Chapter 92: Demon Lord

When the first ray of ominous morning light pierced the clouds polluted by evil energy, the demon army moved. They were no longer a chaotic tide, but under the command of the lords, turned into a destruction machine with clear division of labor and clear goals.

The first to make trouble was the fallen priest Harmala. He built a huge blasphemous magic array behind the army formation. Filthy energy rushed into the sky like a countercurrent waterfall, trying to interfere with and tear the joint shield above the fortress.

The light of the five defense towers fluctuated violently under the impact of shadows and blasphemous energy, and the joint shield flickered, emitting an unbearable buzzing sound.

Immediately following, Gurgaros began to move forward. Wherever his huge corrupted body passed, the earth turned into a black quagmire bubbling with bubbles, and even the base of the sturdy basalt city wall began to show signs of being corroded.

A visible yellow-green plague cloud permeated from him, sticking to the ground, surging toward the city wall like a tide of death. The defenders had to immediately activate the preset purification runes, forming a swaying holy light barrier at the foot of the city wall, engaging in fierce confrontation with the plague, and energy was consumed rapidly in the hissing sound.

Just when the shield and the defenders' attention were being contained, the real siege hammer smashed. Axaros roared, throwing the "Broken City Fire Meteor," which was like a small sun and had been condensed for a long time, fiercely.

The dark red evil fireballs dragged tails that twisted space, emitting thunderous explosions, smashing fiercely into the same area of the city wall again and again.

The joint shield was compressed to the extreme at this point of impact, and the light was so dazzling that people could not look directly at it. Every collision made the entire city wall shake violently, and broken stones fell from the city head with a rustling sound.

The heavy ballistae and catapults equipped on the city wall immediately returned the favor. Enchanted crossbow bolts and alchemical fire boulders tore through the shadows, covering Axaros, but the flame shield burning around him deflected or detonated most of the attacks in advance.

Shadows became the deadliest weapon. Shadela and her most elite guard of snake demons teleported to the foot of the city wall like ghosts. Ignoring the smooth surface, they drove their weapons into the stone crevices or used pure agility to run vertically along the wall, lunging straight for the ramparts!

"They're up! Heavy armored team, hold them!" The roar of the Ogre battalion commander exploded on the city head.

The next moment, the bloodiest city wall battle broke out. Shadela's six weapons danced into a storm of death, instantly tearing the Ogre warriors who rushed up along with their shields into fragments. She had to stand firm on the city head and open a gap for the subsequent demons.

And above this physical madness, more vicious attacks arrived quietly.

Malgas' formless soul whispers permeated the mind of every defender like mercury pouring onto the ground. Soldiers began to have hallucinations, or saw comrades beside them suddenly turn into demons, hearing loved ones crying for help in the distance. The seeds of panic, suspicion, and madness began to grow frantically in the tight formation.

Aquilon stood in the command room of the central main tower, his cold vertical pupils reflecting this all-around destruction picture. He knew this was just the beginning. Every layer of the fortress's defense was being systematically tested, squeezed, and consumed.

However, if the fortress group was captured like this, it would be too much to underestimate Aquilon, this bronze dragon. His counterattack was precise, ruthless, and unusually cold-blooded.

He ordered three of the five defense towers to stop maintaining the full-range joint shield and concentrate energy on one point. Three thick lightning spears tore through the shadows simultaneously, accurately bombarding the several key energy nodes of the blasphemous magic array being built.

Violent explosions erupted in a chain on the magic array, forcibly interrupting the stability of the ritual. Harmala was forced to consume a large amount of magic power to stabilize the array, and his interference with the shield and attempts to tear space were instantly weakened. The shield pressure dropped sharply.

Regarding Shadela, this difficult opponent. Aquilon issued a final order to the hunting squad that had been waiting for a long time: "At all costs, push her down, or... bury her here."

Ogre heavy infantry quickly formed a dense shield wall, limiting Shadela's movement space. Lizardman warlocks threw chains engraved with inscriptions, entangling her arms and snake tail.

Just as Shadela waved her sword to cut the chains, the Minotaurs launched a destructive charge. The giant battle axe, carrying the power of ten thousand jun, did not smash toward Shadela, but slammed heavily into the battlement of the city wall beneath her feet.

The huge impact and vibration made Shadela's body stall, and the wall beneath her feet shattered. At the same time, several members of the hunting squad pounced from the side, hugging her and falling down the city wall that was twenty meters high!

All long-range firepower not contained, such as ballistae, catapults, and the joint lightning spells of Lizardman warlocks, all turned to carry out saturation cover-fire strikes on Axaros. Not seeking to kill, only seeking to interrupt its continuous spellcasting.

Finally, Aquilon activated the final psychological defense line. He ordered all military priests and mind warlocks to guide the defenders to carry out collective will resonance.

A resilient belief shield formed in the spiritual world of the defenders. It was not to forcibly expel whispers, but to constantly strengthen positive beliefs such as "protection" and "home," like lighting up weak lamps in the storm, allowing soldiers to stabilize their minds on the edge of madness.

When the legendary demon lord's offensive was temporarily interrupted or contained, those high-level demons that lost top-level protection and tactical command were immediately exposed to the slaughter knives of the fortress that had been ready to go. Although these high-level demons were individually powerful, they fell into the predicament of fighting on their own. The defenders showed the ability of coordinated combat under strict training.

The heavy anti-magic ballistae on the city wall roared, and the special crossbow bolts with cold metallic luster nailed heavily into the Nalfeshnee's thick keratin carapace. The runes on the arrows were activated instantly, disintegrating the evil energy cycle in its body, bringing huge pain and stiffness.

At the moment it roared due to pain and its movements stalled, Lizardman temple guards leaped out from the side shadows, and spears burning with holy flames accurately pierced into its joints, eye sockets, and other weak parts. Finally, a Minotaur warrior launched a finishing charge, smashing its head with a giant totem pole.

In the area in front of and on the flanks of the defense line, the alchemical traps preset in areas not noticed by the demon lords were activated one after another. A patch of sticky spider-shaped gel material suddenly rose in an area, firmly sticking the charging Dretches, becoming live targets for crossbowmen.

In another place, the earth vein charging trap erupted, blasting the Nalfeshnee that stepped into it, causing it to stagger backward, its legs seriously damaged. The "Silence Field" specifically targeting energy bodies like Balors was activated. Although it could not completely extinguish their flames, it greatly suppressed their ability to regenerate and explode, making them "flammable" and "explosive."

For a time, after losing the protection of top-level power, the backbone of the demon army, those high-level demons, encountered a systematic slaughter that was organized and premeditated. Aquilon accurately grasped the window period when the demon lords were temporarily suppressed, using efficient coordination, targeted weapons, and cruel traps to carry out rapid slaughter.

Realizing that the offensive was frustrated, the demon lord decisively ordered to give up the attack and retreat across the board. The demon army quickly retreated like a tide. Without the command of the lords, they quickly exposed the essence of chaos, and the retreat turned into a rout.

The appearance of victory in front of him did not stir up even a ripple in Aquilon's heart. His bronze-colored vertical pupils penetrated the short-lived chaos on the battlefield and clearly saw the truth beneath the appearance.

This was at best a deliberate stress test. The real main force of the Abyss, those demon armies like black tides, were still brewing in the rear. He raised a front claw and silently suppressed all rash emotions.

"Clean up the battlefield, count the battle damage. All hunting squads withdraw to the second line to rest." His calm voice spread through the magic network to the headquarters.

"They are just testing our strength, using the casualties of those renewable Imps and a few high-level demons to test our defense focus and counterattack intensity."

"Remember, high-level demons are no longer consumables that can be discarded at will for the lords. Losing one Nalfeshnee is far more 'heart-wrenching' for them than losing 10,000 Imps. They will remember our counterattack means. Next time, what comes will be more targeted destruction."

His will was like a cold bronze torrent, forcibly suppressing the fanaticism that might be bred on the battlefield due to the short-lived victory. Everyone understood that the bloody battle just now was just a dull prelude before a more cruel storm arrived. The real test had only just begun.

At this moment, in the Saltwater Swamp, the concentration of sulfur and rot was constantly rising, as if groaning in pain under the breath of the Abyss. While the fortress defenders were resting briefly, a larger gathering of death was being staged on the beach shrouded in shadows and the deep swamp emitting poisonous gas.

The charred beach that was originally covered with demon remains was now forcibly cleared by an invisible force. The Abyssal crack opened and closed constantly on the beach, vomiting out endless soldiers.

The huge Nalfeshnees no longer charged scattered, but formed black battle lines like moving fortress groups. Behind them followed a staggering number of Dretches. These roaring engines of destruction were forcibly restrained by some kind of discipline, their blood-red eyes staring dead at the fortress in the distance.

A kind of unprecedented giant demon like a living siege tower stepped out of the crack slowly. Their bodies were composed of rock and lava, and their backs carried blasphemous catapults woven from flesh and bone, constantly throwing stones burning with evil energy into the sky, drawing arcs, landing in the swamp in front of the fortress, both calibrating the range and continuously exerting psychological pressure.

Vrocks and Vrocks covering the sky and the sun circled over the new assembly point, forming a depressing, constantly moving dark cloud. The screeches they emitted followed one after another, like a concerto of death.

And in the deeper swamp covered by blood-colored sewage and rotting vegetation, another form of gathering was quietly taking place.

Lurking demons

Those demons adapted to the swamp environment, such as giant toad demons, aquatic quasits, and countless twisted swamp worms, blended perfectly into the murky water and rotting mangroves. They were natural lurkers; every long-range strike from the defenders could disturb a seemingly calm body of water, thereby inviting frantic retaliation.

In several particularly filthy mud pits, one could see plague eggs pulsating and swelling, like the heart of some giant beast. At any moment, new demons carrying specific plagues would hatch from them, ready to spread disease and blight upon the fortress.