Beyond the Apocalypse-Chapter 1075: The death of Alioth

The Devil Lords felt as though they had fallen into a living nightmare.

They had been prepared to sacrifice everything. The Third Layer of Hell itself could be reduced to a ruin if that was the price required. Nearly every low-tier Devil had already been burned away as fuel—fed into rituals, formations, and infernal engines meant to empower their defenses and traps. It was an enormous sacrifice, one that had cost them countless resources accumulated over eons.

But it had been worth it.

Or so they believed.

Their plan had been simple in concept, if brutal in execution: cripple the Six Sun Alliance before it could gain momentum. Destroy their Legends and Sages. Severely wound their Sovereigns. Force the situation into such dire straits that the White Death would be compelled to intervene.

Only then would they have a chance—only then would a Paragon of the Ninth Layer come to fight by their side.

Yet now, as the dust of the first detonations settled, reality mocked them.

No army appeared.

No marching Legions.

No overwhelming tide of enemies.

Only a single man.

And worse—he was moving so fast that by the time their traps ignited and their explosions blossomed, he was already far beyond them, tearing through the outer defenses like a living comet.

The Devil Lords watched in disbelief as the True Depravita of Wrath surged deeper into the city, his trajectory unmistakable. Their eyes widened as understanding dawned, followed immediately by horror.

"He’s heading for the core!"

"He’s going after our territories!"

"He’s moving alone... specifically to destroy our strongholds!"

The Devil Lords did not care about most of the city. Entire districts could burn, collapse, or be erased from existence without eliciting more than mild annoyance. But their Sectors—their personal domains—were another matter entirely.

Each Sector had been cultivated over hundreds of thousands, sometimes millions of years. They were more than territory; they were extensions of their authority, anchors of their power, and conduits through which Origin Power flowed directly to them. Losing one would not only diminish their strength but also undermine their standing among their peers.

Worse still, damage to the Infernal Monoliths embedded within those Sectors would disrupt the flow of Origin Power entirely, crippling them at a fundamental level.

That could not be allowed.

Sharp resolve replaced hesitation in the eyes of the Devil Lords.

No matter the cost, the True Depravita of Wrath could not be permitted to reach the top five Sectors of the Third Layer of Hell.

"Nebolex. Alioth. Your turn."

The command echoed across the hidden infernal network that bound the Devil Lords together. The voice carried authority that could not be questioned.

Fury surged within Nebolex and Alioth, but neither dared resist.

Without hesitation, the spider Devil Lord and the draconic Devil Lord moved. They slipped into the shadow pathways that laced the city—ancient routes that allowed rapid traversal beneath reality itself—and emerged directly along the projected path of the True Depravita of Wrath.

The moment they arrived, the two exchanged a brief glance.

Then they nodded.

Their energies surged violently, power coiling and compressing within their bodies as they waited for the precise instant to strike.

Vlad had just crossed into a narrow infernal street when the buildings around him began to tremble.

Massive structures of infernal metal and cursed stone tore free from their foundations, tilting inward with horrifying speed. In a heartbeat, they slammed together, forming two colossal walls designed to crush everything caught between them.

And Vlad was directly in the center.

The True Depravita of Wrath accelerated even further, lightning dancing wildly across his body as he raced through the narrowing passage. For a fraction of a second, it appeared he might escape—

Then the buildings accelerated again.

They collided with overwhelming force.

Vlad vanished beneath the impact.

The runes carved into the infernal structures ignited instantly, and the entire area erupted into a towering pillar of hellfire that pierced the sky itself. The explosion was so violent that shockwaves rippled outward for miles, pulverizing nearby structures and turning streets into molten trenches.

Even a Devil Lord would have been grievously injured by such devastation.

Yet from the inferno, Vlad emerged without a single wound.

The eyes of Nebolex and Alioth sharpened.

The True Depravita of Wrath had phased through the explosion entirely, his body intangible, unaffected by heat, pressure, or force. The Quantum Eye had been activated at the perfect moment.

Which meant—

Once it deactivated, he would be vulnerable.

Their killing intent sharpened to a razor’s edge.

Nebolex’s massive body coiled like a spring, every limb tense and ready. Alioth’s wings spread wide, flames gathering deep within his chest. They waited, eyes narrowed, tracking the moment when the embers of fire would finally collide with solid flesh.

And then—

"Now!"

The two Devil Lords erupted from the shadows simultaneously.

Alioth appeared directly in front of Vlad, his colossal maw opening as he unleashed a torrent of infernal flames so intense that space itself warped beneath the heat. At the same time, Nebolex materialized to Vlad’s side, his energy surging as countless strands of cursed webbing exploded outward.

The plan was flawless.

If Vlad dodged the flames, he would crash directly into Nebolex’s webs. The webbing would fuse with his flesh, inflicting agonizing pain—but that was merely a secondary effect. Its true purpose was far more insidious.

The webs would adhere to every surface they touched, anchoring Vlad to the surrounding buildings and ruins. His speed—the very thing that made him terrifying—would be forcibly reduced. Once slowed, he could be worn down, isolated, and eventually slain.

Unfortunately for Nebolex, Vlad did neither.

He did not dodge.

He did not block.

The True Depravita of Wrath clenched his teeth and charged straight through the flames.

His flesh burned and melted under the overwhelming heat, and only the regeneration granted by his Depravita Constitution prevented catastrophic injury. The pain was indescribable—searing, all-consuming—but Vlad did not slow.

Pain did not matter.

Only the mission mattered.

He burst through the inferno and appeared directly before Alioth.

In that instant, Vlad swung the Quietus Sword with everything he had, transferring the full momentum of his dive into the weapon.

"ZNNNNNNNNNN!"

The sound of flesh and scales being torn apart echoed across the battlefield.

Alioth’s chest was split open in a single, devastating strike. Before the draconic Devil Lord could even comprehend what had happened, Vlad plunged into the wound, his body vanishing inside as he carved forward with brutal precision.

Alioth released an agonized roar that shook the city.

The pain was unimaginable.

Vlad was not simply attacking him—he was tearing a path through his body.

Less than a second later, Vlad burst out through Alioth’s back in an explosion of blood and shattered organs. The draconic Devil Lord collapsed midair, his massive form falling lifelessly toward the streets below.

Vlad did not stop for a second, drenched in blood, fragments of bone and flesh clinging to him as he continued forward.

A radiant, ferocious smile spread across his face.

Nebolex froze.

Shock paralyzed him completely.

There was nothing he could do. By the time his instincts caught up, Vlad had already flashed forward, leaving him behind.

Horror and dread filled the spider Devil Lord’s many eyes as he stared at Alioth’s ruined corpse.

And he was not alone.

Across the city, every Devil Lord felt the same terror grip their hearts.

That fear bred hesitation.

Some began to wonder—perhaps it would be better to remain hidden. Perhaps the remaining traps and formations would succeed.

Unfortunately for the Devil Lords, those desperate fantasies did not last long.

The same commanding voice that had ordered Nebolex and Alioth into battle echoed once more through the infernal network, sharper and more urgent than before.

"Get into formation. I don’t care what you have to sacrifice—do not let it reach the heart of the city!" 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

The Devil Lords clenched their teeth as the words sank in. The dread of death froze their hearts, cold and suffocating, but none of them dared to refuse.

Defying that command would be no different from signing their own death sentence. With grim resolve, they moved through the shadow pathways once again, taking position directly along the path of the True Depravita of Wrath.

Coldness crept into Vlad’s eyes.

He still could not directly detect the Devil Lords—their concealment methods were flawless—but he could feel the subtle disturbances in space and law as they shifted to intercept him. The city itself seemed to tense, as though aware that a decisive clash was about to unfold.

"It doesn’t change anything," Vlad muttered, his voice steady and devoid of hesitation. "My only goal is to reach the heart, and nothing will stop me."

Determination and wrath burned brightly in his gaze as he surged forward.