Chapter 111: Attack Of The Demons
Small chunks of rubble fell down the lower floors as quick footsteps rushed up the stony steps of the staircase. Zen, leading other disciples from Cloud Sect, climbed a side staircase to reach the rooftop in the barracks. When they reached their destination, the horrific view that greeted them stunned their group into silence.
The once clear sky was now dominated by swirls of dark, thick clouds and smoky fog.
In the distance, they could see an increasing mass of dark figures that had started to climb up the city's walls. They were demon generals and soldiers, who swarmed almost all the sides of the city wall like an incoming tide.
To make the dreadful scene even worse, black human-shaped demon birds with gigantic scaly wings emerged. They circled around in the air, each of them armed with black long bows and arrows.
Hundreds of the hideous demon birds carried demon generals and soldiers in their huge talons. Upon reaching the periphery of White Emperor City, the demon birds released the demon soldiers along with the demon generals from their grip, dropping them into the city.
The horrifying horde of demons in the sky weren't even the main forces of the opponent's massive army. They were only used as a prelude to make way for the truly formidable demons.
Back then, during the more peaceful times, the Heaven and Earth towers had prevented war from breaking out in White Emperor City for many years. However, when the demons unexpectedly occupied the two towers, they immediately planned and executed a direct attack at White Emperor City in such a short amount of time.
“Swash! Swash! Swash!” the loud flapping of the demon birds' scaly wings rippled through the dark atmosphere.
They proceeded to aim their arrows at the disciples of Cloud Sect who stood on the rooftop barracks after spotting them.
With their long bows aimed at their targets, the demons' black arrows rained down on the rooftop.
Luckily, the pointed tips of the arrows weren't that sharp, so all of the disciples were able to fend them off with their skills.
The most direct forms of defenses came from Zen. When the arrows came near, he pointed his finger at them and released a great amount of power which crushed the arrows.
On the other hand, Cleve wielded a sword that released a strong beam of silver light that formed a protective shield around him. The silver light from the sword was so powerful that it cut and repelled all the arrows aimed at him.
Meanwhile, Lenard handled black and white swords in his hands. The two swords gave off their respective powers as he expertly used them in combat.
The black and white intents of the swords not only resisted all the attacks of the opponent's arrows. They also spiraled upwards and struck back at the demon birds. Unfortunately, when the dual colored sword intents shot up in the sky, the demon birds had already dodged the attacks as they flew at an altitude too high in the air.
The resistance efforts of Cloud Sect's disciples were also aided by strong attacks from the highly capable imperial army of White Emperor City.
In comparison to the disciple's efforts, however, the counterattacks from the imperial army proved to be much stronger and more effective.
Down the chaotic streets of the city, the imperial army had lined up firing catapults that were loaded full with arrows.
The firing catapult was invented by the ingenious Zhu family. It was later promoted throughout the imperial army and eventually became one of the most efficient weapons for defending the city.
On a rooftop not far from where Zen was, three soldiers from the imperial army had set up a brightly colored firing catapult. The two of them attached a long arrow to its tip, while the other soldier violently shook its grip to stretch the bowstring behind the machine to its maximum limit.
“Buzz!” The sound erupted as they abruptly released the bowstring, making the deadly arrow shoot up to the sky.
The lethal arrow soared up more and became a tiny speck in the air, until it landed on its target.
Eventually, a loud boom was heard in the distance.
It turned out that the arrow had hit a demon bird and upon contact, it immediately exploded into smithereens. The demon bird let out a shrill cry and helplessly flapped the remnants of its charred wings as it burned in flames like a huge fireball. The burnt mass continued to combust and then finally fell down to the ground.
The army continued to fire the arrows into the air while huge balls of exploding flames burnt in succession like fireworks in a festival.
But the demon birds fought back as well by mercilessly dropping the demon generals and soldiers in their talons down to the firing catapults with great precision.
From the rooftop, Zen looked up and saw a dark figure swoop down and smash a gaping hole into the opposite rooftop. A tall figure suddenly emerged out of the hole which turned out to be a demon general. As soon as he got out, his steely eyes transfixed on the nearby firing catapult and the three soldiers who operated it, making it clear that he was set out to destroy the catapult.
The emergence of the demon general also caught the attention of the other Cloud Sect disciples. However, no one could beat him except for Lenard. So in that moment, no one else dared to stop or fight him.
The fear and hesitance of the army's side were palpable in the air, which prompted Zen to attach one of the two small rings that Master Su gave him on the hilt of his broken knife. Mustering his strength, he jumped from one rooftop to the next.
The three soldiers who manned the catapult turned white as sheet due to extreme fright upon seeing the approaching enemy.
They were the most ordinary soldiers, with their strength at the marrow refining level. They could fend off the demon soldiers with all their might, but they were next to nothing when faced against a demon general. One encounter would be enough to get them killed.
However, military orders strictly prevented them from holding back. There was a saying among the imperial army, which was “as long as he is alive, the operator must ensure that the firing catapult is not destroyed.” Being in the army demanded their whole being to obey the strict order.
If one gave up the firing catapult and ran for his life, a more grueling punishment awaited him. Then again, their sense of honor as imperial soldiers did not allow them to escape.
The demon general drew closer and closer back on the scene. Two of the soldiers frantically continued to work around the firing catapult, while the other unsheathed his sword and summoned all the courage and strength that he could muster to face the demon general.
Even the small praying mantis could dare to stop a raging chariot, and it was the same for the imperial army who fought against the demons in White Emperor City all the year round. The ordinary soldier, despite being at the marrow refining level, was able to contain his fear and resist the demon's frightful aura. He pushed back his thoughts in his head and drew out his sword with shaky hands to confront the demon general.
The demon general continued his ascent towards the catapult. The presence of the soldier in front of him proved to be no hindrance at all. In fact, he simply waved a heavy arm and slapped his body away upon reaching him.
The impact of the slap directly crushed the soldier's body which sent him flying to his death!
At this point, the demon general got much closer to the firing catapult.
The remaining two soldiers set up an arrow as fast as they could and fired it up at the sky. A demon bird and a demon general got hit and instantly became two balls of fire. Although the two soldiers looked calm and fearless on the outside, they clearly knew that death awaited them just like their companion.
Finally, the demon general had reached the catapult. When he was about to smash the two soldiers into pieces, he suddenly felt a dangerous presence from behind him.
However, when he turned around to look, the dangerous aura had vanished.
He simply shrugged it off and turned his head back to the two remaining soldiers. Just as he did so, a broken flying knife came to greet him in the face!
His eyes went wide for a fraction of a second as he tried to dodge the force but it turned out that it was too late. He instinctively blocked his face with his right arm, hoping his thick and leathery skin would save him from the weapon.
It was only when the blade of the knife had struck his skin that the demon general realized how foolish it was to use his arm to block it. It turned out the knife was not just an ordinary knife and it was far sharper than what he had imagined.
His tough and strong arm posed no resistance to the flying knife as it passed through his limb, slicing right down in the middle.
The knife's blade was able to cut through the arm muscle and went straight to his head.
“Puff!”
The demon general's hideous head was cut into two by the flying knife as it fell to the floor with a dull thud. His eyes remained bulbous and bulged even in his last moments, which showed just how shocked and in disbelief he was at his death.
The broken knife was drawn back by Zen, whose lips curved into a satisfied smile. He nodded in friendship at the two frightened soldiers.
The two soldiers who had just narrowly escaped death, smiled back at Zen in return, their eyes full of gratitude. If it wasn't for Zen's timely appearance, they would've joined the other soldier in death by now.
The other disciples of Cloud Sect had also joined Zen and the imperial army to battle the demons. Their limited numbers and strength obviously prevented them from provoking the demon generals, but they were fully capable of dealing damage to the demon soldiers.
After the first wave of their siege, the demon army hastily called for retreat. Even though this was only a minor engagement, they had lost many demons already. This did not gain them the upper hand or any advantage in the battle.
On the contrary, White Emperor City only lost a few dozen firing catapults and some ordinary soldiers. This made them lucky enough to fare much better than the demon forces.
It was true that they had beaten today's siege of the demon army. Despite this, it was clear that worry still lingered in everyone's hearts.
It was highly probable that the concluded siege would call the attention of the rest of White Emperor City's forces, which meant that the demons might storm the city at a much larger scale on a later time.
“We must leave White Emperor City as soon as possible!” an anxious voice sounded. It was proposed by one of Cloud Sect's disciples the moment they returned to the camp.
“Yes, this was only a small assault. If the demons mount a general offensive, the strong refiners in White Emperor City will have no time to even care about us,” said another disciple.
The two disciples had a point. It was human nature to seek out the good and avoid the bad.
Since they weren't from the imperial army, they had no obligations to stay in White Emperor City.
It was true that White Emperor City had been impregnable for many years, and no forces were able to overcome its marvelous defenses and strength.
However, when the demons' attack had besieged them, the disciples did not even have a place to hide. This scenario would certainly be driven to a dead end.
“Wasn't there a letter back from the sect saying that an enormous flying chariot will be sent to pick us up soon?” one disciple piped up. The rest of them looked at each other in thought.
“Who knows? Maybe that chariot couldn't come because of the attack,” another disciple speculated. A small lapse of silence enveloped the air.
It proved to be that the man was right in his assumption.
It was true that the enormous flying chariot which was supposed to take them back wasn't able to come because of the demons' offensive attacks.
Since the earlier fall of the Heaven and Earth towers, a group of demon birds that carried a handful of demon soldiers and generals in their talons had circled the rear part of White Emperor City and attacked any forces that defended or visited the area.
In fact, Cloud Sect had already sent two enormous flying chariots. Unfortunately, the first chariot was besieged by the demon birds in the rear area making it crash. Meanwhile, the second one was intercepted halfway.
It definitely cost a lot to build a huge flying chariot. After the loss of the two previous chariots, Cloud Sect decided to stop sending more. Instead, they planned to keep the disciples in White Emperor City until the demons withdrew.
“Even if no one will come to pick us up, we can go back by ourselves. We just have to avoid those demons. Don't you think so?” one disciple suggested. Majority of them agreed and quickly accepted this proposal.
Since no chariot would come pick them up anyway, they might as well take the disciple's suggestion and escape by themselves.
The disciples from Cloud Sect played no major role in the war. Furthermore, once the demons launched a full-scale invasion of White Emperor City, the imperial army would never arrange for any form of protection for them.
If only one or two demon generals landed near them, Lenard and Zen could handle it.
However, if they were attacked by legions of demon generals, who among them could defeat such a massive force?
It would be even worse if they were to face off a demon king, who could undoubtedly kill them in a second! In short, the disciples were too weak and incapable to fight in the war by themselves.
Just as they were in the heat of their discussion, the loud clanking of footsteps was heard through the other side of the camp's door.
It turned out to be a squad line from the imperial army.
The barrack door suddenly burst open, showing a general dressed in the imperial army's uniform. “All the disciples from Cloud Sect are allowed to leave except Zen!” the general announced in a loud, authoritative voice.