Chapter 99 The Tides Have Changed (3)

Five minutes before Jin and Ysabelle’s grand escape…

The coalition against Eyghon was parked outside the mighty beast, staring down the Demon Lord with blood within their eyes. Twenty-four hours had passed since Eyghon’s appearance, and the elites of the world wasted no time in gathering.

Whenever the Demon Lord would appear, he would stay at the same spot for three full days. And while no one knew why it remained stationary, one thing was for certain. Every time it appeared, it brought death and destruction with its seemingly infinite number of spawns. And when the dust settled, Eyghon would disappear like a nightmare that haunted humanity.

The main reason why the numerous races of the world put aside their petty differences was precisely because of this insufferable threat. Outer Demons and Demon Lords were a plague that infested the planet, and a Demon Lord like Eyghon could be the next cause of the next mass extinction.

Which was why…

“One million hunters. A hundred thousand Werewolves. Fifty thousand Vampires. And ten thousand Exorcists… Has there ever been a larger army?”

Lilith muttered with undisguised awe, unsure of what to make of the sight before her eyes. Thousands of men and women were gathered together in a vast mountain range, many of them seasoned fighters and magicians. From her position, it seemed like she was watching an ocean of ants march together in unison.

It was one thing to gather a bunch of soldiers with limited capabilities together, but every single one of the ‘ants’ she saw, were at least B-ranked Hunters, elites who had the ability to kill multiple Outer Demons with their own hands.

While there might have been bigger armies in the past, the force that she was witnessing was far superior. Not to mention, behind that million-strong army, there were numerous monsters ready to support them.

From ancient Vampires like Matriarch Innocence to S-ranked Hunters, Alpha Werewolves and even Archbishops from the Holy Church. Individually, they had the power to take on legions of Outer Demons, and if they joined their forces… They could likely annihilate the Demon Lord that invaded the planet.

Though, it was just that… A likelihood.

“Not to my recollection,” Capella replied to her young mistress with the same amazed eyes. “We’re witnessing history right now.”

“I’m not really keen on being part of it though,” Lilith scoffed with a huff and looked to her side.

Irina, the silent beauty, didn’t even spare the army a second glance. She was angrily staring at the exceedingly large Demon Lord, her teeth clattering and her eyes bloodshot. If it wasn’t for Lilith stopping her numerous times, the white-haired Venus would have rushed into Eyghon’s mouth and ripped her beloved brother out of its mouth.

Neither Irina nor Lilith wished to be a part of this war. As long as Jin was alright, they could care less if the alliance killed Eyghon or not. Unfortunately, since the man had been swallowed whole by the bloody Demon Lord, the pair were forced to participate in this dreadful activity.

“Have the commanders issued the plan?”

“No, they should be notifying us soon.”

Roughly forty-eight hours were left before Eyghon’s time on the planet was up. In that forty-eight hours, an unfathomable amount of damage could be done by the Demon Lord and its spawns, which was why the alliance had spared no expense in accelerating the coalition.

While defeating Eyghon might be a stretch, they could at least mitigate the damage. However, for Irina and Lilith, just waiting for the Demon Lord to run away wasn’t acceptable. They needed to rescue Jin from Eyghon’s stomach.

“Don’t worry, I can’t see General Enzo abandoning his only daughter. He’ll most likely order a raid to at least damage Eyghon.”

“Just damaging it won’t be enough… We’ll need to find a way to enter the monster and rescue Jin and Ysabelle.”

Lilith frowned as she gave the only solution she could come up with. The past twenty-four hours had been brutal on the young lady as she barely slept a wink. She was weighed down with concern over Jin’s safety, plus she was busy studying whatever little records humanity had of Eyghon.

Lilith worried day and night, struggling to find the best solution to bring her bloodmate back safe and sound. Alas, the Fortress of the Earth was far too mysterious. With its ability to negate all magic and immunity to all physical attacks, breaking the Demon Lord’s defences was nigh impossible, let alone killing it.

If they wished to rescue Jin and Ysabelle… They could only enter into the belly of the beast.

“… I doubt Lord Sirius would agree to that plan.”

“Of course, he won’t; he would rather see Jin die.”

Lilith snapped back sharply. Ever since Jin and Sirius duelled, the blonde beauty didn’t have a good impression of her brother. Especially since Sirius nearly mortally wounded Jin.

“Irina.”

“What?”

The Winter Goddess turned with a frosty look in her eyes, sending shivers down Lilith’s spine. She had been quiet all this time and her first words were just as frosty as her expression. Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Lilith continued:

“Can we count on the Everwinter House for support?”

“Doubtful,” Irina shook her head emphatically. “My stupid grandmother doesn’t care about my Lord Brother. There’s no universe where she’ll sacrifice Everwinter lives for him.”

“That’s a shame… I guess we can only count on the Blackburn House.”

This was the one time Lilith found it fortunate that Ysabelle was swallowed with Jin. General Enzo’s fondness for his only daughter was well known in Vampire Society, and he’ll likely do everything in his power to get her back. Even if it meant diving into the belly of the beast.

“Can we organise a meeting with the General?”

“Hard to say…”

Capella scratched the bottom of her chin while giving out a soft reply. As Lilith’s bodyguard, she didn’t wish to subject the girl to any danger. In addition, she didn’t have any fondness for Jin or the Blackburn girl that was swallowed with him. If Lilith went into Eyghon, Capella had to follow her. And no matter how dedicated she was to her duty, Capella wouldn’t want to throw her life away for someone she didn’t even like.

“Please send word to him. This is an order.”

Sensing her guard’s reluctance, Lilith made sure to give a firm order. And while Capella would curse under her breath, the faithful bodyguard could only nod her head and bow.

Alas, before she could even take one step away.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

The ground started to shake. A deafening, low-pitched cry could be heard, sending heavy shockwaves through the air and creating vibrations that could shatter an average human’s bones. Many of the elites present fell to the floor, and their heads started to hurt badly. Fissures cracked the rocky terrain, while the resonance of the roar could be heard from the next continent.

“W-What’s going on?!”

Lilith cried out in pure shock. Both her hands were cupped on her ears as tears began pouring out from her shivering vale eyes. It took everything that she had to raise her chin up and what she saw next… shook her to the core.

Eyghon, the Demon Lord that was supposed to be slumbering and dormant… Was now wide awake. With its mouth opened to its largest possible state, Eyghon let out a soul-clattering cry, one that betrayed a semblance of emotion within.

It was confused, unwilling, and… afraid.

For some reason, the mighty Demon Lord, the monster that united the planet and brought every single race together. A Demon that came from another dimension and was a monstrosity that was immune to both magical and physical attacks. A nightmarish alien whose size was equivalent to a mountain range and whose every step sent earthquakes throughout the continent.

That monster…

Was scared.

BRRRRRRRR!!!

“What now?!”

Lilith turned over her shoulder at the deep rumbling that resonated all around her. And to her complete dismay, Outer Demons of all shapes and sizes were rushing towards Eyghon, like baby pups returning to their mother. Thousands, if not millions of Outer Demons were frantically running back to the Demon Lord, contrary to their usual modus operandi of scattering around to deal as much damage as possible.

The coalition forces were clearly taken aback by the sudden movements of the Outer Demons. Caught unprepared, many gaped in shock as thousands of the beasts flew over their heads. However, the generals and seasoned hunters weren’t going to let that happen for long.

“Everyone to your positions! Annihilate every single one of them!”

The elites were quickly put to work as every single commander barked out their orders. They were here to hunt Outer Demons anyway, starting the battle an hour or two earlier didn’t prove to be much of a problem.

Warriors held back the frantic monsters as magicians cast their supportive or destructive spells. Werewolves used their claws to rip the Outer Demons apart while Vampires used magic to burn them alive. And amid all of the chaos, Priests healed the wounded while Exorcists provided auxiliary support.

It was a symphony of bloodshed and the victims were none other than Eyghon’s spawns.

For some odd reason, the Outer Demons were desperate to get back to the Demon Lord, making their movements predictable and therefore, giving them a huge target on their backs.

Lilith couldn’t comprehend what she was watching.

To call it a battle would be a stretch. It was a one-sided massacre. Hundreds of Outer Demons fell by the second with many failing to even reach a kilometre of the mighty Eyghon. Corpses piled on each other, forcing the attackers to stand on them to manoeuvre through the battlefield.

It was a mindless slaughter, and it all happened so suddenly.

As for the cause of this all…

ARRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!

Eyghon continued its endless cry as if it was wailing out in pain. It opened its mouth, swallowing as many Outer Demons as it could like a blue whale feeding on krill. Yet, no matter how much it ate and swallowed, it was never enough. The Demon Lord willed for more Outer Demons to return, hurrying them with each and every cry.

In mere minutes, the entire mountain range was filled with an endless supply of Outer Demons, outnumbering the coalition forces ten to one.

Arkudols, Ornoths, Astrons, Doggons, Okarins…

The list of dangerous Outer Demons was endless. Many of them possessed anti-magic fields while a huge majority had high defences against physical attacks.

If they were organised and were willing to fight to the death against the coalition forces… The planet would have lost at least half of its most elite fighters today. But fortunately for the alliance, the Outer Demons didn’t seem keen on fighting the war. They only wished to return to their master.

As for why that was so… It was anyone’s guess.

“Lilith! This is our chance!”

“Chance?”

“Right!” Irina pointed her index finger eagerly at the Demon Lord’s wide-opened mouth. “We can rush into Eyghon alongside the Outer Demons and save Lord Brother that way!”

“Y-You have a point…”

Ideally, Lilith would like to conjure up a detailed plan. How to get into Eyghon? How much time did they have inside? What was the best method to escape? How will they find Jin in the labyrinth that was Eyghon’s stomach?

The number of factors to calculate was innumerable. However…

“No, you’re right! An opportunity like this doesn’t come so easily! Although we don’t know what’s causing Eyghon’s distress, we can use this chance to rescue Jin!”

At this point, Lilith’s rational mind had thrown caution into the wind. They now had a clear opportunity to save Jin, and if they dilly-dallied for much longer, that window of opportunity could close. Therefore, against every fibre of her being, Lilith made the decision to run into the jaws of the beast to save her bloodmate.

But before she could move…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!

A pillar of crimson light shot out of Eyghon’s shell. The dense magic laser shot through the heavens, piercing the clouds and sending an unbearable sense of dread down every Outer Demon’s spines. No, even the regular spectators were blinded by that spectacular red tower.

They felt emasculated… Powerless… And most shockingly of all… Fearful of that odd pillar of light.

It didn’t matter if they were a B-ranked Hunter or an ancient Vampire. That crimson laser was something otherworldly, something majestic, something… hegemonic.

And Eyghon… The indomitable Demon Lord… Closed its eyes for one final time as its entire body collapsed onto the mountain floor.

Shock and fear.

Those were the two emotions that remained on everyone’s minds.

What happened to Eyghon? Why did it collapse? What was that strange and powerful red beam?

Endless amounts of questions arose in everyone’s minds and few could even begin to comprehend what had happened. However, there was one person present that saw the unthinkable. She never once let her eyes off of Eyghon, as she desperately tried to sense her precious elder brother.

Therefore, she was the only one to see what followed the red pillar of light.

Irina’s eyes turned cold as she saw a young woman carrying a man in a princess carry. Flying out of the hole in Eyghon’s shell, the woman tenderly held the man as if he was her most prized possession and her eyes betrayed the deep emotions she had for him.

It was truly like a scene ripped out from a fairy tale.

Unable to hold back her annoyance, Irina spat with a cold voice:

“Show off…”