Red Fang spread his wings, and everyone's vision instantly zoomed in on Eagle's Dungeon.
He spread his wings once more, and the silent ancient city transformed before their eyes — evil flames roared through its streets, while hordes of pitch-black, hulking monsters rampaged everywhere. These were the Burning Demons.
Their appearance perfectly matched the traditional image of demons: massive gorilla-like bodies standing two to three meters tall, goat heads, reverse-jointed legs, bat wings, and thin black tails whose purpose was unclear.
Flames burned constantly across their bodies, and only occasionally could their true forms be glimpsed. Most of the time, they resembled fire elementals more than actual fire elementals did.
According to Red Fang's briefing, Eagle's Dungeon was divided into upper and lower sections. The Burning Demons on the surface were only the minority — the true bulk of them dwelled underground.
Though Wade couldn't help finding it a little strange to discuss "above ground" and "underground" inside a dungeon.
The plan for this subjugation was straightforward: Red Fang would deploy monsters known as Flame Dragons to continuously drain the fire from the Burning Demons, while Wade and the others would be responsible for slaying the fire-stripped remnants — and they were free to summon whatever monsters they wished.
Rainbow Horn raised a question.
"If Flame Dragons can absorb fire, then how did the Burning Demons manage to scorch half a continent back in ancient times?"
Red Fang answered simply:
"Different eras. A monster that can be handled today may have been an extinction-level catastrophe in the past."
When the Burning Demons had rampaged across the world, Flame Dragons simply did not exist.
The dungeon lords cracked their knuckles and confidently selected their monsters. Only Rainbow Horn pulled out a herd of rainbow unicorns that looked just like him — adorably cute creatures that seemed to belong to an entirely different aesthetic.
The Slime Lord produced several massive slimes shimmering with a cosmic luster, each one clearly an elite-class monster.
The Hawthorn Lord conjured a swarm of bat-like creatures carrying piercing lances and various other weapons. Different weapons, different body sizes — the units were clearly specialized into separate combat roles, with even water-elemental creatures mixed in to counter the flames.
The Coconut Lord summoned rock creatures, the largest of which — a towering stone giant — stood as tall as an Attack on Titan colossus, presumably chosen for the advantage of stone being fireproof.
Rainbow Horn looked at Wade's summons and muttered quietly:
"You only called out that many? Is that really enough?"
Wade glanced at his ten Black Knights and replied:
"You might not believe me, but these ten together can take on anything in the world. A boss wouldn't survive even a single round against them."
Black Knights averaging C+ rank — some carrying sword and shield, some wielding Black Knight Halberds nicknamed "Glaives," while others carried massive greataxes.
Combined with their imposing pitch-black armor and the naturally tall, powerful physiques of the divine race, the entire group radiated an aura of few words, all business.
Rainbow Horn swallowed nervously. He could feel the overwhelming presence emanating from the Black Knights. Just from the way they stood, it was obvious they were terrifyingly powerful.
But still—
"Burning Demons generate extreme heat. Are you sure it's a good idea to send out a bunch of iron cans?" Rainbow Horn asked.
No matter how you looked at it, warriors encased head to toe in armor would have a hard time surviving such temperatures.
"It'll be fine." Wade gave a reassuring smile.
How could anyone call the Black Knights' equipment tin cans? These were masterworks forged by a master smith. Even the Bed of Chaos had only managed to char them black. Were a few Burning Demons really supposed to melt them?
Still, compared to the grotesque slimes, the elegant bat creatures, and the imposing rock constructs, the Black Knights did look somewhat plain.
If they had flashy colorful wing effects, they'd probably fit these dungeon lords' aesthetics much better.
"My acid slimes could melt those tin cans in one second," the Slime Lord remarked.
The others stayed silent. This was the moment to wait and see.
"Let's begin," Red Fang declared.
He summoned dozens of dragon-like creatures whose mouths and necks were swollen like balloons, creating a rather grotesque sight.
The flames covering the Burning Demons were steadily sucked away by the Flame Dragons. Soon, however, the dragons themselves caught fire. Their expressions twisted in agony, and their life force visibly began draining away.
Red Fang remained expressionless as he continued summoning more Flame Dragons. Once this batch died, the next wave would immediately replace them.
Everyone had assumed Flame Dragons were immune to fire.
Turns out they simply endured it through sheer toughness, relying on high fire resistance and overwhelming suction power.
The five dungeon lords' monsters were deployed into separate, non-overlapping zones. Already enraged from having their flames stripped away, the Burning Demons became completely berserk the moment they saw intruders.
After being sealed away for so long, they screamed and charged forward without hesitation.
Setting aside the unquenchable flames, each Burning Demon possessed roughly small-elite-tier physical strength. Their prolonged imprisonment had driven them into a frenzied madness — their attacks were wild and undisciplined, but their ferocity had increased dramatically. Whether that counted as a buff or a nerf was difficult to say.
The Slime Lord sent forward a green, slimy creature with exceptional defense and flexibility, only for it to be ripped apart in a single exchange by claws and fangs.
The bat creatures' heavily armored soldiers also suffered immediately. Their heavy shields were either smashed apart or hurled away, and their formation collapsed almost instantly.
The rock constructs performed somewhat better, but even they soon had chunks of stone blasted off their bodies and were clearly being pushed back.
As for the rainbow unicorns, there was no need for further analysis. Their adorable aesthetic alone ensured they could only flee in panic, like little rabbits tossed into a pack of Basilisks.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Heavy footsteps echoed across the battlefield.
At some point, a soaring orchestral score began reverberating through the air. Every dungeon lord — and even the Burning Demons — froze momentarily.
"What are you doing?" Rainbow Horn stared at Wade in bewilderment.
Wade had somehow produced a sound-recording stone and an amplification stone, and was now blasting battle music across the field — apparently something he'd copied from one Souls-game boss fight or another. Whatever the source, it carried the perfect atmosphere of inevitable, fateful combat.
And as the music swelled, the true main characters finally made their entrance.
Sword-and-shield Black Knights strode through the thick smoke.
One Burning Demon spotted a knight and immediately charged at him with a shriek.
The Black Knight moved.
A simple shield bash — not a parry, just raw physical force — sent the demon flipping violently off its feet.
Then the black blade drove straight through the Burning Demon's skull.
As the demon let out its dying scream, the knight twisted the sword. A teeth-grinding crunch echoed out as demonic flesh and blood splattered across the ground.
More demons heard the commotion and swarmed in to kill him, but reinforcements arrived immediately.
A black streak flashed past.
The Black Knight Halberd cleaved three demons cleanly in half from head to toe in a single swing, sending geysers of blood spraying into the sky.
Meanwhile, the greataxe Black Knight spun forward and charged directly into the demon horde, flesh and blood spiraling upward behind him like a tornado.
This ten-man squad tore straight into the battlefield. Calling it "cutting vegetables" would be an exaggeration, but it was undeniably the display of a one-man army.
Compared to everyone else, who were still struggling just to stabilize their front lines, it was an absolutely breathtaking performance.
Wade even stationed several flying mages overhead as aerial support. They slowly charged their spells before launching magical bombs down onto the battlefield below.
Red Fang nodded approvingly at the sight, visibly pleased.
"Wait, they're that strong?" The Slime Lord's body shook violently. He had just watched a demon land a full-force blow directly onto a Black Knight — and the knight hadn't even flinched.
Resilience. That was the entire argument.
What followed resembled the classic flow of a battle story — except for the decidedly unclassic part where the other dungeon lords adapted almost immediately.
Masses of slimes merged together into twisted humanoid forms that dissolved anything they touched in an instant, the melting speed outpacing even the Burning Demons' regeneration. The demons tore the humanoid slimes apart in a desperate frenzy, only for the scattered slime fragments to reform into identical copies. Between the corrosive acid and the explosive reproduction rate, the slimes quickly seized the advantage.
The bat creatures also shifted tactics, fully utilizing their aerial superiority while combining blood-manipulation magic with a diverse arsenal of weapons. Under the Hawthorn Lord's command, they rapidly turned the tide, locking the Burning Demons into a grinding stalemate — until giant bats were summoned to smash through the deadlock entirely.
The rock constructs abruptly transformed into a mixture of sand and stone. Their now-formless bodies slipped into the Burning Demons through every available opening before exploding outward from within. Flesh and bone were absorbed into the constructs themselves, causing them to grow larger and larger. As long as their cores remained intact, they could not truly be killed.
But the greatest reversal came from the rainbow unicorns.
As everyone knew, unicorns adored virgins and would go berserk if ridden by anyone impure. Rainbow unicorns merely exaggerated this trait to absurd levels.
The moment a female Burning Demon climbed onto one, the unicorn's slender white body instantly twisted and expanded to over ten meters tall. Its rainbow mane ignited into pitch-black flames. With a furious kick, it sent several demons flying before roaring out a garbled shout:
"Filthy harlot — GET OFF ME!"
Seen from this angle, the Black Knights' combat style was genuinely straightforward by comparison.
Swing weapon. Enemy dies.
Simple. Brutal.
Red Fang grew increasingly satisfied with everyone's performance. Two batches of Flame Dragons had already died. The third batch was visibly struggling as well, but he showed no sign of concern.
Wade quietly admired the sight.
Among all the dungeon lords he'd encountered so far, these four were unquestionably among the highest quality. Strong monsters. Flexible tactics. They were leagues beyond the likes of Ghana and his group. Even Rainbow Horn — who Wade had initially assumed was comic relief — turned out to be a reverse-gap powerhouse.
It proved one thing clearly:
Red Fang's eye for talent was genuinely exceptional.
He had accurately identified every one of them as high-potential prospects.
The other lords' advances accelerated rapidly, while the Black Knights simply continued doing what they always did:
Steady. Methodical. Unshakable.
Though calling a rolling steamroller "methodical" might be stretching the definition a little.
As the front line advanced, every lord's forces inevitably began suffering casualties, Wade included. Everyone expanded the battlefield, reinforced their numbers, and continuously added fresh troops. No one held back.
At one point, the Black Knights and the unicorns even began cooperating. A Black Knight mounted atop a unicorn swept through the battlefield with a greatsword in hand like an angel of war.
Ancient passages leading underground continuously spewed forth new Burning Demons. The Slime Lord reacted first, sending acid humanoids to clog the tunnels.
Red Fang praised the response, while also giving extra credit to Wade and Rainbow Horn for their coordinated efforts.
The surface battle lasted an entire half-day. Only after every lord had paid a certain price in casualties did the front line finally reach the massive pit leading underground.
A Black Knight riding a unicorn jumped in first, scoring points for both the Unicorn Dungeon and the Throne of Thorns. The Slime Lord trembled with indignation and immediately leaped in after them.
Underground, the scene was complete chaos.
The density of Burning Demons had multiplied severalfold.
Red Fang's Flame Dragons had to multiply as well, and their casualty rate climbed even faster.
To permanently seal the dungeon, every escaped Burning Demon had to be exterminated.
Which meant there was only one option left:
Fight.
Everyone entered full spawn-mode.
The slimes exceeded a hundred in number. The bat creatures surpassed a thousand. The rock constructs continued growing larger and larger.
And the Black Knights increased by another ten.
While the other lords desperately replaced losses as their armies were overwhelmed by swarming Burning Demons, Wade merely glanced toward wherever casualties occurred, casually tapped through his available monsters, and replenished one or two Black Knights at a time.
And the Black Knights kept advancing.
Steady. Relentless.
No matter how chaotic or frenzied the Burning Demons' assaults became, Wade's forces remained like an immovable anchor nailed into the battlefield.
Eventually, the other lords began noticing something strange.
When there were few Burning Demons, Wade advanced at this speed.
When there were many Burning Demons, he still advanced at this speed.
Is he sandbagging?!
Show us what you can actually do already!
So Wade finally spawned another wave of troops.
And then immediately shot to first place on the kill count.
Everyone stared in silence.
The Slime Lord's body warped out of shape from sheer agitation.
But at that exact moment, an unexpected crisis erupted on Red Fang's side.
The number of Burning Demons suddenly surged, and his Flame Dragons could no longer keep up with the fire absorption. Before he could summon reinforcements, the currently active dragons reached their limits—
—and exploded.
The flames returned to the Burning Demons.
Roaring fire erupted across the battlefield. Smoke billowed everywhere. The demons howled triumphantly as their full power reignited.
One bat creature lunged forward, cautiously stabbing at a Burning Demon with its weapon—
—and the flames instantly coiled around it like serpents.
The next moment, it became a living torch and fell screaming into the middle of the bat army.
The consequences were catastrophic.
Hundreds of bat creatures ignited within moments. Raging flames and agonized screams created a scene so horrifying it was the sort of thing one might only witness once in a lifetime.
Even the water elementals summoned to help were useless. Ordinary water simply could not extinguish these flames.
"How— how is this possible?!" The Hawthorn Lord went pale with horror. His entire army had been annihilated in an instant.
The Burning Demons' flames were something entirely different from ordinary fire.
They clung to living bodies like a curse that refused to release its victim.
And the burning speed was terrifying. Even the toughest bat creatures couldn't survive more than five seconds inside the flames.
The slimes, unicorns, and rock constructs quickly found themselves in equally dire situations.
Under the horrific heat, even the cores hidden within the rock constructs began melting.
A battle that had been progressing smoothly suddenly collapsed into a rout.
Almost every dungeon lord had the exact same thought at that moment:
Seventeen cards and you can one-shot me?!
Burning Demons slightly disadvantaged.
Burning Demons retreating.
Burning Demons — absolute victory.
Truly worthy of being an ancient catastrophe.
With their flames restored, their threat level multiplied many times over.
And just as the demons roared in triumph, heavy footsteps echoed through the inferno.
"Grk—"
A Burning Demon with its neck twisted off bare-handed came flying through the air, its body still burning.
Bare-handed?
Someone had twisted off a Burning Demon's neck with bare hands?
Wasn't that just suicide?
Then, in the next instant, the Burning Demons witnessed a sight they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
Which, for most of them, would not be very long.
Within flames that looked capable of burning the world itself, dark silhouettes slowly emerged.
Their black armor was wrapped in twisting fire. Every gap and joint vented furious flames outward. Backlit by the inferno, their towering forms looked even larger than before.
The Black Knights walked freely through the fire.
To them, the agony of being engulfed in flames merely recalled the days they had followed Gwyn in linking the First Flame. They had burned down to ash once already, becoming wandering cinders thereafter.
If they could endure linking the Flame itself, then there was no reason the Burning Demons' fire should defeat them.
Wreathed in flames, the knights drew their weapons and charged into the demon horde.
The Burning Demons' howls rose once again.
The Slime Lord's body stiffened into a near-perfect sphere as his eyes darted wildly between Wade and the Black Knights, barely restraining the torrent of profanity he desperately wanted to unleash.
"Why won't the fire kill THEM?!"
They were already the cinders left behind from linking the Flame.
How were they supposed to burn again?
Of course, this didn't mean the Black Knights were completely unharmed. The flames still scorched their bodies.
However—
The moment Wade summoned them, he had stacked every fire-resistance buff in his entire arsenal onto the Black Knights.
And even then, he still worried it wasn't enough, so he stuffed a Pokémon with the Flash Fire ability inside each knight's armor.
With preparations like that—
How could the Black Knights possibly lose?
The dungeon lords watched in stunned disbelief.
Even Red Fang paused briefly before remembering to summon more Flame Dragons to strip away the flames again.
Eventually, the fire was completely absorbed once more.
The other lords hurriedly redeployed their monsters—
—only to discover, in utter bafflement, that the Black Knights had already swept the battlefield nearly clean.
Fewer than one in ten Burning Demons remained alive.
"They already finished the fight. What exactly are we supposed to battle now?" the Hawthorn Lord asked blankly.
The Coconut Lord rolled around dejectedly.
"Air, I suppose."
But the confusion didn't last long.
Because the true heavyweight among the Burning Demons finally appeared:
A Demon Warlord.
Massive frame. Spike-covered body. Overwhelming aura.
Every detail screamed one thing:
Final Boss.
Red Fang confirmed it outright. Whoever defeated the Demon Warlord would earn major bonus credit from him.
So what was there left to hesitate over?
Fight.
The Demon Warlord's combat power was no joke.
The humanoid slimes' acid worked on him at greatly reduced effectiveness. The bat creatures' blood magic couldn't influence a being of such superior rank.