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Chapter 184: The Battle Begins
The situation in Vicanti grows more tense as devils approach the town. Many people begin to cause a ruckus, but thanks to the mercenaries and adventurers, they are able to prevent further chaos. However, everyone is aware of the dire situation and the anxiety felt by the people, which is why the disturbances are occurring. The local prominent figures can use the teleportation station, while most commoners will have to walk south under protection.
Aldrian watched all of this with a serene expression, but beneath that calmness, there was also anxiety due to the uncertainty of his mother’s fate. He hoped that he could dash north to find her, but he wasn’t reckless. He knew this was war, and it was his first time being involved in it. He wanted to understand how the devils fought, as they had managed to breach the empire so deeply. Usually, the fighting was confined to the border and could only be considered skirmishes.
He wondered what made the Devil Lord decide to attack the empire, as a full-scale invasion like this was not common. The last time it happened was thousands of years ago. However, the situation then was not as dire as it was now, with the empire seemingly losing to the devils on all fronts. What made the devils feel different this time? What made them feel confident? He wanted to find out through this battle.
He had already created his domain here, standing atop the wall and gazing at the horizon, waiting for the incoming devils. He closed his eyes in meditation, his mind working through many scenarios. He also decided to create a formation within his domain to cover a small part of the town. With his domain extending over more than 3 kilometers, he couldn’t cover the entire town. If he wanted to cover the entire town, he would have to create the domain inside the town’s mayor’s mansion, where he believed the faith or karma of the people must be gathered. 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘱𝘶𝑏.𝑐𝘰𝑚
An hour passed, but there was still no movement on the horizon. However, the Rivas family’s thousands of soldiers had already established a defense line 500 meters in front of the wall. The average cultivation of these soldiers was at the Baron stage, and all of them wore Earth-grade armor, showcasing how wealthy the Rivas family was in nurturing so many of their cultivators to this level and even providing them with artifacts for protection.
After another hour, they finally saw something on the horizon. At first, it appeared as a tiny dot in the sky, and not long after, they spotted a dot on the ground. Soon, they could clearly see a massive number of devils approaching them at high speed.
"Many of them are riding wyverns! Cultivators of the wind element, use your wind to prevent the wyverns from attacking! Kill as many as possible! After I give the signal, strike them! Use your energy wisely—don’t waste too much of it!" the commander of the Rivas family shouted. He then stood at the forefront of the defense line and raised his hand, his aura blaring with the power of his middle Grand Duke stage cultivation.
He then created a giant fire ball on top of his hand, the heat of which could be felt from inside the town. Many people who saw it were amazed by its power. When they saw thousands of wyverns, with devils riding on them, coming their way at full speed, they felt nervous but remained steadfast in their positions.
They also finally saw the main army of the devils on the ground, advancing with movements that created a rumbling sound and even made the ground tremble. This was one of the devils’ tactics to shake their opponents’ morale, and it was quite successful. Some of the mercenaries began to tremble when they saw the massive number of devils, their forces so numerous that they seemed to blacken the sky and the ground.
The devils utilized many kinds of beasts, including a few giant snakes that radiated a Grand Duke stage aura, causing the defenders’ bravery to waver. The devils’ war cries could be heard from afar as they charged toward the defense line like crazed animals.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
"Don’t let even one escape—kill them all!"
"The ones who’ve comprehended ’Lust’ can capture them as slaves! Don’t let them escape!"
"I need women! I need more women!"
The crazed expressions of the devils as they charged into battle were finally visible to the defense line, as cultivators had better sight than ordinary mortals. When the commander judged the distance to be right, he finally released his technique.
Blazing Sun Arrows.
He then threw the giant fireball into the air, directing it toward the incoming devils. However, they seemed to ignore it, unmoved by its presence. Suddenly, the fireball erupted, shooting a barrage of fiery arrows toward the devils. Each arrow instantly incinerated anything it touched, burning anything in its path. The barrage created a massive blaze in the center of the devils’ formation. Finally, the fireball plummeted into the packed ranks of the devils, exploding with a thunderous blast.
BOOM!!!
The ground shook violently as the explosion reverberated across the entire battlefield, killing many devils in its wake.
"NOW!"
After the commander shouted, the wind cultivators instantly unleashed their wind techniques, creating powerful gusts that swept the wyverns and devils in the air. However, not all of them were knocked down, as there were simply too many. The devils riding the wyverns retaliated by releasing their own technique. Fire rained down from the sky like a storm, but the men on the ground had already anticipated the attack. They raised their energy shields, protecting themselves from the firestorm with their own techniques.
The fire met many obstacles, causing it to deal minimal damage to the defense line. The wind element cultivators continued to target the wyverns, using techniques like wind slash, swirling wind, and powerful gusts. At times, they even combined their abilities with fire element cultivators, creating a massive fire net in the sky to burn the wyverns.
The combined techniques were quite effective, but the numbers were still overwhelming, and the devils on the ground had already begun releasing their own techniques. The devils unleashed their earth element abilities, causing the earth to split toward the defense line. The Rivas family’s earth element cultivators confronted this, using their own techniques to prevent the earth from splitting further and countering the various earth-based attacks.
The devil army on the ground finally reached the defense line, triggering numerous trap formations that caused explosions or trapped them in sucking sand. However, like an unrelenting wave, the devils continued to push forward, using their horned beasts to ram into the defense line. Despite the reinforcement of many formations and artifacts, the sheer number of devils was overwhelming, and all of them seemed to be in a frenzied state.
Finally, the first casualties from the Rivas family fell as the defense line was breached by the beasts’ attacks. Many tried to slay the beasts, which served as the vanguard units for the devils, but the beasts striking them were silver-armored rhinos, most of which were at the Viscount and Earl stages. The beasts acted like unstoppable battering rams, smashing through the defense line. Parts of the defense line began to break, but it was still contained as the support units behind them continued to eliminate any devils that slipped past. However, the beasts were incredibly ferocious, killing anything that stood in their path.
The commander stood at the forefront, having already battled numerous devils with his halberd. Now, he was locked in combat with a giant snake, its devil rider already in their devil form. Other giant snakes were still slithering toward the defense line, but all he could do was hope his comrades could hold them back. Fortunately, several Grand Duke stage cultivators stood alongside him on the defense line.
"How on earth do they have so many high-level beasts—and even managed to tame them?" the commander wondered.
"Give up, you Rivas family dog! You won’t win against us. This is only our greeting, and you’re already in this pitiful state. Soon, your empire will be finished!" the devil’s commander taunted.
"You love to blabber nonsense, you devil scum. Die!" he spat, swinging his halberd and unleashing his halberd technique. The devil and the snake blocked the attack with ease, though the force spread out, tearing up the ground around them.
"You’re dead!" the devil shouted, laughing crazily.
Their clash crushed the surrounding devils, scattering blood and body parts everywhere, creating a grisly battle arena around them. The devil commander expected the other snakes to breach the defense line and break through the town wall, but he felt a twinge of confusion as some of the snakes seemed hesitant, not attacking as they should.
He had brought over a dozen giant obsidian-backed snakes at the low Grand Duke stage—beasts renowned for their powerful control over earth element—to breach the defense line. But now, as he watched, he noticed that some of these formidable creatures were trembling in fear, seemingly beyond the devils’ control.
The beasts began trembling, and devils dropped dead the moment they entered this area, their bodies forming piles of corpses. The devil commander’s heart trembled. What was happening in that part of the battlefield?
