Chapter 512: Collision

As a natural predator, Black Widow possessed an innate sense of smell. She could track her prey's scent from the smallest details and detect potential dangers. The approaching army of corpses filled her with unease.

The army of over a thousand demon beasts halted. At Black Widow's command, they quickly stopped and assumed a defensive stance.

Larger demon beasts voluntarily took the front, leaning slightly forward with their hind legs dug firmly into the ground. Some lowered their heads, revealing incredibly sharp fangs. Those with special talents pulsed with various unknown mystical energies. They were fully prepared to confront the approaching corpse army.

Black Widow squinted her purple eyes, watching the distance without blinking. As the corpse army drew nearer, she finally discerned the general situation.

"The Nine-Headed Python?" "Priestess Yaoyue?" Black Widow was surprised. "So it really is her leading the army back?" Though still wary, she breathed a slight sigh of relief. However, a hint of confusion remained in her eyes. "Why are there only two thousand corpses left?" "Did they suffer a massive defeat?" "Or did she leave a portion of the corpse army to guard, rushing back herself to claim credit?"

The first thought that surfaced was immediately dismissed. An army of ten thousand corpses attacking a small mountain fortress, and deploying with such speed, leaving humans no time to react? Defeating the few defenders on the mountain would be as easy as slicing cabbage. How could there be any possibility of failure? She could only conclude that Yaoyue was rushing back to claim credit.

"This Priestess Yaoyue, she's afraid our reinforcing army will diminish her share of the credit," Black Widow snorted in dissatisfaction. She glanced at Yaoyue from a distance again. Her clothes were pristine, and her hair was neatly arranged; she didn't look like someone who had just fought a major battle. Black Widow couldn't imagine how easily this battle must have been won.

Suddenly, Black Widow noticed several human figures in black robes, bruised or blood-stained, bound to the backs of the demon beasts behind Yaoyue. She couldn't help but chuckle. "It's these little rascals! I was just thinking of chasing them for some fun. Didn't expect Priestess Yaoyue to run into them head-on. Hehehe, what a group of unlucky fellows."

Confirming her suspicions were unfounded, Black Widow waved her hand. "What are you still standing guard for? Our icy little beauty is quite proud; she can't stand provocation. Let's not actually start a fight."

The demon beast army then relaxed their defensive stance, and their formation loosened. Their eyes watched the vast approaching corpse army, still holding a hint of fear. This was the legendary undead army, immortal and unkillable. As long as their death qi remained, even a single shard of bone could continue the fight. Furthermore, Priestess Yaoyue could revive complete corpses. In essence, the corpse army was invincible.

Considering that the humans on the mountain fortress had fought an army of ten thousand such corpses, the demon beasts felt despair on their behalf. Unless all the disciples of the Nine Sects were summoned, and the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets intervened, they couldn't imagine any way for humanity to win such a battle.

Rumble— The corpse army quickly closed in to five hundred zhang. Black Widow lay languidly on the back of a demon beast, too lazy to go and greet them. She had always felt indifferent towards this stunningly beautiful young woman who possessed terrifying talent and was a demon priestess. As fellow demons, Priestess Yaoyue's brilliant life felt blinding to Black Widow.

Four hundred zhang. The ground rumbled. Still, no demon beast detected anything unusual. Three hundred zhang. They remained relaxed. Priestess Yaoyue was one of them, and the corpse army was also their own. The two armies were surely meant to merge.

Two hundred zhang. Black Widow's brow twitched slightly. "What is Yaoyue doing? Why hasn't she ordered the corpse army to stop? Is she trying to give me a warning because I didn't go forward to greet her, the commander?"

At this distance, Black Widow could clearly see more details with her complex purple eyes. She suddenly noticed Yaoyue, seated on the head of the Nine-Headed Python. Although Yaoyue sat upright and appeared uninjured, her posture was somewhat strange. Her expression was also peculiar, with wide eyes whose pupils continuously darted left and right, as if she were desperately trying to signal something.

Black Widow's heart sank. A very bad thought popped into her mind. Could Yaoyue have been taken hostage? And was the corpse army also under someone else's control?

"Enemy attack! To arms!" Black Widow decisively shouted. However, the demon beast army fell into a brief state of confusion. Unlike human soldiers who undergo constant military training to obey commands, these were powerful individuals temporarily drawn from the demon race, essentially a ragtag army. Black Widow's sudden command to be wary of their own priestess naturally made them suspicious.

Only a few demon beasts from Black Widow's direct lineage immediately turned their attention towards Priestess Yaoyue without a second thought. In that brief moment of stunned hesitation, the two armies were less than a hundred zhang apart! For massive demon beasts, often ten zhang or more in size, this distance was merely a dozen steps.

The corpse army finally sensed something amiss and began to brace themselves. At that very moment, Jiang Fan's mind stirred, and he roared, "Charge!"

Boom, boom, boom— Although the corpse army was fragile, their advantage was their complete obedience. The moment the command was given, they collectively accelerated. The hundred zhang distance was covered in the blink of an eye. More than half of the corpse army, whose reactions were slightly slower, had no time to prepare.

A giant tiger demon, ten zhang in size, was frantically activating its innate ability, immense energy just beginning to surge. Suddenly, its vision went black. A colossal war elephant, over fifty zhang long, plunged its long, sharp tusk into the tiger demon's head, impaling it straight through and out its rear. With a forceful flick, it tossed the tiger demon aside. Before the tiger demon could register the intense pain, its vision went black again. A rotting wolf demon corpse bit ferociously into its neck and ripped, tearing off its head completely. The tiger demon's eyes were wide open, its vision abruptly ceasing.

Elsewhere, a fox demon, already on guard, radiated a cold aura from its eyes. Facing a twenty-zhang skeletal lion charging towards it, the fox demon suddenly unleashed several tails from behind itself. Like whips, they instantly enveloped the lion, stopping its charge. A sneer curved on the fox demon's lips. "Mere corpses..."

Pfft— Suddenly, it felt the world spin. In its vision, it was rising higher and higher, thrown dozens of zhang into the air. Vaguely, it seemed to see a headless fox demon corpse. Standing beside the corpse was a silver-haired figure in black robes, hands clasped behind his back. But... wasn't he supposed to be bound on the back of that demon beast? As its head hit the ground with a heavy thud, its consciousness plunged into chaos.

In another spot, a colossal, bipedal black giant ape embraced the tusks of an oncoming fifty-zhang war elephant. "Roar!" Though only a dozen zhang tall, black light pulsed from its body, increasing its strength severalfold. With a mighty lift, it raised the war elephant high and slammed it backward like a stone. In an instant, eight corpse puppets were pulverized. Another demon beast was unfortunately caught in the crossfire and crushed to death.

The two torrents of armies collided, immediately becoming locked in a fierce struggle.

Black Widow stood on the back of a demon beast, shouting in a mix of shock and fury, "Yaoyue! You betrayed the demon race?" Jiang Fan cupped Yaoyue's face from behind, pressing it to make her nod.

Black Widow was both enraged and hateful, realizing Yaoyue was being controlled. At that moment, a shriek reached her ears. It was one of her direct lineage demon beasts, a Core Formation Layer 5 cultivator, being trampled by three skeletal corpses. Its belly was burst open, revealing bloody intestines.

"Damn it!" Black Widow roared in fury. She opened her mouth and shot out a strand of spider silk, instantly piercing the death qi within one corpse puppet. The silk then curved, shooting towards the death qi of another corpse puppet.

Suddenly, a shadow loomed over her. The Nine-Headed Python's enormous tail, like a colossal stone pillar, slammed down. A cold snort echoed from behind Yaoyue. "Your opponent is here!"