Aeternus muttered expressionlessly, "When it rains, it pours. It is raining mangy cats and rabid dogs now."
He can only complain, he can't do anything to the demon lords. He can destroy the avatar but that wouldn't change his situation. So he will wander about. That will distract his watchers enough for his main body to finish its preparations to run away.
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Aeternus looked at his plane with a slight twinge of sorrow. What he will be doing next will hurt him but he has to do it or risk his life. It is not in the nature of Legion to take risks to their life when they are clearly outmatched. They will run if it means getting to live and being able to fight another day.
Legion doesn't rely on luck. They anticipate outcomes, plan for them, and act before the threat arrives at their doorstep. Reacting to danger is not the way for someone who wants to achieve greatness. They have to be proactive and prepare for the worst outcome beforehand even if they have to do something that will hurt them. It is all for a greater purpose.
His subordinates stood quietly before him on the black tower. They came as soon as he called them. They are all taller than him but he feels several orders of magnitude taller than them because he is sitting on another demon king. His throne is enough to kill them so they don't have any confidence in their height. They are not even worthy for him to sit on. He will literally crush them with his butt.
He waited until all of them arrived before he spoke to them.
He said to them. "We will be going into hiding for a while."
His declaration surprised them. They felt shaken to their core. Hiding means trying to evade or escape from danger that cannot be fought off. So things have to be very serious if someone like Aeternus is hiding.
Aeternus chuckled despite the frozen atmosphere.
"It is not the first time I did something like this and it will probably not be the last time either. Some of you know the story of my early days. I tried to run when the entire group of high-rank demons in a plane targeted me. I hid myself away for two hundred years when a demon lord turned the entire plane against me. Now I am hiding again."
"It should not come as a surprise. After all, I am not the strongest entity in the void universe. I am not even the strongest demon in this abyss."
He said it so casually like hiding is a normal thing but his subordinates still didn't relax.
He moved on. "I am sure you have some questions but I can only tell you that it is above your station. All you need to know is that it is because of the era of conquest. The era of conquest isn't even here yet but it is already creating a lot of changes. Some are being swept away while others are rising higher."
"I don't want to be swept away so we will hide now to preserve the bulk of our strength for when the era of conquest finally arrives or when I am able to face the threats that are forcing me into hiding. Until then, we hide."
"The good news is that we are only hiding from the abyss. I am strong enough to access other planes so we won't be bored or remain stagnant. We will still have enemies to fight. We just won't be able to use all of our resources anymore."
"That is all. You can pick anywhere on the plane to stay. We are going to be here for a long while so you should make yourself comfortable while I set things up."
His subordinates bowed wordlessly and left. He sighed again after they left. What he is about to do is a desperate act for a demon king with a plane. Having a plane is good. It gives one a strong base which enhances their strength. It is also a weakness because the plane is stationary. It means he can be found. If he wants to hide his plane, then he will have to detach it from the abyss.
It is an absurd action to detach a plane from the abyss. It is something that only desperate demon kings will do. It is on the level of what Stelios did when his consciousness was fractured. Detaching a plane will weaken him further so it is clearly not the correct solution to a threat.
The weakening will continue until the plane itself is destroyed. So this desperate act is not a permanent solution either. It is only to starve off death for a while in hopes that something good will happen in the meantime. Something good has to happen or detaching the plane will certainly kill him.
He has not been pushed to this point yet but he will do it now before enemies arrive at his doorstep. It will probably be too late for him then.
"I'll be back." He promised himself and the abyss. "And when I return, the abyss itself will quake in my presence. Nothing will stand in my way."
Then he gave a command to the core of the plane. The plane shook immediately. It rumbled as a terribly loud roar went through the plane. The roar is the sound of the plane tearing itself away from the abyss. The waterfall of sin energy from the energy sea began to thin down. The energy pillar shrunk until it disappeared completely. The shiny core at the center of the plane began to flicker. Its light dimmed. It will continue to dim until it dies out.
Detaching the plane from the abyss is very bad. The tributary of the energy sea gets cut off so the supply of sin energy stops. The plane will start to become destitute and the demons within it will suffer. It is just like what will happen to the whole demon race if the abyss happens to die off.