Chapter 705: Bitter Struggle
This is the nature of Abyssal demons—even when summoned together, they immediately turn on each other, hacking apart their fellow Abyssal creatures without a second thought. The dead are simply collateral.
The weak, if they block the way, must die. Only the strong earn the right to hunt.
A swarm of chaotic Abyssal demons surged forward, yet no one dared underestimate these self-cannibalizing horrors...
Leon’s face was grim as he raised the Doombringer Staff. First, he cast a mana shield on himself, then uttered two runes—countless ice blades fell like rain from above.
The fastest Abyssal Imps were struck by the ice blades, deep wounds appearing on their bodies, some even pierced straight through.
Yet these savage Abyssal creatures only widened their eyes, baring their fangs, drool dripping from their jaws. They ignored their injuries, growing even more frenzied as they leapt at Leon and his party.
One by one, Abyssal Imps were slain midair, but more surged forward. These half-human-height, monkey-like abominations would gladly throw away their lives just to taste fresh blood untainted by sulfur.
No amount of spells could suppress these locust-like fiends. A Dark Elf, just a step too slow, found herself surrounded by a mob of Abyssal Imps.
The Dark Elf, panic-stricken, unleashed her magic, killing a dozen Abyssal Imps—only to be overwhelmed by two or three dozen more. In mere seconds, she was devoured alive, not a drop of blood wasted.
Cold sweat began to drip from everyone’s forehead...
Jeremy staggered back in terror. These Abyssal Imps, barely level twenty at best, were far more terrifying and vicious than any undead creature.
Watching Leon frown and cast spells, Jeremy’s mind roared with rage, lips twisted in a vicious sneer.
It’s all because of this outsider—damn him! If he hadn’t somehow bewitched Elsa, we wouldn’t be in this mess. Duncan was the Ashen Orc Tribe’s greatest prodigy a thousand years ago, and now he’s about to reach Sky Rank!
Thankfully, Duncan doesn’t seem able to act directly. Otherwise, we’d be dead in ten seconds. But these damned Abyssal creatures—they’re even more brutal than the undead. Shit, we’re doomed this time...
With the Abyssal Imps charging ahead, they became a living shield, absorbing spell after spell with their flesh. The Cavern Demons rushing in from behind barely suffered any magical attacks—the few that did just bounced off their armored shells, leaving no real wounds.
After hundreds of meters of sprinting, only four Cavern Demons had their heads blown off by accident.
Reapers and Abyssal Witches swung their weapons, cutting through even spells. Their hardened scythes were said to be able to sever any head—even those of dragons, if the Reaper was strong enough.
A horde of Abyssal creatures surged like rabid dogs. In just two or three hundred meters, four or five hundred died, but all it did was make the survivors even more ferocious.
Leon raised the Doombringer Staff, casting spells as he slowly retreated.
This wave of Abyssal demons were mostly melee types—like locusts, even after slaughtering the greatest number of their own kind, there were still plenty left charging at us.
Their levels were generally low, but these were the most revolting things imaginable.
Just like the undead, they fought fearlessly to the death, suppressing the enemy with sheer numbers, drowning them in a living tide.
Even a swarm of level-twenty Abyssal creatures, if there were enough of them, could overwhelm a level-nine Title Archmage purely with numbers and relentless sacrifice.
Leon, the Alchemical Golem, and Anderson—any one of the three could cast spells like a small mage battalion, but even so, they were forced to retreat again and again.
Abyssal creatures even climbed up the canyon walls, sneaking behind us from those steep slopes, trying to surround us completely.
Cavern Demons crawled along the barren slopes, moving just as fast as they did on flat ground.
Within minutes, the demons had surrounded us. At least two or three thousand Abyssal creatures lay dead, their foul-smelling blood soaking the ground, corpses piled so high they raised the floor by a layer.
Whoosh—
A sharp slicing sound split the air—a single Abyssal Witch leapt into the sky, shattering seven or eight ice blades with one swing, diving straight for Leon, her face twisted in a snarl, mouth full of razor-sharp teeth.
The Witch’s arms whipped through the air—every spell was shattered by her innate blades.
Leon frowned. Three spears of flame materialized midair, thrusting at odd angles. As the Witch shattered the first, the remaining two collided strangely.
The Abyssal Witch hadn’t expected this—she thought Leon’s spell had failed. But the next moment, the broken flame spears ricocheted even faster, one trailing a fiery afterimage as it pierced her throat, the force blasting her head backwards.
The party’s defensive circle kept shrinking. Leon’s face grew grim.
The Violet Dragon Avatar burst out from the Doombringer Staff, its roar echoing. Behind Leon, a noble, untouchable violet dragon phantom took shape.
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With the avatar’s blessing, Leon’s spellcasting for one minute rivaled the Five-Colored Dragons—every spell surged in power.
Leon’s left hand flipped open the Death Tome, channeling the Elemental Chapter’s power to further boost his elemental magic.
The combined might of the Violet Dragon Avatar and Elemental Chapter pushed Leon’s spellcasting to unthinkable heights—each spell’s power was boosted by more than a full rank.
Mana erupted like a whirlwind, gushing from Leon’s body as if from a spring—condensed, liquid-like energy fell as a fine rain.
Leon’s face was solemn—his left hand gripped the Death Tome, glowing with four colors, while his right raised the Doombringer Staff. He uttered a single rune.
Instantly, bizarre and dazzling patterns appeared across the canyon’s cliffs.
The patterns spread like living things, transforming into two giant magical arrays, each over twenty meters wide.
Hellish energy erupted from the two golden-red arrays, and everyone watched as two massive pillars of fire, each twenty meters thick, blasted out.
The fire’s power made the air itself tremble, as if the world shook with every blast.
As the hellish aura spread, the savage Abyssal creatures grew even more enraged. Dozens of Abyssal Imps charged at the arrays, but within ten meters, their bodies ignited in golden-red flame and were reduced to ash in an instant.
The two massive fire pillars struck the opposite cliffs, hellfire splattering and spreading, as endless flames seemed to pour down both canyon walls.
The Cavern Demons, who hadn’t yet shown their full strength, were the first to suffer heavy losses.
These Cavern Demons, whose defenses even Reapers hesitate to face, excel at melee and close-range spellcasting. At a distance, they’re not much of a threat.
But if they get within ten meters, their innate ability lets them unleash earth spikes with no magical signature—perfect for ambushes. Any mage caught at close range by a swarm of Cavern Demons is as good as dead.
So when the Cavern Demons closed within thirty meters, Leon could no longer hold back—the power of the Violet Dragon Avatar had to be unleashed now. If these disgusting Abyssal creatures weren’t suppressed, even if Duncan never acted again, they’d all be doomed.
Hellfire poured down the canyon walls like lava, igniting every Cavern Demon scrambling up the cliffs in agonized screams.
Hellfire’s power, as cast by Leon, was astonishing—its damage to Abyssal creatures reached terrifying levels.
In just four or five seconds, over five hundred Abyssal creatures were reduced to ash.
Leon frowned. With hellfire blocking their path, the pressure from the Abyssal creatures dropped by half.
But Abyssal creatures kept pouring from the Abyssal Gate, packing every corner within hundreds of meters. The newcomers had nowhere to stand—many were shoved off cliffs, others tore each other apart.
These Abyssal creatures, none higher than level thirty-three or thirty-four, already numbered over five thousand—enough to make anyone’s scalp crawl. They were even more terrifying than ten thousand undead.
Their sheer numbers made even the strongest spells useless—there was simply no way to kill them all!
Only wide-area, high-level spells could make any real difference.
"Leave everything behind us to you. I’ll handle everything in front!"
Leon barked orders, then raised the Doombringer Staff again, chanting runes at rapid-fire pace.
Huge golden-red patterns appeared on the ground, racing wildly. Whenever they reached ten meters, torrents of hellfire erupted.