Chapter 223: The Dance of Demons

The early winter night was exceptionally cold. There was no wind tonight, only sparse snowflakes falling, covering the dark Nightlight City with a layer of white gauze.

Dark shadows were howling outside the city, gathering more and more under the cover of night. A layer of faint black mist seemed to permeate the entire Larr Mountains. The shadows seemed to smell the human scent of Nightlight City, revealing ferocious red eyes and roaring as they charged toward the city.

On the walls of Nightlight City, all the residents had been mobilized. Over seven thousand rifled flintlock muskets and nearly three hundred rifled cannons armed the entire population, giving them the courage and confidence to fight.

The black mist carrying blood-red light permeated the city but could not harm the residents. Everyone was protected by the Lesser Mental Block Spell, cutting off external influences. Even if red light occasionally flashed in their eyes, the Heart Force on the rune structure behind their heads would soothe them. With a flash of golden or silver-white light, their sanity would be restored.

Ace carefully collected some black mist and stored it in a sealed container made of Mana-contaminated lead.

“These are rare experimental materials. I can compare them with the soil and air of the Abyss projection later to verify my judgment.”

While collecting the mist, Ace thought to himself.

Carlo smoothed his bushy beard, stared at the countless blood-red eyes among the shadows, spat fiercely, and shouted loudly to the militia of his squad:

“Don’t rush! Let them get closer before firing! Keep your eyes on the flashing lines outside the city. Those are the distance lines set up by the Wizards. One yellow line is 50 meters, two are 100 meters, three are 150 meters, and four are 200 meters. Wait until they reach 150 meters. No wasted shots!”

Not far away, three artillerymen were operating a rifled cannon, making final preparations. This powerful cannon had an effective aiming range of close to a thousand meters. Even powerful low-level Monsters could be killed with one shot.

They were not in a hurry, seemingly waiting for something.

At this moment, forty Wizard Apprentices raised their hands toward the mid-air above the shadows. Spell Models appeared in their hands, and intense light began to emerge.

Accompanied by the activation of Spell Models and the pulse of Mana, bright orbs of light were instantly projected from their hands.

Light as bright as day blossomed above the shadows. The people on the wall instantly saw clearly: thousands of various Monsters were roaring and charging toward Nightlight City. The vast majority came from the west, likely a massive Monster riot from the Larr Mountains.

“Test fire!”

With a boom, a rifled cannon roared, firing a shell. The shell spiraled out, rushing into the group of Monsters in almost a straight line.

Like a plow, the shell carved a bloody furrow through the Monster horde, instantly killing dozens of low-level Monsters.

The Monsters were not intimidated; instead, their ferocity was aroused, and they roared as they charged toward Nightlight City.

A continuous barrage of shelling whistled in. The Monsters were bombarded by three hundred cannons, suffering heavy casualties instantly. The remaining Monsters ran to the edge of Nightlight City and were easily defeated by the musketeers.

Cheers erupted in the city. People embraced each other joyfully, unable to believe that victory was won so easily.

“So-called Monster Tide is nothing much!” Caruso relaxed his tense nerves and said to Lucilu beside him.

“Legend says the night of the waning moon is very dangerous. Is it because Lord Ace prepared too thoroughly?” Lucilu said doubtfully.

Just as the people on the wall relaxed their vigilance, Ace activated Ultrasound Retrieval Perception, scanning the situation within five kilometers. His face turned extremely grim.

Wizard Apprentices successively felt their Grimoires become hot. Looking at the message on the last page, their expressions changed drastically.

“Everyone be alert! Musketeers and artillerymen, load ammunition immediately!”

“Third Militia Battalion, Fifth Militia Battalion, Seventh Militia Battalion, all aim at the sky!”

“Wizard Apprentices, prepare for combat. Focus on defending against enemies from the sky.”

While Bayen, Daina, and Betty were giving commands, more shadows appeared from the horizon and the sky.

Ace and the mirror image looked at each other and nodded slowly.

The roar of muskets and cannons and choking smoke scorched the entire Nightlight City. Tens of thousands of Larr Bats, Blood Crows, and other flying Monsters dived straight from the sky toward the city wall.

“Aim at the Monsters on the ground! Leave the sky to our comrades and the Wizards!” Carlo roared at his militia squad, pulling the trigger fiercely.

The Wizard Apprentices cast their proficient spells, attacking the sky.

Betty shouted, extending her arms and spreading her fingers toward the swarm of Monsters in the sky.

Zheng!

One, two, three… nearly a hundred Lesser Spell Models appeared. Sweat rolled down Betty’s cheeks, hands, and shoulder blades. A trace of fatigue flashed across her beautiful face. She unconsciously bit her thin lower lip hard, drawing a trace of blood.

Under her limit manipulation, nearly a hundred Lesser Spell Models in front of her gathered together, forming a composite super-large Spell Model!

“Multi-Cast · Continuous Fire Missiles!”

Accompanied by Betty’s roar, the composite super-large planar Spell Model acted like a battery, pouring hundreds of Lesser Burning Missiles into the sky. The missiles flew to a certain position in the sky, then scattered and ejected, continuously killing and injuring flying Monsters.

Other Wizard Apprentices also cast their spells. Lucilu threw several head-sized black powder packs into the sky, extending his hands upward. A Lesser Spell Model quickly combined and activated—it was his modified Fire Spell Smelting Torrent.

Combined with the black powder as Casting Material, it formed a super-large fan-shaped explosion of flames. The fan-shaped attack range covered a conical volume, reaching up to thirty meters long, instantly roasting large swathes of pouncing Blood Crows into charcoal dust.

Even with the Wizard Apprentices fighting bravely, some flying Monsters slipped through the net and fluttered onto the city wall, causing some casualties.

Seeing this, Ace waited no longer. He activated Flash Teleportation, flying into mid-air. Then he activated Advanced Magical Trickery and Mana-Crystal Protection Membrane, chanting in a strange tone: “Lightness · Float · Mana Crystal Wings!”

Mana Crystal wings quickly formed behind Ace, suspending him in the air. He looked at the thousands of flying Monsters without any fear; instead, he was eager to try.

Ace observed their positions, using Insight Perception to observe the internal body structures of the Monsters, especially the slight vibrations of their internal organs.

Calculating direction and distance, he flew up a bit further, positioning himself above the flying Monsters. He activated a new spell composed of Sound Runes from his Soul Sanctuary: “Bio-Infrasonic Resonance!”

Accompanied by the incantation, his mouth opened wide. Layers of Spell Model structures appeared in the center. Infrasound, inaudible to the naked ear, spread rapidly. The flying Monsters affected by it convulsed all over, their internal organs shifting and deforming violently.

Bang!

A red-eyed Demonic Eagle exploded from the inside out, its flesh bursting instantly, and fell directly from the sky amidst the resonance.

It was like the first domino falling. More and more flying Monsters suffered severe internal injuries or even exploded, losing their combat capability and raining down from the sky.

“Lord Torch-Bearer!”

Accompanied by the rain of falling flying Monsters, Ace in the sky heard the cheers from the city wall, and a smile appeared on his lips.

Just then, heavy footsteps came from the direction of the Larr Mountains in the west!

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