Amidst cries of battle, the fortress resisted the demonic attack.
Matrisa, as usual, sat in the center of the infirmary, controlling her three treasures and coordinating them to rapidly heal the wounded and stabilize those with critical injuries.
"Would you like to rest for a while?" Matrisa asked, looking at a female demon hunter swiftly moving around the infirmary with various surgical instruments.
She was still wearing bandages and loose clothing, clearly still wounded. Unable to head to the front lines, she could only fulfill her responsibilities within the infirmary.
There were many other wounded soldiers here, in the same boat as her.
"No, Lady Matresa, I'm not tired yet."
But her posture told her she had been busy for quite some time, and she was also injured.
Hearing this, Matresa smiled and reached over with a vine to bind her. She handed the tray in her hand to the medical staff nearby who needed it.
Then she forcibly dragged her to her side: "Why don't you stay here and chat with me?"
"Huh?" The female demon hunter was puzzled. Even as she spoke, Matresa was still controlling various artifacts and performing treatments.
It was as if Matresa had four hands, able to multitask without any problems.
Since Marissa had said so, the female demon hunter simply found a spot to sit down and rest quietly.
She manipulated a needle into the back of a dying soldier, stabilizing his injuries. The waiting medical staff immediately began treatment.
Marisa then asked, "Ashley, how did you get that moon pattern on your neck?"
This female demon hunter was the one Marissa had described last night, the one Lucelia had seen on the battlefield yesterday.
Ashley touched her neck upon hearing this.
"You're talking about this? This is our family symbol. My parents both have this moon tattoo on their necks.
I've had it on my neck since I was very young, as early as I can remember."
At this point, Ashley's face flickered with memories, and she even smiled. "My parents were demon hunters. They were very powerful and hunted down many powerful demons.
There's also... "They were nicknamed the Demon Hunter Twins."
At this point, the memories and smile on her face gradually faded, and she said with a hint of forlornness, "But they died in a defensive battle when I was fourteen."
"I'm sorry."
"That's not necessary, Lady Matresa. They dedicated their lives to their cause. They sacrificed their lives protecting so many people, and I'm not saddened by their loss. I'm even proud of them," Ashley said with a smile.
Such situations are quite common among Demon Hunter families.
Hearing this, Matresa turned to look at her, smiled, and nodded.
"But why would you be so concerned about such a tattoo, Lady Matresa?" Ashley asked, looking at her with some confusion.
Hearing this, Matresa didn't hide her secrets. While operating the treasure to heal, she explained, "You should know my background, right?"
"I know you're a teammate of Lord Alka's. Rumor has it that you're a treasure-hunting group, and there's that great shark, and that..."
She spoke of the people within the fort.
It wasn't a secret; everyone in the Demon Hunter Fort knew about it; after all, Alka and his men were so prominent.
They could be seen in battle and at various other locations; how could they not be remembered? Not to mention that they frequently rescued countless people during battle.
Simply put, they're quite popular and well-known in the Demon Hunter Fortress.
Matrice nodded and said, "Before coming here, we passed by the ruins of a temple. As you know, we're treasure hunters. So, out of curiosity, we explored the area and discovered that it once belonged to a cult from outside the island, the Moon Worshipers.
But the Moon Worshipers disbanded a hundred years ago. I didn't expect there were still ruins there, and it looked like it had only been abandoned for less than a century.
But it was already abandoned, so we... I couldn't find any relevant information.
On the collapsed murals in the temple there, we found a similar moon symbol on the neck of a figure. So, seeing you have one on your neck, I was curious."
At this point, Mathilda smiled, turned her head, stared at Ashley, winked, and said with a hint of mischief, "A treasure hunter can't be without curiosity."
Ashley smiled at this.
"Then you must have traveled a lot?"
Madrisa nodded. "Of course. If you want to know, I can tell you later."
Ashley nodded and said, "My parents took me to the temple ruins you mentioned when I was very young. They said it was once their home.
They said that their home was destroyed by demons, and that's why they began hunting demons.
As for the story before that, they didn't tell me. It seems they didn't really want me to know."
Madrisa nodded with some regret.
"However, I have some relics from their time. Among them are diaries and the thick book with the moon mark you just mentioned.
It's a bit like... well, the canon of the order.
But... I can't understand a lot of the words in it, and I don't know what they mean, so I kept it at home."
Matrisa understood that Ashley might not be able to read the script of the order her parents once belonged to.
After all, Ashley's faith was no longer in the so-called Lunari Cult, but in the Holy Mother.
Or rather, all witchers' faith was essentially the Holy Mother.
This also led to the fact that the language of most witcher guilds was the language of the Home Sea.
The primary reason is undoubtedly the Holy Mother's remarkable effectiveness in combating demons, a fact perfectly suited to the demon hunter's name.
The second reason is what I heard from Alka.
Demon hunters are ultimately driven by hatred, a behavior that can easily lead to obsession and misguided behavior.
The Holy Mother's teachings and power can easily stabilize those ensnared in hatred, both physically and mentally. Even amidst such hatred, they can maintain their true nature.
Therefore, demon hunters are very happy to believe in the Holy Mother, preventing them from falling into the same level of demons through prolonged demon hunting and hatred.
"If you need them, Madam Matresa, I can give them to you."
Hearing this, Madam Matresa's slightly regretful mood returned. She turned to Ashley in surprise and asked, "Can I? Those are your parents' legacy."
"They're just books, and I can't understand them. I'll lend them to you temporarily. I trust you won't damage them."
Hearing this, Madam Matresa smiled and nodded. "Of course, after you've read them, I'll return them to you in good condition."
The two of them chatted again, and Madam Matresa began to tell Ashley about their past experiences.
As she began to recount her experiences, Ashley wasn't the only one listening. The surrounding medical staff and the wounded listened intently to Matresa's narration.
Many here had spent their lives battling demons, unaware of the scenery beyond.
Of course, some were mercenaries from outside, offering insights as Matresa recounted familiar events.
Others listened attentively, attempting to record the stories.
…
At this moment, within the fortress walls, the battle raged as fiercely as ever.
Arka quietly conserved his magic, no longer launching large-scale attacks, but instead employing a blend of elements for precise assaults.
To maintain their fighting strength for a longer period of time.
A few more flashes of fire flashed across the sky.
The stone ball, wrapped in lava, fell upon them once more.
Two more one-eyed giants appeared a kilometer away.
The demonic reinforcements were arriving again.
Arka looked at the cyclops in the distance. He had neither the mood nor the strength to stop them.
The tone of the entire battlefield shifted.
"Resurgence Concerto!"
As the tone grew and spread across the battlefield, some exhausted soldiers and warriors could clearly feel their physical strength and magic power returning.
This tune was so fitting that Alka felt a bit more relaxed.
Julia, relying on the coordination of several treasures, alone provided a buff that surpassed that of many powerful beings with buffs.
This is why more treasures are harder to combine, but once they are, the advantage over others at the same level is enormous.
In Alka's team, as long as the treasures possess certain combat characteristics, their coordination can basically allow them to fight across levels.
He raised his hands to disintegrate the lava balls falling from the sky, but this time he couldn't control the disintegration of all the stone balls.
Two of them fell.
One was hit by a laser in mid-air and shattered into slag. It was Simon, piloting a mech with a focused energy weapon, who was attacking the third-level city wall.
An unfamiliar general leaped into the air.
A bubble-like mass of air flew over, enveloping the giant lava ball before dissipating, the bubble vanishing with it.
A moment later, just as Alka had repelled a few charging demons, several more massive lava boulders flew over.
With a sigh, Alka was only able to disintegrate three this time.
More lava boulders fell.
This time, four spheres flew out of the sky, their enormous mouths opening wide in midair, completely swallowing the four boulders.
Alka turned and looked in Juanlu's direction.
Juanlu, holding a bare club and a spherical ball beside him, smiled at Alka.
Then, before Alka's eyes, he instantly transformed into a fiery figure engulfed in lava.
He charged directly into the pile of demons and began to explode.
Lava and flames flew in all directions.
Though these demons were highly resistant to fire, they couldn't withstand such a violent onslaught.
They weren't necessarily killed, but all of them were thrown off the wall.
The four spherical monsters must have passed on the lava and the power of their consumption to Juanlu.
Looking at the Cyclops preparing to launch another live ammunition attack, Alka sighed.
"Damn it! Who's going to take care of them?" Alka couldn't help but wonder if he should expend some energy, even drawing on some of the power from his dreams, to take out those one-eyed giants. Jason's voice reached his ears.
"Are you calling for Jason and Ulrius to launch a long-range attack?" A dazzling dragon streaked across the sky, and Jason leaped down from it and asked.
"Shouldn't you be cleaning up those rats back there?" Alka asked, looking at Jason beside him.
"We have to come back to process the new intelligence and get some supplies, right?" Jason said with a smile.
At this, Alka nodded and pointed at the Cyclops in the distance.
"Hurry up, take out those damned giants right now."
"Captain!"
Jason shouted to Ulrius, who was soaring through the sky and spewing power at demons everywhere: "Ulrius, merge! Captain's order!"
With that, the dragon in the sky and Jason turned into points of light and merged together.
This was their first appearance.
The surrounding soldiers watched the scene unfold, knowing that the beautiful creature was on their side.
With a flash of light, a gigantic dragon-shaped monster appeared in the sky.
Looking at this monster, all the soldiers grew nervous.
Then, this exaggerated and intimidating monster made its move.
When it fused, it already had two dragon heads, and then both dragons leaned back together.
The gathered energy erupted directly.
A brilliant, rainbow-colored beam shot out, instantly freezing a one-eyed demon in the distance.
With a flick of his body, his tail gathered into a massive crystal sphere, which was hurled with immense force, striking the frozen One-Eyed Demon in the distance.
The sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the battlefield.
The massive One-Eyed Demon transformed into shards of crystal before everyone's eyes.
Then, the massive dragon-men began to wreak havoc on the battlefield.
They began to clear out the demons of moderate strength in large numbers, clearing out areas one by one.
"Cover him!"
Some generals roared upon seeing this.
The powerful Triggers began to shield Jason with various treasures.
After all, the combined size of the two was truly outrageous. Though agile, their immense size made them vulnerable to the demons' concentrated fire.
Many demons had already begun to besiege Jason, attempting to restrain his movements and take his head, a truly valuable trophy.
With the support of the crowd, Jason only needed to dodge briefly before wreaking havoc across the battlefield, instantly easing the pressure.
He was like a bulldozer.
But this method was only suitable for temporary use.
Use it too often, and the demons would use targeted measures to stop him. After all, a larger body size sometimes meant greater vulnerability.
Just like the demon's hammer, and the one-eyed demon now hurling its blows in the distance.
Arka saw two more one-eyed demons in the distance.
Just as he was about to gather his strength to take down one, a blue meteor streaked across the sky.
In the blink of an eye, it rushed towards the distant one-eyed demon.
"Ha!"
With a roar of joy, the one-eyed demon flew straight towards him.
Its massive body slammed directly into the base of the city wall, pinning down a large group of demons.
It also formed a temporary barrier in front of the wall, blocking the path of some demons.
By the time the one-eyed demon arrived, its head had vanished, leaving only its torso, where the fractured neck still gushed blood like magma.
A blue meteor in the distance had already begun its attack on the other demon, but this time its attack was stopped.
Various shields were layered over the one-eyed demon.
Even with Sofia's immense strength, she couldn't blow it apart with a single punch.
Furthermore, in this dangerous position, she couldn't completely slow down her speed and convert it into power. That was simply too dangerous, completely putting her at risk.
She became a temporary target.
Seeing the second attack becoming difficult and more demons supporting her from behind approaching, she immediately transformed into a blue meteor and returned.
The meteor landed on the city wall and transformed into the figure of Sofia.
It seemed Sofia had returned as well.
With only the one-eyed demon left, Alka's attacks would be easily dismantled, posing no threat to the fortress.
At most, it would only restrict Alka's movements.
"How was the support?" Alka asked with a smile, looking at Sofia beside him.
"Not bad, but it looks like the fight here is really intense."
Sofia looked at the vast pile of demon corpses below the city wall, as well as the demons that were still coming to support them from behind.
The bloody magma formed by the demons' blood kept flowing and gathering below, looking extremely horrific.
Some demons were still eating as they walked.
The abyss's aura here was so thick that it made it difficult to breathe.
After a few pleasantries, they plunged into the battle once again.
With Jason and Sofia joining them,
The pressure on the front battlefield gradually eased.
...
Night.
Although the demons outside were still sieging the city, Alka and his men had already been relieved.
It was time for a brief rest; after all, they had stood outside all day, resisting the fiercest attack.
The men resting in the small round tower suddenly heard a knock on the door.
"Sir Alka, this is something from Lady Matresa."
The soldier handed the item to Alka and quickly left.
"From Matresa?"
As Alka spoke, he looked at the puppet girls in the room and casually lifted one of them from the doorway.
"lu, ask your sister next to Matresa."
The lifted puppet girl nodded and quickly exchanged words with her distant sister.
Then she continued, "Matresa said this is the Lunari Cult's text you need, along with the diary of the surviving member."
Hearing this, Alka looked at the contents in his hand and opened the package.
It contained a somewhat old but well-maintained black book.
A metallic moon symbol could be seen on the cover; it was unknown what material it was made of.
That was all, making it appear quite simple.
Next to it were several small booklets, heavily thumbed, clearly the diaries.
Sofia and the others also came over.
"Everyone, take a look and see if there's anything worth noting."
Aerka said, dividing the books among them.
Then he added, "Be careful, everyone! This is something Matresa borrowed and needs to return."
He then flipped open the Moon Worship Text in his hand, preparing to examine it carefully.