Awakening：The Infinite Evolution of My Talent as a Low-Level Awakener - Chapter 602

Chapter 602: Chapter 602: Descent into Hell! An Unavoidable Sudden Change!
With everything prepared, Sterl took one last glance toward the direction of the Orichalcum Kingdom.

Through his map module, he could observe everything happening on the battlefield.

By now, both sides had already deployed several Upper Divine Authorities, and the battlefield was teeming with powerful forces—legendary armies and demigod-level legions that had been specially trained were actively participating in the conflict!

In short, the battle was becoming increasingly intense, and the price both sides were paying was rising with each passing moment, creating an atmosphere of no retreat, where both sides seemed determined to fight until the bitter end.

“Good. It seems that the Orichalcum Kingdom and the Ashen Temple have now become fully trapped in the quagmire of war. In this situation, the first one to concede will bear the huge cost of the war. At this rate… unless something unexpected happens, it’s bound to end with both sides suffering heavy losses,” Sterl muttered, his face revealing an enigmatic expression. When it came to war, whether between mortals or gods, the differences weren’t as significant as people might think.

His experiences from his past life, along with many historical precedents, allowed him to quickly analyze the inevitable outcome of this conflict.

The cost of war was astronomical. Unless one side was completely defeated and the victors could scour and plunder the wealth and resources of the losers, there was no way to erase the damage they had taken.

Moreover, this war was no longer just about resources and territory—it was a matter of survival.

But the more the situation escalated, the more at ease Sterl felt.

“Let them fight. It’d be best if they all end up half-destroyed; that would make things much easier for me to clean up.”

What he was hoping for most was that one of the sides would completely lose their sense of reason, throw caution to the wind, and activate some devastating weapons of mass destruction. That, in his opinion, would be the most beneficial outcome for him.

However, maintaining the status quo wasn’t bad either. After all, both sides were constantly depleting each other’s forces, and that gave him the time he needed to gather his own strength and wait for the right moment to strike.

“It’s time to leave.”

He withdrew his gaze, and with a subtle shift of his thoughts, he activated the hellish authority. Immediately, a strange spatial rift appeared beside him.

The rift was filled with a multitude of negative forces, and through it, one could almost see countless souls writhing in agony, their cries echoing from within.

In the next instant, the rift enveloped Sterl’s body, and in the blink of an eye, he vanished from the place.

Darkness, dampness, foul smells, corrosion…

Before Sterl even opened his eyes, his senses had already spread outward, taking in the surrounding scene in its entirety.

At the same time, a surge of information from Hell flooded into his mind. He was now in the fourth layer of Hell, known as the Venomous Swamp.

In this layer of Hell, even the ground was composed of thick, viscous poison water. These toxic waters had an incredibly high level of corrosiveness, constantly eroding all living beings until they were completely consumed, becoming one with the very nutrients of Hell.

The Hellish creatures that inhabited this layer of Hell typically carried a dark, poisonous attribute to withstand the corrosive effects of the toxic water. Without such traits, they would quickly perish.

Sterl opened his eyes, and the expected scene greeted him.

The sky was dark and ominous, bathed in an eerie shade of ghostly green. The ground stretched endlessly, a vast expanse of poisonous water that reached up to the waist. Oddly shaped, twisted plants were scattered chaotically around him, resembling grotesque, deformed Demon Garbs.

Sterl hovered in midair, not bothering with any protective measures. Even though the toxic gases floating in the air were steadily eroding his body, he paid them no mind.

With his strength, even before his soul power had increased, he could easily ignore the corrosive effects of these gases. Now, with his enhanced power, he could drink this toxic water freely without suffering any harm.

To harm him, these toxins would have to be enhanced by at least ten times their current potency to even stand a chance.

Suddenly, Sterl turned his head slightly, gazing at a white mist slowly drifting toward him from not far away. His brow furrowed, and with a flick of his hand, he unleashed an Ignition Flame.

The white mist exploded on impact. Upon closer inspection, what appeared to be a mist was actually countless tiny creatures, smaller than sand grains—swarming insects!

However, under the searing heat of the Ignition Flame, the insects were reduced to ashes at a visibly fast rate, unable to even attempt an escape.

With a wave of his hand, he captured one lucky insect that managed to survive, its charred body barely intact. He examined it closely. It resembled a spider, only vastly smaller in size, its mouth lined with rows of sharp, jagged teeth.

Sterl had no doubt that if these creatures gathered in large numbers, they could easily tear through armor and devour a living being, reducing it to a pile of white bones in the blink of an eye.

“Disgusting, lowly creatures.” He muttered under his breath, before crushing the insect into dust.

Then, using his authority, Sterl began sensing the will of Hell itself.

This wasn’t Sterl’s first time in Hell, but the structure of Hell was incredibly complex, made up of numerous layers, each vastly different from the others. Some layers, like the Venomous Swamp, were thick with toxic waters, while others were engulfed in flames, and some were frozen wastelands. But one thing that could be certain was that there was no “normal” layer in Hell. It was as though it were a massive world-sized garbage dump, filled with all kinds of negative things.

Moreover, the deeper one ventured into Hell, the stronger the creatures inhabiting each layer became, and the harsher the environment grew.

“Let me see what’s truly threatening Hell…”

With the power granted by his Hellish authority, Sterl began his investigation. However, it wasn’t long before his expression changed, and he furrowed his brow.

“I can’t get through…” he muttered in confusion. Just a few hours ago, the Will of Hell had sent a distress call, yet now, when he tried to make contact, he found himself unable to reach it.

“Interesting…”

A cold glint flashed in his eyes. Could this be some kind of trap? Were they trying to lure him here to eliminate him?

But that made no sense. As long as he wished, he could leave Hell at any time—there was no way they could trap him…

“Wait a minute!”

Sterl suddenly froze, his face darkening as he realized something. Just now, he had tried to use his Hellish authority to return to the Alpha 8 world, but to his shock, his attempts to leave had failed!

Immediately, he activated his Space Law, using the power of his Boots of the Void to open a Portal of Space, but again, it failed.

“What’s going on here? Could my guess really be true? Is this a conspiracy aimed at me?”

He stood there dumbfounded, cursing under his breath. Why did his predictions always come true in the worst possible ways? What was this, a deliberate attempt to make things more difficult for him?

His previously carefree mood quickly darkened. He had intended to log out immediately, escaping from the Hellish world.

After all, the situation was no longer under his control. Even though his strength had vastly increased, he didn’t want to fall into danger for no reason.

However, at that moment, a voice suddenly echoed in his ears from the [Transcendence] system.

[Anomaly detected in this world’s space-time. Exit attempt failed. Please try again later… Zzzzt… (Unknown energy fluctuations, data anomaly)]

Accompanied by a series of intermittent notification sounds, Sterl found himself unable to log out directly. He knew his game podcore could bypass even the [Transcendence] system’s bugs, so he never expected to encounter a setback like this here!

His mind was a mess. Had he really fallen into some kind of trap?

Sterl thought to himself, but quickly shook his head, dismissing that theory.

He had always kept a low profile and never used his real identity, Sterl, when committing any illicit acts. Logically speaking, even if someone wanted to target him, they couldn’t possibly pinpoint his exact location. After all, if anyone had the kind of ability to do that, they wouldn’t need to use such underhanded methods.

“It seems this is just a coincidence,” Sterl muttered, a bit speechless. His luck seemed to fluctuate—perhaps if he had waited just a little longer, he wouldn’t have been able to enter Hell at all, and none of this would have happened.

“Ah well, A loss may turn out to be a gain. Danger is always accompanied by opportunity. With my current strength, as long as I stay cautious, there shouldn’t be any major issues.”

His mind instantly calmed down. After all, he had weathered countless storms in the past. No matter how big the crisis, it wasn’t really anything to be concerned about.

“Perhaps, if I help Hell overcome this danger, I can resolve this anomaly and everything will return to normal. Then I can go back.”

Sterl speculated inwardly. Hell’s time flow was different from the real world. Sometimes, a month in the real world would be equivalent to just three days in Hell, other times seven days, or even a full month.

He used his Time Law to carefully sense the flow, then nodded. “The time flow rate is about seven times faster here.”

In other words, for every day that passed in the real world and on Alpha 8, seven days would pass here.

This realization made him breathe a sigh of relief.

With a seven-times faster time flow, he had more than enough time to deal with matters in Hell without worrying about delaying his legendary quest.

After making up his mind, Sterl quickly formulated a plan. He would start by investigating the Venomous Swamp in Hell.

This was only the fourth layer of Hell, and the likelihood of encountering danger was minimal. If he were to face any danger, he would be the one posing it.

If he found nothing here, he could always move on to the next layer later.

Besides, his instincts told him that his arrival in this layer was not random. It was highly likely that the Will of Hell had intentionally arranged this, aiming to help him uncover the truth and resolve the crisis!

In other words, the Venomous Swamp held some kind of secret!

What that secret was didn’t matter for now. Once Sterl pulled it out from the shadows, everything would become clear!