Chapter 483: Tower Defense

A warning signal blared across Shangri-La. The immortals stationed permanently all entered an alert state and moved to their assigned defensive positions. Despite seeing the demons glaring wickedly at them and flying toward with an oppressive momentum, none of the immortals showed any fear. A few even showed a relaxed expression.

Instead, they only raised their favored weapon, waiting to use it. Even when it seemed that the demons were only a few hundred kilometers away, they still did not attack. They waited and waited. Sure enough, the demons paused a few kilometers outside of Shangri-La. They didn’t stop, but were blocked by Tianyi’s barrier.

The demons spread out, attempting to find a hole in Shangri-La’s defense. Thanks to the invisible barrier, it appeared as if the demons were building a barrier to prevent the immortals from escaping the mobile fortress with their bodies. Should the barrier fail, the demons would assault the humans from all sides, leaving no escape route.

Again, the immortals within showed no panic.

“I found it!” a demon shouted with excitement. He had coincidently found a spot in the barrier that did not hinder any movement forward. The demon didn’t take any action to move forward. Rather, he wanted to take a step back, but it was too late.

A mountain shot into the air from Shangri-La. It positioned itself between the floating landmass and the ‘entrance’ of the barrier. Immediately, the floating mountain unleashed a bolt of lightning. The demon didn’t have time to utter another word as a flash engulfed him. When the light died down, all that was left was the ash floating in the void.

The demons around him unconsciously took a step back. To their relief, the floating mountain did not release another bolt of lightning.

Finally, the demon emperor leading the crusade arrived near the opening. He possessed the form and fur of a wolf, but the horns of a dragon, the claws of a tiger, and the tail of a snake. As soon as he stepped through, the floating mountain released another bolt.

The lupine demon raised its front paw and struck the bolt of lightning. After destroying it, he looked at his front leg and saw a slight scorch mark where he made contact. The attack easily reached the peak of a demon king. Normally, he would have dodged it, but the passage that the opening led to was too narrow, limiting his movement.

He retreated out of the opening. This was not the first time the Demon Clan attacked Shangri-La, so he was used to it. The first time they laid siege to Shangri-La, the barrier had no openings, and they could not break it no matter what.

At least, with their current composition. If they united all the Demon Clan’s top forces, it would likely be possible, but then the humans would also do the same and then the final battle would start. Neither side wanted the final battle to start too soon. Each side wanted to accumulate advantages before starting the final battle.

So, the first siege ended with the Demon Clan not attaining any results.

When the demons discovered an opening in the barrier in the second siege, they all rushed in, thinking it was a crack in the mobile fortress’s defenses. They soon learned the error of their judgment without the chance to regret it.

The opening was a trap. Any demons that entered would have to follow a specific path with no deviation, severely limiting their mobility. The worst part was that the mountains on Shangri-La would position themselves at certain points next to the passage, never directly in the way, but that made it worse. The mountains were turrets that unleashed spell after spell, and the demons couldn’t deviate from the passage and destroy these mountain turrets.

After learning the first time, the Demon Clan no longer hoped to attack Shangri-La through the opening. They wanted to break down the barrier, unfortunately; it was a nigh impossible task. They would have continued attacking the barrier had one event not occurred.

Although the Demon Clan did not focus on the opening, they did not completely ignore it. While laying siege, a demon with a powerful concealment innate ability slipped through the passage. The Demon Clan and humans only realized it only after the demon entered Shangri-La. He exposed himself when he attacked one of the mobile turrets, but it also resulted in his death.

Since then, the Demon Clan knew that the passage was a viable way to enter Shangri-La and placed more emphasis on it. Like right now.

The lupine demon emperor had moved out of the way and motioned a turtle-shaped demon king to step forward. Under his orders, the turtle-like demon king led a squad of demons into the passage. Following alongside him were several other demons, like a rhinoceros demon with a steel-like hide, a porcupine-like demon with molten quills, and a tree demon with bronze bark. Sandwiched between these demons were other demons that had much weaker defenses.

As soon as the demons entered the passage, the mountain released another bolt of lightning. At this time, the turtle-like demon king blocked the bolt with its hard shell. With the attack blocked, the demons continued to move forward, but five seconds later, the mountain turret released another bolt.

The turtle-like demon king blocked it again. When the group of demons reached a hundred meters into the passage, the mountain turret stopped attacking the turtle-like demon king and attacked the one after it. The demon king knew that it was an automatic response that would attack enemies within a certain range, and since he left its range, it would attack the closest one.

Although the demons in his group had powerful defenses, the turtle-like demon king still activated his innate ability. Any ally within the range would receive the same defensive ability as himself, so the bolt of lightning did not cause much damage to this group of demons.

Two hundred and fifty meters in, a second mountain shot out of Shangri-La and positioned itself near the passage. It also shot lightning, doubling the number of attacks the squad of demons suffered. The turtle-like demon grunted and pushed forward.

A thousand meters in, four mountain turrets surrounded the passage, constantly barraging the demons. A thousand and two hundred fifty meters in, no new mountain shot out to barrage them, but the demons didn’t let down their guard.

Their predecessors had already experienced this, using their lives to reveal the methods of the humans. A thousand and five hundred meters in, a new mountain shot forth from the mobile fortress. It didn’t shoot any lightning, but something worse. It sent a torrent of water drops akin to a Gatling gun shooting bullets.

Individually, the water drops did not deal much damage to the demons. Even demons that had not become demon lords could withstand a few before succumbing. The problem was that it shot too many, and the normally inconsequential damage built up incredibly quickly.

The turtle-like demon king felt its effect even more. The water drops covered an incredibly extensive area, making his innate ability a burden. However, he persisted. When he felt himself weakening, he would devour one of the healing materials stored in his stomach, recovering him to his peak state.

Five hundred meters later, another mountain turret appeared. Just like the first four, it unleashed a lightning spell. However, unlike the first four, it was a wide net-like attack. The power dispersed, but the turtle-like demon king did not lower his guard.

He gazed at the rhinoceros demon. The rhinoceros demon roared and activated his innate ability. Any lightning attribute spell or attack affected by it would dramatically weaken. The reason the demons waited until now to use it was because the lightning net would cause exponential damage because they were still affected by the previous water drop torrent. When the lightning made contact, the water still clinging onto them would multiply the effect several folds.

This knowledge was attained at the cost of an earlier squad’s death.

In fact, the demons going through the passage also had a heavy heart. They have only made it halfway through the passage before, and they knew it was likely they would die before reaching the exit. Still, this was a war and none of the demons thought of shirking their responsibility.

The deeper they traversed, the more complex the attacks became. Sometimes, the mountain turret would unleash a fireball that didn’t directly harm the demons, but lit the passage ablaze. It was even more torturous than directly withstanding the attack, especially for the turtle-like demon king.

Another turret didn’t attack them, but conjured a stone slab that impeded the passage. Infuriatingly, it stopped the group at the location with the highest concentration of attacks. Until the demons broke the slab, they would have to withstand the concentrated firepower. If they weren’t careful, the stone slab would split the group in two.

The most troublesome mountain turret was the one that appeared to have malfunctioned. Even the turret with the most powerful physical attack, one that literally shot steel spikes at them, could not compare. At first glance, it appeared broken, remaining still even as the group passed by, but it was the most insidious of all the obstacles the demons faced.

While none of the demons paid attention, the mountain actually released tiny seeds. Even with a demon lord’s eyesight, they would not appear much different from dust. However, once inhaled, they would attach themselves to the inner body and sprout. To grow, plants needed nutrition, and naturally, they would feed on the demons’ innards.

This secret trick killed countless demon squads before the Demon Clan figured out what happened. Many demon kings suffered from this concealed attack. Many even fell before escaping from whence they came. Once exposed, the lethality dropped. As long as the demons formed a protective barrier near their orifices, the seeds became useless. Larger barriers did not work because the other turrets would pierce through them, making them vulnerable.

“Emperor Jiaolang, why don’t we send more demons instead of squad after squad? The more demons there are, the more they can support each other,” a demon king suggested.

Emperor Jiaolang, the lupine demon emperor, just glared at the demon king.

“Idiot,” he ridiculed. “Are you so sure that this passage isn’t a trap by the humans? What if this is all one big scheme? Have you ever heard of a barrier that specifically has a hole in its defenses to let enemies in? Don’t underestimate the insidiousness of humans.”

“But didn’t we succeed once?” the demon king mumbled.

“Fool,” the lupine demon emperor turned, not even wanting to bother with the stupid boarish demon king. His pupils shrunk into needlepoints when he saw a change at the other end of the passage.

“What happened to that immortal? Why is he suddenly attacking?” the boar demon king asked. His eyes widened when he saw a demon appear out of nowhere. “When did King Feilian sneak into the passage?”

Meng Tingfeng gazed at the demon king before him like it was a dead demon. The demon king had the form of a deer, two wings, and a snake for a tail. “You should know the fate that befell the previous demon that dared to sneak in. Now that I’m here, just give up and surrender your life.”

King Feilin roared. His body turned transparent, and he dissolved into countless bursts of wind.

Meng Tingfeng didn’t change his expression and swung his sword. Two stars blazed to life on the Seven Star Sword. Seconds later, King Feilian changed back into his original form with a shocked expression. His aura had dropped considerably, and even a fool could tell he had suffered serious injuries.

The demon king turned tail. He wanted to escape. Although it would harm him, he still activated his innate ability and transformed into countless strands of wind.

How could Meng Tingfeng let him escape? He thrust his sword several times and the radiance on his blade shot out like shooting stars. King Feilian only had a chance to release a roar full of an unwillingness before his body reappeared, but his eyes had long gone dim.

Meng Tingfeng waved his hand and accepted the demon king’s corpse. He sheathed the Seven Star Sword and stood still.

“Why did you come back here? You’re a sword immortal. You should be a sharp spear attacking the Demon Clan, not just a sort of shield,” Tianyi griped, full of disdain.