Chapter 142: Meat Grinder

Meng Chuan's performance on the battlefield exceeded their expectations. His five fellow fiendgods felt reassured; a powerful companion meant fewer losses for them in the coming period.

"The demon army is here!" Meng Chuan saw them. As the Fiend Kings of the Third Heaven gathered, vast numbers of ordinary Fiend Kings and countless demons surged towards the human world through the world entrance, which was nearly two miles long and half a mile wide.

The immense army poured forth like a flood.

"Junior Brother Meng, prepare yourself," Zhang Yunhu transmitted.

"Understood," Meng Chuan and his fellow fiendgods replied, their gazes fixed intently.

Nearly two hundred ordinary Fiend Kings and countless demons charged madly. The demons, packed densely, sprinted wildly through accumulated water just a foot and a half deep, some even running on the water itself, all rushing towards the nearest city wall! A large number of winged demons also soared into the sky, each flapping their wings to fly high, carrying smaller demons on their backs.

They howled, utterly frantic.

The demons knew that escaping Behe Pass meant survival! Moreover, there were merits to be gained, a rare opportunity for these ordinary demons to rise in stature.

The demons climbed rapidly, clinging to one another. Countless demons scaled higher and higher: thirty zhang, forty zhang, fifty zhang... They struggled desperately, climbing with frenzied effort.

"Charge!"

Among the ordinary demons, nearly two hundred Fiend Kings of the Second Heaven desperately charged forward.

They had been deployed from various parts of the demon realm, and as the most common Fiend Kings of the Second Heaven, they had no choice but to obey the orders of the demon realm's high command. Over the past eight hundred years, many Fiend Kings of the Second Heaven had earned merits and risen through the ranks, some becoming Fiend Kings of the Third or Fourth Heaven, and even powerful Fiend Kings of the Fifth Heaven.

The renown of those great Fiend Kings drove them to a frenzy.

"Now!" Zhang Yunhu transmitted. "Release!"

In an instant, Meng Chuan unleashed the accumulated lightning power from his Thunder Annihilation Fiendbody, pouring it all down towards his feet.

On the battlefield below the city wall, Meng Chuan instantly transformed into a dazzling figure of lightning. Countless bolts erupted from his body, spreading instantaneously in all directions along the accumulated water at his feet! Streaks of lightning could be seen with the naked eye, traveling through the water to distant areas, affecting every demon and Fiend King standing in the pooled water! Even the demons clinging to the distant wall, piled up like small mountains, were struck as the lightning propagated from one to another.

Though it sounds gradual, it all happened in an instant.

The dazzling lightning engulfed the entire ground battlefield! Meng Chuan and his five fellow fiendgods hovered slightly, their Azure Silk Domain completely shielding them from the rain.

The entire battlefield fell silent.

Some demons closer to Meng Chuan instantly turned into black ashes and scattered. Further away, large numbers of demons silently collapsed after a single tremor.

In a sound like falling rain, countless demons dropped as if mown down.

However, beyond a mile from Meng Chuan, many ordinary demons, though trembling and some spitting blood, did not die. Similarly, countless demons clinging to the base of the wall, despite collapsing with a thunderous roar, mostly sustained injuries, with only a small fraction perishing.

As for the Fiend Kings of the Second Heaven? And the Fiend Kings of the Third Heaven?

It was merely a tickle to them.

"The lightning power spread too widely through the water, dispersing its force, making it surprisingly weak," Meng Chuan realized upon seeing the result. He knew his lightning power was formidable, but this was his first time using it to affect all demons on such a large scale! He discovered that when the number of demons was sufficiently large, even if he unleashed all his lightning power, he could only kill about one-third of them in an instant.

"Excellent," Zhang Yunhu exclaimed, overjoyed.

"Well done!" Shi Xiu, Mu Qing, Yu Chiyan, and Yang Xingwu were equally thrilled.

The twenty-five human fiendgods on the inner city wall, including Liu Qiyue, and a group of human soldiers were also excited.

"This killing move eliminated over thirty thousand ordinary demons and wounded another twenty to thirty thousand," Zhang Yunhu said, utterly delighted. "Extremely well done, far better than I expected."

He had spent too many years on the battlefield.

For a Great Solar Fiendgod's lightning power to kill so many demons also greatly surpassed his expectations.

In fact, when Meng Chuan broke through the Life-and-Death Gauntlet, he had attracted nine heavenly lightning bolts to forge his Thunder Annihilation Fiendbody, which inherently contained extremely potent lightning power. Furthermore, after cultivating body-refining techniques, his physical body became even stronger, enhancing both the quality and quantity of his lightning power. It was by completely unleashing almost all the lightning power within him that he achieved such destructive force.

"What?" Among the group of Fiend Kings of the Third Heaven, the black-clad female demon's expression subtly changed.

"How is Meng Chuan's lightning power so strong?" The other Fiend Kings of the Third Heaven were also astonished.

"He did manage to kill quite a few ordinary demons," the black-clad female demon said calmly. She did not care about the lives of these common demons; each attack resulted in tens of thousands, or even over a hundred thousand, demon casualties. Being of noble birth as the offspring of a Demon Saint, she knew that while the demon realm was vast, it could only support a limited number of demons. She was completely unconcerned about additional deaths.

If they were to conquer the human world in the future, although it was not as vast as the demon realm, it could still sustain more demons.

Although the lightning attack was unexpected by the Fiend Kings, the demon offensive continued unabated.

"Kill!"

Liu Qiyue and the other twenty-five fiendgods attacked with full force.

Surging flames descended, incinerating large numbers of demons;

Highly poisonous rain fell, corroding vast numbers of demons to their deaths;

And incomparably sharp yellow winds shredded the demons, leaving them bleeding profusely.

With various large-scale attacks raining down, the fiendgods truly slaughtered these ordinary demons ruthlessly.

Yet, the densely packed demons continued to surge forward. After incinerating some, the flames subsided; after corroding hundreds, the poisonous rain dissipated; and the yellow winds also lost their momentum against the vast numbers of demons. The demons began to scale the inner city wall.

Nearly two hundred Fiend Kings of the Second Heaven were also mixed in, attempting to climb the city wall.

"Block those Fiend Kings!"

Liu Qiyue and the others only slightly diverted their attention to use some abilities that affected the ordinary demons. Their main focus was preventing the Fiend Kings of the Second Heaven from advancing!

Fortunately, it was not easy for the Fiend Kings of the Second Heaven to climb the eighty-zhang-high city wall! They were targeted by the fiendgods from the very beginning of their ascent.

"Whiz, whiz, whiz." Liu Qiyue and the two other fiendgod archers furiously unleashed arrows, each one aimed at the Fiend Kings of the Second Heaven.

Why wasn't Liu Qiyue targeting Fiend Kings of the Third Heaven? Because with over fifty Fiend Kings of the Third Heaven cooperating, even killing one was incredibly difficult.

But for Fiend Kings of the Second Heaven?

A single arrow would either kill a Fiend King of the Second Heaven or leave them severely wounded.

On average, it took two arrows to kill one Fiend King of the Second Heaven! This efficiency was already very high on the battlefield. In terms of lethality, Liu Qiyue alone was nearly as effective as over twenty other ordinary fiendgods combined. By the time the first Fiend King of the Second Heaven reached the top of the wall, Liu Qiyue had already killed seventeen Fiend Kings of the Second Heaven, while the other fiendgods on the wall combined had killed sixteen.

The deterrent power of a formidable archer fiendgod was evident.

"Block all Fiend Kings!" Fan Cheng ordered. The other fiendgods immediately joined forces, besieging the recently ascended Fiend Kings of the Second Heaven.

As for the winged Fiend Kings?

Although three winged Fiend Kings soared into the sky, attempting to escape, Liu Qiyue fired three consecutive arrows. One killed a winged Fiend King instantly, while the other two pierced the wings of the remaining two. The flames ignited by her arrows could not be extinguished, forcing the two winged Fiend Kings to fall with severed wings, ultimately perishing.

Facing a terrifying archer fiendgod, winged Fiend Kings, if not numerous enough, found it exceedingly difficult to escape.

"Kill that archer fiendgod!" The Fiend Kings of the Second Heaven surged onto the ramparts one after another, all looking towards Liu Qiyue. They knew that the greatest threat was the archer fiendgod Liu Qiyue.

Furthermore, killing a human with the Phoenix Divine Body would bring incredibly astonishing merits.

While the fiendgods and Fiend Kings of the Second Heaven battled, on the other side, large groups of demons, despite being continuously slaughtered, still climbed the city wall one after another. They dared not approach the fiendgods... because against an Indestructible Realm fiendgod, sheer numbers were meaningless; any amount of them would only be sending themselves to their deaths!

These ordinary demons, having rushed over the inner city wall, leaped down into the open ground, which was a full mile wide, between the inner and outer city walls.

The inner city wall was circular, with a diameter of three miles.

The outer city wall was also circular, with a diameter of five miles.

Between the inner and outer city walls... there was only one one-mile-long passage, and this passage was filled with human soldiers! Furthermore, the entrance to this passage was occupied by fiendgods! Ordinary demons simply could not pass through this route.

Given the full mile-wide distance, ordinary demons could not leap across; they could only jump down first, rush across the mile-wide expanse, and then climb the thirty-zhang-high outer city wall! This was truly a path of death!

"Kill!"

Two thousand human soldiers, the weakest of whom were at the Marrow Cleansing Realm, with many who had comprehended 'force', and even masters of the Core Condensation Realm.

Almost all human mortal experts were on the battlefield! It was only on the battlefield that one could earn merits and hope to gain entry to the Fiendgod Blood Pool, just as was the case for Lady Meng's team in her youth. As for Yun Fucheng, from the Yun family, one of Dongning Prefecture's five great clans, he only returned to his hometown after being wounded and losing hope of becoming a fiendgod.

"Kill them!"

"Kill them now! If these demons reach the outer city wall, you'll have to defend it with your lives. The more you kill now, the better." The officers in the human army issued orders. Many soldiers who had just joined military service late last year were incredibly nervous facing their first demon siege. However, years of training had instilled instinct, and they attacked in an orderly fashion.

Arrows rained down!

Boiling oil poured down, and flames blazed.

The battlefield before the outer city gate became a complete hell. Yet, the demons were incredibly resilient; even the weakest among them possessed bodies comparable to a human's Body Transformation Realm. With arrows embedded in them, they charged through flames, still climbing the city wall.

Some eventually fell, but many still managed to reach the top of the outer city wall.

Thus, even more brutal close-quarters combat began.

Naturally, fewer than a thousand demons managed to reach the top of the outer city wall, but those who survived were naturally the elite among ordinary demons! Even with excellent coordination among human soldiers and numerous commanders who were experts of the Immaculate Realm leading the fight, soldiers continued to fall in battle.

These ordinary soldiers understood that the battle at the inner city gate was even more tragic.

"No Fiend King is allowed to cross the inner city gate!" Fan Cheng roared. With a sudden sweep of his massive shield, a thunderous boom erupted, creating a shockwave twenty to thirty zhang wide! It instantly killed seven charging Fiend Kings of the Second Heaven and sent the remaining six plummeting back down to the battlefield below.

"Yes, Senior Brother Fan," the other fiendgods replied, forming small teams of three to five to prevent the Fiend Kings from scaling the wall.

According to military regulations, they had to block the charge of these Fiend Kings, even if it meant sacrificing their lives.

Meanwhile, below.

Meng Chuan and his five fellow fiendgods faced an even more frenzied assault from numerous Fiend Kings of the Third Heaven. The demon strategy had always been consistent: they were more than willing to sacrifice ten Fiend Kings of the Third Heaven to kill one human Great Solar Fiendgod.