Chapter 74: Two in a Row! [First Update, Please Vote for the Monthly Ticket]

"White-face, do you dare to follow me?"
The red-haired demon king sensed the strange disturbance on the battlefield below and realized the deaths of the lesser demons were caused by the aftershocks of their own battle. He spoke up, "Our battlefield is not here..."

The white-faced king of Great Wilderness Mountain had also noticed this. His sharp gaze swept over the battlefield below as he replied, "Why wouldn't I dare!"

With that, the two demon kings soared swiftly, one after the other, into the sky.

...

Battlefield in the valley.

Bang...

Lu Fei stared in shock as the leopard demon, Ma Zi, standing before him, suddenly had his head burst open like a watermelon, splattering blood all over Lu Fei’s face.

He froze for a moment, then immediately wiped the blood away. Turning to the Crow Demon, the Redskin Huang Gui brothers, and the six remaining new little demons, he said, "Stick close to me, all of you!"

No sooner had he spoken than the voice of the Black General rang out from ahead.

"Prepare..."

"Group up around your respective leaders, little demons pair off in threes and twos..."

"Don’t rush for advancement..."

"Prepare..."

The Black General’s commands came one after another.

Having spent the past day eavesdropping on the Black General’s conversations, Lu Fei knew well that the man was extremely reluctant to fight this battle. The way he kept sharing survival tips for the lesser demons during combat made that clear.

What’s more, among the roughly one hundred and fifty little demons of Lang Lang Mountain, a third were newly transformed and had only come to the mountain within the past half year. These new demons knew nothing at all—throwing them into such a grand battle meant they were little more than cannon fodder, adding a few more corpses to the field and a bit more food for the eventual victors.

But orders were orders. Even the three great kings were personally joining the fight—how could their followers hope to stand aside?

"Prepare..."

"Move out!"

Again, the Black General’s voice echoed. This time, clad in golden armor and wielding a pair of black-gold hammers, the Black General stood suspended in midair above the valley. At his side stood Lady Hua and two other tall, armored generals.

The army began to advance.

Lu Fei immediately raised his wrought-iron spear and, together with several other leaders, marched with the demon army toward the enemy.

Behind him, the Crow Demon, the Redskin brothers, and the six new demons clutched their shoddy wooden spears and bows, faces tense as they followed their leader closely.

Before this, they had joked and laughed, thinking combat nothing to fear—especially since they’d be fighting alongside their leader. After spending a day waiting at Broken Peak, making a noisy mess of things, and finally enjoying a good meal of roasted meat, their spirits had been high and their fear of battle nearly nonexistent.

But just now—having watched the leopard demon Ma Zi, with whom they’d been joking moments before, suddenly die so horribly without warning—these little demons finally understood what war truly meant, what it was to be afraid. The fear began to ferment in their hearts.

At times like this, they became more obedient than ever, clinging to their leader's every word, following tightly behind.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang...

The demon army charged. The earth trembled.

Speaking of the four generals under the three great kings... Apart from the Black General and Lady Hua, both outsiders, the other two generals each commanded not only a far larger force but also troops whose equipment utterly outclassed that of the Black General and Lady Hua’s forces.

Even the lowest-ranked new recruits under those two could each be seen wielding a pure-iron weapon.

From this alone, it was clear those armies’ combat power far exceeded that of Lang Lang Mountain and Serpent Coil Mountain’s lesser demons. This was also why the Black General and Lady Hua seemed somewhat diminished in spirit compared to their counterparts; the difference in their followers’ strength was simply too great.

It was only natural, then, that the main force of those two generals took on the vanguard role, with the Black General’s and Lady Hua’s troops following behind. But as the highest-ranking commanders, the Black General and Lady Hua themselves would of course be on the front lines, facing the enemy’s top demon commanders head-on.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang...

Both demon armies thundered forward, the ground shaking and trembling. Flocks of startled birds erupted from the surrounding peaks, and wild beasts fled the forests in terror.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang...

The demon army’s speed increased.

Caught up in the feverish atmosphere of war, Lu Fei could not help but recall the battlefield from half a year ago. At that time, new to this world and weak in power, he had survived only by clinging to the Crow Demon and the Redskin brothers, struggling desperately to live.

He had been badly wounded, pursued relentlessly by a Serpent Coil Mountain snake demon leader, finding nowhere to run or hide—utterly helpless and in despair.

Now, not even six months later, he had risen to become a leader himself, and was fighting side by side with those who had once been mortal enemies from Serpent Coil Mountain.

Truly, the world was unpredictable.

Times changed, enemies changed, and he too had changed.

The only constant was the battlefield’s merciless brutality.

Once, he had longed above all else to become a leader, thinking that would keep him safe in battle. Now that he had achieved that rank, he found no such security—if anything, the battlefield felt even more savage, even more worthy of dread. He knew he would have to be more careful than ever.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang...

The two armies raced toward each other, faster, closer.

The vanguard demons could hold back no longer and began to roar.

"Charge!"

"Kill!"

"Slaughter those cowards from Great Wilderness Mountain!"

"Annihilate the scum of Wind and Cloud Ridge!"

"Kill—!"

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!

Amid these endless roars, the two demon armies finally crashed together.

A cacophony of screams, the clash of armor, the sound of blades biting into flesh, and furious shouts exploded across the valley, shaking earth and mountain.

"Kill!"

Seeing a squad of enemy demons burst through the lines, Lu Fei gripped his spear and charged to meet them.

At the front was a burly black bear demon, wielding twin hammers. He had just smashed a grey wolf demon's skull to pulp when he saw the tall white wolf charging in. Grinning savagely, he moved to meet the attack—but in a flash, he recognized the white wolf’s aura and stature, realizing he faced a leader. The black bear demon’s expression changed drastically, his fighting spirit vanished, and he hurled his hammers at Lu Fei before turning to flee.

Bang, bang...

Lu Fei easily knocked aside the incoming hammers and, seeing the black bear demon about to escape, hurled his spear.

Whoosh...

The spear pierced the air in an instant. Just as the black bear demon thought himself safe, the spear shot through his chest, impaling not only him but also a fox demon standing before him. The spear burst from their backs.

Two with one blow!

With that single strike, Lu Fei routed this capable enemy squad. The remaining three little demons scattered in panic, fleeing for their lives.

Lu Fei paid them no heed. He strode forward, bent to retrieve his spear from the two corpses—

Just then, his sharpened senses caught the faint twang of a bowstring.

A sudden unease made him freeze mid-motion. Instantly, he raised his arms to shield himself and leapt backward.

A heartbeat later—

Bang!

A long arrow slammed into the boulder where he’d just been standing, quivering with such force that its feathers trembled violently.