He spoke through his channel of connection to all of his subordinates. "It's time to go to war."
Soon the sound of a war horn was heard throughout the fortress. Other war horns picked up the call and were blown too. The sound of war became the only thing that could be heard for a long while. The sound put the house into overdrive. Everyone started to prepare for the upcoming battle to a background of war drums and horns.
For the first time since their creation, the house of chaos is going to attack a plane. The commanders of the house got to work immediately. Rarely seen demon dukes barked orders to their legion commanders who then barked out orders to their vice commanders who in turn shouted at the mid-rank demons and their captains. Like a rolling stone, orders were sent down the hierarchy and the army was mobilized.
The hierarchy of the house of chaos has Lord Khaos and his dukes at the top while mid-rank demons are the foundation of its army. There are a total of 4950 legions of the house of Chaos. Each Legion is made up of 100,000 mid-rank demons making for a total of 495 million. Mid-rank demons make up more than 99% of the house.
There were more mid-rank demons than that at the beginning of troops accumulation but their numbers have been whittled down by forcing them to fight and kill each other to evolve. Their numbers can easily be replenished by abducting more mid-rank demons from their domain all over the plane. The mid-rank demons in the army might not have participated in a major war but they see death on daily basis.
When a mid-rank demon evolves from all the fighting, it has three choices. Become a captain of 1,000, a vice commander of 10,000, or become the legion commander of 100,000 soldiers. There's the option of death which happens quite a lot because those three positions are already filled with other high-rank demons who are not going to give up their position without a fight to the death.
The number of the legions is kept constant since there are only 99 demon dukes. Each demon duke gets an increasing amount of legions depending on their rank. Rank 99 gets 1 legion of demons and rank 1 gets 99 legions of demons. No one except the lord knows if rank 0 has any legions or soldiers since she is so secretive. Almost nothing is known about rank 0. Hsid
Since the number of legions is set, that means the available position is finite. So newly evolved high-rank demons have to fight and kill another demon in any one of the leadership positions. If they are lucky for a position to open up among the demon dukes, then they fight each other for it. Aeternus creates a vacancy at the top of the hierarchy by encouraging conflicts among dukes. Their conflict then creates an opportunity for demon nobles who then fight to fill the vacancy. This creates space in the mid-level and low-level hierarchy for newly evolved high-rank demons to fill. It is a rather streamlined process that has ensured that only the best and brightest occupy positions in the family.
That's the system of hierarchy used in the House of Chaos. So when word came from up high, it trickled down efficiently. The army roused itself like an awoken beast. 4,950 legions each with 100,000 mid-rank demons and their 111 leaders marshaled under the banners of their various demons dukes. They stood in order awaiting the command of the lord of Khaos while the drums of war are beaten and the horns of war are blown.
Aeternus flew down from his pillar overseeing his army and approached the abyss altar. He placed his hand on the near-indestructible circular black stone and funneled Chaos energy into it. A black swirling portal more than 100 meters in diameter opened up in the fabric of space. It is essentially a rift that connects the 541st plane of the abyss to a distant plane. The size of the portal is dependent on the power of the person that opened it so 100 meters is the limit of what Aeternus can achieve.
The portal became clear after chaos energy completed the connection. A view appeared showing the destination. It is a large plain with black sand. There is nothing else on the plain. It is just black sand as far as the eye can see. Suddenly the view changed to reveal something else. Then the size of the portal increased to a diameter of 500 meters.
Aeternus said calmly, unperturbed by the unusual behavior of the portal, "We March."
The horns were blown again as the army flocked into the portal. The portal wasn't supposed to behave like it did but no one questioned Aeternus about it. If Aeternus is okay with it then they must also be okay with it even if it might cost them their life.
At the center of the abyssal plane.
The demon lord had been monitoring the usage of abyss altars. It's the only way she can keep tabs on Aeternus. He has managed to envelop his fortress and keep her from looking at them with her divine sense. All her spies disappear whenever they come around Aeternus's fortress. Something ambushed them and killed them. So she waited for an abyss altar to open a connection to a plane.
She would know if it is Aeternus based on the size of the army, the strength of the demons that pass through, and the strength of the connection itself. His energy that can create demon dukes is sure to create a very powerful rift. Normal high-rank demons can't create rifts larger than 20 meters across. A portal greater than that in size and also opened in the domain of high-rank demons is a clear indication that he opened it. It will mean her prey is finally on the move.