A white orb of light shot into the sky, turning the pitch-black mountainside as bright as day.
In an instant, dozens of tongues of fire burst from the caves carved into the dark green rock cliffs, accompanied by a sudden barrage of ear-splitting noise.
Amid the panic, the two Skyward Legionnaires leading the surprise attack were struck by dozens of rounds and crashed to the ground.
"Not good! It's an ambush—! Fall back!"
Over a hundred Skyward Legionnaires, under the command of a Heavenly General, began a hasty retreat, using the mountains for cover.
It was only after they had retreated five li that they realized their opponents weren’t pursuing.
"Wasn’t that an ambush? Should we go back?" One Skyward Legionnaire glanced nervously at the dark mountains, swallowing hard as he looked at his comrade.
"Only an idiot would go back!" spat the other, flapping his wings angrily as he flew beside him.
From elsewhere, the rumble of explosions echoed—another battle must have broken out.
On this pitch-black night, they could clearly see flashes of light darting back and forth among the distant mountain ridges.
Such loud noises meant the enemy wasn’t just using Thunder Tubes—they’d mixed in several heavy cannons as well.
The lack of illumination suggested neither side was prepared for this fight. Maybe one group blundered into the other’s territory while launching a night raid—or perhaps two night-raiding squads had simply stumbled into each other.
Events like this happened not just at night, but even in broad daylight. The situation was so chaotic now that no one knew what methods the commanders were using to direct such a disorderly war…
Or maybe, there was no command at all.
"Let’s go. We’re pulling out. Now that we’ve been discovered, a sneak attack is pointless," the lead Heavenly General said.
With a crowd of Skyward Legionnaires, he flew low along the mountain ridges, pulling back.
A crescent moon peeked out from behind the clouds.
Inside the cave they’d just abandoned, over a hundred wounded demon soldiers lay sprawled in disarray. At the entrance, more than ten lightly wounded demons clung to their Thunder Tubes, each drenched in cold sweat.
If the enemy hadn’t been scared off just now, every one of them would have died here…
One of the less-injured demon soldiers at the edge struggled to turn over, passing his Thunder Tube to the demon behind him, signaling for it to be handed further inside.
"I'm completely out of spiritual power. If any of you have any left, hurry and recharge the Thunder Tubes, or if there's another attack, we'll all die together."
"I've just recovered a bit. I'll do it," a demon in the rear raised his hand.
"Can we hold out until dawn?" Suddenly, a female demon curled up in the corner looked up and asked.
By the faint moonlight filtering into the cave, she could clearly see faces smeared with blood, pairs of reddened eyes blinking in the darkness. No one answered her question.
In the distance, another white flare shot into the sky, instantly illuminating the temporary Heavenly Fleet camp in the valley.
Next came tongues of fire and thunderous roars flashing like stars across the surrounding mountains.
Watching the Heavenly soldiers running helplessly through the camp, nowhere to hide and only able to scream, Horace Coil gripped the smoking Thunder Tube beside him, one hand raised: "Prepare to assault."
At his command, countless blades and swords were drawn all around him.
The tactic the demon army had developed over these days: after barrages from artillery and Thunder Tubes, launch an immediate assault—often the most effective approach.
In the final barrage, a shell landed in the camp, sending a fire basin flying into a large tent. The canvas caught fire.
Horace Coil was about to give the order but froze, staring intently at the tent, unmoving.
Every demon held their breath, eyes wide, watching Horace Coil, waiting for his command to rush into the camp and slaughter the Heavenly soldiers.
"Boss, aren't we charging?" After a long moment, one demon asked.
"Wait a bit longer." Horace Coil kept his eyes wide, fixed on the tent.
Even as the flare overhead finally faded, the tent was completely ablaze, its wooden frame collapsing in flames, yet Horace Coil saw not a single Heavenly soldier escape from inside.
Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. "Damn, it's a trap."
Before he finished speaking, three more white flares shot up, lighting up all the demons' hiding places. Arrows whistled down from the sky, and several demons beside him fell instantly.
In this situation, the truth was already obvious.
"Everyone, break out to the south with me!" Horace Coil raised his trident and roared, leaping forward.