Chapter 147: Someone Very Wealthy

The Demon Lord stared at Nessa for a moment. Then he burst out laughing, bending at the waist.

"What an adorable little Human. If Glory Battlefield allowed me to take other living creatures out, I’d bring you back to the Abyss and keep you as a pet."

Seren leaned close to Nessa’s ear, speaking urgently.

"Stop provoking him. Run. Leave your Hero and troops if you have to. Once you’re out of combat, you can leave the battlefield!"

Nessa patted her chest confidently.

"Don’t worry, Seren. The only thing this Demon is good for is adding to my score."

Seren had no idea what to say to that.

The amusement vanished from the Demon’s face. Bloodlust shone in his red eyes.

"Perhaps I shouldn’t eat you. Stupidity like that might be catching."

He turned to his Heroes and troops.

"Kill everyone except the little one with the sharp tongue."

"Yes, Lord!"

Space rippled around one of his Heroes. The figure faded from sight while the other Demons became dark streaks racing toward the Fenwick formation.

"Spatial Step!" Seren cried. "His Hero can use spatial power too! Everyone, form up and defend!"

If their defense broke, they would have to scatter. Whoever could escape would have to take the chance.

"Useless," the Demon Lord said with a cold smile. "Before absolute strength, every tactic is futile."

He had sent someone to follow this group long ago. He knew what they could do.

They had been gathering other Lords from their family, so he had waited. More time meant more prey—and more points earned by that prey before he killed them.

A few dozen Lords. Just the right number.

"They should be worth a hundred thousand Glory Points between them." He laughed again.

A dull thud interrupted his laughter.

The sound was familiar. He had heard it himself while learning Spatial Step, whenever he collided with a spatial barrier.

"Impossible."

His strongest Hero had reappeared at the edge of the Human formation and charged straight into its defense. Now he stood outside it, clutching his head in bewilderment.

Thirty Eclipse Legionnaires held the line. The impact had passed from one steady position to the next without breaking through.

At Level 45, Nessa had brought forty-five companions: her Rare Hero and forty-four of her existing Legionnaires. Thirty were holding Aegis Fold. The other fourteen were ready to strike.

"What a formation," the Demon Lord muttered. "An art from one of the great Human sects?"

Seren stared.

"Nessa... are these Epic troops?"

That had been Spatial Step, an A-grade skill. Yet the Hero who used it had not even broken their line.

Where had Nessa found troops like these? Had she met someone very wealthy during the two months they had been apart?

Seren remembered Nessa’s innocent expression from a few minutes earlier.

"You little liar! You were playing with me!"

The others recovered from their shock and began cheering.

"Nessa, you’re incredible!"

"We’re saved!"

"Long live Nessa!"

Nessa felt as though she had swallowed an ice-cold drink on the hottest day of summer.

So this was why Cassian liked showing off.

But whenever he took first place, he always looked so calm. As though it had hardly been worth mentioning.

She remembered those moments and tried to make the corners of her mouth stay down.

"One little Epic Demon. There’s no need to make such a fuss."

"Of course not," Seren said, looking at her face. "Then why are you grinning like that?"

The Demon Lord had realized they were ignoring him.

"Don’t get carried away, Humans! Do you think hiding behind a defensive formation will save you?"

His voice rose to a roar.

"Break that shell! Kill them all!"

The fighting erupted at once.

He had good reason for his confidence. Every Hero and troop under his command was Epic.

Hellfire and demonic scythes battered Aegis Fold. The force rippled through the formation again and again, threatening to break it apart.

"Every charm, weakening spell, control skill, and ranged attack!" Seren shouted. "Concentrate on one Greater Demon!"

A Demon tried to climb higher. Dozens of effects struck him at once, slowing him just before hundreds of arrows and spells swallowed his body.

He died where he hovered.

An Epic troop was powerful. It still could not withstand the concentrated attacks of hundreds of Rare and Epic troops.

Nessa saw her chance.

"Forward! Cut him down!"

The fourteen Legionnaires outside the defensive line advanced with Mistveil March. Their blades struck together, catching an Epic Demon Hero in the coordinated assault.

He was cut to pieces before he could escape.

If the battle continued like this, the outcome would be far from certain.

"My Hero!"

The Demon Lord could no longer stand back. Losing an Epic Hero so quickly had driven him into a fury.

"If this costs me a Battle Name, ten thousand deaths won’t repay what you’ve done!"

He had not been bluffing about his own strength.

His body vanished. When he appeared again, he was directly above the formation.

His curved blade slammed down.

Before anyone could lock onto him, he vanished into space once more.

Strike, then disappear. That was what made a Greater Demon with spatial power so difficult to handle.

The section he had struck began to collapse.

One of the Legionnaires stepped into the failing section. Her neighbors closed in and took the strain, holding the line together.

"Lord! A few more attacks like that will break the formation!"

The Demon’s laughter came from empty air.

"Tremble, little insects! Be afraid!"

"Nessa!" Seren called. "If we shrink the defense and abandon the Heroes and troops, can we hold out longer?"

"We could, but..."

Nessa looked at her frightened family, then raised the Blood Chalice with a pained expression.

"I wanted to save some of this for Cassian..."

"A Level-45 Blood Prince costs three thousand Blood Essence!"

Both sides stared as a terrible surge of Blood Essence poured from the chalice.

In three seconds, it had taken human shape.