The Paladin in the Abyss-Chapter 659 - 683: The Torn-in-Half Trump Card

Chapter 659: Chapter 683: The Torn-in-Half Trump Card

The lord of Volcano Fortress, one of the strongest Flame Demon Generals under Lord Wu’an, ‘Destruction Flame’ Visuvius, realized that he had been played, a fact that filled him with extreme anger. Barlow Flame Demon had hoped to seize the opportunity to avenge his recent humiliating defeat, but he had stepped into another carefully prepared trap by the Demons, just like a clueless Bagula.

Since he was trapped in Volcano Fortress, he had completely lost control over the area outside the castle walls. The enemy must have taken advantage of the night to stealthily bury themselves underground, those damned rats!

But after all, Visuvius was a Barlow Flame Demon, and one of the few strongest in the Multiverse. Although the Demons could slaughter his subordinates, defeating Visuvius himself was not something they could achieve in a short time.

The battle seemed to have turned into a contest of speed. If the Demons’ ambush could first crush the demon forces on the right wing, it would surely greatly boost the morale of their allies and form a pincer attack on the central part of the enemy formation. For the same reason, if the coalition’s most powerful mercenaries could break through the demons’ left flank first, they could then circle around the narrow Demon formation and launch a frontal and rear attack. Even an army of Demons couldn’t withstand an attack of that magnitude.

But they were Demons, possibly the most cunning species in the entire Multiverse. If one thought they would be satisfied with a plan that had only a fifty percent chance of success, that would be a huge mistake.

Feeling the ground shake once again, Lancelot looked up and saw another group of Demons emerging from underground. His pupils shrank suddenly, for among them was a familiar figure—a Deep Hell Demon Refinement clad in black armor.

There was no mistaking it, it was the very same Deep Hell Demon Refinement that had fought outside the gates of Twin Bridges Town with Tijana!

After emerging from the ground, this group of Demons did something that shocked everyone: instead of heading towards the battlefield, they turned and ran in another direction… to be precise, towards the entrance of the massive black fortress.

“We’ve lost…”

The moment those Demons revealed their intentions, Lancelot knew in his heart that the outcome of the battle was already determined, even if he immediately summoned the Succubus Lord, it would definitely be too late.

Visuvius fell into utter madness, desperately trying to shake off the enemies around him to go back and prevent the Demons from stealing his castle. However, the more he struggled to escape, the deeper he sank into the enemy’s encirclement. The Demons made it clear that their goal was to keep him there at any cost.

The second batch of Demon ambushers appeared even closer to the walls of the Volcano Fortress and, with no one to stop them, it took less than three minutes to charge to the metallic gates. The fortress did have some Low Rank Demons left to guard it, but the arrows they shot and the rocks they hurled were completely ineffective against the ferocious enemy. Nine giant Ice Demons shaped like mantises led the way, blasting the gate, forged from Abyssal Metal, with frost. Following them, twelve massive Horned Demons took turns diving at the now-cracked gate. A Black Armor-wearing Demon Refinement brought up the rear, its arms raised high wielding a giant Nail-headed Hammer, bellowing like thunder, he smashed into the splintered gate with all his might.

With a crisp sound akin to a vase shattering, the gate cast from Abyssal Metal exploded outward, its shrapnel even slicing off half of an unfortunate Ice Demon’s head, while also sending sprays of blood among the group of Low Rank Demons behind it.

Visuvius, reputedly named ‘Destruction Flame,’ evidently lacked sound tactical acumen; even as an observer throughout the assault, the Demon Army outside the fortress could at best achieve a costly victory, and whether they could continue the siege on the Volcano Fortress was questionable.

Perhaps desiring to share in the spoils of victory, or unable to suppress a thirst for revenge, it decided to join the battle outside the fortress at a time when the scales of victory already tilted towards the Demon Alliance. The already inferior number of fortress defenders dwindled as this impromptu attack whisked away nearly all the remaining forces, leaving nothing to prevent a small group of High Rank Demons from seizing control of the Volcano Fortress once the core defensive works were breached.

The Black Armor-wearing Demon Refinement didn’t even need to personally clear the remaining fortress defenders. With a flap of its wings, it soared to a towering watchtower, took a massive horn from its waist, and blew it with all its strength.

It took several seconds for the horn’s sound to reach the embattled fighters; though the tone was deep, it vibrated to the bone. Most of the combatants, unable to multitask like Lancelot—who dispatched his opponents with ease while remaining alert to distant developments—were too engrossed in fierce combat to react significantly to the ominous tone, at most glancing around in confusion to confirm there was no immediate threat, then refocusing on the carnage at hand.

But the Demons, at least their commanders, were clearly waiting for this signal. New orders were issued, the Demon Army rearranged its formation and began a fighting retreat, while the few Spellcasters, with a handful of Guards, withdrew from the group ahead of time, hastening toward the distant black fortress.

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This reformation by the Demons actually constituted a retreat. With the loss of Spellcasters’ support, the death rate of the soldiers surged, but by Lancelot’s estimation, at least two-thirds of the Demon infantry would not be able to make it to the walls of the Volcano Fortress, and in an extreme scenario, the number of Beard Demons that could retreat into the fortress might be less than one-tenth.

However, the Middle Rank Demons would at most lose half their number, and as top combatants, not a single Demon Refinement would perish; all could safely retreat into the Volcano Fortress. Considering that the Volcano Fortress, with only a Barlow Flame Demon in command, had previously resisted assault from four full-strength Demon Legions, now with roles reversed and protected by four Demon Refinements and an army with a high proportion of Middle Rank Demons, not even Lord Wu’an himself could hope to quickly reclaim the fortress.

In the end, the Demons were always clear about their goal—the Volcano Fortress, the most robust and strategically significant fortress in the northwest of the Plains of the Abyss. It seemed the Demon side had simplistically conflated rescuing the Volcano Fortress with defeating the Demon Army.

Therefore, despite the evenly matched forces before the onset of hostilities (with the Demons at a disadvantage after that unsuccessful riverside ambush), these schemers from Barto Hell boldly feigned weakness, fully exploiting the home ground advantage by setting up ambushes in advance, successfully drawing out the defensive garrison cooped up in the fortress. They cleverly tore a card into two, ultimately capturing the impenetrable fortress in one fell swoop.