I became a god through archaeology in the Wizarding World.

Chapter 139 The Throne on the Ruins, The Decree to Annihilate Gods

"Target: Astral Plane!"

Rhodes' arrogant declaration echoed like thunder over the scorched ruins of the holy city of Rumen.

At the dimensional rift in the sky, forcibly smoothed out by the spacetime star chart, chilling spatial turbulence still lingered. But at this moment, on this land, no living being dared to look up at the heavens that once represented supreme divine authority. All gazes were focused with fervent reverence on the black-haired youth who stood proudly at the edge of the giant pit, leaning on his sword with one hand.

The wind stopped.

The air was filled with a strong smell of blood, a pungent smell of sulfur, and the strange, burnt aroma unique to angel wings.

These three scents blended together, weaving together a magnificent elegy belonging to the abyss.

"We pay homage to the Lord of the Abyss! We pay homage to the Emperor of the Empire!"

Gareth, the commander of the Abyss Demon Army, was the first to react. This terrifying demon general, who was over three meters tall, knelt down without hesitation and slammed the giant axe in his hand, stained with the blood of angels, heavily onto the ground, producing a deafening roar.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

"Long live the Sovereign! Long live the Empire!"

Immediately afterwards, the undead lich Viktor, the succubus queen Lilith, and countless abyssal demons, undead bone dragons, and dark knights knelt on the ground like dominoes that had been toppled.

Hundreds of thousands of dark troops shouted in unison, the sound so powerful it seemed to shatter the entire continent.

The fervent power of faith was no longer the pure white, false holy light, but transformed into wisps of dark red energy visible to the naked eye, frantically converging on Rhodes from all directions.

Rhodes closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

He could clearly feel that with the declaration of the establishment of the "Abyss Empire," he was completely bound to the abyss will of this continent. The dark red power of faith surged into his body, not only without conflicting with his original light and dark chaotic power, but also like the purest fuel, making his abyss vortex burn even more fiercely.

"So this is why the gods are so desperate to harvest faith." A cold smile curled at the corner of Rhodes's lips. "Faith is authority; authority is the foundation of law."

He slowly opened his eyes, and in those eyes, which were black on the left and gold on the right, gleamed a light that seemed to see through all the illusions of the world.

"Get up, everyone."

Rhodes' voice wasn't loud, but it clearly penetrated the depths of the souls of every creature in the abyss.

He drew the sword "Calamity" from before him, his gaze sweeping over the dilapidated, almost completely razed holy city of Lumen. This place had once been the highest center of power for the Church of Light on earth, a sacred site in the hearts of countless believers, but now, only ruins and sacred remains remained.

Rod sneered and suddenly raised his left hand upwards.

"With a deafening roar, the earth began to tremble violently, and bottomless cracks spread out from the center of the ruins. Then, an extremely dense abyssal demonic energy surged out from the ground, transforming into tangible black flames that began to scorch and melt everything around them."

The shattered stone pillars of the Temple of Light, the scattered remains of angels, the severed Holy Fire Greatsword, and even the golden divine blood spilled on the ground by the Seraphim Uriel, were all engulfed by this black abyssal fire.

Before everyone's astonished eyes, a magnificent building, hundreds of feet tall, rose from the ground, smelted by black flames.

It was a colossal throne forged entirely from abyssal obsidian!

The throne's base was woven from the bones and broken wings of countless angels, as if telling the story of a god's fall; the armrests of the throne were two lifelike statues of abyssal dragons, their mouths still burning with inextinguishable dark golden hellfire; and at the highest point of the throne, the Holy Light Orb that originally belonged to the Pope of Light had now been completely corrupted into pitch black, like a huge evil eye, looking down on the entire earth.

This is not just a throne, but the ultimate mockery and blasphemy against the astral gods!

Rhodes flashed, instantly traversing a thousand meters, and sat steadily on the Abyss Throne that exuded terrifying pressure.

He rested his chin on one hand, looking down at the dark courtiers below, like a true god who held the power of life and death.

"Gareth," Rod said calmly.

"Your Majesty!" Gareth straightened up abruptly, took a large step forward, and knelt on one knee before the steps below the throne, his eyes filled with fanaticism and bloodlust.

"You led the Abyss army, charging into battle today, slaying countless angels; you deserve the greatest credit." Rhodes' voice echoed across the empty ruins. "From this day forward, I appoint you as the First Legion Commander of the Abyss Empire, bestowing upon you the title of Grand Lord of the Abyss." I have extracted one-tenth of the primal power of the seventh layer of the Abyss and infused it into your demonic core.

As soon as he finished speaking, Rod flicked his finger, and a dense stream of dark red light instantly shot into Gareth's brow.

"roar!!!"

Gareth let out a roar of both pain and pleasure. His body swelled once more under the infusion of the abyss's essence, and mysterious black magic patterns appeared on his originally dark red skin. His aura instantly broke through its previous bottleneck, reaching a terrifying level comparable to a four-winged angel from the Astral Plane.

"Thank you, Your Majesty! Gareth is willing to overcome all obstacles and tear apart the throats of all false gods!" Gareth excitedly kowtowed heavily to the ground.

"Victor." Rhodes' gaze turned to the undead lich shrouded in a gray robe.

"This old servant is here." Victor floated forward shakily and respectfully performed an ancient mage's salute.

"Your awakening of the ancient bone dragon legion and sealing off the skies are invaluable achievements. I hereby appoint you as the commander of the Scourge Legion, granting you command over all of the empire."

"Undead and necromancers." Rhodes said, casually waving his hand to extract the broken souls of the dozens of high-ranking two-winged angels he had previously killed, condensing them into a soul orb that emitted a mournful sound, and tossed it to Victor.

"This Angelic Wraith Bead is enough to elevate your necromancy to a new level. I hope to see a corrupted legion formed from the remains of angels in the upcoming war."

Viktor caught the jewel, and the eerie green phosphorescence in his withered eye sockets suddenly flared up. He trembled with excitement: "This old servant will certainly not fail the Master's high expectations! Those hypocritical birdmen will become our most perfect killing machines!"

Finally, Rhodes' gaze fell on the succubus queen Lilith, who was standing at the very front, playing with the sixth-order angel core.

"Lilith".

"Master~" Lilith responded coquettishly, her body swaying like a water snake as she flew directly up the steps of the throne, kneeling at Rhodes' feet. Her captivating eyes were now filled with absolute submission and awe.

"You brought back the Spacetime Star Chart, achieving a decisive victory. This core of a sixth-order Seraph is your reward." Rhodes looked at her, his tone becoming more solemn. "But you must remember, the angel's core contains an extremely domineering source of holy light. Although you are a high-ranking succubus, if you try to forcibly devour it, you will be purified into ashes from the inside by the holy light if you are not careful."

"Lilith understands." Lilith's alluring smile vanished, replaced by an extremely solemn expression. She took a deep breath and, in front of everyone, swallowed the sixth-order angel core that radiated dazzling golden light!

"Buzz—!"

In an instant, a blinding pure white holy light erupted from Lilith's body. Cracks began to appear on her originally fair skin, as if a terrifying force was about to explode within her. A shrill scream escaped her lips, but she bit her lip tightly, desperately urging the abyssal magic within her to assimilate the holy light.

Rhodes watched this scene silently, offering no assistance. This was a transformation Lilith had to undergo; the Abyss did not nurture the weak. To gain power beyond the limits, one had to endure unimaginable pain.

A full incense stick's time had passed.

The holy light emanating from Lilith's body finally began to dim, replaced by an eerie dark golden glow. The pair of black bat-like wings on her back suddenly unfurled, and beneath them, two wounds were torn open. With a splatter of blood, a pair of corrupted wings, formed from pure dark energy, slowly unfolded.

Four-winged Fallen Succubus!

Lilith gasped for breath, her body drenched in sweat, but as she felt the unprecedented power within her, her eyes blazed with ecstatic joy.

"Thank you for your kindness, Master!" Lilith bowed deeply once again.

"Very good. From today onwards, you will be the High Priest of the Night of the Abyss Empire, and concurrently serve as the Empire's Chief Intelligence Officer. You will be temporarily in charge of the Spacetime Star Chart. I want you to closely monitor the fluctuations of every spatial node on the continent, and absolutely not let those rats from the Astral Plane sneak in again."

"Yes, sir!"

After the rewards and honors were distributed, Rhodes slowly rose from his throne. His gaze passed over the ruins and looked towards the distant heart of the continent.

"Although I forcibly interrupted the arrival of the Astral Plane, those high and mighty false gods will never swallow this insult. As long as there are still people on this continent who believe in them, and as long as those Temples of Light still exist, they will eventually find new coordinates and descend once more."

Rhodes' voice gradually turned cold and cruel, revealing an unquestionable iron will.

"Therefore, I order you to immediately lead your armies, dividing them into three routes, and sweep across the entire continent!"

"I want you to raze every temple of light to the ground, burn every book of the Light creed, and slaughter every stubborn fanatic!"

"I will build altars of the abyss in every corner of this continent! I will let all living beings on this land know that from this day forward, only the abyss, only I, Rhodes, will control their destiny!"

"This is a war to annihilate gods! Leave no survivors, leave no room for retreat! Go forth, pave a bloody path to the Astral Plane for the Abyss Empire with blood and fear!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The deafening battle cries rang out once more. Gareth, Victor, and Lilith obeyed the order and set off, their massive abyssal army surging forth like a black tide from the ruins of the holy city in all directions across the continent.

An unprecedented bloodbath is about to sweep across the world.

As the army departed, the bustling ruins returned to silence once more.

Rhodes sat back on the Abyss Throne and waved his hand to create a dark gold barrier that would isolate him from all detection.

He needs time.

Although he had just swiftly killed the six-winged seraphim Uriel and even repelled a hand of a high-ranking astral god, he knew very well that it was because the opponent was suppressed by both dimensional rifts and the laws of the mortal realm, and was unable to unleash his true strength.

If he were to actually storm the Astral Plane and face the supreme gods at their peak, his current power would be far from sufficient.

Rhodes slowly closed his eyes, his mind sinking into his body.

Deep within his dantian, the "Light and Dark Chaos Star Vortex," formed by the fusion of abyssal power and the seed of holy light, was slowly rotating along an extremely mysterious trajectory. With each rotation, it released a vast and pure chaotic power.

But at the very center of the star spiral, two things are suspended.

Similarly, it was a pure and divine essence that Uriel forcibly extracted from the body using "Abyss Devouring" after his death.

Another thing was a drop of "seven-colored divine blood" that he cut off from the tip of his sword when he pierced the seven-colored divine palm.

"The divine origin is secondary; at most, it only makes the balance of light and darkness within my body more stable—" Rhodes's consciousness was fixed on that drop of seven-colored divine blood, "but what is contained in this drop of blood is the real priceless treasure."

Although that drop of seven-colored divine blood was only the size of a soybean, it exuded a vast and terrifying pressure. As soon as Rhodes' consciousness approached, he seemed to hear ancient and grand divine whispers, as if countless worlds were being born and destroyed within that drop of blood.

"Fragments of the law—or rather, the embodiment of divinity."

Rhodes understood. The reason the gods of the astral plane were so high and mighty was not only because they had accumulated vast amounts of energy, but also because they had mastered certain fundamental "laws" of the universe. Such as light, fire, and judgment.

The owner of this drop of blood was clearly an ancient god who had mastered extremely high-level laws.

"To truly rival or even surpass them, I must decipher this law, and then—integrate it into my abyss, creating my own unique 'Law of Creation and Destruction'!"

A mad, resolute glint flashed in Rhodes' eyes.

Without the slightest hesitation, he directly manipulated the chaotic star vortex of light and darkness, crushing it fiercely towards the drop of seven-colored divine blood.

"boom!"

The moment they made contact, it felt as if a supernova had exploded in Rhodes' mind.

An endless stream of information, fragments of ancient divine memories, and insights into high-dimensional laws flooded into the depths of his soul like a burst dam.

"Ah, even with Rhodes's rock-solid will, he couldn't help but let out a painful groan. Countless fine bloodstains instantly cracked on the surface of his body, from which dark golden blood seeped out, making the Abyss Throne beneath him even more eerie."

But he didn't stop; instead, he fueled the power of the abyss's devouring even more frantically.

"Smash it!"

Under Rhodes's relentless and frenzied crushing, the drop of seven-colored divine blood finally let out a mournful cry of unbearable pressure, shattering into countless seven-colored threads of law that merged into the chaotic star vortex of light and darkness.

In an instant, the stellar vortex within Rhodes' body underwent a dramatic transformation.

The chaotic power, originally only black and gold, has now begun to give rise to the rudiments of various basic elements such as earth, water, fire, and wind. The abyss no longer merely represents destruction and devouring; at the extreme end of destruction, a glimmer of "creation" has been born!

Destruction and creation, light and darkness, formed a perfect closed loop within Rhodes' body at this moment.

Rhodes' aura began to surge wildly at an unbelievable speed. The space around him couldn't even withstand the spread of this power, and large areas began to collapse and reorganize.

I don't know how much time passed.

When the Abyss army on the continent had already slaughtered dozens of Temples of Light, planting the fear of the Abyss deep in the hearts of countless mortals.

Rhodes, sitting on the throne of the abyss, finally slowly opened his eyes.

What eyes they were! The left eye was as deep as the absolute darkness of the beginning of the universe, while the right eye shone as brightly as the primordial light that gave birth to all things. And at the intersection of the two, countless miniature worlds were faintly seen in the cycle of birth and death.

He simply sat there quietly, yet it seemed as if he had merged with the entire world, and also as if he had transcended this world.

"The divine realm—so that's how it is."

Rhodes raised his hand, looking at his flawless, explosively powerful palm, a faint smile playing on his lips.

He had completely digested the fragments of law in that drop of divine blood, not only repairing all the hidden injuries left from the previous battle, but also using it to cross the boundary between mortals and gods and step into the true "divine realm".

Moreover, what he stepped into was not the pseudo-god realm built on the power of faith like the Astral Realm, but the "Supreme God Realm" which was based on its own light, darkness, and chaos and formed its own world!

Just then, Rhodes seemed to sense something and raised an eyebrow slightly.

He turned his head, his gaze piercing through the endless void, looking towards the deepest level of the Abyss Demon Realm—the "Eternal Abyss," a place that even the Abyss Demon Gods of all ages dared not easily set foot in.

There, he sensed a pulse that was extremely ancient and extremely faint, yet resonated with the chaotic laws of his present moment.

"It seems that before I can conquer the Astral Plane, I need to make a trip to the deepest part of the Abyss."

Rhodes slowly stood up, and the Abyss Throne behind him transformed into a stream of light and merged into his body.

He took a step forward, and his figure vanished from the spot in an instant, leaving only that cold and domineering sentence echoing in the empty ruins of the holy city.

"Old dogs of the Astral Plane, wash your necks and get ready. The real reckoning has only just begun."