When all hope seemed lost, the demon army’s reinforcements arrived right on time. Despite them not being on the same level as Prince Stolas’ prized elites, Duke Crocell had utilised the command he had been granted over Duke Vepar’s and Earl Furfur’s army for a coordinated attack. Since the whole army had originally treated this day as the last opportunity to gather their strengths before the conquest, it was still in a bit of disarray.
Gradually the incoming troops were organised, but as they witnessed how the demon army had suffered one blow after the other, the military acknowledged that they sorely needed a breakthrough. Thus Duke Crocell had hastily reorganised the \”assembly schedule\”, and now there was a mage alongside every twenty soldiers instead of the planned one mage for every fifty soldiers.
Of course, Duke Crocell’s requirement had diluted significantly. As long as they wielded some sort of magical powers, they were being sent in to reinforce the frontline. Be it offensive, defensive or mere supportive magic, the Tiger Demon Duke did not differentiate. Anyone who was unable to provide Prince Stolas’ mages that extra help against the artillery barrage was assigned to a troop so that they could be arranged into a proper formation for the fight.
\”That is their inherent weakness. Even after so many centuries, they are stuck in their ways. Too stubborn to get the idea out of their heads that formations are useless when you are pressured into one corner.\” Moloch smiled as he watched the demons take time to move into the ‘best’ formation possible before they were sent into battle.
After observing Jin’s cultivators, the goblins, orcs and the other monsters fight, his own ‘controversial’ opinions that there was a need to change the way the demon army acted had only been strengthened further. He had always been ridiculed as the one to advocate for the reform in their military doctrine. But who would be the one to get the last laugh, now?!
Of course, the demon army hardly ever gotten into a situation where they had been forced to one particular corner. Luckily, their inflexible thinking gave Moloch a tinge of hope that they could defend against them to the point of retreat before their army managed to get the dungeon core.
Unfortunately, King Baal was obliged to prove Moloch wrong. Just as the new ground reinforcements came in, a new magical portal emerged roughly 40 metres above the shielded safe zone.
The demon army could do that because the entire area beneath and above ground had already been demarcated by the dungeon core to be safe for teleportation. Just how Jin had been able to build the underwater Pand-Altantis city and floating citadels, the same rules now worked in their enemy’s favour.
The magical portal above ground was so large, soldiers guarding the Flying Metal Fortress which housed Moloch’s dungeon core was able to see it clearly without any visual aid. Even the Royal Snake military commanders now understood why Jin had warned them about the unpredictability of this new algorithm and the real possibility of them losing if they did not give it their all.
\”HEY MOLOCH!\” Wyrstriker shouted into the System channel while pulling back his forces from giving aerial support for the cultivators that teleported into the battlefield. \”WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING? I thought you said the only threat would be the Dragon Devils!?\”
\”While I did amuse the thought of it appearing, I totally did not expect for them to pull that out of his bag of tricks this early. Fall back immediately, you won’t be able to deal with that thing.\” Moloch warned the goblin, while Qiu Yue and Kraft were waiting for more information from the demon cow plushie with regards to that …gigantic magical portal.
When Jin saw the magical portal floating in the air, he could only imagine that a carrier ship of some sort would appear from the area, similar to the Lost Tech carriers he had encountered during the goblin war. At that point, he chuckled recalling how Mr Derpy tried to swallow the entire ship by himself.
Though it could be useful to immediately call upon Mr Derpy for the very same purpose, Jin was holding back such a thought, since the Shadow Dagen was intentionally being kept as the third contingency plan. It would be wasteful to reveal him unless truly needed.
As if he was prophesying the future (or just knew how these cliches worked), a giant flying turtle emerged from the magical portal and the soldiers from afar could see that it was also carrying plenty of soldiers into the battlefield. There must have been at least five battalions worth on its back. To make things worse, it was a dual military force, consisting of ground troops and aerial units.
\”Prince Stolas! You look extremely pathetic!\” A loud booming female voice echoed from the top of the demonic turtle’s head which she had named… Flashy. The name suits the turtle really well especially when Flashy was decorated with a myriad of flowers from the top of its head to its tail. On a quick glance, one would wonder if the turtle was made from flowers, some sort of plant guardian or grew flowers at the back as part of its traits
\”Countess Dantalion.\” Prince Stolas looked up to see the haughty Lady General dressed in a loud floral dress with patches of armour at the right parts. He had never been the type to care too much about proper etiquette. Right now, he was just glad that her arrival on her mobile home base meant a shift in the overall situation.
The Countess was laughing non-stop since a few of the Orc Artillery guns were aiming at the turtle. As they fired towards it, their shots were unable to hit the creature. The demon army might be slow and set in their ways, but they were still able to learn and copy a good tactic. Hence the magical barrier surrounding the turtle.
It looked even a hell lot stronger than the one that Prince Stola’s mages had conjured. This was because on top of the turtle, a fortress had been constructed housing a standard dungeon core in it. Moloch explained to his companions that this turtle was part of the real living moving dungeon fortresses that King Baal had kept control of.
\”Such pathetic attacks will not put a dent in Flashy’s shell, much less penetrate it! Go, my flowery knights! Show them the chaos a rose can inflict.\” Countess Dantalion laughed continuously without reservation. Her knights flew down with the aid of her magical petals that were being created at the side of Flashy.
\”The fortress shields are top-notch because of the magic output it’s giving out.\” Moloch banged the war table in anger, hoping that such an opponent would not appear against this particular match. \”Her magic shield is not powered by some dozen elite mages, but instead Countess Dantalion is using the dungeon core and strengthening it further by keeping thousands of living mages in tubes, sucking the life and energy out of them. Even if they die, all she has to do is wait for them to resurrect, and the cycle continues.\”
\”Thus, her magic shield is considered near-impenetrable. It will be impossible to wait it out as she has a sheer limitless supply of mages willing to serve her.\” Moloch lamented which Qiu Yue queried why the mages would give their lives so willingly.
\”Because the tubes are infused with aphrodisiac drugs, made from a special concoction from her sweat…her love juices and some other magical properties. It brings them a never-ending pleasure while they are inside. Once they resurrect they practically beg her to get back inside. This way their never-ending servitude to Countess Dantalion is ensured.\” Moloch answered as he saw Qiu Yue hastily sending more cultivators to counter the descending flower knights.
Their enemy also began to send flying flower wyverns to disrupt the Orc Artillery Company although the Goblin anti-air weapons were doing their best to distract them. In the meantime, Kraft was considering going out to ‘stretch his legs’. Bringing back some of those tubes and dumping them on Ayse could lead Evon to learn how to produce such drugs along with Kiyu. (But why go out personally, when one had sla— underlings.)
\”Sir! The turtle- it is going to ram itself to the fighting platform we have created based on the trajectory it’s flying!\” The Goblin Comms Operator shouted as it reminded the group that the particular platform was filled with hills and forests as part of the plan to slow the horde invasion.
\”Must we use the V2 rockets right now?\” Qiu Yue asked as she checked on the status of the rockets all around the other floating platforms. She was planning to save it for the main showman, King Baal, but this seemed more pressing to halt or at least slow the advances of Flashy.
At the same time, she was just as tempted to use Mr Derpy to counterattack. All while calculating the damage of actually allowing the turtle to smash into the platform and turn this into fight ground fight against the knights.
*Cough!* A short, sweet cough was heard from the side of the room, waiting for the moment to make her grand scene. Qiu Yue realised she had nearly forgotten about the existence of another one of their superweapons.
\”Bring me some fried turtle meat, as soon as possible.\” Qiu Yue ordered loudly.
\”With great pleasure!\” The little girl would finally be allowed to unleash some of her most powerful magic without restraint.
Time to show the Demons why she was called the Fiery Demonic Sage Queen.
