"Chief, the Undead Battle Kings and Liches have been sighted at the borders!"
Chief Baskara held a voice-transmission stone and listened to the scout's report before he said, "Alright, I got it. You can retreat now. Get out of there at once."
"Yes, chief—Oh, no! Arghhh—!"
The voice-transmission ended abruptly.
Chief Baskara stored away the voice-transmission stone in his hand and sighed before he gazed into the horizon from atop the tribe's wall, while rows of warriors lined the walls, geared and ready for the battle of their life.
"Your orders, chief?"
A warrior beside him asked.
"Start the Crimsonfog Formation!"
"Yes, chief!"
Once Chief Baskara gave his order, the warriors immediately started placing black Demonic Cores the size of oranges into empty sockets found along the bottom of the tribe's walls.
Another group poured basins of demonic beast blood mixed with human blood into several manholes found in the ground by the foot of the walls.
Shortly after, the dark crimson blood started filling in the gaps of the engraved runic lines on the ground surrounding the manhole. The blood followed the runic pathways and ran up along the wall before connecting to the Demonic Core stuck in the wall sockets.
Once that happened, the dark blood began to increase in temperature and glowed with bright crimson light.
Bloody mists spewed out from these runic lines and pervaded the entire tribe before spreading out outwards. In a short while, the Crimsonfog Tribe was hidden within a dense cloud of blood mist.
"What are your next orders, chief? Please give us your command!"
Bam!
Chief Baskara wore a scaly crimson armor and held a large bone halberd, the Dragon Bone Halberd in his hand as he gazed through the crimson fog silently with narrowed eyes before he firmly said, "Now we wait!"
Bam!
The Dragon Bone Halberd was thumped into the ground with a heavy thud, while his aura exploded with battle intent.
Sometime later, the two Liches shrouded in darkness could be seen visibly approaching the tribe from a distance. The two Undead Battle Kings trailed behind them like mindless puppets.
"Oh? An interesting sight we have here. Seems like these humans have expected our arrivals and prepared to welcome us." One of the Liches said, intrigued by what it saw.
"Kekeke…" The other Lich laughed creepily and said, "Since that is the case, it will be rude of us not to follow through."
"Go play with the humans."
After the two Liches gave the orders, the two Undead Battle Kings immediately shot forward like blurred shadows and disappeared in the crimson fog, followed by the earth repeatedly quaking shortly after.
Boom! Boom!
"The Undead Battle Kings has entered the Crimsonfog Formation, Chief!" A warrior reported.
Chief Baskara nodded and barked, "Get the Artillery Team to lock onto the Undead Battle Kings and load the Tier 5 Demon-slaying Arrows!"
"Yes, chief!"
A group of messengers answered and left without questioning the chief's decision.
The Tier 5 Demon-slaying Arrows were the strongest type of ballistic arrows they have. It was tough and costly to create, but each arrow supposedly had the power to slay Arch Demons.
These arrows were usually sent to defend the Death Passage from the demons that try to invade the Infertile Plains from the Land of Darkness. However, they brought over for this moment; to be used against at the Undead Battle Kings!
Even so, these Tier 5 Demon-slaying Arrows have only ever recorded slaying Greater Demons in the past. They have yet to actually used the Tier 5 Demon-slaying Arrows to slay an Arch Demon with it before!
In other words, they were not confident if the Tier 5 Demon-slaying Arrows could fell the Undead Battle Kings, but it was worth a shot!
Sometime later, the messengers returned and reported, "The ballistas are locked and load! The Artillery Team is ready to fire on your command, chief!"
Chief Baskara nodded and refocused his attention in the obscured distance.
The earth continued to tremble and quaked from the Undead Battle Kings' powerful attacks. The Undead Battle Kings were still confused and lost in the Crimsonfog Formation!
However, tremors and earthquakes grew louder and stronger each time. This was a sign that the Undead Battle Kings were drawing closer to their tribe!
It was a matter of time before they pass through the thick red mist and discover their tribe! Chief Baskara was not going to wait until that happens.
His eyes became fierce before roaring, "Bombard it!"
His powerful voice quickly traveled across the entire tribe! Everyone heard it loud and clear!
Ballistas were fired, and large bolts of destruction flew!
Boom!
It was a direct hit!
The Tier 5 Demon-slaying Arrows activated their enchanted runes on impact and erupted with an almighty explosion of hellfire, ripping apart the earth and threatened to tear the sky asunder!
Vast clouds of burning soil shot into the air, kicking up a big storm of dust in its wake that blew away the blood mist in the area!
The Two Liches stood outside of the crimson fog and waited to hear the terrified screams of humans, but what they got was a deafening explosion that shook the earth fiercely and threw dirt and hot soil into their faces, alarming them to the unexpected outcome.
"What the heck just happened?!"
"What kind of power is this? what did these humans do!?"
"I remember! This must be the demon-slaying arrows that were said to be used at the Death Passage to keep the demons away!"
"Darn thing! They actually brought such a weapon over to deal with us!"
After the dust settled and the crimson fog cleared, a 200-yard-diameter crater was seen by both. The edge of the explosion was only roughly 70 yards away from the foot of Crimsonfog Tribe's wall. The shockwave was close enough to knock everyone off the wall.
However, an invisible barrier had been activated and protected everyone within the tribe from the shockwave and flying hot soil.
"Impossible..."
"How can they still be moving after that...?"
The tribesmen were filled with disbelief as they gaze into the distance and saw the Undead Battle King still standing at the epicenter of the crater.
Even so, the undead battle Kings was not unscathed after being hit by an explosion of such magnitude.
Many parts of their body were seared and scorched black, while some arms and legs were also missing. Either way, the Undead Battle Kings' movements were impaired one way or another.
"Do we have any more Tier 5 Demon-slaying Arrows?" Chief Baskara asked seriously with his gaze fixed on the severely damaged undead battle Kings.
"None, chief! We used them all!"
"Then use the Tier 4 Demon-slaying Arrows! Continue the bombardment! Don't allow it to fight back!"
As Chief Baskara gave his orders, the Undead Battle Kings also gazed back at the tribe ahead of them. After the Crimson fog was cleared, there was no longer anything obstructing its vision or confusing its senses.
In that short instance, Chief Baskara felt a dangerous chill and cursed, "Sh*t!"
The Undead Battle Kings lunged forward with their limping bodies and missing limbs. Their speed was significantly reduced, but not to a level that they should be underestimated.
"Those below Battle Master Realm, assist me with projectile weapons!"
Chief Baskara gripped his Dragon Bone Halberd and leaped off the wall to fight them head-on. The other tribesmen would just by sitting ducks.
"Those at the Battle Master Realm, join me!" He cried.
Six figures immediately shot out from the crowd with their own unique Soul Weapon and lunge at the Undead Battle Kings from different directions.
Chief Baskara dodged one Undead Battle King's claw attack and swung out his Dragon Bone Halberd at the other.
Dang!
However, the other Undead Battle King struck back. A tremendous amount of force passed through the Dragon Bone Halberd, blasting Chief Baskara away along with his Soul Weapon!
The Undead Battle Kings immediately chased after Chief Baskara, but numerous bone arrows and bolts rained down on the two Undead Battle Kings. The projectiles bounced off their sturdy bodies and caused no damage, but it was enough to delay them slightly.
At the same time, the six Venerable Shamans of the Crimsonfog Tribe closed the distance and unleashed their own set of attacks on the two Undead Battle Kings.
Ding! Ding! Puchi!
Several attacks landed, but only the strongest of the six, a Peak-rank Battle Master, could only damage one of the Undead Battle King slightly.
Even so, the Peak-rank Battle Master's Soul Weapon, a Tier 4 Bone Sword, ended up getting stuck between the Undead Battle King's bones in the neck!
The person's expression dropped when he was forced to abandon his Soul Weapon and retreat from the Undead Battle King's follow-up claw attack!
"Dammit, these Undead Battle Kings' strength is inferior to their former selves, but their body's defense has shot up to inconceivable levels!" The person shouted.