Chapter 385: A journey of slaughter to the south (III)
Cai’er asked, ”Should we also kill the chiefs of the Jacques Clan? That would be at least a king grade mission. When completing a mission of superior grade, we would receive even better rewards.”
Long Haochen shook his head, “We can’t. That would be too dangerous. We currently have no certainty to win against a powerhouse at the eighth step. And starting from the eighth step, every rank would produce a very large gap. A powerhouse standing at the peak of the eighth step will at least reach 100,000 units of spiritual energy, and is far from what we can take on. We should go for the dependable way and complete the mission as fast as possible before withdrawing from the Jacques Province.”
The others didn’t have any complaints about Long Haochen going for the safe way. Taking the least amount of risk possible unless necessary, even if their strength had taken a qualitative leap, he remained very prudent as a captain.
While they were speaking, rumbling sounds rang out in front of them.
Because of the sand in the air, they couldn’t clearly see what kinds of demons were in front of them, but from the sound, they were only at a few kilometers away and also quite numerous.
“Hide!” Long Haochen lifted his hand, flashing to a side while looking for a dune to hide behind. Without need for any words, Cai’er disappeared calmly, entering the invisible state to scout in the direction of the sound. Scouting was originally the first duty of an assassin.
“Captain, want to scare them witless?“ Sima Xian showed a smile, the Energetic Ball of Light already in his hand.
On this trip to the demon territory, the most dazzling of all was him. With the Energetic Ball of Light, he killed quite a few demon powerhouses including even a demon of the seventh step. Although that demon of the seven step was pinned down by the others at that time, Sima Xian took only one blow to ensure the kill, proving again the terrifying level of power his Energetic Ball of Light currently possessed.
Long Haochen waved his hand, saying, “Let’s see from which clans these demons are and how many they are. No need to rush in blindly.”
Because the sandstorm was too strong, their faces were covered with veils. With the further addition of the sand-colored cloaks on them, after lying low, even from the sky they wouldn’t be found easily.
A short time later, Cai’er returned to them, the spiritual wings on her vanishing. She said in a low voice to Long Haochen, “That’s the Jacques Clan. They are chasing after a Demon Hunt Squad.”
“What? People from our side?” Long Haochen was startled.
Cai’er nodded, “The Jacques Clan dispatched an army of at least one thousand demons. They are led by two powerhouses from the Jacques Clan, and the Jacques Officers number at least thirty or forty. The Demon Hunt Squad they are chasing should be at the king grade, fighting back while trying to retreat. But from their looks, things aren’t going well for them. That’s because none of them uses their spiritual wings. There’s a kind of purple liquid on them, and if this continues, I’m afraid things will not end well for them. I vaguely saw that a kind of purplish black figure was hovering in the sky, following the Jacques Clan from above. That purplish black substance very possibly came from it, and should carry the effect of preventing the use of spiritual wings.”
The gazes of their comrades all fell on Long Haochen, and their current predicament was: To save or not to save.
Without a doubt, the Jacques Clan army was extremely powerful. With two Jacques Chiefs leading them, the other side shouldn’t have any opportunity to fight back. But the enemies were chasing for the kill of a king grade Demon Hunt Squad.
Long Haochen turned around, looking at his own comrades, “By saving them, we will very possibly face a very big danger, but if we don’t intervene, our fellow soldiers will very possibly die here. What do you think?”
“Boss, let’s do it.” Sima Xian was the first to reply, expressing a very strong fighting intent.
Everyone else nodded successively to Long Haochen.
Long Haochen narrowed his eyes, and said, “Cai’er, we’ll leave that one in the air to you. If I’m not guessing wrong, that should be a Demon Holder, an aerial demon powerhouse of the sixth step specialized in support. This Demon Holder isn’t strong by itself, but extremely annoying, because it can spread its mucus over a large area. When infected, purging it is very hard, and it will cause the loss of the ability to release spiritual wings while greatly decreasing the overall speed. They are important supportive forces of the demons. You’ll be getting rid of it before reuniting with us, while ensuring a path for retreat. After killing the Demon Holder, we’ll act from our side. Attacking the enemy from the flanks, we’ll not be meeting them head-on. Giving our fellow soldiers the opportunity to retreat will suffice.
After the matter is over, we’ll be escape by flying away. Within the Jacques Clan, only powerhouses of the sixth step or above are capable of flight. The only ones able to give us trouble would be those two Jacques Leaders at the eighth step. Everyone, listen to my instructions. If need be, I’ll separate from you, and you’ll follow Haoyue. Then I can return to your side later through teleporting. As long as we are given the time to launch the teleportation through the Eternal Melody, we’ll stay absolutely safe. No one is to zealously continue fighting, understood?
Ying’er, you’ll…” Then, he gave specific instructions to Chen Ying’er.
He had no choice but to make his plans clear, otherwise, given the feelings of his comrades and himself, it was unsure whether they’d let him go by himself when he wanted to separate from them.
Cai’er nodded and her black spiritual wings appeared once again. Her figure pierced through the skies in a flash as her body was already in the state of invisibility.
After reaching the sixth step of cultivation Cai’er could make the best use of the Necklace of Invisibility. When she combined its effect with her technique of invisibility, she could remain invisible even at great flight speed. In this state, she would absolutely have no fear when scouting as long as the enemies were inferior to her in cultivation.
Long Haochen had absolute confidence in Cai’er, and the Demon Holder was only a demon at the sixth step. Without any additional assistance, it was quite weak.
Right when Long Haochen finished coordinating their deployment, the distant rumbles were growing more and more distinct, and the air filled with yellow dust. Long Haochen’s group could only roughly see some figures flying forward. Soon, their equipped spears came into sight one after another. In the meantime, ear-piercing splitting sounds filled the air.
The Jacques Demons looked similar to centaurs. Their upper bodies resembled those of humans, but their chests and backs were covered with black scales. Their faces however were only a bit longer than those of humans, and looked very fierce. The lower part of their bodies was very similar to horses, including four stamping hooves. They were experts in using spears, and capable of throwing a spear over a long distance.
The situation of those humans escaping from them looked horrible. A knight acted as their rear guard together with his powerful mount, an Earth Dragon exceeding seven meters in size. One bolt of golden light after another lit up his body, resisting the great majority of the attacks from their pursuers. The others were riding different kinds of magical beasts while advancing. Those were mounts summoned by their summoner. And like this, they desperately kept escaping.
Although the ordinary Jacques Demons were unable of flight, every one of them carried at least four spears, constantly tossing them at the fleeing enemy, before picking them up again . The demons with wings on their backs were Jacques Officers. The ones above them were two extremely tall Jacques Demons reaching a height over three meters, and although they only had one spear in hand, it was exceedingly immense and would create a thundering sound at every blow.
The Earth Dragon of that human knight was already heavily wounded, but he remained really valiant. With the healing from the priest, the backing from the mage and the harassment of the enemy from the flanks, he managed to forcibly block the assault led by those two Jacques Chiefs at the eighth step. At closer look, one could tell that the knight was clad in an extraordinary mythril armor, and every time the enemy’s attack would land, he was unharmed.
That was a Mythril Foundation Armor, making him a Mythril Foundation Armored Knight!
Demon Hunt Squads were the greatest elites among humans, and the king grade Demon Hunt Squads were the cream of the crop. The step from the commander grade to the king grade represented a fundamental leap. Additionally to the need to accumulate a million contribution points to ascend, rising to this grade was very hard.
Although this Mythril Foundation Armored Knight didn’t yet have the strength of the eighth step, he still reached at least the peak of the seventh step. Using the combination of a heavy sword and a heavy shield in his hands, his strength was quite something.
The front line from the Jacques Demons was still chasing after the king grade Demon Hunt Squad as they were close to reaching the dune concealing Long Haochen’s group.
Long Haochen gestured towards Chen Ying’er.
Chen Ying’er nodded her head and immediately sat cross legged on the ground, starting the chant of an incantation. An illusory looking soft white radiance revolved around her. It spiraled outwards, and in that soft light, Chen Ying’er looked completely immersed into a fantastic vortex.
The reason why she didn’t take the initiative to use her magic before, was out of fear that those two Jacques Chiefs of the eighth step would discover it, but now, no one could stop her anymore.
Meanwhile, with a glint of silver light, Haoyue’s massive body appeared at their side, and Han Yu also summoned his own Demonic Eye.
Long Haochen raised his head and looked into the sky.
With a mournful shriek, a plump figure appeared, belonging to a huge monster with six wings, reaching at least a size of five meters. If not for these six wings, it would perhaps be unable to fly at all, and that massive body would directly fall to the ground upon trying.
“McDull, go.” Long Haochen gave a low shout.
The little pig McDull was extremely fast, swallowing a magical crystal before jumping up. His small eyes glinted and locked on that Demon Holder lying dead on the ground. Immediately afterwards, with a strong purple black radiance, McDull lept to the sky, and rapidly changed appearance, taking the shape of a Demon Holder.
“Go!”
Long Haochen shouted loudly before the four wings on his back appeared. Flapping them once, he charged forward like a bullet. Meanwhile, the others were all on Haoyue’s broad back, with only Chen Ying’er left behind, still chanting. He rapidly approached the army of Jacques Demons from their left side.
The response of the Jacques Army didn’t take long, and upon discovering them, several dozens Jacques Demons swerved to meet the new enemy. Turning to their lateral side, they threw their spears towards Long Haochen.
With a sudden burst of dazzling golden light, Long Haochen accelerated like a golden meteor, and in the meanwhile, wide expanses of golden light burst out from his back, aiming at the Jacques Demons.
Without using the Glorious Holy Shield, the current Long Haochen carried the Rippling Light in his left, and the Aria of the Goddess of Light in his right hand, which pierced the enemies like a golden god of death. Every thrown spear was reduced to dust in front of its domineering light essence.