Emerging Teamwork (Part One)

The soldiers standing in the rear, ready to pick up the scraps, stared dumbfounded at the fierce young members of Soldier Grade One Demon Hunt Squad, unsure what to do.

"What are you staring at? Hurry up and reinforce the others!" Zhang Hairong cursed, though he was secretly astonished as well. As expected of the elite of a Demon Hunt Squad—these youths were likely on a battlefield for the first time, yet they showed no stage fright and immediately settled into their roles. Wasn't that bald guy wearing a priest's robe when we arrived? Is he still a priest? And that shield-wielding girl—wasn't her shield a little too huge? The way she swung it, it looked more like an enormous axe.

A twenty-meter stretch of wall was more than sufficiently covered by Long Haochen, Sima Xian, and Wang Yuanyuan. Cai'er stood quietly behind Long Haochen, her Green Bamboo Staff touching the ground. Yet all five of her senses were fully alert, taking in everything around her.

Han Yu was not idle either. He had already summoned the Evil Eye. A beam of red light shot from its eye and continuously swept across the battlements. It was the Eye of Truth.

There was no true priest in the team, so they could only rely on his Evil Eye to use the Eye of Truth. There was no helping it.

However, the Evil Eye's Eye of Truth had quite an extensive scanning range. Its straight-line range reached a full hundred meters, and as it swept from side to side, everything within two hundred meters on either flank was illuminated by the Eye of Truth. Its main purpose was to guard against sudden sneak attacks by powerful demons such as Di Mian Tribe Invisibility Users.

Han Yu and Lin Xin had also joined the battle, though they were not directly killing enemies. Strands of pale golden light continuously emerged from the golden heavy sword in Han Yu's hand, landing precisely on the wounded soldiers along both sides.

He was using Healing Light, the most basic healing skill of a Guardian Knight. It consumed very little spiritual energy, and under the effects of Long Haochen's Spirit Gathering Halo, he could practically maintain his spiritual energy without any depletion.

Although Healing Light could not treat grave injuries, it could lessen pain, slowly heal wounds, and remove ordinary toxins. Moreover, the Light Attribute was the greatest bane of demons. With Healing Light's aid, the combat strength of the First Battalion soldiers on both sides immediately rose considerably.

With Han Yu looking after things here, Lin Xin also put his abilities to use—and with a tremendous effect that left his companions amazed.

The Fire Cloud Crystal Staff swung through the air, sending clusters of crystalline red light drifting outward. Every cluster of firelight landed precisely on a First Battalion soldier. The red light condensed into suits of Flame Armor, and whenever Zelin Clan Dual-Blade Demons came within a meter of the soldiers while attacking, they were burned.

This skill was called Flame Armor. Its defensive power was ordinary, roughly comparable to a knight's Spiritual Light Shield, but it carried an additional fire-attributed attack. Any enemy who approached would be affected. It was a second-tier spell.

Although Flame Armor consumed little spiritual energy, it only lasted thirty seconds and was a single-target skill. Yet in Lin Xin's hands, it was forcibly made to produce the effect of a group skill.

Clusters of red light fired continuously from his Fire Cloud Crystal Staff like a rapid barrage, and flames quickly began to "burn" across the soldiers' bodies. Not only did this enhance their survivability, it greatly increased their destructive power as well. In just a short while, more than fifty soldiers had received Lin Xin's assistance.

Chen Yinger, as usual in battle, stood not far behind Wang Yuanyuan and chanted spells in her distinctive clear voice. The crystal ball in her hands emitted a gentle glow. The First Battalion soldiers could never have guessed that this seemingly harmless little girl had once summoned powerful Eighth Rank magical beasts such as the Evil Eye Lord and the Hell Three-Headed Hound.

At present, the main force attacking the city consisted only of Double Blade Demons. Their greatest advantage was simply their numbers. Though they were highly skilled climbers, they were like vegetables waiting to be chopped before experts of the fourth and fifth ranks such as Long Haochen's group. Long Haochen and the other six both attacked and provided support, covering a hundred-meter stretch of wall. The First Battalion's defensive zone was only two hundred meters of wall in total. The soldiers of the First Battalion felt that fighting on the battlefield had never been so easy. Those who had been granted Flame Armor by Lin Xin slaughtered their enemies with particular exhilaration.

Zhang Hairong, however, was depressed. Long Haochen and the others were so powerful that his own combat ability was severely limited. Moreover, as a personal guard, Long Haochen had deliberately looked after his side as well, occasionally slashing out with a Light Slash Sword that swept away whole patches of Double Blade Demons. As a result, the number of times Zhang Hairong could swing his twin axes plummeted.

"Battalion Commander, are the demons only sending these Double Blade Demons to attack the city?" Long Haochen asked Zhang Hairong, who was not far away, while fighting.

Zhang Hairong said, "This is merely a probing feint, meant to wear down our people. Among the demons, these Double Blade Demons reproduce the fastest and are incredibly numerous. The greater their numbers, the more food they consume. Few demon races are skilled at farming, so they can only enslave us humans. But food is still limited, while every demon is a soldier. Thus, whenever their numbers grow too large, they start a war. First, to use war for plunder; second, to reduce their population burden. Only a cold-blooded race like the demons could do such a thing. These Double Blade Demons are meant to die, but their deaths have meaning. Any Double Blade Demon that survives constant battle has a chance to evolve. With just one evolution, their strength becomes completely different. At the same time, because we do not know when the demons' powerful troops will launch a full-scale assault, our own experts must remain constantly on edge. Our overall strength is far inferior to the demons', so we cannot take the initiative to attack. Under this sort of delaying tactic, it is easy for our experts to become mentally exhausted. When that happens, the demons can launch their full assault, and the results will naturally be much greater."

Long Haochen said in surprise, "The demons are actually this clever?"

Zhang Hairong smashed a Double Blade Demon apart with a savage axe strike. "Most demons were originally mutated from us humans. The Luke Clan Infiltrators and Di Mian Tribe Invisibility Users are examples of that."

Long Haochen nodded. "Di Mian Tribe Invisibility Users are indeed extremely insidious. Without the Eye of Truth, even powerful experts could be successfully ambushed by them." Zhang Hairong chuckled. "Then you don't understand. On the battlefield, the Di Mian Tribe is far less useful than the Luke Clan. Once large numbers of the Luke Clan appear, we must deploy enough mages. Otherwise, if they attack our soldiers from underground as a group, casualties will be catastrophic in an instant. To our infantry, the Luke Clan is a nightmare."

The Double Blade Demons truly deserved their status as the demon race's largest clan. Though they held little status, their numbers were no joke. Corpses had already piled up like mountains beneath the city walls, yet as far as the eye could see, Double Blade Demons continued charging in from outside the city like an endless sea.

Though it was night, the battlements of Demon Expelling Pass were brightly lit. During this time, Long Haochen carefully observed the place. Demon Expelling Pass was about a thousand zhang wide. For a single wall, that was already no small width. Yet compared with the vast Demon Subduing Mountain Range, it was no more than a drop in the ocean. And yet this tiny Demon Expelling Pass had blocked the demons for thousands of years!

Demon Expelling Pass had been built against the mountains, with sheer cliffs on both sides, smooth as mirrors. Even those cliffs were heavily guarded. Thanks to the terrain, the city wall stood roughly a hundred meters high from within, but nearly three hundred meters high from the outside.

The walls were absolutely more than a hundred meters thick. They were also inscribed with all kinds of magic arrays to resist magical attacks.

Eighty thousand experts from the Six Great Temples were stationed within such a formidable pass, with an unending stream of supplies delivered from the rear. The difficulty of breaching it head-on was obvious. Even an army of a million would be unable to cross it.

Just then, a low roar sounded behind them. Long Haochen glanced back and saw that Chen Yinger had completed her Gate of Living Beings summoning.

Chen Yinger's summons were not always reliable, but summoning a little sheep like she had that time was still a low-probability event. Generally speaking, she was most likely to summon a magical beast around her own level.

An Iron Arm Demon Bear over three meters tall, covered in grayish-black fur, strode fiercely out of the Gate of Living Beings. It was a fifth-level magical beast. Though it possessed no innate skills, it could take hits and fight well, making it quite suitable for defending the city.

Under Chen Yinger's command, the Iron Arm Demon Bear lumbered to one side and swung its fan-sized bear paws, sending the Double Blade Demons climbing up the wall flying one after another.

By this point, every member of Soldier Grade One Demon Hunt Squad had displayed their abilities, helping the First Battalion completely stabilize its defensive zone.

Sima Xian suddenly turned and shouted to Long Haochen, "Captain, let Haoyue join in too. This is a great chance to earn merit!"

Since they had been temporarily staying at the Hall of Governance, Haoyue had been left there, and Long Haochen had not yet had time to summon it to his side. Hearing Sima Xian's words, Long Haochen's heart immediately stirred. That's right! With the solid defenses of Demon Expelling Pass, we have no worries about our rear. Even if we exhaust all our spiritual energy, we can retreat calmly. And there are Double Blade Demons as far as the eye can see below. What better time could there be to unleash our attack power?

"They still have more tricks?" Zhang Hairong swept an astonished glance over Long Haochen, just in time to see purple light flash across his forehead. Immediately afterward, a massive figure appeared behind him.

Haoyue's appearance was absolutely intimidating. Its body was over four meters long, with powerful limbs and its distinctive three heads. The moment it appeared, it gave everyone the sensation that the entire battlefield had been shaken.