Chapter 472 - 236: The Blood War Begins
Clearly, the Blood War was about to start again.
Pei Ze had already found out that the next Blood War would erupt on the Wanyuan Plain.
In the last Blood War, the devils had gained the upper hand, successfully occupying a small part of the Wanyuan Plain and establishing a massive frontline fortress.
The demons’ next objective was to destroy this fortress, drive the devils back to Hell, and even launch a counterattack into Hell to occupy its first layer, Avernus.
The commander of the demon side in this Blood War was Glazite, who occupied three layers of the Abyss and was known as the Lord of the Triple Realm and the Dark Lord.
Even among the many Demon Lords of the Abyss, Glazite could be considered one of the strongest.
DANG DANG DANG!
A dull, thunderous sound of bells and drums suddenly rang out, the source of which was the cluster of stone towers in the center of town.
At the same time, a fierce wind began to blow.
A dozen massive Demon Dragons roared past overhead, casting a vast shadow on the ground below.
The demons on the street immediately fell into a commotion.
An uproar spread through the demonic crowd. Many demons grabbed their weapons and rushed out of town at once.
Pei Ze understood at once.
’The Blood War has begun!’
...
The aura of blood dyed the hazy sky red. The sun was completely obscured by dark clouds, allowing only a faint light to filter through.
A fierce wind, mixed with fine raindrops, swirled and howled, lashing against every creature like a whip before evaporating into wisps of hot steam.
Massive Fireballs fell from the sky without warning, blasting countless deep craters into the ground.
Looking up, a towering spire that reached into the clouds was faintly visible on the horizon. Every brick and stone was built from the piled skulls of demons and devils. It didn’t seem very far away, yet it was forever out of reach.
That was the command tower where the demon commander, Glazite, was located.
From that spire, he would watch over and command the actions of the Demon Army—though Pei Ze doubted the Demon Army could truly be commanded.
He scanned his surroundings.
As far as the eye could see, the land was covered with demons of all shapes and sizes, an endless sea of them.
Countless demons were crammed together in a chaotic mess, with no order or formation whatsoever. They were a complete rabble.
The most numerous and weakest of them, the Timid Demons, should have been at the very front to wear down the enemy’s strength with sheer numbers. Instead, they were cowering at the rear.
The Babu Demons and Frenzy Demons, who were supposed to be "supervising" the Timid Demons and keeping them in position, had rushed to the front lines. They were shouting, brandishing their weapons, and impatiently waiting for the order to attack.
Soul Judge Demons and Enchanting Demons, mounted on Demon-Hunting Spiders, roamed about restlessly, having completely forgotten their duties as officers.
Pei Ze even suspected that when the battle began, these demons would start fighting amongst themselves from being trampled and shoved, quickly losing a fifth or even a quarter of their forces without any attack from the devils.
Such were the chaotic demons.
Faced with such an army, even the most brilliant and capable commander would be at a loss.
In comparison, the army of devils was undoubtedly much more orderly.
Pei Ze gazed into the distance.
A magnificent castle stood tall on the bank of the River of Blood. Thirteen walls formed thirteen perfectly concentric circles, guarding a bronze palace within.
And the army of devils had already formed up in front of the castle.
The most numerous, the Inferior Demons, were arranged at the very front. They had no armor, no shields, and not even any weapons, forced to rely on their not-so-sharp claws for the coming battle.
The fully-armored Hook Demons, wielding greatswords, followed close behind.
They were the main force of the Demon Army—fanatical, bloodthirsty, warlike, and fearless in the face of death.
Chain Demons, their bodies wrapped in cold iron chains, protected the flanks.
Tens of thousands of Bone Demons held steel spears, forming a phalanx as dense as a forest.
Spiky Demons lay in ambush behind them, ready to use their innate teleportation ability to join the fray at any moment and strike the enemy’s weak points.
At the very rear of the formation, nearly a thousand Ice Demons were mounted on black Nightmares. They held longswords forged from interwoven fire and lightning, waiting only for the command to launch a ferocious charge.
One glance was enough to see that the army of devils gave off an elite impression, a stark contrast to the chaotic formation of the demons.
This was the main reason the Blood War had raged for tens of thousands of years without a clear victor. The demons outnumbered the devils dozens of times over and were their equals—or even superiors—in individual combat prowess, yet the outcome remained undecided.
In fact, for the last few centuries, the demons had been consistently suppressed.
This outcome was determined by the very nature of demons.
Though equally evil, demons were chaotic and rebellious, possessing no concept of "order." The devils were the complete opposite.
On the battlefield, this difference was like that between a rabble and a well-drilled elite force.
Although the devils were far inferior in numbers, they possessed first-rate strategists, first-rate commanders, first-rate equipment, and first-rate discipline. Their opponents, on the other hand, would always make all sorts of bizarre and inexplicable mistakes, ultimately squandering their vast numerical advantage.
This was the demons’ innate flaw, one that even the most brilliant and outstanding commander could not compensate for.
After a demon commander’s orders were issued, they would often be bizarrely twisted during execution, ultimately ending in a complete mess.
A fierce wind howled past.
The two armies faced each other across the vast wasteland, the air thick with a tension that felt ready to snap at any moment.
They waited only for the commands from their respective leaders to unleash a bloody and brutal war.
Pei Ze took a deep breath. It felt as if his nostrils were filled with the thick stench of blood and the unique, acrid smell of sulfur.
His current position was on the right flank of the Demon Army, where most of the outsiders participating in the Blood War had been placed.
Looking around, he saw all sorts of races: Dwarves, the Sub-Astral Divine Race, Beastmen, Purgatory Creatures...
Pei Ze even saw elves.
But what surprised him even more was the sight of a dozen or so figures cloaked in black robes.
Judging by the unconcealable fluctuations of elemental energy coming from them, they were undoubtedly Wizards.
"Wizards participating in the Blood War?"
Pei Ze raised an eyebrow in surprise.
He only dared to join the Blood War because he had a way to eliminate the Spirit pollution.
’Where did these Wizards get the nerve to participate in the Blood War?’
’It wasn’t that Pei Ze was boasting, but he believed that besides himself, almost no other Elemental Mage could eliminate the Spirit pollution.’
’The Spirit pollution from the Blood War was practically impossible to resolve. Aside from the Power of Rules on a comparable level, there was basically no way to eliminate it. Otherwise, the Blood War would have long since become a training ground for the many civilized races of the Multiverse to increase their strength.’
’The Abyss and Hell would have been packed to bursting long ago.’
’In other words, these Wizards genuinely didn’t care about the Spirit pollution.’
A trace of curiosity arose in Pei Ze’s heart.
And just as Pei Ze was discreetly observing those Wizards, they were also quietly observing him.
"There are other Wizards participating in the Blood War?"
The speaker was a middle-aged man with black tattoos on his face. He twitched his nose slightly, his gaze flickering.
"That’s right. It’s the Wizard we saw in Broken Domain Town the other day. His aura and scent are exactly the same."
Another Wizard, short and stout, grinned and said in a low voice, "I didn’t expect there to be other Wizards besides us who aren’t afraid of the Spirit pollution."
The black-tattooed man’s eye twitched at his words. He glanced at his companions, their faces grim and their eyes filled with bloodshot veins, and sighed inwardly.
’How could they be the same?’
’They were completely forced into participating in the Blood War.’
’The people from the Silver Light Legion were in relentless pursuit. To fight off their pursuers, they had no choice but to join the Blood War and increase their power.’
’After the last Blood War, although their strength had greatly increased and they’d caught their pursuers off guard, many of their companions had their Spirits polluted. Their temperaments gradually became twisted, cold, bloodthirsty, and murderous.’
’At this point, they no longer had a choice. They could only brace themselves and carry on.’
"Since that person dares to participate in the Blood War, he’s probably not with the Silver Light Legion. Should we try to recruit him?" the black-tattooed man asked in a low voice.
The short, stout Wizard was immediately tempted.
’They were short on manpower right now. Even one more Wizard would be a welcome addition.’
’Besides, any Wizards who dared to join the Blood War definitely weren’t weak.’
"After this Blood War ends, we’ll go and make contact with him," the short, stout Wizard said.
The black-tattooed man nodded slightly.
’The Blood War was perilous. Even if they wanted to recruit that Wizard, they had to wait and see if he survived it first.’
’A dead man has no value to recruit.’