Jack was one such warrior, feeling stifled and anxious as the enemy pressed on the verge of breaking through their lines.
At that moment, an ape demon suddenly roared, rearing up on its hind legs, both fists clenched, preparing to strike him with a devastating blow!
Yet in doing so, it fully exposed its unprotected, seemingly vulnerable abdomen!
A perfect opening!
In an instant, Jack's eyes burned with determination, matching the fire in his heart.
"I'll hold it off!"
He shouted, stepped forward, and raised his shield, brimming with ambition, hoping to strike first and pierce the ape demon's abdomen, forcing it to retreat!
However, he was being naive. He knew nothing of a demon's anatomy, nor that for these maddened ape demons, only death could end their attacks—no wound short of that would stop them!
These fiends have virtually no true weakness; that soft-looking abdomen holds a nest of evil power!
From a distance, Anno's face paled. "Jack, fall back! Let me handle this!"
But it was already too late.
His longsword drove clean through the demon's abdomen, even piercing out its back. The blow was serious, but not nearly enough to halt the beast's frenzy!
The ape demon's massive arms swung like windmills, easily skirting Jack's shield and pounding into his shoulder!
BANG—!
The incredible force sent him flying, a cry of agony torn from his lips. "Ugh—!"
He crashed heavily to the ground, bouncing, his shoulder visibly bent and deformed, clearly out of action.
The line he was holding—now stood wide open!
Anno had no time to scold this reckless warrior, and instead barked, "Fill that gap!"
There is a special trick to facing demons: their chaotic nature means they attack friend and foe alike. As long as the lines hold, the ones in the rear will trample and slaughter the ones in front for you.
But if your lines break, and your troops are surrounded, then no matter how strong you are, you'll be swept away by the tide of demons.
No wonder Anno was so desperate—but it was too late!
Shrieking Dretch forced their way through, bursting in from behind and flanking the defenders!
The front-line warriors suddenly found themselves in dire straits—fending off foes in front while guarding their backs from ambush. With more Dretch pouring through, being encircled and destroyed was now just a matter of time.
But then, from the rear, Charles's voice rang out: "Storm Domain Pastors—advance! Fire a volley!"
Immediately, the warriors saw nine gray-white-haired nuns rushing forward, each carrying a large square box. They passed the shield wall, taking positions at the very front.
Nine thick, blinding lightning bolts erupted from the boxes—bursting through the front line!
Each beam carved the battlefield like cracks in a mirror, dividing it into sections. With these nine intersecting lines, the horde was isolated in several areas, unable to reinforce each other.
Dretch and ape demons struck by the barrage shrieked in agony or roared in fury, their bodies dissolving into mist.
In a single volley, more than twenty Dretch vanished—relieving the beleaguered defenders!
Further back, Ekta thrust out her hand; flames swelled in her palm, forming a blazing fireball the size of a basketball, before she hurled it into the enemy ranks—
BOOM—!
An ear-splitting explosion rocked the field, flames surging in all directions. The tough ape demons withstood the heat, but nearly every Dretch was instantly vaporized, clearing a huge swath of the battlefield!
"Now! Re-form the lines!"
Charles shouted, summoning his Pact longsword, enchanting it with elemental power, and softly chanting "purified," cloaking the blade in milky radiance.
He strode forward, coming face to face with the very ape demon that had sent Jack flying, and unleashed a single, blazing strike—
Sizzle—
A flash of purified white light burst out, the power from the Level 3 Monastery now doubled from before. The ape demon let out a howl of agony before dissolving, utterly annihilated by the force of purification.
No time to check his newfound points, Charles bellowed, "Storm Domain Pastors—fall back! Anno, re-form the lines! I'll handle these ape demons!"
The nuns quickly withdrew, not lingering for glory. Anno's warriors, shaken but determined, swiftly reformed the defense and joined the nuns in holding the line.
Hordes of Dretch swarmed forward, their claws slashing at Charles. He began to raise his shield, but then realized—thanks to the blessing of the Earth Dragon, these claws couldn't even scratch his armor!
Demon claws weren't magical; no matter how sharp, they weren't so different from a beast's claws.
And non-magical weapons are weakened by the Earth Dragon's blessing. The Dretch were so feeble that, combined with mage armor, they couldn't harm him.
Recognizing this, Charles abandoned defense, focusing on plugging the breach, purifying fiends at the front line with his sword.
Only when another ape demon charged in did he bother to raise his shield for defense.
With his support, the front stabilized—no further mishaps.
Ten minutes later, the hundred-plus demons were wiped out and their first post-mountain foray was complete.
The warriors began cleaning up the battlefield, sprinkling holy water where demons vanished to prevent further demonic pollution.
The Storm Domain nuns broke down their emitters, changing out the now-boiling coolant; the blue dragons' upgrades since the explosion meant a bit of water could help, but with this much generated heat, it was still not enough.
The Life Domain Pastors tended the wounded. The same life domain nun who had feigned admiration for Jack earlier was now guiding Divine Power to heal his fractures.
As she worked, she called out mercilessly, "Wow, Jack! The way you flew from that ape demon's punch was amazing! I bet Sister Lyle is in love with you now—go confess to her later!"
Jack kept his head down, face burning with shame. He knew her words were mocking, and that his reckless bravado had nearly cost them dearly.
Thank goodness the Storm Domain Pastors had arrived in time; otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
Noticing the cold glares—even his male comrades seemed to be judging him—Jack snuffed out any stray ambitions.
Nearby, Anno, seeing he was still wounded, refrained from scolding him. She joined Charles, gazing in admiration at the nuns cooling their weapons. "Blue dragon weapons really are good, so long as they don't overheat…"
Charles was tallying his own results—two ape demons down (each offering a thousand Purification Points), plus several Dretch, enough to push his points past three thousand.
Hearing her, he grinned: "Don't worry. Their loyalty in belief allows them to guide the deities' power—these Ion Beam Emitters will never overheat."
At least—as long as they followed proper battle protocols.
Anno rolled her eyes. "Don't be so smug. Guiding Divine Power isn't limitless, either."
Recalling the earlier display of nine synchronized lightning beams, her tone softened: "Still…not bad at all. Let's hope things keep going this smoothly."
Charles smiled and changed the subject, "Where are we now? How much farther to go?"
Anno shook her head, her expression troubled. "Hard to say. The dwarves have clearly moved some of their equipment—many landmarks are gone."
"If this continues, we might have to just try our luck at a few of their mines."
As she spoke, a deep, resonant sound began to echo across the sky: boom… boom…
Charles's face lit up. He recognized the signal—but for the moment, couldn't recall its meaning.
Anno, however, frowned. "It's a dwarven distress signal—there's a dwarven group in danger nearby!"
Charles grinned in excitement. "There's our clue! Let's go!"
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