It's so hard being a hero!

However, when her gaze swept across the battlefield, the smile quickly vanished.

Because the demon army did not retreat because of the death of one general.

More demon warriors were surging up from behind, like an endless tide, wave after wave, with no end in sight.

There are too many of them; we simply can't kill them all.

After resting for a while, Leila charged back into the battlefield, searching for opponents with a silver rank or higher.

Her figure moved across the battlefield, each swing of her sword taking the life of a demon soldier, but for every one she killed, two new ones would take her place.

The battle seemed to have no outcome.

As the sun set and night fell, the demon army finally retreated like a tide under some unknown command.

All that remained on the battlefield was devastation and mountains of corpses.

Lyra leaned against a broken stone pillar of the city wall. Her helmet had fallen off sometime during the night, and her long golden hair was scattered over her shoulders, covered with dust and dried blood.

"Water, is there any water?"

Leila called out in a hoarse voice.

Then a young knight, with an admiring look in his eyes, quickly handed her a water pouch. Lyra took it, tilted her head back, and drank a few mouthfuls, finally feeling a little better in her parched throat.

This was the first time she had faced such a tense battle.

Augus, the Grand Master of the Knights of Dawn, strode over. He wore tattered armor soaked in blood and his face was covered in dust and dirt.

Because he had just killed a demon general who was a master-level demon this year.

"Laila, are you alright?"

Leila let out a heavy sigh.

"Can't die."

Lyra returned the water pouch to the young knight and gazed into the darkness in the distance.

"Commander, what's wrong with these demons? They're all acting like they've gone mad!"

Augus shook his head, indicating that he didn't know what was going on either.

"I don't know, but there's definitely a problem."

"Behind the demon army, there are several Holy Demons. Although they did not directly take action, they have been stationed in the rear. This is no ordinary attack."

Leila frowned.

"You mean, the demons are serious this time?"

Augus didn't answer the question directly, but simply patted her on the shoulder.

"You should go and rest; the battles ahead will likely be even more intense."

Lyra nodded and turned to walk towards the camp.

She took a few steps and then stopped, glancing back at Augus.

"Commander, if the demons continue to attack at such a high level in the next few days, how long can we hold out?"

Augus remained silent for a long time before answering.

"That depends on when the reinforcements arrive."

Meanwhile, far away at Tianxing Academy.

Sophia was sitting on her bed in the dormitory, holding a quest list she had brought back from the Adventurers' Guild, and her brows furrowed instantly.

The top few lines of the list clearly state: "Support mission for Zhenmo Pass, urgent, no level or quantity restrictions."

Below that is a line of bold red text.

"The demon race has launched a large-scale invasion, and the battle at Zhenmo Pass is critical, urgently requiring support from all sides."

Sophia stared at those lines of text for a long time, her mind racing as she analyzed them.

The demons worship the God of Darkness, and Lilith is one of the God of Darkness's subordinate deities.

According to Evelyn's previous statement, Lilith has been pushing for war because war causes the power of desire to surge.

If the demon invasion is also part of this plan...

Sophia tapped her fingers lightly twice on the edge of the paper.

As she was thinking, the dormitory door was suddenly pushed open with a "bang".

Lilia burst in with a flurry of activity.

“Sophia, did you see that? Something big has happened at Zhenmo Pass. Noah and the others sent me to find you.”

Sofia nodded, and then immediately followed Lilia out of the dormitory to their agreed meeting point.

Meanwhile, Noah, Baron, Mu'en, and Misia were all waiting for her here.

Upon seeing Sophia's arrival, Noah immediately said, "Sophia, we want to go to the Demon-Suppressing Pass."

Sophia didn't answer immediately, but instead glanced at everyone's expressions.

Each of them wore the same expression: no fear, only a firm conviction that "we've made up our minds."

"Have you all thought it through?" Sophia finally asked.

"Think about it."

Noah was the first to answer.

"We're an adventure team, and we have a gold-level team certification. How could we possibly hide in the back when something like this happens?"

"If the Demon Suppression Pass is breached by the demons, the entire continent will suffer. As students of Tianxing Academy, we can't just stay in the academy to cultivate."

Barron also immediately offered his opinion.

"I am a bronze-level warrior, after all. I may not be able to defeat powerful demons, but I can still kill a few demon soldiers."

Although Mu En and the others didn't say anything, their expressions said it all.

Sophia didn't immediately deny it, but calmly thought about it for a moment.

In the end, he shook his head.

“You all lack life-or-death battles and real combat experience, and you don’t know how terrifying the demons are. Going there now is no different from sending yourselves to your deaths.”

These words stunned the five of them.

Noah wanted to say something more, but Sophia interrupted him.

"Stop talking. I know what you want to say, but I don't think it's really suitable for you to go right now. Besides, it also needs the teachers' approval."

Chapter 120 The Crisis of Zhenmo Pass

Sophia's words were like a bucket of cold water poured on the five of them.

Noah opened his mouth, wanting to refute, but swallowed the words back.

Sofia wasn't trying to undermine their confidence; she was simply stating a fact.

They had indeed never experienced a real life-or-death battle, or even a slightly dangerous actual combat.

No matter how intense the sparring in the academy is, there are always teachers and protective formations to back you up, so you can admit defeat if you can't win.

But the situation at Zhenmo Pass is completely different. There is no option to admit defeat there; if you lose, you die.

"But."

Barron originally wanted to try again.

There are no "buts".

Sophia interrupted him directly.

"The demons force you to be ruthless against any opponent you encounter. The five of you are considered geniuses in the academy, but you'd be lucky to survive a major battle in a place like the Demon Suppression Pass."

Lilia, unusually, did not make a fuss after hearing this.

Misia looked at Sophia's extremely serious gaze and fell into deep thought.

After a moment, she asked a question.

"Then tell me, what should we do?"

Sofia was about to offer her opinion when a voice came from behind them.

“Sophia is right, you really can’t go now.”

Olivia and Merkel walked over.

It's obvious that Lilia and the others must have informed Olivia and the others as well.

Both of them had heavy expressions. They were both graduates of the school and had been to the Demon Suppression Pass before.

That place was already dangerous enough, but it will only become more dangerous now.

“We know the situation at Zhenmo Pass better than you do. This time, several Saint Demons have appeared among the demons. It’s unknown how long the front line can hold out. The five of you have no combat experience. If you go there, you’ll just be cannon fodder.”

Noah bit his lip, clearly unconvinced, but also needing to recognize the facts; acting impulsively was pointless.

"What arrangements does the academy have for this?" Noah asked hurriedly.

Olivia and Merkel exchanged a glance.

"The academy has also received a request for help from Zhenmo Pass. The academy's teachers, third-year students, and graduates from all over the country have been heading to Zhenmo Pass one after another."

“If you second-year students want to go, we will first arrange for you to undergo practical training deep in the Nebula Mountains for three months. Once you have real combat experience, we will then consider whether you want to go to the front lines,” Merkel explained.

Lilia looked up and asked a question.

"But how long can Zhenmo Pass hold out in its current state? Will it be breached?"

"will not."

Before Olivia and the other woman could speak, Sofia spoke first.

"The Demon-Suppressing Pass is not so easy to break."

She said those words with absolute certainty, without the slightest hesitation.