"Let's go!"
In fact, the moment Shen Mu heard that heavy impact, he instantly realized something had happened to the security door.
He immediately led twenty-five Swadian Footmen into the corridor. Five men stood in each row, shields raised before them in their left hands and pikes clenched in their right, quickly forming several dense layers of a pike square like a hedgehog.
All the Swadian Footmen pressed tightly together, their formation so thick that it nearly blocked the entire corridor.
Any enemy charging at them would first see the dense thicket of steel formed by twenty-five two-meter pikes!
"Caw! Caw-caw-caw! Caw-caw!"
But just as the Swadian Footmen formed their pike square, noisy shrieks and the flapping of wings emerged from the darkness ahead.
Before Shen Mu could even step out of the Stronghold Main House with his torch, battle erupted in front of the pike square.
It instantly reached a fever pitch!
"Kill!"
"For Swadia!"
The Fan Shields thrust forward in the Swadian Footmen's left hands rang out with heavy thuds.
The powerful impacts striking the shields forced the Light Footmen in the front row to grit their teeth and brace themselves. Only then could they barely withstand the force of the dark shapes charging out of the darkness and gray mist, smashing toward them with savage speed.
As for the pikes in their right hands, they could only stab forward mechanically. Whether they struck a target or not, the men immediately drew them back.
Then, following the rhythm of their comrades' pikes thrusting forward over their shoulders and heads—
Their arms gathered strength again.
Then, as their comrades withdrew their pikes, their own pikes stabbed forward once more.
One after another.
Without end!
Like stubborn reefs standing firm in place, their formation did not move an inch.
Like wave after wave crashing ashore, the pikes stabbed forward one after another, endlessly and relentlessly.
The little demons charging, smashing, and flying out of the darkness—
Were instantly turned into sieves riddled with bloody holes!
Whoosh!
Shen Mu pointed his torch ahead.
As the firelight flickered—
Dozens of meters away, countless little demons packed tightly into the corridor came into view, their bodies dark red.
Before the pike square, twenty or thirty little demons that had been stabbed into sieves collapsed face-first at the Swadian Footmen's boots. Reeking of nauseating sulfur, thick dark-red blood flowed across the marble corridor floor.
Clearly, those little demons had caused the battle that had erupted in an instant and immediately reached a fever pitch.
The smell of blood filled the air.
Even though the eyes of the many little demons behind them still gleamed with chaotic, frenzied bloodlust—
After seeing their own kind slaughtered so thoroughly, the little demons, who possessed some degree of intelligence, were afraid.
Low-Tier Demons were not Low-Tier Undead, mindless creatures driven by hatred for the living and hunger for flesh to fight single-mindedly.
Low-Tier Demons understood anger and brutality.
And they knew fear!
The little demons had suffered heavy losses after leaving the darkness and crashing directly into the pike square, leaving them too frightened to continue attacking.
But that did not mean Shen Mu's soldiers, who had long been prepared for battle, were willing to let them go!
"Fire!"
A Mercenary Sentinel shouted from inside the Stronghold Main House.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Crossbow bolts instantly flew over the Swadian Footmen's heads and accurately shot into the little demons.
The little demons at the front, who had been too timid to advance and had instead crowded together, immediately had seven or eight of their number fall. Two or three particularly unlucky ones were struck in vital spots such as the chest or face, collapsing to the floor and twitching silently before going still.
"Caw-caw-caw! Caw!" This provoked even greater anger, fear, and chaos among the little demons.
In the Abyss, little demons were not particularly powerful demon creatures.
Or rather—
As the lowest-ranking demons, their role had always been reconnaissance and harassing enemies.
They simply could not serve as the Main Force of the demons.
When fighting the Order Faction, their greatest achievements usually involved spreading out to harass or raid areas without strong enemy garrisons.
Otherwise, they would wait until the Main Force of the Demon Troops defeated the enemy's Main Force. Only when old, weak, sick, and wounded remnants remained would the little demons gather to sweep up defeated enemies reduced to scattered small groups, carrying out such trivial tactical tasks.
Charging head-on into a pike square like this, especially in such a cramped space without enough room to maneuver—
Was simply suicide!
These little demons were naturally cunning and liked to attack or flee according to the battlefield situation. Now, they no longer dared to continue attacking.
Especially those in the front row, shoved from behind by other little demons and pushed ever closer to the pike square and its sharp spearheads. They frantically flapped their wings, trying to squeeze back into the demon ranks behind them rather than remain at the front.
This threw the little demons' formation into even greater disorder and congestion, giving the Lake Rats Recruits atop the tower, who had already taken aim...
An even better shooting opportunity!
Thump!
A dull sound of something disturbing the air came from the top floor of the Second Floor.
Whoosh!
A black shadow shot out from the top floor.
Like lightning, it tore through the air in an instant and reached the area where the little demons were most tightly tangled, crowded, and shoving one another.
Boom! It truly was like lightning smashing through every obstacle in its path.
Whether demon bodies—
Demon wings—
Or demon claws and feet—
Anything struck and passed through by that black shadow instantly exploded, scattering in every direction along its path!
By the time the black shadow finally stopped, a one-meter throwing spear could be seen with three little demons skewered on it. They struggled and wailed in agony, miserable as candied hawthorns on a stick!
Along the path carved out by that throwing spear, seven or eight little demons lay scattered across the ground, mostly in a straight line.
They had either lost arms and legs or been pierced straight through.
Only the lucky little demons had merely suffered injuries to the thin membranes of their bat wings. Their wings had been torn into rags, leaving them unable to fly, but they had survived without suffering fatal wounds.
Even so, they crawled away in terror, their fanged mouths releasing waves of agonized wails.
Of course, those cries only affected the morale of the nearby little demons.
To Shen Mu and his soldiers—
An enemy's wails were the most pleasing melody one could hear on the battlefield!
Now, on a battlefield where it was kill or be killed, how could they possibly stop slaughtering in the face of such a wonderful melody?!
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The sound of bolts cutting through the air rang out again.
Inside the Stronghold Main House, ten Mercenary Crossbowmen forcefully cocked their Light Crossbows again within a few breaths. The bolts they fired passed through the Firing Ports, flew over the Swadian Footmen's heads, and descended upon the little demons once more.
Blood sprayed!
Another seven or eight little demons flapped their wings as they fell to the ground.
"Caw-caw-caw!"
Throwing the little demons into even greater chaos!
Click, click, click, click, click, click...
But atop the main house, the Lake Rats Recruits operating the ballista were still turning the winches with all their strength.
Using the winches, they drew tight the heavy bowstring and bow arms.
The laws of basic physics accumulated terrifying force. The bowstring, as thick as two fingers, and the bow arms, as thick as three fingers, let out faint creaks.
It showed that more and more force was building, growing stronger and stronger, yearning to become kinetic energy and killing power unleashed!
Then, a one-meter throwing spear was set into the firing groove.
Its spearhead once again aimed down at the stairwell outside, where a ten-meter section of the roof had been opened up, targeting the densely packed and wildly chaotic little demons in the narrow corridor!
Thump! Another dull boom shook the air.
Whoosh!
The throwing spear flashed past.
More little demons were pierced straight through, while more were torn apart by the throwing spear, limbs and fragments flying everywhere!
Within that cramped corridor, where the little demons were too afraid to move forward and had crowded together, it forcibly carved out a straight line of death over four meters deep!
"This really is..." Even Shen Mu smiled as he looked at the long line of death created by a single throwing spear.
A cramped space, a ballista with immense Destructive Power at close range.
Enemies without armor or shields.
"Perfect!" Shen Mu was delighted!
"Roar—!!!"
It was as though the little demons had sensed Shen Mu's side rapidly gaining momentum while they themselves were shrinking back and avoiding battle.
A roar sounded from behind the little demons, echoing through the narrow corridor and making Shen Mu's eardrums ache faintly.
At the same time, dark-red firelight began spreading through the darkness behind the little demons blocking the corridor.
Boom!
Then, a terrifying figure nearly brushing against the corridor ceiling and both walls slammed into the swarms of little demons crowding together and blocking the passage.
Its thick legs even crushed the little demons too slow to dodge beneath its feet. Its near-ton weight instantly stomped them into pulp.
Then, accompanied by furious, heavy breathing, it roared and charged toward the Swadian Footmen blocking its path!
As though a sudden arrival in the corridor...
A tank!
Before you continue