Chapter 1858: The Horror of The Devils
"I should be the one who asks that question," Syndrillis said. "I saw you die in the ancient war."
"I..."
Tetsuo wasn't given the chance to reply. The eternal-grade daemon he was pinning under his punches erupted with a fiery explosion. He had to retreat to avoid getting caught in the blast.
After moving away, he saw the daemon rise with a body coated in dark fire. Above it was a demonic apparition with four arms. The daemon used a variant skill of the Ancestral Possession.
The archdemon didn't get up. The archdemon had died from Tetsuo's unending assaults.
"We will catch up later," Tetsuo said as he shot the daemon using his handgun, which had now turned into a laser gun.
"Agreed. I will deal with the enemies above. You take care of the ones below," Syndrillis said.
She ascended while casting a spell. When it was completed, hundreds of starlights fell from the sky. These starlights chased after the fliers and dealt light-element damage. When they hit, they caused the Blind status and made the fliers lose their flying ability momentarily. Hundreds of demon bats fell from the sky due to this spell.
With three level 90 eternal-grade combatants, Agamon, Tetsuo, and Syndrillis, the defense here was better compared to the Southern defense line. Some parts of the walls crumbled, but the demons failed to push past the defensive line. The defenders held fast as the demon horde was reduced bit by bit.
Even though the defenders were winning, it was not without a toll. The defenders lost a decent number of men. They were outnumbered, after all. But seeing their enemies shrink faster than them gave them great morale. Their fighting spirit was high. That was until they saw the incoming second wave of the demon army.
The same as the defenders at the Southern defense line, they couldn't believe the army they were facing was just the vanguard army. Their hearts sank when the sea of demons approached. In the lead of this second wave was a titanic demon with the head of a goat and the body of a giant insect.
Dytess, and those who marched with the Allied forces, had seen this titanic yellow demon before. It was the devil, Beelzebub.
The devil floated above his army. They marched at a speed that was neither hurried nor slow. Within this army were several gargantuan creatures, humanoid titans with elephant heads. Their elephant heads had demon horns. Each head possessed three long trunks. There were also demonic giant lizards that breathed dark flames. Multiple demons rode on top of these demon lizards.
Plenty within this second army were mythical grades, more than the vanguard army the defenders were fighting. There were also a decent number of eternal-grade demons. The defenders watched with apprehension as this demon army slowly advanced.
"Stand fast...!!!" Ragorth yelled. His voice powered by mana manipulation reverberated on the battlefield. John had appointed him as the main commander at this Northern defense line. Ragorth hoped his voice maintained the defenders' morale, even if his own morale dropped after seeing the underworld force's second wave.
Before the demon's second army joined its vanguard army, Beelzebub took action first. Its yellow carapaces opened, and what seemed like a million bugs came out from inside him. This time, the bugs were not just giant flies. Countless giant roaches also came out of Beelzebub and crawled on the ground toward the defensive walls.
The roaches didn't give a damn to the demons from the vanguard army. They just rammed the demons for standing in their way. Many even got stomped by the sea of roaches for being unable to move away.
The sea of roaches and clouds of yellow flies soon neared the defensive walls. Those who had AOE skills and spells used them to hit as many of these bugs as they could. The bugs didn't have high HP. Many were killed by the barrage. However, there were too many bugs. Even if many were killed, many reached the defensive walls. The crawling roaches easily climbed the walls. The walls might as well not exist for these bugs.
After the defenders engaged the bugs at close range, many started exploding by themselves. Their explosions caused earth-element damage. These kamikaze attacks took out many defenders. Ragorth immediately called for those with low health to pull back and not engage the bugs.
"We have to stop that devil!" Syndrillis said.
"How? We have to fight through an army to get to that devil," Tetsuo said.
"We will open the path!" The two heard a voice. They turned and saw the ancient champions charging forward with Agamon at the lead.
"We will help too!" Duke Alfredo and Jack's other royal agent joined the ancient champions.
Beelzebub simply stared at these warriors with a flat expression. His countenance never changed since he arrived at the battlefield. A spell formation appeared in front of him. When his spell was completed, the ground ahead of him churned. The rocks and soils tossed around and formed what looked like a tidal wave on land. This earth tidal wave rushed forward.
All the ancient champions had the Angelic Possession skill. Wings made out of light lifted their bodies before the earth tidal wave hit.
As for Jack's royal agents, Laurent cast Mass Angelic Wings, which granted flying ability to those who couldn't fly.
They might have escaped the earth tidal wave, but the spell didn't stop after passing through them. It went ahead and hit the defensive wall. The part of the wall where the spell hit crumbled in one hit. The defenders standing atop this part fell to the ground and were swallowed by the still churning earth.
Agamon and the others who had rushed ahead saw a change in Beelzebub's expression. A wicked grin decorated his face.
The demons around Beelzebub moved ahead and engaged the ancient champions and the others. Different from Satan, Beelzebub had no interest in engaging the enemies directly. With the defenders' main combatants pulled out, it was easy to get them surrounded. Plus, the defense in the wall weakened. Beelzebub wanted to take out both these main combatants and the walls' defenders at the same time.
Beelzebub cast another spell as flies and roaches continued to scurry out from the gaps all over his body.
*
At Chris' secret garden, several people were watching a projection inside the lake pavilion. The projection showed the scene happening at Hydurond's Southern defensive line. Satan was seen giving Eoranth a severe beating. Those present here had seen the Lord of the Dragon in action. They couldn't believe the battle between the two titans would be so one-sided.
"Let me use your Anywhere Door. I need to go help," Jack said. He was among the people watching the projection.
"If you go, I guarantee you will waste everything you've worked for," Chris said. "And for Pete's sake, it's not called Anywhere Door. Do you think my tool came from the seventies kids show?"
"It functions the same way, doesn't it? Anyway, what do you call that magic door of yours that can bring you anywhere?" Jack asked.
"... It's called Anywhere Portal," Chris answered.
Jack was speechless. He felt stupid for asking.
"Whatever. We need to go help the battle, or everything will be lost," Jack said.
The projection now changed to show the scene at Hydrurond's Northern defensive line. The situation was worse here. Unlike Satan, Beelzebub utilized his advantage in number even when he outpowered the enemy's combatants. He even seemed to relish in the bullying.
"As I said, you won't be able to do much even if you go," Chris said. "You might think you are stronger now that you are level 90, but those devils will run you down with ease."
After one month of grinding inside Chris' special dungeon, Jack's level had improved at a rapid rate. If he used a normal training dungeon, it would take him at least two weeks just to level up one time.
"We can't just stay here and do nothing!" Jack exclaimed.
"Those people at the Northern defense line should have retreated. Damn those ancient champions! They are too daring. We will lose lots of troops if they continue to be stubborn," John said.
"I remembered you told every front to try to hold for at least three days before retreating to the next defensive lines," Jack said.
"I said, try. I didn't mean they had to do that at the cost of losing more troops," John returned.
Some of the twenty-four players had returned after successfully passing the trials. John just returned recently around one week ago. His class had now changed to Monster Overlord. He had only used Chis' training dungeon for one week, but it was enough to help him level up two times. He was level 86.
The other players who returned within this one month were Spring Crown, Jeanny, Grace, Paytowin, Four Winds, Leavemealone, Red Death, Wilted, Arthur Bagrat, Jet, David, and Anotherday.