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Upon verification that the 300 Demons on the opposing side were indeed Low-Level Demons, many people began questioning Eric's sanity. The opposing army numbered 10,000, consisting of Wine Pandas, Bear Warriors, and Golden Dragons. Against such overwhelming numbers, sending only 300 Demons to stop them seemed almost absurd.
"He's overly confident," Sergey muttered, shaking his head.
Augustus, however, spoke with fierce determination. "My Dragon is ready to take charge."
He narrowed his eyes, his expression filled with fighting spirit. If there had been more than 600 Demons on the battlefield, Augustus would never have dared to fight them head-on. But with only 300 enemies standing before them, this was a rare and perfect opportunity.
As they faced the possibility of more than 600 Demons entering the battlefield, everyone had been desperately searching for a way to minimize their losses while defeating the enemy. They had brainstormed for a long time, analyzing countless possibilities, but none of their plans seemed reliable enough. Eventually, they settled on a weakened version of the "surround and support" tactic.
However, what surprised everyone was the enemy's carelessness. Instead of sending all their forces to rescue the 300 Demons, the enemy had dispatched only a portion of their troops. That mistake could prove fatal.
Baroque's voice carried a trace of excitement as he said, "There's a good chance we can remain undefeated if we manage to eliminate these 300 Demons."
Kanna and Jörn, both experienced individuals, had no objections. In fact, they felt that Baroque's words were far too conservative. If they could truly eliminate all 300 Demons, it would essentially amount to a victory.
The atmosphere suddenly changed as the 300 Demons simultaneously raised their heads toward the sky. Then...
"Hissss!" A strange hissing sound erupted. The sound was not particularly loud compared to the roars of other powerful creatures, yet it carried an inexplicable effect.
Everyone who heard it felt a shudder travel through their hearts, even the massive bodies of the Golden Dragons trembled slightly. The Wine Pandas and Bear Warriors were affected even more strongly. For a brief moment, an instinctive fear emerged from deep within their bodies.
Fortunately, the sensation lasted only a few seconds before gradually disappearing.
"ROAR!" The Golden Dragons suddenly roared together.
Their thunderous cries swept across the battlefield, immediately followed by the growls and bellows of the Wine Pandas and Bear Warriors. The combined roar shook the battlefield, and the enemy's advance was momentarily halted.
At the same time, the morale of the allied forces surged as troops began advancing toward the opposing side. This time, their target was no longer the frozen Demons, they were going directly for the 300 Low-Level Demons.
With no Medium Demon present, the Golden Dragons, Wine Pandas, and Bear Warriors became considerably more confident. The Golden Dragons took the lead.
However, they did not charge recklessly. They advanced cautiously, maintaining a defensive formation while the Wine Pandas followed closely behind them, prepared to provide protection whenever necessary. The battle formation itself was not complicated.
Everyone understood the idea. The Golden Dragons would be responsible for resisting the enemy at the front, the Bear Warriors would provide the main offensive power, and the Wine Pandas would serve as the meat shields, protecting the other two species from lethal attacks.
There was no doubt about it, a tremendous price would have to be paid. Despite possessing an overwhelming numerical advantage of 10,000 against 300, the Demons appeared strangely calm. They looked tiny compared to the enormous army approaching them, yet none of them showed the slightest trace of fear.
They continued charging forward.
They did not slow down.
They did not retreat.
They did not even hesitate.
They simply continued rushing toward the massive army as though death itself meant nothing.
Even though Golden Dragons and Demons were capable of flight, both sides had reached an implicit agreement to refrain from taking to the skies. Instead, they continued their advance across the ground. After all, engaging in aerial combat with the current Golden Dragons would be extremely difficult. But with the assistance of the Wine Pandas and Bear Warriors, such a formation became possible.
As the two sides rapidly closed the distance, everyone's heart began pounding. Sebastian and his team had to act quickly. They needed to eliminate the 300 Demons before the frozen Demons could recover. If they failed to do so in time, the ice imprisoning the other Demons would eventually disappear. Once that happened, the battlefield would become exponentially more dangerous.
"1 kilometer!"
"700 meters!"
"600 meters!"
"500 meters!"
"300 meters!"
"200 meters!"
The distance continued shrinking.
When the two opposing armies finally entered striking range, for one brief moment, the battlefield seemed to hold its breath. Then...
"BOOM!" A deafening explosion erupted when the Golden Dragons and Demons charged toward one another at the same time.
As their bodies collided head-on, the impact sent a tremendous shockwave across the battlefield. The collision demonstrated their incredible physical strength.
From the perspective of everyone watching, the two sides should have been evenly matched. Fortunately, the Golden Dragon had a Wine Panda beside it, giving everyone a slight sense of relief.
But the outcome was completely different from what they had expected; the intended target was completely unaffected. Instead, the Golden Dragon was blasted backward. Its enormous claws scraped violently across the ground as its body was pushed back more than ten meters, leaving a deep and terrifying trench behind it.
The battlefield instantly fell silent as everyone stared in disbelief, while the spectators were stunned. This result directly contradicted everything recorded throughout history.
Demons and Golden Dragons of the same level had always been considered relatively equal opponents. There were only a few Demons whose physical strength could potentially surpass that of a Golden Dragon at the same level. Even then, the difference was not supposed to be enormous. But what they were witnessing now completely shattered that understanding.
As more Golden Dragons and Demons collided across the battlefield, one after another, the Golden Dragons were knocked backward. Every time a Golden Dragon attacked, the result was the same: it was sent flying.
Meanwhile, the Demons remained astonishingly relaxed.
Their movements were smooth.
Their attacks were precise.
Their expressions showed no strain whatsoever.
It was as though everything they were doing required almost no effort.
"What's happening?"
"Why are the Golden Dragons losing every exchange?"
"No matter how many times they collide, the Demons always overpower them!"
No one could understand it, as the situation was completely different from what they had expected.
After another Golden Dragon was violently knocked away, the Wine Panda beside it suddenly found itself standing alone. Although the Golden Dragon could not defeat the Demon in a direct confrontation, the Wine Panda's assistance allowed it to avoid being killed instantly. The moment the Golden Dragon was sent flying, however, that balance disappeared, and the Wine Panda was now exposed. It suddenly felt an indescribable emptiness.
There were four Wine Pandas positioned beside every Golden Dragon as a safety measure. Four against one, normally, such a number would have been enough to provide considerable support.
But everyone understood one thing: without the Golden Dragon acting as the main defensive force, the Wine Pandas could not fight the Demon directly. Even four Wine Pandas working together were not enough.
"Get out!" Sergey suddenly roared.
But it was already too late when the Demon had just knocked away the Golden Dragon.
It did not pause.
It did not retreat.
It did not even need to catch its breath.
Its gaze immediately locked onto the nearest Wine Panda.
The Wine Panda stood there in confusion. Its massive body remained frozen for a moment, seemingly unable to understand what had just happened. Then it heard Sergey's desperate shout. "Retreat!"
The Wine Panda instinctively wanted to escape. It turned around and attempted to flee, but its speed and agility were simply insufficient. Against the Demon, there was no possibility of outrunning it. The instant the Wine Panda turned its back...
The Demon disappeared from its position. In the next instant, it had already seized the Wine Panda's body.
Wine Pandas were renowned for their formidable close-combat abilities, and their physical strength was comparable to that of Golden Dragons. The greatest difference between the two species was their resilience.
Wine Pandas were extraordinarily durable. They could endure injuries that would cripple other creatures and continue fighting despite tremendous pain. But that advantage meant almost nothing here; even the Golden Dragon was unable to withstand the Demon. How could the Wine Panda possibly survive?
It seemed as though there was no escape, so the Wine Pandas quickly abandoned the idea of fleeing. Instead, they turned around and launched a counterattack. Normally, Wine Pandas were practically unmatched within the competition. Their physical strength, durability, and close-range combat abilities made them terrifying opponents. But against these Demons, they could only defend.
A Demon moved as fast as a shadow as its claws descended. The attack tore through the thick, hardened fur of the Wine Panda, and blood immediately sprayed through the air.
The most terrifying aspect of the Demon was not simply its strength; it was its ability to inflict true damage. Its attacks seemed to ignore the target's natural defenses. With a single strike...
"AAARGH!" A shrill scream erupted from the Wine Panda.
But the Demon did not stop; it immediately shifted its attention toward the other three Wine Pandas, and the terrifying attack speed of the Demons was now fully revealed.
After a Golden Dragon took a single breath, a Demon could already launch three attacks in rapid succession. There was almost no time to react. One of the nearby Wine Pandas became the next target. It attempted to evade, but there was simply no opportunity as the Demon's claws moved too quickly. The attack tore into the Wine Panda's skin and flesh, leaving its body vulnerable to the next strike.
"Bang!"
"Slash!"
"Boom!"
In less than half a second, two Wine Pandas had already been dealt with.
The remaining two desperately attempted to escape the Demon's grasp, but they were too slow. The Demon caught them almost immediately, and both were knocked to the ground in the same brutal fashion. Fortunately, they did not die instantly, but they had already lost most of their combat capability.
The other Wine Pandas supporting the Golden Dragons suffered the same fate. One after another, they were struck down. Their bodies were covered in injuries, so their ability to continue fighting rapidly deteriorated.
Everything happened so quickly that almost nobody had time to react. From the moment the first Golden Dragon was knocked away to the moment the Wine Pandas were overwhelmed, only a short period had passed. Yet the casualties continued piling up; nearly 400 Wine Pandas had already been defeated.
The once-confident atmosphere became somber, and silence spread among the spectators. No one expected the battle to develop this way, but this was only the beginning as the true devastation had yet to arrive.