Chapter 1850: First Contact with the Underworld Forces

The underworld forces marched at a steady pace. Everyone who watched was surprised by how disciplined and organized they were. That was until they were around one kilometer from the first line of defensive walls built by the Builder Union.

Demons with fast movement speed, such as the lower demons and hellhounds, could contain themselves no longer. They rushed ahead, broke away from the formation, and left the underworld army behind.

As they got near the defensive walls, they triggered the traps placed by the members of Hunter's Lodge. Some traps dealt elemental damage. Some traps caused negative status effects. All traps stopped the movement of the demons who stepped on them.

Aside from those traps, caltrops and war fires were also hidden all over the grounds. Every guild that possessed these war tools no longer saved them. They knew this was not the time to be selfish. They would lose everything if the underworld forces won.

The demons who ran at top speed crashed into the ones stopped by the traps and caltrops. They all stumbled. The whole advance turned into a huge mess. The war fires were triggered then. A sea of fire spread over the battlefield.

"Fireee...!!!" The commanders on the walls issued the commands. The traps and caltrops were placed at positions reachable by the siege weapon's range.

The catapults and trebuchets behind the walls released their stones. These stones were produced by the coordination between the Blacksmith Circle and the Alchemist Union. The stones exploded upon impact and released a large amount of chemical fire that hit a large area. This chemical fire caused Burn effects for a long duration.

On the walls, many ballistae and a few mana cannons were mounted. These siege weapons also fired without reservation.

The lower demons and hellhounds didn't have high HP. Many perished in this first contact. Yet, their number was staggering. The ones from behind replaced the demons that died and rushed forward.

When they got closer to the defensive walls, magic and range combatants sent their attacks. The bombardments were astounding because the number of defenders participating in this war was unlike any other war before. This was the entire world working together.

Those without ranged attacks contributed by using throwing weapons such as exploding bottles. These throwing weapons were supplied by the Alchemist Union.

Some traps placed by higher-level natives caused multiple triggers, but they weren't unlimited. The highest number of triggers was five times. Afterward, the trap vanished. Many even triggered only one time and they were gone. Hence, as time passed, the traps slowly dwindled and ran out. The caltrops were the same.

The siege weapons killed a lot of demons when they were incapacitated. After the traps and caltrops were gone, the demons' advance was slowed only by the offensive attacks from the siege weapons, players, and natives. They were not enough to stop the demons from arriving at the walls.

The demons started banging on the walls. Some climbed over their comrades and jumped up to reach the battlements. Melee combatants immediately engaged these enemies.

As time passed, more and more arrived at the walls. The dark-smoky ghost simply floated up the wall and started attacking the defenders. Their touches caused dark-element damage and they could emit piercing cries like the banshee monsters encountered in the wilderness.

They were very resistant to physical damage. The most efficient way to deal with them was using magic spells.

The centipedes with human hands and faces easily climbed the walls as if they were flat ground. From close-up view, the defenders saw each of the centipedes' hands were armed with daggers. These hands stabbed their daggers at melee. With so many hands, the defenders were like fighting multiple enemies at once.

The centipedes also dispersed poisonous gas regularly, dealing earth damage and inflicting poison effects. If they managed to isolate a target, they rolled over the target, preventing it from moving. Their multiple hands then stabbed at the helpless target without mercy.

From up in the air, the demon bats came swooping down. They were fast and their interference disrupted the defenders from maintaining their attack rhythm. Thus, allowing more and more demons to reach the walls.

Defenders who could fly took to the sky and engaged these demon bats. But soon, winged high demons joined the fray. Many of these high demons could cast spells and they proved to be formidable opponents.

The giant abominations formed by collectives of demons also arrived. They slammed into the walls with their heavy bodies. They then started banging the walls fiercely. Their melee attacks cause extra damage to structures. The HP of the walls decreased at an alarming rate.

After some time, one part of the wall finally succumbed. Its HP was zeroed and it crumbled. The demons burst through like a broken dam.

The demons with flaming thorns all over their bodies rushed ahead. Their thorns dealt damage every time they were attacked in melee. They didn't have high HP. When they were defeated, they exploded. Their explosions caused the flaming thorns on their bodies to shoot in every direction, dealing high physical and fire damage. These thorns traveled a large distance, hitting many enemies.

They were kamikaze demons who rushed ahead of the other demons. Because of them, the defender's formation was a mess.

Many of the demon commanders were high demons with high levels and grades. They easily fought and kept the high-level natives and players occupied, allowing the rest of the demons to slaughter the weaker defenders.

When more parts of the walls crumbled, a gigantic moving fort came forward and covered the broken defense. This fort was Themisphere's first mobile fortress. The one with the rune tree in it. The rune tree's effect healed nearby defenders and let them survive longer to battle the demons. The multiple siege weapons mounted on it also never stopped firing at the mass of demons.

Once the mobile fortress showed itself, the demons immediately swarmed at it. Eleven Themisphere's past kings and members of Everlasting Heavenly Legends rushed out of the mobile fortress and engaged the enemies. Arlcard was with them. Jack had requested him to join the defense here. He didn't refuse. He was level 83.

At the roof of the mobile fortress' keep, Tip and other Themisphere guild with guild headquarters used their Guild Army Summoning Crystals. In the blink of an eye, the defenders received a dose of reinforcement. This allowed them to halt the demon's advance and even pushed them back from the crumbled walls.

The most impressive was, of course, the guild army from Everlasting Heavenly Legends. They had recovered their guild army from the last war and even increased their number. Their guild army now numbered more than 100,000.

The Brave Golems led the charge. Their huge metal bodies collided with the hordes of demons. The other guild units joined in once the demon's charge was stopped.

At the head of the Brave Golems was a slightly larger Brave Golem. This unique Brave Golem had completely black skins. A layer of dark light constantly swirled around it. This Brave Golem was produced using the best materials, like the Power Core of Courage, but the one material that gave it such a unique look was the Heart of Darkness dropped by the Eldritch Beholder.

This Heart of Darkness not only changed the Brave Golem's appearance but also gave the Brave Golem powerful dark-element skills and anti-magic ability. It was not completely impervious to magical and elemental damage, but almost. A Brave Golem already had high HP and defensive stats. It was also resistant to physical damage. With the addition of the anti-magic ability, it was extremely difficult to cause sufficient damage to this dark Brave Golem.

The guild heroes weren't idle. Among the guild heroes from the guilds fighting here, Nilrem and Rahab shone the most.

Nilrem cast her Knights of the Round to help the army compensate for their lack of high-level combatants. Under the protection of the guild units, she also cast her eight-rune spell, Lake of Death. She placed the spell where the wall had crumbled, thus further halting the demons' charge.

Rahab fought in the front line, destroying demons left and right. Together with the dark Brave Golem, he became the two tips of the spears that helped the guild armies advance.

In the sky, the eagle rider hunters fired at the demon bats. The demon bats tried to drag the eagle rider hunters to a melee combat, but they were unable to. This was because between them and the eagle rider hunters was a score of dragons.

These dragons were smaller than true dragons. They were similar in size to the monster-typed dragons found in the wilderness. They were no less formidable than those dragons, perhaps fiercer even. Their claws and bites delivered high physical damage, and they could fire powerful fireballs from their mouths. They also had an ultimate skill that let them unleash a beam of searing flame. These beams traveled a long distance and could hit multiple targets. If Jack was here, he would remember these dragons from the Dragonflight portal in Greed's sanctum.

Sitting atop the dragons were elven riders. These riders were not helpless. They were armed with javelins. The riders fought enemies who tried to attack the dragons from their blind spots, which were their backs. They could also throw these javelins as ranged attacks. They had a limited number of javelins, but these javelins replenished magically after some time.

Penny led these dragon riders. She was now level 81. Together with the eagle rider hunters, natives, and players who could fly, they fought off the horde of demon bats and stopped them from hitting the defenders' backline.