Chapter 990: Divergent OpinionsNo one could have expected that the one who would kill the most death spirits in this battle wasn't Zhang Lie, Nightdemon, or even the coffin-carrier—but rather the death spirit flagship.
The battleships were evidently prepared for this technique, and they immediately readied their defenses as soon as the flagship made its move. They suffered few, if any, losses.
The flagship's sudden attack rebalanced the scales of victory.
The humans and draconians were also affected by the lasers, but because they hadn't charged forward, they didn't lose too many of their fighters.
The warlords had slaughtered their way into the heart of the black spirits, but they were each individually strong. Few died, though many were injured.
Nightdemon flapped his wings. "I didn't expect the death spirits to have such an ace up their sleeves. I've been somewhat seriously wounded. I'll leave the rest to you, then."
Zhang Lie rolled his eyes. "Nightdemon, aren't you embarrassed?"
"Ah, you've caught me." Nightdemon flapped his wings and took to the air again.
The bombardment of purple lasers might have been devastating to anyone else. Nightdemon was likewise injured because he was in such close proximity, but it wasn't particularly serious. There were too many lasers, and the energy spread too diffusely, for Nightdemon to have received a critical injury.
Nightdemon praised, "As expected of the death spirit flagship. The death spirits must have sunk quite a lot of resources into building it—likely even the majority of their resources."
Zhang Lie nodded. "In other words, if we can destroy it now, the death spirits won't be able to bring out a second one."
Nightdemon leaned back. "Don't joke around—if the death spirits had a second such flagship, I might just cry!"
"It's almost time for you to make a move, I think," Nightdemon told Zhang Lie. "No one else will be able to stop the flagship, and if you allow it to run rampant through our forces, they'll quickly fall apart."
Zhang Lie looked into the distance. "Before that, Nightdemon, would you be able to defend against this blow?"
The flagship launched another fusillade of purple lasers. This time, however, they were concentrated in the same direction. The attack was like a blinding sun, one whose radiance covered up the entire battlefield.
The next moment, the intense purple beam shot out of the flagship, thousands of times thicker than that from an ordinary battleship. If the beam were to strike the allied forces, all but those on the level of Nightdemon and Zhang Lie would die.
Nightdemon hurriedly spat out his Shining Trapezohedron, which struck the purple laser head-on. Purple light exploded over the entire battlefield, as though an apocalypse had drawn near.
The Shining Trapezohedron captured as much of the potency of the laser as it could within its twenty-four faces. Zhang Lie did the same, using his spatial manipulation to weaken the intensity of the laser.
The Shining Trapezohedron absorbed the purple laser and sent twenty-four weaker beams flying out every which way, some landing on the battlefield and dealing significant damage to the black spirits and allied forces, and others shooting through the sky and striking the death spirits' battleships.
Nightdemon took advantage of the characteristics of the Shining Trapezohedron to reflect and redirect the direction of the laser, turning it against the death spirits and destroying a considerable fraction of their battleships.
Even so, the capacity of the Shining Trapezohedron was limited, and the purple beam was too intense for the Shining Trapezohedron to redirect it all. As it shook and trembled violently, it was pushed back by the laser.
Hong Xi, noticing that something was amiss, immediately commanded, "Everyone, retreat! Move beyond the reach of these purple lasers!"
The humans and draconians carried out Hong Xi's command immediately.
The other aliens didn't understand what they were doing. "Why are you retreating now? It's clear that his highness Nightdemon has taken control of the purple light!"
Hong Xi shook her head. "It's beyond his capacity to handle."
"What do you mean?" Nightdemon had indeed blocked the purple laser.
Zhang Hanxiang clarified, "He won't be able to hold it back for long."
"That's impossible! Don't you know who he is? His highness Nightdemon, clone of the strongest king, the king of chaos! Surely he'll be able to block the attack completely." Sᴇaʀᴄh the n0vᴇl(ꜰ)ire.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.
"We need to trust in his highness."
"Don't you recall what happened during the ambush? We were all about to die from the spatial storm, but Nightdemon saved us all!"
Many of the aliens refused to believe Hong Xi's words on account of their blind faith in Nightdemon, but Hong Xi and the forces of the draconian world were different.
Compared to Nightdemon, they trusted Zhang Lie more. Before they set off, Zhang Lie had emphasized not to trust in their allies or in the other superior worlds, including their commanders and even the other superior kings.
Nightdemon hadn't done anything to hurt the allied forces so far, and he had even saved everyone using the Shining Trapezohedron. Although this should have engendered some faith in him, the forces of the draconian world trusted Zhang Lie with their very lives. Zhang Lie had told them not to blindly trust in the other superior worlds, and they would listen to his command.
When Hong Xi noticed that something might be going wrong with the situation, what she turned to wasn't her own judgment, or to Nightdemon's strength, but rather Zhang Lie's words.
However, the other aliens hadn't received such a warning. They instinctively followed the strong.
"You're lowering the allied forces' morale!"
"Nightdemon is the clone of the king of chaos. What can that battleship do against him?"
"Right, we need to believe in Nightdemon!"
Compared to Hong Xi, who was largely unknown among the three thousand worlds of the third realm, Nightdemon, who had no small amount of fame, clearly seemed much more reliable.
One alien even called out, "All of you bastards, don't you dare retreat! This commander's blind!"
Another alien pointed at his head. "Your commander's crazy! How did she make it to her position?"
A third alien taunted, "If your superior king were to learn about this, he'd be so angry that he'd spit blood. Don't you think Nightdemon will be able to handle this? You cowards!"
"You must be so frightened of the lasers that you can't think of anything but turning tail and running! All this is just an excuse to flee from the battlefield, isn't it?" The aliens around them all began to laugh.
Zhang Hanxiang snorted. "Feel free to stay here if you want to die. Hong Xi, let's go!"
However, the aliens stood still, refusing to budge and open a path for the draconian forces' retreat...