Chapter 965: One Strike, Instant Kill

The demon army hasn't fully deployed; most of it is concentrated in the middle section of the Czesk Wall, forming a battle line about five li long.

After the war horns sounded, the Evil Beastmen and Demons launched a charge.

From a high‑angle view, they looked like a black tidal wave surging from the battle line, like a spearhead, driving the rest of the demon army forward on both sides.

One li is not far for Evil Beastmen and Demons; they can reach the moat in a minute.

Boom— Boom— Boom—…

The steel crossbow cannons fired; rows of black‑iron spears over three meters long shot down from the wall, landing among the charging Evil Beastmen and Demons, exploding instantly, flames and shrapnel sweeping the surroundings, each shot killing dozens of Demons.

Hundreds of steel crossbow cannons line the middle wall; the first volley killed thousands of enemies.

Yet this was only one‑tenth of the enemy vanguard.

The Evil Beastmen and Demons roared, ignoring the cannons' threat and sprinting toward the wall; they soon covered a third of the distance, when the second volley of steel crossbow cannons fired, and amid the explosions another few thousand were torn to pieces.

"Roar…"

The steel crossbow cannons could not halt their charge; instead they provoked their beastliness and bloodlust, making them even faster.

"Fire!"

"Move faster; we cannot let them reach the city below."

The dwarf warriors on the wall shouted loudly, a hint of panic in their voices. In the past months they had repelled countless charges by Evil Beastmen and Demons, but none had been as frantic as today, nor as numerous.

"Maharl on top!"

Suddenly a dwarf noticed something amiss, looked up at the sky and shouted, "What is that?"

The dwarves all looked up and saw a massive scarlet fire cloud that had appeared high above at an unknown time, growing thicker, coalescing into a vortex hundreds of meters in diameter, spinning at high speed; its center was pitch black, brewing something that would soon descend.

Behind the Czesk Wall, about three hundred meters from the wall, a hundred‑meter‑high platform had been built; the platform was very spacious, allowing a view of the entire battlefield.

Five dwarf kings, several Kings of the Hills, numerous legendary dwarf warriors, and the dwarves' elite mage corps stood on the platform.

They had sensed the celestial anomaly earlier.

The kings' faces changed dramatically; a dwarf mage in a magical robe, his face aged and gaunt, called out in a deep voice, "Nine-ring Technique, summon Hellfire!"

He was the chief mage adviser of the Zhigao Shan kingdom's court, Berstaff, a legendary mage of the dwarf race, the highest‑ranked and most powerful, revered by all, having reached the nineteenth‑level pinnacle; this time he led the dwarf mage corps on the Dreweil Peninsula.

Although Berstaff was not a Grand Mage, with a thousand years of casting experience and vast magical knowledge he, together with three other Legendary High-rank mages, contended with the Demonkin Purgatory Grand Mage, preventing the enemy from inflicting much damage on the dwarf legion.

At this moment, hearing Berstaff's words, the kings felt a chill in their hearts.

The Purgatory Grand Mage acted!

"Master, we must stop this Nine-ring Technique." Lone Peak King Danen Ironhand ordered immediately.

Berstaff stared at the fire‑cloud vortex above, then scanned behind the demon army, shook his head helplessly, "Jorgen's casting this time is at a great distance and he has hidden his aura's trail; the technique is near completion, we cannot stop it."

Jorgen is that Demonkin Purgatory Grand Mage, the bloodthirsty King Kurgos's capable assistant.

"What then?" Danen Ironhand grew impatient.

Berstaff fell silent.

The Purgatory mage is a very special branch of casters; besides excelling at evil‑energy fire spells, he also masters summoning various burning demons from the Abyss.

This Nine-ring Technique summons Hellfire; from the magical fluctuations it is clear the summoned fire is not ordinary Hellfire—its casting time is long and consumes massive mana; Jorgen alone could not complete it so quickly, so many Purgatory mages must have collaborated and offered precious casting materials.

Thus the Demonkin's plot has been long‑planned; even if we and the dwarf mages found Jorgen and teleported there at once, we would almost certainly fall into a magical trap and face a terrifying foe.

Perhaps the bloodthirsty King is guarding nearby.

If a few kings and Kings of the Hills moved together, they might walk straight into the enemy's scheme, ending the war before it truly began.

The Dwarf Kings also considered this possibility.

Berstaff sighed inwardly; only Grand Mages and Holy Soul Wizards can deal with a Grand Mage, and he is merely a nineteenth‑level mage, truly powerless.

Zhigao Shan King Thorgrin looked at the sky and asked, "No news from Kestajin yet? We have already agreed to the Consul's terms; why hasn't his legion arrived?"

The legendary mage handling magical communications replied, "Your Majesty, Kestajin says they have already arrived."

The dwarves on the platform were both startled and delighted.

They looked toward the north of the peninsula, but saw nothing; Rongyanbao King Magnus Copperring, usually calm and wise, was now frantic, "Where is Lei En? And where is his legion?"

"Look over there!"

A King of the Hills suddenly pointed north; on the northern horizon a flash of light blazed, moving at astonishing speed, closing on the battlefield in an instant. It seemed to be a massive lightning bolt, a hundred meters long, faster than sound, as if it pierced the sky, leaving behind a trail whose length was unknowable.

"Is that a spell?" the King of the Hills asked, puzzled.

"No."

Berstaff's constant True Knowledge technique let him see that the terrifying lightning was not a spell; inside it was a dark‑golden spear, bearing dreadful thunder power, but its inherent force was even more terrifying, wholly unlike a spell.

The dwarf kings also discerned some clues.

In the conversation, the lightning flew into the battlefield; though its supersonic flight produced no audible sound, the overwhelming aura it emitted already chilled the heart.

The demon army on the field also noticed it, raising their heads, faces showing terror.

At that moment, the Purgatory Grand Mage's casting completed.

Boom!

The void at the center of the fire‑cloud vortex twisted, forming a massive portal to the Abyss; a fire meteor dozens of meters in diameter surged through the portal, like a falling star, slanting toward the Czesk city wall.

The blazing meteor deformed the instant it emerged, stretching as it fell.

It possessed a head, torso and four limbs, like a lava giant.

"Hellfire Lord!"

The dwarves on the platform were horrified; Jorgen had summoned a Demon Lord, an apex of burning demons, whose power and status ranked just below the Baro Flame Demon's Hellfire Lord, and in strength and defense it even surpassed the Baro Flame Demon.

On the ground, among the charging Demon army, many burning demons roared fervently.

The Hellfire Lord towered over a hundred meters tall; every part of its body spewed demonic flames, like a volcano crashing down.

The dwarves on the wall panicked; some began to flee.

The Hellfire Lord was five times taller than the wall; such a massive body smashing the wall would inevitably cause it to collapse, block the moat, and anyone within a few hundred meters would have no chance of survival; even if some survived by luck, the enemy army would pour through the breach and meet certain death.

At this moment, even a Dwarf with the firmest Willpower could not be unafraid.

The Dwarf Kings on the high platform were also terrified to the point of hysteria, but they were powerless, forced to watch helplessly as the Hellfire Lord slammed toward the city wall.

The crimson sky suddenly brightened.

The lightning at the horizon finally shot forward, but instead of striking the Hellfire Lord directly, it traced an arcing path, looping south for a kilometer behind the city wall, then abruptly turned, aiming at the Hellfire Lord suspended in midair, like a small sun radiating endless light.

The lightning vanished from sight in an instant, leaving only a lingering afterimage.

In the next instant it reappeared.

The Hellfire Lord was hit by the invisible attack; its massive body, towering a hundred meters, was blasted away, and countless bolts of lightning erupted, extinguishing the flames on its body.

It was only then that both sides on the battlefield heard a deafening massive explosion.

Boom—!

The earth‑shaking roar drowned out the Hellfire Lord's wail; its entire body burst from within, instantly shattering into countless burning rock fragments like a massive firework. Moreover, all the flaming fragments flew in one direction, toward the north outside the city wall, raining down on the charging Evil Beastmen and Demons.

Lightning, flame, rock, and shockwave!

The Evil Beastmen and Demons that surged to the moat's edge were instantly wiped out.

The Hellfire Lord's explosion reached over a kilometer, radiating outward with power comparable to a Ten-ring Spell; the ground afterward turned into a sea of lava.

The cannon fodder army of tens of thousands of Evil Beastmen and Demons was almost entirely reduced to ash.

Thousands of Demonkin warriors trailing behind also turned to ash.

The entire battlefield fell silent.

Both the Dwarves and the Demonkin army were stunned by the scene!

On the high platform, the Dwarf Kings and the Kings of the Hills stared in disbelief, hardly daring to trust their eyes; the terrifying Hellfire Lord was slain in a single blow, simultaneously wiping out tens of thousands of enemies, thereby eliminating the crisis of the Czechak City Wall in one stroke.

Immediately, their faces lit up with ecstatic joy.

Berstaf gazed northward, searching for Lei En's silhouette, muttering, "Is this the power of the Holy Soul Wizard!"

Ugh…

The Demonkin army's attack horn sounded again, accompanied by roars, rebukes, and the crack of whips, as the Demonkin launched a second wave of charge.

This time, the charge was led by Demonkin warriors.

Without Evil Beastmen or Demons, they had to go alone, but not in a mindless rush; instead, groups of thirty‑plus formed a unit led by a legendary Demonkin warrior, who raised massive black‑iron shields around him, exuding smoke‑like evil energy that linked together into a dark‑green protective field.

"Scatter! Scatter!"

"All of you, spread to both sides…"

The mid‑tier commander of the Demonkin army shouted in Abyssal Language, ordering squads of Demonkin warriors to disperse, keep distance from each other, and stretch the front to both sides to avoid concentrated bombardment from steel crossbow cannons and large‑area spells.

The battle line quickly extended beyond ten li.

Over a thousand Demonkin squads, shielded by the evil‑energy barrier, sprinted furiously toward the city wall.

Boom! Boom! Boom…

The steel crossbow cannons on the wall fired enchanted bolts; hitting the evil‑energy shield caused explosions but failed to destroy it. At least three bolts must strike simultaneously within ten seconds to breach the shield and wound the Demonkin warriors.

The steel crossbow cannons require a ten‑second interval between shots, and the Demonkin army's numbers are overwhelming.

Several volleys of crossbow fire only killed over a thousand enemies.

The Demonkin warriors had reached the moat's edge; they instantly hurled rune stones into the moat, instantly freezing large swaths of water, then marched across the solid ice, continuing to throw more rune stones as they advanced to the foot of the wall.

The Dwarves operated the steel crossbow cannons to blast the icy surface, causing enemies to fall into the water and halting their advance.

However, the crossbow cannons fired too slowly.

Moreover, elite Demonkin squads were repeatedly teleported onto the wall for surprise attacks; though few, they caused serious disruption, even damaging some steel crossbow cannons.

After several minutes of stalemate, the Demonkin army paid tens of thousands of casualties to freeze the several‑li‑long moat and began scaling the wall. The twenty‑meter‑high wall was not daunting for the Neferti Demonkin; a strong leap got them halfway, then iron picks attached to their hands and feet dug into the rock as they raced upward toward the parapet.

The Dwarves, holding the high ground, could swing an axe at any enemy that showed its head.

Or smash a head flat with a hammer.

Nevertheless, powerful Demonkin warriors always withstood the assault, successfully scaling the wall and cutting into the enemy ranks to create climbing opportunities for comrades behind them.

The cries of killing on the wall thundered.

Five Dwarf Kings each led a legion to guard a section of the wall; in this type of siege, they had successfully defended the wall hundreds of times over the past months, but this time, the battle felt unprecedented pressure from the start, the enemy numbers were overwhelming, launching reckless assaults that repeatedly breached the wall defenses and allowed foes to reach the parapet.

The kings and the Kings of the Hills coordinated with the Wizards' teleporters to douse the flames, barely holding the line without collapsing—for now.

But they could not hold for long.

Every second a Dwarf warrior fell, each a clan elite, causing the kings' hearts to bleed.

The Zhigao Shan king Thorgrin brandished his battle axe; the weapon in his hand was the "Grellmnil Axe", inherited from the Dwarf Warrior God Grelnmnil, a top‑tier Legend Grade weapon, famed among Dwarves alongside the Thunder God's Hammer.

With a casual swing, he cleaved a Mid-stage legendary Demonkin warrior in two.

But he felt no joy in his heart.

The blood‑thirsty king Kurgos had not yet appeared, and the Grand Mage Yorgen's whereabouts were unknown, and there were still two Demonkin Chosen Champions.

If the enemy's Saint Rank elite strikes, we and the kings and the Kings of the Hills will be held back, and the Czechak City Wall must fall.

"Here they come!"

The voice of Kestajin echoed from the horizon: "Brothers, we have arrived! Reinforcements are here!"

The battling Dwarves looked up; in the northern sky, over three hundred towering figures clad in blue armor rushed forward, blue tail flames streaming from their backs, their roaring flight sounding like thunder that rang across the heavens.

Behind them, more than a thousand humans in golden armor shone with radiant gold; each unfurled a pair of massive dark‑gold wings crackling with electricity, and from afar they resembled an angelic legion descending.

At the forefront was Kestajin himself.

He transformed into a bolt of lightning, striking the wall; brandishing the Mountain Fury War Hammer, he hammered the ground, and with a thunderous crack, unleashed lightning that killed the surrounding Demonkin.

Simultaneously, the Extreme Warriors and Thundercast Celestial Soldiers in the sky opened fire.

Boom—boom—boom…

One thousand three hundred Bolt Guns spewed flames, their massive reports drowning out the clamor of combat on and around the wall; the entire battlefield was filled only with successive, violent explosions.

(End of chapter)