Chapter 326: Traps

The legendary temptation demon Eshbachel, the legendary cunning demon Baldon, and the legendary soul-judging demon Anak—these three were the Spider Queen’s most trusted aides. Eshbachel excelled in the field of magic and arcane arts, Anak was skilled in direct combat, while Baldon served as a strategist and support figure.

It must be noted that cunning demons were originally among the weakest types of demons in the Abyss. Baldon’s ability to rise to become a legendary powerhouse over time demonstrated both his skills and luck. Thus, although Eshbachel was the wisest of the three—being a great demon soul-judger slightly inferior only to Abyssal demons by birth—Anak possessed the greatest strength. Yet none of them caught Amps’ attention, though Anak was actually the one Amps feared the most.

Though cunning demons weren’t particularly intelligent, they knew well how to utilize their agility and other advantages to set up effective ambushes for maximum advantage. They also had rapid healing abilities and were highly skilled in guerrilla warfare.

Baldon was an outlier among cunning demons. His unique brain structure allowed him to detect signs of schemes and traps at all times, often anticipating unnecessary troubles and dangers. This is why he was discovered by the Spider Queen and trained as her most loyal follower.

Therefore, as Amps followed his plan to lure them out of the Abyss into the traps set by his new master, he dared not show the slightest sign of anomaly, lest his efforts fail and the plan collapse. If the Spider Queen intervened directly, it would likely result in more than just the failure of the plan—after all, he still hadn’t escaped the Abyss or freed himself from Flora’s control!

When the three demons crossed the dimensional portal and arrived in the Dragon’s Spine Mountains, over 200 miles west of the Dragon’s Tooth Fortress, the human defenders were clearing out the remaining demon forces near the fortress. To the west of the fortress lay complex mountainous terrain, where once the demons escaped, it would be beyond ordinary soldiers to pursue them. This required elite troops with strong combat skills. The commander of the Dragon’s Tooth Fortress forces ordered the warriors of the city’s Siren Knights to take the initiative. As the actual commander of this support mission, Donald also sent out the retainers brought by Prince Duri, along with his own Holy Shield Infantry and Dark Knight Regiment soldiers.

Although these warriors under Celt numbered just over five hundred, their average combat strength was at the upper level of black iron. Even if the number of minor demons exceeded theirs by twice, they posed no threat at all. Only demon squads at the bronze level or above could be a threat, but most demons of that level had already been scattered by human warriors. The remaining number was far less than that of the humans. Moreover, Donald also had twenty nature druids—professionals blessed by the natural will of the main world—who, while killing the invading creatures from the outer realms, received feedback from natural forces. Though their strength was far less than Donald’s, who held authority over natural laws, it was still enough to greatly enhance their abilities.

Of the twenty druid elves, those originally at the bronze level had all been promoted to silver druids due to the previous battle. The two silver druids before them had now reached the peak of silver level, just one step away from ascending to the powerful status of gold druids. These two elite druids each led nine silver nature druids to carry out missions alongside the infantry and cavalry. Together with Donald’s bronze and silver-level warriors, they could surely ensure the safety of the soldiers.

Among the original demon army, there were less than ten thousand high-level silver demons, accounting for barely one percent. Half of them were eliminated by Donald and other strong warriors, another third were lost in the chaos, and some more died under the arrows and crossbows of the thorny vines and human fortress defenders. It is estimated that the remaining number of silver demons is less than a thousand.

A thousand silver demons might seem like a large number and extremely powerful, but scattered across the vast mountains, they were like a drop of water in a pond. As long as they did not gather in large numbers, the elite human warriors could gradually eliminate them.

Not to mention that experts like Donald were ready to back them up from behind, able to rush to handle any situation that arose.

The Holy Shield Infantry, being infantry soldiers, were no match for the Serene Guard, who aimed to become the greatest knightly nation on the continent. At most, they could secretly envy the neatness and quality of their equipment.

But when the Night Knights appeared, the strength of these young knight brothers shocked the members of the Serene Knight Order who had previously looked down on them!

What surprised them the most was that the combat styles of these Dark Knights were identical to those of their Ceylan Knights, clearly trained in the same way. But upon thinking of the identity of their Dark Knight leader, they all understood—if it was that genius kid Jack who trained them, it wasn’t surprising they could reach such a level.

The difficult part, however, was finding and nurturing these hundreds of young, outstanding knights on their own. Their individual combat skills might not compare to those of the centuries-old Ceylan Knights, but their potential was limitless. In fact, Black Knight Jack also secretly relied on the power of Viscount Macbeth—obeying orders on the surface while secretly enriching himself and building his own strength, which allowed him to achieve his current status. Of course, this also owed much to the selfless contributions of Viscount Macbeth!

While his warriors went all out to eliminate the remaining demons, Donald had already taken those prepared for this mission to scout the ambush location. Besides Donald and Carlisle, the two main forces, the ambush team included Master Mage Mesel, as well as the three top-tier Silver Mages, Chris and his sister Malfhynthia, who fought as support personnel. Kaylesas, a hero whose capabilities defied ordinary logic, assisted Chris and the others in providing support.

There were also Carlisle’s half-orc assassins, Aguel and Jelm, skilled in ambush operations, as well as the half-giant warrior Axe, who stayed at Dragon’s Tooth Fortress with the rest to continue the task of exterminating demons. This was entrusted to Adolph, the Grand Duke of Siren, Kadochi, and the leader of the Ceylan Knights, Mark, to command and oversee.

With such a strong and formidable faction, plus the demi-god Abyssal Sorcerer Amps who had now joined Donald’s side, they were fairly confident in dealing with two legendary-level great demons. But plans… can’t keep up with change. Donald feared those two demons might have unexpected and powerful tactics, so he kept Amps as his ultimate trump card, ready to turn against them at the critical moment.

This ambush was set up near the secret valley where they had met Amps before. Donald and his men hid in advance, aiming to end the battle quickly so as not to delay things until the Spider Queen, that demon goddess, reacted—something Donald, as the planner of the entire operation, certainly didn’t want to see happen.

After Donald and the others had laid an ambush on the road leading to the valley for most of the day, their prey finally stepped into the trap’s range. Since it involved the life and death of their freedom, Amps acted cautiously, trying to appear exactly as usual. Instead of sending his projection to meet the two demons, Baldon and Anak, he sent a clueless Silver Flo demon to act as their messenger and lead them to meet his projection! This made the two legendary demons, who considered themselves superior to Amps, somewhat dissatisfied, but it didn’t raise their alertness. As they got closer to the ambush site, the legendary cunning demon began to feel an inexplicable sense of unease, as if he had sensed something was wrong. It was Baldon’s naturally keen sixth sense at work. As they continued forward, the unease grew stronger. Baldon suddenly stopped, and the legendary soul-judge demon ahead was taken aback and asked, “What’s wrong, Baldon? Have you noticed something?” The legendary soul-judge demon, who didn’t like to use his brain, always followed Baldon’s lead. Years of competing for favor under the Spider Queen had made their cooperation seamless, and they knew each other very well. “I don’t know. I just feel something’s off, but I can’t see anything unusual! It’s precisely because of that that I’m suspicious!” Baldon’s instincts had rarely failed over the centuries, saving them many times and helping them overcome crises, so Anak trusted his old rival’s judgment greatly. But Baldon himself couldn’t figure out where the unease came from, so he simply stopped in place, only to find that the feeling lessened somewhat. Seeing this, the legendary cunning demon immediately used his quasi-magical abilities to scan the area within twenty miles ahead to check for any dangers or ambushes. Since Baldon had stopped, Anak, who always followed his lead on missions, also stopped. After a while, the uneasy Silver Flo demon mustered the courage to ask, “Lord Baldon, shall we continue?” With the unease having diminished and no threats detected, the legendary cunning demon thought for a moment before deciding to move forward. As a legendary great demon, he still possessed the determination needed and wouldn’t back down just because of danger, especially with Anak by his side—a powerful fighter capable of holding his own against semi-divine strongmen for a while!

With such thoughts, the legendary cunning demon temporarily suppressed his unease and decided to go ahead and take a look, ready to deal with whatever came his way.