Chapter 316: Demon Hunter

“It’s here. Don’t move yet. Let it get a little closer!”
Faced with the fierce advance of the demons, Donald and the others on the city walls remained calm, unlike some of the guards who panicked.
When the demons were about 500 meters away from the city walls, Donald calculated that fighting at this distance would cause little damage to the fortress walls and would also allow them to retreat in time. He then called out, “Master, everyone, it’s our turn!”
As he spoke, a teleportation glow enveloped the people gathered around him. In a flash, they appeared in front of the city walls and launched their pre-prepared attacks in various directions, temporarily blocking the demon army.
After creating chaos among the demon forces, each person went after their assigned target and engaged in combat.
The four Silver Mages—Chris, Malf, Hentia, and Kelthas—along with Axe, the half-giant warrior assigned to their team, faced off against Gold Flora, one of the three Gold Demons.
An ordinary adult Flora only possessed the strength of a beginner Silver Mage and was the least talented of the three demons, so they were tasked with dealing with it.
Although they knew Flora was relatively weak, it was the largest in size among the three demons. Moreover, Floras were inherently vicious and brutal warriors. Those who could evolve from ordinary Floras into Gold Demons by breaking racial limits must possess great strength, so even Kelthas and the others didn’t underestimate it. They brought out all their skills and used the most effective tactics to hold this Flora in place, preventing it from leaving the battlefield to join the other demons.
Although the old mage Messel preferred to spend time in the laboratory, he had the most combat experience among the mages present. With Abel, the agile half-orc assassin from his team, by his side, the two of them quickly managed to hold off their target, the Berserk Demon.
Although the Berserk Demon wasn’t as tall as the slender Floras, it was the largest of the demons encountered so far. In fact, its height was not lower than that of the humanoid Floras, but since it usually walked on all fours, it appeared less imposing than them.

The Berserker Demons are even more eager for close combat than the Flayed Demons. If Messel hadn’t already reached the level of a Golden Archmage, it would have been difficult to cope with their annoying stench and attacks of blasphemy.
Berserker Demons possess a disgusting innate ability—emitting foul odors. Their skin secretes a highly pungent liquid during battles. Any living being within 10 feet of a Berserker Demon (except other demons) suffers from poisoning and nausea, and even after leaving that range, they remain nauseous for some time, greatly affecting their combat effectiveness. Those staying within that range continue to be affected. Thus, Berserker Demons prefer to penetrate deep into the enemy ranks to maximize the effect of their stench.
Warriors with sufficiently strong constitutions, such as those above the Golden level, might be able to reduce or resist these stench attacks, but they cannot dispel them. Mages, on the other hand, have spells like those that slow down the onset of poisoning or neutralize its effects to remove this impact.
If a creature, like Donald, gains immunity to toxins after attaining natural divinity, it will at most find the smell unpleasant and will not be affected by its toxicity. Creatures with natural resistance to toxins can also reduce the effect of this innate ability to an acceptable level.
In most battles, Berserker Demons prefer to use blasphemy as a surprise attack and then decide based on the situation whether to resolve the fight through close combat or by using spells such as “Hammer of Chaos” or “Blight Strike.”
Although Golden Berserker Demons have more potent stench abilities with a greater range, an experienced archmage familiar with these high-level demons, representative of the abyssal creatures, quickly countered their tactics. He first used spells to counter their magical attacks, then removed the effect of the stench, and subsequently summoned celestial creatures to work together with the half-orc assassins to trap and attack the Berserker Demons from all sides.
Unlike the Flayed Demons, which are less rational, the Berserker Demons, surrounded by their mortal enemies—the celestial creatures they hate the most—became furious and enraged. Though their combat effectiveness increased due to their loss of most sanity, the archmage knew it was only a matter of time before he could defeat them.
On the walls of Dragonfang Fortress, the higher-ranking defenders were mostly focused on the three Golden Demons. These elite reinforcements from Celt were indeed powerful, managing to hold off the three demons and seemingly even gaining the upper hand.

The most attention was focused on that young mage lord.
The Blood Lion Demon was the smallest of the three Golden Demons, yet it was the most dangerous. Generally, human-shaped demons were stronger than non-human-shaped ones, but the Blood Lion Demon was an exception. These ferocious feline creatures were the elite of the Abyssal Hunting Teams. An ordinary adult Blood Lion Demon was at least two levels higher than a Frost Demon and one level higher than a Berserk Demon. Thus, although the three Golden Demons seemed to be of equal strength, the Blood Lion Demon was undoubtedly the strongest and most threatening among them. That’s why Donald assigned this arduous task to himself, who appeared to be the strongest.
Additionally, Carlisle, disguised as a Silver Swordmaster, and Jerm, a half-blood Dark Elf mage and Silver Mage, were also assigned to assist him in battle.
Adult Blood Lion Demons were slightly larger than ordinary lions, with noble and smooth fur. However, they had a pair of long fangs beneath their foreheads and sharp claws unlike those of lions. Their blood-red fur highlighted their distinct lineage from ordinary lion-like beasts and magical creatures.
Like the kings of the grasslands—those skilled hunting lions—these great cats from the Abyss preferred to ambush their opponents secretly. Compared to other creatures aside from humans, they preferred the flesh of their own kind, the demons, and enjoyed hunting them for fun.
The Golden Blood Lion Demon before them was three times larger than an ordinary one. Despite its massive size, its speed and agility were unaffected; instead, it became even faster like lightning. It was impossible for the naked eye to track this terrifying demon.
Against the Blood Lion Demon’s attack, Donald did not rely on spells. Its speed was too great; unless casting spells from a distance, it would be difficult to defeat it without sustaining damage.
So he immediately changed his tactics, suddenly appearing two massive blades in his hands. Several bursts of cold frost energy erupted around him, effectively stopping the blood-red shadow that had already closed in to within ten feet.
Charges of blades followed, and the Blood Lion Demon, slightly slowed by the cold force, managed to retreat quickly once it got close. From dozens of feet away, it glared at Donald, who held a Moonblade Wheel, baring its fangs as if ready to pounce.
Looking at the back of the Blood Lion Demon’s tail, a patch of fur was missing, revealing its bare bottom. It turned out that during the earlier ambush, it had been hit by Donald’s Moonblade Wheel, losing a large piece of fur.

Usually, its attacks are so fast that one can’t react in time; by the time one notices the faint smell of sulfur vapor, they are already dead.

The Blood Lion Demon, having suffered such a loss, became extremely enraged and lost any desire to toy with its prey. It seemed determined to tear open the wretched human instantly and feast on his internal organs.

“Roar—-”

Blood Lion Demons understand Abyssal Language as well as common human languages, but they rarely speak. Their habits are those of wild beasts, and they only use telepathy to communicate silently with enemies when necessary.

Thus, Donald, who was also skilled in telepathy, easily understood the anger and threat from this Golden Blood Lion Demon. He smirked disdainfully and waved his Moon Wheel, signaling the demon to attack first.

This act of being underestimated only made the Blood Lion Demon angrier. Its fur trembled like raging flames, and it once again transformed into a bloodish shadow, moving erratically toward Donald. Any slight vulnerability from his side would mean facing the demon’s most vicious attack.

“Am I seeing things or dreaming? Is this still a mage?”

Duke Siren stared in disbelief from the city walls.

Seeing a mage suddenly switch weapons and engage in a fierce battle with a powerful demon expert in close combat, seemingly even gaining the upper hand, left everyone watching on the walls utterly astonished.

Although Durai got along well with Donald, he didn’t have a clear idea of his true strength. He could only join the others in shock. If Ferdinand, who had witnessed Donald’s extraordinary progress many times, were here, he would surely dismiss it as nothing surprising.

Realizing that sheer strength and speed might not be enough against such a cunning opponent, the Blood Lion Demon changed its tactics. First, its eyes emitted a dark glow as it cast its innate spell, Despair Spell, on its human foe.

This was a powerful version of a fear spell. Even without the Truth Book, which had once protected its soul, Donald’s divine soul strength and resolute willpower would prevent him from being affected by such a mere golden demon’s psychic spell.

As a demon species reliant on physical combat skills, the Blood Lion Demon’s few spell-like abilities were primarily auxiliary, designed to disrupt its opponents during attacks, allowing it to secure victory easily.

But now, its most powerful class spell ability was not working at all, which made the Golden Blood Lion Demon want to back down. Although the humans on the other side seemed to be only at the Golden level, it could faintly sense a sense of pressure from them. As for another human warrior watching from afar, who appeared to be only at the Silver level, his presence still made the demon instinctively feel a hint of danger. With its animalistic instincts, the Golden Blood Lion Demon sensed that something was wrong.