Chapter 111: The Great Maelstrom
The Vanguard Corps launched a fierce assault.
They burst forth from the woods,
heavy cavalry flooding in like cows crossing a river,
overwhelming the marching Naguo demon army.
Caught off guard by the ambush, the Naguo demon army was shocked and, under orders,
this cluster of walking infernos chose to regroup and fight back.
The mobile units of the Vanguard Corps
charged in turns, feigned assaults, and maneuvered against the Naguo demon army, causing these slow-moving demons to pile up.
They were isolated and helpless, like maggots huddled together in a muck pit.
Several demon sorcerers fleeing to Jima, riding demonized scorpion-tailed lions,
wore heavy armor and wielded demonic power, calling upon demonic winds, turning into edge-like shadows to massacre the rotting corpses below.
The originally sparse demonic wind in the area
became even scarcer, dropping to levels not seen since before the arrival of the twin-tailed comet.
Some demons, regardless of friend or foe,
could not maintain their corporeal forms in the mortal realm and vanished on the spot.
Jima stood high on the floating platform,
watching the battle below.
She embraced the shoulder of the demon dragon Mawo and said:
“Dear, it’s time for you to join the fray, go breathe fire, and incinerate that bunch of maggots.”
The demon dragon Mawo remained motionless.
Jima stroked her chin.
During this time, Jima had been very gentle with Mawo; she not only ceased tormenting her, but even treated her preferentially,
dressing her in various beautiful clothes and not forcing her to do anything.
Just think, illusions are always the opposite; perhaps I am actually the Eternal Chosen,
and that large group of isolated enemies ahead is the Vanguard Corps?
Her mother said: “Why not try again?”
In the past, if Jima were the Eternal Chosen,
Mawo would have looked at her with pity, let out a cold huff to indicate that she was utterly unworthy.
But the fear left by that day’s illusion made her silent, words stuck in her throat.
“Fine, don’t be stubborn, dear dragon lady.” Jima said, grinning,
“I’ll give you three seconds to turn into a dragon.”
“Two.”
Demon dragon Mawo remained still.
“One.”
Suddenly, Jima’s expression changed, and a branch axe spear appeared in her hand,
white lightning coiling around it, striking towards demon dragon Mawo,
especially at her rear,
striking Mawo,
causing intense pain, the lightning coursing through the “Crown of Pain” that pierced her spine,
torturing her from the inside out, amplifying the agony. In the face of this suffering,
the will forged by hundreds or thousands of years of battle was ineffective,
countless negative emotions surged from the depths of her heart.
“Ahhhhh!”
Demon dragon Mawo lay sprawled on the floating platform,
her head thrown back, screaming,
for a moment, she could not distinguish past from present,
returning to that night that had made her cry, tears flowing.
The next second, she realized,
that was all in the past, but the warning of that moment was so intensely real.
“Stop! Stop…”
Mawo’s voice dropped,
even though Jima had stopped the electric shocks long ago.
She wore the “Crown of Pain,”
a gift left by the last Lead Shell.
Once, the dragon head that Mawo had lowered, now pleaded, “Please stop.”
“If only you had done this sooner.”
As Jima spoke, she took a lady-like posture—sitting sideways on Mawo’s back,
carefully smoothing Mawo’s frizzy hair, gently patting her head: “Don’t be afraid of me. Actually, I want to play pure love too, I’m nice to you, you fall in love with me, and so on.”
“Stupid, just endure it, George.
You actually said no to the dragon lady who came knocking. It has cost us the possibility of pure love.”
Saying this, Jima slapped her large backside hard,
producing a loud sound through the soft silk.
“Turn into a dragon.”
A dragon roar sounded from the sky,
the roar was so loud that even thunder
was overshadowed.
She transformed into a massive dragon, her chest burning with unwillingness, pain, and humiliation.
Diving down, crashing into the side of the line,
she remembered to avoid friendly fire.
Demon dragon Mawo swooped down,
the soldiers below, like ants,
were entangled together.
She now just wanted to vent, took a deep breath, and forcefully exhaled a conical breath of dragon fire, drowning the crowded masses below.
The black flames, like soda being poured out,
rained down on the ground,
the submerged crowd turned to ashes,
the black flames exploded outward, raising white smoke.
Demon dragon Mawo soared past,
three bursts of flame erupted on the ground behind her.
Feeling much better, the tormenting pain in her chest eased,
even if just for a moment,
it gave her tortured soul a precious sense of peace.
Demon dragon Mawo began to fight with her full might,
only in battle could she momentarily forget that she was enslaved by a despicable demon king, forget her pain.
Her thirst for blood surged,
she focused entirely on ripping apart her enemies,
using all her lifelong skills, wherever she went,
leaving a path of devastation.
Jima told her to stop,
but demon dragon Mawo did not hear,
Jima wielded her branch axe spear,
shooting lightning; Mawo, already exhausted from fighting,
fell to the ground, shifting back to her human form, lying on the scorching earth, which was still steaming.
She gasped, “Kill,
I want to kill more.”
Like a drunkard seeking solace in drink.
Jima moved with a light step,
tucking her black hair behind her ear,
humming a cheerful tune.
The effect was surprisingly good; in pain,
human nature finds ways to relieve suffering,
even if that method sounds humiliating.
Mawo’s display of relieving pain satisfied Jima greatly.
Come, dear, you can have a good rest now, even though you did not follow my orders and mistakenly attacked our allies. Jima said, grasping Mawo’s horn, lifting her head to bring her ear close to her mouth.
She whispered, exhaling flowery scents, softening the roots of Mawo’s ears.
But considering that you purified this pile of stinking manure with your dragon breath, I am willing to forgive you.
Though unclear, her words and her fragrance lessened the pain, both physically and mentally.
Demon dragon Mawo opened her eyes, and through the haze, she saw the fragments of the pitch-black crown hovering above Jima’s head.
She suddenly embraced Jima, her two-meter tall frame, like a child, pressed most of her weight down on Jima, the wind blowing through, refreshing the hair on her back, enveloping Jima in love.
Demon dragon Mawo softly said: “My King.”
“Rest well.” Jima’s lips curled in a playful smile; I will reward you later.
Elsewhere.
Until dawn, until noon.
The reinforcements promised by the rat-man commander had not yet arrived.
He was anxious and restless, braving the noon sun to personally come to the highest bell tower in the city, gazing in the direction of Adolf.
Clearly, they had an agreement with the Putrid Clan and the demon army to support him; a paternal legion would come.
“Boss! Boss!”
“What is it? Call me General!” the rat-man commander bellowed, turning around.
“There! It looks like reinforcements are coming?”
“The back?” The rat-man commander looked towards the wolf’s den.
The noon sunlight was truly annoying, irritating his eyes already accustomed to the underground.
He saw in the sky, white wings flapping, a flock of birds carrying knights flying towards them.
“These are the enemy’s reinforcements!”
After a long wait,
the lance lords arrived. But the enemy reinforcements were burning corpses; Jima and her subordinates were leaving the pile of burning bodies.
“More demons need to be killed, the more the better.” Jima murmured: “The amount of demonic wind is simply not enough to sustain so many demons.”
Yesterday’s scarce demonic wind caused many demons to be unable to maintain their existence in the mortal realm, resulting in the Vanguard Corps suffering greater losses than those who died in battle.
“My lord, do not worry that after the world-destroying army conquers the Great Maelstrom, more demon legions will pledge allegiance to you.”
“Don’t worry?” Jima laughed at the rat-like sorcerer: “Now the demonic wind is much more abundant than before; demons are coming from everywhere, making the demonic wind insufficient. But I haven’t seen them pledge allegiance to me; they are all seeking out the Eternal Chosen. I would rather those beasts wait for the elves to repair the Great Maelstrom and clean up the demonic wind.”
“The demons among my subordinates are quite numerous; they do not need demonic wind to exist in the mortal realm.”
The rat-like sorcerer said: “My lord, but if that’s the case, even if you kill the Eternal Chosen and take their place, you are just an empty shell of a commander.”
“I have no grand ambition to destroy the world.” Jima narrowed her eyes, suspecting the rat-like sorcerer was testing her, eager to know her goals through her subordinates.
If I say, I want to save the whole world…
Just thinking about it sent shivers down Jima’s spine.
Her subordinates might think she was mentally unstable, abandoning her for future peace, not fighting, not granting blessings, choosing to leave her.
Even if she wore a complete thirteen fragments of a crown, a genuine demon king.
What I promised, from beginning to end, was a feast of blood. Jima continued: in the near future, there would only be endless wars and endless bloodshed, I promise. As long as I become the demon king, become the Eternal Chosen.
“My lord, you make a very valid point.” The rat-like sorcerer said: “I hope the high elves can repair the human whirlpool so that you can use the Order faction to pave the way to your rightful throne.”
Just as the words fell,
the demonic wind stirred, the invisible demonic wind surged in like a tsunami from the east.
Jima and many demons turned their gazes to the east in unison; Jima faintly felt that something had gone wrong with the Great Maelstrom again.
She said coldly: “If you talk nonsense again, I’ll knock your teeth out. I mean what I say.”
The rat-like sorcerer was horrified, asking: “What does it mean, human king, that I’m a crow’s beak? Many of the blessings we’ve received will grow into beaks…”
In Osuan, the home of the high elves, at the center of the maelstrom resembling a horse paddock.
A powerful force had torn a corner from the top of the Great Maelstrom, drawing in vast amounts of magical wind.
Inside the Great Maelstrom.
The legendary elven archmage who led the construction of the Great Maelstrom ritual, the “Dragon Tamer,” was still alive and had not yet perished; he was adjusting the magical power atop an ancient elven-style building in the center, appearing before one person diligently calming the waves of the Great Maelstrom.
To say he was alone was not entirely accurate.
Within the Great Maelstrom, there was a bearded giant, a human, circling around the “Dragon Tamer” again and again.
