Second World
chapter-1860

At Hydrurond's Northern defensive line, the defenders struggled under the assault of the overwhelming demon army and Beelzebub's bugs. Beelzebub also continued to cast one spell after another.

The mass of demons and bugs prevented Syndrillis, Tetsuo, and the ancient champions from reaching Beelzebub. The devil continued to cast spells without interruption. Many of his spells had extremely long range, hitting the wall and its defenders.

"Hah!" Agamon shouted. The golden disc behind him glowed and revolved at high speed. Multiple beams shot out of the disc in all directions. The flies and roaches swarming around them were evaporated upon contact with the beams.

"Hmph…," Beelzebub grunted in displeasure seeing the scene. The beams from Agamon's disc could instant-kill weak demon-type summons. His demon bugs were only elite grades, so they were susceptible to Agamon's beams.

With the surrounding bugs cleared, they struck the demons barring their way. Hipponion and a few ancient champions broke through and came before Beelzebub. Hipponion's seven animals served as the tip of the sword. The lion and the bear were at the forefront, ready to pounce at Beelzebub.

Something long and steel-like suddenly pierced the two animals. The two animals lost HP and were pinned to the ground. Six long insect legs came out of Beelzebub's carapaces. These legs ended with sharp tips that made them look like spears. The two animals pinned to the ground continued to lose HP each second.

Beelzebub's insect legs stabbed at the other attackers. Each hit caused high damage and had a high chance of causing Bleed status. All the while, he continued casting. Rock pellets materialized in the air and rained at the attackers. He cast another spell, and a rock cloud formed near him. This rock cloud flew around him, battering anyone that came near him. Hipponion and the other ancient champions were unable to get close.

Atalente attacked using her golden bow. Her arrows caused trails of light as they streaked across the sky, but even these arrows failed to hit Beelzebub. Large rock shields materialized and floated around Beelzebub. They blocked any range attack coming at the devil.

While protected by the living earth shields and the rock cloud, Beelzebub spat a condensed jet of yellow liquid. The liquid was strong acid. It dealt earth-element damage, caused Poison status, and reduced equipment's defense values and durability. It also had strong knockback. The ancient champions were sent toppling back by the liquid jet's force.

Something fast flew past the ancient champions. It even slipped through the living earth shields circling Beelzebub. It zipped right to the devil's goat head.

"Ultimate power pun–"

That something was Tetsuo in his insect-cyborg form. His speed let him slip past Beelzebub's protective spells. However, as fast as he was, Beelzebub's eyes still caught his movements. Those eyes shone an eerie yellow just as Tetsuo was about to land his punch. His movement stopped, and a layer of rocks started covering his body.

He was hit by Beelzebub's Infernal Stone Gaze. One of Beelzebub's legs slapped him into the ground below. The devil followed up with a spell that caused the earth to open up and swallowed him whole.

"Accursed devil, take this…!" Syndrillis' voice resounded in the air. She had been driving the flying demons back before taking a chance to gather mana. The gathered mana in his mouth was now unleashed in the form of a thick beam.

Syndrillis' Annihilating Light Beam couldn't be compared to the one unleashed by Jack's gold dragon summon. Even though their levels were not far apart, Syndrillis was a true dragon while Jack's summon was considered a wilderness dragon. Syndrillis' beam was at least three times thicker than the one unleashed by Jack's gold dragon.

This thick golden beam rushed toward Beelzebub, who just stared calmly. A shield composed of runic symbols appeared before him. This runic shield stopped the annihilating light beam.

Syndrillis didn't let up. She continued to pump mana into her beam. Runic symbols appeared around her mouth, strengthening her attack. This caused Beelzebub's runic shield to shift a little and even dimmed. Beelzebub frowned at this. He grunted, and the runic shield intensified. At the same time, he cast a spell.

Multiple Giant rock spears materialized. These rock spears shot forward with a drilling motion. These drilling rock spears stabbed into Syndrillis. She received damage, and some of the spears caused wounds on her body. This forced her to end her beam attack.

One of the drilling spears broke her left wing. She fell from the sky.

Beelzebub's spell had not yet ended. His spell conjured one last spear that was ten times larger. He was aiming this spear at the falling dragon.

"ROAARRRR…!!!"

A huge roar startled everyone. This was no ordinary roar. The demons who heard it were paralyzed. Before they knew it, something large flew past them.

Beelzebub sensed the incoming enemy. He redirected the giant spear and sent it to this new enemy instead of Syndrillis. The new enemy shifted to the side when this giant spear was about to stab it. Its mouth then bit at the spear. Sparks were created when its teeth scraped the rock spear still drilling at high speed. The teeth won. The drilling motion stopped. The rock spear then snapped from the powerful bite.

This new enemy was a gigantic lion with bat wings. It was the Council of Virtus' Forctis Lion. It went into seclusion after being wounded during the destruction of Daminos Square Garden. A few weeks after the Sanctuary for Courage was built in Therimdell, it came to the city. It probably sensed God of Courage's presence from the wonder building. Pallas and the others welcomed their guardian back with elation.

The Forctis Lion was a level 95 eternal grade. It was stronger than Syndrillis. It made another roar and fired a powerful sound cannon at Beelzebub. Beelzebub cast a spell that erected a huge earth wall to block the sound cannon.

"My comrades, let us fight with bravery and drive these demons back to hell…!!" Pallas, Mihos, and the other members from the Council of Virtus followed behind the Forctis Lion. They pounced the demons who were still disoriented by the Forctis Lion's charge.

Riled by the appearance of the members of the Council of Virtus, the defenders were as if injected with a dose of courage. They let out a spirited war cry.

Beelzebub snorted in disdain. Did they think this small divine faction was enough to face the might of the underworld forces? Beelzebub found it laughable. When he was about to remind this pitiful crowd of the horror of the demons, he sensed another assault from the opposite side.

He turned just in time when five beams of different colors came at him. The runic shield reappeared to block these beams. This time, he was a bit hasty in erecting the runic shield. The combined five beams were stronger than Syndrillis' attack. The runic shield stopped four beams, but one punched through. The red beam containing the fire element struck his head.

He scowled. More out of annoyance than pain. He looked angrily at the perpetrator. Not far away was a huge wingless dragon with five heads. It was the Primordial Hydra.

Around the Primordial Hydra were members of the Cult of Phobos. Vekja, Strah, and Korku led the cult.

Pallas stared at the cult from the opposite side of the battlefield. He wanted nothing but to head over and pummel this bunch of villains, but he knew now was not the time. A bigger villain was before them. One that required them to cease their animosity for a while and fight together.

Korku was returning Pallas' stare. "Hehe, I bet he is trying his best not to come here and pick a fight," She chuckled.

"He knows he can't afford that. These demons threatened everyone, including us," Strah said. "Furthermore, our God has given us his blessing to join this fight."

"For fear," Vekja said with his queer voice. "We will show these demons the meaning of fear."

"For fear…!" The members of the cult exclaimed.

"For courage…!!!" The voice from the other side thundered back. They might be suspending their enmity for now, but that didn't mean they couldn't compete in glorifying their respective Gods.

The Council of Virtus advanced from the right, the Cult of Phobos from the left, while the ancient champions were at the center. Seeing this, the remaining defenders on the wall also rushed forward to aid the push.

The Forctis Lion, Primordial Hydra, Vekja, and Agamon advanced to engage Beelzebub. While the rest fought the overwhelming demon army.

During the commotion, Alfredo used Telekinesis to pull the earth where Tetsuo was buried. The earth was held by magic. It took him a considerable amount of effort to peel the earth by a little, but it was enough. The created gap allowed Tetsuo to punch through and release himself.

Meanwhile, Laurent went and healed Syndrillis. He used a spell that could recover a wound. Since Syndrillis had too many wounds caused by the rock spears, Laurent chose to cure her wing. She could now fly again.

"Thank you," She said. She flapped her wings and took to the sky. She was going to aid the others to fight Beelzebub.