In the heart of the battlefield, where sand swirled and clouds were torn asunder.
Two blurred figures were locked in combat!
The earth shook, fracturing into a web of deep cracks.
Wild winds swept through, carrying a deluge of yellow sand.
Despite being humanoid beings barely two meters tall, every collision between them struck with the force of a bomb.
Every thunderous boom marked a single exchange between the two.
"Hahaha! Exhilarating! Truly exhilarating!"
With a sudden, violent collision, the swirling sand around them exploded outward, revealing the bedrock beneath where the topsoil had been blasted away.
With the two of them at the epicenter, the ground had collapsed into a crater nearly four meters deep.
The surrounding earth was shattered, leaving not a single inch of the ground intact.
Within a hundred-meter radius of their clash, not a single person or demon dared to approach.
As the impact faded, the two stopped their assault in a silent, mutual agreement.
That big idiot of a cat threw his head back and let out a long howl.
"I haven't had this much fun in ages! Not even when I was trading blows with Vistan, the Giant King of the North, was it this satisfying!"
"Is that so? I am glad to have satisfied you."
The Demon Emperor had fought a fierce battle, yet he hadn't shed a single drop of sweat, and the Beast Sovereign showed no signs of fatigue either.
The physical capabilities of these two had reached an absolute peak.
They were replenishing their stamina as quickly as they consumed it; I wouldn't be surprised if they stayed here fighting for three days and three nights.
The wings on the Demon Emperor's back folded inward as he watched Riccardo with a hint of wariness.
Though Riccardo appeared carefree, the aura radiating from him never diminished.
Even though they had temporarily stopped, neither had lowered their guard.
"However... Demon Emperor."
Riccardo's raspy voice suddenly shifted the topic, his gaze burning with intensity.
"Demon Emperor, what exactly are you planning? Why aren't you using your full strength?"
That was it? That was it??
This wasn't even their full power?
Are these two actually humanoid nuclear bombs?
Despite the distance, Lancelot was still interpreting their conversation for me through lip-reading.
Of course, this was only possible because he spent so much time traveling between the human kingdoms and the Beastmen Kingdom.
Otherwise, looking at that cat face... who could tell what Riccardo was saying?
Lancelot paused for a moment in thought, then turned back to add a detail for me.
"Your Highness, they likely aren't using their full strength yet. From start to finish, neither has used a single skill, relying purely on their physical attributes for melee combat."
He looked up at me.
"If they were to release their skills now, the shockwaves would likely devastate the surrounding army formations."
In other words, both the Demon Emperor and the Beast Sovereign were holding back.
They were consciously restraining themselves, limiting their destructive power to a specific area.
Looking back at the battle lines, the tide of the war had already turned.
At this rate, the knights would break through the demon army's encirclement in less than a minute.
"Demon Emperor... what other trump cards are you hiding? Why can't I see them?"
From the moment the Beast Sovereign appeared until now, the situation on the battlefield had completely reversed.
Yet, the Demon Emperor had never shown a single trace of panic.
This was not the attitude a commander should have when their home base was about to be destroyed.
I had the feeling he was charging up some kind of ultimate move.
But I couldn't for the life of me see where that move was coming from.
Riccardo and Asacreus stared each other down, both wary of the other.
At this level, a single moment of distraction meant death.
I didn't dare interfere with them and could only silently pray for things to move faster!
Faster!
Once we were clear of the demon encirclement, I would sweep the area with dragon breath and annihilate the demon army's remaining forces in one fell swoop!
I refused to believe he would still keep his secrets once his army was gone.
My gaze swept across the fields, in all directions, and up into the distant sky.
Beyond the skysoar dragons prepared to unleash their dragon breath, there was the beastmen aerial force.
Seeing those giant bats with ten-meter wingspans, I knew they had to be the Beast Sovereign's elite units.
Every bat carried a hanging basket between its feet, and inside each basket sat a fully armed member of the Lion tribe.
Each of those lion-kin carried a massive, broad-backed blade.
Judging by the size, those weapons had to weigh at least two or three hundred pounds.
"Luo Li, it's a bit strange. The Demon Emperor still hasn't shown any sign of alarm."
Lina's eyes scanned the surroundings, but she couldn't find anything out of the ordinary either.
"I know."
"Can you think of anything?"
I glanced at the silly girl, my brow furrowed deeply.
"I'm thinking."
There was nothing strange on the ground and nothing strange in the sky.
So where did the Demon Emperor get his confidence?
In this situation, he would either need outside help, but there was no sign of any reinforcements as far as the eye could see.
If this continued, the demon army would surely collapse after a baptism of dragon breath.
Eventually, they would be completely consumed by my knights.
But if it wasn't reinforcements, did the Demon Emperor have some special skill of his own?
If he had a mass-buff skill like mine, he might be able to turn the tables.
But if he had one, he should have used it by now.
If he waited any longer and I achieved my tactical objective, the dragon breath would leave him with no way to recover.
Watching the knights below fighting their way toward me, the fluctuations of mana from the dragon breath in the sky grew even more intense.
I gritted my teeth, deciding I couldn't afford to worry anymore.
Given the strength of Riccardo and Asacreus, they wouldn't be harmed by dragon breath of this level.
In that case, let's begin!
"Lancelot!"
"As you command!"
Lancelot answered, turning to pat Mr. Momo's back and issuing the order with a low growl.
In the next second, Mr. Momo threw his head back and let out a thunderous roar.
"Roar—!"
In an instant!
The necks of two thousand skysoar dragons snapped back before they whipped their heads forward, their dragon breath transforming into pillars of fire.
Two thousand pillars of fire condensed into one in a split second, forming a massive column of flame fifty meters in diameter!
The moment the dragon breath descended, any demon it touched was vaporized almost instantly, without even a chance to struggle.
Screams filled the air as the smell of charred flesh drifted through the wind.
The earth was scorched, and the air distorted visibly from the heat.
Seeing this, the Demon Emperor Asacreus and the Beast Sovereign Riccardo looked at each other almost simultaneously.
The Demon Emperor made a sudden leap, intending to block the dragon breath.
But Riccardo reached him first, throwing a punch!
"I'm still here! Where do you think you're going?!"
The Demon Emperor's brow tightened as he lowered his stance and raised a hand to block.
Asacreus's body was sent flying backward in an instant!
This didn't mean Asacreus was weaker than the big cat, but rather that he had blocked in a hurry and had no time to brace himself.
Seeing these two top-tier powerhouses clash again, I turned my gaze toward the distant sky.
The dragon breath began to sweep across the land, scorching the earth into cracks wherever it passed.
Sand and stone melted into lava, and the dragon breath brought not only high heat but also a massive shockwave.
For a moment, that massive pillar of fire was like a crimson pen, leaving a winding script across the ground.
And the parchment for that script was the twenty thousand demon soldiers!
The massive pillar of fire could melt steel in an instant, let alone the flesh-and-blood bodies of the demons.
In the blink of an eye, the ground was a mess of ruin, and as the dragon breath faded, less than a third of the demon army remained.
And those who survived were all wounded.
Every demon bore some degree of burns or scalds.
The agonizing wails caused the entire atmosphere of the battlefield to shift.
Seeing this, the worry in my heart finally eased slightly.
At least for now, we held the advantage.
I glanced at the knights below, who were all staring at the scene with wide eyes.
However, some were starting to feel pity for the demons.
After all, they were living beings, and though their sense of pain was reduced, the agony of such extensive burns was still nearly unbearable.
In my view, this level of pain would stay with them for a lifetime.
Things have reached this point, Demon Emperor... you should finally be playing your trump card, right??
I turned back toward the Demon Emperor. At this moment, the battle between Riccardo and Asacreus was still ongoing.
And this time, both sides finally began using their skills.
Asacreus reached into the void, and a massive black longsword appeared in his hand.
I strongly suspected this sword was his Sacred Treasure.
As for whether demons could possess Sacred Treasures, no one knew for sure, as there were no records of it in history.
But I preferred to believe that this was indeed his Sacred Treasure.
Beast Sovereign Riccardo also drew his own weapon, a massive blade!
"Beast Fang—!"
Riccardo let out a roar as a sudden blaze erupted along the massive broad-backed blade.
This flame wasn't just simple fire, but a blade composed entirely of unknown mana elements.
With the enhancement of these unknown elements, the original two-meter-long blade extended to a length of nearly ten meters!
It was as if the blade itself had been elongated as the Beast Sovereign raised it high and swung it down at the Demon Emperor!
"Darkflow Burst!!"
The Demon Emperor also let out a sharp cry. The ground began to tremble as a surge of dark elements instantly surrounded him.
Boom—!
Just as the massive blade was about to hit the Demon Emperor, near-solid dark elements surged from the ground.
The massive impact collided directly with the long blade.
Riccardo's brow tightened as he gripped the hilt with both hands, pressing down with all his might!
Boom—!
The great blade slammed into the ground, but the Demon Emperor was no longer within the erupting mana elements.
Riccardo's brow furrowed as he whipped his head around, a black longsword already inches from his chest.
In that instant, my heart leapt into my throat.
If he lost, even if the battlefield situation couldn't be reversed, the Demon Emperor would still have the power to kill me!
Riccardo didn't seem to fear the Demon Emperor's sword; instead, he took a deep breath and let out a thunderous roar!
"Roar—!"
With that roar, the sound erupting from Riccardo's mouth caused the very atmosphere to vibrate.
The air distorted visibly, forming rings of air that expanded outward.
The black longsword seemed to enter a region of extreme resistance, its forward momentum slowing down considerably!
The Demon Emperor's brow tightened slightly, yet he remained unhurried. While holding the sword in his right hand, his left hand suddenly reached forward!
"Demon Claw!!"
Dark elements instantly condensed into the shape of a demonic claw, lunging straight for Riccardo.
Riccardo didn't hesitate for a moment, swinging his massive blade down to meet it!
Boom—!
At this moment, their battle shifted from pure physical combat to a contest of skills.
Neither side used any tricks; every move was an outright offensive.
Neither would give an inch, and neither would retreat a step!
The two of them gripped their weapons with one hand, constantly clashing.
The sound of metal hitting metal rang out like thunder!
Their other hands were constantly releasing skills, and eventually, they stopped even calling out the names of their techniques.
They abandoned chanting, choosing to attack each other with minimum power, maximum speed, and maximum consumption!
Riccardo threw a punch, his fist covered by a massive lion's head.
Asacreus countered by extending his hand like a palm.
A vortex of dark elements formed in his palm, and in an instant, the lion's head vanished without a trace.
Yet Riccardo's fist still landed in the Demon Emperor's palm!
Their weapons crashed together, and the distance between them was now practically chest-to-chest.
Yet neither side yielded a single inch!!
"Roar—!"
With their weapons locked and their fists engaged, the Demon Emperor seemed to have no room left to move.
Riccardo suddenly let out a roar, using that lion's roar ability once again.
The shockwave slammed into the Demon Emperor!
But at the moment of contact, the Demon Emperor's body suddenly transformed into a cloud of black mist.
The black current reached behind Riccardo in the blink of an eye.
At the same time, Asacreus's figure reformed into human shape.
He drove a fist into Riccardo's back!
Boom—!
Riccardo's body was sent flying like a cannonball, skidding dozens of meters across the ground before coming to a stop.
My heart was in my throat.
But... Riccardo stood up as if nothing had happened, patting the dust off his clothes.
He looked across the trench in the ground at the distant Demon Emperor.
"Phasing... good skill!"
The Demon Emperor, however, had a faint, calm smile on his face as he looked around.
"It seems you have won this war."
He was surrendering?
No... no matter how I looked at it, that expression didn't look like a surrender.
Furthermore, the relationship between demons and the races of the continent was one of eternal enmity.
Surrendering was equivalent to death.
He wouldn't surrender!
So what did he want to do?
"However..."
Asacreus shifted his tone, his gaze moving away from Riccardo and turning directly toward me.
Even from such a distance, I could still feel his cold, chilling gaze.
"Though the war is lost, the demons have not. My lovely Lady Luo Li, allow me to throw this welcome party for you!!"
?
Welcome party?
Before I could even figure out what those words meant, the earth... began to shake violently!
A massive rumbling sound approached from the distance.
Was there something beneath the ground?
An ominous premonition flooded my mind.
Rate on N.U.
