Chapter 992: The Battle for High Tower (Part Twenty-Six) (Patreon)

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Under the blackened moon and howling winds, as the torches ignited the darkness of the night, they danced like ghostly lights in the wind. Clusters of light emerged one after another, and lines of fire surged from the edge of the sky like rolling waves.

"A hum—"

The deep sound of horns made the air tremble, blending with the piercing cries as the mine carts traversed the rails, signaling the prelude to the impending battle.

"Aooh!!!" Within the darkness, mysterious lights sparked to life, resembling magma flowing from the clouds. In the moment Lava Demons raised their arms, a burst of intensely bright orange-red erupted from their chests like molten lava.

With a heavy blow, "bang," a small-sized Demon soldier fell, weapons flying far from their grasp.

The weapons rolled on the ground, the sharp edges creating dents. In the reflection of the blade, the scene resembled struggling larvae on the water's surface during late autumn.

In an instant, the camp erupted with cries. It was unclear which Demon first screamed: "Ambush! Ambush! They're here, they're here!!!"

Chaos ensued as many Demons, halfway through donning their armor, rushed out only to find more panicked companions heading towards the camp gates.

The first Demons to emerge only heard an explosion and saw two corpses, thinking someone had infiltrated the camp. Thus, they rushed to inform the commander as quickly as possible.

However, the subsequent Demons, seeing their hurried flight, assumed the enemy had breached the camp directly. Disregarding armor and weapons, they followed suit, causing instant chaos throughout the camp.

Equally unarmed, the bewildered commander rushed out of his tent, shouting, "What's going on?! Who breached?! What are you all doing?! Stop running!!"

The newly awakened Demons, in search of the enemy, ran aimlessly like headless flies due to lack of organization. Soon, they were picked off one by one, their cries adding to the pandemonium.

"It must be them! Those damn slaves! Get your weapons, I'll slaughter them!!!"

"Aooh!! They're done for! I saw flames over there, I'm going to tear them apart!!!"

"They've been hiding for so long, now they dare show their faces? Just wait, Aooh Aooh Aooh!!!"

For a while, shouts, roars, and curses filled the air, rendering the commander's attempts useless.

And as the entire camp descended into chaos, the commander realized the worst-case scenario he had hoped to avoid had occurred—they were under attack.

In relatively classical warfare, there was one situation that soldiers had to guard against, and that was a camp raid, also known as "blowing the camp."

In simple terms, in more traditional wars, soldiers only needed combat capability; they just had to follow orders and fight. Everything else was seen as diminishing efficiency and wasting resources.

For a commander to ensure his troops were both effective in combat and obedient, he had to establish an extremely firm rule. And to maintain such authority, strict military discipline had to be enforced, especially in ancient warfare, the more elite the troops, the more stringent the discipline.

Military discipline was almost completely contrary to human nature. It demanded fearlessness in the face of death, yet the fear of death was an instinct of any intelligent being.

In the intense and nerve-wracking battlefield, with overhead pressure from strict discipline and the looming presence of formidable enemies, soldiers never knew when they might die, keeping their minds constantly tense.

Rest time was the only time one could relax, usually occurring after a major battle or rigorous training. Physical exhaustion could lead to mental relaxation, and during such times, sudden intense stimuli could trigger instinctual responses.

Batman's strategy combined tactical advantage with psychological warfare to achieve the goal of breaking through defenses without shedding blood.

Miners were familiar with the terrain, able to navigate the mines with their eyes closed. They knew where there were small gullies, hiding spots, secret passages, and crevices. For the past few days, they had been employing various tactics to harass the enemy around the seventh mountain.

As is well known, defense isn't just about sitting idle in the camp; it requires sending out reconnaissance teams, building defensive structures, and patrolling daily. And those reconnaissance teams, patrol units, and engineers building defensive works are their targets.

The tactics they use are quite consistent: divide and conquer, one step back for two steps forward, luring the enemy into our territory.

The heavy-armored Demon soldiers couldn't possibly participate in reconnaissance teams. The light Demon soldiers, while not as robust, were susceptible to traps or being surrounded by many larger-sized miner slaves, reducing their chances of survival. In the initial days, the defense forces at Seventh Mountain lost three patrol teams and two reconnaissance teams this way.

Logically, when you suffer a setback, you should counterattack. But they were the defenders; they couldn't launch an all-out attack, or they would risk being led away from the mountain.

Batman's forces were like a sharp knife, continuously slicing around the periphery of the Seventh Mountain defense forces. The opponent was in pain and anger but couldn't mount a proper counterattack.

When the heavy-armored troops led by Demon soldiers charged, the opposition avoided direct confrontation and relied on the mountains for defense, making it difficult for small groups to penetrate. But if they dispatched more troops and added a few sorcerers, they could potentially break through, yet the opposition would then start trading space for time.

Simultaneously, once the defense of Seventh Mountain weakened, Batman would send reconnaissance teams to exploit the gap, prompting the commander of Seventh Mountain to retreat hastily.

Finally, the commander had no choice but to contract the defensive circle, reduce patrol areas, and minimize patrol frequencies, with no Demon allowed to leave the camp without reason.

But this left the Demon soldiers extremely frustrated. Demons were inherently more irritable than humans, and Demon soldiers, in particular, were distinguishable not only due to racial advantages but also because they were more bloodthirsty and evil, their minds consumed with thoughts of decapitating their opponents and kicking their heads like balls.

The opposing commander hadn't studied psychology and didn't realize that continually suppressing emotions in a short time could easily turn these intense emotions into a bomb, waiting to explode one day.

And tonight was the day Batman lit the fuse.

Previously, companions on patrol and reconnaissance kept disappearing, putting immense psychological pressure on the Demon soldiers. They could accept hacking at each other on the battlefield, but they couldn't accept dying without seeing where the enemy was, like ghosts.

Being alone meant disappearing, but uniting meant not being able to find the enemy. Attacking the enemy's camp proved fruitless, and upon withdrawal, they faced reprimands. After shrinking the defensive circle, they could only stay in the camp every day, driving the Demon soldiers to the brink of madness.

At this moment, a spearhead team led by Merkel sneaked into the camp during rest time. Of course, this team didn't include anyone capable of confronting a Demon soldier, so they had no intention of fighting head-on.

Triton threw two javelins, igniting the tents and forcing out the first wave of Demon soldiers. These bulky soldiers had no tactical finesse; they didn't understand what "blowing the camp" meant and immediately raised the alarm upon discovering enemies.

The other Demons reacted, all rushing out, but without someone to command them, they stumbled around like headless flies.

Some larger Demons, upon awakening, thought the enemy was behind the camp and rushed straight back. Not only did they knock down medium-sized Demons, but they also trampled small-sized Demons. The small-sized Demons scattered, and even the sorcerers didn't know where to cast their illumination spells, ending up hitting their own allies.

In just a few minutes, the entire camp exploded into chaos. All the Demons were howling, and in the rush, the commander got his arm crushed, many Demons started fleeing outward, and soon, all the Demons were running.

Once outside, they didn't know what to do, so they thought of returning to the camp. But once the flow of people was cut and dispersed, the miner slaves, who had long been waiting, used prepared traps and coordinated tactics to take them down one by one.

Standing atop Third Mountain, Batman saw the glow of flames surrounding the Seventh Mountain defense camp, accompanied by a signal flare made from a bomb shooting into the sky. Batman knew the best opportunity to take Seventh Mountain had arrived.

From here on, there was no room for tricks. Although the enemy had blown the camp, the remaining forces could still resist to some extent. Relying on these tricks to swallow so many Demons was unrealistic. From now on, they could only engage head-on.

The pre-prepared miner army charged towards the camp, with Batman leading one squad. They split the chaotic crowd in half, then the flank units followed, breaking into smaller groups and encircling them.

Although there was no longer a commander, the Demon soldiers wouldn't unite to resist tactically, but their individual strength couldn't be underestimated. If attacked, they would certainly fight back. For a moment, lightsabers flashed, and blood sprayed.

With torches raised high, Batman noticed that in the moment of direct contact with the Demon soldiers, his squad had brought down at least one-third of them.

These frail miner slaves simply couldn't compete with the naturally superior and extensively trained Demon soldiers.

A heavy-armored Demon punched Triton's head, smashing his upper body into pulp. Then, he flung a Rotten Mud Demon off his arm onto the ground, stomping on it. The Rotten Mud Demon let out a pitiful scream, spraying blood onto Batman's cloak, making him feel dizzy.

Batman had never felt queasy about blood.

But now, he realized that in large-scale warfare, the carnage and bloodshed of head-on clashes were incomparable to any street battle. In the midst of the meat grinder, no newcomer to the battlefield could remain calm, not even Batman.

In face-to-face combat, there was no room for flashy maneuvers; it was fists to flesh, blades to blood.

Batman realized that in such a war, his strength was minuscule.

Indeed, with his tactical acumen, he could confront a medium-sized Demon, which in the hierarchy of hell's power, was almost impossible, as even neutral Demons were at least two meters taller than humans.

But Batman could exploit various tactics to confuse the enemy's gaze and then exploit their weaknesses.

But what next?

Covered in blood, Batman pulled his hand armor out of a Demon's heart. He kept gasping, trying to regain his strength in a short time.

This was the second Demon he had killed, but it couldn't reverse the disadvantage of a head-on confrontation. Even if he killed twenty Demons, in this tangled melee, it wouldn't have much effect.

Batman shook his head, trying to calm down, then shouted, "Open a gap on the right flank! Don't advance further; open a gap and let them out!"

The order was passed down, and the encirclement formation opened a gap, gradually spreading eastward, changing from a shuttle shape to a flatter line, with the encircling miners leading the Demon soldiers from the center, heading east.

Batman's palms began to sweat. He felt his heart beating at a rhythm he had never experienced before because the changes in the next phase of the battle would determine the outcome.

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, and thanks for the invaluable support!]

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Next Chapter>>Chapter 993: Battle for the High Tower (Twenty-Seven)