Chapter 278: Clash on the Twin Peaks
Farther back, the Abyssal demon frowned as he noticed the growing number of demons bottlenecked ahead. From his vantage point, he couldn’t see the soldiers holding them back—only the mass of his horde piling into the narrow crossing. His frustration mounted as the bulk of his army slowed to a crawl.
"What is happening up there?" The Abyssal growled, his patience wearing thin.
Just as the demonic mass in the bottleneck swelled to over forty thousand, a blinding flash of light erupted from the ground beneath them. For a brief moment, everything seemed to freeze. Then, in the next instant, a massive explosion of lightning and fire ripped through the horde with cataclysmic force.
"BOOOOOOOOOOOM!"
The blast was like a storm unleashed from the heavens, a swirling vortex of fire and lightning that tore through the demons with devastating ferocity. The ground shook violently as the explosion expanded outward, destroying everything in its path.
The demons caught in the epicenter were instantly reduced to ash, their bodies disintegrating before they could even scream. Further out, demons were thrown into the air like ragdolls, their limbs torn apart by the force of the blast.
The explosion ripped through the valley with such intensity that it left a massive crater where the horde had once stood. The surrounding mountainside was scorched and blackened by the firestorm. Smoke and debris filled the air, and the stench of burnt flesh permeated the valley.
Even as the smoke began to clear, the Abyssal demon’s eyes were filled with shock. The landslide at the beginning had killed several thousand demons, but that was less than five percent of his army.
The explosion of lightning and fire, however, had changed everything. It had torn through dozens of thousands of demons, leaving only ash and ruin in its wake, and had wounded many more. His once-mighty horde had been reduced significantly in less than five minutes.
The Abyssal demon muttered to himself, his voice low but filled with disbelief. "That explosion... it carried the might of a near Guardian Tier Spell."
The realization sent a tremor of shock through him, something he hadn’t experienced in countless years. How could such power exist in a world so newly evolved? How could there be someone capable of wielding such strength? These thoughts should have sparked fear in his heart, but the Abyssal’s demonic nature was far stronger than any emotion of caution. Soon, rage swelled within him as he took in the state of his once-imposing army.