Second World

1946  Chapter 1946. Trapping the Underworld Force

Before long, the battle started. The defender's main army, who acted as bait, turned back and engaged the demons near the valley's exit. By blocking the demons from exiting the valley, they kept a large portion of the demons idle. The demons couldn't advance because their two sides were blocked by tall cliffs. They had to wait until the front line finished fighting before they could move forward.

Only those who could fly could do something, but even they were hindered. After arriving in this valley, John had fliers take all the range soldiers to the top of the cliff. These soldiers came out of hiding and shot the demons from above the cliffs. They prioritized targeting the fliers.

In some places, they prepared stacks of boulders, which they rolled down into the valley below. These boulders caused considerable damage when they hit the demons below. If they happened to hit a flying demon, that demon dropped to the ground. Some weak demons pinned by the boulders had trouble getting back up even when they didn't die. They needed stronger demons to move the boulders away before they were free. But with how compact the valley was, the boulders would pin other demons no matter where they moved.

All this created a chaotic situation among the demon army. They didn't know what to do. They ended up becoming sitting ducks by the arrows and spells from the ranged enemies from above.

Ragorth's group in hiding also took action once the battle started. This coincided with the time when one of the demonic spiders happened to arrive at their place and fell through Janus' illusion. It was startled when it found itself in the middle of the enemies. It was quickly taken care of.

Other demonic spiders saw their brethren fall into the illusion. They were about to go and investigate when Ragorth's group burst out.

Ragorth's group consisted of the strongest native combatants among the defenders here, and all of them could fly. They battled the demonic spiders and other flying demons as they made their way to the rear, where John and the outworlders were.

After the battle started, John's group also took action. He sent the players to block the valley entrance. With this choke point strategy, they negated the demon's advantage in number. Those who could fly took to the sky to battle flying demons.

Syndrillis flew down from the clouds. She had been hiding up there, waiting for the battle to commence. She helped the players at the valley's entrance. This was where Beelzebub was, and they needed to prevent the demons in the valley from coming to the devil's aid.

Purple Mist cast Angelic Host. Countless angelic beings descended from heaven and aided the players in defending the valley's entrance. With this spell, the players should be able to hold the demons until Ragorth's group arrives.

John, Giant Steve, Jet, Fierce Flame, Purple Mist, and Trinity Dawn approached Beelzebub, who was surrounded by a group of high-level demons.

Beelzebub eyed the six outworlders with a cold expression. He understood the enemies had trapped his army inside the valley, but he didn't understand why these six came his way.

Beelzebub grunted. The demons around him took action then. They rushed toward John's group.

One fast demon arrived first. It was about to thrust its spear at John when something crashed into it from the side. The impact sent it tumbling along the ground. The assailant who had crashed into it continued to assault it as it was tumbling. When it could finally retaliate, it found that its assailant was a griffin. A griffin whose body seemed to be made of stone.

The stone griffin was not alone. Many more stone griffins swooped down from the sky and attacked the demons. Not far away, a horde of blue-furred cats was running toward them. These cats had a pair of extremely long whiskers. These whiskers crackled with electricity as they swayed in the air.

More and more monsters appeared. They were all rushing toward the demons targeting John's group. There were flaming sabretooth tigers with multiple tails, carnivorous plants that walked with insect-like legs, giant birds with ram's heads, and massive lizards that walked on hind legs with spikes along their bodies. As these monsters engaged the demons, several large centipedes burst out of the ground and attacked the demons.

As time passed, more and more monsters came. They were all powerful monsters. Their levels ranged from 75 to 90. Their grades were rare elites and mythicals. The border regions in between countries had always boasted the strongest monsters. This place John had chosen had a high concentration of powerful monsters in the surrounding areas. His spell was utilized to the fullest at this place.

Call Monster Horde summoned one hundred thousand monsters. The demons who protected Beelzebub were soon swarmed. Even when these demons were averagely stronger, they had trouble facing so many opponents.

When some of this monster horde came at Beelzebub, the devil grunted with disdain. His carapace opened. Hundreds of demonic bugs rushed out. These bugs stopped the monsters from reaching Beelzebub. The more monsters tried to come at Beelzebub, the more bugs Beelzebub expelled from his body. The area outside the valley's entrance was soon filled with a chaotic mixture of bugs, demons, and monsters.

Beelzebub moved away while sending out more bugs from his body. He disliked getting entangled in the chaos. He preferred looking at the others struggling from a distance.

A piercing shriek sounded from the sky. At the same time as this shriek, Beelzebub sensed a pressure coming toward him. He looked up and saw a four-leg monster almost as large as he came charging at him. He calmly cast a spell that conjured a gigantic hand made of earth. This earth hand grabbed at the incoming monster.

The monster zoomed to the side following an explosion of raging winds. The earth hand grabbed only air. What the monster used was Wind Dash. The monsters zoomed three times. The last dash let it come near Beelzebub. Its claw slashed Beelzebub's shoulder as it passed.

Beelzebub looked as the monster landed. He had a good look at it then. The monster was a creature with a hawk's head but the body of a lion. Behind its head and on its back were colorful plates that served as its armor. These bulky plates did not hinder its wide feathery wings.

This monster was the one summoned by John's Summon Apex Monster. It was a Hieracosphynx, a level 93 eternal beast. Its hawk eyes glared as it shrieked. It was uttering a challenging cry to Beelzebub.

Beelzebub scowled. "How dare you lowly creature touch me." n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

A spell formation formed rapidly. The Hieracosphynx sensed the danger. Another explosion of wind came out of its body. It shot upward just as the ground underneath it exploded. The explosion caused the earth to gush vertically, but it failed to hit the Hieracosphynx. The Hieracosphynx used something similar to Wind Jet, allowing it to escape the earth geyser.

Seeing his spell failed to hit his target, Beelzebub opened his carapax and summoned more bugs. Demonic flies exited his body and flew after the Hieracosphynx. Before they could get far, a net made of light spread. This net caught the demon flies and prevented them from chasing the Hieracosphynx.

Beelzebub turned in the other direction. The net of light was the deed of another opponent. This opponent was a giant moth. The Celestial Moth was casting another spell. Beelzebub frowned when he saw the Hieracosphynx fly away.

A massive light exploded when the Celestial Moth completed its spell. The light covered a very wide area. All the demon flies were obliterated by this light. The Hieracosphynx flew away because John had commanded it to when the Celestial Moth was casting the Light Nova.

When the Light Nova ended, no more demon fly was in sight. Beelzebub was also gone. The place where Beelzebub was was a tall mound of earth. This mound of earth cracked and shattered, revealing the devil. Its appearance was slightly different, though. He was covered by sand. This sand constantly moved around his body.

This sand layer was his earth suit, which came from a protective spell he cast.

"Hmph!" He grunted. His carapace opened again. A group of large demonic insects similar to rhinoceros beetles crawled out. These demon beetles could fly. They fired ice pellets for ranged attacks.

The Celestial Moth cast another spell that conjured dust of light covering a wide area. This light dust slowed the demon beetles and caused damage to them as they tried to fly through.

The Hieracosphynx was more direct. It shrieked and created a hurricane that swept the rhino beetles aside. It then rushed through from the cleared path. Its four massive claws were ready to pounce at Beelzebub.

Beelzebub opened his mouth, and a stream of acidic liquid burst out. This acid jet spit struck the Hieracosphynx. The Hieracosphynx reeled away while crying in pain. Clear burn marks were visible on its armor plate where it was hit. These burn marks hissed as smoke came out of it.

"Hmph! You should know your own strength," Beelzebub ridiculed.

As he was talking, a small portal materialized beside him and an arrow shot out. The appearance of the portal and the emergence of the arrow had been so sudden he had no chance to react. The arrow struck him and caused him full damage despite his earth suit.