Inside the cave, the Demon Kings were already speechless.
Even King Bullhorn had never imagined the Heavenly Fleet would use Plaguewater against them. In fact, until now, none of them had known such a weapon even existed.
Looking back now, whether it was King Bullhorn's efforts over the past few days or the Six Demon Kings' gathering of monsters to seize mountains, it all seemed nothing but a joke.
Heaven is far stronger than they ever imagined—so much stronger, in fact, that even the Heavenly Fleet alone had never unleashed its true killing blows against them.
The road ahead was utterly shrouded—what kind of despair was this?
Perhaps after this ordeal, none of them would ever feel the urge to challenge Heaven again.
King Bullhorn paced anxiously in front of them.
Lord Jiao sat nearby, silently cradling a cup.
King Macaque leaned on his staff, expressionless, digging at his ear.
King Liontusk sat cross-legged on the ground, staring blankly at the cold gleam of his great blade.
King Gloomape stayed quietly in a shadowed corner, unmoving; no matter how the light fell, his face remained hidden.
King Roc, gravely wounded, still looked half-dead—head drooping, slumped crookedly against the table, lost in thought, though in truth his mind was a complete blank.
The entire cave was so quiet that only King Bullhorn’s breathing and footsteps could be heard.
"What do we do now?" King Roc asked, lifting his head.
No one replied.
After a long while, a minor demon sent to scout came rushing into the cave, bowing low and kneeling to the ground.
"Reporting to the kings: No abnormalities detected."
"No abnormalities?" King Bullhorn craned his neck and widened his eyes.
"Correct, no abnormalities," the minor demon answered cautiously.
"No abnormalities—does that mean the warning was false?" King Liontusk looked at the other Demon Kings.
The atmosphere seemed to freeze again.
"It shouldn't be false. That monkey has no reason to send us fake news—us fleeing wouldn't help him at all. There's still a few hours till dawn..." King Bullhorn took a deep breath and waved his hand. "Scout again!"
"Yes, sir!"
The minor demon dashed out again like the wind.
Lord Jiao gave a cold laugh, still cradling his cup: "If we already know it's not fake, why bother scouting again? Wouldn't it be better to make plans now?"
"What plans?" King Roc glared coldly at Lord Jiao. "Run, right? If it weren't for you, we'd have joined forces with Blossom Mountain long ago—would we be in this mess now?"
"Oh? And tell me, why would joining forces with Blossom Mountain keep us out of this mess? Is Blossom Mountain invincible? You should be glad we didn't team up with them—if we had, we might not even have the option to run now!" Lord Jiao turned his face away, his words rapid and sharp.
"You damned mud eel!" King Roc's eyes widened as he forced himself to stand, ignoring the pain from his wounds.
"Enough!"
With a thunderous roar, the entire cave fell silent once again.
"What's the point of arguing? All we ever do is fight among ourselves! Damn it, what have I become? Cleaning up after you brats day and night!" Pointing at King Roc, King Bullhorn cursed, "Do you even consider us brothers? If one day Old Bullhorn gets in your way, will you kill me too? Has our oath of brotherhood gone to the dogs? If you don't want to stay with us, you can leave now—I won't stop you!"
Staring at King Bullhorn's furious face, King Roc froze, then after a long moment, could only tremble and bite his beak, slumping back into his seat in silence.
Lord Jiao was about to chime in, but King Bullhorn turned on him, roaring: "And you! I know you and that monkey have history, but that was all about Demon City, and we all decided together. It's not your fault. I've always said I'd stand by you to the end—so what are you afraid of? Anything related to Blossom Mountain, good or bad, you oppose it no matter what. Always cold and sarcastic—do you not trust me as your big brother, or is your brain stuck in your ass?"
Lord Jiao was stunned, swallowing back the words he'd been about to say.
King Bullhorn swept his gaze around the room, shouting, "And the rest of you! There are only six of us—just six! And we can't even stay united, always suspecting each other! To show Monkey some backbone, I’m the only one running around, while you all sit here like corpses. Is this oath just my burden alone? All that talk of sharing glory... What have you all done these years? Hmph! I must've been out of my mind to swear brotherhood with you lot!"
Driven to fury, King Bullhorn grabbed the horn cup from the table and smashed it down, sending shards scattering across the floor.
Every Demon King present sucked in a cold breath.
Bullhorn's temper... This must be what they meant.
The only sound left in the cave was King Bullhorn’s heavy breathing.
The other five Demon Kings simply sat in silence for a long, long time—none of them dared speak again.