1576 Level Five Alarm blaring through the City!
Dongfang He sat on the broad back of his golden Lion Vulture, saying in a domineering tone, “All of you are already here.” He was clearly the last to arrive, but for some reason, he felt like the male lead in a movie, the last but not least to get there.
Jia Yuntian said nothing. Dongfang He’s kingly aura was unable to even stir a ripple on his eternally cold face. His hostile eyes were clearly saying, ‘Come if you want, or leave. It has nothing to do with me.’
Nikai had her wealthy daughter aura, smiling warmly as she said, “I normally don’t care when the two of you argue, but today is different. I feel like a big guy is coming. We should work together to handle the problem before us first.
“Based on our three attributes, the most appropriate strategy is for Dongfang He to take the lead, me to support, and Yuntian to fall back and wait for the moment to deliver the lethal strike.”
“It makes sense. I agree.” Dongfang He narrowed his eyes, his resolve shining within them.
Nikai stared at Dongfang He. “If Yuntian is the one making the lethal strike, you won’t have a chance to show off. Will you not care when the City Lords give Yuntian the credit for making the kill?”
Dongfang He shook his head. “Little Nicky, you’re looking down on me too much. A true expert never relies on certificates of merit and the like, nor do they need records of delivering killing blows to prove themselves. That is because the strong don’t need anything to prove themselves.”
“Those are nice words,” Nikai chuckled.
Jia Yuntian raised his dead-fish eyes and said, “There’s no need to talk up your righteousness. Most of the time, the more you talk about something, the more you care about it. That guy is almost here. I’ll stay behind you.”
Xia Fan could see Dongfang He’s eyes twitching. It was clear that Jia Yuntian had seen through him. The strong not needing anything to prove themselves was just something Dongfang He said to comfort himself. If the strong didn’t prove themselves, who would know that they were strong?
“I have to say, these three truly are a little interesting.”
Traveling Buddha shook his head. Those three had put their personalities on full display in that conversation. Nikai was a tactful woman who understood the ways of the world. Dongfang He was a natural king who was unwilling to fall behind others. As for Jia Yuntian, he was a blade in the darkness, inconspicuous and sharp!
“Well, I guess things are settled. With the three talents of Subduing Demon City here, we won’t have anything to do. Do any of you want potato chips? They’re chicken-flavored!” Jiang Zhibei leaned back and lazily reached for his half-empty bag of potato chips.
…
At the top of the tall tower in the center of Subduing Demon City…
A crystal ball was shining. A pair of withered old hands held the crystal ball by the sides. The owner of those wrinkled hands was one of the thirteen City Lords, Leng Jinqiu.
Leng Jinqiu was the City Lord who rarely went out in public the least, valued for his ability of Observation. He lived in the high tower, using this crystal that few people understood how to read to assess the changes across the continent and predict whether the demons would invade or not.
In short, Leng Jinqiu was a lookout with a telescope. But this crystal ball was basically a cheat, allowing him to see much farther and with greater clarity than ordinary lookouts!
“It can be seen that the judgment of outstanding warriors is also rather shocking. Nikai and the other two have already arrived on the route that thing will take, so they should make contact in a few minutes. The ambush site they’ve chosen is pretty good.” Leng Jinqiu smiled as he spoke, apparently looking forward to seeing how these ascendant youths of the city would do.
“So the guards won’t need to move out?”
“It shouldn’t be necessary. The distance is rather far, so by the time the guards arrive, the battle might already be over. However, as insurance, we should have them continue to wait in reserve.”
“Understood. City Lord, what exactly is that thing?”
Leng Jinqiu released the crystal ball and stroked his beard. “It’s hard to see. It could be a passing General-class demon beast. I couldn’t see what it was through the crystal ball, so its class must be very high.
“But you don’t need to worry too much. After all, this is the first level of the Lower Realm. The truly formidable fellows are all on the second level. Unless a war breaks out, there is very little precedent for Demi-King or higher demon beasts to rise up to our level. After all, even if the demon race wants to start an offensive, it should start from the second level. There’s no reason for them to start with us.”
Subduing Demon City had countless epochs of experience warring with the demon race. This experience was very accurate and quite valuable. Thus, although Leng Jinqiue couldn’t see what sort of demon beast this creature coming from afar was, he wasn’t very worried. Jia Yuntian and the others were the most outstanding young geniuses Subduing Demon City had produced in the last few decades, so they were probably enough to deal with it.
Suddenly, the crystal ball vibrated as if some power was resonating within it, and then it cracked loudly! Fissures appeared on the surface of the ball like shattering glass, deepening until the ball shattered completely, turning into powder drifting in the air.
“Good heavens!”
The people in the tower were all stunned, their complexions turning pale. Large beads of sweat gathered on their foreheads, their lips trembling as they struggled to speak.
The crystal ball was a sensory-type energy detector. The stronger the reaction, the stronger the intruder!
This crystal ball had shattered into powder, indicating that a threat of the highest order was approaching Subduing Demon City! There were only two types of threats that could do that: an approaching demon army or a Demon King-class creature!
“Hurry, sound the alarm!” Leng Jinqiu shouted, and a disciplined warrior immediately raised a steely fist and smashed a giant red button on the wall, shattering the protective glass case around it and activating the highest level of alarm Subduing Demon City had.
One!
Two!
Three!
Four!
At this moment, a full five layers of energy shields protecting the city appeared! Each of them was like a crystalline wall, completely sealing off the city!
All of the sirens in the city began to blare loudly.
“A Level Five alarm! It’s a Level Five alarm!”
A warrior was in bed with a girl he had met last night while drinking, their vigorous movements on the verge of sending them to blissful paradise.
Paradise was right before them, and one last sprint would have had their souls in ecstasy.
At that moment, the alarms suddenly blared. The man jumped up from that soft and flexible body, his face paling as he looked out the window. He was just in time to see the fifth barrier rise up around the city, and he saw pedestrians crazily running around, husbands hugging their daughters and pulling along their lives as they headed for underground shelters.
When a Level Five alarm was issued, no building in the city was safe. Over countless epochs, the city had been destroyed and rebuilt countless times. The inhabitants had been taught a painful lesson that they needed to head to the shelters a hundred and fifty meters below the surface as quickly as possible. The steel protective shells contained enough food and medical supplies to sustain the city’s entire population for several months.
“Head to the shelter right now!” the man jumped up and shouted at the beautiful woman who was pale from shock on the bed.
He grabbed his combat uniform, but as there was no time to put on his underpants, he simply stuffed his legs into his pants while running. It looked rather comical, but there were times when one couldn’t care about appearances. A Level Five alarm was just such a time. The people living in this city had seen countless wars, and warriors who had seen too much blood and too many bodies knew too well the meaning of such an intense alarm.
Bang!
The warrior used his shoulder to ram open his girlfriend’s front door. While putting on his combat uniform, he ran barefoot to his army base. He had come out in such a rush that he had forgotten to put on his boots, but there were many civilians and warriors like him right now, sprinting along without any shoes. Nobody cared about something as minor as him not wearing any boots!
In the sky, trained flying beasts were rising into the air, letting out ear-drum-shattering howls. Even they felt danger approaching, their eyes widening rapidly.
“Although the city barrier has risen, the test is still going on…” Leng Jinqiue held his head, frustrated that he hadn’t realized the danger earlier.
“At this point, we can only hope that it’s an invading army,” one of his subordinate warriors whispered.
If this was a demon army invasion, many low-level demons would appear. While they were great in number, they weren’t necessarily lethal. The young Demon Subduers outside the city would at least have a chance to escape. After all, while they were young, there were many experts like the three talents.
But if it was a single demon setting off a Level Five alarm, then the situation was extremely grave. If it was a demon beast, then it was at least a Demi-King demon beast. If it was a demon warrior, it was at least a Demi-King warrior!
The gap between experts and rookies couldn’t be filled by numbers. True experts could easily take the head of a general from amid an army of tens of thousands as if no one else was around. That sort of threat meant death for anyone who ran into it!
…
Dongfang He stood in the valley with folded arms, inwardly frustrated.
He was the sort of warrior who could sweep through an army of thousands. When he unleashed his Fiery Wrath Army, he could turn rocks and stone into an army of flame. With that ability, he would even dare to besiege the main city of the demons!
But while his Fiery Wrath Army was an impressive ability, it was one used for controlling the battlefield. It was called the foundation of battle, very powerful, but lacking in sharpness.
Jia Yuntian’s ability was completely different. His Sword of Heaven was perfect for dealing the killing blow. If Jia Yuntian encountered a large group of enemies, he would be very sad, for the Sword of Heaven used tons of energy and could only kill one enemy at a time. Any more meant that he could only watch from the sidelines. He was the sort that could only specialize in dealing the final blow.
Thus, in these circumstances, it was Dongfang He who needed to restrain the monster, after which Jia Yuntian would deal the fatal blow. In any case, Dongfang He would be doing the hard work while Jia Yuntian plucked the fruit.
As for Nikai, her ability was the Divine Wings of Color, a protective ability mixed with illusions. If these Divine Wings empowered Dongfang He, they would protect him, and when unleashed, would create countless illusory wings in the sky to fool an enemy.
Logically speaking, holding the ground and delivering the killing blow was a classic tactical move. With Xia Fan and Traveling Buddha, it was always Traveling Buddha drawing fire while Xia Fan worked around and made the killing blow. They worked together pretty well, and had achieved many things in the years they had been partners.
The problem was that Jia Yuntian and Dongfang He were romantic rivals, so their teamwork was much worse. They might even backstab each other at a key moment!
“You’re looking down on Dongfang He too much.” Jiang Zhibei seemed to admire the young master of the Dongfang Clan a lot, speaking scornfully, “Even if they’re fighting over Nikai, they’ll fight fairly. Stabbing each other in the back isn’t how a man with grand ambitions does things. Relax, these two love rivals won’t have any problem working together. The honor of the Demon Slayers won’t let them do something so shameful, or else they won’t have the face to see anyone.”
Xia Fan’s face turned red. By bringing up this question, he had made himself look petty. Perhaps it was because he had no experience with love and had read too many novels with Scholar Grandpa. He always felt like love was a rampaging beast, battering down the rationality of warriors and leaving only sickeningly sweet stories that made one angry.
But in reality, those who valued love more than honor probably wouldn’t amount to anything great. The vast majority of experts were more rational, and would rarely lose their heads like those romances in the books.
“It’s here!” Le Jiajia shouted suddenly. For some reason, she was very tense today, her left eyelid twitching. Compared to the composure of Traveling Buddha and Xia Fan, she looked like a frightened bird.
“Oh, what a large black cloud, like a giant flatcake,” Traveling Buddha casually commented as he gazed at the other end of the valley. He had always been like this, never knowing what it meant to be nervous. The more dangerous the situation, the more he liked to make casual comments.
The black fog swept over the world with a mountain-toppling momentum. It thundered through the valley, while the three elites of Subduing Demon City waited solemnly.
Nikai had already summoned her Divine Wings, a giant pair of pink wings that rose slowly into the air. Dongfang He continued to keep his arms folded, but his hands were flexing to warm-up. As for Jia Yuntian, he hid his hands behind his back and formed a sign with them.
Xia Fan felt the orderly formation of the three talents was enough to give them all full points. They had fully lived up to their reputation as experts who had gone through elite training.
Boom!
Suddenly, a mighty explosion came from the churning black fog, a power erupting from it like a volcano. In a flash, the black fog was blown into the air, where it blotted out the sky.
The fierce beast finally revealed itself. The black fog was merely its disguise, which had prevented the crystal ball from realizing how dangerous it was. A monster that could disguise itself had to be extremely cunning, only waiting until the last moment to reveal its true form.
“I can’t believe it’s this odor!”
Before the black fog had even scattered, Xia Fan’s sharp nose had already picked up an extremely dangerous odor. He instantly paled, his heart leaping to his throat.
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