had quietly fled to the Celestial Realm, the lair of the gods. By this time, his disguise techniques had undergone a comprehensive upgrade; he believed that as long as he refrained from courting death right in front of a deity with powerful divine rank, no god within the Celestial Realm would be able to pierce through his disguise. He transformed himself into a newly emerged deity of weak divine rank and began to lie low within the Celestial Realm. To dispel any suspicions from other gods, he even established a church and began cultivating followers.

Yet, he kept a constant watch on the developments within the Abyss. Finally, the day came when he heard the harrowing news: another Demon Emperor had been instantly slain! Throughout the entire Abyss, there were only three Demon Emperors, and two of them were now gone. Just a day later, he received yet another piece of news: the final Demon Emperor had swallowed his pride and humiliation to become that woman's mount. The Endless Abyss had surrendered!

Consequently, the demons of the entire Abyss began to face their day of ultimate humiliation. Countless demons lined up in neat rows across the Mudoris Wasteland—the largest plain in the Abyss—waiting to be picked by their new mistress. Any demons with pleasing appearances, tender and delicious flesh, or special abilities would be selected by her and brought back to the Origin Plane to be kept in captivity.

Grinweil, leading her legion of mages, turned the entire Abyss upside down time and time again. Every precious and rare treasure was thoroughly plundered, and blood samples from every single species of demon were extracted and preserved. Finally, laden with their chosen "slaves," they returned in triumph to the Origin Plane, overflowing with arrogance.

From that day onward, the entire Abyss suffered a severe blow to its vitality and took a very long time to recover. Yet, finally, after a millennium when the Abyss had regained some of its strength, that woman launched yet another wave of invasion...

By this time, Grilsdorph had already grown quite comfortable in his role as a deity, having completely integrated into the Celestial Realm. Nevertheless, he felt a deep, empathetic pain for the plight of his abyssal brethren, but aside from silently mourning for them, there was nothing he could do.

With a second wave came a third and a fourth. The fate of the Abyss struck such profound terror into the hearts of the gods that none dared to set foot inside the Origin Plane even once. Grinweil, whose power and prestige had reached their absolute zenith, became the true ruler of the Origin Plane.

At first, people held her in deep adoration. Although she never claimed the title of king, she was universally acknowledged as the Queen in the hearts of everyone across the plane.

Thousands of years later, people gradually began to notice that Grinweil was growing increasingly tyrannical and mercurial. Later historians analyzed that this was likely the period when Grinweil had already foreseen her own death. The greatest tragedy of a prophet lay precisely in foreseeing the final outcome while remaining entirely powerless to alter destiny.

Grinweil initiated a high-handed, oppressive rule over the Origin Plane. Relying on her massive stockpile of demonic "dairy cows," she brandished her Fist of Supreme Might without the slightest hesitation. Anyone—even someone who merely harbored a fleeting thought of disrespect toward her—would find an iron fist plummeting from the heavens!

In the beginning, people simply believed that those who perished deserved their fate; after all, who told them to harbor malicious thoughts against the great Honorable Prophet? They referred to this method of execution as the Judgment of the Iron Fist!

Yet gradually, they realized that the number of people being judged was increasing day by day. Eventually, discontent toward Grinweil began to take root among the populace, which in turn led to even more judgments...

That was not all. Later on, as Grinweil discovered the root cause behind her premonitions of death—realizing that something had gone terribly wrong with her own body—she ordered her subordinate mages to scour every corner of the Origin Plane for all manner of precious resources. Her actions pushed the entire plane to the brink of universal outrage, burying the seeds of hatred against the mage community deep within the hearts of the people.

By this time in the Origin Plane, aside from a tiny handful of exceptionally powerful individuals blessed with extended lifespans, the vast majority of those who had lived through the demon invasion had already passed away, and the heroic deeds of those years existed only within the pages of historical texts passed down through generations. People no longer felt the suffering brought by the demons firsthand, but the chaotic rule inflicted by the tyrant Grinweil remained vivid and fresh in their minds.

It was during this period that the truth regarding Grinweil's bodily afflictions finally leaked out. It turned out that, despite the infusion of countless resources, her prolonged use of the "Gauntlets of Endless Might" had ultimately left behind latent, irreversible hazards. Now, those hazards were expanding beyond control, becoming almost impossible to remedy.

While some people felt sympathy for Grinweil and understood her actions, the overwhelming majority harbored deep resentment toward her. After all, humanity has always found it easy to forget the kindness others have shown them, while engraving the injuries inflicted upon them firmly in their memories. Furthermore, several millennia had passed since the demon invasion; the blood and suffering of their ancestors had long since devolved into weightless characters printed in history books. All people could see were the immediate, tangible stakes right before their eyes.

Moreover, due to her worsening physical condition, Grinweil was no longer capable of wielding the Judgment of the Iron Fist.

Those dissatisfied with her grew more numerous by the day, spreading across the entire Origin Plane. Yet, because her residual prestige still held sway, no one dared to openly oppose her. Instead, a pervasive ideological current swept quietly across the Origin Plane: the belief that even without relying on her back then, driven by the profound foundation of the Origin Plane alone, the expulsion of the gods and demons would have been merely a matter of time. The harm she had inflicted upon the Origin Plane now far exceeded that caused by the ancient gods and demons...

Until one day, Grinweil's most trusted personal guard mage legion publicly announced her death.

At first, people refused to believe it. But later, the mages held a grand and magnificent funeral for the Prophet, during which everyone caught sight of the Honorable Prophet's mortal remains, confirming that she had indeed passed away.

This day was March 12th of the Origin Calendar—a date that would later become a holiday celebrated across the Celestial Realm, the Abyss, the Origin Plane, and every single realm within their spheres of influence: Carnival Day!