The ground trembled faintly.
The level road ahead exploded without warning.
Black demonic energy surged skyward, forming one twisted tornado after another.
Countless hideous figures poured endlessly out of cracks in the earth, accompanied by shrill screeches.
Abyss Demon Gods.
There really was an ambush!
"Enemy attack!"
"Form up!"
The piercing alarm rang through the sky.
But it was too late.
The Abyss Demon Gods had been lying in wait, and their first wave slammed precisely into the troops at the very front of the formation.
They were the troops under Flame Venerable's command.
The shadows moved at blinding speed. Ignoring the outermost defensive glow, they plunged straight into the formation.
Claws ripped through sturdy crimson armor.
Demonic energy corroded the sacred power of the flames.
Screams rang out in an instant.
A Fire Origin Spirit Race warrior Flame Venerable knew had just raised his spear when three Demon Gods pounced on him.
The flames on his body went out.
His life force was drained in an instant.
Flame Venerable's pupils contracted sharply.
He could only watch as the elite troops he had been so proud of were slaughtered before his eyes.
Many of those warriors were his clansmen, whom he had watched grow up. They were the foundation of his future command.
Now, beneath the claws of the Abyss Demon Gods, they were as fragile as paper.
That vicious slap left him reeling.
"You're asking for death!"
Rage burned through his reason.
His body erupted with light like the sun, and the flame mark between his brows blazed to its limit.
He struck with one palm.
A gigantic flaming palm print condensed out of thin air and crushed more than a dozen Abyss Demon Gods to ashes.
The blow cleared a swath of the battlefield.
But before he could