In the vicinity of the Sea God Temple on Brown’s Peak, the highest point on the island, among the ruins of the ancient capital city of the Romanov Empire at the center of the New Moon Island, also known as Copperfield Island. This was the overall command point behind the Demon King’s army. Due to their geographical advantage, their vantage point had an unobstructed view of the Obadiah Region on the southern region of the island which was the ogres’ territory.
Many new varieties of demonic soldiers had congregated on the summit. These demonic beasts were vastly different from the previous Demon Army. These massively built Demon Guards were carefully placing giant oval-shaped rocks onto the launch positions on their stone slingers.
These stone slingers were sent over using the teleportation arrays that had been set up on the summit. These were ready-made equipment that had been assembled at the Sarnia Duchy. The rocks were a new type of demonic beasts that were created there as well.
Other than these things, the Demon Guards were also attaching mysterious black boxes on the backs of the White Bone Griffins. Unbeknownst to them, these boxes were from the darkness sacred region and had a striking blood-red seal on them.
“General Haz, we have located the Honorable Demon King’s Imprint of Blood. Look, it’s at the castle on the south side of the island.”
“Mm, that is surely Mistress Bella’s Imprint of Blood. We will proceed according to the plan. Activate all the stone slingers and send them over. Also, inform the White Bone Griffins to be on alert, once we have sent all the rocks over, they can proceed.”
“Yes sir, I understand… General Haz, are we really going to throw those boxes over? Those things inside the box seem to be…”
“Just follow the instructions given to you. Also, I need you to send someone to inform the other allied armies that they are not to enter the Fortress of Boulders. The Demon Army will take full responsibility for the area.”
Hundreds of stone slingers were launched at once and a large batch of boulders was shot into the distance towards the Fortress of Boulders from Brown’s Peak. The boulders would automatically combust and transform into blazing fireballs which crashed right into the position that Bella had specified earlier.
Bella brought her two female dragon companions and walked towards the Fortress of Boulders. Of course, the falling fireballs would not injure any of their allies. Before they reached the entryway of Nelson’s palace, they felt the earth shake beneath their feet. The tremors were so strong that Bella almost lost her balance.
“Finally! Haz, that fellow had timed this extremely well. I will have to reward him handsomely when I return.”
Bella turned to take a look at the sights behind her. In the distance, the area beyond the walls was being attacked by the “Meteorite Storm”. However, this was not a magical meteorite storm, this was how Bella had planned to introduce new soldiers to the battleground.
The falling fireballs left deep pits in their wake as they crashed on the ground. Many of the ogre guards did not manage to escape in time and were crushed to death. Little did they know what other horrors awaited them. As the meteorites fell on the ground, they transformed into rock giants and crawled out from the depths of the pits. These fiery rock giants were something Bella had created and were inspired by the monsters in a game from the previous world – Hellfire.
The “Hellfire” giants were around ten meters tall. On the other hand, the largest of the ogre guards were only six meters at the most and were no match for them. With a single blow, the Hellfire giants managed to completely shatter the heads of every ogre soldier within their reach. Many of those who were of smaller stature were immediately crushed underfoot.
There were approximately sixty thousand ogre soldiers. Bella had only sent two hundred of the Hellfire giants into the siege. Even though their combat ability surpassed the ogres, they were still severely outnumbered. In no time at all, more than ten thousand ogre soldiers had segregated the Hellfire giants and had them completely surrounded.
“Oh! Wise Mistress, what a waste of resources to use such elite underlings as cannon fodder. Even though they did manage to attract the ogres’ attention, but the price you paid is too…”
“Dorothea, let’s go. I think it would be best if you do not see what comes next.”
Without any further explanation, Bella grabbed on to Dorothea and Amy Beth’s hands and dragged them away. As Bella held on to their hands, the girls could not help but blush. They did not ask any other question and followed Bella towards the palace. Before they left, Bella had smashed a bottle of green liquid on the ground right outside the door.
As Dorothea and Amy Beth walked into the palace, they saw many black boxes fall from the skies and crashed into the ogres’ army. Could these mysterious black boxes be another of Bella’s tricks?
As soon as they hit the ground, these black boxes shattered and a strange black smoke spiraled out of the broken fragments. Those ogres that came into contact with the smoke immediately fell on the ground. Moments after, they would climb back up with bloodshot eyes and began to attack anything they saw, including their own ogre companions.
“That black smoke is poisonous… quickly move away. Why are you attacking me? Are you trying to incite a mutiny…”
The ogres who had been gathering together were in for a tragedy. The toxic smoke spread extremely quickly. Other than the Two-Headed Ogre Nelson’s palace, the entire Fortress of Boulders had been enveloped in the toxic smoke.
The scene descended into a chaotic one. The image of more than sixty thousand elite ogres fighting amongst each other to the death was a sight to behold. This black smoke was a lethal poison that could cause most demonic beasts to enter in a state of confusion. As the doors of the fortress were tightly shut, the poisonous smoke could not drift past the walls that were hundreds of meters tall and could only settle within the grounds.
The Hellfire giants were one of the few demonic beasts that were immune to the effects of the poisonous smoke. Once they saw that the poisoning was successful, they began to congregate and approach the Two-Headed Ogre Nelson’s palace. They were moving according to the plan to surround the palace to provide cover and support for the Demon King Bella’s assassination mission.
As Bella moved along the pathways of Nelson’s palace, she was beginning to feel that it had been unnecessary and wasteful to infiltrate it while being invisible. There were no guards in sight anywhere. This fellow was too cocky, he did not even arrange for security within his palace.
The pathways that ran throughout Nelson’s palace were specifically tailored to the ogres’ height. Typically, ogres were at least three meters tall. It could be estimated that the height of the ceilings were about six meters. As they walked down the corridor, Bella and the others seemed comparatively small.
The palace was extremely quiet and the silence made Bella a little uncomfortable and even slightly afraid. Didn’t the ogre guards on the wall say that Nelson was having a gathering? This is far too quiet for a feast.
There were tons of human bones piled along the sides of the pathway. The Ogre Race would typically keep the heads of their prey as trophies while the rest of the body would be crushed and gnawed on along with their bones. As she walked further, Bella felt a little depressed as this bunch of ogres did not even leave any skeletons for her. She had wanted to take this chance to summon some of her skeletal soldiers, but without a skeleton, her hands were tied.
“Seriously, this Nelson fellow is such a waste of resources. Eh? What’s wrong with you ladies, are you scared?”
Bella stared thoughtfully at the pile of bones on the floor with a hint of sympathy. The skulls of these victims had been smashed open by the ogres, probably to obtain the “ingredients” within it. These bones have already lost all value and they were completely useless now.
“Mm, Mistress… I am a little scared. We should probably leave! I wish… I wish to find Poseidon’s Scepter as soon as possible.”
“Amy Beth, you are the original Sea Dragon God. What are you afraid of?! What a disgrace to the Dragon Race.”
While Dorothea was teasing Amy Beth, she had maintained a vice-like grip on Bella’s hand. This lass, who knew she was the type who was so proud that she would rather make fun of others even though she was scared to death herself. On the other hand, Amy Beth stuck close to Bella and was grabbing on to her arm. It was obvious who was more afraid.
“Mistress, the stones used to build these walls seem to have soundproofing capabilities, no wonder it’s so quiet here. Any sound made within the palace cannot be heard by any outsider.”
“I see. By the way, Amy Beth, do you feel the aura of Poseidon’s Trident anywhere nearby?”
“Mistress, Poseidon’s Trident doesn’t seem to be anywhere inside the palace. However, I’m certain that the trident was here before, just that it probably has been moved elsewhere.”
“Honestly, this thing is ridiculous! Did it go to heaven instead? I truly cannot believe that it can fly. Amy Beth, don’t panic just yet. I swear, even if Poseidon’s Trident had gone to heaven, I will track it down and bring it back to you.”
“Mm, thank you, Mistress.”
Based on Amy Beth’s reaction, Poseidon’s Trident had gone missing yet again. This time, no one knew where it had disappeared to. That annoying little tyke of a dryad, he did not have any talents, however, he was a grandmaster at escaping. Bella honestly did not know whether to laugh or cry at their current predicament.
