Book 4: Chapter 174: The Second Great Battle of the Vaughan Plains
Sarnia Duchyâs Capital City, Sarni City. Demons have already reclaimed the surrounding areas. The defeated Beastmen army that consisted of a million soldiers had retreated to the Vaughan Plains. Bellaâs Six Paths Army, except for the Second Path Army âBlood Rose,â had mysteriously increased in number. Their numbers rose from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands.
âI say⊠Lisha, er⊠Alisha, why did you come out?â
Bella had only now realized that Lisha, who had been standing next to her, had transformed into Demon Dragon Emperor Alisha. Her night-black hair perfectly matched her beautiful pair of golden eyes. Alisha looked far more domineering than the cute and adorable Lisha. Among Bellaâs âDarkest Knights,â several Demon Dragon Emperor guards emerged. They were the result of Alishaâs work.
âHmph, whatâs wrong? I change my look, and you no longer recognize me as your little sister! Now that youâre stronger, do you want toâŠâ
âNo, how did you come out? Lisha⊠is just another you!â
âHmph, even Kriss came out, how could I be left behind!â
Alisha discontentedly turned away, purposely looking away from Bella. It was the first time Bella had seen Alisha sulk, and she temporarily struggled to adapt. However, with Alishaâs reminder, Bella looked over toward the Third Path Army âPhantomâs Swordâ and saw that Kriss, who was leading the army, had changed quite a bit.
Kriss still had her old silver hair, but her formerly light purple eyes had changed into a deep purple. Her silver hair also seemed as if it were alive with a mysterious purple light. Her facial expression also differed from the old Kriss, making her look like an entirely different person.
Seeing Bella looking in her direction, Kriss shot Bella a friendly smile, showing that she still remembered her old ties. Holy Swordsman Cynthia looked at Kriss with a guarded expression. As a Holy Swordsman, she was unable to figure out how Kriss had suddenly shot up so much in power.
Despite still being a silver-haired beauty, Krissâs demeanor had changed drastically. Since Cynthia was standing behind Kriss, she didnât notice that Kriss had switched to her dark alter ego.
Bella hurriedly looked around. Thankfully, only Kriss and Lisha had switched to their alter egos. Elaine, Ariel, and Noreya were still their usual selves. They didnât need to change to their alter egos, even though their armies had expanded.
âFine, little sister, stop sulking! You are all my little sisters, okay?â
âHmph, at least youâre a competent big sister. Letâs go! I canât wait to show off on the battlefield. Itâs been a very long time since Iâve had such a large battlefield to display my talents.â
Since they were on a battlefield, Bella gave up on going over to greet the new Kriss. Bella still had to take care of a lot of things, and besides, Demon God Angel was keeping an eye on things from within Krissâs army group.
In the sky, a multitude of flying demons was heading off into the distance. They were scout demons and were about the size of a regular bird. The demonâs each had a scrying eye that was hung from their legs. Bella wanted to get a handle on the enemyâs situation before making her battle plan.
Before long, the scout demons had already relayed the latest intelligence; the Beastmen had a 100,000 man army stationed on the Vaughan Plains. They were inside the human armyâs abandoned fortress. Based on the banner, it was Wolf King Springhallâs army.
There were only two Beastmen armies that had invaded the Gabriel Empire. They both had around one million troops, and their vanguard was Springhallâs army. The army currently assaulting the Empireâs border region was led by the Lion King, and was a completely separate force from Springhallâs army.
Bellaâs forces had already totaled over 10 million; breaking through this force of 100,000 was barely worth an afterthought. Before the army had even steadied itself, Bellaâs âDarkest Knightsâ army group had already led the charge toward the Beastmen garrison on the Vaughan Plains. Blood Demon King Eleanor led the âBlood Roseâ army group right behind them. The remaining four army groups were still sorting out their logistics and temporarily stayed back.
The fortress on the Vaughan Plains only held 100,000 Beastmen defenders. When they saw over a million demons flooding toward them like a tidal wave, the usually courageous Beastmen hurriedly locked the main gate, ducking down for their bows.
Before the Beastmen could even raise their heads back up, they were skewered by spears raining down from the sky. Large numbers of ghoul lancers, under the guidance of the flying demons, threw their spears into the fortress. This sort of temporary fortress had rather short walls, at only two meters high. Against spear throwers that had the height advantage, they offered practically no protection.
The fortress didnât pose much of an obstacle to the Demon Army. Although Bellaâs army didnât have the Abyss Demon King to support them, they had the strongest mount, Devastating Evil Dragon Emperor Lolita. This darkness attributed loli gently waved her small hand, sending a jet of black colored light that blasted open the fortressâs main gates.
Before the disordered Beastmen defenders even had a chance to prepare, large numbers of demon soldiers raised their pikes and charged in formation. The Beastmen, who didnât use shields, instantly fell in droves.
Bella and Lisha charged into the front lines while also holding back as much as they could. It was a group battle, and if they had unleashed their full power, then their demonic underlings wouldnât have anything left to play.
The defending Beastmen were mostly Wolfmen. The Wolfmenâs defensive capabilities were far inferior to their offense. This weakness was exposed as soon as the two forces met. An army whose main strength was speed and mobility had no advantages to speak of in a chaotic melee.
Bella strapped her shield onto her back, switching to using her demon claws and sword in tandem to kill the enemy. The demon clawâs killing power was frightening. When used to attack, it was cloaked in an aura of killing intent similar to a sword aura. It could simultaneously penetrate the bodies of multiple Wolfmen in a single strike, leaving them with scattered corpses.
Demonic Dragon Emperor Alisha fought rather aggressively. She still hadnât pulled out her weapon; instead, her two hands had transformed into dark gold dragon claws. Alishaâs explosive attacks sent the enemy flying as if a giant dragon had struck them; it was one shot, one kill.
The warriors who had run forward to block Bella and Lisha were forced to retreat. The garrison commander of the fortress, Wolf Warrior Ivan, seeing the approaching Bella and Lisha, was so afraid that his legs were shaking.
If he could run, Ivan would have been the first to escape. This wasnât even a battle; it was a one-sided slaughter. What was even more shameless was that the among the enemyâs demonic army, there were many priestesses, their Radiant Church robes had a stark contrast to their surroundings.
Ivan almost burst into tears. With the Radiant Church working together with the demons, there was no way to win this battle. Not only did these priestesses know the light magic, but they also were able to use a Dark Priestâs reanimation magic. As soon as a Beastman warrior finally managed to cut down a skeleton soldier, a round of reanimation magic would raise it being as good as new.
On the Beastmen continent, deserters were punished even more harshly than in the human empires; they would be executed. With no options left to him, Ivan was preparing to charge forward, but Bella had already arrived. Bella walked past him, accompanied by a flash of sword light. This Wolfman general had the same fate as his soldiers, decapitation.
The unlucky Wolfman general didnât even get a chance to declare his name before getting cut down. The people present didnât even react to death; he died like cannon fodder.
Seeing that their commander had been slain in an instant, the remaining Beastmenâs morale plummeted. They couldnât care less about the deserter penalty and all dashed for the back door of the fortress. Although the demonic army could have surrounded the forces, cutting off any escape, they had decided to leave the back clear, leaving the Beastmen an avenue of retreat.
Chasing a fleeing enemy was far easier than finishing off a cornered animal. The 100,000 Beastmen army were ridden down by the âDarkest Knights.â Before the sunset, hundred thousand Beastmen souls rested on the Vaughan Plains, accompanying the 150,000 troops of the human army in death.
History would name this event as the âSecond Great Battle of the Vaughan Plains.â The Darkness Sacred Regionâs army recaptured the Vaughan Plains that had been lost by the Allied Human Army, eliminating the threat of the Beastmen against Sarnia Duchy and Sarni City. Taking into account the siege of Sarni City earlier, the Beastmen had lost over 250,000 troops in Sarnia Duchy.
âBella. Isnât this too cruel⊠If the Beastmen surrenderedâŠâ
âPresident Maria, this is war. Thereâs no such thing as too cruel.â
After the battle, Maria led the other priestesses to clean up the battlefield. Bella had brought these priestesses from the third generation Radiant Church Pope McPhersonâs Monastery. Based solely on age, they were several thousand years old. They were able to live until now due to some special secret techniques. It wouldnât be entirely correct to say that they were still human.
Bella decided that they were various demons that possessed the special ability to use holy magic. Each army group included a couple of priestesses. Once Maria found about these priestessesâ origins, she was silent for a long time. She didnât know how to face the complicated and dark history of the Radiant Church.
Maria was also unused to the scene of Bella massacring the remaining Beastmen soldiers. Maria was still a relatively kindhearted cleric. No human army had ever annihilated a Beastmen army of over 100,000 troops. Bella was the first to take this achievement.
âIf youâre not used to it, wait for me in my tent. Iâll give you a good lesson!â
âWhat⊠Do you want to do something bad again? No⊠I⊠IâŠâ
âYou what? President Maria, if you donât come to my tent, then Iâll have to come to invite you personally. If you donât want people to see you being carried into my tentâŠâ
Bella left a red-faced Maria, as she walked to the command tent with Lisha. Maria helplessly sighed as her frantically beating heart slowed down. She began carrying out the duties of a battlefield priestess, praying for the dead so that their souls might rest more comfortable.
âAlisha, when are you going to return Lisha to me!â
âWhatâs wrong, you donât like me? Or do I annoy you! What if I never return her!â
âNo⊠Youâre also my little sister. Donât throw a fit, okay! You donât annoy me.â
Seeing Demon Dragon Emperor Alishaâs wicked smile, Bella was a little unsettled. She had never imagined that Alisha was such an âS.â She wasnât like Lisha, who was a gentle little sister. She was an evil little sister. For the time being, Bella couldnât do anything to Alisha, since she was powerful. It was still challenging for Bella to overpower her.
âWhatâs wrong, is little sister Lisha being naughty? Is she hard to control?â
Right as Bella was about to fall into an awkward situation, Kriss appeared in the nick of time. It was the first time that Bella got a close up look at Krissâ dark transformation. Besides her drastic change in demeanor, there was no change to her body, unlike Lisha, whose hair color completely changed.
âYou⊠Are you jealous that Iâm flirting with my big sis?â
âNonsense! Whatâs wrong with me chatting with my lover?â
âAlright, letâs first go have dinner, stop arguing.â
Right when the two were about to have âan accidental shot of love,â Bella hurriedly defused the situation. They were currently in a state of war; if two commanders were to start a fight out of jealousy, it would be recorded in the history books. Considering that Alisha and Kriss were under her command, Bella shouted them down before a large scale internal conflict situation could arise.
Bella walked up and grabbed onto Kriss and Lishaâs small hands, causing the two beauties to quiet down instantly; they obediently allowed Bella to lead them toward the command tent. It was then that Bella realized the two werenât about to start a fight and were joking around. She had misjudged them due to the changes in their demeanor from their dark transformations; they spoke much more aggressively than usual.
After night fell, the Vaughan Fields reverted to peacefulness. The Six Paths Demon Army did not linger here. Instead, they hurried toward the south. Demons didnât even know the concept of rest, and according to the flying demon scoutsâ intelligence reports, Wolf King Springhallâs 800,000 strong force was currently stationed at the former Grande Duchy capital, Nolan City.
Bella planned to ride their momentum and reclaim Grande Duchy in one fell swoop. If they could strike before news of the defeat at the Vaughan Plains reached Springhall, that would be the perfect ambush opportunity.
Under the moonlight, large numbers of demons were rapidly mobilizing. With the aid of darkness magic, millions of demons moved without making a single noise as if they were shadows. Bella and her girls were riding along in specially designed carriages, resting after the battle. They werenât like the demons, who were always in a battle-ready state and untiring.
Bellaâs carriage was located in the center of the first path army, âDarkest Knights,â and drawn by specialized demons. The amenities in the carriage were on par with the Emperorâs carriage. Now that all of the girls had hidden into the carriages, the grand army looked like a pure demonic army.
In the south, there was a significant temperature difference between day and night; it was unusually cold at night. Due to the recent battles, many lost souls wandered the night, and it was only the demon army that dared to travel at night.
Bella lifted a corner of the carriage window screen and saw many lost souls wandering in the distance. They rose due to the lack of priestessâ rites and could only wander around, terrorizing travelers to ease their own suffering. If one didnât possess a sacred symbol of the Radiant Church, then they would be ambushed.
However, meeting Bellaâs demon army, the lost souls couldnât get out of the way fast enough. These lost souls were like peasants fleeing an imperial procession. The demons thought that the sight of these lost souls would annoy Bella, and went forth to corral them away.
Letting down the window screen, Bella returned to the table. There werenât any chairs in the carriage, the passengers all sat on the floor. Lisha and Bella rode the same carriage, while Kriss had already returned to her carriage. The passengers of the first carriage were the girls of the âDarkest Knights.â
âAlisha, would you tell me about your past?â
âDear Sister wants to listen? Nevermind, we can talk about it when thereâs time. Your own story isnât any less exciting than mine. Iâm a bit sleepy, wake me if thereâs a problem.â
It was hot in the carriage and the sisters in the carriage, due to the lack of the opposite sex, all wore thin clothing. Demonic Dragon Emperor Alisha wasnât wearing any outerwear but was wearing Bellaâs specially designed dark gold underwear. As she sprawled on a foam cushion, her posture was exceptionally provocative.
Bella, to avoid losing control, could only grasp for a topic of conversation to distract herself. However, Alisha feigned tiredness and went to sleep. Bella went up to the seductively posed little devil and covered her with a warm blanket, planting a soft kiss on her cheek.
After settling Lisha, Bella opened up a map and began planning for battle. Kennethâs force of Dark Humans hadnât appeared in Nolan City, and she didnât know if they had a change of plans. As long as they benefitted Nolan City, sheâd be able to devour Wolf King Springhall.
At that time, there was a substantial possibility of the Beastmen force that was assaulting the Empireâs borders to return. Nolan City was currently the Beastmen Armyâs supply base. The entire landscape of the battlefield would shift if they managed to capture Nolan City. It would all come down to the battle of Nolan City.
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