After being forced to step down, the once-annoying nun eloped with me.

The demons, even the high-ranking demons, reserved the most important food for the most powerful demons.

As long as we can take down those demons...

"This war...will end in our victory..."

He murmured to himself, and finally, due to excessive blood loss, he lost consciousness.

On the other side, an army of 100,000 men was assembled outside Constantinople—the last able-bodied young men that could be found in the entire city, including many corrupt and diseased patients.

Even if they win this battle, and even if the Bayerzans Empire rises to the surface, it will take more than a decade for the empire to recover and be able to survive. Conversely, if they lose this battle, the Bayerzans Empire will be a thing of the past.

Archmage Archimedes was the last spellcaster in this army besides the elves and Naruja. There were no speeches, no masses or rites; everyone turned around the moment the Archmage struck his staff and, led by the eagle banner of the First Eagle Legion, slowly walked toward the only path.

Naruja controlled the golem she had created, walking at the back of the group. The elves sat on the golem, closing their eyes to rest, waiting for the final battle to begin.

...They passed through the passage where the fierce battle had taken place at 4 a.m. on January 1, past the corpses of two demons, and soon after, encountered the demons' intercepting forces.

The demons failed to discern the true objective of this massive army. Led by a dozen high-ranking demons, the surging demonic calamity was advancing towards the shield wall of the Bayrzans Empire.

Chapter Ten: The Archmage's Sacrifice, the Purple-Clad Princess and Her Caesar 8K -3

When the main force of the Bayrzans Empire passed through the passage lined with countless stone statues and arrived at the pass that offered a direct view of the entire Demon Land, they found that the demons were already prepared to fight.

The demons had not yet figured out the true purpose of the Bayrzans. They thought the Bayrzans were about to launch a final attack on their nest, so a large number of high-ranking demons led their young and larvae onto the battlefield.

They advanced slowly, relying on the terrain of the Demon Land. According to Archmage Archimedes of Bayezid, the demons had come out in full force: eighteen high-ranking demons appeared on the battlefield at the same time. Among these eighteen high-ranking demons, five were particularly strong and stood out from the other demons.

That must be the demons' trump card—like the Bayer Zans, they left behind a last, well-fed and well-equipped force to deal with the final battle, but the difference is that the high-ranking demons are far too powerful.

"...Miss Naruja, please retreat with the elves to the most secluded place."

The Grand Mage turned to the Ling Clan Chief beside him and said.

"Don't let the demons see you—the demons aren't beasts; they're intelligent and know what the elves and the Listeners' presence underground means. They'll figure out our true objective and establish a stronghold around the elevator plaza, inflicting heavy casualties on us. So retreat immediately, do not attack or advance until the signal is given, and do not make any rash moves."

The Ling Clan Chief paused for a moment, then nodded, leading the elves and golems away from the front. Just after they left, the Archmage raised his staff and slammed it into the solid ground. All the ordinary soldiers of Bayrzans halted, making way for the Eagle Banner troops behind them, who were holding high their eagle banners.

Of the 100,000 troops, there were about 30,000 Eagle Flag soldiers and Hunters' stragglers. They were the big shots who would solve the real big problems. Of course, their deployment also meant that the remaining 70,000 regular soldiers were just ordinary soldiers who would fight the demons with their own flesh and blood.

But this is better than letting 70,000 regular troops die at the hands of these eighteen high-ranking demons—the archmage of Bayerzans murmured, watching as the nobles led the Eagle Banner Brigade to set up the various facilities hidden at the pass, barely turning the pass into a small camp fortress. He knew that the sacrifice of those vanguards had not been in vain.

This fortified camp can ensure the safety of the regular army's rear and provide long-range fire support for Azi in the most critical moments. Those tall war machines can fire indiscriminately at the demon army under the cover of the fortress, but before that, they must deal with the five most powerful high-ranking demons, who are twenty or thirty meters tall.

The Archmage of Bayezid could discern the abilities of those demons with a single glance. Perhaps it was a plague of corruption and assimilation, perhaps lightning that ignored insulators, perhaps a magical meteorite falling from the sky, or perhaps even the air itself—the high-ranking demons possessed a variety of hideous and terrifying faces, but in the Archmage's eyes, these demons were far less terrifying than the Nobles and Titans that Constantine XII had faced.

Those were the nobles among the high-ranking demons, capable of truly shaping the terrain. Those were the truly terrifying demons; the demons and Bayerzans currently underground are merely remnants of that era.

It's like the last ten-year-old children of two huge families fighting each other with furniture. Compared to that time, their current war can only be described as child's play... Unfortunately, even a child's play war is too cruel for the current Bayer Zans Empire.

"—Falcons, it is time for us to sacrifice ourselves."

The archmage murmured. This war is destined to kill many. Rather than let the young people who represent the new era die, it is better to let these old men, who are destined to fall behind the surface era, go first. Rather than let the demons kill all the Bayerzens except for the old men, it is better to let the Bayerzens leave behind the last spark and the young and strong.

He ordered the Eaglesbearer to form ranks in front of the camp fortress. He ordered the war machines to be assembled immediately within the camp, as the regular army would need their support.

Then, at the very moment the demonic tide crashed against the shield wall of the eagle banner and the rain of javelins, the archmage, standing alone at the rear of the position, raised his staff and began to unleash his magic.

Archmage Bayez's spells required a lengthy incantation period, and the Eagle Banners, his elite troops, served as bait to buy him time. They were enticing high-ranking demons to unleash terrifying conceptual magic, allowing the archmage to absorb their magical power, accelerating his own spell's release while simultaneously weakening the demons afterward.

This was a spell created by Archimedes himself. It consumed a great deal of energy and could only be used once in a lifetime. And so, during the time he was chanting loudly and gathering magic power and his staff, Archimedes watched the silent, deathly, yet unyielding Eagle Legion below. He watched as the children he had cared for like children died in droves from the acid, meteorites, or lightning of high-ranking demons. He watched as many of them suffocated because the air was sucked out, or were filled with too much air and burst like inflated balloons.

Archimedes showed no sorrow. Over the centuries, he had witnessed the tragic deaths of countless children.

Warriors who died fighting demons.

Citizens who would rather starve to death than eat the corpses of their own people.

Seriously injured people who died because they could not receive proper treatment due to a lack of medication.

The infants who were born and turned into aliens due to the corruption of the devil and had to be disposed of on the spot, along with their grief-stricken mothers and fathers.

Archimedes witnessed the tragedies of many people when he cast his spell.

He saw heartbroken parents take up swords to fight the demons; he saw the seriously wounded give their medicine to those who could still be saved at the last moment; he saw the citizens, emaciated from hunger, pointing with trembling fingers to the mushroom farm fields and saying, "Where should I bury him?"

He has seen countless Bayer Zans persevere to this day because of their sacrifices.

He saw warriors snatching equipment from demons at all costs so that new soldiers wouldn't have to go to the battlefield with wooden sticks. He saw patients infected by the demonic plague hang themselves before becoming demons themselves. He saw so much, but the archmage was powerless to do anything for them.

Constantinople's resources were insufficient to support ten million, several million, or even, theoretically, the current population of one million—yet, thanks to the sacrifices of its inhabitants, they have persevered to this day.

He recalled the late emperor's words to him. They were the cruelest orders given to him by the late emperor when Constantine XII and his cataphracts charged toward the noble demons, toward the terrifying being known as the "Demon Ruler."

“Live on! Archimedes, live on with our people! Live on with them underground! Until our last princess appears, until they can return to the surface with their heads held high—my most loyal friend... Please forgive me, but they need you!”

Because of this order, Archimedes has persevered to this day.

He transformed his body with demon blood, and he fought with all his might against the will of the demon's lair. Now he is as withered as a dead tree branch, and his will has been burned out. But in the end, like all the Bayerzans, he regarded the late emperor's prophecy as his last hope... the last hope of the Bayerzans Empire.

Archimedes' final hope of self-sacrifice.

"King XII...have I done well? Do I have the face to face you now? My warrior...my friend, my emperor."

Archimedes roared. Before him, the Eagle Banner Legion's 30,000 men had been wiped out in less than ten minutes. Although they had posed a slight threat to the demonic tide, killing a few weakened high-ranking demons, the five strong high-ranking demons were like war gods, moving through the enemy's territory with impunity, wantonly slaughtering the warriors' lives.

Archimedes knew the time had come.

He took one last look at his children, and at the automated machines that had been assembled in the camp. Once upon a time, the war machines of the Bayrzan Empire could level a mountain; now, the automata they had left could only fire countless javelins.

But that's enough.

There is still hope for Bayer Zionis; there are still seeds.

He could stand tall and proud to meet the late emperor again in hell.

In a trance, the Archmage of Bayezid unleashed the last spell of his life.

Magic burned through his body, his remaining blood was splattered into the sky, and he gradually turned into dust like a sandcastle blown by a gale. Before his staff coalesced into a crimson gem, before his consciousness dissipated, before the blood in the sky surged towards the high-ranking demon.

He saw Constantine XII in hell, leaning against his horse and waving to him.

"...I am coming."

Archimedes smiled.

His blood was splattered on the bodies of all the high-ranking demons. This blood, containing the essence of a great mage's magic accumulated over thousands of years, was nothing short of a plague to the demons.

Just as a human being corrupted becomes weak, unable to cast spells, and may even collapse and die before being able to transform into a demon.

Archimedes' blood had a devastating effect on the high-ranking demons. All high-ranking demons temporarily lost their special abilities the instant they came into contact with his blood. Countless plumes of steam erupted from their bodies as they screamed in agony, losing their balance. Numerous pustules and unhealable scars appeared on their bodies, and those larvae and magma that accidentally came into contact with his blood died instantly on the battlefield.

But this alone is not enough to kill these high-ranking demons—because Archimedes' final magic can only deprive them of their special abilities, rendering them temporarily unable to fight! How to kill these towering demons still depends on the warriors' efforts!

The remaining five thousand Eagle Standard Legion soldiers and skirmishers wielding exotic weapons swarmed forward, with Lucas, the standard-bearer of the Second Eagle Standard Legion, leading the charge. He roared and leaped onto the body of a high-ranking demon covered in countless tentacles and limbs, then thrust repeatedly at the demon's weak points.

Having lost their special abilities, their bodies also began to spasm uncontrollably due to the effects of the blood. The high-ranking demon howled as it tried to shake off the ant-like eagle-banner soldiers clinging to its body, but instead, the elite veterans used short swords or exotic weapons to gradually break through its defenses.

Like a slow, agonizing death, the veterans and skirmishers of the Eagle Banner Legion ripped open the flesh of the high-ranking demons, some even plunging their weapons directly into the demons' mouths, striking their weakest points from the inside out. With their desperate efforts, most of the high-ranking demons affected by the blood of Archmage Archimedes were quickly killed.

Five minutes later, a high-ranking demon was freed from the effects of the blood. It attempted to use its power again to electrocute the countless veterans covering its body, but after a series of shocks, it was struck in the knee by a barrage of javelins fired from an automated mechanism in a distant camp fortress. It then collapsed helplessly to the ground, unable to rise from the weight of the countless charred corpses covering it.

No other demons can help it stand up anymore.

It slaughtered the last five thousand veterans, leaving less than a thousand. But of those remaining thousand, it could only stare wide-eyed at the five pairs of violet-blue eyes as they surged forward, stepping over the charred corpses...

The final scream.

The last high-ranking demon died.

Now only ten high-ranking demons remain to guard the Demon Lands—but the elite of the Bayrzan Empire, their proud Eagle Legion, has been almost completely wiped out.

Watching the remaining demons retreat to the Demon Lands to defend, and then looking at the elevator plaza, it would take at least half an hour for the remaining regular troops to set up a shield wall with sufficient depth.

The remaining veterans exchanged glances:

"We must make the demons believe that we are about to launch a fierce attack on their lair!"

They cannot let the demons realize the true goals of the Bayrzan Empire; they cannot allow the demons to seize territory; they must keep the demons within demon territory to buy time for the regular army to follow.

So what we need to do now is simple and easy to understand, isn't it?

The last Eagle Banner Battalion formed the final square. Shouting the military song of Bayrzans, they advanced towards the Mother Nest of Demon Lands amidst the distant, terrified roars of demons!

The demons have amassed a large force around the Mother Nest. They will stop the Bayrzans' advance at all costs... but this is exactly what the Eagle Legion is planning.

The Eagle Legion cornered the demons in their lair and forced them to guard their territory through a death march.

Meanwhile, in the rear, accompanied by the wailing of horns, Naruja and the elves knew that the final battle was about to begin.

They followed the remaining 70,000 regular troops out of the camp fortress and headed towards the elevator plaza marked on the plan. Before the elevator descended, they needed to eliminate as many demonic roots as possible around the plaza, and more importantly, they had to establish their position before the last high-ranking demons in the demon lair realized the problem.

"Run! Run! We're about to win!" the legion commanders roared. "Erect shield walls immediately upon reaching the designated location! Archers, keep yourselves out of the demons' sight! Run! Fire the cannons!"

Naruja did not see Archmage Archimedes, nor did she find his body. She only found a blood-red gem where Archmage had stood.

Sensing the intense magic within, Naruja understood something. She rejoined the group, and as the Eagle Banner Brigade was utterly annihilated in the distance, she ordered the golems to rush to the weakest points in front of the shield wall to defend, and used the magic within the gem to cast her own spell.

Under the bewildered gazes of the soldiers and rifle-wielding elves, she constructed a sturdy net of stone and earth before the shield wall, covered in barbs and blades. She created three layers of this "stone net," and it was at this moment that the demons, looking at the shield wall standing before the elevator plaza, finally realized something...

These Bayerzans want to lower the elevator?! Those stone giants are something the demons have never seen before, but they know everything about those long-eared people wielding strange weapons!

It's elves! Elves who used to freely unleash strategic magic in ancient times—the Bayerzans have made contact with the elves, which means that the next group to descend from the elevator will be elf reinforcements!

These Bayer Zans must be killed before they destroy the roots that entangle the elevator plaza... before that giant elevator descends!

The high-ranking demons guarding the mother nest also abandoned their duties at this moment. They knew very well that if the surface elves were to descend, the demons would face certain death once the balance of power was completely broken.

They led the last larvae and larvae in their nests to attack the Bayezid shield wall, and at that very moment, the war machines at the pass fortress opened fire again after being replenished with ammunition.

During the fierce battle, no one noticed the sounds of these war machines, but now, a series of crisp, music-box-like sounds rang out.

Countless javelins pierced the bodies of ordinary demons from the flanks; the long, thick javelins, propelled by mechanical force, often pierced multiple demons at once. Some high-ranking demons attempted to attack the Bayrzans' fortresses, directly assaulting their flanks and rear, but the Bayrzans were clearing away the roots far faster than they had anticipated!

Left with no other choice, the high-ranking demons had to grit their teeth and attempt a direct frontal assault on the Bayerzans' defenses. But just as the foremost larvae and larvae were about to make contact with the Bayerzans, the high-ranking demons saw countless offspring abruptly halt on their way to reunite.

What is that?!

What halted the demon's charge was the [Stone Net] set up by Naruja!

These tough stone nets can absorb the impact of a demon's charge through deformation, and their barbs and stone blades can get stuck firmly inside the demon's body. Perhaps these stone nets are not much of a threat to high-level demons, but when facing small larvae and larvae, they effectively slow down the demons' advance.

The charge was halted. The demons had never seen anything like these before, and for the time being, they could only send their larger juveniles to charge. The Bayernians had never seen anything like these either, but that didn't stop them from cheering and rejoicing, which greatly boosted their morale.

Faced with the various spells and acids sprayed out by the larvae, the young soldiers, their morale greatly boosted, shouted—

"Shield Wall! Shield Wall!"