-----
-----
Tears welled up in Xue'er's eyes as she bowed respectfully."Thank you, my lord. Xue'er takes her leave."
As soon as she spoke, she gave a deep bow, then quickly turned and left the palace.
"After me, a new dragon will be born… One that can unify the continent and help further magical research."
The Divine Capital murmured softly to himself. At the same time, deep in the palace's master bedroom, a dragon egg trembled, seemingly in response. It looked like it wanted to hatch—but then stilled, silently absorbing the energy of the world around it.
Meanwhile, black mist swirled in the Divine Capital's palm, forming a massive continent etched with eight Asian cities.
A vision of Huomu City materialized before him. As he stared at the vastness of the city, he couldn't help but wonder—
All those towering mountains were actually inside the city. Its walls were even longer than the Great Wall. How had the demons built something like that?
But he didn't really care. If the demons had already done the hard work, then he could just sit back and enjoy the benefits—regardless of whether the city held mountains or monsters.
He calmly watched the illusion of the demon army marching out of Huomu City, heading straight for the seventh city—Golden Flame City.
In Golden Flame City's central command hall, two demons stood locked in a tense stare: Huoyuan and the city lord, Chiyan.
Chiyan's horns flared like eternal flames, glowing with molten energy. His crimson eyes burned bright, and even his breath turned to fire.
Next to his searing presence, Huoyuan looked deathly pale, as if reeking of decay.
"Brother Chiyan," Huoyuan urged, "please listen to me. We should go together to the central capital—the first city—and join forces with its lord. Only united can we stand a chance against the Fire Demon Lord."
Ever since Huoyuan retreated from Huomu City, he'd been passing through six cities, trying to convince the other city lords to form a united front—only the combined strength of the Eight Lords could hope to oppose the Fire Demon Lord.
"Huoyuan, my brother," Chiyan snorted, "it's just the Fire Demon Lord, not the end of the world!"
"I'm a fire demon too. I command fire magic just like him. I could burn down the world if I wanted. Why should I fear him?"
"You've been trying to talk me into this for days, and I'm still not convinced."
"I didn't even speak up during the Demon Lords' council. Whether to submit or to rebel—I wasn't sure."
"But abandoning the territory I fought so hard for? No way!"
"I have countless human slaves, loyal demon subordinates—I can't just walk away and start from scratch again!"
He scoffed, grabbing his cup and downing his drink in one gulp.
"Brother, you—"
Before Huoyuan could finish, a demon rushed in from outside the hall, dropped to one knee, and reported urgently:"City Lords Huoyuan and Chiyan! Scouts report that tens of thousands of demons from Huomu City are marching toward Golden Flame City!"
"They'll be here in less than half an hour. Should we gather our forces to meet them head-on?"
Huoyuan's heart dropped.
So soon? The Fire Demon Lord really wasn't wasting time taking over the continent.
Panicked, he quickly suggested, "Brother Chiyan, let's just retreat for now! Leave the human slaves here—it's not like we can't take the city back later!"
But Chiyan just smirked proudly."You think I fought my way to the top among thousands of demons just to run when danger shows up?"
He turned toward the kneeling demon and gave the order:"Mobilize all our troops! We fight the Huomu demons head-on!"
The demon immediately obeyed and rushed out of the hall to rally the army.
Huoyuan sighed. Chiyan was as stubborn as ever.
"Brother—"
He tried again to reason with him, but Chiyan raised a hand to stop him.
"I won't run from a fight. Just watch, little brother. I'll show you how to win against these so-called elite demons!"
"I'm a fire demon too! So what if he's the Fire Demon Lord? Since when did rank decide destiny?"
"This is my land, and I'll defend it. Even if I lose, I'll at least go down fighting!"
Huoyuan felt a rush of adrenaline at Chiyan's words, but the thought of the Fire Demon Lord's overwhelming strength quickly snuffed it out.
Still, seeing Chiyan so fired up, so eager to challenge the enemy, Huoyuan knew there was no stopping him now.
He'd just have to stay hidden in the shadows… and be ready to step in if things got bad.
"Let's go, brother!"
Chiyan stepped out of the hall and headed toward the city walls where the Huomu army would soon appear.
"Ahh…" Huoyuan sighed.Fate really does love playing tricks. If we city lords weren't all so much stronger than the average demon, I wouldn't have bothered trying to talk you out of this. I didn't think you'd rather fight to the death than fall back even once…
He followed Chiyan outside.
Within minutes, the two demons soared up to the massive city wall using their own dark magic.
Chiyan stared at the black swarm of incoming demons in the distance—like bees converging on the city. He looked back at his assembled forces and roared:"Open the gates! Move out! We're taking the fight to them!"
Huoyuan was dumbfounded."You're what?! Brother, the city walls are protected by a magical barrier! We don't need to go out. Just hold our ground!"
Chiyan burst out laughing."What kind of Demon Lord are you, cowering like this?"
"Troops, follow me!"
At his command, huge flaming wings burst from Chiyan's back. As he lifted his hand, fire shot into the sky, turning the clouds into a sea of dusk.
Then, his five-meter-tall body suddenly grew even larger—twice the size.
"Kill them all!"
With that, Chiyan charged out first, and the hundreds of thousands of demon troops behind him spread their wings and surged forward like a tidal wave.
"BZZZZZZZ————"
The armies were supposed to meet in half an hour.
But thanks to Chiyan's hot-headed charge, they clashed in just ten minutes.
Huoyuan watched silently from the clouds above, keeping to the shadows.
He saw the lead attackers—demon dragons with giant wings and lizard-like bodies.
Chiyan dove straight for them, swinging his burning claws at the front line.
Leading the Huomu forces were Abel and Ato. They had been warned by the high-ranking demons of Huomu City: the Golden Flame army was likely to charge head-on, and the one leading them would be none other than the city lord himself.
So when they saw that small but furious fire demon rushing them, they knew exactly who it was.
Why he was coming out to fight, they didn't know—but it didn't matter.
He wasn't going back alive.
Staring into the fire demon's eyes, Ato shouted,"Everyone, attack!"
With that, the demon dragons and their comrades raised their weapons and charged at the Golden Flame forces.
Ato faced Chiyan's flaming claws without fear. He simply opened his mouth and blasted a fiery dragon's breath—turning into a massive fireball that roared toward Chiyan.
Chiyan had expected to slice through it easily with one claw. But as soon as he felt the power behind the flame, his expression twisted in shock.
"This… this can't be real!"
"....."