Chapter 359: Your Home Ground?!

The following afternoon in the hall of Blackrock Fortress, the White Dragon Lord was meeting with the Harpies returning from reconnaissance.

"Are you saying there is nothing unusual at Demon Camp No. 2?"

"Yes. From our observations, these Demons seem to have taken root in Camp No. 2. Aside from their daily patrols, they haven't made a single move. They don't look like they're preparing to retreat or attack."

"Keep monitoring them!"

"Understood!"

The Harpy withdrew. The White Dragon Lord furrowed his brow, deeply puzzled.

"What the hell are these Demons up to?"

Beside him in the hall, the Gold Dragon had listened to the entire exchange.

"Amos, could this be a trick?"

The White Dragon Lord pondered for a moment.

"It's possible. Demons are usually straightforward and impulsive, but that fire Demon, Rabmodo, is an exception. Adventurers call him the Demon most like a Devil. A Demon lord that cunning wouldn't do anything without a reason."

The two dragons fell silent in thought. The White Dragon Lord reviewed the sequence of events. At the very beginning, the fire Demon Army had blockaded the border. After being taught a harsh lesson by Blackrock Fortress and Riverrun, they hadn't retreated, nor had they launched a massive offensive. Instead, they had just set up camp and stopped moving.

"What's the point of doing that?"

The White Dragon Lord tried to figure out what the fire Demon could gain from this. He quickly realized that concentrating the Demon Army at Demon Camp No. 2 brought no strategic advantage. If anything, it gave their enemies the perfect opportunity to wipe them out in one fell swoop.

Bait?!

But Incineration City couldn't afford to use over a dozen Legendary Demons and two hundred thousand elite Demons as bait. That was nearly half of the city's entire military strength.

Unless the real hunter was someone else entirely, lurking right behind Demon Camp No. 2.

"Lomana Ironfeather! Have the scouts investigate the area behind Demon Camp No. 2."

"Understood, Master!"

"Gurgalu, go to the Boar's Howl Tavern and post an unranked quest. The objective is to investigate the area behind Demon Camp No. 2 for anything unusual."

"As you wish."

...

Days passed. Both the scouts and the adventurers reported back with the same news: there was nothing unusual behind Demon Camp No. 2. The White Dragon Lord began to doubt his own judgment. That morning, he gathered the upper echelons of Blackrock Fortress to brainstorm.

"Everyone, based on our reconnaissance over the past few days, we can pretty much rule out the bait theory. I brought you all here to figure out exactly why Demon Camp No. 2 still hasn't made a move."

Everyone in the Central Castle hall fell into deep thought.

"Could the Demon Army be hiding underground? Are they planning to ambush us the moment we attack Demon Camp No. 2?"

"Even if they were hiding underground, it would be impossible to completely erase the tracks of an entire army. Those adventurers are reconnaissance experts; it's highly unlikely they would miss the signs of a large-scale march."

...

Theories were proposed one after another, only to be immediately shot down. Everyone racked their brains until their heads ached, yet they still couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation.

Sman Wolfheart scratched his head.

"Could Demon Camp No. 2 just be a distraction to draw our attention?"

"But what would they gain from doing that?"

"To hide their real objective."

Their real objective?!

The White Dragon Lord looked up.

"Keep going."

"I don't know what their real objective is, but I imagine the biggest headache for the Demons right now is the Frozen Land you created, Master."

The White Dragon Lord mentally retraced the events of the past few days. Ever since Incineration City had blockaded the border, all of Blackrock Fortress and Riverrun's attention had been entirely focused on the Incineration City Demons. Because of that, the White Dragon Lord had overlooked one crucial detail.

"Lomana Ironfeather, pull a third of the scouts from around Demon Camp No. 2 and send them to the Frozen Land."

"Understood!"

That afternoon, Lomana urgently contacted the White Dragon Lord.

"Master, every single one of our kin sent to the Frozen Land has vanished. We've lost all contact."

Hearing this, the White Dragon Lord was absolutely certain that something had gone wrong in the Frozen Land. He immediately sought out the Gold Dragon.

"Leopold! I need to inspect the Frozen Land personally. I'm leaving Blackrock Fortress in your hands."

"Are you sure you don't want me to go with you? The Harpy scouts have already beat the grass and startle the snake. If we both go, we can watch each other's backs."

"Blackrock Fortress needs a powerhouse to hold the fort. Besides, my survival skills are top-notch. Don't worry."

The White Dragon Lord pointed at the two rings—one gold, one silver—resting on his horns.

"On my home ground, no one can stop me from leaving."

"Alright."

The Gold Dragon said no more.

The White Dragon Lord stepped into the courtyard, beat his wings, and took to the sky.

His massive dragon wings blotted out the sun, casting a sweeping shadow over the streets of Blackrock Fortress. Sensing the sudden shade, adventurers in the streets looked up, only to see the White Dragon Lord's fading silhouette soaring away.

Shortly after leaving Blackrock Fortress, the White Dragon Lord turned invisible and sped toward the Frozen Land.

Upon entering the Frozen Land, the White Dragon Lord surveyed the landscape below. Unlike the Great Glacier, which was perpetually blanketed by dark clouds and raging blizzards, the Frozen Land he had created was bathed in sunlight. The brilliance of the three suns reflected off the ice, turning the land into a blinding expanse of white.

Faint flashes of red could be seen beneath the white surface of the ice. These were various abyssal plants that had been flash-frozen. Swallowed completely whole by the endless Cold Wave of the Winter Cataclysm, the plants were preserved in their original forms like insects trapped in amber.

Of course, it wasn't just plants beneath the ice. There were wild Demons frozen down there as well.

The White Dragon Lord spotted a glaring patch of crimson amidst the endless white plains. It was a Spring of the Abyss. He immediately flew toward it.

Hovering directly above, the White Dragon Lord gazed down at the Spring of the Abyss.

No matter how the surrounding environment changed, the scenery around the Spring of the Abyss remained exactly the same. Demon eggs churned in the blood-red waters of the spring, nutrient-rich grass grew around the edge of the blood pool, and abyssal insects crawled through the weeds.

Around the Spring of the Abyss, the White Dragon Lord also spotted several Low Tier Demons that had just completed their first evolution. Every single one of these Low Tier Demons had adapted to the snowy environment: white ice-ape Demons with incredibly thick fur, ice worms sporting heavy carapaces, and even some abyssal insects that had directly evolved into ice Demons in a semi-Ice Elemental state.

Without exception, all these Demons were stuck at the Low Tier. The Winter Cataclysm had completely frozen all the wild Demons that originally inhabited this land, and these newly born replacements hadn't had the time to grow yet.

After observing them for a while, the invisible White Dragon Lord left the Spring of the Abyss and resumed scanning the land.

Finally, just as the three suns began to set, the White Dragon Lord spotted something out of place on the ice—an endless trail of footprints stretching as far as the eye could see. It was the undeniable trail of a massive Demon army on the march.

Beating his wings, the White Dragon Lord touched down next to the trail. The prints in the very center of the marching path had been trampled over by far too many Demons to yield any useful information, but toward the outer edges of the route, there were still some perfectly intact footprints.

"This is..."

At the sight of one massive, completely pristine footprint, the White Dragon Lord's pupils contracted. A specific Demon's name immediately escaped his lips.

"An ice-ape Demon!"

Ice-ape Demons were a type of Demon uniquely adapted to snowy environments. They looked like giant white gorillas. If an ice-ape Demon chose not to evolve into another form, its physical size would continue to grow indefinitely as its strength increased.

Based on the sheer size of this footprint, the Demon that left it had to be at the Master Tier at the very least.

A Master Tier ice-ape Demon marching right alongside the regular army!

His mood growing heavy, the White Dragon Lord examined the other tracks. Sure enough, he found the footprints of several other snow-adapted Demon species.

A force of snow-adapted Demons this massive absolutely did not originate from the Blood War Battlefield.

The climate of the Blood War Battlefield was dry and scorching hot, completely inhospitable for snow-dwelling Demons. Because of this, snow-adapted Demons rarely participated in the blood war. Even when they did, they came in very small numbers. They would never gather in such a massive horde.

This army of snow-adapted Demons had definitely been brought in from another layer of the Abyss!

The White Dragon Lord felt a wave of helplessness. He had no idea what kind of price the abyssal lord overseeing this sector of the Blood War Battlefield had paid to actually summon reinforcements from another plane—and to throw them straight into the battlefield the moment the rotation ended.

No matter how well the White Castle Army had adapted to fighting in the snow, they were no match for actual Frost Demons who literally lived and breathed the ice. This single move completely inverted the White Castle's territorial advantage in the Frozen Land into a crippling disadvantage, all while perfectly plugging the hole in the demonic defensive line.

Even though they were mortal enemies, the White Dragon Lord had to admit: that was a beautiful play.

The White Dragon Lord resumed his flight, following the tracks. He couldn't change the fact that the Frost Demons were here, but he at least needed to pinpoint their base of operations.

It didn't take long. Deep within the Frozen Land, the White Dragon Lord spotted a transparent Magic Barrier. The base of the Frost Demons had to be inside.

It had been a full week since Incineration City had dispatched their forces to blockade the border. Even if the Frost Demons hadn't finished constructing their base, they had definitely established their foundational defenses. The White Dragon Lord had already missed the optimal window to strike them before they could secure a foothold.

"That bastard Rabmodo! He actually played me!"

"Gagaga, I thought I heard someone cursing my name. Oh, wait~ It's a dragon~"

A hundred meters ahead of the White Dragon Lord, right at the edge of the barrier, a humanoid figure completely wreathed in flames stepped out. Massive clouds of steam billowed around him as the surrounding snow instantly flash-boiled from the intense heat.

Peering through the dense steam, the White Dragon Lord realized the fire Demon's feet weren't actually touching the ground. He was walking on thin air.

The fire Demon stopped right at the fifty-meter mark. Like a perfectly elegant noble, he offered a deep, sweeping bow.

"I am the Lord of Incineration City, Rabmodo Modi. And you must be the architect of this Frozen Land, Lord Amos. A pleasure to meet you~"

He truly lived up to his reputation as the Demon most like a Devil.

The White Dragon Lord couldn't quite figure out how this Demon lord's mind worked, but since Rabmodo was going out of his way to be polite, the dragon didn't mind playing along.

"The pleasure is mine, Lord Rabmodo. Secretly crossing Chencang like that was quite a beautiful diversionary tactic you pulled off."

"Just a cheap parlor trick, really. Compared to how you instantly froze over this entire region, Lord Amos, it's barely worth mentioning."

Trading empty flattery with a Demon lord was a complete waste of time. The White Dragon Lord decided to probe for information instead.

"From what I understand, abyssal lords don't exactly get along well. Forgive my curiosity, but where exactly did you pull these reinforcements from? Think you could satisfy my curiosity, Lord Rabmodo?"

"Of course! These Frost Demons are from the 107th Layer of the Abyss. They report to the Lord of the Cold Tide. As for how our sovereign managed to acquire their services, I have absolutely no idea. I'd imagine it involved some sort of mutual exchange of benefits, as these things usually do."

The White Dragon Lord was genuinely surprised by Rabmodo's candor. He had just dumped everything he knew without missing a beat.

"Hmm... Why are you telling me all this?"

"Well, it's fairly trivial information anyway. Besides, I need to keep you talking to stall for time! I certainly don't have the confidence to keep you here all by myself."

The fire Demon suddenly froze.

"Oh~ By the Abyss! I accidentally said the quiet part out loud, gagaga!"

One second Rabmodo looked thoroughly annoyed with himself, and the next, he threw his head back in manic laughter and hurled a massive orange fireball. The projectile radiated an absolutely terrifying heat, warping and distorting the very air around it.

"Lunatic!"

The White Dragon Lord instantly fired off a frost spear, detonating the fireball in midair.

Boom!

Accompanied by a violent explosion, the fireball erupted into a terrifying wave of flames. The sheer heat scorched a massive crater directly into the ice, instantly flash-vaporizing the melted water into nothingness.

Feeling the searing wave of heat wash over his face and staring at the crater in the ice, the White Dragon Lord came to a grim realization: Rabmodo's casual, off-hand attack packed the destructive force of Master Tier magic.

He truly lived up to Master Owen's warning about him being a Demon lord who specialized in magic!

The White Dragon Lord could compress Master Tier incantations to the point of being nearly instantaneous, but it still wasn't a true instant cast. Rabmodo, on the other hand, had thrown that with absolutely zero preparation.

A strong urge to retreat welled up in the White Dragon Lord's chest. Fighting a powerful Demon lord right on the doorstep of their own headquarters was incredibly foolish.

Suddenly, a massive cannonball shot out from the barrier, hurtling directly toward the White Dragon Lord.

The projectile was nearly the same size as the White Dragon Lord himself. Before it even reached him, the ear-piercing shriek of displaced air assaulted his ears. The sheer friction of its body against the wind produced a deafening howl—a true testament to the terrifying physical force behind the launch.

At the exact moment the cannonball struck, Rabmodo casually lobbed three more fireballs, perfectly sealing off all of the White Dragon Lord's escape routes.

Blink!

Just as the cannonball was about to hit him, the White Dragon Lord vanished into thin air, reappearing fifty meters away.

With a tremendous crash, the cannonball slammed into the ice, kicking up a massive shower of jagged frost and splinters as its momentum carried it rolling wildly forward.

After tumbling quite a distance, the cannonball finally came to a halt. Then, it stood up.

As the cannonball uncurled and stood, the White Dragon Lord realized it was actually a towering Demon. The creature looked like a massive, bipedal pangolin covered from head to toe in thick, ice-crystal scales. Ten razor-sharp, icicle-like claws gleamed with a deadly chill. Its beady, blood-red eyes radiated sheer bloodlust, and its entire body pulsed with an icy-blue aura.

This was a High-Tier Legendary Level Frost Pangolin!

Suddenly, a massive swarm of Demons flooded out of the barrier, completely surrounding the White Dragon Lord.

The White Dragon Lord watched the encroaching horde with keen interest, cataloging the various species. There were gorilla-like ice-ape Demons, bizarre ice Demons with an icicle for one hand and a morning star for the other, and terrifying ice-bat Demons that looked like giant humanoid bats...

Seeing the White Dragon Lord acting so utterly unbothered, the fire Demon didn't rush to resume his attack.

"Lord Amos, you don't look the least bit panicked~ Mind telling me where all this confidence is coming from?"

"Panic? Why would I panic on my own home ground?!"

"Your home ground?!"