Chapter 462: Returning to the Battlefield of Death

In just one day, Rod, Andrews, and Merk arrived at Water Screen City.
Half a month of development had transformed Water Screen City significantly—it was once again bustling with life. The army of the Black Phoenix Clan had gradually withdrawn, with most of their members returning to the Nether Mountain Range, leaving only a small force to maintain order in the city. As for those vassal families, they reaped numerous benefits. Rod wasn’t sure exactly what those benefits were, but he believed Merk had already taken care of it.
At night, the city was lively and vibrant, with music and dancing everywhere.
Upon arriving at the city lord’s mansion, the trio let out a sigh of relief. It was already late, so instead of heading straight to the secret room where the Demon General was imprisoned, they first arranged for Andrews to rest. Rod then went alone to that secret room.
“You’re back?” the Demon General asked indifferently upon seeing Rod.
“Mm. It seems you’ve been doing well!” Rod observed that the Demon General seemed to be leading a leisurely life. With a wry smile, he asked. This guy was truly carefree—eating well and sleeping soundly, clearly enjoying himself.
“I can’t die. What’s there to fear? I was just sealed away for a while. The end of the world hasn’t come yet. Hmph. Did you bring people with you to seal me up?” The Demon General curled his lips and stared at Rod, asking. He was quite open about it, knowing why Rod had left this time and guessing that he must have brought back members of the Troll Clan after visiting Ice City.
“Mm!” Rod replied awkwardly. After spending so much time together, he seemed to have forgotten the Demon General’s true identity and treated him as a friend. Although the Heavenly Demon Clan sometimes acted evilly, they had the character of true men. Moreover, there were many admirable aspects about them. At least their internal conflicts weren’t as complicated as those in the outside world.
“The Troll Clan… Heh, the Troll Clan!” At the mention of the Troll Clan, the Demon General’s expression changed, tinged with bitterness. “I never expected that after hundreds of thousands of years, they still exist! Under that curse, their situation can’t be much better!”
Seemingly recalling the great war between gods and demons hundreds of thousands of years ago, the Demon General was filled with emotion. Back then, if it weren’t for the strength of the Troll Clan, the Heavenly Demon Clan would never have lost! They might even have achieved a third victory in history, establishing a third era ruled by them.

Listening to his words, Rod was also deeply moved. The two spent half the night talking in this secret chamber, and Rod only left after stabilizing his divine essence once again.
…
The next day, at dawn, Andrews found Rod and Merk and explained some matters that needed attention during sealing. He then went through the steps of sealing until both of them understood well. Rod and his group returned to this secret chamber once more.
Looking at the Demon General, Andrews approached him with a serious expression.
“The Trolls?” The Demon General asked indifferently, staring at Andrews. Still bearing that familiar appearance—the hallmark of the Trolls—they hadn’t changed at all over hundreds of thousands of years.
“The Demon General?” Andrews replied in a deep voice. Faced by such powerful spiritual strength, Andrews felt a sense of melancholy. Hundreds of thousands of years had passed, and the war between gods and demons had begun anew; the Heavenly Demons had returned—this was just the beginning.
“That’s right, it’s this general, haha… Enough talk, let’s seal it!” The Demon General laughed heartily before speaking to Andrews. He disliked delays and preferred things to be done quickly and decisively.
“Damn this God’s Lament Forbidden Land, it’s happening again!” His complaints could be heard immediately after.
Seeing the Demon General’s calm demeanor, Merk and Andrews were also deeply moved. Taking a deep breath, Andrews stepped forward and gave a slight nod to Rod and Merk, signaling them to begin.
Upon Andrews’ signal, Rod and Merk stepped forward as well.
Immediately, Rod used his mental power to connect with his divine essence first! The moment his mental power touched the divine essence, that familiar feeling returned, bringing Rod comfort.
Not daring to be careless, Rod quickly followed the methods Andrews had taught him earlier—using the mental technique to control his divine essence, releasing divine light, and tightly enveloping the Demon General.
Meanwhile, Andrews and Merk remained on high alert, fearing the Demon General might take advantage of the situation to break free. This sealing process mainly relied on Rod alone.
Gradually, the divine light penetrated the Demon General’s body, and agonizing screams were heard. It was so terrifying that Rod could only grit his teeth. Now was not the time to show mercy, as they had reached the most critical moment.

The divine essence began to be reabsorbed, with the golden light shifting from release to absorption. This step was also crucial, as it aimed to extract the demon general’s soul from the prince’s body and seal it within the divine essence.

At this point, Rod gradually felt exhausted, as his strength still wasn’t sufficient to control the divine essence effectively. It was then that Andrews stepped in, using the secret techniques of the troll race to help Rod extract the soul.

Gradually, a phantom-like soul appeared before everyone’s eyes. First, the head of the soul came into view, struggling desperately, as if an invisible force was pulling it out—a subconscious act of resistance.

A bizarre scene unfolded before their eyes: the soul was being pulled out of the prince’s body bit by bit, like an object. The translucent black soul appeared grotesque and eerie.

Rod and Andrews both broke into sweat, their faces pale. The task was extremely demanding. Meanwhile, Merck stood guard carefully beside them, fearing any problems might arise.

The process lasted nearly an hour. Finally, once the soul’s legs left its body and it was completely sealed within the divine essence, the divine essence dimmed slightly, covered in black patterns—caused by the entry of the soul. At present, Rod’s divine essence couldn’t seal the soul for long; it could only do so temporarily. Thus, they had to rush to the Sacred Land of Tears as soon as possible.

As the golden light vanished, everything returned to calm. The prince on the ground was no longer alive. The moment the soul entered his body, his soul had already been consumed. Now that the soul left, he became a lifeless corpse, evoking deep sorrow and melancholy.

Panting heavily, Rod and Andrews were both exhausted. The demon general’s energy was immense, draining a great deal of their strength.

After a while, they finally caught their breath. Rod retracted the divine essence into his own body. At this moment, the divine essence felt strange to Rod, carrying a cold aura.

“We must hurry to the Sacred Land of Tears!” Andrews said after thinking for a moment.

“Wait a bit before we set off! If nothing goes wrong, a round trip in twenty days should be fine,” Rod replied after considering it.

Time was running out. They had agreed with the Wolf King and others to meet in Water Screen City in twenty days before heading to the continent. Now, a day had already passed, leaving nineteen days left. Not only was it difficult to enter the Divine Sorrow Forbidden Land, but the journey was also extremely long. Most people wouldn’t even have three months to complete it. The two could only rely on their current strength to travel as fast as possible to possibly finish within twenty days. If that didn’t work, they would have no choice but to ask the Wolf King and others to wait in Water Screen City for a while. At the same time, they could take the opportunity to search for the other Demon Souls.

“Good, we need to hurry!” Andrews nodded in agreement.

“I’ll leave this to you!” Rod turned to Merck.

“Don’t worry, it’s fine. You should hurry up on your end and come back as soon as possible!” The tight schedule made Merck frown.

After some discussion, Rod and Andrews set off for the Divine Sorrow Forbidden Land at noon. Just like before, they had to cross the Death Battlefield to get there; otherwise, taking the direct route would waste even more time.

They didn’t choose any mounts. At this point, their own speed already surpassed that of most mounts. As for those powerful magical beasts known for their speed, they couldn’t be found easily, and even if they were, their endurance would be insufficient, wasting more time. Rod and Andrews sped forward together, moving like a gust of wind, leaving not even a trace behind.

Rod once again witnessed Andrews’ strength. His own speed was already abnormal, but he never expected Andrews’ speed to be on par with his. This saved them a lot of trouble.

After four and a half days, the two entered the Death Battlefield. They arrived a day and a half earlier than planned, but they had endured a lot to make up for it and now looked exhausted.

Looking at the familiar Death Battlefield, Rod was filled with emotions. Back then, he and Lucy had been pushed to the brink of death by the wolf tribe. He felt somewhat ashamed.

Now that the wolf tribe has left, the Battlefield of Death appears even quieter. Of course, it won’t become peaceful just because of their departure—there are still many powerful magical beasts. In fact, Rod sensed the existence of magical beasts at the Yin Yellow Realm and Yang Mysterious Realm last time, and this time, just like Andrews, he also felt these powerful beings. After all, as the ultimate battlefield of the God-Demon War, it still gave rise to numerous mutated and powerful magical beasts due to the terrifying residual energy and aura.