Second World

Chapter 1871. The Effect of Horatio’s Demise

What Belphegor used was Ice Death. An instant death skill the same as the one used by Euphosine. But in Belphegor's hand, this skill was even more deadly. This skill instantly killed Horatio.

"Your Majestyyy…!!!" Darius cried. He was among those who were blown away by Belphegor's ice chakrams.

The other native soldiers stared with shocked expressions. They couldn't believe the person they were supposed to protect was killed so swiftly. They didn't know what to think. They wished this was all just a bad dream.

The players also didn't move. They stared at Belphegor with terrified expressions. Horatio was not weak. He also had a legendary artifact empowering him. Yet, he was killed in such a short instant.

Belphegor ignored all those stares. He bent down and swiped away the ice chunks on the ground. Horatio's body parts were still visible inside these ice chunks. He picked up the Book of the Damned. The book was so tiny in his palm.

"An artifact that gave others demonic power… What an affront. Too bad I can't destroy it," Belphegor muttered.

He started walking back to where he came from. The defenders were confused by the act. They thought the devil would continue assaulting them now that he was deep inside their defensive line.

"Murdererrr…!!!" fiery bat darts came assailing Belphegor. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Belphegor ignored those attacks. An ice shell appeared around him. The fire darts were extinguished when they touched this ice shell.

Vanessa rushed over once she saw Belphegor appear near Horatio, but she was too late. Belphegor's instant death skill took everyone by surprise. She channeled mana manipulation into her whip. The long whip turned rigid. It became an absurdly long rapier. She thrust this rapier-whip while using Drilling Thrust enhanced with the fire element.

Spiraling flame energy followed her whip as it stabbed into Belphegor's ice shell. The drilling caused friction that resulted in fiery sparks. Yet, Vanessa could only drill through half the ice shell's thickness. Belphegor continued walking as if nothing had happened. The ice shell followed him.

Ezekiel also came. His pet, the blood vulture, turned into a red streak and struck the spot where Vanessa had stabbed earlier. This caused more cracks in the ice shell. Ezekiel's dual curved twinblades turned into a blur as he executed Penta Slash, causing more cracks. Vanessa added a Fireball spell, which finally broke the ice shell apart.

Belphegor grunted when that happened, but he didn't stop walking. He continued to walk at a normal walking pace.

Seeing their two relic marshalls assaulting Belphegor to avenge their sovereign, the native soldiers joined in on the assault.

"Wait!" William shouted. Taking action because of impulse would just jeopardize everything.

Yet, the natives ignored his warnings. They swarmed Belphegor, who was now covered in ice armor. Neither Vanessa's nor Ezekiel's strikes were able to penetrate this armor. Multiple ranged attacks and spells from the natives assailed Belphegor. The melee combatants rushed forward to strike his legs.

Belphegor finally stopped walking. He turned back and uttered, "What a nuisance."

A powerful ice energy burst from his body. Everyone who had come into his vicinity was hit by the burst. Some were frozen. Those who didn't became sluggish, including Vanessa and Ezekiel. Belphegor formed one hand into a fist. He then made two jabs, which hit the two relic marshalls. Even if they were not slowed by the ice energy, they still couldn't dodge because the jabs were too damned fast.

Belphegor then made a powerful stomp. The ground cracked and crumbled. Ice spikes pierced out of the ground, stabbing the native soldiers who crowded around him. Many died from that assault, especially the frozen ones. They received instant death effects when the ice encasing them broke.

Belphegor turned around and resumed his walk. He wasn't interested in finishing the soldiers here.

"We need to retreat!" William said to Darius. Darius was the only native who didn't rush forward to assault Belphegor. He was also enraged by Horatio's death, but he kept a cool head instead of lashing out in anger.

"… I'm afraid it will be difficult to do so," Darius said weakly.

With Vanessa, Ezekiel, and many native soldiers coming to this side to attack Belphegor, the parts where they originally defended had crumbled. More and more demons breached through the walls. The siege weapons and defensive structures were taken out at an alarming rate. The worst was the native soldiers did things on their own. They no longer listened to orders. There was no chain of command. With the sovereign gone, the morale fell to a worrying level. The soldiers had not yet started fleeing but they were throwing their lives without consideration.

"Vanessa! You have to get through to your mother! Get her to issue the retreat!" William said to Darius.

Darius looked in Vanessa's direction. She had charged back to Belphegor. He doubted anything he said would get through to her, but she was indeed the most likely candidate to get the soldiers to listen. Darius gritted his teeth and ran toward her.

In the meantime, William started sending messages to the players, telling them to prepare for the tactical retreat. He asked them to wait for his signal. If they just left, the native soldiers blinded by rage would be slaughtered.

While he was sending the messages, a loud roar resounded in the sky. He looked up and saw Jygorth. A mana-empowered voice came out of the black dragon flying above.

"Sangrod soldiers! Retreat!! We will make our stands in the Sangrod Empire!"

Jygorth's voice got through many native soldiers. Not just because of his mana-empowered voice, but also due to his status as Sangrod's country guardian. The soldiers regained their levelheadedness and stopped rushing forward blindly. Vanessa was the same. She looked up at the black dragon before observing the situation on the battlefield. Everything was a mess. They were losing fast.

"Ezekiel, hold!" She called.

Ezekiel was about to rush forward again, but he stopped after hearing Vanessa's call.

"Issue the retreat command!" She told Ezekiel. She then took out a horn and blew it. The shrill voice of the horn reached the entire battlefield.

"Retreat! Retreat…!!!" She called.

The same calls started sounding all over the battlefield. The defenders began to move away from the defensive walls. Their formation was a mess already, so they still suffered during the retreat. One thing they should be thankful for was Belphegor continued to ignore them. The devil resumed walking back without a care for the defenders.

After hearing the retreat call, Wrath's maids also stopped fighting Belphegor's mini-clones. They disengaged and joined the retreating soldiers.

Belphegor called his nearest demon commander. He gave the Book of the Damned to this commander.

"Take this to Lord Lucifer," Belphegor ordered.

The Book of the Damned was an atrocity to their race. It was created by a demon sorcerer who wished to gain ultimate control over the demons and usurp the devil's dominance in the underworld. He failed but successfully sent his prize work through a secret portal into the upperworld. He was unable to escape using that portal, but at least his legacy lived on in the book.

The Book of the Damned was classified as an artifact and was protected by the world system. Even Lucifer couldn't destroy the book, but at least he could keep the book from falling into another's hand.

"I've put a seal on this book," Belphegor warned his commander. "If you try opening it, I will know. You will then regret ever doing it, so don't!"

"I… I understand, Lord Belphegor," The demon commander bowed as he accepted the book.

"Go!" Belphegor commanded.

He turned back to the defenders after the demon commander left. They were in full retreat motion now. He was thinking about whether to rush over and do some damage.

The mini-Belphegors came to him as he was gazing away. They jumped and hugged his muscular body. As they touched, the mini-belphegors turned into jelly and were absorbed into Belphegor's body. Fat covered his muscles again. His form was back to the extraordinarily obese devil.

Lethargy plagued his mind when that happened. He didn't feel the desire to chase the defenders anymore. He felt very tired after all the exercise just now. He sat on the ground and watched his demon army harass the retreating defenders. That was until the defenders activated the traps that covered their retreat. Then, it was the demons whose formation turned into a mess.

Belphegor chuckled. He was amused by the foolishness of his army. After experiencing the traps so many times, they still fell for it.

He put one hand to prop his head. He wished this war was over soon. He didn't like treading across the whole world just for the sake of conquering it. It's too much work. He just wished to lay down and rest.

Palgrost's Northern defense ended up being the first to lose its ground. The fleeing Sangrod army retreated until the border and continued in the direction of their country. Darius and Vanessa took temporary control over the army. They didn't have the time to decide on a successor. They were pretty sure the nobles in Sangrod would quarrel over the throne once they learned of Horatio's demise. Even with the world at risk, greedy people always look for an opportunity to seize profit.

If only there was another Maxius, the decision of a successor would be easier. But Horatio was the last of the Maxius blood, or so they thought.