Chapter 179 Star And Moon Threat
During this time, tens of thousands of demons were already preparing the marching onto the city, as they started gathering in something that could be some sort of formation if it wasn't that disorganized. However, it was still pretty good for a demon standard.
Demons were very thrilled at the thought of battle as they were brandishing their weapons and preparing for brutal combat. Already hundreds, if not thousands of them, were ready to combat and kill their sworn enemies, the humans, clearly not really thinking that rushing to the defenses right now would surely result in their death.
"Wait a bit... let the idiots get killed themselves. We will be entering with the first wave; the vanguard would probably be killed to the last person because humans are prepared."
Samiel stated as Yvraine and Juulius agreed with him, while Dharzug grumbled but accepted it in the end because he could see the logic behind his words. Joining the vanguard in a situation like this would be like a death sentence because while the vanguard would be attacking first and was consisting of the most powerful demon soldiers, it would also be met with the fiercest resistance from the side of humans.
Samiel even predicted that the losses of the vanguard would be around 98% or more. Going there was not the best idea around, so Samiel wanted to join the first wave of the invaders because they would be going with much higher numbers to the city, not to mention the defenders would be weakened by a significant degree from dealing with the vanguard of the demon army.
Meanwhile, on the other part of the battlefield, the Mana Artillery Cannon shot at the White-Blue Gate, which shook as the walls started cracking bit by bit. While the Black Walls were durable and could defend against some Legendary Level might, unfortunately, the Mana Artillery Cannon packed the punch of a proper Legendary Level Professional.
The commander of the invading army was actually someone experienced enough who was deployed here directly from the headquarters of the Golden-Horned Demon Tribe to ensure that the rest of the conquest was carried out without any fails because after the debacle with the 5th Prince of the Golden-Horned Demon Tribe the situation was already bad.
"Prepare the soldiers and order the vanguard to march at the city when the White-Blue Gate is breached."
The commander issued orders as he observed the Mana Artillery Cannon being reloaded and preparing to shoot once more at the designed target. It didn't take long for the demons to completely mobilize as soon as the orders were given out because the demons wanted some fight already.
It didn't take long for the Mana Artillery Cannon to shoot once again as it hit the White-Blue Gate of the Selangrad's Black Walls, shattering the entire gate into countless pieces as the defenses were breached.
"Attack!"
The commander from the Golden-Horned Demon Tribe shouted the moment he saw the While-Blue Gate being destroyed into several pieces as the forces of demon armies started advancing, rushing towards the side in their greed for good fight and blood while the humans were doing everything they could to protect the place where the gate stood.
"Support the vanguard force and prepare the invasion force; send in fifty thousand as the first wave and two hundred thousand as the second wave. Also, send a word to other positions to increase their salvos and to start dropping everything they have at the Selangrad to prevent them from moving the majority of their forces towards the White-Blue Gate."
The commander gave out a few orders before he turned his sight back to the siege of Selangrad; as the forces of the demon army started advancing towards the White-Blue Gate as thousands of heavy-armored knights started making a defensive formation over the destroyed gate.
Immediately after he gave the command for the army to advance, thousands upon thousands of demons hungrily lunged forward as they started running towards the Whiule-Blue Gate or at least, towards its remains. Most of the demons were armed only with simple weapons and were wearing relatively light armor, while they mostly depended on their racial capabilities to defend.
Due to this, not many demons were wearing things like armor, and only those who could be considered as Nobles and Aristocrats would be wearing one, while the common demons were always fighting with whatever they had in their hands. Another reason for that was the fact that the armors and weapons of a certain quality were pricy and the majority of common demons were poor as fuck.
"Commander, humans are launching the counter-offensive at our position!"
Shouted one of the demon officers, who brought him the news as the commander from the Golden-Horned Demon Tribe grimaced because while the magical barrier was down, it meant that the demons were able freely to attack the Selangrad with whatever they wished, the same rules applied to the Human Brotherhood, which now too started throwing everything they had at the demon army.
"Activate the provisionary Mage Towers and Wards in Area 1 to Area 10. Order all Magic Users to support the Wards and Barrier, and if there are weak spots that are ironically just over the siege equipment, tell them to cast the barrier themselves and maintain it as long as possible."
The officer saluted and immediately ran away to pass the orders from the commander of the army, as everyone watched the incoming salvo from the magetech artillery and some mortars of the Selangrad, which now started returning the fire at the demon positions.
Series of explosions happened all over the battlefield, as the shells and shots fired by the human defenders hit their predestined targets, killings hundreds if not thousands of demons and even some of the siege equipment was destroyed in the process.
Fortunately for the demon side, the moment when humans launched the second salvo at the defenses that the demons prepared to cover their forces were launched as several Mage Towers activated and created a crystal barrier around all fortifications in the vicinity of the Selangrad's artillery.
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Southern Area of the Human Continent, some distance from the Central Area of the Human Continent, 8th Floor of the Tower.
Where the eye could see thousands upon thousands of demons were walking in orderly formations, all bearing the flag of the Moon with several Stars around it, indicating their affiliation to the Star-Moon Coalition, which became one of the major players after the fallout with the Golden-Horned Demon Tribe.
"How are we on it with time?"
Questioned one of the demons who was riding an enormous feline-type magical beast that appeared to be some kind of warg or something. He was wearing full-plated armor, from some rare type of steel, based on the fact that it had some shades of blue. He had pitch-black hair tied in a ponytail with streaks of red amidst them.
"We must hurry as much as possible or the golden ones will be first and take control of the Selangrad and fortify themselves there."
Reported another demon who was wearing similar armor, but his one was pale white in color and he was a bit more handsome with his long white hair and green eyes.
"It was very unfortunate that they sent Karios away... idiot would have ruined the situation even more and made our mission practically served to us on a silver platter... instead, we have to deal with General Qais."
Complained the first demon who was riding the warg-like magical beast, as they were advancing together with their army, consisting of the soldiers of the Star Demon Tribe and Moon Demon Tribe together with their allies and vassals that were operating on the 8th Floor of the Tower.
"Karios and Kisrith were both idiots. One was overly lazy and didn't bother with anything aside from issuing a few orders and letting everyone do his job, while another was an incompetent fool who ruined everything he touched. I don't even understand what was going in the head of whoever proposed to send Karios down here."
Both of them were aware that among the current generation of children of the current Patriarch of the Golden-Horned Demon Tribe, most of them were incompetent and were just disappointments. Maybe that was the reason why the Patriarch didn't even bat an eye when the 7th Prince Kisrith was killed on the 8th Floor by some assassins from the Human Brotherhood.
"You are right, Thadon but there are still some who could cause some serious trouble if they did come here."
Thadon was the black-haired demon, a Crown Prince of the Moon Demon Tribe and the only son of the Patriarch of the Moon Demon Tribe. He was born only a few decades ago and he already assumed the role of the Crown Prince after he took the title from his elder sister, whom he defeated in single combat and took as his wife.
"Nobody else would be coming here, Zormot. Golden ones are busy dealing with the aftermath which that idiot Karios created with his actions. It seems that the full-out war with the golden ones is inevitable... but it should happen on our terms and conditions and if we take them out at the Selangrad... it would basically cripple many of their vassals. While the loss on the collective demon race would be relatively high, it is still a low price compared to the gains we could obtain from this ordeal."
Stated the Crown Prince of the Moon Demon Tribe, Thadon as they continued advancing further towards the Central Area of the Human Continent. During the past months, the forces of the Star-Moon Coalition have been secretly fighting a shadow war with the Golden-Horned Demon Tribe and their faction.
The tensions were already pretty high and it was possible that soon enough, it would escalate into a full-blown conflict and war between two demon factions; thus the Patriarchs of the Star Demon Tribe and Moon Demon Tribe decided to take the initiative from the hands of the Golden-Gorned Demon Tribe.
"That is under the premise that we manage to reach Selangrad in time before they took the entire city. If we are late by even a few hours and they have cooped up in the city, then the only chance is to withdraw and do nothing, as it would be risky."
Replied Zormot, who was one of the princes of the Star Demon Tribe, though he was more interested in pursuing the path of Magic than the seat of the Patriarch, as he didn't really care about the politics of the tribe or anything aside from studying spells and uncovering the secrets of the Arcane.
"We will be... the Golden-Horned Tribe has brought to the 8th Floor forces from countless Lower Worlds, destroying them would be leaving those worlds to death and we can just walk there and obtain their allegiance with a few words and at the same time, use that to discredit the Golden-Horned Tribe for their incompetence at protecting Lower Worlds where demons are in peril."
Replied Crown Prince Thadon as he thought about the aftermath of the situation when they successfully took Selangrad and annihilated sieging forces of the Golden-Horned Demon Tribe and its vassals.