Book 4: Chapter 176: An Imperfect Ending to the Bloodbath at Nolan City

Swiftly, the skeleton troops surrounding Bella delivered the Death Knight armor made for demon kings to her side. Within five minutes, she had taken off her golden Holy Knight’s armor and replaced it with the new set of black armor. One of the more agile skeleton soldiers then put on Bella’s previous set of armor and helped her to continue to put on a show.

Bella rode on a black White Bone Warhorse and rushed to the front of the death knight formations. Their target was Springhall, who had gotten away earlier. She had wanted to ride on a Bone Dragon, but there was not much she could do as a Bone Dragon Knight except for throwing out big moves from the sky. Bella wanted to be fully immersed in the rush of close combat, so she gave it up in the end. 

The vanguard for death knights was slightly different from the human knights’. First of all, White Bone Warhorses were definitely much faster than most of the horses owned by the human race. Furthermore, many of the demonic beings moved at a pace fast enough to match up to these warhorses. This meant that the death knights’ vanguard was a combined one and thus was definitely more deadly than the majority of the human knights. 

Above Bella’s head, a large group of dark griffin knights was charging ahead with the death knights. Soaring above the griffin knights was another group of bone dragon knights. They were closely followed by tens of thousands of skeleton soldiers wielding bone spears.

Various black-cloaked mages were spread amongst the skeleton army. Their original purpose was to initiate dark enchantments and prevent the enemy’s magical attacks from injuring any of the other demonic beings. As the beastmen’s magical department was practically gone, these mages had nothing much else to do and began to idle instead.

Bella charged at the forefront with the other death knights. As they moved, they had knocked many wolf knights out of the way. Before those wolf knights could retaliate, they were swallowed by the “black torrents”. Based on her memory, Bella then continued to rush towards the palace that used to be owned by the previous lord, Grand Duke Brandon.

The Wolf King Springhall was fortunate enough to escape alive the last time when they had attacked with the catapults. However, this time, he was not so lucky as Bella had her eye on this fellow, who was one of the eight beast kings. At the moment, the entire Nolan City was surrounded by her demonic beings, and it was practically impossible for Springhall to have yet another lucky break. 

Bella could not help but admit that the beastmen clearly had more fighting spirit and were more resilient than the human allied army from the last time. Even while being aware that their situation was hopeless and there was no way to turn things around, the beastmen soldiers were still relentless in their efforts to fight until the very end. Many of them had been killed in combat while being surrounded by the skeleton troops. 

The beastmen soldiers that had perished in combat were not summoned by the death spirit wizards to join the battle again. This was how the demonic beings showed their utmost respect to their opponents. If their rivals had been deemed worthy, they would not reanimate their opponents’ corpses as demonic beings to aid in the battle. 

Duke Branson’s palace stood prominently within the city and could be seen even from a distance. It was also where the beastmen guards were the most concentrated. When Bella’s death knights arrived, the area had already descended into chaos. The demonic soldiers and wolfmen were engaged in a battle to the death near the palace. Since the beastmen refused to go down without a fight, both parties were desperately locked in combat. 

With the addition of the death knights, the beastmen’s line of defense that was already in tatters could not hold on any longer. Once the death knights stormed the area, they managed to rip a hole in the defense line. Swiftly following the initial blow, the skeleton soldiers entered the palace through the opening that had torn open for them. 

Bella leaped off her White Bone Warhorse at the entrance of the palace. Once her feet touched the ground, a few elite wolf guards immediately charged towards her. A couple of them had even managed to land a blow on her armor.

“Hmph, how presumptuous.”

With a slight snort, Bella released a burst of dark energy and blew those elite wolf guards away. Before the guard closest to her fly away, Bella caught hold of his head with her demonic claw. 

With a soft pop, that wolfman’s head was crushed under Bella’s grasp. Blood and brain matter splattered everywhere, most of it landing on her. Fortunately, the death knight’s armor came with a metal mask, which prevented the embarrassment of having blood splashed all over her face.

Seeing that their demon king was under attack, the skeleton soldiers in the area immediately assembled to protect her. Dozens of black shadows swooped down from the skies, picked up the wolf warriors around her, flew up to a great height, and flung them out into the distance. Before long, those wolf warriors had fallen to their deaths. 

Those black shadows were underlings that belonged to Grisbane, the Scourge of the Skies. Even though Bella was unharmed, the fact that a demon king had been attacked by the enemy in front of thousands of demonic soldiers was a definite blow to the demonic beings’ dignity. Without further ado, the demonic beings went into a frenzy, as though they were on drugs, and attacked the remaining defenses that the beastmen had.

A few skeleton soldiers presented Bella with a new set of death knight’s armor. However, Bella waved them away. Honestly, if she did not get some blood on her, she was afraid of getting teased mercilessly by the Demonic Dragon Emperor Alisha. How could the commander in chief not get a single red dot on her during a battle?

The beautiful assassins Dinah and Anya, dressed in their black night suits, were welcoming the Demon King Bella on one knee at the entrance of the palace. Both girls had conflicted expressions on their faces because, as humans, it was a little complicated being part of a demon king’s army. What rendered them speechless was the fact that they were participating in this battle as one of the Demon King Bella’s women. 

“What’s wrong, ladies? Are you uncomfortable in these clothes? Well, we’re a little short on supplies for the army. Once we are caught up, I will personally design the clothes inside.”

“Your Excellency, I am about the same size as Annie, my older sister. Just give me something of hers, and it will be fine as well.”

“Bella, Anya and I have already gone in to check out the situation. There are still many beastmen soldiers inside.”

The night suits that Anya and Dinah were wearing were skin tight and extremely form-fitting. Bella’s sinister gaze seemed to be able to penetrate their clothes and see everything underneath it. Both girls’ faces were slightly flushed, as a result. The only difference was that Anya had wholly submitted to Bella under her older sister Annie’s influence. By now, she had already degenerated to Bella’s side. 

On the other hand, Dinah still had her wits about her. As the top assassin in the Assassins Union, she had an arrogance and pride that was difficult to be forced out of her. Dinah had thought of escaping, but she was afraid that the Demon King Bella would retaliate by attacking the human race instead. With the number of demonic beings under her wing, it would not be impossible for Bella to crush the remaining two hundred thousand troops at the Gabriel Empire’s southern defense line. 

“It’s been hard on you both, so follow me inside later. The few of you, come here and smash this door to smithereens.”

At Bella’s instruction, dozen of skeleton troops pushed over a crash cart to break down the door with the assistance of the large scavenger ghouls. Since the gates had been blocked off by massive objects that had been propped up against it, Anya and Dinah slipped in through the skylights instead.

Grand Duke Brandon must have expected that his palace would be attacked by the enemy forces when designing it. Consequently, the doors were made from extremely sturdy materials. Even though the crash cart had knocked into it a few times, the doors remained mostly undamaged.

“Is this door made of metal or what? Where are the cannons!? Fire cannons at the door. I refuse to believe that Brandon, that miser, would ever be willing to spend so much money on building an ultra-thick door.”

The White Wolf Princess Tania and the Silver Fox Princess Vanessa stood in the palace corridor, drenched in blood. However, none of it was theirs, mostly being from the other beastmen that had died in battle. They were not attacked by any of the demonic beings as they were wearing their dark rings and had managed to retreat back to the safety of the palace.

Everything that was happening outside the palace was basically a scene out of purgatory. Eight hundred thousand beastmen were gradually disappearing, being ground away by this terrible massacre machine. Those who had held on till now did not receive any reinforcements in the end as the Wolf King Springhall was lying to them from the very beginning. The entire Nolan City and its nearby regions had already fallen to the control of the demonic beings. Under such circumstances, the beastmen’s magical beast messengers would never be able to make it out of the area. 

The intermittent banging sounds at the palace gates made the beastmen holding down the fort in the palace extremely nervous. This was their final stronghold. If the palace were to be invaded, it would mean that the entire Nolan City had fully fallen into the hands of the demonic beings. 

Tania and Vanessa looked at each other in despair. The human race should have taken full responsibility for this matter. Now that it had been handed over to the beastmen, it was too much of a burden for them to bear. The demonic beings outside the doors were relentless in their efforts to take down the last obstacle. Even though these doors were extremely sturdy, at this rate, even the strongest of the lot would be broken down.

“Vanessa, you should leave by the secret passageways in the palace. As long as you still have your ring, the demonic beings will not attack you.”

“No… Tania, don’t do anything foolish! We either leave together or not leave at all!”

Vanessa’s deft hand reached out and held on to Tania’s hand, preventing the girl from taking off her ring and throwing it away. It was no laughing matter. Once the ring was lost, it would mean certain death at their enemies’ merciless hands. 

At this moment, the doors of the palace, which represented the beastmen’s final bit of hope, were blown off its hinges by a cannonball. As dozens of cannons were fired at the same time, the force of the impact had exploded the doors and the huge objects behind them into tiny pieces. The explosion had also killed those wolf warriors that were closest to the door. 

Large groups of skeleton soldiers and demon guards began to swarm through the burning debris. The entire scene looked as though it was the apocalypse, and zombies were raiding the building. Since Tania and Vanessa were much further away from the main doors, the aftershocks of the explosion did not affect them at all. 

The elite wolf soldiers immediately picked up their weapons in preparation for their final retaliation. However, they fell quickly under the attack of demonic beings. 

Even though their opponents were far too strong, they had already done their best. Those that still had a bit of strength did not give in at all and were determined to hold on until the very end for the Wolf King Springhall. 

“Let’s go, Tania. There’s nothing better than to survive.”

“But… I want to fight until the end.”

“Don’t be stupid. You’re my only friend. Who would keep me company if you’re gone? Bunny is too honest, so we don’t get along well. As for Cat, she’s out of the question as well since she looks down on me.”

At Vanessa’s constant begging, Tania did not join in the battle. Instead, she followed her towards the center of the palace, where the Wolf King Springhall oversaw everything. Hopefully, this beast king would have a plan to turn things around!

Bella strolled into the palace after her underlings had broken their way in and had missed the perfect opportunity to cross paths with the two beastmen princesses. When she arrived, there was only a group of wolf warriors that had been clobbered by the skeleton soldiers.

“Dinah, what do you think? If this were to be a human city, wouldn’t it be beautiful…”

“Bel… I mean, Your Excellency, please do not make jokes like that! I… I’m begging you.”

“Mmm, I approve this tone. I want you to speak to me like this in the future. Unless you wish to become a true demonic being like the rest of them, you will not speak to me in that cold, arrogant voice.”

Dinah was terrified that Bella would act rashly and join hands with the beastmen to attack the human race. If that were to happen, the human race would be facing three enemy fronts. At the moment, the best troops had all been sent to the northern front to fight the war against the demon race. Thus the southern front would not be much of a priority for them. 

Bella’s demonic army seemed to be much stronger and more resilient than the one in the north. If they were to attack the human race… Taking the future of the human empire into consideration, President Dinah finally decided to let go of her pride. She was not used to speaking in such meek tones at all, and she was only doing this for the sake of protecting the human race from any further harm. 

Bella reached out and pinched Dinah’s cheek. Her heart was filled with satisfaction as conquering such an aloof beauty was a task that gave her a deep sense of accomplishment. As for the other human empires, there were other demon kings engaging in those battles. At the moment, she did not have to participate in this complicated business.

“What did you say? Sorry, I couldn’t hear you. Dinah, tell me again. As you know, I am quite hopeless at finding my way and have no sense of direction at all. Don’t blame me if one day, I lead my underlings in the wrong direction!”

“You… Your Excellency, just tell me what you want me to do… please do not take these things lightly!”

At the center of the palace, the Wolf King Springhall stood at the top of the grand hall. This hall had been built by the original lord of this palace, Grand Duke Brandon, and was designed based on the emperor’s grand hall. An exact replica of the emperor’s dragon throne sat at the back of the hall. This throne was made of pure gold and was engraved with the Gabriel Empire’s royal seal.

The Wolf King Springhall sat on this faux throne and was deep in thought. He felt like he was stuck in this illusion that portrayed him seated alone at the throne, as though he was the emperor of a dying nation. Outside the palace, the enemy was maniacally slaughtering his people. Yet as their king, there was nothing he could do but watch his empire going up in flames.

“I finally understand how those emperors in the human race’s history books felt as they witnessed the fall of their empire. Could this be God’s will? Maybe it was preordained that I have to bear this burden in place of Grand Duke Brandon, that old fox…”

The Wolf King Springhall let out a sigh of despair. He did not know how the commander of this demonic army could exist. Thus he had always thought that he was experiencing the undead scourge that had been detailed within human history books. Grand Duke Brandon was supposed to take responsibility for this, but somehow, due to some unexpected turn of events, this foreign invader had ended up bearing the brunt of this calamity. 

“Honorable Wolf king, you need not blame yourself for this. I am here to show you the way.”

Master Kenneth, what are you doing here? Have you come to mock my failure!? If you are, then leave. In fact, I would like to trouble you to send a message to the Beast Emperor that I had done all I could.”

The Darkness Wizard God’s mysterious shadow suddenly appeared above the grand hall. He owned a divine artifact that allowed him to solo teleport. Even though they could use the Scepter of the Underworld to summon the undead scourge to battle against Bella’s demonic beings, Kenneth’s instincts told him that the demonic army outside was far more powerful than any run-of-the-mill undead scourge.

The thing that troubled Kenneth the most was that there were many radiant priests within this demonic army. In fact, the likes of a Holy Swordsmen were present as well. It could not be denied that this was a mixed coalition between the dark and light factions. This meant that the undead scourge was definitely no match for such power. 

Kenneth tossed a single solo teleportation scroll to the Wolf King Springhall. Even though he felt a little pained, this beast king was still of some use to him, and it would be a waste to abandon him like that. One such scroll was worth about one hundred gold coins. Since this was a battleground, the prices would at least double. Forget it, take it as using this money to feed the dogs… no, it should be wolves instead. 

“Master Kenneth, what is the meaning of this? I’m sure you’re familiar with the practices of the Beast Emperor. It is a death sentence by incapacitation for any military deserter.”

Although the Wolf King Springhall spoke honorably, he was gripping the teleportation scroll so tightly in his hands that his knuckles turned white. It was as though he was terrified that it would disappear. Kenneth held back his look of disdain and barely managed to hide it behind a somewhat decent expression.

“Honorable Wolf King, you need not worry. I will explain everything to the Beast Emperor. You are worth much more than dying here, and there will be opportunities for you to build your kingdom once again. If you do not wish to return, the Beast Emperor can arrange for a new king to replace you. Think about this.”

“Master Kenneth, thank you for your assistance. I would be shameless and ask if there are any group teleportation scrolls… the princess of the silver fox clan, as well as my cub, are still somewhere within the palace…”

“No, there aren’t. All you have to do is return alone. There’s no need to care about those little girls. At most, you can just procreate again!”

“Master, you mean…”

After a round of guidance by Kenneth, the Wolf King Springhall finally figured it out. This was not the time to think about those few girls. If he did not leave now, he would never make it out ever again. Without further hesitation, he crushed the solo teleportation scroll and disappeared from Nolan City in a flash of white light.

When Vanessa, Tania, and the wolf leader’s eldest son, Harrington, returned to the grand hall, all they saw was a single lone, empty throne. The beast king, the Wolf King Springhall, the one who had vowed to fight until the very end, had escaped with his tail between his legs. 

The battle of Nolan City gradually came to a close with the retreat of their leader, the Wolf King Springhall. Under the leadership of Vanessa and Tania, a few of the beastmen had managed to escape the city and returned to the beastmen continent together with Harrington. Other than those who managed to leave, the beastmen army of at least eight hundred thousand soldiers had been wiped out here in the Nolan City. 

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