It was too late now. All John could do was manage the soldiers as best as he could. Even if they suffered heavy losses, they had to at least take down a few devils so their losses were not a waste. Now that the mobile fortress was half-broken, almost everyone exited it to face the devils directly. Only the country leaders and guild leaders remained to organize the troops.
"Wilted! Tell me everything about these devils! What their power levels, elements, and skills are," John yelled. Hope's Knowledge didn't grant him information about these devils.
"Those devils are all eternal grades," Wilted informed. "The weakest is Mammon. He is level 95. His skills mostly use dark elements. Belphegor is level 96. He has the ice element. Asmodeus is level 97 and has the lightning element. Leviathan and Beelzebub are both level 98. Their elements are wind and earth, respectively. As for Satan, he is a level 99 devil with the fire element. However, you should know that… Wait! Don't use that book!"
Wilted shouted at Horatio, who was about to use the Book of the Damned. Horatio looked back at her puzzlingly.
"Don't use that book anywhere near those devils. That book is originally from the underworld. They could sense its presence once you use it. You will just make yourself their target," Wilted explained. Then to John, she said, "Tell all warlocks not to summon any demon-type creatures. Those devils could take control of them."
John relayed the information as fast as he could. While doing that, he asked Wilted, "You were saying something just now?"
"Yes. You should know that those devils don't just have a single elemental affinity. They also possess either a soul or chaos element. Aside from Satan, I can't tell which devil has which element. They are random. We must wait until they use a skill that exhibits those elements before we know."
"What? Why did you give them random features?" John complained. His hands never stopped operating the war table.
"It's not me! It's Chris. He said so he could feel the excitement of surprise when he played the game," Wilted replied.
"F*ck that Chris! I'm sorry. I don't mean to insult the departed, but f*ck that Chris!" John exclaimed.
"If that is your feeling, you won't like what I'm going to tell you next. They have some skills unique to them, but most of their other skills are also randomized based on their affinities and traits, and all of them are high levels."
"Shit… F*ck…! You said before, aside from Satan. So, you know what Satan's elements aside from fire?" John asked.
"Yes… He has both the soul and the chaos element," Wilted answered.
"… F*CK YOU, CHRIS!!!"
*
Despite the limitation, John adjusted the troops as best as possible. He sent Elementalists with protection spells against a particular element to assist the soldiers in fighting the respective devil with that element. He also tried to concentrate his firepower on the supposed weakest devil, Mammon, and played defensively on the others. He planned to take down the devil one by one.
It was easier said than done. Even Mammon was a handful. He was much faster, stronger, and deadlier than anyone in the army. The soldiers who attacked him were as if eggs crashing themselves onto a rock. His two wolves were as if shadow demons, taking lives with ease. When these wolves were low on HP, they returned to Mammon. In just a few seconds, they were restored. They then returned to the battlefield as if new. There didn't seem to be a way to defeat those wolves without defeating Mammon.
The Elementalists that John sent cast Dark Resist to boost everyone's resistance against the dark element. This helped reduce the damage received by the soldiers facing Mammon. Priests or Inquisitors, who had learned the Protection from Evil spell, cast the spell. The spell reduced all damage received from demonic and darkness-type creatures.
Even then, the soldiers were dropping left and right.
John had most of the countries' top combatants battling Mammon. Emris, Arther, Meryl, Makubwa, Kuona, Vanessa, Ezekiel, Dytess, Helga, Ashira, and Morphic surrounded Mammon as they coordinated with the soldiers. Many top players were also there to help.
John spread the Ancient Champions who possessed the Anti-demon Aura to where all the six devils were. The devils were too strong to be completely affected by the aura, but they still helped.
For the devils other than Mammon, John assigned the top guilds to hinder them. He tried to keep them from causing too many casualties. As the number one guild, Everlasting Heavenly Legends volunteered to face the strongest devil, Satan.
Jeanny led her members as they charged Satan. They were supported by their native companions and the country's native soldiers. Satan simply watched them with a mocking grin.
Everyone sent their strongest ranged attacks once they were within range. Satan let those attacks hit. As they did, some sort of translucent cloak full of runic symbols covered his body. Most of the attacks couldn't get through this protective layer. A few that got through dealt negligible damage.
"Keep attacking! Valor will prevail…!!" Jeanny shouted, trying to rile up morale.
Satan finally made a move. He pulled his fire hammer back before making a full-round swing, a signature move of Whirlwind Slash, using only one hand. The swing produced a ring of fire that spread out. An invisible but powerful force followed the ring of fire. The wave brought about by this force swept those who tried flying up to escape the ring of fire. They tumbled in the air as the ring of fire burned their comrades on the ground.
"Harharhar! What a bunch of ants you are," Satan ridiculed.
Satan flapped his three pairs of flaming wings and produced multiple giant flaming hurricanes that moved randomly around him. These hurricanes sucked the soldiers who were in the vicinity and dealt continuous fire damage to them.
Two people and one techno golem forced their way through. They were Jeanny, Paytowin, and Brave King. Thin white light covered their bodies. These were Jeanny's Beacon of Hope which she had used to buff everyone before they engaged Satan.
Satan noticed the three who were flying toward him. He snickered. His mouth opened and a torrent of hot flames poured forth. These flames formed a huge pillar that could engulf the three.
"George!" Jeanny called.
Paytowin rushed ahead and activated his Unyielding Hope. He became invulnerable, using his body as a shield. The flames slammed into him. He was unhurt but he couldn't resist the pushback force. Brave King pressed Paytowin's body from behind and used its jetpack's propelling power. With Brave King pressing from behind, Paytowin was able to maintain his position, blocking the flame attack.
While Paytowin and Brave King halted Satan's attack, Jeanny rushed forward using her wings tool.
Satan was surprised that someone managed to come to right in front of his face, but his mocking grin never wavered. He saw Jeanny thrust her spear at his right eye. He let her.
Jeanny used Brave Thrust with her attack. Her spear generated a golden light that pierced forward. However, a translucent layer covered by runic symbols appeared between the spear and Satan's eye. This layer stopped Jeanny's spear. The golden light was unable to penetrate through.
When Satan was about to laugh again at her pitiful attempt, he suddenly found Jeanny's spear became a blur. Her spear stabbed again. Although it looked like one stab, Satan sensed multiple rapid strikes hit his protective runic layer at the same spot. As it did, he saw in disbelief a hole appeared in his protective layer. Jeanny's spear went right through that hole and stabbed into his eye.
