215: The Demon God Cult, stirring with ambition

The dark space was silent, without a trace of light, only darkness and deathly stillness.

With a whoosh, several streams of crimson demon flames soared into the sky, illuminating one corner of the grand hall.

A tall Demon God statue revealed its ferocious face under the illumination of the Blood Flames.

Then several more demon flames ignited—purple, green, and multi-colored—the flames of various hues shone together, instantly brightening the hall and revealing three more Demon God statues.

The four Demon God statues stood guard in the four cardinal directions surrounding the hall, and figures began to appear beneath them.

"It has been a long time since the twelve of us gathered here!"

"The last meeting was also hundreds of years ago!"

"The Demon Abyss is stirring; Our God is about to return. It is time to discuss this great matter."

The twelve Archbishops of the Demon God Cult each occupied a distinct corner, with some who were already familiar exchanging intelligence.

"The Dwarves have entered the fray; it won't be long before a grand sacrifice can be held."

"It is the same with the Orcs, but the followers of that Extraterritorial Evil God are too bothersome; sooner or later, we will sacrifice them all to the great blood god."

"The Demon Abyss has become active. One large-scale sacrifice can open a large Plane Passage, and then the legions led by the Great Demons can devour all enemies."

"Let us begin our actions and welcome the return of Our God!"

The Archbishops spoke one after another, each stating their own views, yet none were willing to follow the ideas of the others.

Giles watched coldly. As the Demon Abyss grew active and the prophecy of the Four Gods' return began to manifest, signs of division were already appearing within the Demon God Cult.

The Four Demon Gods viewed each other as mortal enemies; if the Four Gods returned, the Demon God Cult would naturally cease to exist.

"Rage! Rage until the world is turned upside down!"

"Slaughter! Kill them all clean!"

"The Benevolent Father equally cherishes every life!"

"Enjoy the pleasure!"

The demon flames rising in the hall intertwined, and corrupting, fallen demonic sounds surrounded the four Demon God statues... With a boom, a massive fiery blast completely annihilated the group of Slimes before them, leaving behind a ground full of Demon Cores.

Reign put away the Demon Cores and stood suspended in mid-air atop Reck, overlooking the muddy swamp filled with Slimes.

This was a newly discovered Sub-plane that had appeared a few days ago in the wilderness west of the Red River Valley, near the Black Mountain Range, discovered by a patrolling Wolf Pack.

Reign then led his legion into this Sub-plane and immediately found that the entire plane was a muddy swamp just like the one before them, inhabited by a large number of Slimes.

These sticky creatures looked disgusting—green, blue, white—Slimes of all colors were everywhere in the muddy swamp.

Ordinary Slimes were only the size of a human head, possessing almost no aggression; they only knew how to eat and sleep, surviving by constantly swallowing mud.

Besides ordinary Slimes, there were Slimes of other sizes, ranging from the size of a head up to massive Slimes tens of meters tall.

Large Slimes possessed aggression, using abilities ranging from basic Slime Spit to Acid Breath.

After clearing an area, Reign discovered that these Slimes had very high immunity to physical attacks; ordinary swords could barely harm them, but their resistance to magical attacks was much lower.

Reign then ordered the ordinary legion to withdraw, and he and Kapdo proceeded to scout this Slime Plane alone.

"This Sub-plane is quite large, even a bit bigger than the entire Red River Valley, and there are likely at least tens of millions of Slimes living inside."

Reign estimated a rough figure while looking at the swamp below, where Slimes filled every corner.

"It makes sense that they can multiply in such large numbers if they only need to eat mud to survive."

Kapdo had been collecting materials and analyzing them for half a day.

"There are basically no minerals here, and no plants either. Slimes can devour and digest anything, so no plant can survive here."

"This truly is a paradise for Slimes, with absolutely no natural predators."

"The mud here is somewhat special; it contains rich nutrients and could be used as fertilizer, though its value is only average!"

Kapdo casually tossed out all the collected materials; they were all worthless junk.

"The only things of high value here are the Slimes themselves."

"Ordinary Slimes aren't worth much, but those Transcendent Slimes have some value. Besides the Demon Core inside them, the viscous substance that makes up the Slime's body also possesses some transcendent properties, likely usable for making potions or other items!"

"Let's capture some more Transcendent Slimes to take back for further research!"

"Alright!"

After capturing quite a few Slimes, Reign and Kapdo left the Sub-plane and returned to Red River Fortress.

The Slimes in the Slime Plane had very low intelligence and no social structure, operating almost entirely on instinct, so their threat level was minimal. Once the Plane Passage was secured, Reign assigned a squad to guard it.

Subsequently, Reign planned to construct a fortress here to watch over this Plane Passage.

Although the Slime Plane lacked high-value minerals and was unsuitable for human habitation, the fact that Slimes produced Demon Cores made it worthwhile, given the immense number of Slimes in the plane, which meant a large output of Demon Cores.

Upon returning to Red River Fortress, Reign resumed construction on the Mage Tower, sending Kapdo with Cecilia to study the captured Slimes.

Time had entered late December, and the Mage Tower had been under construction for nearly three months.

The construction speed had increased further after obtaining a large amount of resources brought by Grand Duke Karl, especially the magic stones, which solved a major problem for Reign.

The materials needed to set up the Magic Array had been slightly insufficient, but these magic stones immediately filled the gap.

Ten of the twelve floors of the Mage Tower were complete, and Reign estimated that construction would finish in about another month.

Alistair stood beside Reign, looking up at the towering Mage Tower.

"None of the Mage Towers in Rage Bear Fortress are as tall as the one you are building. If those Gold Mages saw this, they would surely covet it."

"Rage Bear City already has three Mage Towers, and the equipment inside is complete; they probably have quite a few Magic Arrays constructed as well, making them stronger than our brand new Mage Tower!"

"However, it won't take long before we surpass them, and the name crimson glory will resound throughout the North."

Reign designed the exterior of the Mage Tower with the signature red aesthetic of the Red River Territory, naming this nearly completed magical spire the crimson glory.

Each floor of the crimson glory was five meters high, making the twelve-story structure sixty meters tall, standing conspicuously on the northeast corner of Red River City.

The ordinary vassals of the Red River Territory felt immense pride seeing this new, grand structure; every time such an extraordinary building appeared, it meant the territory had grown stronger, and their lives would become more secure.

The Spellcasters of the Red River Territory were extremely excited upon seeing the nearly completed Mage Tower, as this magnificent structure would smooth their path as mages and offer greater opportunities to break through to higher realms in the future.

Their reverence for Reign grew day by day, along with the height of the rising Mage Tower.