Volume 3, Chapter 83 – ‘Great Victory’

The vast snowy plains were suddenly enveloped by a sea of fire. With the coordination of Xue Tian’ao’s iron airships and various new types of weapons, the Abyssal Demons that had been surging forward like a black tsunami finally halted their charge under this tempestuous storm of deadly bombardment.

They began to struggle frantically within the sea of flames.

Wails and shrieks echoed from the fire.

However, the attack under Toma’s command had not yet ended. Several waves of bombardment, with power no weaker than before or even exceeding it, struck one after another, dealing unprecedented heavy damage to the group of Abyssal Demons.

Within this hellish sea of heat, the towering Shadow Essence that shrouded the Abyssal Demons began to crumble.

As the final round of bombardment came to a close, the vast majority of fourth and fifth tier Abyssal Demons with insufficient strength, especially those at the center of the explosions, had already been blown into fragments.

Even the powerful sixth tier Abyssal Demons and a few seventh tier ones were heavily injured under the garrison’s terrifying counterattack, and their combat capabilities plummeted.

As the flames gradually dissipated, the swarm of Abyssal Demons that had been aggressively marching toward Sky Dome had been reduced to less than a sixth of its original number, and the remaining demons had little fighting strength left.

It was at this moment, while the Abyssal Demons were still dazed from the blasts, that the rousing sound of a horn suddenly resounded across the snowy plains.

“Woo— Woo— Woo—”

The soldiers atop the city walls blew the stirring horn.

For a time, the drums and horns sounded in unison.

In the next moment, the long-closed northern gate of Sky Dome slowly creaked open.

This was Xue Tian’ao’s current tactic: use heavy artillery and airship bombardment to directly inflict heavy damage on the Abyssal Demon swarm, drastically reducing their numbers before deploying ground troops to wipe out the survivors.

“Charge with me! Exterminate those beasts!”

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Accompanied by a roar from the leading man, Toma, wielding a battle axe, was the first to spur his warhorse forward. Under the expectant and excited gazes of countless people, he erupted with a towering and powerful battle aura, charging fiercely toward the nearly broken Abyssal Demon swarm ahead!

Behind Toma, a vast stampede of horses followed instantly.

Led by Toma, the massive army composed of the Imperial Guard, the Royal Knight Corps, and a portion of the Second Army unsheathed their weapons. They unleashed every bit of battle aura in their bodies without reservation, surging toward the Abyssal Demons like a turbulent wave filled with killing intent.

The heart-stirring charge signal then soared into the sky.

The Royal Knight Corps was the first to exert their strength.

Wrapped in dense magic power, the iron cavalry started their advance, accelerating further and further.

The momentum of their charge rose steadily.

The roars of Toma and his men, the sound of horns, war drums, iron hooves, and explosions gradually intertwined, converging into a world-shaking roar that echoed through the clouds as if playing a melody of the end. With thousands of iron cavalry and tens of thousands of soldiers charging simultaneously, combined with the battle aura and magic power venting from everyone’s bodies, the earth trembled incessantly.

Clouds of dust billowed into the air.

The army led by Toma gradually transformed into a hurricane, a tsunami, like heavenly fire descending upon the world. They swept forward with overwhelming momentum, crashing into the Abyssal Demon swarm with irresistible force.

As Toma violently swung his battle axe, the members of the Royal Knight Corps also exerted their full strength, launching a devastating blow against the remaining Abyssal Demons.

“Boom!! Rumble~”

In an instant, blood splattered and blade lights flashed. Various colors of battle aura, magic power, and Shadow Essence mixed together and suddenly erupted.

Upon the earth that had already been turned to scorched soil, countless tongues of colored fire suddenly bloomed.

After suffering multiple rounds of bombardment, the Abyssal Demon swarm had very little combat power left and was completely unable to withstand the high-spirited Royal Knight Corps.

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At the moment of close-quarters engagement, countless Abyssal Demons fell one after another under the swords of the Royal Knight Corps.

Even if they did not die in the first wave of the cavalry charge, the subsequent Imperial Guard units swarmed forward to finish them off.

Originally, when Abyssal Demons made contact with human armies, it was usually the human forces that faced collapse. Now, however, the Abyssal Demon swarm was retreating steadily under the attack of the Royal Knight Corps.

As the commander of the Imperial Guard, Toma grew even more jubilant as he killed. He leaped off his horse and brandished his battle axe, venting his inner fury upon the Abyssal Demons.

“Go to hell! You pieces of trash!”

The strength of a seventh tier powerhouse was fully unleashed. He carved through the remaining Abyssal Demons like he was chopping vegetables.

Even a sixth tier peak minotaur demon was split in two by a single axe strike from Toma. Blood dyed Toma’s golden battle attire a bright crimson, making him look like an Asura on the battlefield, continuously harvesting the lives of the Abyssal Demons.

In this manner, amidst the flash of blades and shadows of swords, the number of Abyssal Demons on the scorched earth began to decrease further. It seemed that their total annihilation was only a matter of time.

At this moment, on Dragondance Plaza, Xue Tian’ao looked at the battlefield footage displayed on the magic projection. Seeing the army led by Toma winning victory after victory, the expression of pride on his face grew even more intense.

Inside the plaza, the citizens who had been anxious because of the Abyssal Demon attack also fell into a state of daze upon seeing this scene. In their subconscious minds, Abyssal Demons were not beings that humans could contend with. If humans could withstand a demon swarm’s attack, it was only by relying on defensive advantages and some top-tier powerhouses.

A charge from an Abyssal Demon swarm of such a massive and terrifying scale was something humans simply shouldn’t be able to stop.

Yet, such a group of monsters had actually been routed so quickly under the joint attack of the Royal Knight Corps and the Imperial Guard. Most of the Abyssal Demons had perished in the sea of fire, and the survivors were dying one by one under the cavalry charge.

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‘This… is this a result we can achieve?’

The crowd was shocked beyond measure.

After a moment of shock, once they accepted the reality, they erupted into earth-shattering cheers once again. The doubts that had arisen when the phantom of the Great Founding Emperor collapsed vanished completely, and the citizens once again cast gazes of worship toward Xue Tian’ao.

It was not just the ordinary citizens; the envoys of various major powers felt the same way.

Upon seeing the images displayed on the screen, they all showed expressions of disbelief.

A middle-aged man in a red military uniform even kept pinching his own face to confirm he wasn’t dreaming. After calming his emotions, the man looked toward the side with a complex expression at a youth with brilliant red hair sitting in the audience.

“Second Prince, that Abyssal Demon swarm was actually defeated? And so quickly?”

“Mhm.”

The red-haired youth, who was Anmutu, the Second Prince of the Red Lotus Leaf Empire, nodded slightly.

“I originally thought it would take someone like Lockephy to step in to repel this group of Abyssal Demons. I didn’t expect… they could do it so easily with just these troops. Xue Tian’ao really has hidden quite a few things.”

Looking toward the massive airship high in the distance, Anmutu slowly narrowed his eyes.

“I really don’t understand how he managed to create those.”

“Your Highness Second Prince, should we change our strategy and take the initiative to show goodwill? But this Chosen Son, with his troops defeating the Abyssal Demon swarm in front of so many envoys and citizens, and the fact that he repelled Inferno before… if we really form an alliance in the future, will our Red Lotus Leaf Empire be led by the nose by him?”

“We’ll worry about future matters in the future. Let’s wait for the battle to end first.”

“Huh?”

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Hearing this, the middle-aged man showed a confused expression. “Your Highness, isn’t the victory already decided? The remaining Abyssal Demons are simply unable to fight Xue Tian’ao’s troops. Killing them all is just a matter of time.”

“That may be true, but… something feels off.”

“Something’s off?” the middle-aged man asked in confusion.

However, Anmutu didn’t seem to have any intention of answering him for the moment. Instead, he stared thoughtfully at the real-time battlefield footage being projected by magic. Watching the Abyssal Demon swarm being beaten into a retreat, Anmutu slowly narrowed his eyes, which were filled with a grave expression.

The strength of an Abyssal Demon swarm capable of breaking through the Northern Frontier defenses to reach Sky Dome shouldn’t be at this level.

This group of Abyssal Demons only had numbers.

If one observed carefully, the attack power, defensive power, and speed of these Abyssal Demons were far inferior to the one the Ashurmos Church had given him for experiments, even though they were also fifth tier. Furthermore, the appearance of these Abyssal Demons felt very much like humans.

Additionally, Abyssal Demons had always been fearless. Even when facing an opponent stronger than themselves, they would charge forward without hesitation to fight.

Yet, the Abyssal Demons on the battlefield were actually retreating?

What was going on?

…

Wait?!

‘No… could it be…’

In an instant, Anmutu’s eyes shrank violently as a terrifying thought surfaced in his mind.