"Make way."
Linie flipped her wrist, the massive double-sided battle axe in her hand making a whoosh sound as it completed a full rotation.
She walked past the two gatekeepers guarding the entrance and approached the Demon soldiers gathering at the gate.
"Sorry... Lady Linie... we couldn't stop them."
"I'll handle it."
The two disheveled gatekeepers retreated.
Looking at the stone gate, which had been rammed open and damaged at the edges, Linie remained completely calm. The breeze blew through her twin pink ponytails, and the surface of her axe reflected the swarming Demons before her.
"If you cross the threshold of this gate, I will cut you down."
Linie's voice was not loud, but it caused the Demon soldiers attempting to advance to pause in their tracks.
They could sense that the Demon maiden before them was an existence no less powerful than Lightning Schulek!
Should they proceed?
But military orders were absolute.
Moreover, they had the numbers.
The Demons swarmed in! Wearing armor and wielding a motley assortment of weapons, they silently charged toward Linie!
Linie sighed softly. The axe in her hand melted into black mana, then condensed into a long staff.
If it were Nanoda, she probably wouldn't easily kill these blind fellows.
It would be better to simply knock them all out.
Linie did not move. Instead, just as the hundred-plus Demons were about to submerge her, the shadow of her staff began to dance!
*
On the city wall,
Lugner retreated step by step. Manipulating his blood magic, he unleashed streak after streak of blood blades, blocking Schulek's lightning-fast sword strikes.
The branching crimson blades left shallow cuts on Schulek's body while intercepting the heavy sword.
Schulek, however, did not even furrow his brow. The speed of the heavy sword in his hands did not diminish, and several times he nearly hacked Lugner.
After dodging, Lugner could only open up the distance once again.
"This is why I hate fighting warriors..."
The blood control magic dealt very limited damage to Schulek and could barely keep him in check.
"Traitor! You cannot protect this city; my army has already entered!"
Schulek spoke coldly, continuing to swing his heavy sword to sever the blood blades attacking from all sides.
"I am no traitor. The one I follow is an existence who will bring a new future to the Demon Race!"
Lugner took out a short knife and directly sliced open his palm. Increasing his mana output, blood pierced outward like a massive, branching tree.
Schulek had to immediately flip his heavy sword and stab it into the ground. Strengthening the mana adhesion, he used the broad flat of the heavy sword to block.
Zzzzzzt!
The infinitely branching blood blades stabbed against the heavy sword, striking up a large shower of sparks.
"Urgh..."
Schulek's hands gripping the hilt were pierced and injured. His two thick, sturdy arms trembled slightly as both man and sword were pushed backward by Lugner's move.
Lugner was not having an easy time either. His blood loss was constantly increasing, and his mana was being continuously consumed.
The battle between the two instantly turned into a tug-of-war; the side that exhausted their mana and stamina first would lose.
"You are indeed stronger than me, but you can only stop me alone."
Schulek spoke through gritted teeth. He was considered an outstanding warrior among the Demon Generals; with a sword technique as fast as lightning, few other Generals could contend with him.
However, what he did not know was that in the future, Lugner would be the Executioner under Aura, a direct subordinate of the Seven Sages of Destruction.
"Heh, I suggest you take a look down below first."
As Lugner spoke, a figure was knocked flying up from below. With battered armor clattering, the entire Demon hung directly in a gap in the battlements, limbs dangling, appearing to have lost consciousness.
Out of the corner of his eye, Schulek recognized it—that was a soldier under his command.
"You have accomplices?!"
Schulek finally used his clumsy Mana Perception to detect a stream of mana moving rapidly back and forth, mixed within his own army.
At the city gate,
Linie, a single Demon holding a single staff, was surrounded by the afterimages of her long staff, her movements terrifyingly fast.
The Demon soldiers approaching Linie were beaten back, or even sent flying, the moment they got close.
The weapons stabbing and hacking from all around were all parried by Linie using the long staff, pushed back one by one.
The city gate had now been reduced to a small battlefield, yet Linie fought back and forth within it, churning through the wave-like mass of Demons.
This was a technique she had imitated from a martial monk, combined with the assassin's footwork Nanoda had taught her.
Linie single-handedly intercepted the hundred-plus Demon soldiers.
"Phew..."
After knocking down close to forty of them, Linie felt a bit exhausted. Fortunately, the Demon army from the Demon Special Zone arrived in time.
"Subdue them, but don't kill them."
At the rear of the unit, Aura stood with hands on her hips, issuing orders confidently.
Because the Magic of Obedience could only be used in critical moments, otherwise she could have easily resolved these fellows herself.
However, this could also serve as a test of the strength of these Demons who had just completed their training.
Upon hearing Aura's command, the Demon soldiers, who were just about to collectively unleash a bombardment of Killing Magic, halted their actions and picked up the farm tools they had been carrying on their shoulders.
Because they had come in a rush, these Demon soldiers had been brought out by Aura straight from the fields.
Under Linie's fierce assault, the morale of Schulek's army was already low.
Soon, they were suppressed by the other group of Demons wielding farm tools.
On the city wall,
Schulek's entire body trembled, and he frowned for the first time.
"How is this possible... there are actually so many Demons hiding here!"
Sensing familiar mana, Lugner also breathed a sigh of relief. If he continued to fight desperately, although he could defeat Schulek, he wouldn't come out of it unscathed.
Moreover, rough-skinned warriors always had a tendency to explode with power in a pinch.
"Give it up. Existences stronger than me have already arrived," Lugner said, trying to persuade Schulek to cease his resistance.
"No! I will follow the Demon King's orders and kill all the humans here!" Schulek gritted his teeth.
"But the Demon King is already dead."
A young girl's voice suddenly rang out from behind him, and Lugner, standing in front, also ceased his attacks.
Schulek turned his head to look. A white-haired Demon with a broken horn, like a phantom, had at some unknown point sat upon the battlements behind him. Swinging her legs twice, she hopped down from the wall.
"What is your name?"
Nanoda asked Schulek.
"Demon General, Lightning Schulek!"
As he spoke, Schulek pulled his heavy sword from the ground. The blade flashed like a thunderbolt, chopping directly toward Nanoda.
Under Schulek's astonished gaze, Nanoda extended two fingers and clamped them onto the falling five-foot heavy sword.
Muscles bulged on his arms as his palms exerted force, yet the heavy sword could not descend a single inch further.
Ignoring Schulek, who was exerting himself desperately, Nanoda extended her index finger to press against her temple. She closed her eyes and rubbed it twice, seemingly in thought.
"Oh, I remember now. You're that guy who went to the Fortified City of Weise and got killed by Macht."
*
PS:
Played games and almost stayed up all night again.
Off to sleep now, awa.
I'll think about the launch testimonials tomorrow, even though it goes premium tomorrow (sad).
____
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