It's so hard being a hero!

The corrupted creatures were surging up from behind in an endless stream. Among them were humanoid demons, huge but slow-moving corrupted behemoths, and some twisted monsters whose original forms were completely unrecognizable, as if they were things forcibly kneaded together by the power of darkness.

What they have in common is their eyes, which have no pupils, but only a pulsating dark purple flame.

Those were the traces of the dark power burning within their bodies.

Sophia's gaze swept quickly over the mutated creatures.

She noticed that although the demons' movements looked fierce, they completely lacked the coordination and tactics expected of advanced intelligent beings.

They give the impression of being driven forward by some kind of will; their individual combat strength is indeed not weak, but their overall coordination is quite rough.

In comparison, the human alliance's formation was much tighter, with shield bearers at the front, spearmen at the rear, and archers and mages taking turns firing. The coordination between the various unit types had been practiced countless times, and they had developed an almost instinctive tacit understanding.

This is also the main reason why the coalition forces have been able to hold out until now.

But Sofia knew very well that this advantage had its limits.

The demons don't care about death; they just need to keep feeding people in to overwhelm the human lines with sheer numbers.

On the human side, every soldier who dies is an irreparable loss.

She took a breath and increased the range of her Holy Light Blessing once again.

Golden light spread from her palm, covering a larger area.

The knights who were fighting desperately felt the power surge back into their limbs, their movements became faster, and their breathing became much more even.

Just then, Sophia's gaze caught a glimpse of something unusual on the eastern side of the battlefield.

Over there, a small team was surrounded by demons.

There were about a dozen people, and the shield formation had shrunk into a very small circle. Demons kept surging in from all directions, trying to break through their defenses.

The squad leader was a young female officer wearing dark blue light armor. The blade of her longsword was already dulled, but she was still desperately swinging it.

The team members behind her were clearly exhausted; their movements were slowing down, and the gaps in the shield formation were widening.

Sofia didn't hesitate at all.

She retrieved the spreading holy light blessing, condensed it into a thin layer of armor, and applied it to her body. Then, with a swift movement, she transformed into a streak of silver light and rushed towards that area.

She was incredibly fast, so fast that before the demon soldiers could even react, a golden sword aura pierced through them.

Sophia's body glided almost along the ground, her silver sword flashing alternately on both sides of her body, each swing tearing a gap in the demon's formation.

By the time she reached the squad, seven or eight demon corpses were already lying behind her, slowly dissipating.

The female officer paused for a moment, then quickly realized what she meant and called out to her, "Thanks, young lady! Who are you? Which unit are you from?"

Without turning her head, Sophia's silver sword shone with golden light once more, cleaving a charging demonic beast in two with a single strike.

"The temporary support from the Knights of Dawn just happened to be passing by."

The female officer opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but seeing Sophia's clean and efficient swordsmanship and her calm demeanor, she swallowed her words and turned back to continue organizing the defense.

Sofia didn't stay there long either.

After confirming that the group's lines had been re-established, she quickly withdrew and returned to her original position.

She had just steadied herself when the sky suddenly darkened.

When Sophia looked up, she saw the sky above Zhenmo Pass, which was gray from the smoke of war, rapidly changing color.

A layer of dark purple energy, visible to the naked eye, rose from behind the demons, like an inverted bowl, and began to spread across the sky above the battlefield.

The energy churned in mid-air, eventually coalescing into a blurry, enormous face.

The features of that face were not clear, but the way it looked down on everyone was enough to make everyone on the ground who could sense its presence feel a chill.

That was a projection of the demon god's will.

Sophia's pupils contracted slightly.

She could sense that force trying to break through some kind of boundary.

It hovered in the energy layer above the battlefield, like a wild beast that had been starving for a long time, sniffing out its prey.

She had experienced this power up close before, when she faced Lilith in her past life.

Although the will of the face before them did not descend directly, it was indeed watching this battlefield.

Just a few seconds later, the dark purple energy seemed to be repelled by something and quickly dissipated.

The face shattered, turning into countless tiny specks of light that rained down like purple rain.

Sophia withdrew her gaze, having already formed a general judgment in her mind.

The demons are trying to force their way out.

The demon behind them wants to pour its power directly into this battlefield.

Although that attack was blocked by some force.

It should be a high-level defensive formation within the Demon Suppression Pass itself that is in effect.

But no one can say for sure whether they can stop it next time.

As she was thinking this, a very clear voice suddenly came to her ear.

It was Frey's voice, and it carried a rare hint of seriousness.

"Sofia, can you feel it?"

"I sensed it; they're trying to force their way through the barrier."

"It's not just a barrier."

Frey paused for a moment before speaking.

"Just now, I felt two demon gods exerting their power at the same time. This is no longer an ordinary invasion. They are trying to tear a solid crack in the Starfall Continent."

Sophia's heart sank.

She certainly knew what that meant.

If the power of the Demon God could truly penetrate directly into the Starfall Continent, then this war would no longer be a contest between the Demon Army and the Human Alliance, but a confrontation at the level of gods.

She was silent for a moment before asking, "Can you handle this over there?"

"It's still manageable for now, but if it happens a few more times, the defensive array at Zhenmo Pass might not be able to hold."

Sofia didn't ask any more questions.

She snapped out of her daze and refocused her attention on the battlefield before her.

Not far ahead of her, the Dawn Knights' lines advanced a little further.

Lyra was at the very front, still swinging her sword.

Sophia gripped her silver sword tightly and followed after him.

On the distant horizon, the demon army's lines still stretched as far as the eye could see.

But in the dark depths of the tide, she vaguely sensed that something was brewing in the deepest part.

Chapter 131 Abyss Rift

Sophia was rushing forward behind Lyra. She had just cut off the head of a demonic beast with her silver sword and hadn't even had a chance to catch her breath when she felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured directly over her head, making her shiver all over.

Not right.

The surge of power emanating from the innermost part of the demonic ranks was far stronger than anything she had ever felt before.

She immediately raised her head, her gaze passing over the densely packed demon soldiers in front of her, and looking towards the horizon, where a dark expanse was churning incessantly.

In that darkness, one area was particularly quiet.

As if receiving a silent command, the surrounding demon soldiers retreated to both sides, leaving a large circular open space in the middle.

Dozens of humanoid demons stood in the very center of the open space.

However, calling them humanoid is not entirely accurate.

Their bodies still had the dark purple skin unique to demons, and they also had curved horns on their heads.

However, their physique and posture have a deliberate sense of uprightness, as if they are poor imitations desperately trying to emulate a more advanced form.

Other demons fight by shouting and instinct, but these dozens of demons moved very steadily and had a very serious demeanor.

They formed a circle, their hands clasped in front of their chests, and were chanting some kind of incantation in a low, ancient tone.

Sofia had never heard that language before, but she was very familiar with its rhythm.

It was a sacrificial ritual. She had dealt with Lilith so many times in her past life that she had a deep-seated understanding of this thing.

Her eyes widened immediately.

These high-ranking demons are using magic to tear open space, seemingly trying to pull something over from the other side.

What's even more troublesome is that the magical energy fluctuations they released when chanting the incantation were almost identical to the projection of the demon god's will that she had just sensed.

"Leila."

Sofia's voice sounded a little hurried.

"Look over there, behind the demons, they seem to be summoning something terrifying."

Laila cleaved one of the demons in front of her with a single sword strike, then followed Sophia's gaze.

Her expression was initially a little confused, but it quickly became very serious, because she also felt the rapidly increasing power fluctuations.

“What is that?” Leila asked.

Just as Sophia was about to speak, a muffled, tearing sound suddenly came from the sky at the forefront of the battlefield.

The sound was as if someone had taken a piece of cloth and forcibly torn open the entire sky.

A pitch-black crack slowly opened above the demon army's lines. The edges of the crack were pitted and uneven, as if it had been forcibly torn open by some kind of claw.

The crack continued to grow, slowly expanding from a thin line into a massive gaping hole across the sky.

A sticky darkness flowed through the crack, a darkness that was not ordinary, but a twisted, living darkness that looked like thick fog or liquid, constantly churning and seeping out from the edge of the crack.

The moment the crack opened, an invisible pressure crashed down from the sky, like a mountain pressing down on the battlefield, making everyone feel a heaviness on their shoulders and even making it difficult to breathe.

And in that churning darkness, two beams of light appeared.