Hiss.
Just how did this Slime King manage to do that?
Could he have bounced Azazel away with his gel?
Karl couldn't figure it out, and a faint wariness rose within him.
It was like encountering a beast he'd never seen on the icefield. It crouched there, fluffy and round, looking more harmless than a snow hare, yet behind it lay the carcass of an ice bear.
He wouldn't charge in, nor would he turn his back to it.
Karl even suspected that beneath this layer of gel skin, there might be a Giant Dragon hiding.
But he didn't voice this thought. He stepped onto the rubble and walked straight toward Barzak.
This fear demon was now kneeling on one knee, his single eye fixed on the ground, shoulders trembling.
A pair of combat boots entered Barzak's vision. The moment he looked up, he saw Karl raise his Battle Axe.
The axe blade gleamed in the sunlight.
"My brother, let's keep these two demons alive for now," Chen Yu said, approaching on his Flying Sword.
Karl's hand froze.
"I still have great use for them." Chen Yu's small eyes blinked.
Karl's brow twitched.
He couldn't imagine what a slime could do with two fear demons.
But he lowered his Battle Axe anyway.
Karl took a step back, then turned and left. He didn't ask Chen Yu what he planned to do.
Barzak breathed a sigh of relief.
He was alive. At least alive for now.
But as soon as he looked up, he felt a gaze fixed on him.
Chen Yu was staring at him, that small look carrying a hint of excitement, as if what he saw wasn't a demon but some kind of treasure.
A chill shot up Barzak's spine. Even his blood, hotter than magma, cooled slightly. An ominous premonition rose within him.
"How many fear demons like you are there?" Chen Yu rubbed his small gel hands together expectantly.
Barzak lowered his head, not daring to lie.
"A legion."
"The entire Fear Legion is imprisoned in the Bottomless Hell. Azazel is the legion commander, I'm his deputy. There might be three hundred fear demons, maybe more. Over the centuries, some have died, some are still alive—it's hard to tell."
"The fissure is still open. As long as they hear our call, they can come out."
Chen Yu shook his gel body in satisfaction.
Three hundred fear demons. How many years had the orcs spent, how many generations of orc lives, just to establish a foothold on the northern icefield?
With one legion of these fear demons, that process could be shortened to a few months.
Of course, he didn't need to establish a foothold on the icefield right now. He had other uses for these demons.
After Karl had Azazel detained and brought before him, Chen Yu called Yano over and retrieved the long-cherished Book of Souls.
His Divine Sense flipped open the book. The pages rustled and stopped on a blank sheet.
Chen Yu looked up at Azazel and Barzak.
The two demons' bodies stiffened.
They knew what that was—the Book of Souls.
In the Abyss, it was something worse than death. Death at least meant an end; the Book of Souls meant your end would never come.
But as the defeated, they had no choice.
The Book of Souls floated before them, erupting with a powerful suction force, faintly trying to pull their souls out.
The plundering power of the Book of Souls was never determined by the book itself, but by the controller's mental strength.
But what astonished the two demons was that this seemingly ordinary slime's mental strength was harder than rock, as sharp as a blade, effortlessly cutting their souls from their bodies.
Clearly, they knew nothing of Divine Sense.
Compared to what Zeyarila mages often called mental strength, or the mental attribute, the essence of Divine Sense was no different from mental strength, but it walked a different path.
No magic was needed. Divine Sense itself was the best weapon.
After the souls of the two powerful demons were absorbed by the Book of Souls, the book closed its pages.
And on the other side of the book, Azazel and Barzak's bodies swayed. They felt their bodies tethered by an invisible thread.
The other end of the thread was held in the pale green slime's hand.
"Good. Go gather your Fear Legion." Chen Yu waved his hand.
He wouldn't absorb these two fear demons.
Not because he didn't want to—absorbing them would be wasteful.
Fear demons spread fear, harvest fear, feed on fear. Their specialty was the "Fear Aura."
He already had that ability.
Back when the Goblin Army unleashed an undead tide to attack the swamp, he had already trained "Fear Aura" to Lv.5 by absorbing undead.
And when reclaiming the Dark Realm, he absorbed plenty more undead, raising it to Lv.8.
Even so, he rarely used Lv.8 "Fear Aura."
Because there was no need. Generally speaking, his Flying Sword was faster than any enemy, rendering control skills unnecessary.
This mental control skill dealt no damage—it just stunned. In the time it took to release Fear Aura, his Flying Sword could fly back and forth several times.
But now... "Fear Aura" seemed to be the final piece completing his talent puzzle, and it might actually come in handy.
As for that Fear Legion, he had other uses for them too.
Chen Yu turned around, hopping toward the top of the ruins. Karl also stood up there with him.
Their actions represented the legion's will. A slime and an orc standing together on the same ruins—this precisely demonstrated the united army's unwavering determination to fight the demons.
Karl's gaze swept over the united army below.
The orc warriors stood on the west side, their Battle Axes, Spears, Scimitars, shields... and armor all covered in blood—impossible to tell if it was the demons' or their own.
The Slime Legion stood in the center, slimes of various colors quietly huddled together.
On the east side were the Broken Sword Legion, led by Lide and Ark.
Everyone was looking at Chen Yu and him.
Karl withdrew his gaze.
He shifted his position slightly.
The top of the ruins was spacious, more than enough for two people, but he wasn't standing in the center.
The empty spot was left for Chen Yu, a sign of orc respect for the strong.
Chen Yu didn't hold back; he hopped over.
He landed on the top of the ruins, bounced twice, then crouched steadily, staring at the crowd. The look in his small eyes was more serious than ever.
His voice, transmitted through Mental Resonance, reached every corner of the legion.
"From the swamp and the snowfield to here, we've traveled and fought all the way."
"Some have fallen."
A silence fell over the ruins.
"They fell in the mud along this road, on the streets of the Royal Capital."
"But their journey isn't over."
"There's one last stretch left. Let's finish it for them."
Chen Yu raised his small gel hand, pointing toward the palace. The Red Cloak was pulled taut by the wind, flapping loudly.
"The Royal Palace is there. Casaric is there."
"Let's move!"
Big Brother Slime hopped out of the formation. His golden gel gleamed blindingly in the sunlight. He raised his short sword above his head.
"The King!" he shouted.
"King! King! King!"
Thousands of slimes cried out in excitement simultaneously, their voices rising and falling.
The human knights and soldiers also silently saluted, offering their firmest response to His Majesty.
Karl stepped forward, raised his right fist, and let out a low growl.
"Orcs!"
"My brothers!"
The orc warriors raised their weapons simultaneously, and the frost wolves howled at the sky.
"Let the bugs crawling out of the Abyss witness the strength of orcs!"
The orc warriors roared: "Kill these Abyss bugs!"
"Reclaim our king's land!"
The orcs' voices spread from the top of the ruins, colliding with the slimes' shouts, merging into one.
The united army's morale surged to unprecedented heights.
Chen Yu waved his small gel hand, and the united army began to move, crossing through the rubble walls and entering the inner city.
The Sky Oath swept past overhead. Fifty cannon barrels of the Goblin Rippers extended from its sides, charging. Blue-white light lit up one after another.
Silver Sparrow's voice came from the fortress.
"Target area: inner city streets."
"Fire."
Fifty Goblin Rippers opened fire simultaneously, pouring out like flowing water.
Bombardments echoed continuously. Demons scattered amidst the artillery fire.
Then Azazel and Barzak's Fear Legion surged up from the fissure. Following Chen Yu's orders, they captured all the demons along the way and imprisoned them in the inner city houses.
Ark's Iron Cavalry demon legion also surged in from the other side.
Those Iron Cavalry demons, once part of the Burning Legion, now raised their lances, pinning their former comrades to the walls. Because their betrayal was more thorough, they charged even harder than the Fear Legion.
Some cunning demons were the first to react. Seeing the advancing united army, they immediately lowered their heads, letting out submissive growls from their throats.
Then they were surrounded by the demon legion and thrown into the concentration area.
Karl watched all this. Though he couldn't figure out why this Slime King was doing this, at this moment, he only had eyes for hunting down Casaric, so he said nothing.
The further they went in, the thicker the blood became.
The Abyss fissure hung above the Royal Palace. Dark red light poured from the crack, dyeing everything the color of raw flesh.
White stone walls turned dirty pink. Silver armor became dark copper. Even the white mist exhaled by the soldiers carried a faint red tinge.
The smell of sulfur grew stronger.
It was as if the earth had been cut open, exposing its entrails, releasing the stench of organs.
Chen Yu crouched on Peachy's back, looking up.
His small eyes fixed on the fissure.
"Silver Sparrow."
"Collapse it."
The Main Cannon of the Sky Oath began to charge.
Silver Sparrow's voice echoed inside the fortress.
"Target locked: Abyss fissure. Distance measured. Angle corrected. Mana charging. Rune array resonance at ninety-eight percent, ninety-nine percent, one hundred percent."
She paused for a beat.
"Fire."
The Main Cannon lit up.
The light in the cannon's depths grew from the size of a needle tip to the size of a Wheel, then burst forth, blasting straight into the center of the Abyss fissure.
The fissure seemed to let out a scream. A sharp, piercing whine came from within.
The light pillar pierced through the fissure.
The dark red light was swallowed by white. The crack contracted like a closing eye.
Finally, it disappeared.
The turbid air was swept clean.
The morning sunlight shone down.
It fell on the ruins, on the soldiers' armor, on the slimes' gel—warm and soft.
The red Abyss aura began to recede. The sulfur smell faded. The distant Royal Palace gradually revealed itself.
It stood at the end of the avenue—a white castle. The sunlight struck the outer wall, dyeing the white stone a warm yellow.
A human knight stopped. He lifted his visor, revealing a face smeared with blood. He stared at the castle, his lips moving slightly.
"We're here."
"That's it."
The beetle's limbs clicked against the street. Slime Knights hopped past the human, raising their short swords, tips pointed at the castle.
"Charge!"
"Last one! Wrap it up!"
The surrounding slimes simultaneously let out joyful squelching sounds. They bounced along like colorful globs of Jelly, surging toward the castle.
...
The Slime Knight Regiment, led by Big Brother Slime, was the first to charge into the Royal Palace.
They squeezed through a floor-to-ceiling window shattered by artillery fire, crouched on the beetles' backs, raising their short swords, small eyes scanning the corridor.
"This way!"
"Check over there too!"
They split into teams, spreading out along the corridors, searching everywhere.
"No one!"
"No demons either!"
"Nothing upstairs!"
"Did they all run?"
Big Brother Slime tilted his head, confused.
"Or are they all hiding?"
As he was thinking, a loud crash came from outside.
The palace wall collapsed. Dust billowed up, swallowing half the corridor.
A massive figure slowly emerged from the dust.
It was Peachy.
The King's ride!
She had smashed through the wall.
Peachy shook her massive head, snorted out a puff of white mist, and continued walking deeper inside.
Chen Yu crouched on her back. Louisa sat beside him, giving directions. Behind them, Karl's wolf cavalry squad surged in.
"Kill these Abyss bugs!"
Amidst the orc clamor, Louisa's gaze passed through the dust, through the corridor, landing on the toppled statues and scratched murals.
This was the main hall of the Royal Palace.
She recognized the mural on the ceiling—the sun god Ignis driving a chariot through the clouds, the chariot's wheels burning with golden flames.
She had looked up at it countless times as a child. The mural was still there, but Ignis's face had been scraped off, leaving only a blank oval.
And those colonnades, carved with the history of the White Horse Kingdom—the achievements of successive kings, victories in major battles, alliances with elves and dwarves—now stained black by sulfur, barely recognizable.
She had finally returned to this familiar place.
Victory was at hand.
All she had to do was drive out these evil...
A frost wolf's claw darted past her side.
"Follow me!"
Karl rode a frost wolf, eager to push Casaric off the throne.
Behind him followed a squad of wolf cavalry. The frost wolves' claws trampled over rubble and toppled statue bases. They charged up the steps leading to the throne room.
They stepped onto the red carpet, kicking over and overturning all the objects used for evil rituals around them, rushed up the top of the steps, and finally stopped before the throne room's celestial gate.
"Casaric, get out here!"
Karl jumped off the wolf's back, kicked open the heavy door, and strode inside.
But oddly enough, the moment he took two steps, his body froze in place.
Everyone was confused.
As for what was happening inside besides Karl, perhaps only Chen Yu knew.
His Divine Sense extended along the red carpet.
The colonnades on both sides of the throne room stretched to the end. Faded tapestries hung from the pillars. Sunlight streamed through the high windows, casting patches of light on the floor.
The throne sat at the end of the light.
Casaric sat on the throne, holding a scepter in his hand. Morrigan's figure clung to the wall beside him like a loyal minister.
What was most striking was the crown on Casaric's head.
Fragments of gold were held together by threads of soul energy, forming a ring. The sunlight fell upon a demon, yet somehow carried a faint, sacred air.
"Respected Commander Karl."
"Slime King."
Morrigan's shadow bowed in greeting, placing a hand over his chest, letting out a rustling laugh.
"Allow me to introduce you." He gestured toward Casaric.
"The new Emperor of the North, the crowned bearer of the Soul Crown, the master of the Burning Capital, your new lord."
"Lord of the Infernal Forge, Casaric."