Chapter 275: The Siege of the Other

Hiss!

Thick, cold black mist swept across the heavens and earth, as if this world had transformed into a ghost realm at this moment. Countless rustling sounds emerged from the black mist, and one could vaguely see many extremely twisted figures darting within it.

One after another, gazes filled with malice looked toward the fresh flesh and blood within the stronghold.

Li Luo, Jiang Qing'e, and the others stood on the high walls of the stronghold, gazing at the black mist permeating the distance with solemn expressions. Just as they had expected, when that Great Disaster-class Other appeared, it would also bring along many other Others.

This scene was truly a siege by ten thousand demons.

At the top of the tower in the center of the stronghold, a massive light barrier was inverted like a bowl, protecting the stronghold within. That faint screen of light provided the many students with a rare sense of security.

As for how much longer this sense of security could last, no one had an answer in their hearts.

Duze Honglian also walked onto the high wall at this moment. After half a day of cultivation, her strength had rapidly recovered. Looking at the black mist filling the sky in the distance, a look of fear flashed in her eyes, and her voice was somewhat hoarse as she said, "It is indeed that Great Disaster; I can feel its power of evil thoughts."

"This Great Disaster is terrifyingly strong. When we encountered it before, I made contact with it for an instant while covering the retreat, and its power of evil thoughts invaded my body, forming a deep-level contamination."

"Our strength is simply not on the same level."

Li Luo did not feel surprised by this, because the two sides were not on the same level to begin with. Duze Honglian was only a newly ascended Earth Fiend General, but this Great Disaster possessed strength equivalent to the peak of the Heaven Astral General stage.

"The fact that you were able to escape back might just be because it wanted you to lead the way for it," Jiang Qing'e said indifferently.

Duze Honglian's expression changed slightly, but she did not refute. Although Jiang Qing'e's words were harsh and realistic, this was likely the truth. Otherwise, given the overwhelming power of that "Smiling Face Demon," the probability of her escaping would likely not have been very high.

"What is the plan next?" Duze Honglian asked coldly.

No matter how bad their relationship was, they were currently grasshoppers tied to the same rope. If they really let that Great Disaster Other break through the stronghold, no one here would be able to save themselves alone.

"First, rely on the stronghold's power to defend. We have also made some preparations these past few days. Let's first test how long we can hold off this Great Disaster Other. If we can hold out until reinforcements arrive, that would be best," Li Luo said.

"Although it's a bit discouraging to say, I think you shouldn't hold onto that expectation," Duze Honglian said in a ghostly voice.

Li Luo was silent. Duze Honglian's fighting spirit was quite low, which was likely because she had seen the terror of that Great Disaster Other with her own eyes. But in the current situation, besides doing their best to resist, was there any other path they could choose?

Could they perhaps take the initiative to open the stronghold and surrender directly?

Don't be ridiculous.

While they were speaking, some commotion suddenly erupted within the stronghold. Li Luo and Jiang Qing'e cast their gazes over, and their pupils constricted as they saw rolling black mist condensing in the sky, gradually forming a giant smiling face.

Li Luo and the others were no longer strangers to that smiling face, as they had been driven somewhat neurotic by this eerie smile over the past few days.

The black smiling face swayed slightly in the sky, looking down into the stronghold. Within those pitch-black eye sockets, it seemed to radiate an ultimate power of evil. Just one look at it caused boundless fear to arise in one's heart.

Hiss, hiss!

The smiling face in the sky emitted a harsh, piercing laugh. It had no intention of communicating with the crowd at all. As its laughter spread, countless Others suddenly surged out from the thick black mist like a tide.

Most of those Others were low-level, oddly shaped, and looked both terrifying and twisted.

The Smiling Face Demon had launched its offensive directly.

Chi, chi!

Countless Others charged over, first colliding with the light barrier shrouding the stronghold. As the two made contact, the light barrier remained unmoved, while the Others that pounced upon it were instantly dissolved into wisps of faint black smoke.

Many students secretly breathed a sigh of relief; the stronghold's defense was still quite reliable.

However, Li Luo, Jiang Qing'e, Duze Honglian, and the others remained unmoved, their eyes still heavy and solemn, because this was merely the Smiling Face Demon testing the strength of the stronghold's light barrier.

Sure enough, following the end of that first wave of probing, the black mist filling the sky fluctuated once more, and immediately after, more Others surged over like a tide.

The Others that appeared this time had far more powerful evil thoughts rising from their bodies than the previous low-level ones; they should all count as Erosion-level Others, and some even had red energy flowing around them.

Those were Others approaching the Red Erosion level.

If encountered in the wild, many teams would need to join forces to deal with them.

Yet here, they were merely cannon fodder.

This second wave of the offensive swept over without much technical skill; it was purely meant to consume the power of the stronghold's light barrier.

During this collision, everyone could feel that the speed at which the light barrier purified the Others had slowed down compared to before. Some Others even slammed heavily into the light barrier before being wiped out.

Ripples spread out from the surface of the light barrier.

This caused the expressions of some students to change slightly.

Jiang Qing'e raised her hand and waved it gently, her cold voice spreading through the stronghold: "Everyone, according to the previous plan, take turns replenishing energy for the central tower."

As her voice fell, a wave of students in the stronghold quickly surged toward the location of the central tower and sat down in a circle around it. The next moment, strands of resonant power rose from their bodies, finally surging toward the central tower like wisps of smoke.

The light barrier emitted by the central tower became increasingly bright at this moment.

The light barrier covering the stronghold also became brilliant.

Seeing this scene, many students couldn't help but let out low cheers.

"Hiss, hiss..."

In the sky, the Smiling Face Demon also emitted an eerie, harsh laugh at this moment, and then everyone saw the Smiling Face Demon slowly float to a position directly above the stronghold.

It was located outside the light barrier, and within the pitch-black eye sockets of that smiling face, scarlet flames gradually began to burn, resembling two pupils radiating boundless evil thoughts.

With the appearance of those two scarlet pupils, the eerie smiling face seemed to have truly come back to life.

Eerie power descended from the sky, seemingly piercing directly through the protection of the light barrier.

Li Luo also saw the giant smiling face with its ignited scarlet pupils. His expression became slightly dazed, and evil fire rose in his heart at this moment; a feeling of chaos and slaughter surged within him.

At the same time, the corners of his mouth couldn't help but lift slightly.

"Guard your mind!"

However, at this moment, a cold voice suddenly entered his ears. At the same time, brilliant, overbearing light filled his vision, which caused Li Luo's heart to jolt, and his dazed mind quickly recovered.

Following the recovery of his mind, Li Luo's expression couldn't help but turn ugly. Was this Smiling Face Demon really this terrifying? Even with the protection of the light barrier, its power could still pass through and influence his mind.

And if even he was like this...

Thinking of this, Li Luo hurriedly looked into the stronghold, and sure enough, he saw many students looking up at the Smiling Face Demon in the sky, and then, at the corners of their mouths, eerie smiles were beginning to lift bit by bit...

For those with weaker minds, the muscles at the corners of their mouths were even being torn; that was... a sign of beginning to be contaminated.

This caused a thick chill to rise in Li Luo's heart. Was this the power of a Great Disaster-class Other... so eerie, silent, and soundless, that just the collision of gazes could form contamination.

Li Luo's expression became exceptionally ugly. Facing such a powerful Smiling Face Demon, could they really hold out until the arrival of reinforcements?