Chapter 185: Testing in the Midst of Battle
In one part of the battlefield, the cultivators holding the defensive line prepared for the incoming devil attack. However, they were stunned when all the beasts, whether flying or charging toward the defenses, suddenly began trembling uncontrollably and stopped in their tracks. The wyverns in flight immediately plummeted to the ground, their devil riders struggling to control them. Even after falling, the wyverns refused to rise. Similarly, the silver-armored rhinos halted and sat down, trembling, showing no intention of getting back up.
The strangeness didn’t stop there. As the devils stepped into this area, they trembled for a moment before dropping dead, like puppets whose strings had been cut. Everyone could see it—the moment before their death, their crazed expressions shifted to ones of pure horror, as if they had seen something unimaginably terrifying. With the sheer number of devils falling, their bodies quickly formed small piles, which continued to grow into a small mountain.
When the giant snakes entered this area, they also stopped, their ferocious expressions turning to ones of sheer fear. Now, in the midst of the battle, everyone realized that something very strange was happening in this part of the battlefield—it had become too conspicuous to ignore. The soldiers were equally confused, unsure of what was happening; it felt as though their job was being completed without them needing to lift a finger.
Atop the wall, Aldrian looked at the approaching invasion army with a serene expression. What others did not know was that the hostile devil forces were entering his domain—the designated killing zone for the devils. So, what exactly did Aldrian do to all these devils and beasts? In truth, he barely paid any attention to the beasts, doing nothing specific to them. He simply released a fraction of his aura into his domain, which alone was enough to make these beasts, none stronger than the Earl stage, tremble in fear.
His aura had a tremendous effect on the beasts that had yet to fully develop their intelligence. The moment they sensed his aura—which could even affect high-level beasts like those in the Forest of Despair—they immediately trembled in fear and reverence. Their instincts and bodies warned them not to act in the presence of this overwhelming force, as their very existence felt insignificant, unworthy of being before him.
As for the devils, they had entered Aldrian’s formation, unknowingly triggering illusions within their minds. This formation was entirely under his control, allowing him to dictate precisely what each devil would see. But these weren’t ordinary illusions; he had mixed his death laws into them to test their effect on the devils. As expected, the results did not disappoint. These illusions, infused with the power of death laws that only a divine being could comprehend, were nothing short of a death sentence.
What they saw inside their minds was the essence of death, something so horrifying that it struck them with pure terror. There was no way these low-level cultivators, even having become devils, could suppress their primal fear. Though they were in a frenzy, there was no defense against the death laws. They could reduce their fear, but they could not completely erase it.
The death laws, the very laws that became the bane of all beings and existence, magnified their fear to such an extent that it shattered their souls the moment they glimpsed death within their minds. It was literally scared to death. Because of the immense power of the illusion and the death laws, even though they saw it only for a moment, it felt as though they had witnessed it for eternity. It took but a second to see the illusion, and death was the inevitable result.
Aldrian then saw the three giant snakes approaching his position. Once they entered his domain, he merely needed to look at them, and they instantly stopped. Because the snakes were much stronger, being at the Grand Duke stage, Aldrian intensified his aura, making them feel the crushing pressure and his dominance. This part of the battlefield soon garnered the attention of others as they felt the weight of Aldrian’s presence. When they looked at him, they were shocked to see him floating, as though a god observing his subjects. He swept his gaze across the battlefield.