Chapter 427: It’s Real!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Before Hao Ren and the rest could settle down in the barracks, news of fierce fighting in the front line was reported. The commander of the sentry post decided to send part of the reinforcement which had just arrived to the front line. Hao Ren didn't want to miss the opportunity to go to Broken Plain. He was thinking of how to make their presence felt but he didn't have to, as Y'zaks had already attracted all the attenion—the officer who was tasked to register mercenaries had all the while only remembered one name—Wang Daquan, the tarzan.
A team consisiting of mercenaries and regular knights was assembled. They followed two officers heading toward Broken Plain. Riding on the back of mutated horses of demonic dimension, they left the barracks and were expected to reach the battlefield in no time.
Broken Plain wasn't that far from the barracks.
The ten-year war had affected the human world in many aspects. One of them was the impact on mercenaries—the loosely organised armed groups had been brought together by the war; those who were not brave, not determined, and not disciplined enough were filtered out; those who made it became an important complementary force to the Allied Army. They remained an irregular force, but their overall quality had risen to the level of professional soldiers, and could be brought together at any time by the call of the Seven Heroes and the church to form a formidable force.
The flexibility, experience and cunningness of the mercenaries had earned them a place in the ten-year war, and even several war heroes were mercenaries. So the mercenaries mustn't be underestimated as they had even given Y'aks headache back then.
The mercenary had become a 'special response force' recognised by the Allied Army. Both sides had established a combat-tested cooperational model which was why when the news of the remnants of the demonic army broke, a large group of mercenaries were added to the Allied Army without even needing a run-in adaptation to formally join the mission—just like the mercenaries behind Hao Ren, they were all experts.
"Disperse immediately when come into contact with the demons and kill them one by one." Naturally, a veteran mercenary would become the ad-hoc commander. He ran in front of the group but his voice could be heard by the entire convoy. "This is the territory of the demons, so do not engage for too long. Use hit-and-run tactics, and merge with the group immediately and follow the regular forces to start a next wave of attacks, pay attention to safety, as we're in an ad-hoc team, it's hard to achieve precise cooperation and so there's little chance of mutual assistance."
Over in the regular force, an officer briefed his soldiers for the next course of action. They seemed to be experienced warriors who had fought with the demons for years. They were all professionals.
"It feels weird." Y'zaks said as he rode on the back of an extra-large mutated horse which resembled a calf. He lamented when he heard the officer giving the mission brief. "
Hao Ren already knew what was on Y'zaks' mind: those soldiers had done the same thing before they overthrew his demonic army...
Y'zaks smiled and that said a lot about Y'zaks' broadmindedness.
An officer in front of the convoy suddenly shouted. "Watch out! Demons are right ahead!"
Hao Ren looked up and found a group of demons appeared ahead. The mercenaries and the regular knights instantly entered into a state of war. The veteran soldiers quickly split and prepared to engage the demons—they had learned the experience after sacrificing countless lives battling the demons. The only way to fight the demons, which were many times stronger than humans, was to use hit-and-tun tactics. Those guys who fought head-on with the demons had proven one thing with their lives: it was impossible to defeat the mighty demonic army even if you had got a bigger number of soldiers.
"Those could be the remnants of demonic army from Broken Plain." Lanina glanced from afar and said. "Let's capture and interrogate."
Hao Ren had also noticed the state of those demonic soldiers: they were disorganised, most were wounded, rough skin with a single-horn. Undoubtedly these demons had just come back from the battlefield in Broken Plain.
As soon as they human convoy saw the demons, the demons had also spotted the human convoy. They could sense trouble ahead but these blood-thirsty creatures weren't known to back out from a fight. They wielded their weapons and lunged forward immediately!
The knights of the Allied Army lunged out first. A white-gold divine glory covered their bodies as they penetrated and broke the enemy's formation relying solely in their sheer courage and the protection of their body armours. Then the mercenaries immediately isolated each demon and killed them on by one before they could even regroup.
The shouting, and the magic blast, the weapons hitting one another were everywhere. Hao Ren and his team deliberately ran deeper into the battlefield and found two lone higher demons.
They dismounted before engaging the demons. They knew fully well that their combat skill on horseback wasn't going to cut it.
"Human... kill them all!" The demon guard discovered the man who lunged toward it was a thin man wearing a warlock robe and felt provoked. It roared and raised its one-foot-wide huge sword and chopped down at Hao Ren's head. Hao Ren's mouth twisted slight as he raised his hands to catch the giant sword. Then a loud bang ensued, the giant sword was stopped by his face.
Vivian's jaw almost dropped to the ground: she had seen many times people catching sword with bare hands, but catching a foot-wide steel plate with bare hands was first. Hao Ren's hands had managed to clamp the sword between his palms but that didn't stop the huge sword from hitting his face. And mind you, that sword was a foot wide!
The demon was shocked. "That's a tough face!"
Lily saw it. She felt that her landlord had finally showed his true colour as a main tank. Though his face mightn't be an offensive weapon, it was a good defensive one.
Hao Ren woke up from his dizziness and suddenly felt he needed to regain the initiative. He took out his long spear and thrusted at the enemy. "Eat this!"
Wielding a huge sword in a hand-to-hand combat was impractical, the demon had no choice but grabbed the strange spear with its bare hand. He was dumbfounded as the warlock had not just a tough face but also a metal stick which didn't look like a wand at all...
Hao Ren didn't care what the demon was thinking. He let out an evil smile and twisted the handle of his spear.
"Now eat the ionised saber!"
A strong white light emanated from the tip of the spear head and a two-metre dazzaling flame burst out. The demon had sensed the danger but it was too late. At the blink of an eye, its arm was cut in half!
True to be a demon, the three-metre-tall enemy slammed its sword at Hao Ren again despite losing an arm.
At white figure sprang up from the side—it was Lily. She grabbed the arm of the demon and ripped it apart.
The demon was just an ordinary soldier after all. Even if it was an elite force, that was the end of its combat ability.
In the other hand, Y'zaks had finished off his opponents easily. The two captured demons were thrown to one side. Lanina stared into their eyes and said, "Tell me, what's the situation in Broken Plain? Have you seen the demon king's army?"
The two demons fiercely resisted her psychic attack, Lanina who hadn't really practiced her psychic skill had hard time taking control of their mind. Hao Ren noticed the situation and quickly grabbed two pieces of rag and cover the demons' faces, revealing only their eyes. Without seeing their faces, Lanina could now use her skill more effectively...
The two demons were under control but shivered when they recalled the terrifying moments. They confessed. "Broken Plain... the demon king's army...""The dark dwarfs came out suddenly and killed the humans and the demons...""The mad demon king is alive..."
"Wait a second!" Hao Ren was shocked. "What did you say?"
"The mad demon king is still alive..." One of the demons told in fear, the terror was still written on its face. "He has appeared... in Broken Plain."