A Demon's Journey

The beasts attacked those humans that had come from the other outposts.

Naturally, the humans had resisted with all their might, but it was all for naught. They still died…

However, before the beasts could have the chance to let out celebratory roars, another group of humans appeared.

This was quite surprising as the beasts thought they had annihilated them all. Their faces and smells were different, so they believed that this group of humans was probably observing them earlier.

The Three-Eyed White Wolf let out a howl that seemed to signal the beasts to commence their attack.

This time, both sides launched their fiercest attacks. There were quite a few casualties on the beasts' side, but still, they had successfully managed to destroy this group of humans as well.

Once all the humans had been killed, another group arrived. This time, their numbers were much higher than before.

The Three-Eyed White Wolf frowned as it believed that this was the final group of these detestable humans.

The beasts began fighting with all their might and annihilate the humans.

The beasts didn't even realize these three waves took nearly 2-3 hours of their time. Even the high-ranking beasts' reserves, such as the Three-Eyed White Wolf, were depleting as it kept on fighting.

Meanwhile, in the encampment center, Azaroth had a clever smirk on his face.

"These foolish beasts… They really went on for 2 hours. Such a great result was far beyond my expectations."

Azaroth sensed the beast army had been reduced to one-tenth of its original size. And even within that force, only 10 or so beasts were of Four Star and just a single tired Five Star beast remained.

Suddenly, Azaroth's expression turned serious as he sensed that Sophie was up. He was sure that she was going to question him about the disappearance of her three guards here.

And he had no proper excuse regarding that…

As he wondered what he could do, Azaroth's vision fell upon that Green Crystal Sphere in his hands.

"Hehe…"

The green color faded back to its bluish color…

It was as if a veil had been lifted above the beasts' eyes at the northern outpost.

They looked at their surroundings and were utterly confused as they saw the scenery change rather drastically.

The first one who understood what happened was none other than the Three-Eyed White Wolf. And as he understood what had occurred, his eyes flashed with dangerous, murderous intent.

He was filled with pure rage at the humans who had seemingly made fun of him and the beast army.

It was because what was around him was not the humans' corpses but the beasts' corpses!

It forced him to understand that the beasts weren't using their power to fight against the humans… No! They were actually fighting amongst themselves!

"The humans had us trapped in an illusion!" The Three-Eyed White Wolf felt a great shock because he had used his Spiritual Eye and still could not detect it.

This was the first time that had happened.

As the Three-Eyed White Wolf used his Spiritual Eye, he was surprised to see the Ardor in the surroundings more clearly.

He noted that humans who operated this entire barrier far in the south of his current position.

As the Three-Eyed White Wolf gritted its teeth in anger, his eye on his forehead began storing an unreal amount of energy.

Once the Three-Eyed White Wolf was satisfied, it shot off that beam without any hesitation.

With no obstruction in between, that ray flew with an unreal speed.

Even Azaroth was caught off guard as he felt that ray coming close to him.

Sophie and her three guards were also shocked as they sensed an attack nearing them. They immediately raised their hands to create a defensive barrier around Sophie.

That white beam soon struck the building in which they were seated. For a second, nothing happened…

However, a warrior with hyperactive senses such as Azaroth felt as if time had stopped at that moment.

A bitter smile appeared on his lips as he thought 'You just couldn't wait, could you?'

Such a quick attack was not within his prediction. He had already thought of a way to hold his stance in front of Sophie while not being suspicious.

But it was all for naught.

Once that one second had passed, the entire building exploded.

This was the power of the destructive ray of the Three-Eyed White Wolf.

Anything it touched would explode upon contact.

Azaroth, Sophie, and her three guards were caught in this explosion. They were all in extra close range, and it would gravely injure them.

Well, Azaroth wasn't as worried as Sophie and her guards were.

Azaroth used Heavenly Demonic Transformation Mode to use a lot of demonic Ardor and protect himself from the explosion.

He was sure that Sophie and her guards would create a defensive barrier around themselves and won't sense his demonic ardor at this moment.

As Azaroth had expected, this was what did happen.

Sophie and her guards were in the room above Azaroth, so their spherical barrier fell on the ground.

Meanwhile, Azaroth had covered himself in the demonic aura with his Heavenly Demonic Transformation Mode and quickly landed on the ground safely before his Ardor returned to normal.

Sophie and her guards were also on the ground, covered in a weak yellowish-colored barrier.

One of those three was injured as his side of the barrier had remained weak. He was forced to take on the impact of that explosion with his robust body.

Sophie was on the ground, feeling some pain in her legs, but it was something she could ignore.

As she opened her eyes and saw her surroundings, she was surprised to see the flames all around the barrier.

"Just what happened right now?" She asked that question aloud.

"This was an attack from a 5 Star Beast." One of her guards spoke with a grim tone.

As Sophie heard those words, she was utterly shocked, "The beasts broke through the barrier?! Oh no! Where is Edwin?! Is he safe?!"

None of her guards could answer those questions… They were together with her, so they didn't have the time to check up on Azaroth.

Before they could answer, they heard a loud howl.

From the voice, they could feel the beasts' anger. It seemed that the fact that they had survived did not please the wolf.

"Oh no! Young miss, you must run! The beasts are going to charge at us!" The guard with the largest build spoke to Sophie seriously.

"What about you?" Sophie asked them with a worried expression.

The man clenched his fists and spoke, "Please survive and speak of our sacrifice to your father. If the three of us are together, we can hold back this beast army long enough to allow you to escape."

"But-" Sophie was about to speak again.

However, another guard interjected quickly, "Staying here is not helping us at all! If you survive today, you can repay us by taking care of our families. Boss ordered us to protect you, and this is what we are going to do! Now, GO!"

As Sophie heard that loud shout from her guard, she ground her teeth but was soon standing on her legs.

She turned around and shouted, "I will make sure to take care of your families!" Once she said that she quickly ran away!

As she reinforced herself with Ardor, the flames were unable to hurt her. Her guards sprinted towards the direction of the beasts…

They knew that they had to hold back those beasts for enough time to allow Sophie to escape.

Meaning, atleast for 10 minutes or so…

Meanwhile, as Sophie was running towards the east direction, she was surprised to see Azaroth sitting on the ground.

"Edwin?! You survived?!"

"Sophie?!"

Both of them looked very surprised at the other's survival.

Some tears began to leak out of Sophie's eyes as she leaped at Azaroth to hug him. She whispered while sobbing uncontrollably, "I am so happy that atleast you survived."

"I apologize… I never thought that the beasts would break the barrier and then break out of the illusion as well. This is all my fault…" Azaroth whispered in return as he stroked Sophie's head.

"No! It wasn't your fault! In fact, I was the one who was supposed to control it. It was my fault for working myself beyond the limits. If only I was awake earlier, maybe this wouldn't have occurred." Sophie spoke as she rubbed her cheek against Azaroth's face.

She could smell a fragrant scent from Azaroth and found it very relaxing to be in his arms.

Suddenly, the two heard another loud howl and a roar accompanying it.

This seemed to tell the two of the delicate situation right now.

Sophie got out of Azaroth's arms, and she spoke, "Let's go now. If we stay here any longer, the beasts will attack us."

Azaroth continued to look at the ground as he slowly nodded. If Sophie could see his face, she would have seen that triumphant smirk as if he had won.

All the pieces were finally in place.

And the Crystal Sphere within Azaroth's purple ring was flashing Red. The Killing Array had already been activated!