Chapter 948: First Legion

Dark Angel!

Li Feilin stared at the supernal warrior that resembled a wall of iron, feeling shocked and also a deep sense of helplessness.

She had followed Lei En for several years, living in Gotham City while leading the Holy Spear Knight Corps, but Lei En's territories extended far beyond Gotham City; secret bases seemed to dot the New Continent and Old Continent, even in other planes, leaving her never knowing how many secrets Lei En concealed.

The Extreme Warriors and the Holy Spear Knight Corps were already strong enough, and now a Dark Angel appeared out of nowhere.

She hadn't heard any news about it before.

The Dark Angel before her was certainly legendary, exuding an evil, chaotic aura, its whole body concealed in pitch‑black armor, and Li Feilin could not gauge its true power.

If every Dark Angel were this strong…

Li Feilin couldn't help but ask, "Lei En, what rank does this new legion belong to?"

"The Dark Angel Corps is currently slightly weaker than the Extreme Warriors, but certainly stronger than the Holy Spear Knight Corps," Lei En replied evasively, "However, that's only temporary."

Li Feilin's eyes widened instantly.

Only slightly weaker than the Extreme Warrior Corps!

The Extreme Warrior Corps claimed to be the world's strongest legion; could a Dark Angel really be only temporarily slightly weaker? She asked directly, "What is the actual strength of a Dark Angel?"

"Legendary Mid-stage," Lei En replied with a hint of amusement.

"Huh?"

Li Feilin was a little confused.

How could a Legendary Mid-stage Dark Angel compare to an Extreme Warrior? One should know that an Extreme Warrior in powered armor can confront a Saint Rank strongman head‑on; three or four Extreme Warriors together can kill a Saint Rank strongman.

Lei En smiled but gave Li Feilin no further explanation.

The so‑called Dark Angel was actually a split‑self, created by combining Creation Art with the Core Mind, replicating every Element of his Legendary Mid-stage self except the Wish Spell; its power was no less than that of an Extreme Warrior in powered armor, even a step stronger.

Because he was a battle Wizard, he mastered many spells.

The Dark Angel, newly created, could never undergo Soul Transformation, but its Elements could be boosted with energy, causing its power to surge severalfold.

He selected a few split‑selves to test.

Sure enough, just like his original self, the Iron Body, Mithril Body, and True Dragon Form upgraded to their respective levels and fused into a Titanium‑Gold Body. "Energy Resistance" advanced twice, becoming an Energy Furnace; Blood Frenzy advanced into Infinite Frenzy.

There was also Titan Divine Power shared from A Xina's soul contract.

Its strength also reached level fourteen!

In addition there were "Thunder Flame," "Truth Will," "Thunder Form," "Titanium‑Gold Feather," "Titanium‑Gold Holy Sword," "Thunder God's Spear," and more, plus over twenty spells of the Eye Demon Elder; the Key of Doors had reached seven rings, selecting seven Arcane arts, along with numerous thunder spells.

However, since the split‑self only reached Legendary Mid-stage, the Titanium‑Gold Body, Energy Furnace, and Titan Divine Power each capped at level one and could not be further upgraded.

All spells topped out at seven rings.

If enough energy were available, the Dark Angel would be another version of himself.

A fully realized Dark Angel already surpassed ordinary Saint Rank strongmen, but reaching full form required a massive amount of energy.

Creating a Thundercast Celestial Soldier costs only forty energy units, but it is merely a "blank‑slate" tool.

To upgrade them into Dark Angels, each Element must be maxed out, demanding nearly 5,000 energy units!

That consumption is too great.

While sighing over the wasteland, Lei En simultaneously eliminated vampires, created Thundercast Celestial Soldiers, and incidentally fortified a few Dark Angels, then stopped. One Dark Angel requiring over 5,000 energy units was simply too much to bear.

A Dark Angel's power was about ten times that of a Thundercast Celestial Soldier, yet its energy consumption exceeded a hundredfold, making its cost‑performance extremely poor.

Therefore, Lei En shelved the plan to create Dark Angels.

Only temporarily.

When Ai Luotixiya formally embarks on the Abyssal Lord's path and conquers the Mist Mountains, she will surely harvest massive souls, yielding endless energy.

By then, creating Dark Angels will no longer be an issue.

In Lei En's mind, the Dark Angel Corps actually held a higher status than the Extreme Warrior Corps, because Dark Angels are absolutely loyal!

His split‑self is more reliable than a symbiont.

When Ji Li Man Su awakens, the Extreme Warriors' stance may waver and loyalty become an issue, but Dark Angels will not; they will never betray him.

The birth of the Dark Angel was originally intended as a safeguard against the Extreme Warrior Corps.

The Dark Angel is the true First Legion!

In the future, Dark Angels will certainly be equipped with powered armor.

Now, following Ai Luotixiya to conquer the Mist Mountains, the iconic gear of powered armor and Bolt Gun would reveal the Dark Angel's origin, so they must initially wield greatswords as primary weapons, supplementing with spells when needed.

Moreover, the terror warriors under the Lord of Darkness have always been melee.

If, mid‑battle, they suddenly pull out a gun and boom‑boom‑boom shoot the enemies dead, the demons of the Mist Mountains would surely suspect they aren't terror warriors at all.

These thoughts flashed rapidly through Lei En's mind.

The Dark Angel held too many secrets; there was no need for him to explain everything to Li Feilin, and Ai Luotixiya only needed to lead them into battle.

Legendary Mid-stage!

Ai Luotixiya's reaction was completely different from Li Feilin's; before today she had only reached Legendary High-rank herself, commanding a legion of Legendary Mid-stage supernal warriors—a force she had never even dared to dream of, and even in the Abyss it was scarce.

She asked impatiently, "Lei En, how many Dark Angels have you prepared for me?"

"Not many, just a few."

Lei En answered with a smile.

As his words finished, dense, orderly footfalls echoed from all around the hall—bang bang bang bang…

Eight doors surrounded the hall, each leading to a barracks.

Soon, figures streamed out of the doors.

They were all clad in pitch‑black, snarling armor, bodies sealed within, wearing curved‑horn helmets, wielding greatswords; each stood two and a half meters tall, four lined up side by side like a moving steel wall, marching in uniform, massive strides.

Bang bang bang!

The thunderous footfalls made the base of the high tower tremble slightly.

The number of dark angels kept increasing; every second, a line of black silhouettes emerged from behind each of the eight doors surrounding the hall, and formed a line beside Lei En and the other two.

Ai Luotixiya and Li Fulin were both dumbfounded; they could no longer count how many dark angels there were, and when the heavy footfalls ceased, the entire hall was filled.

"Is this what you call 'not many'?"

The succubus stared at the dark angels that completely surrounded her, and was utterly stunned.

"There should be a thousand!" Li Fulin quickly estimated; as the commander of the Holy Spear Knight Corps, she noticed more details.

Each dark angel was the same height, their weapons, armor, and fur cloaks identical in every detail, as if cast from a single mold, with no discernible differences. Moreover, despite their numbers, they made not a whisper, not even a breath sound; the hall was utterly silent.

Silence does not mean their presence cannot be felt.

On the contrary, each dark angel exuded a strong aura of evil—a cold, blood‑thirsty, brutal scent that merged into a palpable mass, causing even a Holy Blood Angel like myself to feel suffocated.

Li Fulin was so shocked she could not speak.

She could not imagine how Lei En cultivated these dark angels; their formidable power and strict discipline were exactly like the true terror warriors under the Lord of Darkness.

"Lei En, h‑how many dark angels are there?" Ai Luotixiya stammered, "You said just a few, didn't you?"

In truth, just a few, Lei En thought to himself.

There are a thousand copies here, but only five are fully‑enhanced dark angels; the rest are Thundercast Celestial Soldiers. They enlarge their bodies with titan divine power, don armor forged from extended‑extremity demonic steel, and wear "Evil Halo" talismans that emit demon aura, masquerading as terror warriors.

Even though they are not true dark angels, Thundercast Celestial Soldiers are extremely powerful, enough to handle most demon armies.

As they absorb souls in battle, they will eventually become full forms.

This is fighting to fuel more fighting.

Of course, there was no need to explain this secret to Ai Luotixiya; Lei En laughed, "Haha, I was only joking—the dark angel legion happens to be a thousand strong."

"Great!"

Ai Luotixiya was extremely excited.

With a thousand dark angels, her confidence surged, and conquering the Misty Mountains no longer seemed so difficult.

"The dark angel legion will obey your commands; you can trust them completely."

Lei En continued, "However, once you have a foothold in the Misty Mountains, you cannot rely solely on dark angels; you must establish a system to govern tens of millions of demon troops, with dark angels as the core, suitable for subjugating additional demons, top‑down, to control the entire Abyssal Plane."

Ai Luotixiya nodded repeatedly, indicating she had memorized it.

She had spent years in the Abyss, encountering many powerful demon forces.

Generally, a demon lord sits at the top of a faction, imposing high‑pressure rule; the demon lord treats his troops as slaves, lower‑rank demons are rife with intrigue, betrayal, and mutual slaughter, and they often overthrow their superiors, all reflecting the Abyss's bloodiness and cruelty.

If one does not want demons to doubt one's origins, one must adopt a similar governance, allowing no trace of mercy or tolerance.

In the Abyss, kindness is cowardice, tolerance is suicide.

"Besides, I have prepared other helpers for you," Lei En added, as a motley group of silhouettes emerged from the barracks.

Some wore magical robes, their faces pallid or sullen, radiating strong magical currents; some bore a pair of bat wings on their backs, demonic horns on their heads, long tails, and hooved feet; some appeared unremarkable but handsome, with sinister eyes; others wore black tuxedos, slender, with mouths full of sharp fangs.

These are all demons!

Ai Luotixiya instantly identified them as "evil sorcerers," casters who usually fall from humanity and continue studying spells; their intellect far exceeds that of ordinary demons, yet their magic is tainted with evil energy, possibly more potent but with many side effects.

The higher the evil sorcerer's rank, the more casts they can perform, and the more twisted their mind becomes.

Nevertheless, they remain relatively rare pure casters in the Abyss, equivalent to Wizards and Mages of the Prime Material Plane.

There were over twenty of these evil sorcerers, all above legendary rank.

The demons with bat wings on their backs and curved horns on their heads were familiar to Ai Luotixiya; they are "incubi," the male succubi.

The succubus race is gendered; males are called incubi.

Incubi, like succubi, possess striking looks and seductive abilities, but they lure women.

Ai Luotixiya felt conflicted upon seeing these incubi.

She turned her gaze to the few unremarkable men, feeling wary; they were "Chaos Princes," a special class of demons who worship the Lord of Chaos, Na Ya Xin Lan Qi.

They are called Chaos Princes because they claim descent from the Lord of Chaos, with his ancient evil god blood flowing within them.

Chaos Princes are cunning and duplicitous, their abilities complex and mutable, excelling at shape‑changing.

They roam the Abyss, spreading rumors and conspiracies, plotting behind the scenes; their behavior is very similar to the "Deceiver" Luo Xi, yet no one knows the Chaos Princes' motives—they seem a band of self‑destructive madmen who create chaos for pleasure.

There has long been a rumor in the Prime Material Plane that Luo Xi, before his ascension, was not human but a Chaos Prince.

Finally, the men in black tuxedos were vampires.

These demons total over a hundred.

Ai Luotixiya noticed a common trait: they were all humanoid demons, with bodies roughly the size of normal humans.

Indeed, Lei En said, "They are not true demons, but transcendants disguised through shape‑changing, masking their aura; ordinary great demons cannot see through them."

In fact, they were all Thundercast Celestial Soldiers.

Ai Luotixiya is a succubus, belonging to the Lord of Chaos's faction; a succubus leading a thousand terror warriors under the Lord of Darkness seemed too abrupt.

Adding that these fake demons looked much more normal.

Moreover, the terror warriors focus on melee and are poor at casting; by disguising Thundercast Celestial Soldiers as evil sorcerers and Chaos Princes, they can openly provide Ai Luotixiya with magical support, transport troops, deal massive damage, lay rune formations, and so on.

Ai Luotixiya also grasped Lei En's meaning.

"Lei En, you have thought of everything," she sighed, "Even without me, you could conquer the Misty Mountains."

"You are indispensable," Lei En said earnestly, "Because you will stand at the forefront, drawing all demon factions' attention, bearing the greatest danger and sacrifice, so I must prepare everything for you to ensure your safety."

As he spoke, he produced two items.

A set of exquisite dark‑red armor and a single‑edged sword whose blade was slightly curved—more precisely, a blade.

Li Fulin, seeing the blade, gasped, "Soul‑Eating Blade!"

(End of Chapter)