Chapter Seventy-Two: An Ordinary Victory
The battlefield was at the foot of the mountain where Vanguard City was located. The mutated trees in the area had long been cut down, leaving only charred stumps. Under the influence of the Blood God’s demonic wind, the earth cracked open, revealing fissures filled with lava.
The terrain was generally flat, with small hills unevenly scattered, insufficient to block the line of sight. The army summoned by this “evil manifestation” was fully visible.
The troops were massive in number. Red armor, blood-red skin, and flames spewing from the mouths of bloodthirsty demons together formed a sea of fire.
The advisor, with tusks and powdery skin, was worried. What kind of ritual could call forth such an army of demons?
Jima stood on her platform, her gaze calm as she surveyed the enemy troops from above. It seemed she did not regard them at all.
The tusked powdery advisor felt reassured and asked, “Your Majesty, do you see this challenge as insignificant?”
“Very significant, surprisingly so,” Jima replied, disgusted by his flattery. “This ritual shouldn’t summon such a large-scale army; it’s like the Blood God has come into her menstrual cycle.”
The advisor trembled slightly, his mouth opening as if to say something, but he glanced backwards at the troops, who were still very close to the city gate. He suggested, “Your Majesty, since the enemy is foolish and refuses to submit to your command, why should we adhere to the martial ethics? Just order the troops to retreat and defend the city…”
Jima shot him a look: “To collectively retreat into the city in front of them? If they order an attack, I’m not even sure I can maintain order. Besides…”
A series of roars erupted from the enemy ranks, taunting sounds that, amidst the noise, vaguely called her a pretender.
“If I do not defeat my challengers head-on and take their heads,” Jima said, “what use is it for me to be a demon lord?”
The tusked powdery advisor fell silent, the flames dancing atop his staff changing colors, reflecting his anxious heart.
Jima once again looked down, assessing the enemy’s military strength. There were about four thousand of them, more than half of whom were bloodsucking demons mixed with divinely blessed bloodsuckers; these vicious demons had no knowledge of retreat.
Also mixed among them were demon spearmen, a group of agile, muscular soldiers well-suited for harassment. Their spears could pierce the tough hides of mammoths, and there was also a significant number of demonized war mastiffs.
The most troublesome were the over eighty Blood God Minotaurs. Dressed in blood-red heavy armor and wielding fine weapons, these Minotaurs, devoted to the Blood God, were even more deadly and frightening than their kindred.
The tusked powdery advisor, known for his inverted syntax and flattery, was indeed correct.
If they engaged directly, her Vanguard Corps would inevitably suffer heavy losses. Her elite infantry consisted of demon warriors clad in heavy plate armor, wielding tower shields and possessing immense strength, like moving tanks.
But in the face of bloodsucking demons… their gigantic swords were purportedly capable of breaking armor, enough to inflict considerable casualties on her elite troops before they perished.
Minimizing casualties was essential, the smaller the better.
Now was the time to leverage their greatest advantage. Jima cast her gaze to the ground, where a group of scantily clad, bikini-armored lustful cavalrymen, known as Hellwalkers and Comforters, were gathering.
Several lustful succubi were on their lustful steeds, fervently tasting each other with long tongues, seemingly devoid of the intent to battle.
Jima furrowed her brows, but to win this battle, she still had to rely on these cavalrymen.
The battlefield terrain was deliberately chosen by Jima; it was flat with no deadly marshes or forests, suitable for cavalry combat.
And Jima concentrated all the cavalry on the right flank, preparing to unleash them like a coiled right hook. She intended to send the cavalry around to the enemy’s rear.
Watching the cavalry assemble below, the tusked powdery advisor called out, “Good.”
Before the words finished, the enemy’s commander, a bloodthirsty demon, also flew into the air and roared, angrily issuing orders.
The bloodsucking demons, suppressing their fury, gradually began to move to a side-rear position upon command, moving towards a massive fissure in the ground filled with blood-red lava.
The enemy commander realized this; he wanted the ravine to conceal one side of his army. Furthermore, this would allow his infantry line to occupy the entire battlefield. This meant that Jima’s cavalry troops would have to confront the infantry head-on.
This would maximize the bloodletting of her Vanguard Corps.
The tusked powdery advisor clenched his staff tightly: “Retreat? The Blood God’s troops are retreating?”
“Order all infantry to advance; seize the enemy,” came Jima’s command.
Nearby, the standard bearer shook the flag, and more powdery demons reinforced Jima’s orders.
The infantry line slowly moved, and compared to the distance between the two armies, this slow speed could drain everyone’s patience. Those demon spearmen, armed with spears, rushed forward, taking turns throwing spears at the Vanguard Corps’ infantry.
Shields were raised, blocking the spears, but the speed slackened, while the demon warriors, relying on their thick armor, continued to march forward.
The lustful succubi darted about, treating this like a game, running even faster.
The entire infantry line quickly became disjointed due to varying speeds.
And at this rate, before the enemy positioned themselves, they couldn’t capture the adversary at all.
“All Hellwalkers, charge!”
“All Comforters, charge!”
“Target: the enemy’s spearmen.”
“Bronze Bull Knights, return! You cannot charge recklessly; stay in position.”
The lustful cavalry laughed and charged out. Their steeds galloped like rotating wheels, and in less than half a minute, they reached the spearmen.
The spearmen had already run towards their own lines, but among the hundreds who couldn’t escape, many were slaughtered by the lustful cavalry.
The Hellwalkers laughed as they pierced the fleeing spearmen from behind with mutated long spears. The lustful succubi seized the crying spearmen with their pincers, capturing them, extending their tongues to lick their sweat-soaked muscles, and then tore into them on the spot.
But this was all part of the enemy’s plan.
The retreating bloodsucking demons raised their massive swords, howling as they charged at the lustful cavalry. Beside them, the swift demonized war dogs, at their handler’s command, rushed towards the lustful cavalry.
The lustful cavalry, extremely fast and deadly as flanking attackers, had low defenses and once caught in a meat grinder, suffered great losses, akin to a thin, sharp blade.
But the lustful cavalry were oblivious, not caring as they immersed themselves in the hunt.
“No!” the tusked powdery advisor shouted. “It’s a trap!”
Jima glared at him in dissatisfaction: “Call me and I’ll kick you down! If we’re to win, there’s no need for all this fuss!”
She immediately ordered her lustful officers to withdraw, rapidly retreating. Many lustful cavalry, elegantly turning, whisked their horse tails and ran backward, avoiding collisions with their own infantry.
Because the infantry line had already become disjointed, there was a significant gap between them.
By the time the bloodthirsty demon attempted to command and summon the infantry, it was already too late, as the signaling flag had just waved three times. The demonized war mastiffs crashed into the lustful succubi; each one was lithe, sultry, and flicked their tongues as they exclaimed:
“Little doggies, let’s play a fun game.”
Drool excitedly splattered from their tongues.
The demonized war mastiffs were weak in direct combat and often could only chase fleeing troops or stall the enemy. During the head-on clash, countless war mastiffs were gutted, the smell of blood and screams causing the bloodsucking demons to ignore the retreat horn. They, furious, swung their massive swords at the lustful succubi.
The lustful succubi were agile and adept at blocking; they were the infantry best suited for fighting the bloodsucking demons.
As for the fully armored demon warriors?
They were still struggling to reach the battlefield, their heavy armor weighing them down.
That group of mortal troops (whom Jima defined as cannon fodder) moved faster, engaging the enemy alongside the lustful succubi on the flanks.
The flames of battle burned brightly as the bloodsucking demons, tossing aside their dwindling patience, charged recklessly forward.
The two legions collided head-on, axes meeting swords, flesh being cleaved, and heads sent soaring—this scene left the tusked powdery advisor wide-eyed in astonishment, his heart racing as he couldn’t comprehend the battle; it felt like a gambler betting everything on the table, waiting for the outcome.
“Yes, yes, one hundred meters to the left! One hundred meters!”
“What are you staring at?”
A sudden force gripped the tusked powdery advisor, lifting him up.
“Damn it, you have no neck.” Jima’s raised hand lowered.
The tusked powdery advisor said, “Your Majesty, what are your orders?”
“Follow me.”
Jima said, resting her silent blood-red axe-spear on her shoulder as she flew downwards on her platform. The Doomsday Knights and a host of shape-shifting commanders hurried to follow.
As the destination drew closer,
in a place amidst the furious frontline, the tusked powdery advisor finally noticed.
Sixteen Bronze Bull Knights had charged towards a weak point in the enemy line—there was no time for them to position themselves. They burst in like sixteen battering rams, crashing straight into the infantry line.
Then, there was the Blood God’s war altar, iron wheels crushing the enemy, the splattering blood healing all allies and increasing ferocity. More critically,
within the army, all the second lustful sounds flowed in like swimming water snakes, rushing along with the Bronze Bull Knights.
Even the demons, weakened, could do nothing.
Jima scolded the enemy loudly.
Over a hundred enemy bloodsucking demons, under such slaughter, felt their will wavering, beginning to crack apart, and soon revealed a massive gap.
The previously withdrawn lustful cavalry rushed in just in time.
The tusked demon advisor looked at Jima with admiration; everything was arranged so smoothly, pleasing to the eye.
“Moo!”
Over eighty Blood God Minotaurs charged towards the gap. They were the reserve force, quite bizarre; typically, Blood God demon riders rarely had the concept of a reserve force, as everyone desired to rush in and slaughter.
The sixteen battered Bronze Bull Knights had just penetrated the line, only fifty meters away from the enraged Blood God Minotaurs.
They had no time to escape, nor did they want to; they charged head-on atop their Bronze Bulls.
The tusked powdery advisor felt a pang of regret; this powerful cavalry could rip through the enemy line head-on and were about to be exchanged.
Jima brushed her black hair aside, revealing her left eye, which glowed with pink light as the lustful mark occupied her entire iris.
She muttered, “What a waste of my divine grace.”
Illusions surrounded the Blood God Minotaurs, elegant specters materializing, the power of lust seeping into whispers that echoed in their ears, promising them honors in battle.
On the spot, thirty-two Blood God Minotaurs were willing to fight for honor, abandoning their ranks and charging towards their comrades, engaging in chaotic battle.
The sixteen Bronze Bull Knights, initially clashing head-on, instead rushed toward the backs of their enemies.
Minutes later, the gap in the battle line erupted with eight lustful cavalry, drowning all the Blood God Minotaurs like a tide.
The bloodthirsty demon tried to halt this; he and many furious demons swore to behead her.
Jima hurled her blood-red axe-spear at the enemy, summoning the bloodthirsty demon, toppling him into the melee.
When the victory and defeat became clear,
the enemy’s battle line collapsed like a dam bursting, disintegrating entirely. The victorious lustful cavalry raced off to the rear of the remaining enemy lines, unaware of what had transpired, only to perish beneath sharp teeth and claws.
The head of the bloodthirsty demon was mounted on the blood-red axe-spear, allowing him to witness the collapse of his legion before his demise.
The bloodsucking demons were crumbling as if blood were burning, the entire battle line igniting with a red flame. After burning for a minute, only countless corpses lay on the ground.
The last breath of the bloodthirsty demon escaped him, his eyes remaining wide open.
The tusked powdery advisor shouted, “Truly a resounding victory!”
Jima glanced at him with indifference as she flew over the battlefield. The Doomsday Knights followed closely, flying beside her across the field.
Below, the demons and the other demons rushed to drag out the injured from the piles of corpses, fighting over to behead them; some of the demons pleaded, yet still faced the execution orders.
Upon Jima’s arrival, they all ceased their actions. A blood-armored demon warrior grasped the horn of another demon with one hand, lifting his head and calling out Jima’s name as she flew past.
He turned to look.
“On behalf of our kin!” the transformed demon shouted. “I can be a slave, I can fight for you to the death in the arena, just give me a—”
The Blood God demon warrior cleaved his head in two with an axe, saying, “What do I want with a prisoner?”
After exploring the battlefield fully,
the tusked powdery advisor felt quite proud, as if he would soar to the heavens. In his view, winning this great victory would surely please the demon lord Jima; if she was happy, then he would earn significant credit for leading the development of the comprehensive war legendary command system.
“Too many problems,” Jima said, “I am very dissatisfied.”
“Your Majesty…”
“Four hundred died, if only your system had more slots, I could operate more precisely.”
Looking at the corpses strewn everywhere, a fifty to one exchange ratio, she was still unsatisfied.
The tusked powdery advisor was momentarily puzzled, unsure if she was belittling him or genuinely thought this victory mediocre.
“Fine,” Jima said. “But anyway, it’s barely acceptable. Later, I will execute a few who disobeyed my orders.”
Not far away, the battlefield was piled high with heads, and there were some fortunate captives still alive.
“Your Majesty, will these spoils be offered as sacrifices?” the tusked powdery advisor speculated. “To the Blood God?”
“No, to the Lord of Transformation.”
The tusked powdery advisor realized he could never quite guess the thoughts of the demon lord Jima.
