The musketeers formed ranks, aiming and firing in unison under their officer's command. In the sky, the now-safe magic helicopters turned and ascended, rising and falling with the musketeers to flank the demons.
While not possessing the ultra-long range of cannons, they were still able to inflict precise damage on the closest wave of demons. Xiao Xun harbored a slight regret that fully automatic rifles had not yet been produced; the thought of it made him chuckle.
Still, for Saint Tiroman's military industries, which were less than a year old, achieving this much was already quite good. At least, with full firepower unleashed, the demon offensive had been suppressed.
Xiao Xun knew it was not a time to let their guard down. The demon legions were different from the Scourge legions; the demons all wielded fel energy, and not one of them had cast a spell yet. He believed the situation would be entirely different then.
Thus far, everything proceeded smoothly according to their plan: the magic helicopters successfully lured the enemy with minimal losses, the magic fighters held the line, and the gunners and musketeers successfully suppressed the demons' advance. And after turning, the magic helicopters launched another counter-attack!
However, at this moment, the demons in the sky did not rashly continue forward. Instead, their bodies ignited with fierce green flames, followed by the summoning of a torrential rain of fire!
Vast amounts of fel flames rained down, seemingly raising the temperature of the early morning. Dense fireballs descended into the formations of magic fighters and magic helicopters, and upon impact, immediately caused catastrophic destruction of aircraft and loss of life!
Xiao Xun, seeing this, jumped up anxiously and said to Bai Yang beside him, "Quick, order them to return."
"Yes!"
Although the flames summoned by each demon were not excessive, the simultaneous casting by so many demons still created a terrifying effect!
Xiao Xun grew anxious and directly ordered the Frost Wyrm and Bohr to unleash their frost breath.
Both dragons stated they could not harm their master. Xiao Xun stomped his foot in distress, "Quick, or it will be too late."
Jiade said to Bohr, "It's fine, spray! Master is a Chaos mage."
The immense frost cooled the entire border.
Absorbing the freezing beam and shattered frost, Xiao Xun endured the cold and had Bai Yang take him to the highest defense tower. From there, he unleashed 'Absolute Zero' upon the fiery demons.
Without further prolonging the agony of the air force commander's magic fighters, a few seconds later, an ice wave surged skyward, sweeping across the entire battlefield. Immediately, the densely packed demons fell like dumplings, one after another. Those nearby instantly froze solid.
After the terrifying spell, most of the flying demons fell. A few scattered magic fighters were accidentally hit, and a few lucky demons slipped through, but it was insignificant. A large swath of the sky in front was cleared, greatly alleviating the pressure on the allied forces.
"The next wave will be here soon, right?"
"In thirty minutes, the demons will enter the mountains. Approximately forty minutes from now, our plan can commence!" Vincent checked the time and issued the order, "We retreat, proceed with the original plan!"
Although the current situation might not seem to have yielded significant results, they had not intended to engage in a decisive battle here. After all, their plan was to ambush, not to engage these demons head-on.
Taking advantage of the aerial advantage cleared by Xiao Xun's ultimate move and the lull before the demons replenished their forces, the Phoenix Army and the Fearless Vanguard began to withdraw in an orderly fashion.
The troops soon evacuated the area completely, appearing as if they had been repelled by the demons of the Undead Army. However, at this moment, at the entrance to the mountain pass, the Undead Army's advance halted.
A Lich, observing the troops stopping instead of pursuing their victory, found a massive Hellhunter wielding a glowing red greatsword in front.
"Why have we stopped?"
This individual had been recently summoned to this world by the King of Fear, who trusted him implicitly, even entrusting him with the command of the vanguard.
He was the Demon Commander of the Demon Legion, the Archdemon Xidaf, who had become the leader of the Hellhunters after the defense of the Saint Tiroman Imperial Palace.
"Don't rush, my lord. I sense a potential ambush ahead." Looking at the distant opening, Xidaf's brow furrowed, his voice laced with caution. "If the enemy ambushes us here, we will suffer heavy losses."
"There is no need to worry, my lord. The strength of those humans is utterly insignificant." The Lich was dismissive. "If it were otherwise, they wouldn't have used so many tricks to delay."
The Lich's voice was filled with encouragement, but his intentions were sinister. He was actually dissatisfied with Xidaf, who had been parachuted in and usurped his command. Thus, if something were to happen ahead, he would have an opportunity to impeach him.
"If what you say is true, then Zhenhun and his Scourge Legion would not have met their demise in this place." Xidaf snorted coldly, clearly not believing him.
"If you don't believe me, so be it. But when the King of Fear asks later, don't say I didn't warn you." Seeing his attempt to manipulate fail, the Lich snorted coldly.
"Hmph, an enemy ambush? I see this straw bag has lost his courage due to the death of his predecessor and has become a cripple who fears to walk even a clear path!"
The speaker was the Demon Emissary Labots.
Xidaf roared, "I am not a cripple!"
Labots' face turned cold. "Then let them know that you are a powerful being who can lead them to destroy this world, not a coward!"
Xidaf sighed inwardly. "Yes, I will prove it."
Under Labots' incessant urging, Xidaf led the demons, plunging headfirst into the canyon.
Seeing that the halted demons had finally fallen into the trap, Xiao Xun let out a sigh of relief.
Luring the enemy deep required patience to achieve the greatest results.
This balance was difficult to strike, and a slight misstep could lead to disaster.
Fine sweat beaded on Xiao Xun's forehead. Even knowing the enemy commander lacked significant talent, facing so many powerful foes, it was only natural for him to feel nervous.
However, he would not let these emotions affect his performance.
Ahead, as the demon ranks reached the center of the canyon, Xiao Xun knew the time was ripe. He immediately said to Bai Yang, "Transmit the order, execute!"
On another mountaintop, Dukal ignited the fuses!
Boom!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In an instant, a series of explosions erupted. Xiao Xun felt a tremor beneath his feet, followed by the shedding of large sections of the mountainside. Countless massive rocks tumbled down the cliffs, striking the demons on the ground with unstoppable force!