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nThe alliance army formed of multiple races was currently walking in Eeofol. “Damn it! It’s getting hotter! I hate this place!”

nA rough orc wearing a bull-horned helmet and baring his muscular upper body complained as he rode on the back of a huge kodo beast. Although he was muttering, his loud voice was still audible from tens of meters away.

n“Gorshak, stop complaining!” The person who answered was the elven sorceress Gem, who was wearing a green cloak. There was a white veil covering her face to prevent her from inhaling the poisonous gas drifting from volcanoes. “This is the territory of the demons. You should have thought of what kind of environment it would be.”

n“This is what makes me the angriest. Even if we can chase the demons out, the scars of Mother Earth won’t be able to recover in a short time!” Gorshak said angrily. “These fellows should go to Hell!”

n“Demons come from Hell. Your curse is utterly meaningless!” The prince of Bracada, Zehir, mocked him in a frivolous tone.

n“Bastard, you know that I don’t mean that!” Gorshak shouted at Zehir.

nGem stopped them in time. “Okay, stop arguing. Keep your spirits up. Farther ahead, and it’ll be the demon capital, Ur-Hekal. The real test is right in front of you. You still have the mood to quarrel?”

nAfter hearing Gem’s words, both Gorshak and Zehir became much more serious.

nIndeed, after coming from Aglan Fortress, although the alliance army had encountered some demons, they found that these demon troops were basically only small units, with at most a few thousand. In the beginning, they did not understand what was going on. After fighting a few demon cities consecutively, they realized that the demons had probably abandoned the outer cities in Eeofol.

nThe alliance army did not encounter any decent resistance at all and was advancing in a crushing manner.

nBut these victories did not make Gem and the others rejoice but instead made them even more cautious. They knew that most of the demon troops had probably gathered in Ur-Hekal…

n“If the estimate isn’t wrong, there may be a demon army of more than a million in Ur-Hekal…” Zehir sighed. “In terms of military strength, we won’t have the advantage, and it’ll be a siege… I’m afraid we’ll have to return without success this time.”

n“No matter what, at least we have to find a way to kill Demon Osiris!” Gem said resolutely. “Even if he’s under the protection of the demon army, we have to kill him. Not only to avenge the two fortresses but also to stop the source of the plague.”

n“What if he doesn’t show up?” Gorshak asked.

n“Then keep attacking Ur-Hekal. It’s impossible for Xeron to let Osiris, this new demon, sit back and relax!” Gem said. “As long as the battle is dire, he’ll definitely make Osiris lead troops into battle!”

n“Yes, that’s very likely…” Zehir nodded.

nBut before he finished speaking, a voice suddenly appeared. “No! I’m afraid he won’t appear!”

n“Who is it?!” Hearing this voice, Gem, Zehir, and Gorshak immediately became nervous. They stopped and held their weapons tightly.

nThey looked to the right and saw a figure gradually becoming clearer on the top of a charred volcano mound in front of them.

n“Invisibility! A dark elf?!” Gem immediately recognized him and clenched her staff tightly.

nThe wood elves and dark elves had always been enemies, so when she saw this figure, she immediately thought that an enemy had appeared.

nBut what surprised them was that no other dark elves appeared. There was only one figure on the volcano mound.

n“Calm down, Your Excellency Gem!” The man spread his hands and panted slightly. “Please restrain your emotions because I am not an enemy!”

nZehir held onto Gem’s shoulder to calm her. He rode an elephant forward and asked curiously, “Who are you?”

n“I’m Raelag, the new chief of the Shadowbrand clan!” the man replied.

nThat’s right. This man was Raelag, who had just escaped from the underground world. His army was completely wiped out, and the few black dragons that escorted him to escape had deserted in the end. Now, he was alone.

nBut he still managed to find the alliance army…

n“Okay, Chief Raelag!” Zehir touched his mustache and asked, “Why are you here?”

n“A warning!” Raelag slowly walked down from the hill. While walking, he said, “A warning of great danger to the entire Ashan world!”

nHearing this, Gem said sarcastically, “Since when did a dark elf like you become a seer of the Blind Brothers?”.

n“Your Excellency Gem, I repeat, I’m not an enemy!” Raelag said solemnly. “In fact, I have the same goal as you. It’s just that I was rather unlucky and encountered Demon Osiris and his troops ahead of time!” “Huh?!” Hearing this, everyone finally took it seriously. Gorshak asked impatiently, “You said you encountered Demon Osiris?! Where is he?!”

nReger shook his head. “I can tell you where he is now, but in my opinion, it’s probably not the time to look for trouble with Osiris because there’s something more serious…”

n“What do you mean?!” Gem and the others frowned.

nRaelag told them in detail about his arrival to find Queen Isabel. Gem and the others listened quietly, but their expressions became more and more unsightly. After Raelag talked about the Dark Messiah, they were finally shocked!

n“Damn it! Is what you said true?!” Zehir pulled two hairs off his mustache in agitation.

n“Yes. I swear in the name of Malassa!” Raelag said solemnly. “My words have no deceit at

nall.”

nThe expressions on everyone’s faces changed rapidly, especially Gem. Out of her distrust for the dark elves, she instinctively did not want to believe this. But what Raelag said perfectly explained the situation they had encountered since entering Eeofol.

nGiven the violent nature of demons, it did not make sense for them to swallow their anger after being invaded. Perhaps it was because something more important made the demons keep a low profile.

nShe then thought of the various strange administrative decisions that the kingdom of Erathia had made during this period of time. It had always been the main force against demons, but after the fall of Dendera Fortress and Aglan Fortress, it did not send any troops at all.

nThe matter corresponded to each and every one of them, invisibly confirming Raelag’s words…

nSeeing that everyone had fallen deep in thought, Raelag continued, “Demon Osiris is very strong, but he’s only a high-rank demon. Behind the matter of Queen Isabel, there’s a demon lord controlling it. You can naturally tell which one is more important.”

n“Then, your opinion is…” Zehir asked Raelag hesitantly.

n“I know that you don’t see me as an ally, and you can’t completely believe what I say!” Raelag said. “But I really don’t have a choice. From Demon Osiris’s tone, I’m afraid that the Dark Messiah will soon be born. We have to hurry. Let’s do this. Although I’ve lost my army, there are still some assassins and spies sent out to investigate. I’ll gather them as soon as possible. When you attack Ur-Hekal, I’ll bring these assassins and spies and think of a way to sneak into the demon city to find Isabel’s whereabouts… If I can’t find her, you have to withdraw your troops as soon as possible.

n“But if I find her…” Raelag took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, “Even if I die in the hands of the demons, I hope you can find a way to rescue her!”

n“Of course. If you find the real Queen Isabel, then it means that what you said is true!” Zehir nodded. “Even without your reminder, we must save Queen Isabel.”

nRaelag did not hesitate to take the risk, and of course, Zehir could tell. So at this time, he actually believed Raelag by about seventy to eighty percent.

n“Then, what about demon Osiris?” Gem suddenly asked after pondering for a while. “What if Demon Osiris suddenly appears to attack us during our siege?”

n“Don’t worry. My spell heavily injured that demon. He needs some time to recuperate. As long as we move quickly and leave some troops to guard against him, there won’t be too much of a problem!” Raelag said. “What I’m worried about now is that he has returned to the city. In that case, there will be a few more powerful high-rank demons and tens of thousands of troops in the city…”

nAfter they settled the discussion, the alliance army quickly moved again. This time, it was no longer slow and cautious. Instead, it marched rapidly all the way to Ur-Hekal, while Raelag temporarily separated from the alliance army to find his remaining troops.

nHowever, an invisible Demon Eye had seen all of this…

nAt noon the next day, the alliance army’s hundreds of thousands of troops finally arrived at the city of Ur-Hekal.

nFrom afar, when they saw the dense demon army in this city, even though Gem and the others had been mentally prepared, they still gasped.

nNot only was there a massive difference in military strength, but the other party was also guarding the city, and Gem and the others were now deep in the enemy’s territory to fight. Logistical support was extremely difficult, and there were no reinforcements. No matter how they looked at it, there was no possibility of winning this battle. If it were not for the fact that they had encountered Raelag, perhaps after seeing this scene, Gem and the others would have slowly retreated after a small probing attack.

nBut now, they had no choice but to brace themselves and order the troops to line up, pull forward the catapults and ballistas, and prepare to attack the city.

nOnly when the siege began and attracted the attention of the demons could Raelag and his assassins sneak into this city full of demons…

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