Chapter 469: Battle At The Serpent’s Pass

Meanwhile, back at the Great Serpent’s Pass...

The fact that the Demon King had yet to appear was becoming increasingly strange.

No one said anything about it too. Instead, an uneasy atmosphere had gradually settled over the gathering.

Nathan noticed that several of the provincial lords and their right-hands were looking in his direction, occasionally exchanging glances with one another.

Their expressions were difficult to read, but there was something suspicious about the way they were watching him and Jillia.

Nathan’s eyes moved from one side of the gathering to the other, carefully observing them.

Then his eyes met those of Eorlagar’s; a demon lord who suddenly grinned.

His eyes flashed red in tandem and in the next instant, Eorlagar disappeared in a burst of speed.

Nathan’s expression changed into sudden urgency as Eolagar reappeared directly before him, both hands gripping a massive red axe as he brought it down with tremendous force.

Nathan reacted almost instantly, raising one hand above him as a purple magical shield materialized just in time to intercept the descending weapon.

The axe slammed into the shield and a powerful shockwave erupted from the point of impact, spreading across the ground and forcing some of of the nearby right hands to brace themselves.

Cracks immediately began spreading across the purple shield.

"What is the meaning of this, Eolagar?" Nathan demanded through gritted teeth as he struggled to hold the barrier together.

Eolagar only grinned, gave no answer.

At the exact moment Eolagar had launched his attack, his right-hand had moved as well.

The demon was a berserker demon just like

his lord. He wielded an axe of his own, swinging it in a vicious charge against Jillia charged toward.

Jillia shot forward and met him halfway, colliding her sword; the dhurandar, in a violent clash with his axe.

Now both demon lords and their respective right-hand were engaged in battle.

Nathan quickly attempted a follow up attack. He move his free hand, forming a magic circle in preparation to cast a spell.

Eolagar noticed the attempt and released the pressure against Nathan’s shield while leaping backward to put some distance between them before the spell could be completed.

At nearly the same time, Jillia broke away from her opponent and quickly returned to Nathan’s side.

"My lord!"

Nathan quickly reached for her hand in preparation to enter the Astral Realm and escape the battlefield.

But the moment he attempted to activate his astral magic teleportation, nothing happened.

Nathan’s eyes widened at the fact that the spell had failed.

Jillia turned at him. "My lord, we have to leave."

But Nathan didn’t answer. Instead, his gaze moved across the battlefield until it settled on another demon lord some distance away.

Zelith.

The sorceress demoness was floating several feet above the ground, maintaining a spell with both hands raised before her.

Two magic circles hovered in front of her palms.

Nathan’s eyes narrowed, then he clicked his tongue in realization.

"Rule of the Area," he whispered to Jillia’s hearing. "Zelith is casting Rule of the Area."

Jillia’s expression changed. She immediately understood what had happened.

The spell was specifically preventing him from leaving.

And with that came the realization that this had never been a gathering for the provincial lords to meet with the Demon King.

It was an ambush.

The other provincial lords were here with the intention of trapping and killing Nathan.

Rule of the Area was an exceptionally powerful Tier 10 spell that could only be cast by Grade 10 sorcerer demons, meaning demons who had reached the level of demon lords.

The spell created an enormous invisible dome around a designated area, separating everything inside it from the surrounding world.

The size of the dome depended on the caster’s specifications.

And Zelith had made hers enormous.

The invisible boundary stretched far enough to encompass the entirety of the Great Serpent’s Pass, covering an area large enough to contain a small city.

The spell had two distinct functions.

The first was to separate the enclosed area from the outside world.

Everything caught within the dome was effectively removed from the surrounding reality. Although the Great Serpent’s Pass was physically located on the Demon Continent, the area enclosed by Rule of the Area could no longer be considered part of the Demon Continent in any practical sense.

The spell had isolated the entire region and placed it within an unknown void, making it impossible for anything outside the boundary to interact with what was happening inside.

Additionally, anything within the dome could not be sensed from outside either.

Those trapped inside could still see the daylight above them and everything surrounding them as normal. From their perspective, the world appeared completely unchanged.

But from the outside, the Great Serpent’s Pass simply could not be seen.

It was as though the people within the dome still existed in the world while simultaneously being separated from it.

And for the second function of Rule of the Area;

Once the dome had been established, the caster could impose a rule upon everything inside, which applied to everyone within the dome, including the caster herself.

And the rule Zelith had set was; ’No one was allowed to enter or leave the area by any means.’

The other demon lords began adjusting themselves as the situation escalated.

A few of those who were necromancers summoned their creatures, while magic circles and various weapons appeared from different angles.

Eorlagar rolled his shoulders and tightened his grip around his axe.

Standing at roughly six feet five inches, he was a massive, heavily muscular demon with red skin, a thick black beard, and two enormous horns rising from the corners of his head.

He was by far the tallest, largest, and heaviest demon among those gathered.

He was a Grade 10 berserker and widely regarded as the strongest berserker on the entire continent.

Eolagar stared at Nathan with a gleeful expression.

"Ah, Izzgur." His thick voice carried across the area. "I cannot tell you how long I have been waiting for this day."

Every demon lord gathered at the pass always knew that the man ruling the Krygon Province was not the original Lord Krygon but Izzgur Azazel.

The demon king kept them abreast of it all.

Morever, they were too powerful for their minds to be tampered with.

The only reason they had allowed Izzgur to continue playing his role as Lord Krygon was because the Demon King had ordered them to let him do so until he was no longer needed.

The provinces also possessed a considerable degree of autonomy, and interference in the affairs of another provincial lord was generally avoided.

Eorlagar, however, had a more personal reason for wanting Nathan dead.

He was a close friend of the original Lord Krygon, and had never forgotten that Izzgur was responsible for his death.

Eorlagar raised his axe and pointed it toward Nathan. "Our King has promised a bountiful reward to whichever one of us kills you here."

"But I don’t do this for the reward. I don’t even care about it."

A vicious grin spread across his face.

"I simply want your head mounted on the pike of my throne."

Several of the other demon lords and their right-hand aides had already spread out, taking positions around Nathan and Jillia.

They were ready to attack.

Despite their overwhelming numerical advantage, none of them rushed forward recklessly.

This was because Nathan was still a demon lord, and was one of the strongest among them.

So everyone here understood that taking him down would not be easy.

Nathan, however, said nothing to Eolagar.

At this time, he had used his astral magic to establish a mental connection with Jillia, allowing the two of them to communicate through their thoughts.

’I want you to always pay attention to me,’ Nathan told her.

’Zelith won’t be able to maintain Rule of the Area forever. We only need to survive until the spell breaks.’

He glanced toward the surrounding demons.

’The moment it does, return to my side and we’ll leave immediately.’

Jillia answered through the mental connection. ’Yes, my lord... But my lord, we’re outnumbered. How long do you think we can survive this?’

Nathan turned to her. ’Do you trust me, Jillia?’

A smile appeared on her face as she tightened her grip around her sword. ’To the very end, my lord.’

Nathan smiled and adjusted his stance. His eyes glowed purple light as magic aura gathered around him.

"He is smiling.." another demon lord whispered.

Eorlagar’s expression hardened. "Enough talk!"

Iron armor suddenly began manifesting around his massive body, forming piece by piece until his entire body was covered.

A black helmet appeared over his head, fitting around his horns, while his axe began glowing with an intense red light that matched the glow in his eyes.

Eolagar lowered his body then charged with a roar that echoed throug the Great Serpent’s Pass, swinging his axe forward with all the strength of his enormous body.

The other demon lords followed immediately.

Their forces surged forward as well, and within moments, the entire gathering erupted into motion.

Nathan and Jillia seemed prepared to take them all on as the demon lords and their right-hands closed in from every direction.