The Heavenly Demon's attention was indeed on him. Through mental resonance, they understood the meaning of his insults, but they were not provoked; their eyes were filled only with disdain.
To them, a human with Rank 7 strength only after a temporary burst was someone they could kill with one hand. Over the countless years and the worlds they controlled, they had encountered nearly a thousand Rank 7 combatants. What did this one matter?
Sensing their distraction, Chang Le raised his middle finger and roared: "Come on! Kill me if you have the guts! You're just two bugs! Some 'Heavenly Demons' you are! Scum! Trash!"
The two Heavenly Demons sneered, clearly indifferent to Chang Le's taunts.
One of them continued to shake its tentacles—a precursor to another mental attack. Xia Yu steadied her body, gritted her teeth, and took another step forward.
The other raised its newly regrown hand and slapped down toward Chang Le. The massive palm fell like it was crushing a mosquito. Chang Le clenched his fists so hard his gums bled.
"BOOM!"
However, the falling palm changed direction mid-way, slamming into the ground right by its own feet. The earth shuddered violently.
"Hehehe..." The silver Heavenly Demon cackled, looking at Chang Le with slanted eyes, as if it had seen right through him.
Chang Le hadn't been hit, but he grew even more tense. Then, from beneath that massive palm, Captain Xue's roar erupted: "F*** your ancestors! I was just passing by and you damn well slap me?!"
Immediately, Xue's voice amplified: "Brothers, get 'em!!"
The signal was given. Various magic beams, bullets, and arrows erupted from the base, a continuous roar of explosions battering the Heavenly Demon's body.
The Rank 8 defensive shield had been destroyed. The remaining Rank 7 shields were like tissue paper to a Heavenly Demon. They had to stall the attacks and wait two minutes for the Rank 8 shield to recalibrate and rise again. As long as it was possible, they would not abandon this base; they had to test the enemy's depths first.
The war had officially begun.
Mu Zhong had reached Wei Huan's side at some point. He clearly knew this scene was coming and wasn't surprised. He grabbed Wei Huan, and with no time for pleasantries, he kept it brief: "They've gathered all their strength, but at most they can stall one Heavenly Demon. Whatever you're going to do, do it fast."
Wei Huan replied, "It's fine. It's already in motion."
Mu Zhong paused, a thought striking him. He gestured, and the virtual projection split down the middle to show a second screen. Near the main gate, ten teleportation gates had been left there at some unknown time.
Undead emerged from the gates. Those capable of stealth vanished; those who couldn't hugged the walls, avoiding the Heavenly Demons' field of vision.
The vanguard of the elite undead force had already left the base. These Dual-Headed Stealth Demons, adept at invisibility, moved at extreme speeds even while crawling in the shadows. They were leading a large pack of Kobolds. Their target, naturally, was the location of the Heavenly Demon's snail shell.
Through several encounters and Soul Search techniques, the intelligence regarding the Heavenly Demons' strengths and weaknesses was becoming complete. Without a doubt, the most vulnerable part of a Heavenly Demon was the connection point between the shell and the body. There, the flesh lacked the protection of the hard shell and was far from the combat-capable torso.
Whether they could kill a Heavenly Demon this way was uncertain, but dealing damage would be easy. The question was whether the Heavenly Demon would retreat because of it.
However, the location of the Heavenly Demon's main body was far away, and the undead couldn't reach it in a short time. Meanwhile, Captain Xue was about to reach his limit.
"Jie-jie-jie!"
Xu Qingqiang and Chang Le attacked simultaneously, supported by long-range warriors and the arrows from the vehicle towers.
But the Heavenly Demon was truly difficult to kill. Xu Qingqiang used his claws—pseudo-god-tier weapons—and every strike dealt terrifying damage, yet his blows were deflected by the slimy liquid on the demon's skin. He could only carve out bloody gashes, but such wounds were merely shallow scratches to a creature of that size. The damage was limited.
Chang Le merged the Ox Demon into his body, transforming into a Magic Pattern Warrior, and flew up to land a punch on the Heavenly Demon.
"Thud." A dull sound echoed.
This full-power strike not only failed to deal effective damage but resulted in Chang Le being sent flying back by the recoil even faster than he had approached.
Xu Qingqiang, realizing his "chip-away" damage was useless against the main body, looked up toward the Heavenly Demon's head. He leaped suddenly, crawling up the demon's body. Before he could get far, a forest of tentacles erupted from the flesh, "thwacking" toward him.
He dodged several strikes only to be hit from behind. Turning around, he saw countless more tentacles dancing there. Clearly, these tentacles were also part of the snail's body, evolved specifically to deal with smaller enemies.
Xu Qingqiang was overwhelmed. Suddenly, the ground beneath him softened, and his entire foot sank into the flesh. A suction force pulled him down. He struggled violently, enduring several tentacle lashes to gouge out the piece of flesh trapping his foot, finally managing to break free. But when he stood up, he was trapped in a "forest of tentacles," unable to escape immediately.
At that moment, a "Clang!" rang out. A golden light flashed by, slamming heavily into the Heavenly Demon. It actually caused the giant beast to tilt backward.
Xu Qingqiang seized the opportunity to jump out from the tentacles. Using all four limbs, he continued his mad dash toward the demon's head. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Commander Fang William sitting cross-legged in mid-air, as steady as a mountain. A ring of golden light surrounded him, protecting himself and a blood-covered Captain Xue.
The two Heavenly Demons were annoyed and attacked Commander Fang together. [Absolute Defense] was a power of Law; even the colossal strength of a Heavenly Demon could not break it. However, it had a time limit.
Xu Qingqiang kept running. Familiar tentacles erupted from the ground, but he flipped and leaped nimbly, finally reaching the Heavenly Demon's arm.
"Aaaagh! Jie-jie-jie!"
Gorgeous black magic patterns emerged from beneath his clothes like growing thorns, crawling up Xu Qingqiang's face. Simultaneously, three horns grew from his forehead and brow. The center horn was thick and long, growing toward the sky for over a meter. The side horns curved backward like a ram's, but pointed upward.
Xu Qingqiang's eyes turned blood-red, with green flames burning deep within. He opened his mouth, revealing rows of shark-like sharp teeth. With a "Jie-jie-jie" cackle, he actually bit down on the Demon-Face Heavenly Demon's neck.
With one bite, a chunk of flesh was torn away. The damage from his teeth was actually comparable to a pseudo-god weapon, capable of piercing the Heavenly Demon's freakish defense. Having succeeded in one strike, Xu Qingqiang began to feast.
Captain Xue, rescued by Commander Fang, was struggling to hold on behind the Absolute Defense. Chang Le had been knocked out of his Magic Pattern state by a single blow and couldn't yet crawl out of the crater.
In a single exchange, the high-end melee fighters had been decimated. The melee warriors in the base requested to join the fray; Frank had already transformed into a giant bear, but he was stopped by Klitov. If Captain Xue, humanity's "Number One Tank," couldn't take it, anyone else going out there would just be turned into a meat pie.
For now, they relied on long-range attacks and vehicles to bitterly resist. The Demon-Face Heavenly Demon's focus remained on Captain Xue; it found his face loathsome and wanted nothing more than to tear him to shreds. It didn't feel much from Xu Qingqiang biting its neck—that damage was less than a mosquito bite. However, its body's natural defense mechanisms kicked in, and the tentacles Xu Qingqiang knew well emerged again.
"Smack!"
Xu Qingqiang took two lashes, and his bones shattered with a "crack." But in the next second, the Heavenly Demon flesh he had swallowed turned into pure energy, healing his body. Some residual energy soaked into his cells, and a faint silver sheen appeared on the surface of his skin.
Absolute Defense lasted only 12 seconds. As the seconds ticked by, Commander Fang had been hammered down from the air and was stuck in the ground.
Captain Xue struggled to stand, his chin covered in blood, but his eyes were full of defiance: "Trash, your grandpa is still alive and kicking! Even your Heavenly Demon grandma says I'm great! Come on! Keep going!!"
In the final seconds, Xue was still shouting provocations, and Commander Fang didn't stop him. But once Absolute Defense vanished, the two of them—taking the brunt of two Heavenly Demons' attacks—would likely be crushed instantly.
Just then, a flake of gray snow drifted gracefully down from the sky.
The gray snow landed on the silver Heavenly Demon and melted instantly, but the melted snow didn't turn to water; it turned into a clump of green flame, burning coldly and quietly. More and more snow fell, landing on the demon's massive body until it covered large patches.
Extreme cold is also a form of burning. The Heavenly Demon felt the discomfort and looked down at the flames. It gave a contemptuous smile, not taking it seriously at first. Its skin rippled, secreting thick mucus that flowed down and extinguished the green fire.
But the extinction wasn't the end. The snow kept falling. When the green fire landed on the mucus, it continued to burn.
The Heavenly Demon finally realized something was wrong. The silver demon that had fought Wei Huan before looked up suddenly. Though there were dark clouds in the sky, nothing was visible. However, as a space-type lifeform, it couldn't be fooled; it focused its power into its eyes and easily saw the massive black bird soaring in the alternate dimension.
The black bird's body exceeded a thousand meters. Its long tail feathers trailed behind as thick Nether Power cascaded down, permeating the dimensional wall and spilling into this world. This Nether Power was incredibly pure, causing the very air to turn cold.
Equally cold was the silver Heavenly Demon's heart.
The human Necromancer was here? How could he be so fast? Before using a secret technique to come here, the demon had confirmed that this human was still in the Demon World. It didn't know what he was doing, but he definitely hadn't returned. Was his appearance here because he used the other teleportation tunnel? No, that's not right; it was watching that tunnel too. Even if he came through, there shouldn't have been zero news.
The ability to cross thousands of miles in an instant wasn't rare in high-level worlds, but this Heavenly Demon looked down on Wei Huan and his race from the bottom of its heart. After a moment of panicked wandering thoughts, it regained its composure. 'Who cares how he got here? The fact is he is here!'
So, should the fight continue?
The silver Heavenly Demon glanced at its companion. Seeing that the other had no reaction to the Nether Gray Snow, it assumed the companion didn't know how formidable this Death-type mage was. If two Heavenly Demons turned tail and ran at the first sign of trouble, it would have no face left. The silver demon decided to stay quiet and fight a proper battle first.
However, at the same time, it didn't even realize that its eyes were darting everywhere—partly to see where the undead were coming from, and partly, subconsciously, looking for an escape route. Deep down, it was very unwilling to face this human.
Because the silver Heavenly Demon's attention was divided, it was no longer focused solely on Captain Xue. Xue and William Fang managed to withstand the Demon-Face Heavenly Demon's attacks together. Meanwhile, the Demon-Face demon tried to use mental attacks on the humans in the base, which Xia Yu and her angels struggled bitterly to block. For a moment, it actually couldn't break through the defense.
With its attack stalled, the Demon-Face Heavenly Demon finally noticed it was being ignited by green fire. Its defense mechanisms operated automatically; although the green flames could burn on the mucus, they were also being snuffed out by it. Such lukewarm methods seemed boring. Though the Demon-Face demon was dismissive, it wasn't completely indifferent. It knew this was a Death Domain. In a domain battle, the caster creates the environment most suitable for themselves, weakening the opponent. This shift in momentum could change the outcome of the battle.
In the King's Battlefield, only a portion of races could obtain Domains. They were usually combat techniques comprehended by "congenitally deficient" races to bridge the gap between themselves and stronger races. Not all were formidable, but some were exceptionally strong. It hadn't expected a mere Rank 6 civilization like humanity to already possess Domain capabilities.
The Demon-Face Heavenly Demon immediately increased the intensity of its attacks on Xue and William Fang, intending to crush the two before the Domain caster could formally make a move. The sudden intensity of the fight and the stinging pain of the Nether fire burning its skin caused it to overlook the slight pain at its neck. It was one of only nine Heavenly Demons in existence, a naturally powerful bloodline. These ant-like creatures should bow before it; if it wanted them dead, they shouldn't be allowed to live!!
"BOOM!"
A full-power attack fell once more. Even for humanity's two greatest "tanks," facing such an attack caused them to spray mouthfuls of blood; they couldn't withstand even two more hits.
"BOOM!"
Another strike. Chang Le, his black hair wild and his body covered in black fur, fell again, smashing a deep crater into the ground. He had blocked the attack alone, but only once. At the bottom of the pit, he had reverted from his magic pattern state, lying with twisted limbs and faint breath, unconscious.
The Demon-Face Heavenly Demon raised its hand for a third time. William Fang and Captain Xue gritted their teeth, preparing to endure it again. But the gap in strength was simply too vast; this was damage that even pseudo-god-tier equipment could not sustain. It was impossible to hold out for two minutes until the base's shield rose again.
Yet, the light in their eyes didn't vanish. They even found a new surge of strength. All because that clump of gray snow explained everything.
Commander Wei was back! As long as Commander Wei was there, they wouldn't die! Hold on, just a little longer, and this battle could be won!
"BOOM!"
Another strike. This time, Xue and William Fang spat out even more blood. Xue coughed out a "wah" of blood, his mouth still full of foul-mouthed taunts: "Your grandma's..."
The Demon-Face Heavenly Demon didn't know why these two humans were so loathsome. Its killing intent was so thick it wanted to tear them into ten thousand pieces. Seeing that it hadn't killed them after three consecutive hits, it raised its hand. The fourth time—it would definitely kill these annoying things!!
Xue wanted to prop himself up to block, but he couldn't stand; it felt as if every bone in his body was shattered. 'Tch! So much for pseudo-god-tier equipment! It's useless on me!' If only Old Hammer were here. With him and Xu Qingqiang as partners, they could distract this guy, giving him time to heal. Now... he didn't know if he could take one more.
"BOSS!!"
Xue couldn't help but howl. He felt he couldn't hold on anymore. He didn't want to die yet; his wife, Xiao Xue, had just given birth and gone back to Blue Star for her postpartum month. He wanted to go back to her, and he wanted to see his child grow up!
"If you don't act now, I'm dead!!"
Before the words finished, a figure suddenly blocked the light. The midday sun was blinding. He squinted and saw a rapidly growing Great Bear.
"BOOM!"
The bear's body sank, hammered into the earth, but it had held.
"Brother Bear... you finally came..." Xue coughed blood, not forgetting to mumble.
At the same time, his body sank further. He fell into a pit dug at some unknown time and was tossed onto the back of a Face-Hugger Bug, which scrambled away on its eight legs as fast as it could.
"Hehe." Xue kept coughing blood, knowing he wouldn't die.
On the surface, the commotion continued. In the tunnels, sand and stone fell. Another loud "BOOM" echoed, and the entire tunnel collapsed. But by then, Xue and William Fang had been sent back into the base. The Priests waiting there immediately began healing them. The two were in intense pain but dared not lose consciousness, their bloodshot eyes staring at the battle on the screen, looking ready to jump back in at any moment.
In truth, even with Wei Huan back, the situation wasn't entirely optimistic. These were two Heavenly Demons, and Wei Huan hadn't reached Sequence 7 yet. Even if he was the strongest Sequence 6 in the entire Challenge World, there was a three-rank difference. How could he fight?
The Great Bear barely withstood the Demon-Face Heavenly Demon's attacks, but it couldn't take many. It was clearly reaching its limit. Out of necessity, Mu Zhong tapped his earring, casting a Bloodlust Blessing on the bear. With ten times its attributes, it managed to hold on without being beaten to death.
Three minutes. They only had three minutes. Once the bear entered its weakened state, no one left in this world could withstand the Heavenly Demon's attacks. So while the bear could still hold, Wei Huan went all out. The pseudo-god-tier Dual-Headed Stealth Demon, also buffed by Bloodlust and Determination, entered a triple-burst state, coordinating with the bear to pummel the Demon-Face Heavenly Demon.
The Demon-Face demon was indeed unable to continue its suppression for a moment. Its body involuntarily shrank back, moving away for the first time from its position almost directly above the base.
On the other side, the silver Heavenly Demon was once again entangled by Dot Mom. Facing this former loser, the silver demon was relatively composed. It allowed Dot Mom to entangle it while, just like before, it poked its soft flesh through the gaps in the bone structure to counter-devour Dot Mom.
As for the surrounding pseudo-god-tier Demon Eye Overlords firing black beams and the Asura Horses calling down thunder and rain, the silver Heavenly Demon didn't care. The wounds they inflicted didn't even heal as fast as its regeneration; it was just a bit of pain it could endure.
It grappled with Dot Mom like two clashing octopuses. Their bodies became more tightly entwined, until even the silver Heavenly Demon felt a sharp pain from the constriction. In its memory, killing this octopus-like undead last time hadn't been this painful.
Taking a moment to look down, it saw many undead crawling onto its body. The tentacles growing from its body trapped them; most were crushed instantly, but a small portion of undead managed to cut the tentacles. The tentacles were made of flesh and skin with nerves in every one—no wonder it felt pain.
It didn't matter. These were all inconsequential injuries. As long as it killed this octopus undead, it would win this battle. This was likely the human's strongest move, right? He only ever deployed this one undead. Once it was defeated, that human would have no more resistance. He would die!
The silver Heavenly Demon gritted its teeth, ignoring the intensifying pain. It let its body become even softer, slipping out of Dot Mom's entanglement, then slowly began to wrap back around in reverse. Using the same trick three times... how arrogant.
For a moment, the Demon-Face Heavenly Demon truly couldn't deal with the Great Bear and Big Head in their Bloodlust state. With ten times attributes plus the bonus from Determination—especially in its specialty area—its stats were even higher than the Heavenly Demon's. While Big Head's triple-burst couldn't defeat the demon, the bear could withstand the attacks, preventing the demon from killing either of them.
The two sides fell into a stalemate. They fought from the base walls all the way three kilometers out; for a while, neither could best the other.
But just as the Demon-Face Heavenly Demon was becoming annoyed, the undead chasing it suddenly stopped in their tracks, then ran back toward the city walls. The demon was momentarily stunned by being ignored, then it reacted: Were these two undead going to join the others to concentrate their power and kill the silver Heavenly Demon first?
In countless planes and three thousand worlds, there were only nine Heavenly Demons. It couldn't fail to save its kin. After the Demon-Face demon realized this, it gave a howl and chased after them.
However, it was strange. It thought the two were going to kill the silver demon, but they only ran back a short distance, stopping one kilometer from the base. They turned to face it, letting out provocative "Aooo" and "Roar" bellows.
The Demon-Face Heavenly Demon sensed something was wrong. Looking at the two undead waiting ahead, it actually slowed to a stop. These humans were the most cunning; they had already schemed against it twice. Even if no harm had come to it, the army it led had suffered countless casualties. It hated them to its core, but it had also become cautious.
"When things are abnormal, there must be a demon." What exactly were these guys trying to do?
The Demon-Face Heavenly Demon stopped and looked around, seeing its companion still fighting nearby. It's just one Rank 8 undead, is it really that hard to kill? Even under siege, such a low-level race should be crushed into dust just by rolling over them.
As it watched, a familiar scent gradually reached its nose. Perhaps to other races it was colorless and odorless, but to the sense of smell of the Heavenly Demon race, their own blood—which resembled their body's mucus—had a faint fragrance. Now, the fragrance in this area was too thick. Abnormally thick.
But whether looking at itself or its companion, everything seemed normal. There was no massive bleeding.
What is happening?
Wei Huan had been watching the Demon-Face Heavenly Demon. Seeing that it had noticed something was wrong, he urgently issued a command.
"Go up!"
The master's command rang out in the heads of the Great Bear and Big Head simultaneously. The two undead charged forward immediately.
"ROAR!"
"AOOO!"
But the Demon-Face Heavenly Demon, which had been clashing with them head-on shortly before, retreated a large distance. It was like a rubber band being pulled back—after a brief build-up of force, it suddenly let go.
"SWISH!"
Its body constricted, condensing into a refined point. With unstoppable speed and power, it shot toward its companion.
Something was wrong!
Something was definitely wrong!!