A flicker of complexity flashed in Delier's eyes, a mix of genuine loathing and a deliberately feigned sense of awe.
To hide his inner emotions, the Moon Guard Major lowered his head slightly in a gesture of admission to the demon. "Lord Tichondrius, your subordinate is ashamed..."
"Enough!"
The demon waved a sharp, jagged claw toward Delier. "I never held much expectation for trash like you to begin with. Fall back and let me clean up this mess for you."
The combat priestesses had already breached the defensive lines set by the Moon Guard, but their path was suddenly blocked by Felguards who swarmed in from all sides.
Maiev glanced sideways at her sisters who had fallen from the sky. Only a small number had managed to use "Levitate" at the last second to save themselves; the remaining dozen or so priestesses, lacking combat experience, lay in pools of blood with no signs of life.
Gritting her teeth hard, Maiev glared with burning eyes at the demon obstructing their way. "Why is the Burning Legion appearing here?!"
Andreas squinted, looking solemnly at the demon leader who resembled a giant bat.
If I'm not mistaken, the Burning Legion didn't trust the Moon Guard's defensive capabilities from the start and deliberately arranged a force to lie in ambush behind them.
This detachment of the Burning Legion was not large in number. A quick scan and mental tally revealed about a hundred ground troops of various types, plus eight medium-sized Infernals that had crashed down from the sky earlier.
The biggest problem is their leader—that Dreadlord...
Because Andreas was playing the role of an amnesiac, he couldn't tell Maiev and the other combat priestesses about his knowledge of the enemy.
Dreadlords, also known as Nathrezim.
They were one of the first races in the Twisting Nether to be identified as demons, cruel and cunning by nature.
A Dreadlord's direct combat ability wasn't considered the strongest within the Burning Legion; their strength lay in using illusions and silver-tongued lies to delude targets, thereby creating suspicion and distrust behind the enemy's stable lines, disrupting their will and resolve to resist the Legion.
Did that Moon Guard commander just call that Dreadlord Tichondrius?
Andreas cautiously descended from the air to stand beside Maiev, his gaze fixed on the mocking Dreadlord without wavering.
If it really is him, escaping from this group of demons will be very difficult...
Tichondrius was the leader of the Nathrezim and the lieutenant to Kil'jaeden the Deceiver, one of the triumvirate of the Burning Legion.
Compared to Mannoroth—the vanguard general favored by Archimonde the Defiler—Tichondrius' combat prowess was far inferior. However, when it came to conspiracies, schemes, and behind-the-lines infiltration, ten Mannoroths would be no match for him.
The moment he saw the Dreadlord appear, Andreas first began to suspect if this guy had an even deeper plot, choosing to hide aside and watch in secret.
The current situation was awkward. The combat priestesses led by Maiev and the main force led by High Priestess Dejahna had failed to rendezvous; the two groups were separated by the physically imposing Felguards.
The priestesses who had been silenced by the horrific sight of their sisters' deaths finally set off again under Shandris' loud urging. One by one, still shaken, they landed in the woods to regroup with the main body. However, Maiev and Andreas were still very worried about the safety of those battlefield rookies.
Thump! Thump!
The Infernals that had smashed into the ground crawled out of their massive craters. At a lazy wave of Tichondrius' hand, they began to slowly close in on Andreas and Maiev.
Andreas was no military genius. Faced with this sudden turn of events, while his mind wasn't exactly a blank, he couldn't think of a brilliant masterstroke to break the deadlock on the spot.
Maiev turned to observe the state of the combat priestesses. After a brief hesitation, she immediately ordered, "Change direction! Prepare to break through the demon's defense. We rendezvous with the High Priestess first; we cannot leave them behind to escape on our own."
"Yes!"
Within the Moon Guard, the response to the "divine messengers'" support was polarized. One group cheered and swarmed around Tichondrius to flatter him, while the others remained where they were with complex expressions.
Including Commander Delier, this portion of the Moon Guard had begun to realize certain things.
The Burning Legion didn't trust these dispatched units at all; they were merely using them as cannon fodder and bait to whittle down the Sisterhood of Elune's combat strength as much as possible, after which Tichondrius would lead his personal demon army to jump in and reap the benefits.
One of the Moon Guards, whose face still looked a bit youthful, walked up to Delier and said indignantly, "Major, we..."
"I know what you mean. No need to say more."
Delier used the corner of his eye to glance at Tichondrius not far away. Although many of his colleagues were surrounding the demon lord and desperately flattering him, the giant bat seemed completely uninterested in their bootlicking.
These demons don't care about us at all. All that talk about 'for the glory of the Highborne and the Queen' is just superficial, silver-tongued lies.
...
While Delier was struggling internally, Maiev led her troops into a head-on collision with the Burning Legion.
Infernals, being fel-constructs, moved very slowly. Maiev temporarily ignored them and charged directly toward the small woods to the west.
Andreas followed the main force and didn't offer any opinions for the moment, but while observing Tichondrius, he unexpectedly discovered some interesting phenomena.
The Moon Guard commander's attitude seems a bit off?
Andreas' gaze moved back and forth between the giant bat and Delier. He vaguely realized he had discovered one of the key elements to breaking the situation.
The troops Tichondrius brought were mainly Felguards—demon infantrymen wielding massive two-handed weapons with exceptionally strong physiques.
Although the Night Elves' overall physical attributes were among the best of the mortal races, compared to the Felguards before them, the Night Elves only surpassed them in terms of agility.
Maiev was no reckless fool. Through the enemies' physique, she made a preliminary judgment of the Felguards' strengths and weaknesses.
"Keep to hit-and-run tactics! Do not meet these demons head-on. Bows ready... Volley!"
Meanwhile, in the woods, Dejahna was also commanding the panicked priestesses to set up a defensive formation, but the results were less than ideal.
Lacking combat experience and systematic military training, this group of priestesses couldn't even follow basic orders in the face of imminent danger.
If it weren't for the High Priestess using her own prestige to forcibly suppress all opposing opinions, some priestesses who had witnessed their sisters' tragic deaths might have already fled in all directions.
Looking over the hundreds of chirping, disorganized followers with a headache, Dejahna turned to Shandris with a wry smile.
"Shandris, I'm afraid we cannot count on the combat effectiveness of these sisters."
Shandris was also deeply worried about the current situation. Over a hundred Felguards had split into two routes: one part was blocking the charge of Maiev's combat priestesses, trying to slow them down as much as possible, while the other part was marching toward the woods with synchronized steps.
"The demon commander seems to intend to defeat us one by one while we are still separated."
Shandris stared intently at the Felguards in the distance who were assuming a defensive stance. "Our group is being treated as the 'soft target.' The demons intend to stall Priestess Maiev's unit and take the opportunity to finish us off first."
"Sigh..."
High Priestess Dejahna hesitated again and again, finally letting out a deep sigh.
She pulled a pendant necklace from the collar of her loose high priestess robes. Hanging from the pendant was a deep blue, vertical lozenge-shaped gemstone.
"Though I would much prefer to settle disputes through peaceful means, these demons clearly will not give us the chance for dialogue."
As the glow from the gemstone on her chest grew brighter, the High Priestess' eyes turned resolute as she gazed at the bright crescent moon in the night sky.
"Elune, please forgive me. To protect the sisters behind me, I am destined to be unable to carry out your creed of mercy today."
A faint blue light gradually covered Dejahna's entire body. Cloaked in the radiance, the High Priestess clasped her hands, bowed her head, and assumed a posture of prayer.
"Merciful Moon Goddess! Please grant me the strength to sweep away the obstacles on the Sisterhood's path forward!"