### Chapter 9: Exploration (8)
After the Demon Army’s vanguard suffered heavy casualties, the incoming Griffin Legion scattered like confetti.
They realized that if they couldn’t take down this giant beast, capturing Black Stone City was no more than a fool’s errand.
Two Harpists accompanied the army, distanced from the battlefield, and surrounded by a host of soldiers. With a flourish, the Harpists summoned their makeshift four-stringed harps, and elegant, flowing music began to float through the air.
It was truly magical. Many injured soldiers, who had plummeted from the sky and were hanging by a thread, felt the music seep back into their hearts, allowing them to struggle to their feet. At least they’d live to tell the tale!
Thanks to the Harpists’ presence, the Demon Army didn’t crumble under the temporary setback.
Instead, under the command of their officers, they started attacking the giant beast in true Demon fashion.
“Splash!”
Another huge mouthful of acid that could melt a person came crashing down.
Prepared for this, the Demon Army only had a few unlucky souls who got drenched and instantly liquified.
Meanwhile, the rest of the troops hurled explosive magical potions, resembling Molotov cocktails, at the beast.
“Boom! Boom!”
The bottles filled with red potion erupted the moment they touched the beast’s skin, unleashing a purplish-black flame that spread across its massive body.
Some of the potion bottles missed their target and fell into Black Stone City, instantly igniting a cataclysmic fire.
What was even more terrifying was that when people frantically attempted to douse the flames, those eerie purplish-black fires leaped right onto them, following the water’s path.
These poor guys didn’t even have a chance to utter a last word before turning into a pile of ash.
It was clear just how tyrannical and bizarre those purplish-black flames were.
With such horrific examples, the crowd dared not intervene in the fire’s rampage. They could only watch, helpless, as entire houses were consumed until the colossal blaze gradually transformed back into a regular red fire. Only then did they tentatively approach to attempt putting it out.
Too bad by this time, almost half the city was already engulfed in flames.
The original residents of Black Stone City were all crying out in despair, utterly broken-hearted.
Meanwhile, the giant beast wrapped in purplish-black flames thrashed madly in the air, trying to extinguish those exceedingly strange little flames.
But the Demon Army’s potions were not that easy to counter!
Even with its thick skin and tough meat, the beast was quickly charred and shredded.
Though it managed to spit out more acid during its struggles, killing several hundred Demon soldiers, in the end, the relentless purplish-black flames finally made it let out a last wail, like a massive rock crashing from the sky, slamming down onto the walls of Black Stone City.
With a thunderous quake, a cloud of dust billowed up as the beast collapsed, crushing an entire section of the city wall.
The folks in Cold Wind City, beneath the Sky Tower, were utterly dumbfounded.
Zi Yi could barely believe her eyes when she saw Fu Yetian’s mount being taken down by the Demon Army, “How… how could this happen? How could it lose?”
But at that moment, there was no time for her to question the reality of what she was witnessing.
With the giant beast gone, the Demon Army erupted into cheers that reached the heavens.
Moments later, countless Griffins, carrying Demon soldiers, began their dive towards the last line of defense at the Sky Tower.
Probably due to their extensive use of potions in dealing with the beast, only a few scattered potions fell from the sky during their dive.
The defenders, having learned their lesson, knew better than to provoke anything within the purplish-black flames before they burned out, so they carefully steered clear of the fiery zones and retaliated with their well-prepared crossbow bolts against the enemies seeking to suppress them from above.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh…”
Sharp arrows flew back and forth, with casualties on both sides.
However, the elevated ranged attacks held a more intimidating advantage, and the Demon Army’s Harpists were occasionally unleashing sound bursts within the crowd, leaving the defenders clutching their heads and rolling on the ground, their eardrums ruptured, temporarily deafened.
With this back-and-forth, the Cold Wind City troops began to falter, seemingly on the brink of collapse.
As the Demon Army continued to pour in overhead, they appeared to have a fresh supply of potions.
With nearly a hundred bottles of purplish-black flames soaring down, the beleaguered troops, unable to sustain any more damage, utterly lost confidence. The Little Demons scattered; not only did they have to dodge the flames, but they also had to be wary of the Griffins swooping in for a strike.
Zi Yi was covered in bl**d, having downed several dozen Demon soldiers herself.
But alas, in a battle of this scale, one person, no matter how strong, couldn’t halt the tide of defeat. Most of her companions who had joined her were either dead or wounded.
With a “whoosh,” she spat out bl**d, overwhelmed by despair, and suddenly had thoughts of self-sacrifice.
She couldn’t even complete the crucial task given to her by her Lord. What face would she have to meet him in the future?
Just then, the Tiger Demon slashed down a Demon soldier falling from the sky and shouted at Zi Yi, “As long as the green hills remain, we need not fear having no firewood! The enemy is too strong; let’s retreat into the Sky Tower. Once the Demon Army enters, we can take the upper hand and fight back, ensuring they can’t return!”
Zi Yi paused, and the Tiger Demon’s words struck a chord.
A few commanders followed the Tiger Demon, rushing toward the tower and ascending the steep staircase.
During their climb, even if some Demons noticed their presence, they didn’t attack.
Clearly, fearing that the purplish-black flames would collapse the Sky Tower, or accidentally harm it during the fray, the Demons merely reported the Tiger Demon’s group’s whereabouts to their leader, watching them sprint to the top floor before bursting through the entrance, disappearing altogether.
“Good, very good!”
Prince Eric, riding a Griffin significantly larger than the norm, cast an admiring glance at his distant cousin.
“Your scheme of feigning a retreat was truly clever. We had no idea where the entrance was, but now, thanks to this pressure, their only escape route is into the Sky Tower, which has been laid bare to us.”
Morris eagerly gestured, and Adeline chimed in, “Your Highness, it’s my honor to relieve your burdens.”
Prince Eric, with his corpulent figure reminiscent of a middle-aged man, heavily weighed down on the Griffin’s back. Every time Adeline caught a glimpse of the Griffin’s hopeless expression, she worried that it wouldn’t last much longer before it flopped over.
“Hear my command! Occupy the Sky Tower and purge the surrounding suspicious individuals!”
“Yes!” the Demon soldiers replied in unison.
The speed at which the banner changed above the city was dizzying; the local residents of Black Stone City were almost numb.
When would such a string of bad luck ever end?
…
【Ding! You have entered “My Maze.” Would you like to activate the maze to stop the enemy invasion?】
Lin Nan, hiding behind a stone, suddenly received a notification.
