Chapter 419 - 288: The Shining Night Sky (2)

"Brother-in-law," Mier asked, swallowing nervously, "are we still going to rescue Fujero?"

These demons were no different from the ones this morning, but crammed into the narrow city streets, they seemed to be everywhere.

Plus, they were clearly cut off and without support. The psychological pressure left Mier looking lost and overwhelmed.

"Charge!" Levi commanded coldly, not even bothering to answer.

Even after their losses in the morning battle, the Thorn Corps still had over six thousand elite soldiers. They couldn’t have been completely wiped out in such a short time.

Saving them was the obvious choice.

At his command, the Barbarians raised their War Axes and smashed into the horde. Javelins and arrows flew, while axes and spells of every color crashed down in unison.

In the blink of an eye, a gap was torn open in the demon ranks.

Like a hot knife through butter, the High Cliff Castle contingent advanced unopposed, quickly reaching the perimeter wall.

Faced with the massive wall, four or five blades high, the Lord simply lifted his size-45 foot and kicked it hard.

BOOM! With a tremendous crash, the thick wall buckled as if struck by a massive Giant Stone. A gap nearly seven or eight blades wide instantly appeared.

The men from High Cliff Castle were well aware of their lord’s terrifying strength, so they paid it no mind, their expressions unchanging.

But as the dust settled, the Thorn Corps soldiers stared, dumbfounded, at the collapsed wall and the Lord who stood there, stealing the show.

"My Lord... your shoe?"

But there’s always one with an odd focus. Fujero stared at how a certain someone’s shoe had burst open like popcorn, revealing the foot within. He looked like he wanted to say something but couldn’t.

"I really shouldn’t have bothered saving you."

’My heroic, awe-inspiring moment, ruined by one sentence. Now I just look like a cheap punk.’ The Lord fumed internally.

He scanned the area and breathed a sigh of relief.

He wasn’t sure if it was because Fujero got back early or because the Thorn Corps soldiers were just that good.

The soldiers had already formed up neatly. They handled the endless stream of demons with practiced ease. They were only struggling to break out because they were bogged down by sheer numbers, like being trapped in a swamp. In reality, they hadn’t taken much damage.

The two groups quickly joined forces.

"What now, my Lord?" Fujero asked. He was dressed in a red nobleman’s suit, holding only a single sword.

The fighting must have started the moment he returned to the Thorn Corps’ garrison; he hadn’t even had time to don his Armor.

"Let’s get out of here first," Levi said grimly. "My worry is that the demons will send in those Six-armed Snake Demon Warriors. If they do, we’ll have a hard time escaping."

While the Six-armed Snake Demon Warriors were nothing but small fry to him, a large number of them could still threaten the High Cliff Castle contingent. To the Thorn Corps, they were an even more troublesome foe.

Likely only the Lion Heart Red Swordsmen could handle them with ease.

"Stop hiding it. Hand it over," Levi said, suddenly holding his hand out to Fujero.

"What?" Fujero looked completely baffled.

"Your Magic Equipment, of course!" the Lord said, exasperated. "You’re a Legion Commander. Your sister controls over forty percent of the commerce in the Northern Territory, with countless caravans heading for Debei every year. I refuse to believe you don’t have a piece or two of top-shelf Magic Equipment to save your own skin."

"I’ve been watching you. That Ring you’re wearing is definitely a Magic Item!"

"My Lord, be honest. You’ve had your eye on this Ring for a while, haven’t you?" Fujero asked suspiciously. Still, he removed the green, intricately carved ring from his thumb and handed it over.

"Hmph. You fondle that thing eight hundred times a day. Anyone could tell it’s something special," Levi snorted. He took the Ring and examined it. "How does it work?"

The Ring was covered in complex patterns that pulsed with the distinct glow of Magic Power. It was also inlaid with five small, multicolored Magic Gemstones.

The moment he produced it, Heather’s eyes were drawn to the Ring. As a Caster, she could feel powerful elemental fluctuations pulsing from it the moment Levi’s fingers traced its patterns.

"Press the red gemstone. That’s the trigger," Fujero explained carefully. "It will release the High Tier Magic stored inside. Everything within a hundred-pace radius will be engulfed in a sea of fire."

Magic Equipment was meant for crises, and it didn’t matter who used it at a time like this. He wasn’t about to be stingy.

"Badass. Got any more?" Levi asked, turning the Ring over and over in his hand. He hadn’t expected such a tiny Ring to contain such powerful Magic.

"Do you think my sister’s money grows on trees? This one Spell-Storage Magic Ring alone cost over a thousand Gold Coins, and that was a friends-and-family discount!"

"You have to understand, Magic Equipment is the kind of hot-ticket item that money can’t always buy, to say nothing of a spell-storing Magic Ring," Fujero said, his heart aching.

Even though it wasn’t his money, the value of that one spell was equal to half a lifetime of his own military pay.

Levi shoved it into his pocket. Time was short and the mission was critical; this was no time for pleasantries. At any moment, the demons could converge into an unstoppable tide.

He gave a quick, simple order: "You and your men will follow us. First, we break out of the city and rendezvous with Duke Fulina."

"My Lord, I’m afraid we might not be leaving just yet," Fujero said with a wry smile.

"So many of them?!" Before Levi could react, Heather pointed behind him, so shocked her chest heaved.

"Shit!"

The Lord whipped his head around and instantly let out a curse.

’I and my big mouth,’ he thought. ’Speak of the devil...’

Under the pitch-black sky, massive, burly shadows surged from the distance, closing in on them. As the figures crossed the line between darkness and light, illuminated by the flames, everyone sucked in a sharp breath.

They were Six-armed Snake Demon Warriors, each three blades tall and weighing thousands of pounds. Their cold, impassive gaze fell upon the group, and a chill washed over everyone, like icy water dumped on their heads in the dead of winter.

These imperious Warriors were clad in masterfully crafted, fiery-red Armor of some unknown material, carrying Shields and a variety of other weapons.

Compared to the Low Tier Demons, these guys were the real main event.

They were Warriors that even the High Cliff Castle contingent would have to take seriously.

They advanced rapidly on their serpentine tails, cutting down any lesser demons that blocked their path. A single flick of a tail was enough to demolish the already-crumbled sections of the wall.

These Warriors were, without a doubt, a far more vicious and powerful foe than the Minotaurs.

’There aren’t that many of them.’

Levi spotted a silver lining—at least for him. The number of Six-armed Snake Demon Warriors in view wasn’t a full legion. At most, there were a thousand or so.

Levi remembered Fatir telling him a full legion of these things numbered twenty to thirty thousand.

The fact that only a thousand showed up was cause for celebration.

He now held a trump card in his hands, Heather and the other Casters had their Magic Power reserves full, and they had the Thorn Corps for backup.

If the Thorn Corps could just tie up a few hundred of the Six-armed Snake Demon Warriors, the High Cliff Castle contingent could finish the rest off quickly.

Levi had no expectation that the Thorn Corps could actually defeat them, but just holding them in place shouldn’t be a problem.

"Grab your weapons! Let’s deal with these punks first!" he roared, pulling a Broadsword from his inventory.

The Six-armed Snake Demon Warriors were fast. With the High Cliff Castle contingent and the Thorn Corps combined, they had a force of over ten thousand. An army that large was bound to be slow.

Better to deal with them here and now than let them catch up and pick them off from the rear.

But before the two forces could clash, a flash of red light streaked across the distant sky, bathing even the White Bone Fortress in a bloody glow.

KREEEANG~

Following the heaven-shaking clang came the desolate, sorrowful wail of metal.

No one understood what it meant. Only Fujero, who knew the most, felt his throat go dry. His heart plummeted, and a chill went straight to his core.

"That was General Mandela," he whispered. "His sword... it broke..."