Chapter 351: Successive Explosions

Under the command of the Eight-Armed Snake Demon lord, the demons of Ten Thousand Blades Fortress crashed against the fog in wave after relentless wave. However, the defenders of Blackrock Fortress were already prepared; magic, energy slashes, and arrows combined to seal off the sky and the earth.

Like ocean waves smashing against a solid reef, the Demon Army was shattered before the fog. Hot demonic blood pooled into small puddles across the ground.

Gradually, the Eight-Armed Snake Demon realized that simple human-wave tactics would not defeat an enemy so well-prepared.

"Oduhal, lead the Mage Corps and prepare for magical support!"

"Yes!"

"Udina! Lead the demons at the Legendary Rank and above, and await my orders! Chop off the head of anyone who dares slack off!"

"Yes!"

"Demon Serpent's Bite Legion! Prepare to attack!"

Orders fell one after another. Ten Thousand Blades Fortress's ace unit—the Demon Serpent's Bite Legion—accelerated to the frontlines. Unlike undisciplined ordinary demons, the Demon Serpent's Bite Legion was professionally trained.

Towering at four meters tall, the robust Berserker Demons took the vanguard. These blood-red, hairless ape-like creatures dropped to all fours, their eyes bloodshot. They panted heavily, snorting bursts of sulfur-scented breath from their nostrils.

Surging battle intent boiled within the Berserker Demons' chests. Yet, without their commander's orders, they dared not move on their own, occasionally throwing back their heads to roar and vent their fury.

Behind the thousands of Berserker Demons stood various mid- to High-Tier Demons skilled in agile skirmishing, along with demons specialized in ranged attacks. Up in the sky hovered a dense, dark cloud of elite flying demons.

"Mage Corps! Magical cover! Demon Serpent's Bite Legion, attack!"

The attack horn blew. Bursting with battle intent, the Berserker Demons charged out like a herd of angry bulls with their tails on fire, with all other types of demons following closely behind. Backed by the magical support of the Mage Corps led by the Spell-Eater Demons, the Demon Army finally crashed into the fog.

Inside the fog, however, the Blackrock Fortress defenders had already arranged their formations and were waiting.

Completely ignoring the forest of spears jutting from the shield wall, the raging bull-like Berserker Demons slammed right into it. The front-row soldiers were instantly sent flying meters into the air, but the bloodthirsty, maddened Berserker Demons were also riddled with long spears and trampled into the dirt by the companions behind them.

At the cost of massive casualties, the most powerful initial wave of the assault was halted. The Demon Army and the Blackrock Fortress soldiers descended into a chaotic melee, friend and foe thoroughly mixed together.

Legendary Demons took to the sky and clashed with the legendary powerhouses under Master Owen's command. The energetic collisions of magic and qi erupted in the air like rolling claps of thunder.

But at some unknown point, the Eight-Armed Snake Demon lord positioned in the rear had vanished.

Inside the control room of the White Tower, Master Owen, who had been keeping a close eye on the Eight-Armed Snake Demon, immediately went on high alert upon discovering the target was gone.

"All units, be on alert! Durio has disappeared!"

While warning everyone, Master Owen used the White Tower to amplify his spiritual power and run a Scan across the battlefield. However, finding an Eight-Armed Snake Demon skilled in stealth amid such a chaotic battlefield was incredibly difficult.

Carefully bypassing the soldiers charging her way and dodging the stray arrows raining from the sky, the invisible Eight-Armed Snake Demon cautiously approached the center of the fog.

Using the chaos of the battlefield as cover, the Eight-Armed Snake Demon finally drew near the purple Magic Barrier.

Hearing the vast, ancient chanting of a spell, the Eight-Armed Snake Demon's lips curled up slightly. Without hesitation, she drew her scimitars and slashed at the barrier with all her might.

As long as she broke this final layer of defense, she could disrupt the White Dragon holding the magical ritual. At that critical juncture, even a tiny fireball would be enough to claim the White Dragon's life.

The energy-infused scimitars radiated a bright glow, and their sharp edges viciously struck the purple barrier.

"Hm?!"

The moment she hit the barrier, the Eight-Armed Snake Demon's heartbeat violently stalled. It wasn't because the barrier's defense was too strong, but because it was far too weak. It was like a purple bubble, popping at the slightest poke.

The purple barrier shattered, and the vast, ancient chanting abruptly stopped. Staring at the completely empty Altar, cold sweat beaded on the Eight-Armed Snake Demon's forehead.

It's a trap!

A massive white dragon head erupted from the ground right next to the Eight-Armed Snake Demon, sending dirt flying in all directions.

The White Dragon Lord looked at the Eight-Armed Snake Demon, whose body was leaning forward from the sheer force of her slash. With undisguised mockery in his eyes, he opened his massive maw and engulfed her in a blast of Ice-Blue Dragon Breath. It all happened in a fraction of a second.

The Eight-Armed Snake Demon quickly reacted, steadying her body.

Secret technique—Moon Dance!

As the Ice-Blue Dragon Breath rapidly arrived, the Eight-Armed Snake Demon wildly swung her eight scimitars, carving out a tiny pocket of space amidst the blast. Yet, even with the defense of the Moon Dance, transparent ice still rapidly spread across her body.

There was no pain, only numbness!

The White Dragon Lord's Dragon Breath didn't just freeze the body; it could also freeze the soul. The Eight-Armed Snake Demon felt as if her body no longer belonged to her. Her vision gradually blurred, the sounds of the battlefield slowly faded away, and even her mind slowed to a crawl.

Am I going to die?

No!

Absolutely not!

In the final moment before the light completely vanished, an intense desire to survive erupted from within the Eight-Armed Snake Demon. The lifeblood in her heart ignited, and her faltering heart began to beat once more.

"Hm?!"

The White Dragon Lord was taken aback. He sensed a tremendous surge of energy suddenly appear within his Dragon Breath, radiating a scorching, resolute aura.

Bang!

A fierce energy explosion interrupted the White Dragon Lord's breath. In the center of the blast, where flames splattered outward, the Eight-Armed Snake Demon instantly recovered her vitality by burning her lifeblood.

Seeing the bloody flames burning on the Eight-Armed Snake Demon's body, the White Dragon Lord immediately understood what had happened. Burning one's lifeblood was a powerhouse's final dignity.

Lifeblood was the essence of living creatures. Burning it maximized a biological entity's potential, allowing them to erupt with power beyond their limits for a short time. By burning her lifeblood, the Eight-Armed Snake Demon temporarily gained strength exceeding the High-Tier Legend tier, allowing her to resist the White Dragon Lord's Dragon Breath.

The aftereffects of acquiring power in such a brutal manner were exceedingly severe. After burning her lifeblood, let alone advancing in Tier, it would be a miracle if the Eight-Armed Snake Demon could keep her current strength from dropping.

But with her life on the line, the Eight-Armed Snake Demon couldn't afford to care about that.

The violent explosion dispersed the fog. The demons on the battlefield caught sight of the scene inside: the Eight-Armed Snake Demon floating in midair, covered in burning bloody flames. On the ground, the White Dragon Lord was brewing another breath attack in his maw, while in the distance, the Gold Dragon lying in ambush rushed toward the battlefield at top speed.

The Eight-Armed Snake Demon glared fiercely at the White Dragon Lord and immediately turned to flee. But in the White Tower's control room, Master Owen was already prepared and instantly cast a legendary magic spell.

A massive net woven from purple arcane energy enveloped the Eight-Armed Snake Demon. At the same time, two Dragon Breaths—one ice-blue, one flowing gold—surged toward the net in the sky.

With the surrounding space locked down and her body controlled by the magic net, only deep despair remained in the Eight-Armed Snake Demon's heart.

"You! You all deserve to die!"

Right before the two Dragon Breaths struck her, the Eight-Armed Snake Demon deliberately detonated the energy within her body.

Seeing this, the charging Gold Dragon retreated even faster than he had come, releasing his energy outward and curling his body into a ball.

The White Dragon Lord also immediately ceased his Dragon Breath. He chanted a few syllables, and the ground beneath him seemed to turn into a pool of water, allowing him to rapidly sink and hide deep within the earth.

In the White Tower's control room, Master Owen hurriedly manipulated the purple magic net, dragging the trapped Eight-Armed Snake Demon higher into the sky.

Boom!

The explosion resounded into the clouds, its scorching white light illuminating the entire world. The resulting shockwave immediately swept downward, blasting the soldiers and demons on the ground into the air.

Only the White Tower triggered its defense mechanism. Covered by a transparent Magic Barrier, it stood firm amidst the violent shockwave like an unyielding, towering pillar.

A moment later, the White Dragon Lord emerged from the ground and used a Cleansing Spell to tidy himself up. At the same time, the Gold Dragon stood up from a pile of rubble with a grimace. He was covered in dust, and cracks had appeared on his scales in several places.

"That @#¥%...&*! Durio actually blew herself up!"

After casting a Water Moistening Spell on the Gold Dragon, the White Dragon Lord looked around. Demons and soldiers of Blackrock Fortress were lying all over the ground, wailing in pain. Most were simply injured. The White Dragon Lord breathed a long sigh of relief.

Fortunately, Master Owen had thrown the detonating Eight-Armed Snake Demon into the sky, so the brunt of the explosion hadn't directly hit anyone below. Moreover, the Eight-Armed Snake Demon wasn't a pure spellcasting demon, so the power of her self-destruction wasn't too outrageous.

Had it been a High-Tier Legendary Mage or a high-tier priest, the Gold Dragon, being closest to the blast center, would have suffered far worse than a few cracked scales.

Master Owen flew out of the White Tower's control room and hovered in the sky to check on the soldiers. Aside from a small number of lucky troops and some powerhouses with special methods, almost everyone from Blackrock Fortress was wounded. Master Owen felt a massive headache coming on.

"What... what do we do now?!"

At this moment, the soldiers and demons with lighter injuries had already gotten to their feet and resumed their bloody melee. Most of the demons, however, were fleeing outward.

"Let's finish off these demons first," the White Dragon Lord said.

The White Dragon Lord rapidly chanted a spell. A moment later, one hundred high-tier Ice Elementals appeared before him.

With the help of the two dragons and Master Owen, it wasn't long before not a single living demon could be seen on the ground.

The White Dragon Lord counted the corpses of the Legendary Demons. There were only three. Ten Thousand Blades Fortress originally had nearly twenty Legendary Demons, but most of those on the periphery of the explosion had taken advantage of the chaos to flee.

"Let them flee. Let's go take a look at Ten Thousand Blades Fortress!"

"Ten Thousand Blades Fortress?!"

Prompted by the Gold Dragon's words, Master Owen, who had been calculating the casualties, suddenly remembered Ten Thousand Blades Fortress. His expression shifted to one of sheer dread.

"Hurry! Hurry to Ten Thousand Blades Fortress!"

The White Dragon Lord was confused, but he and the Gold Dragon still followed Master Owen.

Before the two dragons and one human could even get close, they noticed that the magical elements within Ten Thousand Blades Fortress had descended into chaos.

"Damn it!"

Feeling this familiar energy fluctuation, the three of them slammed on the brakes and fled in the opposite direction.

Boom!

A moment later, a terrifying black-and-red mushroom cloud rose from where Ten Thousand Blades Fortress stood.

In the distant sky, the White Dragon Lord projected a magical shield to block the incoming gale and flying pebbles.

The Gold Dragon stared at the distant mushroom cloud, gulping heavily.

"This level of power... it must be on par with a high-level Forbidden Spell!"

At that moment, the Gold Dragon finally understood why Master Owen had consistently refused to attack Ten Thousand Blades Fortress with full force. This wasn't conquering a city; this was attacking a live bomb.

Master Owen revealed a bitter smile.

"Sorry! I forgot about this."

The White Dragon Lord felt his throat go dry.

"Sir Owen, are all demon cities like this?"

"To be exact, every city on the Blood War Battlefield is like this. Whether it belongs to the Demons, the Devils, or beings from other planes, every large-scale magical Array inscribed in these cities has a self-destruct mechanism. We would rather blow a city up than leave it for the enemy."

"..." The White Dragon Lord was speechless.

After thinking for a moment, the White Dragon Lord stopped dwelling on the matter.

Thinking about it carefully, it made perfect sense. The Blood War Battlefield was fraught with danger and endless warfare. Every faction poured immense effort into inscribing massive magical Arrays into their cities. No one wanted such strategic assets to fall into enemy hands.

Inscribing self-destruct magical Arrays didn't just keep the cities out of enemy hands; it also deterred enemies from casually attacking, lest they trigger mutually assured destruction.

The two dragons and one human returned to the battlefield. By now, the wounded soldiers were helping each other. The heavily injured were carried to the priests' camp, while those with moderate injuries just threw on some hasty bandages and called it a day.

As long as they could still move, the soldiers joined the ranks of those clearing the battlefield. Demon corpses were collected one after another; these were the spoils of war they had risked their lives to earn.

"My three Lords, we found this while clearing the battlefield."

A legendary powerhouse held up a tray containing some weapon fragments and four intact scimitars.

"Oh, Durio's scimitars."

The White Dragon Lord picked up a scimitar and examined it closely. These scimitars, which the Blade Sovereign had specially ordered crafted for her high-tier legendary subordinates, were Legendary Rank weapons and representative masterpieces of Bottomless Abyss craftsmanship.

"There are four intact scimitars. We'll each take one, and the remaining one will be rewarded to the bravest Warrior. Sir Owen, Leopold, what do you think of this proposal?"

The Gold Dragon had no objections, and Owen certainly didn't either. Thus, the three of them each chose a scimitar.

...

Deep within demon territory, inside a majestic, giant fortress no less impressive than the Alliance Headquarters—the City of Naxxramas—Udina and a group of heavily scarred Legendary Demons appeared on a Teleportation Platform.

The Six-Armed Snake Demons guarding the Teleportation Platform were shocked to see the numerous blood-soaked Legendary Demons and hurried over.

"Quick! Quickly inform the Sovereign! Ten Thousand Blades Fortress is gone!"

"What happened?!"

"The enemies from Blackrock Fortress attacked Ten Thousand Blades Fortress. They used a despicable scheme to set up Captain Durio, forcing her to blow herself up. We escaped during the chaos, but before we left, we activated Ten Thousand Blades Fortress's self-destruct sequence."

After hastily bandaging their wounds, Udina led the surviving Legendary Demons through layers of guards into a grand hall. The hall was built from snow-white stone blocks, its interior decorated with exquisite flowers and serpent sculptures in various postures.

At the end of the hall lay a vibrant green pool. Inside the pool, a snake demon was bathing with her back to the group, gently washing her snow-white shoulders with her twelve slender arms.