Chapter 86

At first, the demon vanguard still surged into the trenches along the original charging path, then fell into the expected chaos, struggling among the spikes and poisonous vines, consuming physical strength and time in repeated climbing, becoming live targets for the Lizardman warlocks and crossbowmen in the rear.

However, this delay did not last long. From behind the Abyssal crack came more violent mental instructions. The demon aura on the battlefield suddenly became more aggressive and... organized. They began to use pure mass and quantity to violently crack the defensive works.

The low-level demons in the front row seemed to have lost their fear of death. They no longer tried to climb or find paths, but like committing suicide, roared and jumped directly into the trenches filled with spike traps. Their bodies were pierced, and demonic blood soaked the soil, while the successors stepped on the charred remains of their colleagues without hesitation to continue forward, forcibly filling the deep trenches with flesh and blood.

Bridges made of twisted limbs and broken carapaces extended rapidly in the sacrifice of death. On the corpse road that had been filled, the huge Nalfeshnees and Dretches began to exert force. Like living siege hammers, they used bodies covered in thick keratin to launch fierce collisions against the relatively fragile earth beams connecting different trenches.

The sound of "rumbling" collapses was endless. One earth beam after another was forcibly smashed and leveled, forcibly flattening the complex zigzag trench network into a relatively flat but debris-filled death zone.

Several Balors circled at low altitude, waving flaming whips, pouring down blasphemous evil fire walls onto the trench sections where traps were particularly dense. The violent hellfire burned the wooden spikes, poisonous vines, etc., inside into charcoal, carrying out a thorough purification and clearing all obstacles.

Swarms of Vrocks and Hezrous withstood the harassment of the Harpies and forcibly suppressed the long-range firepower of the second line of defense. They dived down, using claws and teeth and spell-like abilities to attack the crossbowmen and warlocks on the city wall, forcing the defenders to look up and defend themselves, unable to continue covering the trench area with fire.

At the same time, some demons with short-range teleportation or burrowing abilities (such as Shadow Demons, Giant Burrowing Worms) began to try to bypass the front and carry out infiltration and raids. Finally, after paying a price of casualties like mountains and seas, the demon torrent, although it had become sticky and slow, finally crossed the death trench zone.

They stepped on the road paved by the corpses of their own clansmen, smashed open the leveled ruins, and with demonic flames lingering on their bodies, like a blood-red tide crawling out from the deepest part of hell, they once again approached the city, firmly pressing the terrifying aura filled with sulfur and rot onto the hearts of all defenders on the second line of defense.

When the demon tide finally slapped against the sturdy barrier composed of countless swamp ironwood camps and stockade walls, emitting the scent of damp wood and resin, the true bloody battle between the two sides had just begun.

This defense line was no longer just for delaying, but a true killing fortress. Stationed on the stockade walls and camps were Lizardman warriors and warlocks with thick scales and sturdy bodies. They stood silently behind the battlements, holding heavy maces and long-handled battle axes comparable to the height of ordinary people, their cold eyes showing no trace of fear.

On the taller wooden arrow towers behind the stockade walls, there were more ballistae with thicker crossbow arms. The giant crossbow bolts fired could even pierce two or three demons at once. The Lizardman crossbowmen used bows and heavy crossbows with greater power, the arrows like lethal locusts, forming a denser and more penetrating suppression firepower.

The camps were connected by sturdy stockade walls, and the defenders could quickly maneuver between the fortresses. Attacking any point would be met with crossfire from adjacent fortresses, and the demons would be surrounded by a three-dimensional fire net.

Facing such a sturdy city, the demons no longer relied solely on low-level cannon fodder. A Balor with a huge body walked out of the Abyssal crack, emitting a heart-stopping roar. The true backbone force began to be invested in the battlefield.

Nalfeshnees, these terrifying giant monsters up to fifteen feet tall, replaced low-level demons as the core of the offensive. They ignored the rain of arrows falling on them, stepping with a pace that made the earth tremble, charging directly toward the wooden stockade walls.

They used shoulders covered in thick keratin to charge frantically, giant claw blades tearing at the wood. Every attack made the entire wall section shake violently, wood chips flying everywhere.

Some frantic Dretches used their amazing jumping ability to jump directly onto the lower stockade walls or camp platforms. Once they landed, they waved their weapons and spun frantically like flesh-and-blood whirlwinds, and must be immediately surrounded by multiple Lizardman warriors using heavy maces to be smashed or pushed off the city wall before they could cause greater destruction.

More flying demons appeared in the air. They attacked the arrow towers in groups, destroying the operating mechanisms of the ballistae with claws and teeth, using spell-like abilities to harass the crossbowmen, and trying their best to weaken the long-range advantage of the defenders. Succubi did not directly participate in the strong attack, but wandered on the edge of the battlefield, using their charm abilities to try to make the defender commanders or ballista operators fall into chaos.

The battlefield instantly turned white-hot. On the city wall, the roars of Lizardman warriors, the dull thuds of maces smashing bones, and the roars and dying screeches of demons intertwined.

Nalfeshnees constantly fell with a crash under the baptism of countless arrows and the curses of warlocks, but the stockade walls also constantly appeared with gaps under continuous collisions. Frantic demons surged in, then collided with the Lizardman heavy-armored warriors on top, unfolding the bloodiest close-quarters combat.

Above the arrow towers, the ballistae roared, clearing an area with every launch, but the operators also faced raids by flying demons and hellfire balls falling from the sky at all times. Quasits used their small size and invisibility to try to sneak into the arrow towers, launching assassinations or creating chaos from behind.

After the demons broke through three camps in a row, Aquilon on the command platform had a flash of cold calculation in his bronze-colored vertical pupils. He knew very well that competing with Abyssal demons in consumption was a very stupid act.

"It's time." His voice reached three different combat units through magical transmission.

Just as the subsequent demon troops were crowded on the landing beach, preparing to be invested in the front line one after another, thunderous war drums and earth-shaking roars suddenly sounded from the areas on both sides of the beach filled with reefs and withered mangroves!

The Ogre heavy cavalry, which had been lurking here for a long time, was like two iron hammers that had been ready for a long time, smashing fiercely into the softest "waist" of the demon army from the flank. These huge warriors, wearing thick plate armor and riding armored war pigs, formed an unstoppable torrent of steel. Their charge was not to kill individual demons, but to disrupt the entire formation.

The iron hooves of the giant-tusked wild boars trampled Imps and Abyssal Hounds into meat paste, and the heavy maces and flails in the hands of the Ogre knights swept down rows of enemies like mowing grass. Their goal was clear: cut off the connection between the frontline demons and the rear landing point, turn the demon vanguard into isolated "islands," and create unprecedented chaos and panic in their subsequent troops.

Almost at the same time the heavy cavalry launched their charge, a roar mixed with five types of dragon breath that made all flying demons tremble came from above the clouds!

Led by the white dragon beast Zelath, a mixed dragon group composed of fifty chromatic dragons and dragon beasts dived from high altitude, pouncing directly on the demon air force that was entangled with the Harpies. At this moment, the nature of the air battle changed completely.

The flame breath of the red dragons turned into patches of fire clouds, shrouding the Vrock swarm. The poisonous dragon breath of the green dragons corroded the leather wings of the Hezrous. The lightning chains of the blue dragons jumped and shuttled through the demon formation.

The corrosive beams of the black dragons accurately pointed and killed high-level targets. And Zelath and her white dragon kin used freezing frost dragon breath to turn patches of airspace into frozen death domains. The demons' movements became sluggish, and they were then torn apart by dragon claws, and the situation instantly reversed.

And among all the counterattacks, the most lethal and dazzling strike came from the blue dragon Vickers. He received Aquilon's order: "Vickers, target, the Master-rank Balor on the beach. Decapitate it."

Without a moment's hesitation, Vickers' huge body, wrapped in storms, dived straight down from the clouds like a living lightning bolt tearing through the sky. His target was clear: the Balor that had just stepped onto the beach, waving a flaming whip, trying to reorganize the chaotic troops.

"ROAR!!! Burning bug, your Grandpa Vickers has come to take your little life. Die! Hahahaha!" The ferocious laughter of the blue dragon, carrying dragon might, overwhelmed all the noise of the battlefield for a time.

The Balor felt the threat. It raised its hideous head, hellfire burning in its eyes, and the flaming whip lashed toward the sky with the momentum to destroy everything. Lightning and hellfire, two extreme powers, collided violently above this beach blackened by demonic blood!

However, the Balor underestimated the strength of the blue dragon's breath. The scorching white lightning, like a spear thrown by a god, crushed its hellfire and accurately struck the Balor's shoulder. "ROAR—!" The Balor emitted a roar mixed with pain and anger, the carapace on its shoulder shattered, revealing the burning flesh beneath.

The Balor gave up on technique. Its wings flapped violently, and its huge body rushed straight toward Vickers with unstoppable madness, trying to close the distance and tear apart and melt this "sky hybrid" with its giant claw blades and internal flames. The hellfire around it erupted like a domain, igniting the surrounding air and forming a death fire halo.

Vickers was as calm as the eye of a storm. He used his superior flexibility to make a sharp turn in the air, his giant dragon tail swinging out like a siege hammer, smashing heavily onto the Balor's spine.

"CRACK!" The clear sound of bone breaking even briefly overwhelmed the battlefield noise.

The Balor staggered and was smashed down from mid-air, plowing a deep trench on the charred beach. But it took advantage of the downward momentum, turned its head, and sprayed a mouthful of concentrated blasphemous evil fire at Vickers. Vickers climbed rapidly, but the edge of his dragon wing was still grazed by the evil fire, sending a piercing burning pain.

The Balor at this time had one wing unnaturally twisted, its spine collapsed, and its whole body was covered in charred marks caused by lightning. It was covered in wounds and was clearly at an absolute disadvantage. However, the madness in its eyes reached its peak.

It no longer tried to fly, but stood on the ground, compressing all the hellfire energy to the core. Its huge body began to emit an ominous, dark-red light like a furnace about to burst!

It was going to self-destruct! Trying to drag Vickers, along with everything around it, into the abyss of destruction!

"Stupid." A trace of contempt flashed in Vickers' cold vertical pupils.

He did not retreat, but dived again! But this time, the lightning gathered around him was no longer scattered, but condensed all the storm power before his dragon snout, forming an extremely unstable thunder ball with destructive energy flickering inside.

Just before the energy at the Balor's core was about to break the critical point, Vickers shot this thunder ball like a breath accurately into the shoulder wound of the Balor that had been split by lightning before and was now surging with energy frantically.

The high temperature outside met the more violent destruction inside. There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a dull "pop" sound as if from the depths of the earth.

The Balor's huge body stiffened violently. The out-of-control energy in its body was completely detonated by the incoming lightning, but it could not be vented outward. Its body was torn from within, and countless blinding white electric lights burst out from every gap in its carapace.

It opened its giant mouth but could not make any sound, and finally collapsed silently like a mountain being blasted from within, turning into a pile of charred remains that were still crackling and smoking. ===== CHAPTER 87 =====