Abyssal Forest, the forbidden forest located in the western part of the main continent, is an extremely dangerous forest with a natural fortress, surrounded by mountains at its borders.
It can be said that the Abyssal Forest is one of the three forbidden forests in this world. What makes Abyssal Forest particularly dangerous is the Abyss race monsters that can kill a person instantly, anytime and anywhere.
Moreover, many monster races harbor a deep hatred for humans, making them more aggressive when encountering humans.
In the past, a country attempted to invade Abyssal Forest by deploying approximately 2.5 million soldiers, aiming to conquer Abyssal Forest within a month.
However, a fate far more terrifying than defeat occurred: the country had effectively sent its soldiers into a meat grinder. 2.4 million soldiers died in Abyssal Forest within just a few days due to the actions of the Abyss race. This story became a legend, and no country has dared to send troops into Abyssal Forest since.
The leadership controlling Abyssal Forest changes every few decades to centuries, and the Abyss race is the current leader. The Goblin Lord also led Abyssal Forest hundreds of years ago.
Since Alice reincarnated and brought Azaroth to Abyssal Forest, everything has changed. This led to friction among the three worlds, resulting in the birth of the True Abyssal Dragon Lord. The birth of the True Abyssal Dragon Lord had been prophesied hundreds of years ago.
The prophecy was not specific, but all of them mentioned the same word: disaster. Some monster races interpret this disaster as a natural calamity, as written in the goblin prophecy, while others interpret it as the arrival of an extremely dangerous monster.
Since Azaroth's appearance in Abyssal Forest, the atmosphere of Abyssal Forest has become increasingly tense and terrifying. Azaroth exudes an aura of intimidation daily, instilling fear in many monster races. Additionally, upon Azaroth's initial appearance, a massive explosion and fierce battle occurred.
Abyssal Forest was utterly devastated after this fierce battle, but shortly afterward, plants and ecosystems began to form instantly and mysteriously. For intelligent races, the sequence of events confirmed that a dangerous creature resided in the Abyssal Forest.
The commencement of Operation: Azaroth Awakening led several races to quickly submit and swear allegiance to the White Goddess. News of the White Goddess also began to spread among many monster races in Abyssal Forest.
The monster races here, for the most part, do not have gods to worship; instead, they venerate their deceased ancestors. After some time, Operation: Azaroth Typhoon began.
This operation nearly wiped out all the monster races in Abyssal Forest, except for the three strongest remaining monster races. Many monster races were forced to submit and became temporary captives.
Many of those with high pride challenged Azaroth's representatives to 1-on-1 duels, but since Arina respects the monster races, she stepped forward to duel with the monster race leaders.
The monster races, upon seeing the sheer number of Azaroth's troops, lost all hope and will to fight, yet they still retained their pride.
Currently, Abyssal Forest is in a very tense situation. Azaroth's forces, consisting of six divisions with a total of 120,000 troops, have successfully set up camp about one kilometer from the dungeon and the giant chasm.
At present, Aurelle, along with some of her subordinates, is walking towards the giant chasm. It is evident from Aurelle's expression that she is very curious about the giant chasm, and about 100 of her subordinates are tasked with protecting her.
"Aurelle-sama, are you sure you want to approach the giant chasm?"
"The enemy might pull Aurelle-sama into the giant chasm."
Aurelle smiled, glancing at her worried subordinates.
"Don't worry, don't underestimate me. I am one of Alice-sama's Servants. Don't you know that I am an expert in providing support and specializing in debuffs and buffs?"
Aurelle, having the role of pure support, is very unsuitable for front-line combat. However, she would be highly influential in the rear lines as she can cast massive debuff spells on her enemies.
If there is a scenario where the enemy tries to pull Aurelle into the chasm, her subordinates are prepared to sacrifice themselves to prevent Aurelle from being pulled in. Nevertheless, Aurelle has a special debuff spell as a self-defense measure to prevent herself from being dragged into the chasm.
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After walking for a while, Aurelle reached the edge of the giant chasm, and not far from her location was a huge cave that served as the entrance to the dungeon.
Aurelle and her subordinates were quite astonished by the vastness of the chasm, which looked like a giant hole with nothing but darkness at the bottom. Races associated with evil, such as demons, undead, succubi, vampires, and the like, possess eyes that can pierce through darkness.
Even though Aurelle is a succubus and her subordinates are a mix of demons, undead, and other monster races, all Aurelle could see at the bottom of the chasm was darkness.
"This... is very vast," said Aurelle.
"Yes, Aurelle-sama, it is indeed vast."
"Just as Aether-sama reported."
Aurelle then glanced at one of her subordinates, a young demon who appeared to be around 17 years old and had a very friendly expression.
"You... Kiryn, right? Use sound magic on a stone and throw it into the chasm," Aurelle ordered with a firm voice and sharp gaze.
"Y-yes, Aurelle-sama!"
Kiryn promptly cast sound magic on a large stone located not far from Aurelle's group. With his strength, Kiryn hurled the large stone into the chasm. As the stone was thrown, Aurelle immediately buffed it to prevent it from breaking easily and to reduce air resistance.
Aurelle intended to measure the depth of the giant chasm by timing how long it took for the stone thrown by her subordinate to reach the bottom.
"Huh?" Aurelle was slightly puzzled after a minute passed without any sound.
"Did the stone not reach the bottom?"
Three minutes after it was thrown, the sound of the stone shattering at the bottom of the chasm echoed. Aurelle was visibly shocked by the incredible depth of the chasm.
"This chasm is very deep..."
Aurelle felt there might be a deadlock in the final phase of Operation: Azaroth Typhoon due to the hazardous location of the Abyss race. However, there was still one hope: a few Ghost and Kirion races would descend into the chasm to deliver messages to the Abyss race.
Previously, Azaroth had attempted to send envoys into the giant chasm, but there were no signs of their return. Spy teams were also sent into the dungeon, but upon attempting to enter the first floor, they encountered an absolute barrier protecting the dungeon.
Most likely, this barrier prevented any response when undead messengers were sent.
As Aurelle suspected, the final phase of Operation: Azaroth Typhoon would face a stalemate.
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Great Castle of Azaroth is a massive castle with a very tall tower in the center. The castle is protected by thick, giant walls and several layers of barriers designed to defend it.
The tall tower is named the Great Tower of Azaroth and serves as Alice's private base. Inside the Great Tower of Azaroth, there are six floors, with three dedicated to defense.
The Great Tower of Azaroth also contains several research and experimental rooms, some of which have been allocated to Exypno. Currently, Alice is conducting several experiments, having obtained a lot of intriguing information after the completion of Operation: Dornen.
"Alice-sama, are you sure about this?"
"Your blood is too pure, Alice-sama. Are such filthy creatures deserving?"
Alice merely smiled as she glanced at her worried subordinates.
In front of Alice were several people bound and suspended, but still alive. These individuals were members of a captured cult organization.
Alice intended to conduct several experiments using some blood samples.
"I want to test the laws of nature in this world," said Alice with a wicked smile.
Suddenly, Alice had an idea to stave off her boredom, although the idea was quite insane.
"Ivara, wake them all up."
"Yes, Alice-sama."
Ivara snapped her fingers, and immediately, the bound and suspended cult members regained consciousness.
"Where am I!!!???"
"Who are you!!!!!????"
Many cult members panicked, screamed, and tried to break free, but their efforts were futile.
An Ancient Lich approached Alice, carrying several blood samples in small tubes. Alice took the tube containing her blood, which she had previously collected.
Alice had once given Clarissa a drop of her blood, which instantly made her stronger. Now, Alice would try giving seven drops of her blood to the cult members in front of her.
"Please!!!! I beg you!!!!!! I have a daughter!!! Please!!!!"
Alice ignored the pleas of the cult members and forcibly made them drink several drops of her blood. Alice's wicked smile indicated that begging her was pointless.
Immediately, large lumps formed on the bodies of the cult members, and after a few seconds, their bodies exploded, sending chunks of flesh and fresh blood flying in all directions.
Alice and her subordinates were protected by a barrier, keeping them clean.
"So that's how it is... I had a feeling about this...."
Without wasting time, Alice proceeded to the next experiment. This time, she gave only one drop of her blood, but the person still exploded.
"Is my blood only compatible with certain individuals like Clarissa?" Alice murmured.
For several hours, Alice continued her experiments, including using her subordinates' blood, resulting in many of them exploding.
Alice deduced two possibilities: either their bodies couldn't handle it, or there was an incompatibility.
[Telepath]
"Alice-sama."
"Arina?"
"Yes."
"What is it?"
"Apologies, Alice-sama, Operation: Azaroth Typhoon has reached a stalemate in its final phase when trying to conquer the remaining three strong monster races."
"Why?"
"There is an absolute barrier in the chasm, and Kirion has reported this. Additionally, there is a very strong barrier at the dungeon entrance."
"I see, no problem. Form an encirclement around the chasm and dungeon."
"Yes, Alice-sama."
[Telepath End]
There is a reason why Alice did not order an aggressive approach. Firstly, Alice estimated that the barrier was an absolute barrier that could only be breached by a special God Item. She did not want to waste the God Item she possessed since each God Item had a considerable cooldown period.
The siege is the best option at the moment because it can minimize casualties. Acting aggressively without information is also a highly disadvantageous move, and Alice is aware of this.