The battlefield was getting chaotic.

The demon generals fought hard to keep the essence gathering experts in check, but, having realized how powerful the demon generals were, they had formed squads to team up against them.

Arios fought against at least ten on his own. Twin black blades that curved to ten inches graced each hand as he crouched with his every attack.

The Sicarius family was known for its assassin techniques, but, these twin blades were more of their signature than anything else. This was why Dyon had gotten the feeling that Ava’s main weapon wasn’t a whip – it was because she had twin blades of her own. But, if her last name was Sicarius, and she used their trademarked weapons, her identity would have been revealed much earlier than she wanted.

But, as Arios fought, it was becoming very clear to him how troublesome the Uidah clan was. If it was 1on1, he had no issues killing them – even to the point that it would be easy. However, in a group? When their goal was to whittle down the morale of the lower ranked warriors? It was nearly impossible.

The roars of Dyon’s vice commanders rang through the battle field, laced with music will in their attempt to keep the fire within everyone lit. However, the problem was that there was only so much music will could do. It followed a law of diminishing return… The more it was used in quick succession, the less of an effect it would have.

So, while the meridian formation experts of the Uidah universe were finally free to attack the maze without reservation, the lotus alliance’s reserve troops could only inch backward in despair… Although the numbers advantage the Uidah had was less than before, it was still about ninety thousand to eighteen thousand… And that advantage was only becoming more and more clear.

But, they continued to fight, albeit desperately. There was no other choice. This was life and death as this point… Retreating in the gates was very difficult, especially when out of the scope of the stability of the Earth Tower.

To retreat in such an unpredictable landscape was suicide. The weather had changed so often and the cyclones had raged so abruptly over the past few months, that the lotus alliance and even their enemies never got a real chance to breathe.

Almost as if one cue, the temperature of the battlefield suddenly dropped, hitting below freezing in an instant.

Ri’s tails whipped wildly, her sword cutting forward and slashing through any meridian formation experts she could fight. The gold of her tail had dimmed considerably and even the black was lightening to an unhealthy grey…

She struggled, using the boost the snow storm gave her to amplify her ice will. ‘I should teleport back… I can’t keep this up…’

Ri wasn’t even able to step through the void anymore. Her speed had lessened and her attacks were only effective on lower meridian formation experts… a power level that was becoming more and more rare on this battle field.

“Hear me!” Silvyr’s voice blanketed the battle field, clearly laced with the mysterious will of the Uidah clan.

A smirk played on her face, it was time for her plan to come into effect. “The campaign will end soon. And honestly, I’d like to head home. It’s been a hard few months.

Now, crushing you before the end of the day makes no difference to me. I have plenty of time to make it back to my gate. But… I could leave now….”

Ri’s brows furrowed as she continued to parry attacks. “Ugh…” Ri felt a sword slice into her shoulder for what felt like the millionth time. But, when she tried to circulate her essence to heal herself, she suddenly felt empty.

“However, there’s a price. Destroy the teleportation pad within your little maze, and I’ll only kill those outside, leaving you alone. Then, I’ll be on my merry way.” A cruel smile curled on Silvyr’s features.

Bas and Liska had spent months analyzing how the Gorilla’s Den formation worked and had concluded that there must be a relay station for the teleportation. So, as soon as Silvyr heard that, she had devised this plan.

By focusing on making sure the demon generals had the least amount of impact on the battle field, the meridian formation experts were lulled into a false sense of despair. In reality, the situation was much better than they thought. The mere fact the demon generals could handle ten at a time, even stalling their vice commanders, was keeping a strong hold on the potential for victory. But… Silvyr knew this… So, she decided to play a little trick.

Without Dyon’s communication arrays, no one had a full scope of the battle field. It was impossible to tell what was really going on from their vantage point. But, Silvyr, with her Buddha’s eye, had a clear advantage over everyone. And Ri, although she had fully awakened her aurora, simply did not have soul strength capable of making up for Dyon’s absence.

Inside the maze, the big sect members looked at each other. A cold sweat had been permeating, but with this last bit of hope, shouldn’t they take it?

Hashim looked at Lehabim before they both nodded. “Let’s do it.” They rushed to the center of the formation, but, found Delia blocking their way.

“Stay back. I won’t allow you further.” Delia stood firm with sword in hand, her hair whitening and her eyes becoming a steel blue.

Delia hadn’t gone out this time because the experts were simply far too beyond her. Without her god constitution being fully awakened, her cultivation had slowed considerably in the meridian formation stage. In fact, she was only marginally stronger than the big sect geniuses.

If it was just Hashim and Lehabim, she could stop them. But, to deal with the growing crowd? Delia couldn’t help but pale even in her determination.

Outside the maze, Ri thought of immediately taking out her teleportation plate to leave and handle the anarchy she knew must have been breaking out, but, it seemed the Uidah army was more than prepared for that.

Their tactics immediately changed. Instead of taking a defensive position to block off the powerful members of the lotus alliance, they began to attack with a fervent passion, not allowing them any time to teleport back.

Ri and the demon generals could only fight to protect their own lives… Desperately swinging their weapons.

Within the maze, Delia backed up slowly. But, the increasing amount of big sect members was starting to weigh on her psyche. There was no way she could handle all of this. .𝒎

“Get out of the way, little girl.” Lehabim sneered, his red hair lighting on fire. “I hear the Niveus sect has already kicked you out and the bitch you chose to follow is dead. You no longer have any protection unless you count that useless father of yours. It’s best you leave this be. At least that way we can leave you with your dignity.”

‘Where are the elves and the Niveus sect? Are they really going to let their leaders die like that?!’

But, what Delia didn’t know was that Evelyn hadn’t gone out to the battle this time… She had retreated into the maze and was currently hiding among her members, holding them back from interfering.

As for the elves? Akash was currently commanding them on the outside. Because she had said she was best at commanding the elves, she had taken action on that thought as well. But, now… the only person left capable of doing much of anything was Delia… What could she do?

Updated from 𝑖𝘦.𝒸𝘰𝘮