Chapter 91: Fortress Group

Behind the ravaged second line of defense, the final barrier of the Saltwater Swamp lay silently across the earth like a pitch-black giant beast. This was not a simple stockade mainly made of dirt and wood, but a true war fortress.

The entire defense line was built of huge basalt. This rock was not only physically indestructible, but its good inertia to magic energy could effectively resist the corruption of the Abyss. The city wall was nearly ten meters high, and the top of the wall was wide enough for four carriages to travel side-by-side, facilitating the rapid maneuver of the defenders.

The soul of the entire defense line lay in those five towering defense towers. Each occupied a key strategic position, with huge energy-gathering formations engraved on them, and giant magic crystals inlaid at the top. They were the greatest guarantee for realizing crucial strategic support functions.

The five towers could be activated together to form a joint magic shield covering the entire fortress group, capable of resisting long-range magic bombardment below the legendary rank. It could significantly enhance the spell range and power of the defenders' warlocks.

Each tower could release large-scale elemental storms such as chain lightning, blizzards, flames, etc., to carry out cover-fire strikes on approaching enemy troops. The energy fluctuations emitted by the towers could effectively interfere with the demons' perception and prophecy-type spells.

On the city wall, battlements, shooting holes, rolling logs and stones slots, and boiling oil pouring ports were all available. More importantly, the internal structure of the city wall was complex, filled with barracks, warehouses, medical stations, and weapon workshops, enough to support long-term holding.

200,000 Ogre heavy infantry, these powerful warriors wore heavy armor and held giant shields comparable to door panels and long-handled battle axes/flails. Their mission was to hold every inch of the city wall, using absolute power and defense to smash and push any demon that climbed onto the city wall down.

The 300,000 Lizardman warriors who had retreated from the front line were the multi-functional core of the defense line. After a few days of rest and replenishment, they once again participated in the meat grinder against demons. This time, both sides were even more difficult to deal with.

This final barrier built by rock, steel, arcane, and 500,000 elite warriors exuded an aura of despairing sturdiness. If the demons wanted to touch Agrik in the rear, they had to first fill and destroy this fortress with endless corpses.

At this moment, the fortress had gone deep into the hinterland, and the defense line was located within the strategic radiation range of Agrik's huge mage tower group. The demon lords clearly sensed that this place was no longer an ownerless land where they could display their blasphemous authority at will.

Any attempt to launch large-scale blasphemous rituals here on the scale of destroying Norasien would no longer be secret. What they faced would no longer be simple material defense, but a complete, vigilant, and highly linked magic defense system.

Any attempt to gather Abyssal energy on a large scale would be locked onto by the detection network of the mage tower group like a beacon in the night. What followed would not be silent endurance, but targeted magic countermeasures from the direction of Agrik, which had been precisely calculated and energy-amplified, using the casting demons as targets to implement ultra-long-range spell bombardment.

"Aquilon, war report confirmed. The second line of defense completely fell at 3:00 PM today. At this moment, the fortress group has become the final barrier before Agrik city."

"Vickers, I am very happy that you can think from this level. But we must clearly realize that the value of this place lies in delay. We have successfully delayed the demons for fifteen days. The city defense of Agrik is the final battlefield we have prepared for them."

"When the flames of war spread to the foot of the capital, this in itself has already declared our strategic failure. If all strength is contracted to Agrik at this moment, it is no different from sending ourselves to the final judgment stage. This is a choice only gamblers who have lost their minds would make, and the odds of winning are slim."

"So, your plan is to fight a main force decisive battle here? I hope you haven't forgotten that the real opponent, that demigod-level demon lord, is still watching from the sidelines. Without relying on the mage tower group of Agrik, we have no means to resist the existence of that level."

"Giving up the only barrier is no different from strategic suicide. And Agrik is not completely impossible to give up. In this crisis, any hesitation is fatal. There is nothing that cannot be abandoned."

…………

Realizing that this fortress group was not easy to fight, the Abyssal lord ordered four more demon lords to come to the battlefield for support. Of course, he himself had no intention of coming for the time being.

The Source of Plague Gurgaros, this was a living mountain composed of rotting flesh, swollen pustules, and wriggling maggots. He would act like a huge pollution source, constantly spreading supernatural plague and withering auras to the surroundings.

Rocks would weather under his influence, steel would rust rapidly, and even if low-level soldiers only inhaled a trace of his aura, their flesh would peel off from their bones. His mission was to corrupt the fortress itself and turn sturdy works into rotten soil.

Fallen Priest Harmala, it is said that he was once a priest of the Church of Light, had been corrupted by the Abyss, and coupled with his pursuit of power, finally became a demon, wearing tattered robes woven from living runes. He was not good at close combat, but was a master of Abyssal rituals.

He could build blasphemous magic arrays behind the battlefield, continuously weakening the energy supply of the mage tower group, interfering with the stability of the joint shield, and even trying to tear space to directly summon stronger monsters that should not exist in the world from the Abyss. He was a strategic-level magic suppression unit.

The main attacker this time was the City-Burner Axaros, a giant who was closer to a traditional Balor in form but larger in size and flowing with dark red lava all over his body. He was a living siege weapon.

In his hands were not flaming whips, but highly compressed "Broken City Fire Meteors," a terrifying evil fire capable of continuously bombarding one point until the city wall was melted through and the tower was melted. His mission was simple and direct: use absolute power to tear a wound that could not be healed on the defense line.

Purple Rose Shadela, a Marilith, her lower body was a giant snake torso covered in scales, while her upper body was a muscular humanoid form. Her six arms held a decapitation giant sword, soul-sucking dagger, thorn whip, armor-piercing battle axe, rune thorn chain, and a shield respectively.

She was both a perfect killing machine and a cunning tactician. She could deal with attacks from multiple directions at the same time, or use weapons to block. Her goal was to break through the city wall, create a storm of death in the defender's formation, and destroy any powerhouse who dared to block her with absolute martial arts.

As an excellent commander, Aquilon also had a plan for this long ago. Although it could not be called foolproof, it could definitely make the demons pay a painful price.

When the five towers' energy was connected in parallel, a joint magic shield covering the entire fortress group could be raised. This shield had the characteristics of energy deflection, attribute neutralization, and frequency interference, specifically used to weaken and disperse the long-range area strikes and law erosion of legendary demons.

When sensing specific types of powerful blasphemous magic, such as Harmala's rituals or Gurgaros' withering aura, the shield would concentrate energy for regional overload, forming a short-lived absolute magic barrier, and guide the mage tower group of Agrik to carry out targeted magic countermeasures, using the casting demons as targets to implement ultra-long-range spell bombardment.

However, considering that the protagonists this time were demons above the high level, their combat effectiveness was extraordinary. In terms of quantity and quality, the defenders were at a huge disadvantage. For this, Aquilon designed a set of plans.

The decapitation squad was composed of high-level Lizardman warriors, shamans, and warlocks. Their mission was to delay, harass, and rescue. When a certain section of the city wall was under too much pressure, they were responsible for filling gaps, or using their familiarity with the terrain to ambush demons that broke into the city.

Powerful space locks were arranged around the fortress core area and the five defense towers, greatly increasing the difficulty and risk of teleportation spells, aiming to prevent demon lords from directly breaking through the core using spatial abilities.

A large amount of alchemical materials had long been buried in the open area in front of the fortress. They could be activated when necessary to instantly create large patches of sticky energy swamps or walls of fire, hindering the overall advance of the demon army.

Of course, these measures were not enough to hold this fortress group. After receiving the request for help, Sakavi decisively sent 1,000 members of the Black Dragon Wings to support the defense line. They operated in five-person squads, specifically responsible for hunting down various Master-rank demons that were difficult to deal with. ===== CHAPTER 92 =====