Chapter 246: Struggles Underground (Part 2)

The demons trapped by the Anti-Evil Runes clearly refused to sit idle and wait for death. Although they could not escape the restricted area, they could use ranged spells and abilities to attack the defenders outside the runes.

The Berserkers, who originally walked on all fours, stood up to fight. Their skin, which looked like rough sandstone, paired with shark-like sharp teeth and a huge bloody mouth, made them look extremely fierce.

The Frostmaws flapped their wings, which were far too small for their bodies, and swept their vulture heads around to scan the surroundings. Their cunning eyes rolled around nonstop.

However, the defenders had prepared quite well in advance. The Priests completed their banishment spell immediately, and it worked quickly. The demons inside the Anti-Evil Runes began to fade slowly, and at least one-third of them rolled back to their original nests.

But the rest began to counterattack within the runes. The Berserkers waved their hands, summoning dark energy to strike the crawling creatures that dared to plot against them. This energy appeared as a cold, greasy, and disgusting toxic gas. As the Berserkers swung their upper bodies, it burst out of the Anti-Evil Runes and flew into the crowd of defenders on the city wall, spreading out like a Fireball. It forced the defenders within a 30-foot radius to scatter and dodge.

Compared to the earlier Shadow Strike, the release of the Chaos Hammer was much faster. Chaos energy burst from their clenched fists, exploding with various colors and scattering in all directions. Then, it rushed into the crowd of defenders, gathering into a giant spectral warhammer to smash down violently.

The defensive spells of the Order Robe and the Good Robe had already been cast on the defenders to deal with the cruel spells the Demons might use. The Order Robe created an eternal blue Force Field made of Order and Reason power around the target. The Good Robe created a shining white Force Field made of Good and Holy power around the target.

These spells were quite similar in function, except the Order Robe was strengthened against spells with chaotic properties, while the Good Robe was strengthened against spells with evil properties.

Together, they could effectively resist the spell-like abilities of low-level Demons. Of course, this only meant they could resist the spells, not ignore them completely.

So, among the defenders affected by the dark magic, some vomited uncontrollably as if they were suffering from pregnancy after ten months of carrying a baby. Others felt as if they were carrying thousands of pounds of weight, making even a quick movement a luxury. Some were hurt but seemed fine in other ways, except for the grimaces caused by muscle pain and internal spasms.

Shadow Strike only harmed non-Evil creatures like Good and Neutral beings. The Chaos Hammer only harmed non-Chaos creatures like Lawful and Neutral beings. Also, for creatures that were neither Evil nor Good, and for those that were neither Chaos nor Lawful, both spells only dealt half damage. The nausea and slowing effects did not appear for them.

Many Gnomes, due to their nature, belonged to the Chaotic Good or Chaotic Neutral camps. A large number of Dwarves were in the True Neutral camp. Facing this spell damage that worked differently based on alignment, combined with the help of the defensive spells earlier, the defending army did get a bit confused for a moment. However, except for a few unlucky ones who were seriously hurt, the majority could still form a proper defense line.

Compared to the trouble the Berserkers caused the defenders, the Frostmaws were much less effective. With almost no ranged attack ability, and their free flight and agile movements restricted, they were more like lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

Heavy impacts shook the Obsidian city wall made of ice-iron. The Balor’s charge not only destroyed several cannon positions but also caused heavy casualties among the Gnome craftsmen operating the cannons.

The long whip he waved looked like a typhoon passing through. It easily whipped two Dwarf defenders who tried to get close down from the tower, spinning them like tops.

The flame whip was made of a material with excellent toughness that no one knew. Its surface was covered with sharp barbed spikes and hard ball-like objects, so it could deal both bludgeoning and slashing damage. Plus, it burned and added fire damage. Even a strong warrior would lose a layer of skin or die with just one hit.

Although people often say Demons are not as smart as Devils, the Balor should know that if he let the Frostmaws and Berserkers escape, facing so many Dwarves alone would be a very troublesome matter!

Although this was not the Demons’ own war, and the Balors had no so-called “Contract” spirit of loyalty to those who hired them, capturing more souls here would help his future growth. Souls from the Prime Material Plane were delicious desserts loved by the Mother of the Abyss. For a Balor who aimed to become a Demon Lord, more was always better!

Faced with the situation, the remaining four Balors simultaneously chose “Greater Dispel Magic.” They wanted to use this spell to free their subordinates trapped in the Anti-Evil Runes.

This spell worked like Dispel Magic, but it could counter enemy spell levels more than double the original. Also, this spell could remove curses and removable effects, even if they could not be removed by the normal Dispel Magic.

To the Balors, using it against the Anti-Evil Runes seemed like a piece of cake. But the result shocked them greatly. Very few Anti-Evil Runes were actually dispelled. Only one Berserker managed to regain its freedom.

Besides the enhanced magic formations placed around the Anti-Evil Runes earlier, the most important reason was that these Balors had unknowingly entered the area of a Sanctum. Due to the suppression of the Sanctum spell, their spell-like abilities were greatly weakened.

The Sanctum, cast using herbs, oils, and incense worth at least 1,000 Gold Coins, could turn a location, building, or dwelling into a holy place. This brought four major effects. Besides protecting the area with Anti-Evil Runes, it strengthened all spells used to banish evil creatures. It also made the target’s spell resistance ineffective against these effects.

Any corpses and souls buried within the Sanctum could not be desecrated before the Sanctum disappeared. More importantly, the Spellcaster could fix a spell effect within the Sanctum. No matter the normal duration or range of the spell, once fixed, it would last for one year and affect the entire Sanctum area.

The caster could also decide whether the spell affected all creatures, creatures with the same alignment or faith as the caster, or creatures with a different alignment or faith. Even after a year, when the fixed effect disappeared, simply casting the Sanctum again at that spot could update or reset the effect.

The Silence spells within these Sanctums made the “Greater Dispel Magic,” which required verbal components, completely useless. After the spell was cast, the affected area fell into complete silence. All sounds were blocked: no talking, no casting spells with verbal components, and no sound could enter, exit, or pass through the area. However, it seemed one Balor managed to achieve the feat of casting the spell silently on its own, without a teacher.

The reason these Balors entered the Sanctum was not because the Spellcaster had foresight. This spell was originally used to protect the cannon positions, and the last time it was cast was nearly half a year ago. The Balors, rushing in to eliminate the threat, had essentially walked into a trap.

However, the Sanctum was not very large. For a Balor, leaving would only take a few seconds. But while these fiery giants were hurriedly casting their spell-like abilities, the Dwarf Priests nearby raised their Holy Symbols and cast Mark of Destruction and Mark of Judgment on them.

At the same time, the Priests called upon holy energy to focus on their comrades nearby. A golden light descended from the sky, bathing them in golden radiance. These Blessings were the little bit of help low-level Priests could provide.

To deal with the Demons before them, the Paladins in the defending army activated their signature spell, Holy Sword. This spell allowed you to channel holy power into a sword or any other melee weapon. The weapon became like a 5th-level holy weapon and also produced the effect of an Anti-Evil Rune. If the rune ended, the holder could freely cause the sword to generate a new rune. The spell only disappeared when the sword left the holder’s hand.

The only problem was that when this spell was cast on a magic weapon, the spell’s power replaced the weapon’s own power. During the spell’s duration, the weapon’s original magical effects and enhancement bonuses would not work. This spell could not stack with Bless Weapon or any other spell that changed the weapon. But this small flaw was nothing compared to its great benefits!

After charging, the Paladins discovered a vicious darkness surrounding the Balor. This provided protection when they were attacked, resistance against spells from Good creatures, and weakened the Good creatures that struck the target.

Even with the Sanctum’s suppression, the Paladins felt their attacks were like they were being parried, sliding off the Balor’s side.

The Paladin in the very front sensed someone approaching and immediately threw his warhammer at the Balor, then charged forward. He found that the Balor did not care about such attacks at all. When the Paladin got close, the Balor didn’t even try to dodge.

The Paladin raised his Longsword, ready to strike, but the Balor stepped forward first, grabbing the blade with its left hand and punching the Paladin’s right shoulder with its right fist. The Paladin noticed the damage his sword was doing to the Balor’s right hand and tried to fight with all his might, but it was too late to let go. The Balor’s fist hit his shoulder squarely. Even though he had chainmail behind his plate armor, his bones broke. With a cracking sound, his right arm went limp.

However, the Balor did not seem to want to waste time with him. It let go with its left hand, swept the Paladin backward with its right hand, stepped back to create distance, and kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying to the bottom of the city wall.

Glancing at the scorched scars in its hand, it believed the Paladin would be unable to move for a long time.

At the same time, its tail whipped another Paladin away. That Paladin crashed heavily into the nearby wall, shook a few times, and couldn’t even struggle to stand up. The Balor went in for a bear hug, and flames poured nonstop from its screaming mouth and ears. Finally, the Paladin and his armor were burned into a pile of ash.

At this moment, another Paladin approached the Balor. The Balor turned around and swung its sword casually. The Paladin had held his Holy Sword in front of him, but now he turned it sideways, extended his left hand flat to support the blade, and prepared to block the attack.

Seeing the Paladin’s lack of self-awareness, the Balor sneered and increased its strength to chop down. Just as the Balor’s sword was about to hit the Paladin’s Longsword, the Paladin suddenly tilted the blade to the left and took a step forward to the right. It seemed he wanted to use his technique to fight back.

However, he felt as if his left hand had been hit by a giant siege hammer. Half of his body went numb. The power difference was too great; even a little help from the Balor caused this. If he had tried to clash heads-on, he would have been split in half along with his sword.

The Paladin gritted his teeth and endured the pain. Using this force, he pivoted on his right foot, twisted his waist, and spun around quickly. He swung his right Longsword fully and cut the Balor’s thigh. Only a few sparks flew, leaving a shallow black mark.

So, it really doesn’t work? The Paladin stretched his right wrist, which was about to break from overexertion, and dodged to the side. Was the power gap so huge that he caused almost no damage? He felt depressed seeing the Balor unscathed. If the Balor hadn’t used so much force earlier, he probably wouldn’t have been able to hit it this time.

The Paladin sensed that when their swords touched, the Balor seemed to have a rebound effect. It was clearly because the Balor had been careless and used all its strength to achieve a quick victory, which allowed the Paladin to find an opening and strike it.

The second encounter started immediately. At the moment of contact, the Balor tilted to the left again. This time, it used both hands to push itself to the side to dodge the sword. Unfortunately, things did not go as planned. The Paladin’s hands had not recovered from the previous clash, and this time he felt weak under the impact. His Longsword could not withstand the heavy blows and broke into two pieces with a mournful sound.

The Paladin was slashed from his left shoulder to his chest by the Balor’s sword. Fortunately, he was not hit directly, and his heavy armor played a role. Otherwise, he would have died. But even so, given the current situation, he was not much better than dead. The Balor’s huge foot was already stepping down on him.

This kind of situation kept happening on the city wall. If someone observed carefully, they would find that not all the Paladins’ Holy Sword spells were cast by themselves. It was like a special spell-attachment ability. This also explained why some Paladins looked so powerless in front of the Balors. They were not true high-level Paladins. Under the influence of the Balor’s evil Spirit Light, they felt a slight weakness and powerlessness.

However, besides the cannon fodder used to attract attention, there were true masters among these Paladins. Combined with the cooperation of the Mages around them, the Balors trapped in the Sanctum were temporarily stuck. They could only watch helplessly as their subordinates were sent back to their hometowns.

At this time, the layer of Oblex Demons at the first line of defense had been mostly cleared by the Dwarf and Gnome reinforcements. But without the threat of the Demons that attacked friend and foe alike, the Dark Elf warriors launched another charge against the city wall.

However, new reinforcements appeared among them. It was an amorphous slime monster, looking like a 7-foot-tall melting candle with a blood-red eyeball embedded in its body. Eight whip-like tentacles writhed around it, like a crackling storm of rage. They were the servants of the goddess Lolth, known as “Gelugons” or “Wax Melters.”

Wax Melters were the best example of a special Demon race from the Abyss, created by a deity to transform a basic Tanar’ri for a specific purpose. Here, that deity was Lolth, and her goal was the captured Succubi.

The process of how Lolth turned Succubi into Wax Melters was a secret closely guarded by the Spider Queen. But the result was clear: Wax Melters had no connection to their source and were a unique type of Demon in every aspect.

Given time and conditions, Wax Melters could develop many different new varieties, like Tanar’ri. But now, Lolth’s ubiquitous hand restricted them to the role of her handmaidens.

Wax Melters were usually encountered alone in places where Lolth’s worship was widespread. They served the Drow Matrons, often as advisors, Assassins, or in some cases, as lovers. Lolth’s worshippers viewed the handmaidens as direct agents of Lolth, so these Demons could get everything they wanted in most Drow societies.

In the Deep Maze, large groups of Wax Melters would appear, serving as Lolth’s favored guards. Usually, these Wax Melters possessed class levels of Bard, Priest, or Sorcerer.

On the Prime Material Plane, a group of about 2 to 5 Wax Melters could appear at locations very important to Lolth, such as inside her Temple or in the center of the largest Drow city that worshipped the Spider Queen.

As a Master of transformation, Wax Melters could use many strategies and resources in battle. Generally, Wax Melters on the Prime Material Plane appeared in humanoid form during encounters. But now, to show off their full power, they revealed their true forms directly in front of everyone.