977 All Out War (1)
*Roar!*
The Superior Demons around Qiel alerted her about what happened at their target.
Qiel couldn't help but move to the side, looking at Milfa from a very long distance.
All the demons that tried to get closer ended up getting killed. They didn't even have the time to fight back. Even the Superior Demons had to retreat. They couldn't stop her attack and had a hard time breaking the barrier. Hence, it wouldn't be wise to continue attacking unless they were just trying to die.
Although it was a bit hard to see it from her position, Qiel could see how Milfa overwhelmed her opponents.
"What? How can he do that? Isn't Milfa supposed to be only a weak captain?" Qiel frowned.
Milfa hadn't gone to the battlefield many times.
The only time she encountered the Supreme Devil Organization was when she tried to help Noel when he was attacked by Laufey.
Milfa had been showing average ability and remained at the headquarters. She had never thought that Milfa was this strong. Even when Laufey experienced her attack, he said, "She is quite strong. I think that the rumor about her not being strong is not true. She should be in the middle rank among the captains in the Demon Banner Army. However, I don't think she has surpassed Clara yet."
That was what he said. However, the report was actually a lie.
"This is…" She sucked a cold breath. A single person actually managed to stop three Superior Demons and a few thousand demons by herself. "Damn you, Oscar... To think that you've been hiding your trump card the whole time."
Even though Oscar was under the control of the Third Prince, he obviously had his own way to protect the stability of the kingdom and repelled any threats. Just like how he sneakily ordered Faust to remain in a coma while he was actually biding his time to help Noel.
Oscar hadn't told anyone that Milfa was strong. Even the Third Prince didn't know about this.
The only impression they had of Milfa was that she was Oscar's secretary.
Qiel thought that by concentrating their attack on Milfa, the latter would be overwhelmed and start making a mistake. But she was wrong. They actually attacked the strongest helper the Ardagan Family had.
'We have a total of twenty two Superior Demons. Two of them were occupied by Damian earlier.
'Eight of them are fighting on the other four tips. The amphibian demon is already inside while the flying demon is approaching. One of the trees has died, while the other is occupied by Anna.
'Another two have been occupied by Howard and this mysterious guy who has the strength of a grandmaster. This person has a weird ability and that ape will die sooner or later.
'We have managed to stop Dimitri with Laufey, but Dimitri's strength is stronger than this. Ricky is helping him, but Dimitri will be able to break free at any moment. Anna is stronger than I expected as well. I've expected that they can recover to their peak in one way or another, but getting that strong is outside my prediction. Jeremy is helping the tree to stop Anna.
'The flower is also moving around. I can't make a move because of Faust. That means we still have five Superior Demons to spare. But I might have to send one each to Anna and Dimitri to maintain the balance. Only three left…'
Qiel couldn't help but grit her teeth. She had never thought that the situation would be this dire. In fact, she couldn't send these three Superior Demons right away. After all, the opposite party still had the Gem Lord and Noel.
She was aware of Gem Lord's ability. As one of the oldest elders in the Tower Association, it won't be weird if the Gem Lord kills one or two Superior Demons. Noel's ability couldn't be underestimated either.
It could be said that they were actually losing in the top fight.
'I have placed my cards all around the bases, but he manages to stop them in one way or another.' Qiel looked at Noel. The runes were simply weird.
'Those rains of lights kept showering the demons, killing so many demons. We have giant demons, but the corpses are blocking their way. They will only be crushed by those ballistas. Do we really have to rely on the flying demons?'
Qiel gritted her teeth. She had never thought that in a frontal battle, she would lose this miserably.
'Do I really have to start the second phase so soon? No way, why can't I overwhelm him even with this number?' There was only frustration in her heart whenever she clashed with Noel.
'But if I start the second phase so early, I don't think they will bite the bait. Anna and Dimitri still have their True Spirit Body. I and Laufey have it, but Milfa might be my miscalculation. She might have one as well and use it to tip the balance of the battle.
'There is also the famous Sea Duke, Briton. I have heard about his strength and achievements. If he is going all out, we might actually be losing. The Zaecuria Kingdom actually values him that much. And also, we haven't heard any reports about Duke Briton coming here… only the shipwr… Wait, did he sneak inside the kingdom as a shipwright?
'This is my blunder. How much information does he have hidden from the entire kingdom? No, my biggest miscalculation is Noel Ardagan. In the past, he didn't have the strength or status to back up his ability. Now that he has become an Earl, his influence has spread extremely far.
'Even Marquis Stargaze is stopping the Arbiters from interfering with the battle. The Sword Arbiter is also protecting the city, which we can't attack unless we end up angering the duke and causing him to enter the battle personally.
'There is also another Paladin in that city. Does Noel have a True Spirit Body? He is not as abnormal as Anna in terms of talent, but he might just make it look that way so that he can surprise us.
'As expected, having a Superior Demon die in just thirty minutes into the battle is huge.' Qiel wondered how many more cards Noel was hiding inside the city.
The Greenwood Kingdom had sent Damian, but there was no telling if the Ezenholm Family was going to get involved or not. In addition, she had heard about the rumor that Noel might also be a descendant of the Greenwood Royal Family. But there was no other proof she could get from that rumor.
If that were true, the Greenwood Kingdom might send even more reinforcement even if it meant offending the Muivell Kingdom. In fact, what could the Muivell Kingdom do if the Greenwood Kingdom and the Zaecuria Kingdom actually joined hands to attack them?
There was even a ridiculous possibility in Noel's mind. If the Greenwood Kingdom acknowledged Noel as a member of the Greenwood Royal Family and had the thought of marrying him with a princess of the Zaecuria Kingdom, he could definitely rally these two kingdoms.
'If only I knew this, we should kill them before he grows to this degree. The appearance of the rune book should have been the signal for us to kill Noel with every single thing we have. No, I shouldn't think about this. I should focus on the battlefield. It's still not over yet.'
Qiel had expected that the battle would be hard-fought, but she had never thought that she would be the one to be overwhelmed on this battlefield.
'It seems that I can only do this.' Qiel raised her hand, signaling her demons.
The demons recognized the signal and began to change their movement.
"Huh?" Noel furrowed his eyebrows. The demons that were about to attack the north wall suddenly stopped.
It didn't look much at first, but all of a sudden, a yellow-colored flower appeared on top of these demons' heads.
In that instant, the demons ragingly charged forward.
"Kill them!" Noel didn't know what they were planning to do, but it was clear that the flowers were the same manipulative flowers he encountered during the exploration.
The Rain of Light runes filled up the sky, showering the demons with thousands of beams. The demons actually ignored their injuries. Even with holes in their bodies, the demons continued forward as though they couldn't feel any pain. In fact, they looked like a puppet that had been controlled by these flowers.
"That's… not good." Andreas, standing on top of the ape's arm, looked at the incoming demons and noticed something weird in their souls.
He leaped back to the wall, but the ape waved its other hand, trying to grab him.
Andreas simply shouted, "Respected Old Man, can you switch with me a bit?"
When the ape was about to catch Andreas, a small gem flew toward the arm and exploded, knocking the arm away.
"Don't call me an Old Man. Call me Gem Lord." The Gem Lord harrumphed.
"Sorry, Gem Lord." Andreas shrugged before landing on top of the city wall. He rushed to Noel and said, "Something is not right with their souls. It's like they're controlled. Even if you kill their physical bodies, their souls will be stuck there and continue to be controlled unless you can destroy the flowers that control their souls."
"!!!" Noel widened his eyes. While he was aware that they were being controlled, he didn't know that it was their soul. Back then, he burned everything away, so he didn't think much about it.
Now that the problem had escalated, Noel had to change his strategy a bit.
However, the demons didn't plan to stop even with their tattered bodies. They slammed their bodies onto the wall, trying to completely fill up the ditch.
Some of the giant demons also came forth. Even with their bodies getting tattered, they still continued moving forward like zombies, finally reaching the ditch.
"Impossible. How can they not go down?"
"What do we have to do to stop them?"
"If this continues…" The soldier looked at the smaller demons using the giant demon's corpse to create a staircase. These demons would die and become a part of the stairs.
With their number, it wouldn't take too long before the demons had a working staircase.
Noel furrowed his eyebrows. They were simply too close to the wall, so Noel couldn't use his flame to burn their corpses, or it would affect the wall as well.
"Destroy those bodies."
"We have to use normal fire."
"That's right. We will bring some oils."
The soldiers were thinking about what they should do because they didn't want the demons to climb the wall.
However, this was Qiel's turn to attack.
The flying demons had finally arrived.
*Cry!*
A huge cry startled the people on the wall as the birds stopped and gathered their energy in their bodies.
About a hundred of them released their attacks from afar.
"Barrier!"
The Spiritual Barrier Rune blocked the attacks, but most of the flying demons dove down to ram their bodies at the soldiers. Even if they couldn't kill these soldiers, they would distract them.
The demons didn't hesitate to die as long as it was ordered by the Superior Demons.
"Raise your shield and block them!" Howard shouted.
"Y-yes!" The soldiers just did what they were told to do since they didn't know anything better.
The flying demons ended up crashing into their shields. Some of the demons knocked the soldiers back, albeit heavily injured. They tried to fly again, but they ended up flapping their wings to the side.
"Don't be afraid!"
"Attack them!"
The soldiers gritted their teeth. They had seen how their leader killed a Superior Demon, so they shouldn't be afraid of this.
"Surround them and kill them!"
"Kill!"
The soldiers gathered and stabbed the demons with their spears.
"Hurry up and toss the demon's body away."
"Don't throw it outside. Toss it inside the city. We can't let them form a staircase."
"Woooaaahhhh!"
"What happe—" The soldiers panicked when they saw a few flying demons choose to kidnap them instead. They grabbed them with their talons and flew up high before dropping the normal soldiers. The soldiers couldn't do anything but become minced meat when they reached the ground.
