"It is so! A great stone suddenly fell from the sky. Underlings believed our forces were incapable of resisting it, so I rallied Hithadalf to retreat quickly. But who would have known, Hithadalf he..." Ruixilair secretly glanced at him.
Because Hithadalf had not issued the retreat order in time, they had indeed suffered some additional losses.
"So, this is how things are now."
The King of Fear nodded, then turned his gaze to Hithadalf.
"You have disappointed me greatly this time," he said. "However, given your past meritorious service, I can offer you another chance."
Hithadalf cursed internally, thinking, 'I told you there might be an ambush here, but you insisted I advance instead of listening. What could I do?'
But of course, these words could not be spoken aloud; to do so would be his utter ruin. He could only kneel on one knee, bowing his head as low as possible: "Your subordinate acknowledges his guilt. Henceforth, I shall make amends for my mistakes and will no longer fail to meet Master's expectations!"
"Very well," the King of Fear nodded, finally looking at the Lich. "You are not responsible for commanding the army. This mistake is not yours; you may withdraw."
"Yes, my Lord!" The Lich bowed his head and withdrew with the others.
In truth, the combat today did not allow for a complete assessment of the opponent's true combat capabilities.
Aside from a brief aerial engagement, there had been no direct contact with the enemy's ground forces. The only significant clash might have been when Vincent engaged the great demon with his holy sword, but it was a single exchange, making it difficult to gauge the strength difference between the two sides.
Beyond that, there was the spell cast by the King of Fear.
That spell had truly instilled despair in everyone.
With that single spell alone, Xiao Xun harbored deep doubts about whether the King of Arrogance, whose name was spoken in the same breath as the King of Fear, had truly perished.
He suspected that he might have killed a clone, or a puppet, or that it was all an illusion.
Xiao Xun convened a round table conference to discuss how to proceed.
"We must have someone specifically tasked with stalling the King of Fear, preventing him from unleashing such a powerful spell!" Xiao Xun declared with conviction. "If he is allowed to hide behind the undead army and cast spells incessantly, we might not even last a single day!"
The conference room was eerily silent; no one uttered a sound.
"I'll go."
Bai Yang, who had been standing behind Xiao Xun, suddenly spoke.
All eyes turned to him. Bai Yang calmly continued, "If you deem me worthy, I shall undertake the mission of luring away the King of Fear."
Xiao Xun frowned. "This task cannot be accomplished by one person alone. None of us here can complete it individually. My intention is to form a team to hold back the King of Fear, which should be sufficient."
"Every member of this team must be sufficiently powerful, otherwise they will not be able to endure the King of Fear's spells." Xiao Xun paused here. "I am willing to lead this team. With my three Star Envoys, that makes four. Who else is willing to join?"
"I will," Dukal suddenly stated. "Aside from Your Highness Svein, there should be no mage present more powerful than I."
"I shall not go," Vincent suddenly said. "Although my strength is more than sufficient, the army requires my command more urgently. Furthermore, we must have someone remain here to deal with the Devil Commander of the undead army."
At this juncture, everyone had to be objective and factual; no one was holding back or feigning modesty.
"This is only proper," Xiao Xun said. "Then, we have five now. Who else is willing to participate?"
"I will join as well," Ji Funi said.
Xiao Xun immediately refused, "No, Ji Funi. You are a qualified warrior, but in this battle, our greatest need is to delay, not to unleash your immense rage to destroy enemies. Today, you have seen the colossal demons of the undead army; the main battlefield requires your strength more!"
Ji Funi tapped the table twice and remained silent.
"We are still one short," Vincent said.
"Me, me, me." From behind, as if discovering something amusing, the air force commander raised his hand. "Count me in. I can fly my fighter jet and from the air..."
Xiao Xun refused again. "No, Madolrit, you cannot go. The air force needs your strength; we cannot do without you here."
The air force commander, with a dissatisfied expression, was about to say something more when Vincent interjected, "Indeed, the air force cannot do without you, my great commander. You shall stay!"
The air force commander reluctantly sat down with a disgruntled look.
Since there was no one else available, Xiao Xun shook his head. "Very well, the five of us shall be enough."
It was the second day after the ambush. At this dawn hour, as the sun rose from the horizon, the first demon emerged from the canyon and reached the plains along the border.
Then, it was engulfed by countless artillery shells.
"The demons have arrived, Your Highness Svein."
Xiao Xun received the news, mounted the Frost Dragon, and, along with the other four, maneuvered to the other side of the mountain, heading towards the rear of the demon legion.
Upon landing, he sent the Frost Dragon back, as its target was too large.
Ahead, soldiers quickly formed a defensive line, blocking the charging demons at the valley entrance. As long as the valley mouth was blocked, only a mere dozen or so demons could engage them head-on at any given time. The rest could only crowd in the rear, waiting for the demons in front to fall or for the blockade to be broken before they had a chance to fight!
"Soldiers, do not rush to kill the enemy; use your shields to block the demons' advance. That is our victory!" Vincent, noticing this, immediately shouted, reminding the soldiers of their plan. "We have artillery in the rear to bombard them. As long as the line holds, they will naturally be cleared by the cannons!"
As if to echo his words, from the rear, one hundred and fifty-five cannons fired simultaneously. Countless artillery shells seemed intent on leveling the mountain before them. The shells landed in the demon torrent, instantly erupting in a storm of blood and fire, and countless demons were riddled with shrapnel, turning them into sieves!
The second round of bombardment began!
From the rear, noticing all of this, the King of Fear frowned.
"We need someone sufficiently powerful to break this situation," he said. "Who will go?"
Hithadalf immediately stepped forward and said, "Master, please allow me to go!"
"No, you must remain here to command the army's movements," the King of Fear flatly refused his request, then turned to a demon hunter and said, "Ruixilair, you go!"
"As you command, my Lord!" After responding, he directly raised his double axes and let out a roar as he charged forward!
"Foolish humans, accept judgment from Lord Ruixilair!"
He screeched, charging forward, relying on his massive physique to crush countless pitiable demons along the way.