The New Moon Island, Copperfield Island Southern Area, Two-Headed Ogre Nelson's territory, the Dining Palace.
Bella and her companions had easily found this location. This ogre's brain was actually incredibly straightforward and direct as his palace was at the end of a straight line. Even a blind man could find it. There was neither a single guard on the way nor any traps. All of Bella's prepared countermeasures were wasted.
The main entrance to the Dining Palace was wide open, and the stench of blood permeated the air. Bella pinched her nose as she struggled to investigate the place under the b.l.o.o.d.y miasma. She wasn't faking a delicate disposition; the scent of blood was truly horrendous here, to the point where even Bella, who was a Demon King used to the stench of blood, had trouble maintaining her composure.
This b.l.o.o.d.y miasma had been percolating for several thousands of years, caused by the death of untold numbers of innocents. There were several hundred Elite Ogre Warriors seated in the Dining Palace, and each one had a plate of "food" in front of them. As for what exactly the food was, Bella could only describe it as a human platter. Any more specifics would be too gruesome an utterance.
There were also several hundred ogres cl.u.s.tered around a large pool. The liquid inside was a b.l.o.o.d.y red color and was gently steaming. This was the blood pool used by the ogres for celebrations. There were several loose body parts in the blood which, judging by their appearance, were still fresh. It seemed as if they were "new materials".
The New Moon Demonic Dragon, Dorothea, who was standing behind Bella, had a sick expression on her face. Amy Beth also paled and tightly grasped Bella's hand. These two were both from G.o.d beast line of descent, and this was probably their first time seeing such a b.l.o.o.d.y scene.
The blood pool wasn't very deep. At least one could see the various barbed spikes on the floor. The entire bottom of the pool was tightly packed with these metal spikes and looked rather vicious. Fortunately, Bella was no trypophobic; otherwise, she probably wouldn't even be able to muster enough courage to glance at the pool.
"Dorothea, you're a Demonic Dragon, aren't you? Why are you scared silent?"
"Master… Have mercy on me, please! I've never seen such a horrific scene before. Back when I joined the Twelve Demon Kings' side, I was ranged support; I was never this close to the action!"
"Master… Look over there… Someone's still alive."
"Oh? I thought there weren't any humans on this island… unless it's…"
Following Amy Beth's pointing finger, Bella saw a huge metal cage suspended over the blood pool. Inside were several humans, their clothes in tatters. There were both men and women, and judging by their uniforms, they were members of the human's Oceanic Trade Fleet.
"Lord Nelson is so selfis.h.!.+ Every time, he keeps the best stuff for himself. He always h.o.a.rds the most tender and delicate goods!"
"Keep your voice down; are you tired of living?! It's good enough that we have all the food that we can eat. Siren King McMillan's ambush on that human trade fleet a couple days ago was a great success. The captives number in the thousands! There's a portion that's still in the Siren King's territory, and there's probably some top quality goods over there too!"
Bella was still in stealth at the moment, and the ogres next to her couldn't detect her. Hearing their conversations, she found out these imprisoned humans' backstory. It turned out that McMillan had captured a human trade fleet on the ocean after leaving his abode a couple days ago.
"This group of people is quite unfortunate. May the Lord protect you. Amy, Dorothea, let's go inside to look around."
"Master, these humans… I understand."
"Hoh, Amy, not every human is friendly. You… you will figure this out in time."
Amy Beth almost begged Bella to help rescue these humans. Dorothea, seeing this, hurriedly pulled on her hand. She gave Amy a look, reminding Amy of her place. Amy suddenly remembered that Bella was a Demon King and that she herself was no longer a Sea Dragon G.o.d, but a Demon Sea Dragon.
Realizing this, Amy Beth caught herself and gave Dorothea a thankful look. Good thing Dorothea had reminder her, otherwise, if she had accidentally angered Master, she wasn't sure what kind of punishment she would have to experience after returning!
Two-Headed Ogre Nelson wasn't currently within the main hall of the Dining Palace. His own private room was further inside. These Elite Ogre Warriors were just waiting for Nelson to arrive and start the feast.
If they were to attempt a rescue, then they'd be exposed. In the end, they would be tragically surrounded and attacked by hundreds of Elite Ogre Warriors. Although Bella had confidence in her ability to slaughter all the ogres present, if she scared off their cunning leader, Nelson, then her "Beheading Plan" might fail.
Furthermore, Bella found out that these crewmen and merchants belonged to the Golden Business a.s.sociation. This gave her some misgivings toward rescuing them as the Golden Business a.s.sociation belonged to the Golden Legend Society, which was one of her Rose Society's rivals in Olsylvia Academy.
The Carlos Family headed the Golden Legend Society, and their Golden Business a.s.sociation members' well-being was none of Bella's concern. The fact that she didn't help the ogres lower the cage into the pool in the first place was already compa.s.sionate enough on her part. Only heaven knew if that small-minded miser Carlos would even reward her for the deed.
The New Moon Island, Copperfield Island Southern Area's Obadiah Region, Two-Headed Ogre Nelson's territory, the Hidden Palace region.
Nelson's living area was a little outside of Bella's expectations. This place looked more like a human palace: the entrance wasn't even six meters high. There was a s.p.a.cious open s.p.a.ce between the dining hall and this palace, yet it seemed that only Nelson lived here. The other ogres were not permitted to stay in this area.
"Master, Two-Headed Ogre Nelson is very sensitive to the aura of the Dragon Race. I'm afraid that even with our stealth magic…"
"Dorothea, you can dispel the stealth magic on me! I'll go meet this blockhead one on one. Also, cordon off this area. You can do it with this object, right?"
"This… I understand."
Dorothea received the "Dusk Magic Codex" from Bella and opened it, reciting an ancient incantation with practiced ease. Shortly after, the perimeter of Nelson's living area was isolated by a curtain of darkness.
This "Dusk Magic Codex" was a treasure that Bella had purchased at the "City of Sin" for an enormous amount of sin points. Its function was to create a region of isolated s.p.a.ce, hidden from sight by a "night barrier."
The "Night Barrier" wouldn't simply cut off vision from the outside, it would also cut off the majority of the magic elements. It had a similar effect to the human empire's "Magic Forbidding Enchantment". Bella wanted to restrict Nelson's ability to use magical attacks and force him to fight her in close quarters combat.
Dorothea and Amy Beth waited at the entrance and thought that the "Night Barrier" really was too mighty! It had caused Dorothea's stealth magic to break, and even their Dragon Magic was disabled. They could only wait outside for what was to come.
Bella finally confirmed that she hadn't wasted her points on the "Dusk Magic Codex". Its power was apparent as even Dragon Magic was affected. She thought that it would have plenty of future use as well.
"Master, you'll be okay, right?"
"You guys just wait here, I'll be fine. There are still several hundred h.e.l.lfire Demons outside on standby! If I don't call for you girls, don't come in."
"Yes master, we understand."
Bella left her two pet dragons behind, bravely charging forward to a.s.sault Two-Headed Ogre Nelson's final base. The two dragon girls couldn't understand the Ogre language, but Bella could. It was better not to let them see the things inside.
The New Moon Island, Copperfield Island Southern Area's Obadiah Region, Two-Headed Ogre Nelson's territory, the central region of the watchtower atop Mount Barnard, the residence of "One-Eyed" Marcellus, one of the three great generals of the ogres.
This watchtower was the first location attacked by the Demon King Allied Army. Prioritizing destroying the enemy's detection capabilities was Bella's idea. Following her orders, the demon army ambushed this location first.
The entrance of the watchtower was already surrounded by countless white ghosts and black reapers. There were also many puppets patrolling the vicinity. Behind them, there were even more demon guards. The demon army stood guard around the watchtower, waiting for orders. Trampled beneath their feet were several ma.s.sive ogre corpses.
Only a couple thousand ogres had been guarding the watchtower. "One-Eyed" Marcellus was confident in his perceptive abilities and didn't a.s.sign a greater defense force. His main army of thirty thousand ogres was stationed at the bottom of the mountain. Without his command, they were forbidden from ascending the hill.
The demon army took advantage of this overconfidence and attacked, successfully surrounding the watchtower. The ogre troops on the ground had already rushed off to the front line to aid "Iron General" Zach and were helpless. They could do nothing but watch the top of Mount Barnard erupt in flames.
Without Marcellus's command, they were too scared to investigate the flames atop Mount Barnard. The majority of ogres didn't have the intelligence to take the initiative in this kind of situation. Furthermore, Zach's army was in dire straits. They only numbered thirty thousand, whereas the Demon King Allied Army a.s.saulting them had over two hundred thousand troops.
The demon army had almost seven times the manpower of the ogres. The fact that Zach had managed to last until now was already a miracle. If he still didn't receive any reinforcements, then the front line would collapse.
Furthermore, there was no response from the ogre base camp, which was under the command of "Great General" Pearson. It was unknown whether he had left to attend Nelson's celebratory banquet tonight. Regardless, the thirty thousand ogres under Pearson's command made no move to reinforce Zach. The communications between the three great ogre generals had been severely inhibited. There was a reason that all three attacks had been so successful tonight.
The demon army surrounding the watchtower also made no move to enter inside. The battle inside was too high a level for them to be of a.s.sistance, and the two "team leaders" inside also wanted them to wait outside.
In the watchtower, a.s.sa.s.sin Noreya and Puppet Master Elena were tag-teaming "One-Eyed" Marcellus. Inside the main hall, petrified demon guards and puppets littered the floor. There were also numerous dead ogres, their bodies marked by precise dagger cuts and silk threads.
Marcellus actually only had one enormous eye, and it took up nearly half of his entire face. The six-meter tall cyclops wore a full body of crimson-colored heavy armor and wielded a ma.s.sive, double-bladed battleaxe.
Standing in front of him was a black-haired female a.s.sa.s.sin and an orange-haired female puppet master. Due to the ogre race's different aesthetics, Marcellus didn't think the two girls were all that beautiful. He felt that these two women were too thin, and they weren't even enough for a full meal!
"You warriors are too shameless! To actually work together with this demonic army. You are the most shameless warriors I've ever seen!"
"To think a lug like you can actually speak in human. It's decided, I will have your eye!"
"Such an arrogant a.s.sa.s.sin. Watch me turn you into stone and crush you into pieces!"
Marcellus's eye glowed and shot out a beam of petrification. This beam was somewhat diffused, similar to a searchlight, and covered an extensive area, encompa.s.sing almost his entire field of view.
Noreya immediately went in stealth mode, and behind her, Elena instantly conjured a large number of puppets to support her.
"It's useless! My innate skill will only affect living beings! Your fake puppets can't fool… How is this possible? You, woman, what exactly…"
In front of Marcellus's petrifying gaze, Elena's summons all turned into stone. Ordinary puppets couldn't stop the beam like this unless they were the horrific "Living Puppets"—puppets made from living people.
Living Puppets had already been banned for many years by the Human Race. How did this girl know so many evil puppet creation methods? She wasn't actually a warrior! Or, had the human race already become so cruel to the point of allowing these wicked methods?
"I'll accept your eye with my dagger!"
Before Marcellus could react, Noreya flashed behind his head. She discarded the shortsword she was using to disguise as a warrior and equipped a white bone dagger instead. She thrust forward, easily piercing through Marcellus's defensive barrier and directly blinded Marcellus's "One Eye".
In the next instant, dark-red blood spurted out of Marcellus's head like a b.l.o.o.d.y geyser. Noreya had used the a.s.sa.s.sin's special skill "Eye Stealing Strike", also known as "Head Pierce Kill".
This skill was restricted from use for both a.s.sa.s.sins and archers. Under the Radiant Church's propaganda, methods of attacking a person's head and eyes were deemed as demonic techniques, so humans were forbidden from using these skills. Since neither side were humans, Noreya was free to use this forbidden technique.
"The resentment of white bone, you're a fake a.s.sa.s.sin too. You two… Neither of you is warriors. You are thoroughly—"
Before he could finish, several tens of puppet silks penetrated "One-Eyed" Marcellus's body and killing him. On the other end of the silk strings, Elena had a pure and innocent expression on her face as she wiped her hands, as if the puppet silk hadn't been her doing.
"Elena, how could you create Living Puppets? That's too cruel…"
"Ah, Noreya, what are you saying! I have no idea what you're talking about! Isn't your dagger made of living…"
"I mean, I didn't see anything. Let's hurry up and cut off this guy's head, then go meet up with Kriss and the rest of them!"
The two "evil-hearted" beauties pretended that nothing had happened and shook hands, forming an unspoken agreement. Afterward, they ordered their underlings to come in and clean up the battlefield.
Of the three great ogre generals under Two-Headed Ogre Nelson, "One-Eyed" Marcellus was the first to fall in the watchtower on Mount Barnard.
Marcellus's eye was the key ingredient to creating petrification medicines and was directly dug out by Noreya. His body was cut up and packed away by Elena as Living Puppet materials.
Of the remaining great generals, "Iron General" Zach was currently battling Dragon Knight Lisha, and "Great General" Pearson's base camp had been ambushed by the fifty thousand demons under the command of Kriss and Ariel. They had probably succeeded as well.
The battlefield in the Obadiah Region had already been decided before midnight struck. The ninety thousand ogre warriors under the three great generals had been surrounded and attacked by the Demon King Allied Army. The victory was only a matter of time. The remaining sixty thousand elite ogre warriors were trapped inside the Fortress of Boulders and were busy killing each other; they were unable to threaten the battlefield's outcome.
However, the main objective of the battle had not yet been realized because Poseidon's divine artifact wasn't here. When dawn breaks tomorrow on Copperfield Island, there will still be no sign of peace. Without finding Poseidon's Scepter, the Demon King Allied Army would not rest. At that time, n.o.body knew who would have the bad luck to hit the "jackpot".
