Demons Felt No Pain (×) The Hand of Argus Thought Demons Were Better Off Feeling No Pain (√)

The demons arrived faster than expected.

Of course, aside from the destructive zeal they were born with driving them on, they also had the help of local "collaborators."

The aftermath of Sarkir's Awakeners' Cult had yet to settle, and the sweeping investigation into Arcane Mages in Mac'Aree had only just begun, but the Arcane Mages in Krokuun had already gotten wind of it and scattered.

Those hidden Man'ari had clearly received orders from their evil masters. Thus, on the day after the mighty Commodore Dick smashed the Corruptor's skull, a demon force was summoned near the Petrified Forest.

Such piecemeal summoning naturally could not produce an army capable of destroying the world, but this was the Burning Legion's classic tactic.

The first Destroyer Witches and Soul Judges to arrive, individuals highly proficient in spellcasting, immediately served as "portal Jinchuriki." Once their numbers reached a certain threshold, the demons' rate of entry into Krokuun abruptly increased.

By the time the shamans under Governor Hutton noticed something was wrong through the elements' warnings, nearly a thousand lesser demons had gathered in the Petrified Forest.

The moment Dick received the news, he tossed aside his chisel and picked up his warhammer. He led Captain Neri, the Twins, Jaide, and the elite Talbuk cavalry captains on a close reconnaissance mission.

"Most of them are lesser demons like demon guards and felhounds, along with insignificant imps. The assault captains are wrathguards evolved from demon guards and Mo'arg fel barbarians. Their higher-ranking frontline commanders are Eredun doomguards.

"Their spellcasting forces consist only of a few succubi and beholders led by Shivarra Destroyer Witches.

"There is no Fel Lava Pool here, so they cannot summon strategic high-ranking demons like the Demon Mother. Other than that, I only spotted a fel lord serving as their overall commander.

"Hmm. A classic Burning Legion cannon-fodder vanguard formation."

On the high ground of the Petrified Forest, aided by Eagle Eye cast by the high-ranking rangers, Dick's gaze swiftly swept over the valley before him, already covered in fel energy.

He rattled off every type of demon he saw, taking the opportunity to give Jaide and the cavalry captains beside him, who were facing demons for the first time, a little "lesson."

Facing the demons still pouring endlessly from several portals, the Commodore was not flustered. On the contrary, after seeing the composition of this "army," he relaxed.

"No Nathrezim, no Annihilan, not even many Man'ari warlocks... There are only a handful of high-ranking demons. This is clearly a scouting force that will not be difficult to handle.

"We must deal with them quickly! This summoning zone has not yet formed a demon-forging camp, and the fel energy concentration is not high enough for high-ranking demons to cross over. But if we wait another few hours, things may become troublesome."

"Dick! Our soldiers have not received 'warlock training' in the Awakeners' Cult like you have. They know nothing about demons. Even the lowest hellhounds and demon guards can frighten them with a numerical advantage."

Captain Neri carried her hunting rifle on her back and shook her head with the caution expected of an Assassin Court commander.

"To be safe, we should wait for reinforcements from Nathraxas Castle. We only have five hundred Talbuk cavalry and fewer than two hundred vindicators defending the Petrified Forest. Even including the shamans polishing Holy Stones, our numbers are lower than those Destroyers before us."

"Not knowing the enemy is not a problem. Fight one battle, and we'll know everything."

Dick clearly had plans of his own.

He said, "We'll use these low-level demons to give our warriors some practice and teach them that demons are not invincible. Right now, the enemy's spellcasting strength is practically nonexistent. But if we let them keep summoning, our soldiers will have to charge through storms of fel fire.

"I will serve as commander. You will follow my orders!

"Jaide, your Talbuk cavalry has an exceptional speed advantage. Once I lead the vindicators into the battlefield, you will charge in from the flank toward those demon portals. Use bombs made from Arcanite Crystals to destroy them, then sweep away their spellcasters as quickly as possible.

"The Twins and the shamans will carry out spell suppression.

"Spell suppression cannot stop at any point from the moment we enter the battlefield until the battle ends!

"Neri, lead the hunters and assassins of the Assassin Court in sniping the demon commanders amid the chaos.

"Listen, warriors!

"The Holy Light has enlightened me. It has told me that the Burning Legion is only newly formed. The various demon races from the Twisting Nether have merely been forcibly stitched together through their worship of and obedience to Sargeras. They have yet to accumulate sufficient experience in warfare. They even lack the most basic racial coordination and intelligent demons to organize and command them. Calling them a 'rabble' would not be wrong at all.

"They are not as powerful as they appear.

"As long as our courage remains firm, these demons will be no match for us!

"If the warriors are truly afraid, tell them that demons feel no pain and know no fear. So when we clash with them, they must unleash their greatest destructive power at once and strive to defeat the enemy in a single blow. That will make the rest of the battle much easier!"

Dick assigned clear tasks to everyone beside him. Captain Neri was still somewhat hesitant, but Dick held the highest rank and had personally been appointed "forging camp commander" by Commander Kil'jaeden. In theory, he did indeed have the authority to command the troops.

Besides, as he had said himself, having "studied" in the Awakeners' Cult, he was the person in all of Krokuun who knew the most about demons.

There was nothing wrong with having him command this raid.

"Summon your warriors."

Dick fastened the helmet of his Lightforged armor over his head and said to the Twins, "Return to camp by portal and distribute the completed Argus Hearts to our warriors. This is not merely a battle to drive off demons. We must also test whether the Argus Hearts are as miraculous as we imagined.

"The two Grand Executors regard this artifact as Argus's final trump card in its desperate resistance. We cannot disappoint our people and warriors."

"Yes!"

The Twins answered in unison, then departed with the others through a portal.

"Was what you said earlier true?"

Neri asked quietly. Dick turned back to her in surprise.

"Which part?"

"The part about 'demons feeling no pain.'"

Neri flicked her little tail and complained, "I have dealt with demons in Oronaar City. They scream when cut and beg for mercy when near death. They are merely more brutal, not as terrifying as you described. Aren't you worried about frightening the soldiers?"

"If I make them sound more formidable now, the soldiers will have more confidence after winning this battle."

Dick waved a hand.

"As for whether demons really feel pain... Well, given the current situation and the resolve I have made, I think they had better not."

Half an hour later, every soldier in the forging camp arrived outside the Petrified Forest under their respective commanders.

The Five Little Powerhouses led two hundred vindicators. They were clearly lacking in confidence, because any one of these local Krokuun vindicators was older and more experienced in battle than they were.

At the end of the day, the five of them were merely recruits who had yet to graduate. They had simply been lucky enough to follow two seasoned veterans, Dick and Malderan, and earn the "Champions of the Light" achievement.

"You have all fought demons before, children."

Dick saw through the Five Little Powerhouses' unease and encouraged them.

"When facing these Destroyers, you are the warriors' 'seniors.' Remember your past experiences and lessons. Do the right thing at the right time. If you do not know what to do, stay close to me!"

He drew a deep breath, hefted his purple gemstone warhammer, stepped forward, and gestured toward the Arcane Mages and shamans on higher ground.

Upon seeing it, the Twins immediately began casting.

The two had been appointed temporary commanders of the spellcasters, so naturally they had to set an example.

With the aid of telepathy, they instantly entered five hundred percent synchronization. Saloras summoned a firestorm, while Oreses shaped a blizzard. The classic "double assault of ice and fire," under the control of the two genius spellcasters, struck the entrance to the summoning zone below with perfect precision at the same time.

The demon guards and hellhounds patrolling there only had time to roar before they began screaming beneath the assault of fire and frost.

The shamans also called upon the mighty power of the elements.

They did not cast alone. Instead, in groups of three, they used the elemental blessing attached to the Argus Heart artifact to repeatedly cast earthquakes throughout the summoning zone. Shaman apprentices could not control such intense elemental reactions, but they could continuously summon wind, fire, water, and earth elementals to compensate for their numerical disadvantage.

On Dick's side, the instant he saw the first blizzard crash down from the sky, he took the lead and charged out of the position.

The Petrified Forest's terrain was unsuitable for the vindicators' thunder elephant vehicles, so they were charging as infantry.

But with the terrain advantage, to borrow a crude old saying, it was "high ground beats low ground, and low ground gets beaten stupid." Dick led the strongest vindicators in a charge. After crossing nearly a hundred meters, an entire row of charged crystal-forged javelins was hurled ahead at Dick's roaring command.

The demon guards who had rushed out of the torment of fire and frost were knocked down in a single exchange, but the vindicators did not halt their charge. As they closed the distance, they also drew the throwing axes and throwing hammers from their waists.

Hey, who said warriors had no ranged attacks?

With brute force behind them, these things packed a decent punch at medium range. With luck, they could blow apart a demon guard's head. Without it, they could still make a hellhound howl in pain.

These lesser demons had always been cannon fodder in massive numbers. They could only rely on brute strength and fel blessings to bully weaker races like humans. But before the power of thoroughly trained Eredar, each one comparable to an enraged Tauren, this cannon fodder could gain no advantage whatsoever.

"Assault formation!"

Dick raised his warhammer high and shouted. The Five Little Powerhouses behind him immediately adjusted their formation.

The unscrupulous Commodore charged through the blazing zone, decisively spread his wings, and accelerated as Radiant Runes flashed around him. He swung his warhammer in a full arc and pounced upon the wrathguard serving as a squad leader before him.

It was an "upgraded version" of a demon guard, an enhanced form that only emerged after thousands of demon guards had fought and killed for a long time.

The demonic steel armor embedded with blades across its body was even more ferocious. Wielding two demonic steel battle-axes, it was about to rush into melee, but before it could even take a second step, the war spear thrown by Fareeya pierced through its left leg. It staggered and enthusiastically "caught the warhammer with its face," giving Dick a smashing opening.

"Die!"

The roar was like a war drum, and the Holy Light erupted in that instant.

Putting his full strength into it, Dick felt only as if his warhammer had struck a "wall of flesh." But there was only a momentary delay and negligible "recoil" before the warhammer followed through along its striking path.

Under the horrified gazes of the other vindicators, the crimson demon, two heads taller than Commodore Dick, was like an unlucky victim struck by a thunder elephant!

Its entire body was launched from the ground. Amid the burning eruption of Holy Light, it became a humanoid golden torch and flew in a high arc, before crashing heavily into a group of demon guards ten meters away.

That had to hurt, but there was no need to worry about the unfortunate demon.

Not only because it had most likely already returned its soul to the Twisting Nether the instant it "took off," but also because, according to Commodore Diakum, demons felt no pain!

But...

Was this really strength an Eredar should possess?

The battlefield fell silent for a second.

Both the vindicators and the demons sank into a strange silence. Fareeya reacted swiftly, grabbing her war spear and raising it high as she roared, "Certain victory! Charge!"

"Roar!"

The vindicators answered with wild roars.

The people of Krokuun were naturally forthright, and they had just witnessed the "invincible bearing" of their commander. It was like a group-wide "Morale MAX" status effect, stripping them of all fear toward those hideous creatures wrapped in the scorched stench of sulfur.

If they could die when struck by a warhammer, and if they too would retreat in fear, then what more was there to say?

Just kill them!

"Roar! Roar! Roar!"

As Dick adjusted his breathing on the battlefield after his instant kill, the frenzied vindicators shouted the Holy Light's name and surged past him, crashing into the demon guards charging toward them.

Like two torrents of green and blue colliding head-on, more than a dozen demon guards were sent flying in the first clash.

This was the Eredar's unique Horned Collision Charge.

The Jed'hin Training they received from childhood taught them how to coordinate their hooves, shoulders, and even torsos at the instant of collision, unleashing force in a crushing impact. Like an enraged Talbuk ramming stone with horns as hard as rock, the explosive power of that instant could even smash vicious hellhounds to death.

Dick, however, did not rush forward to help.

He touched his gauntlet. The Argus Heart pinky ring on his left hand was heating up.

The destructive power attached to that earthshaking "baseball swing" just now had exceeded his own strength. Clearly, the Argus Star Soul child had secretly lent him its power.

The blessing of World Power was taking effect. Every Eredar who dared take up a weapon and fight demons would enjoy this gradually accumulating glory.

It was not just Dick. The Five Little Powerhouses serving as the spearhead of the charge could also clearly feel their strength increasing abnormally.

Fareeya's charge pierced through one demon guard and two hellhounds. Such terrifying destructive power even startled her, while Tramon beside her had already lifted his greatsword and started spinning like a windmill amid the demons. Even Imira could feel that the destructive power of her holy fire had increased by at least thirty percent.

As expected, priests knew best how to stir people's hearts. Once she realized the Argus Heart truly worked, the fellow's eyes rolled as she raised her holy staff and scattered dazzling healing light over the surrounding vindicators.

She shouted at the top of her lungs, "The World Soul watches over us! Argus is with us! For our world and our people, warriors of the Hand of Argus! Forward!"

It was like adding fuel to the fire...

The position held by the demon guards, already struggling to resist, was smashed apart head-on by the even more fanatical vindicators within seconds. And how could a battlefield displaying such courage lack the idealistic Holy Light joining the excitement?

The vindicators could clearly feel their Holy Light singing praises as well, like a living force aiding their advance.

With every swing, weapons wreathed in sacred blazing light resembled burning torches even more, while golden motes fell upon cannon fodder like imps and hellhounds, scorching them until they howled.

The fel lord commanding the summoning zone had already realized something was wrong!

But though it possessed inexhaustible muscular strength, it found it hard to receive wisdom's blessing at such a moment. After all, muscles were truly terrible at thinking. So it could only abandon thought and let its muscles roar as it led its elite guards into the battlefield, attempting to turn the precarious situation around with brute force.

The problem was, it was a commander, and Commodore Dick was also a commander.

Did it not understand the rule of soldier against soldier, commander against commander?

Just as the fel lord knocked down a vindicator with its demonic steel battle-axe and was about to behead her, a whistling warhammer struck its weapon like a shooting star. The clash of immense force sent up sparks of Holy Light, which Dick then transformed into a thick Power Word: Shield around the wounded vindicator.

As she struggled to rise, she felt a scorching hand supporting her shoulder.

She looked back and saw Commodore Dick smiling at her amid the Holy Light.

"Well done, soldier!"

He cast a healing spell and said in a deep voice, "Can you keep fighting?"

"In the name of the Holy Light, General!"

The female vindicator excitedly raised her broken sword and shield.

Dick nodded, picked up the torch-like warhammer from the ground, rolled his shoulders, and beckoned to the fel lord before him as the living Radiant Runes around him spun.

The provocation could not have been clearer.

"Ah!"

The mental state of demons was already questionable. Killing and being killed were their legion's way of life. How could it endure such provocation?

Roaring, it dragged its battle-axe forward. Dick met it head-on as he stepped upon Burning Consecration with the posture of an overacting performer.

Their heavy weapons swung and clashed without pause, as though two master smiths were trying to forge the other into a peerless blade within the furnace of fel fire and Holy Light. More than ten seconds later, the torch-like warhammer knocked away the demonic steel battle-axe, then brought the fel lord to its knees with the successive strikes of Divine Storm and Ashen Judgment.

The facts proved that Dick, this "Eredar Celestial Gold steel billet," was clearly of better quality.

"Next time, have your 'Supreme Lord' Zakuun come in person!"

Dick deliberately drew upon the language database of his Character Card and spoke to the hideous fel lord waiting to die in a strange "demon language" that sounded like a tape played backward.

"Your combat purity is far too low. You are utterly incapable of letting us Eredar enjoy ourselves."

"???"

The fel lord could not understand what sort of oddity this Eredar general wrapped in Holy Light was. Why could he even speak demon language? In theory, Eredar vocal cords could not produce such sounds!

And how did he know that Lord Zakuun had just defeated the previous Supreme Lord and ascended to the throne of their race?

Were the Eredar intelligence networks this terrifying?

Had they even planted spies inside the Legion?

But it was doomed to receive no answers. The next crushing Ashen Judgment incinerated and ignited half its body.

The fel lord's death brought an unparalleled mental shock to the lesser demons on the battlefield. Especially when its hideous flattened and burning head was pierced by Diakum's war spear and planted in the center of the battlefield, the fel imps screamed and fled.

The demon guards were still resisting, but they had clearly lost confidence as well.

Demons did not fear death. They were born in the Twisting Nether and would not truly die in the material world. Even if their bodies were destroyed, they merely returned to the Twisting Nether to await rebirth.

But this humiliating defeat would absolutely become the biggest joke in the Twisting Nether for some time to come.

Dick rested his warhammer on his shoulder and turned around. On the other side of the battlefield, the Talbuk cavalry led by Jaide swept through the battlefield around the portals like a storm of dancing blades. Those Shivarra and their succubus sisters were being slaughtered so badly they cried for their parents.

Those traitorous Man'ari warlocks felt as though the sky had fallen.

They had watched with their own eyes as the demons they worshipped were slaughtered like pigs by the vindicators led by Dick. It nearly shattered their mental defenses.

If demons were this useless, was I fucking insane to worship you in the first place?

"They're collapsing, Dick!"

Neri charged over from nearby, carrying a Destroyer Witch's head as she shouted:

"We won!"

"Won? That was just an appetizer."

Dick waved a hand and said, "Tell the warriors to keep fighting. Don't let a single demon escape! Have the priests and shamans prepare themselves. Once the battle is over, they are to cleanse the lingering fel energy from this land. Neri! Go to Nathraxas Castle yourself. I need Governor Hutton to send more warriors to the Petrified Forest. The demons won't give up after this defeat. It will only stir up their urge for destruction and thirst for battle. Next, we'll be facing an even more terrifying invasion. But... how does it feel?"

He stroked his gauntlet and said to Neri, who wore the Argus Heart pendant, "Can you feel it? Its presence, Its gaze, Its strengthening and encouragement."

"Mm." Neri gripped the pendant at her chest as well and said, "My bullets are more accurate, my warblade is deadlier, and even my speed has become faster and swifter. Even my eyes have grown sharper. We won't let It down, and It won't let us down. You were right, Dick. We can win!"

"Keep feeling this power, Neri. Learn to control it as soon as possible." Dick revealed a mysterious smile and said in a subtle tone, "This still isn't a manifestation of the World Soul's true might. Now, I hope the Burning Legion sends some important 'Greater Demon' to try and destroy us. We'll put on a real 'good show' for It with the World Soul's blessing! I said we would use the Argus Heart to send the Burning Legion flying... I wasn't joking."

The "Demon Star," Mardum.

This had once been a prison in the sea of stars built by the Pantheon to imprison those "immortal demons."

It lay within a special star region, separate from the material universe. After Sargeras embraced fel energy and became the Dark Titan, this prison became the Burning Legion's first major stronghold during its founding.

And in a particularly dark irony, at least eighty percent of the savage demons once imprisoned here had been "villains of the sea of stars" personally captured by the uncorrupted Sargeras.

The Greater Demon currently commanding the Demon Star Mardum was Doom Lord Kazzak. He was the supreme lord of all Doomguards. The Doomguards had originally been servants of the Titans and wardens of Mardum's prison. Their racial name was "Eredun," and after their collective fall, they naturally became high-ranking demons.

Kazzak had served Sargeras for countless years even before Sargeras's fall.

This status as a close servant of the emperor filled Kazzak with both pride and dread. He knew that only by exhausting every effort to fulfill each mission bestowed by his great master would he be worthy of the fel blessing personally granted by his master.

And now, Kazzak's foremost task was to command the demon army in completing the conquest of Argus.

Although the Dark Titan had personally appeared to sound the alarm of doom for Velen and Kil'jaeden, if they truly had to wait for the Dark Titan himself to conquer the world, wouldn't that make servants like them seem utterly useless?

Thus, upon learning that the first demon servants to land on Argus had suffered a crushing defeat, Kazzak's fury was easy to imagine.

"Enough!"

The fel demigod—also known as a fel Greater Demon—who had nearly Set Foot On Argus at Sarkir's summons earlier, roared from his throne.

He bellowed, "The master is watching us! And you dare return with a defeat? Drag those useless wretches' souls out of the fel vortex! Throw them to Red Maw as bloody food. Weak flesh and souls are fit only for feeding dogs. Let the Legion's warriors watch closely—this is the fate of failures!"

"But noble Kazzak, the Eredar are not as weak as we imagined."

A Nathrezim Dreadlord with beautiful emerald-green wings stepped forward and offered his counsel. "These small-scale infiltrations are meaningless now. We must deploy our full army! My servants have already infiltrated every corner of Argus and can open enough portals for your Legion at any time. But one of my servants has also brought back important news. The Eredar are conducting some mysterious forging in a land called Krokuun. That must be the secret weapon those laughable creatures intend to use in their futile resistance against the Dark Titan's great conquest. I believe you should have the honor. You ought to personally destroy the Eredar's last hope in the name of our great master."

"Mm, Tichondrius, you really know how to talk."

Kazzak nodded in satisfaction.

He felt that this Nathrezim leader had truly spoken to his heart. So, after a brief bout of earth-shattering contemplation with his powerful muscles, the Doom Lord swept out a claw and said, "Then leave the invasions of the other regions to you. I will go to Krokuun myself! I will personally deliver the supreme master's decree of destruction to the Eredar!"

"Of course."

The pale-faced, treacherous Dreadlord let out a sinister cackle and said in a subtle tone, "Then I wish you a pleasant conquest, my lord."