All through the night, Frost-Rain Mountain watched in silence as Skyward Legionnaires of the Heavenly Fleet fell ill one after another, collapsing and then being hurriedly carried away by their panicked comrades—hauled off and delivered to the warships set aside for the wounded.
By the second half of the night, the Heavenly Fleet even canceled all aerial patrols—the Skyward Legionnaires withdrew and huddled aboard their warships.
From afar, Monkey could clearly see that the patrols on the decks had become more frequent, but the number of soldiers was dwindling.
Did this mean the epidemic had become truly severe?
Who could say?
Atop the mountain, the Six Demon Kings and their crowd of followers had watched the whole night as well—even the gravely wounded King Roc was carried out to witness it.
Every time a Skyward Legionnaire fainted, a cheer would erupt from the mountaintop. The demons would leap and dance, bursting with joy—as if they had forgotten that their own side was suffering from an even worse plague.
Tens of thousands of lesser demons lay in the damp, shadowy caves—some muttering deliriously, others clinging to a thread of life.
But no matter what they did, as time passed, all that awaited them was death.
Every cave would become a natural tomb, burying countless lives—without even a soul left to collect the bodies.
Mountains of corpses, layers upon layers of white bones—what kind of scene would that be?
Monkey dared not imagine it.
All he could say was: such was the fate of the lesser demons.
This place is far from the sea. Elder Stillwater could help Monkey create Plague Toxin in just a few hours, but there was no way to refine a large quantity of antidote in just a few days.
From the moment the Heavenly Fleet decided to use Plaguewater, their fate was sealed. Such is the sorrow of the weak.
At dawn, Monkey saw a great crowd of demons gathering atop Frost-Rain Mountain’s main peak.
"What are they trying to do? Launch an attack?" Nine-Headed Wyrm quickly scrambled up from the grass to look.
"They’re drunk on victory." Without hesitation, Monkey pulled out a Jade Tablet and notified the Azurewave Dragon King: "Listen, tell that bull not to act rashly—the Heavenly Fleet still has considerable strength."
Monkey didn’t know whether the Azurewave Dragon King had conveyed his message accurately, but one thing was certain: King Bullhorn did not take the advice.
With barely five thousand elites left, the Demon Kings—all except the wounded King Roc—emptied their ranks and charged at the Heavenly Fleet.