Chapter 44: Bloody Battle in the

It is not only sincere belief that can

The cave spiders in the Shadow-Weaving Lair feared the Demon King's great power and praised the Demon King's magnanimity.

They first had to imagine a concrete concept in their minds, then inject the belief called "praise" into it, and let that fictional great power constantly draw closer to reality.

On the other side, the Earth Dragon tribe, humiliated to the extreme, hated the Demon King to the bone.

They constantly depicted the Demon King's evil in their subconscious and injected the belief called "hatred" into it.

Although this gave them an object of shared hatred, it simultaneously caused their enemies to siphon away the faith that should have been contributed to the Dragon God.

An Evil God is also a god.

Myths about an Evil God are, naturally, also myths.

The weak Demon King was not worthy of being the Dragon God's enemy, but their belief, which was as firm as steel, granted this possibility.

Even if this possibility was infinitesimally small, like a feather falling upon a giant.

The omnipresent wish-granting opportunity would indiscriminately respond to the desires in people's hearts.

And this was likely the most terrifying, yet also the most unreasonable, aspect of this world.

Deep within the first layer of the labyrinth, an elderly priest and a young temple warrior were leading a massive troop forward.

Clearly, they did not realize how noisy the resonance effect produced by marching in unison within the narrow labyrinth would be.

The earth-shaking commotion unsurprisingly alerted the humans living on the surface.

Especially since the latter had also just experienced a great battle and were currently like birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring.

Sneaking at the corner of the labyrinth.

An experienced adventurer skillfully cast a Wind-type magic Insight spell, attempting to observe the movements of the lizardman army.

However, as luck would have it, standing before him was the Earth Dragon tribe's First High Priest, Mo Erlag.

Proficient in Dragon-tongue spells, he already possessed Steel-tier strength, and his greatest specialty was applying various status effects and countering all kinds of elemental magic!

"Vermin!"

Mo Erlag chanted in Dragon-tongue, his eyes wide as he looked into the air; it was as if a golden light shot from his amber pupils, shattering that Black Iron-tier magic in an instant.

"Ahhh!!!"

The scout who cast the Insight spell was caught off guard; the blood vessels in the whites of his eyes burst, blood seeped out, and he knelt on the ground, clutching his eyes in pain.

Seeing their companion's miserable state, the group of adventurers' expressions changed instantly.

"Xiu Er!"

"Damn it... it's Dragon-tongue magic! It must be that bunch of lizards!"

Although they hadn't gathered specific intelligence on that troop, one thing was beyond doubt.

That was the Demon King's troop!

No mistake!

"Retreat!!!"

Battles between armies were the job of regular troops; they were just adventurers, not even locals, so they naturally had no interest in snatching up such thankless work.

Carrying their injured companion on their backs, the group quickly ran toward the Silver Pine Town militia's position.

At this very moment, Commander Ade Lai was directing the militia to place Czech hedgehogs and obstacles in the labyrinth corridor.

Besides this, militia members who had been miners were planting explosives in the wooden crates acting as roadblocks.

Seeing the adventurers running back from the front, Ade Lai immediately asked loudly.

"What's the situation ahead?"

The adventurer carrying the wounded man shouted immediately.

"It's the Demon King's troop! They're coming!"

Upon hearing the term "Demon King," Ade Lai's palms were drenched in sweat, and he almost couldn't hold his sword.

But thinking that this was only the vanguard and that more were coming, he mustered twelve points of courage and held his position on the line.

"Form up! Prepare for battle!"

The militia members still setting up obstacles immediately dropped the half-assembled Czech hedgehogs and rushed back to their squads at top speed.

Just then, the lizardman scouts, chasing the injured adventurers, also reached the front of the line.

When they saw the neatly formed line infantry, the lizardman scouts were shocked.

Hearing the commotion ahead, he had thought it was the Demon King's troop, but he hadn't expected that the ones coming to "protect the king" were actually surface humans!

No time to hesitate!

Just as he saw the other side, the human transcendent standing in the ranks also spotted his presence.

"Enemy attack!"

The leader of the first row drew his saber and issued the order to attack without hesitation!

"Fire!"

Bang, bang, bang!!

Boiling flames sprayed instantly, spitting thick smoke and tongues of fire into the labyrinth ahead!

The several lizardman scouts who had rushed into the corridor were instantly shredded, turned into sieves by the volley of lead bullets, and fell to the ground without even being able to scream.

Beautiful!

Seeing the miserable state of the Demon King's servants, Ade Lai, who had been somewhat anxious, immediately regained his confidence.

He clenched his fists, wiped the sweat from his palms, raised his saber, and roared loudly.

"First row, fall back!"

"Second row, prepare!"

The militia in the first row immediately turned in place and retreated to the end of the line, while the second row of militia stepped up, shouldering their rifles.

Their training was decent enough.

Although they couldn't compare to regular troops, sitting on such a massive powder keg, no one dared to slack off during their usual training.

Just as Ade Lai was nervously waiting for the next wave of attacks, the Earth Dragon tribe's High Priest, Mo Erlag, was stunned by the dense sound of gunfire.

It wasn't just Mo Erlag.

The temple warrior Zelike, following closely behind, also wore a solemn expression on his face.

"Are those Grand Duke Campbell's men?"

As one of the former Demon King's myriad minions, he had, of course, heard of Grand Duke Campbell's prestige.

It was said that the human wielding the lance was like a god descending to the battlefield, destroying Reggie Dragon and his personal guard without leaving even a scrap behind in a single strike!

Although the ones standing here were only that human's servants, those guys holding "fire sticks" clearly possessed strength not to be underestimated!

"Eighty percent likely." Mo Erlag frowned, a hint of wariness rising in his amber pupils.

How could the human army be here?

And—

Why did it have to be at this time?!

Even if Mo Erlag racked his brains, he couldn't understand that those humans weren't coming for him at all; it was just that, during this sensitive period when the undead appeared in the labyrinth, he had happened to run into their guns while assembling his massive army.

However, even if both sides vaguely guessed this might be a misunderstanding, things had developed to this point and couldn't be stopped.

Ade Lai, hoping to earn merit and leave quickly, couldn't admit this was a mistake, nor could he negotiate with the Demon King's minions, much less turn his back on monsters.

Mo Erlag couldn't stop either; blood debts paid in blood were their faith and their culture.

If they wanted to blame someone, they should blame these humans for being blind and insisting on blocking their path of revenge.

Two trains moving toward each other crashed into each other magnificently in this narrow labyrinth.

Neither side would back down.

And there was simply no reason to back down!

After confirming the scouts' casualties, Mo Erlag chanted a spell in Dragon-tongue, granting the vanguard troops reflective scales, and issued the order to charge.

"Go! My children! The Dragon God will grant you indestructible flesh!"

Fifty lizardmen wielding dual blades quickened their pace to push forward, drawing their bowstrings while running at high speed, relying on their agile footwork and the cover of a rapid rain of arrows to cross the obstacles covering the ground, killing their way toward the human soldiers' position with lightning speed!

"Fire!"

Ade Lai decisively issued the order to fire, and a burst of crackling gunfire rang out simultaneously.

The explosive fire flashed again, carrying a clamorous rain of bullets that showered the running lizardman hunters.

However, this time was different from before.

Although many lizardmen still fell to the ground in pain after being shot, more lizardmen held their ground against the fatal wounds!

"It's the lizardman priests!"

"Evil heretics!"

Ade Lai cursed, his right hand immediately reaching for the pendant on his chest, activating the Wind Barrier.

Almost at the same time, a clamorous rain of arrows flew toward them, and in just a few breaths, the militia in the front row fell in droves.

The priest sent by the town church to provide support immediately cast Holy Light to heal, but the soft light had only just shone on the militia's position when the running lizardmen had already killed their way over!

Swift scimitars and sharp teeth instantly stirred up a bloody storm on the militia's position.

However—

These militia members weren't pushovers either.

Even facing the burly and imposing lizardmen, they didn't turn and run; instead, they quickly fixed bayonets, stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their neighbors to form a human wall, and engaged in bloody hand-to-hand combat with the lizardman troops leading the charge.

"Don't use Holy Light! Dispel their evil arts first!" Looking at the priest still casting Holy Light, Sheriff Ade Lai roared, almost letting out a string of profanities.

But those old priests didn't bicker with him; they slowly changed their incantations, using holy light to dispel the greasy, scaly sheen attached to the lizardmen's skin.

As the reflective scales were dispelled, this group of lizardman warriors wielding scimitars immediately fell into a disadvantage.

Especially those who had pushed too deep; they were stabbed into bloody holes by chaotic blades on the spot.

But just at this moment, the second wave of the lizardman army had already reached the battlefield.

Looking at that massive military force, Ade Lai knew the main force had arrived, so he decisively swung his saber, sent the adventurer assault team up to finish the job, and covered the retreating injured militia.

At the same time, a new firing squad had completed their firing preparations in the rear.

Watching the adventurers all retreat, Ade Lai issued the order to attack again.

"Fire!"

Explosive fire and smoke filled the entire corridor again; the torrent of flesh and blood collided amidst roars and soon evolved into close-quarters slaughter.

The Earth Dragon tribe's High Priest chanted spells in Dragon-tongue, and bloodthirsty lizardmen launched charges wave after wave.

The militia, bathed in holy light, resisted fiercely with the bayonets in their hands, while under their commander's orders, they fired in turns to suppress the lizardman hunters drawing their bows in the rear.

The slaughter officially began at this moment, with severed limbs and heads dancing in the air!

Both sides possessed transcendents, and both also possessed the protection granted by gods!

The scene of flying flesh and blood not only shocked the adventurers present but also shocked the three skeletons riding spiders not far away.

Qianli's expression was tense, and she couldn't help but clench her fists, which were holding onto the spider's head.

Although she had played many bloody games, the realism of this game still made her unable to help but wonder... was it really okay to be this explicit?

Would it really not corrupt children?

They shouldn't... be giving activation codes to children, right?

Baili, on the other hand, was exclaiming "Holy shit" and "Awesome" as if fearing the world wouldn't be chaotic enough, looking like someone with a low level of cultural literacy.

And Wanli, standing between the two, had bright eyes, with soul-fire named "ambition" burning within them.

Sure enough, he hadn't misjudged—

This was exactly the game he had been looking for all along!

That feeling of standing tall with a blade, commanding a thousand troops, "if you're a brother, come and slash me"... he hadn't experienced it for far, far too long!

Longxing Baili looked at him.

"Boss, how long do you think they're going to fight?"

Long Xing Wan Li shook his head.

"Don't know."

Longxing Qianli: "We're just going to wait here?"

Long Xing Wan Li didn't speak, but turned his head and cast his gaze toward the pitch-black corridor behind them.

Two skeleton soldiers were walking from that direction; it was Hu Wan and Ye Zhiqiu.

A smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Let's hear what our strategist has to say first."

Ye Zhiqiu: "...?"