Chapter 852 - Finally Crossing Swords

It was almost sunset.

The demon army in the sky had yet to make a move. As time passed, they lost their initial fervor. They grew lax and distracted or began whispering with their neighbors.

It was like beating a war drum in ancient times.

Hit it once and the troops will be motivated, but by the third time, it no longer has any effect.

Before stepping foot into the Three Realms, they’d thoroughly prepared and motivated the troops. Due to Su Yiyun’s situation, they could no longer live in that sub-dimension. If they wanted a future, they had no choice but to take it.

They had already irrevocably committed to themselves; they would succeed or die trying.

Their morale had reached the peak, but after actually arriving here, their leader had ordered them to just stand in formation without moving.

There were only a few thousand people outside of Maple City, whereas the demon army numbered close to three hundred thousand even after the sacrifices.

Only a few thousand people!

Yet their leader still hadn’t ordered them to attack. Instead, he had them just wait there.

The demon horde had been watching the whole time. At first, they thought this was part of Black Dragon’s brilliant plan, but hours had passed. It was getting dark out….

No matter how brightly their passions blazed, they would eventually burn out.

“Boss, if we keep waiting, the soldiers will completely lose their will to fight,” said one of the Demon Sovereigns, unable to hold back any longer. “There are only a few thousand people outside Maple City. All of them are sky immortals; it seems that this is all the elite soldiers they’ve got. We have tens of thousands of troops. Are you really afraid of them? As long as we take the elites out, no matter how many more people there are in the city, is there anything they can possibly do to stop us?”

“That’s right, boss,” said another in agreement. “We can’t wait any longer.”

The Demon Sovereigns were highly ranked, so they knew full well why they’d come to the Three Realms.

They were here to take over the place.

However, since they’d waited motionlessly for so long, the troops’ morale had already sharply decreased. If things went on like this, they might not be able to recover their former intensity. Then, when they truly stepped onto the battlefield, they’d only be able to use a small portion of their true fighting prowess.

If that happened, would the demons still have any chance of victory?

Black Dragon glanced indifferently at the Demon Sovereigns, then at the soldiers behind him. As the demons’ commander-in-chief, how could he not know how serious the consequences would be if he delayed things any longer?

But internally, he was truly worried...

To tell the truth, even if Su Yiyun hadn’t warned him, he might very well have repressed his own urge to attack.

Ye Zichen’s sudden disappearance had truly terrified him.

Earlier, that Demon Sovereign had mentioned that there were only a few thousand defenders. Little did he know that those mere thousands were what worried him the most.

Since Ye Zichen knew that the demons planned an assault, why were there only a few thousand defenders? Could it be that Ye Zichen really thought that would be enough to fight off the demon elites?

No way.

Then it seemed possible that soldiers lay in ambush somewhere, waiting for them to show a sign of weakness before attacking.

The demons didn’t have very many chances left. They couldn’t afford any mishaps.

Unable to make up his mind, Black Dragon instinctively glanced at Su Yiyun. To tell the truth, after the dark shadow of their last defeat, he had lost his former dictatorial nature. When making strategic decisions, especially major ones, he was always indecisive and prone to wavering back and forth uncertainly.

Since then, Su Yiyun had taken on the role of strategist. Before he made any sort of decision, Black Dragon always tried to consult him first.

“Brother Su, we’ve already kept the troops on standby for twelve hours. Their motivation has sharply decreased and if we keep waiting, there will be serious consequences. But even so, I’m worried about Ye Zichen…. Brother Su, what do you think we should do?”

“Hack….” Su Yiyun coughed lightly in response and opened his eyes. He squinted at the sky, which was already starting to grow dark. Then he said weakly, “after all this time, you still haven’t found Ye Zichen’s position?”

“I haven’t.” Black Dragon frowned deeply and shook his head. “I’ve been investigating the area with my spiritual awareness this whole time. To avoid missing anything, I’ve searched tens of thousands of square miles without skipping so much as a single grain of sand, yet I still haven’t found the slightest trace of Ye Zichen.”

“Then you think he just vanished?” snorted Su Yiyun.

“That….” Black Dragon hesitated, then frowned. “I really don’t get it. Actually, I started investigating the moment he disappeared but found nothing whatsoever. Where could he have gone? I’ve been mulling it over this whole time but could only think of one possibility.”

“Go on,” said Su Yiyun.

“Brother Su, do you think there’s any chance this happened?” said Black Dragon after a moment’s pause. He bowed as he continued, “when we arrived, I received intelligence that the various realm’s higher-ups have all gone to the Struggle for the Three Realms. That’s why we chose this time to invade and plunder their resources.”

“Hm, not bad.”

“Then do you think there’s any chance Ye Zichen suddenly disappeared to go participate in the Struggle?”

In response, Su Yiyun’s expression shifted inexplicably. Before long, he got his emotions under control and smiled faintly.

“Black Dragon, you’ve really thought this true. That is indeed possible, but…”

“But what?”

“But I really hope that isn’t the case,” said Su Yiyun, visibly exhausted. “If he really left to go participate in the Struggle, that means we let his disappearance scare us so badly, we waited here for twelve whole hours. If this gets out, we’ll have no face left.”

“You’re right,” said Black Dragon. “That’s why I haven’t said anything yet. However, the demon army truly can not wait any longer. Brother Su, what do you think? Should we attack, or not?”

“Let’s wait just a little longer,” said Su Yiyun, but just as he finished his sentence, a young sentry dashed over frantically.

“Sir, a hundred miles away, there’s….”

Before the sentry finished speaking, Black Dragon leaped into the air and stared fiercely ahead, reaching out with his spiritual awareness. Soon, the other demons caught up to him and spread theirs out as well.

“Boss, let’s send in the troops,” called out the Demon Sovereigns in unison. Black Dragon looked ahead, then glanced at the spot where Ye Zichen had disappeared.

He grit his teeth and said, "someone has to stay and protect Brother Su. Everyone else…. Follow me into battle against Maple City!”

Awooo….

The sound of a horn

The sluggish demon soldiers’ expressions jolted as they heard the sound. Instantly, their spirits soared. Just as they reached for their weapons, they heard….

“Attack!”

The demon warriors swarmed in like locusts. Luo Wei and the others guarding the city perimeter shook.

At that very moment, a transmission appeared in Luo Wei’s consciousness.

He immediately smiled, then called out with unflinching determination, “to battle!”