Chapter 47
Chapter 47: Double-Edged Trap and Loopholes
After the three high-rank demons finished their discussion, Xeron and Rashka walked out of the hall and immediately rounded up their army to prepare to set off.
A large number of low-level demons flooded out from their nests and gathered. Xeron and Rashka led them out of the demon city. After they left, the army quickly split into two units. One was the force that Rashka brought, while the other was the one that Xeron summoned.
Rashka’s troops were the combination of Ignatius’s troops and his own, so it was comparable to Xeron’s in terms of number and strength. These two troops traveled separately though their mission was basically the same—eliminating the remaining reconnaissance teams of the AvLee elves and destroying any human and elven villages in sight to try to cut the supplies of the AvLee elves.
Moreover, there was an added advantage by dividing into two—splitting the attention of the AvLee elves’ main force. After all, the troops led by Xeron and Rashka consisted mainly of low-level demons. And despite the large numbers they had, their military strength was not high. In contrast, the AvLee elves had the help of the gold dragons and were definitely stronger.
The two would merge during the final battle and wait for Ignatius to come with the high-level demon army from the demon city.
Roy naturally followed Xeron’s troops.
The majority of this troop was little demons, with more than five hundred of them. As cannon fodder, these little demons were naturally at the forefront of the army. At a glance, the troops had all kinds of little demons clustered together.
The second-largest group was a type of low-rank demon known as gogs. These demons were very interesting. Although they were different individually, most of them resembled monkeys, and they got their name from the ‘gog gog’ sound they made. They were a rarity among the low-rank demons and could use flames to attack remotely. These flames were not magical, but from a special organ in their body that could secrete a flammable liquid as saliva. When a gog spat the saliva on their palm and threw it, it interacted with the air to become a ball of explosive flames.
Having such an attack method determined that they were highly regarded in the army. This ball of explosive flames was like a grenade and a nightmare to a large number of low-level enemies. However, the obvious shortcoming was that it could also hurt friendly forces by mistake.
The third type of demons was the hellhounds, with only around 150 of them. However, these hellhounds were very different from Fat Tiger. Ordinary hellhounds could not breathe out the elements like Fat Tiger. Their attack method was simple, and that was to rely on their strong fangs to bite others! These hellhounds were bulky and had solid fur and muscles. Regardless of whether it was their charging power or their biting force, they were among the best.
Fat Tiger was naturally an outlier among the hellhounds. Fat Tiger not only knew how to breathe out the elements, but he also had demon wings and could fly short distances. Roy was once worried that Xeron could tell that Fat Tiger was different, but unexpectedly, Xeron did not care that much. He just had Fat Tiger become the leader of the hellhounds, leading them into action.
To Xeron, no matter how different Fat Tiger was, he was just another hellhound. For millions of years in the Abyss, demons such as hellhounds had only managed to reach the top of the middle rank at the highest, and this much was not worthy of Xeron’s attention.
Fat Tiger became the boss of the hellhounds, and Roy was Xeron’s adjutant. Low-rank demons usually did not have much intellect, and even marching was a total mess, only knowing how to follow along. Therefore, one of Roy’s tasks was to assist Xeron train these low-rank demons during the march, at least so that they could maintain formation.
This task was neither hard nor easy. It was hard because Roy did not know what kind of formation the demon army should use; it was easy because Roy only needed to slap them when he noticed that the formation was messy during the march. It was simple and violent.
With Roy, Xeron had fewer things to worry about, which was why he insisted on keeping Roy.
This army, apart from the chaotic demons, had many unique things. There were several huge bed crossbows and siege engines. Bed crossbows were the commonly known ballistas, and the siege engines were catapults. Xeron had prepared these things to use to attack cities. Dozens of hellhounds were towing them, moving along with the army. And it was because of these instruments hindering progress that Xeron’s army did not move too quickly.
Having spent more than one month in this world, Roy gradually learned some information. The demon army was currently at the western border of the kingdom of Erathia, and their target was to travel east, penetrate through Erathia, and destroy the capital of Erathia. At this moment, not only was the demon army of the Inferno moving, but the army of Necromancer Sandro and the army of the Dungeon’s Nighon as well. These three groups were now allies and coalition forces.
Even though Roy knew that this was the Heroes of Might and Magic world, he really did not understand its history and background, so he did not know which war he had joined. However, it did not matter. All he needed to know was that the demon army’s enemy was the alliance of the humans and elves.
After the days of marching, the army was about a few hundred kilometers from the demon city. The scouts sent to explore returned to report that they had found the elves, finally seeing some signs of life.
Upon hearing the report, Xeron immediately brought the army to give chase.
It seemed to be an elven village migrating. Maybe they heard about the volcanic eruption and the appearance of the demon city and knew that this continent was about to face the attack of the demons, so they decided to have the entire village leave to avoid the demon army. But now the demons had caught up.
These migrating elves did not have the habit of sending scouts. Therefore, when Xeron led the demon army and appeared behind them, these elves panicked. The old and young among them were escorted to escape quickly, while the younger and stronger ones stayed behind to buy time for them.
Among these young ones were stout mine dwarfs and slender wood elves, who were good archers. Obviously, they had made the wrong decision. Just dozens of them were not a match for Xeron’s demon army, and they could not resist for long. When they died, the demon army would catch the old and young who escaped.
Demons never had any mercy, and Xeron was no different. Upon seeing that these elves and dwarfs dared to stay back to fight against the demon army, Xeron appeared enraged. He roared and ordered the little demons to attack.
This group of little demons was accustomed to killing. They yelled and rushed at these elves and dwarfs in a mess. However, what greeted them were the arrows that the wood elves shot!
The little demons charging at the very front were pierced through by these arrows. And standing at the rear, Roy could clearly see that a few little demons were shot dead by the arrows. They screeched as they died, and their bodies were suddenly engulfed by the black mist of the Gates of the Abyss before turning into ashes. What remained were balls of light that the Gates of the Abyss pulled back to the Abyss!
This was the first time that Roy had seen demons die in another world. Such a scene would not have happened in the Abyss. When a demon was killed in the Abyss, it was dead. But here, because of the Ouroborus Mark, the moment of death marked expulsion from the world, and their souls were pulled back into the Abyss. Though their injuries remained, their body was reconstructed.
Although their souls were pulled back, those souls were most likely severely damaged, causing a decline in strength and possible memory loss. And most importantly, if there were demons with ill intentions lurking nearby, it was very probable that they would be killed and have their souls taken away immediately after returning.
Thus, in general, demons were unwilling to be killed and expelled unless as a last resort.
Although the wood elves had sharp archery skills, their number was too few. While the little demons were charging at them, they had only time to shoot two or three rounds of arrows, and there was a limit to how many little demons they could kill.
When the little demons approached, the dwarfs holding hammers assumed the responsibility of protecting the elven archers. These weapon-wielding dwarfs were often so powerful that they killed the little demons with one blow during the fighting.
But they also could not hold on for long. There were just too many little demons. Before long, the dwarfs and wood elves found themselves surrounded and beaten to death by those little demons…
The battle ended quickly. When it was time to clean the battlefield, the little demons that died were expelled from the world, so no souls were left. But the dwarfs and elves were different, and their souls would definitely appear. The little demons collected the souls, and although they were salivating over them, they dared not swallow them but instead obediently handed them over to Xeron.
After receiving these souls, Xeron was very satisfied. Although there were too few enemies this time, and he had not enjoyed the thrill of battle, it was enough to harvest these souls.
After choosing, Xeron gave a few small souls to Roy and devoured the rest. These dozens of souls could only count as a snack for Xeron.
Roy took these pathetic souls, knowing that this was his bonus from Xeron. At the same time, he knew what Xeron’s first trap in the contract was. Xeron had indeed promised to give Roy ten percent of the souls after a victory, but he had not specified the quality of the souls and just calculated according to the quantity.
Although it was a trap, Roy was unbothered by it. Humans had so many laws yet still had loopholes, not to mention demon contracts. The contract was only the size of a piece of sheepskin, but how detailed could it be? Moreover, Roy had already thought of the second trap Xeron had laid. Xeron could participate in the battles and devour the souls as he killed. The contract only stated that Roy was entitled to ten percent of the harvested souls after victory, so before the battles ended, the souls Xeron devoured did not count as the harvests of victory. Therefore, Xeron did not violate the contract…
Despite knowing that Xeron was playing his own little calculations, Roy was not upset. Because he knew that since Xeron could make use of the loopholes in the contract, he could do the same as well. As long as Roy joined in the battles, he could also devour souls on the battlefield. Furthermore, he could use the system to store the souls, including the ones on the battlefield. As long as the battle continued, those souls were not considered the spoils of war!
Clearly, the loopholes and traps in demon contracts were sometimes double-edged swords…