Chapter 34: The Demon’s Assault (II)

“What an impressive spell effect! It must be a spell of at least third level—true to form, the power of the Bronze rank is formidable!”
Yet Donald felt no fear at all; instead, he felt a hint of excitement. He quickly ordered the Tree of Life to use its natural barrier to dispel the mist surrounding the manor. The temporary effect of a spell certainly couldn’t compare to a permanently existing natural barrier. Soon, the sleep-inducing mist was driven away by the power of nature, but those who had fallen asleep still didn’t wake up.
“That’s good. This way, the servants and farmers won’t be frightened! Follow me—get ready to fight!”
Calling for Clinton and the other two who had regained consciousness, Donald stepped forward to confront the enemy.
As elite human infantry with formal military training, Clinton and the others quickly armed themselves and silently followed their master to the front of the manor. By then, the enemy had already killed one of the Ancient Guardians.
After all, although these tree people had strong defenses, they lacked agility. When faced with an enemy of the Bronze rank, once they were brought within striking distance, their stone-throwing attacks lost much of their effectiveness, making them easy targets.
Yet when Donald finally saw the enemy’s true form, he was shocked. He had originally thought the enemy was a human sorcerer of the Bronze rank, but instead, it was a terrifying demon.
The demon’s strength stunned Donald. Despite being under attack from the stone-throwing of the two Ancient Guardians at the front door, it still wreaked havoc right in front of the manor, brutally breaking through one of the tree people’s trunks.
Donald was relieved that the villa wasn’t yet complete, and since a banquet was planned, he had given the workers a day off. Otherwise, many would likely have died or been injured by now.
As for the stone path and other facilities that were only half-finished in front of the gate, it didn’t matter if they were destroyed—they could be rebuilt anyway.
But despite his surprise, the appearance of the demon confirmed Donald’s suspicion about the enemy’s identity. Other than the sorcerer mentioned in the mysterious message from Black Jack, Donald couldn’t imagine any other enemy coincidentally summoning a demon to attack his manor.
“How cautious! Using demons to attack while hiding in the shadows, ready to launch a surprise attack. But since they’ve come, let’s keep them all!”
At the thought of his hard-earned manor being destroyed by the enemy, Donald’s anger flared. He immediately ordered Clinton and the others to stop the demon from causing further damage, then summoned two dungeon demons on the spot.

Clinton and his three infantry fighters were completely at a disadvantage against a bronze-level demon. The Blade Demon’s slender blade arms could protect an area of three meters around its body, rendering all of the infantry’s sword attacks ineffective. If not for the distractions from the ancient guardian’s projectile attacks, the three of them would likely have been injured by now.

However, the battle situation changed quickly when Donald summoned third-tier undead troops. The Cave Demon’s spider silk breath attacks proved effective against pure combatants like the Blade Demon, and its eight scythe-like legs matched the Blade Demon’s blade arms in strength.

Seeing that Clinton and his men, who only had mid-bronze strength, were of little use against such a ferocious bronze-level demon, Donald promptly ordered, “Leave the fighting to the Cave Demons. Return and protect my safety!”

Clinton and his three companions had already received orders to retreat to Donald’s side to safeguard his safety. Besides worrying about his loyal subordinates, Donald also had to guard against ambushes by sorcerers lurking in the shadows.

As the battle intensified, even the Blade Demon, whose strength was above mid-bronze, began to struggle under the siege of two cave demons at only early bronze level. It was only thanks to its demon-like resilience that it had managed to hold on thus far.

Undetected, Donald summoned an owl to scout outside the manor. Since the enemy wasn’t visible in the Spirit Vision of the Tree of Life, they must be spying from outside—the natural barrier would otherwise have detected them.

Although the natural barrier had no offensive power, the rules imposed by the Book of Truth were extremely powerful. Without the law-based abilities of gold-tier beings or special magical items, no one could hide within it.

While Donald searched anxiously for the enemy’s whereabouts, his opponent, the sorcerer Gorman, also looked grim.

“I never expected that even a Blade Demon near the high bronze level couldn’t complete the task. It seems I underestimated this young mage’s abilities. No wonder the black knight’s assassination attempt failed earlier, and no wonder some people want to get rid of this kid. How young is he—seventeen? He already has such strength before reaching adulthood. Once he grows up, he might become a silver-tier being!”

With these thoughts, the sorcerer finally focused on his target, his murderous intent reaching its peak.

Feeling the fierce power surging through his soul and blood, the sorcerer clenched his fists tightly, veins bulging on his forehead as he longed to charge forward and wreak havoc. Yet reason ultimately prevailed over instinct. He took a deep breath, exhaled the foul air from his chest, and watched the battle unfolding in the manor, saying calmly and eagerly, “Don’t rush. Today is just a test. In just three more days, such a genius will die at my feet. Come back, Blade Demon!”

As he spoke, he activated the demon emblem, and the Blade Demon, who was fighting fiercely on the battlefield, immediately showed signs of joy.

“Haha! You vermin can’t kill me! The great Lord Lizlik will soon return to the Abyss…”

The situation was unfavorable for it. Even if the Blade Demon was foolish, it knew it was no match for those two spider monsters. And now, the sorcerer who held the contract was ending the summoning. In just a few more seconds, it could return to its beloved Abyss.

The Blade Demon’s figure began to fade, about to turn into a mere illusion. Seeing this, Donald realized something was wrong, but he didn’t have the ability to reverse this process involving spatial laws. He could only watch helplessly as the demon left.

Suddenly, Donald remembered something and smiled triumphantly. He immediately swung his staff at the demon. “Go!”

A stream of energy shot out from the top of the staff, freezing the Blade Demon’s nearly vanished form. Then, that energy, imbued with strange power, began to wreak havoc inside the demon’s body.

Donald had suddenly remembered that his staff was originally modified from equipment obtained by exchanging for the Book of Truth. After his teacher enchanted it into a true staff, he had used it as an ordinary staff, forgetting that it also possessed an additional skill.

That skill was to dispel all low-level spells within its range and deal significant damage to summoned creatures.

“I’m so stupid! How did it take me so long to think of this? Aren’t the demons summoned by sorcerers also considered summoned creatures?”

Hit by this attack, the already severely injured Blade Demon burst with streams of energy before finally disintegrating into fragments. After the Blade Demon died, a ferocious demonic shadow tried to traverse space to escape the main world and return to a lower plane, but it was absorbed by the Book of Truth and turned into stored soul energy.

This time, it truly disappeared from the scene, dead for good, rather than being teleported back to its home Abyss plane.

As the Blade Demon died, on the other side of the manor, the sorcerer Goman suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, and the bronze badge in his hand shattered into several pieces.
“What an amazing staff! It managed to destroy one of my Bronze Demon badges. Luckily, it was that idiot Lizlik who died. Hmph, we’ll settle this account next time!”
After saying that, Goman waved his hand, releasing a puff of black smoke that spread out with a bang, hiding his figure.
By then, there was no trace of the sorcerer left—only a wisp of black energy drifting away with the wind.
Meanwhile, after defeating the Blade Demon, Donald prepared to deal with the sorcerer’s angry ambush and summon his most powerful creature to finish him off in one strike.
“It seems he won’t show up after all!”
After waiting for a long time with no sign of the enemy, Donald retracted his summoned creature and ordered the infantry warriors to wake the people in the manor to clean up the battlefield.
Unexpectingly, the opponent was so cautious as to give up the chance to avenge his demon and choose to retreat instead. Filled with disappointment, Donald also felt a sense of urgency.
“It seems I need to improve the manor’s defense system as soon as possible and strengthen my own power. Next time, things won’t be so easy for you!”