Three weeks went by in silence. No fighting, no bloodshed, only preparations, as the warriors of the Six Sun Alliance grew stronger and stronger by devouring the life essence of the Eighth Realm.

This would have long-term consequences, but they would appear after a few centuries, and right now they could only think in terms of months.

Finally, once the forces were gathered and fully armed, the march began without fanfare.

There were no war drums.

No rallying cries.

Only silence.

Tens of thousands of warriors moved as one across the frozen expanse of the Eighth Layer, their auras restrained, their killing intent buried deep within their cores. The air trembled faintly under the sheer density of power gathered in a single place.

At the front—

Vlad walked.

To his right, the Antimatter Doppelgänger moved in perfect sync, its crimson form flickering with unstable brilliance. To his left, the White Death advanced with measured steps, his presence so heavy that the frozen ground beneath him cracked with each stride.

Behind them, the Lords of the Six Sun Alliance spread out in formation, followed by a vast army of Legends and the newly deployed Thiamatos Units.

An army built for annihilation.

Ahead, the dark miasma separating the Eighth and Ninth Layers churned like a living thing.

Vlad did not slow.

"Forward."

The single word echoed.

And the army surged.

They pierced the fog like a spear.

The moment they entered—

The world changed.

The air thickened.

Divine Power pressed down from all directions, mixed with the twisted essence of the fiend plane. The sky above flickered between gold and crimson, as if Heaven and Hell were locked in an endless struggle for dominance.

Vlad’s eyes narrowed.

He felt them instantly.

Hidden.

Watching.

Waiting.

Auras so vast they distorted reality even while concealed.

It seemed that Beelzebub, Zamael, and Rafael intended to hide the first part of the battle, like during the first incursion into the Ninth Layer, but it would not work this time.

"Found you."

The True Depravita of Wrath’s voice was a whisper.

Then—

He vanished.

The Antimatter Doppelgänger and the White Death disappeared at the same instant.

Three streaks of power tore across the sky.

Far beyond the advancing army—

The hidden Paragons reacted, but it was too late.

"BOOOOOOOOOOM—!!!"

Vlad’s Longinus Spear descended like judgment itself, piercing through layers of space and slamming into a concealed domain. The impact shattered the veil instantly, exposing the Archangels and Devil Paragon hidden within.

Zamael roared as he raised his spear, gravity exploding outward in an attempt to intercept the strike—

—but the collision still detonated.

Space folded inward.

Gravity inverted.

The explosion erased everything within a thousand kilometers, leaving behind a warped vacuum where reality struggled to reassemble itself.

At the same time—

The Antimatter Doppelgänger unleashed a storm of god weapons point-blank into Rafael’s position. The sky fractured as antimatter detonations overlapped, turning entire regions into void-like scars.

And below—

The White Death slammed into Beelzebub.

Their clash alone split the land.

Entropy and time collided, producing a shockwave that tore open the ground into a bottomless abyss stretching across the horizon.

The Ninth Layer trembled.

The Paragons had engaged before anyone else.

But the army did not stop.

They surged forward.

And then—

They met the enemy.

It began with a single clash.

A Legend’s blade met a devil’s claw.

Steel screamed.

Flesh tore.

Blood spilled.

Then—

The battlefield erupted.

The sky darkened under the sheer number of combatants.

Millions of devils surged forward like a tidal wave of madness, their bodies twisted, their eyes filled with nothing but destruction. Above them, Angel Gods descended like executioners, their corrupted Divine Power radiating oppressive authority.

And the Lords and Legends met them head-on.

"FORWARD!"

The roar spread across the battlefield.

Blades fell.

Bodies broke.

The first line of devils was torn apart instantly—limbs severed, torsos split open, heads crushed into pulp as the Legends unleashed their full power without restraint.

Blood sprayed in every direction.

Chunks of flesh rained from the sky.

A dragon-born Legend tore through a group of devils, his claws ripping bodies apart as he devoured them mid-battle. A human warrior moved like a blur, his sword carving through necks and torsos in a relentless dance of death.

They were unstoppable.

For a moment.

Then—

The devils pushed back.

A massive demon surged forward, its jaws wide enough to swallow a man whole. It crashed into a line of Legends, crushing several beneath its weight before ripping one apart with its teeth.

Elsewhere, a swarm of lesser devils dragged a warrior to the ground, tearing into him with claws and fangs. His screams echoed briefly—

Then they were silenced.

The battlefield devolved into absolute carnage.

Close-range slaughter.

A human warrior stood at the center of the carnage.

His body moved with mechanical precision, his blade rising and falling as it cut down devils one after another. His expression remained peaceful, emotionless, even as blood soaked its armor.

A group of devils surrounded it.

They lunged.

Claws tore into its flesh.

One arm was ripped off.

Another devil bit into its shoulder, tearing away chunks of meat.

The human staggered.

For a moment—

It seemed like it would fall.

Then—

His eyes glowed.

A brilliant, unnatural light.

The devils froze.

Instinct screamed.

Too late.

"BOOOOOOOOM—!!!"

The explosion was instantaneous.

Not a self-destruction fueled by will.

Not desperation.

A mechanism.

The human was a Thiamatos Unit, and his body detonated from within, releasing a concentrated blast of energy that vaporized everything in a hundred-meter radius.

Devils were erased.

Bodies disintegrated into ash.

Even nearby Legends were thrown back, their armor shattered by the shockwave.

Smoke rose.

Where the Unit had stood—

Nothing remained.

And it was not alone.

Across the battlefield—

More detonations erupted.

Thiamatos Units, when overwhelmed, when damaged beyond function—

Exploded.

Each one taking dozens, sometimes hundreds of enemies with them.

The tide of battle shifted.

Not through skill.

Not through power.

Through sacrifice.

Calculated.

Cold.

Efficient.

Normal Legends had no knowledge about Thiamatos Units. The only thing they saw was brave warriors sacrificing themselves, pushing them to fight harder.

They roared as they pushed forward, cutting through devils with renewed fury. Blood coated their weapons, their armor, their skin.

A warrior lost his arm—

He kept fighting.

Another was impaled—

He dragged the devil closer and tore its throat out before collapsing.

Above them, Angel Gods descended. They had no real feeling toward those Devils, but every single one of them perishing meant their Divine Kingdom would weaken, so they had to stop the carnage.

However, before the Gods could even get close to the Legends, Altharion and the rest of the Lords clashed with them with overwhelming ferocity.