Chapter 874

"What is this place?"

The moment they stepped through the portal, everyone was struck speechless.

There was no soil. No vegetation. No sign that anything resembling life had ever taken root here. Only charred stone walls and a landscape rotted beyond recognition. There was no sky overhead, either—no atmosphere, no clouds, nothing remotely resembling a world they knew. Beyond the broken horizon stretched a bizarre, shifting void.

The air reeked of sulfur.

Sif and Galia had expected vicious enemies and terrifying creatures on the other side. They had prepared themselves for an immediate battle.

Instead, it was the complete absence of life that unsettled them most.

The group slipped into the shadows beside a rock wall and watched the distant floating islands.

Demonic armies were stationed across them.

Sif narrowed her eyes as she studied the soldiers. Then she spotted a familiar figure among the ranks.

One of Evenson’s summons was a demon named Taylor. Sif had fought beside him before and had always admired his skill with a blade. An ordinary Einherjar would have struggled to defeat him.

Yet here, demons of Taylor’s caliber weren’t rare elites.

They were soldiers in an army.

And judging by what she could see, this wasn’t even the full force stationed here.

What kind of terrifying power had gathered in this place?

"This is what our world will look like in the future."

Evenson finally squeezed his way toward the front from the rear of the group.

That wasn’t surprising.

He might have been the one who organized this expedition, but his overwhelming love of staying alive had ensured that he was the last person through the portal.

"If we fail to stop them," he continued, "our world will become this."

"I see..."

Galia had sacrificed her eyes when she underwent her transformation, but that sacrifice had left her with senses far sharper than those of an ordinary person.

She could see the horror of this world more clearly than anyone else.

And with that understanding came a firm resolve.

This could never happen to their world.

Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. were practically blind. They were too busy fighting over influence on Earth to notice the real danger gathering beyond it.

Someone had to protect their world.

And if that meant sacrificing everything she had, then so be it.

Sif, a veteran of countless battles, was equally shaken.

Asgard was not a kingdom built on peace. It had fought its share of wars. But those wars had always had a purpose—defending its people, conquering territory, securing resources, protecting its interests.

What she saw here was different.

These enemies killed because they wanted to kill.

They destroyed because they wanted to destroy.

There was no negotiation.

No compromise.

No surrender.

That was what made them truly terrifying.

Then Sif suddenly understood.

The Queen Mother had been pushing sweeping reforms ever since taking control of the realm. She had crushed opposition with ruthless measures, but the results had been undeniable. Asgard’s administrative efficiency had increased several times over.

And almost all of those gains had flowed toward the military.

Whether politically or economically, the Queen Mother’s administration had increasingly favored the armed forces.

Before Sif had gone to Earth to hunt Lorelei, the Queen Mother had merely been rebuilding the Valkyrie Corps and introducing a military merit system.

When Sif returned after Lorelei’s trial, barely a month later, everything had changed.

The military commander was now also serving as a minister of the royal court.

The former finance minister had taken on the duties of minister of military logistics.

Even the Inner Court Secretariat, which had once been little more than the Queen Mother’s personal staff, had been transformed. Every member had simultaneously been appointed chief strategist to one of Asgard’s major armies.

People outside the court had already stopped calling it the Northern Secretariat.

They were calling it the Royal General Staff.

The consequences were obvious.

Asgard’s military was expanding at an alarming rate.

But that expansion had raised an increasingly uncomfortable question—one that even many soldiers couldn’t answer.

Why?

Who was Asgard preparing to fight?

Even Sif hadn’t been able to figure it out.

Asgard’s national power had declined somewhat, and its military was no longer at the height of its former glory, but it remained one of the dominant powers in the universe. Even the aggressively expansionist Kree Empire treated Asgard with caution.

So what was the Queen Mother preparing for?

Was she planning to reignite a great war and establish Asgard’s dominance over the entire universe?

Or...

Had she seen something that everyone else had missed?

Perhaps Asgard appeared powerful on the surface, while in reality it was already balanced on the edge of disaster.

Perhaps some overwhelming enemy was approaching.

Now Sif finally understood.

The Queen Mother’s wisdom truly was unfathomable.

While everyone else had been enjoying the illusion of peace and prosperity, she had already noticed the terrible enemy lurking beyond their world.

At first, the Queen Mother had claimed that this expedition was simply intended to help Evenson recover a valuable artifact.

But Sif knew better.

That artifact wasn’t meant for the Queen Mother’s personal enjoyment.

It was meant to further strengthen the Valkyrie Corps—the military force she relied upon most heavily.

That was why she had sent Sif here with the elite of the Valkyries.

The official objective might have been to kill demons and retrieve the artifact.

But the real purpose was obvious now.

This was a secret field test.

The Queen Mother wanted to see how Asgard’s strongest military force measured up against this terrifying enemy.

Sif’s gaze swept across the Heart Warriors led by Galia before finally settling on Evenson.

So that was why he’d secretly cultivated such a formidable fighting force.

He must have been preparing for this enemy for a long time.

Suddenly, everything made sense.

Why had Evenson cultivated a close relationship with the Queen Mother while simultaneously maintaining contact with Hela, one of her rivals for the throne?

Why had the Queen Mother merely smiled and remained silent when she learned of Evenson’s dealings with Hela?

Because they had already reached an understanding.

They needed a substantial reserve of military strength to confront this enemy.

Sif was certain of it.

She tightened her grip on her shield and sword.

"What are you planning to do?" she asked Evenson. "We’ve already entered enemy territory. Shouldn’t we launch an attack immediately?"

She glanced toward their relatively small force.

"We don’t have many people, and the enemy here is clearly formidable. A lightning strike really is our best option."

"Agreed."

Galia looked deeply at Sif through the blindfold covering her eyes.

Their ideas were remarkably similar.

"These warriors are all heavily armored," Galia said. "They’re probably trained for direct engagements on a conventional battlefield. Why not send my people in first? We can infiltrate their positions and eliminate as much of their active fighting strength as possible before the main force attacks."

"Don’t rush."

Evenson waved down both proposals.

"For the moment, we’re relatively safe. We’ll stay here and observe."

The portal hadn’t been opened at some random location.

Evenson had carefully chosen its destination.

They were at the very bottom of the Dreadscar Rift, a place demons rarely had any reason to visit. If the entire fortress were compared to a building, their current position would essentially be its sewer system.

And after studying the successful strategies of countless raid leaders, Evenson had reached one important conclusion:

Attacking through the sewers had the highest success rate with the lowest casualties.

Their element of surprise was still intact.

So he intended to keep it that way.

"Stay hidden. Don’t shoot until I give the word." He paused. "I’ll contact our inside man first."

"You have an inside man here?"

Sif wasn’t the only one surprised.

Even Galia stared at him.

She certainly hadn’t known anything about that.

"Come on." Evenson gave them an incredulous look. "Isn’t infiltration and sabotage standard procedure before the actual operation begins?"

He stepped aside, raised one hand to cover most of his face, and lowered his voice to an absurdly serious whisper.

"Deep Sea, Deep Sea. Blue Planet Three calling. Respond. Repeat, respond."

"We’ve got you..."

Footsteps suddenly echoed from nearby.

Their contact was coming.

Sif and Galia immediately straightened their armor, apparently preparing to pay their respects to the brave underground operative who had infiltrated the heart of the enemy’s territory.

Then the figure appeared around the corner.

She stood more than three meters tall, her skin unnaturally pale. Three pairs of arms extended from her massive frame, while black veils concealed a face of almost supernatural beauty.

It was Agatha.

The green flames burning atop the crown of the demonic matron radiated an unmistakably ominous aura.

Everyone immediately went on guard.

Evenson’s expression hardened.

"Glory to the Firstborn!"

"En taro Tassader!"

The response came without hesitation.

Correct.

She was one of their own.

Evenson immediately relaxed and strode forward with both hands extended.

"Comrade!"

Agatha practically lunged forward in relief.

"Finally! You actually came!"

All six of her hands seized Evenson’s.

It was difficult to describe Agatha’s situation.

She had hated Hailermondas’s rule for a long time. But when a miserable situation had no end in sight, what could she do?

She had simply endured it.

Then the Eredar twins returned.

Suddenly, there was hope that they might reclaim the Dreadscar Rift.

And that changed everything.

She could tolerate a hopeless existence.

But once hope appeared, waiting became torture. Every passing day felt like a hellhound clawing at her insides.

She had desperately waited for the twins’ army to return and launch their counterattack.

She had actively pushed the plan forward.

But the days passed.

Then the weeks.

Still nothing.

She had begun wondering whether that little warlock had been stirring up trouble on one side while whispering something into the twins’ ears on the other, convincing them to abandon the entire operation.

But today, they had finally come.

Today, the Dreadscar Rift would finally be liberated from Hailermondas’s tyrannical rule.

"Deep Sea Comrade," Evenson said, "how is Comrade Fokan’s operation progressing?"

He was asking about G’anos.

"Don’t worry."

Agatha slapped one hand against her chest.

"G’anos has personally gone to the Soul Engine. The Gulgan demons under his command are already in position at the artillery batteries."

She paused.

"And you can just call me Agatha."

"Understood, Comrade."

Evenson nodded.

"What about information warfare?"

Agatha’s eyebrow twitched.

"I’ve sabotaged every military communications device in the Rift. Nothing will be able to send out a distress signal."

She spread all six arms.

"And seriously, where are we? The Legion forgot this place existed a long time ago. Their forces on the front are in terrible shape. Gul’dan has barricaded himself inside his fortress and refuses to show his face, and the outer defenses have already been breached several times."

She shook her head.

"Apparently, one of the mounts he was keeping for his escape was even stolen. Kil’jaeden was furious about that."

"With the front line in such a mess, who would bother paying attention to this place?"

Sif and Galia both breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

So even these terrifying enemies were struggling.

That was excellent news.

Agatha, however, suddenly became more serious.

"Still, you’re right to be cautious."

"The worse things become at the front, the sooner Kil’jaeden is likely to intervene personally. You know what that means. Once he takes the field, the war probably won’t last much longer."

"And the Legion has more troops than anyone could count. Even if he considers himself too important to enter the battlefield personally, all he needs to do is divert a few armies toward the front."

She grimaced.

"The demon army would sweep over those defenses like a tidal wave."

"So we have to move quickly. We need to finish everything here before the war ends and Kil’jaeden has enough attention to spare."

"I know."

Evenson nodded.

He almost felt tempted to give Kil’jaeden some tactical advice.

If the guy would just order his soldiers to stop dropping legendary gear, mounts, and every other piece of loot imaginable, Azeroth would probably have fallen years ago.

Sif and Galia, however, weren’t nearly as amused.

This place already radiated enough dread to make their skin crawl.

And this was merely an abandoned military outpost.

The Legion’s true forces—and its strongest warriors—were fighting on the front lines and elsewhere across the universe.

How powerful, then, was the Legion at full strength?

"Hailermondas is completely isolated now," Agatha continued. "I’ve moved every force loyal to him to the outer regions."

She looked toward the enormous fortress rising from the center of the Rift.

"But he himself is the biggest problem. Abyssal lords have always been known for brute strength and overwhelming physical power."

"If you can’t deal with him quickly, his army may return. That could become troublesome."

"You don’t need to worry about that."

Evenson nodded.

He had already prepared a solution.

"Really?"

Agatha suddenly seemed to remember something.

"Then let me introduce you to another demon. This one is extremely important, but he’s also a very unusual case. He’s so easy to overlook that practically everyone forgot he even existed."

She scratched her head.

"I only remembered him right before you arrived. I hadn’t gotten around to either recruiting him or dealing with him."

"Oh, that’s fine."

Evenson waved dismissively.

"Let’s head back for today."

"Wait! Don’t leave!"

Agatha immediately panicked.

"I told you, he’s special! Everyone forgot he existed! And I’ve already brought him over. At least meet him before you go."

She turned toward the corner behind them.

"Enough hovering around back there. Come over and meet everyone."

Evenson turned.

Something floated around the corner.

His expression froze.

Then his stomach dropped.

He could feel something watching him from the Void.

The newcomer wasn’t merely some strange demon.

It was a giant floating—

Eyeball.

The enormous eye drifted closer.

"I am Dester," it announced politely. "I am an eye demon."

Evenson stared at it.

For once, he had absolutely nothing to say.