The Celestial Army is composed of many units, both large and small, and each has its own customary way of commencing battle.
Take the South Heaven Gate, for example—they usually favor formal arrayed battles. This isn’t because they’re especially upright, but rather because their rank-and-file soldiers are so lax in training that they’re not much to show off. Typically, they line up in proper formation, everyone compares their strength, and if you hesitate, they swarm you; if you don’t, then it’s their turn to hesitate.
Normally, aside from hotheads like Nezha, most aim simply to wipe out demon mobs and drive off the demon king. After all, once a demon king is cornered, it often costs the Celestial Army dearly. And if the demon king survives and gathers new forces, they can fight again next time. You have to admit, they do a fine job maintaining ecological balance—they never exhaust the pond to catch all the fish.
Or take the Imperial Forbidden Guard, the Jade Emperor’s most mysterious direct command, so elite they don’t even have formation numbers. They usually start by calling out opponents, mainly because their ranks are packed with generals—like the Twenty-Eight Constellation Lords and the like—all part of the Forbidden Guard, and they excel at single combat. As for their ordinary soldiers, since they rarely fight in the mortal realm, their main talent is looking impressive on guard duty.
Each year, the best-looking new recruits in Heaven usually end up here, standing watch at every corner of the Heavenly Court.
As for the Heavenly Fleet—the unit that gives demons the most headaches—while their officers and soldiers are far superior to those of South Heaven Gate, their true strength lies in combined arms warfare. That’s why they never fear large-scale battles and care little for casualties.
When this force encounters demons, they don’t bother with pleasantries—they beat the war drums and attack straightaway, and if it’s a sneak attack, they’re masters of it.
Right now is no exception.
In this new wave of assault, Marshal Silver didn’t even bother sending someone forward to parley—he simply ordered the drums to sound and fire to be set.
Nearly twenty warships circled the main peak of Frost-Rain Mountain, dropping Blaze Bombs one after another. Soon, the whole mountain was ablaze, thick smoke billowing everywhere.
The ground, long since stripped of anything burnable, radiated only searing heat—and, bizarrely, a pervasive aroma of roasting meat.
King Macaque stood at the cave entrance, leaning on his staff, his expression blank as he gazed at the demon corpses sizzling in the distant flames. He snorted, "Almost done. Ready to eat."
The lesser demons hiding beside him instantly shivered with fear.
No one knew how long the Heavenly Fleet intended to keep fighting. If Frost-Rain Mountain really managed to hold out, then as time dragged on and the last scraps of food ran out, they might truly have to scavenge their comrades’ corpses for sustenance—or become corpses themselves, to be eaten…
But demons eating demons—well, that was nothing new.
On a distant warship, Marshal Silver and General Nate stood at the prow, looking down at the land below, now a sea of flames.
"How many Blaze Bombs do we have left?"
"Should be enough for three more rounds."
"With everyone holed up in caves, the fire won’t reach them—at best, it’s just psychological warfare. Let’s use one more round, then save the last two for emergencies. Don’t forget, we have no resupply."
"Understood."