Second World
chapter-1891

Inside the mobile fortress, Nova continued to organize the resistance. Her attention kept on returning to the area where Mammon was located.

"How are they doing?" Selena asked. She had exhausted all her big spells. She was currently resting inside the mobile fortress.

"They are still battling Mammon," Nova answered. "Leda and the Soul Swan had retreated and played support."

"Really? That is impressive," Selena remarked. "I was skeptical about what they were doing when we were busy fighting the underworld forces here. I guess their effort is not wasted."

"To be honest, I had the same thought as you," Nova said.

"Too bad we can no longer summon our guild army," Selena said. "Otherwise, we can make a push to aid them."

After losing so many grounds in Aurebor, they did not only lose the capital and the settlements. The land, where their guild headquarters, were located was also overrun by the demons. Aside from one guild with its headquarters near the border, all other guilds had lost theirs, including Wicked Witches. Hence, they no longer had a guild army.

"… I've made up my mind," Nova uttered.

"About what?" Selena asked in bewilderment.

"This will be our final stand."

"Huh…? Why?"

"With those four, now is the best time to defeat Mammon," Nova said. "If we can't win now, we won't win later. We will only become weaker with each retreat. Might as well give our all now to secure the highest chance for victory."

Selena didn't object. She agreed with Nova. Yet, she was terrified. There was a false sense of comfort in delaying what they had to do. A false sense that a miracle might appear if they waited long enough. But most of the time, things just got worse because of the delay.

Selena looked in the direction where Jeanny and the others were battling Mammon. Perhaps, the miracle had appeared. She just didn't have enough faith to accept it.

"Let's do it," she said to Nova.

Nova nodded. "I will send the commands to the native soldiers. You informed all our guild allies. It's all out now. Win or lose, this will be the deciding battle!"

Following that decision, the pace by which the army reorganized its position increased. Before, Nova only tasked a portion of the army. Now, she went all out. The soldiers pushed out at the demon army, especially near Mammon's location. They would lose a lot of soldiers with such a reckless move, but this was to ensure no demons disrupted the battle between Jeanny's team and the devil.

*

As for the battle itself, it still went on fiercely. Jeanny's Dragonflight skill lasted an hour at max level. Her flight speed was very fast under the skill's effect. She continued to zoom in and out of Mammon's range as she delivered her attacks.

The one who faced Mammon in direct combat was Spring Crown. With his ability to identify weak points, he continued to deflect Mammon's assaults. He activated Ki Weapon to strengthen his weapon for the task. It was taxing, though. Mammon's attack speed was extreme. One mistake, and he could miss the mark. His concentration was fully on point as his weapon clashed with Mammon's.

David had the easiest task as he continued to unload his bullets from range. Thanks to the high damage of the fallen apostle's gun, he was able to inflict enough damage so the damage was not offset by Mammon's natural recovery ability. Mammon's HP bar went down at a slow but steady rate.

His celestial soldiers continued to fight any demons who attempted to approach. The levels of his celestial soldiers ranged from level 84 to 94. Many of their grades were special elites. A good portion was rare elites. Around twenty were mythical grades. The mythical grades were all level 94.

These celestial soldiers had no problem dealing with the demons and stopping them from interfering. However, they lasted only two hours. Fortunately, Nova decided to go all out. Her soldiers could take over once the celestial soldiers ran out of duration.

Freddie was itching to advance to fight Mammon, but he restrained himself. Jeanny had asked him not to. He fired standard range attacks while healing Spring Crown and Jeanny when needed. He summoned treants to do the fighting, but they didn't last long.

'Jeanny, should I use it now?' Freddie sent a message in their chat group.

'Hold! Mammon hasn't shown all his cards yet," Jeanny replied. 'We can grind him down like this if these are all he has."

'Easy for you to say. One mistake and it's my ass on the line,' Spring Crown complained.

'And you call yourself the number one gamer?' David ridiculed.

'I don't. It's my fans who call me that,' Spring Crown returned.

'Focus, people!' Jeanny chided.

Jeanny's Dragonflight came to an end. Her speed was back to normal. She took position opposite Spring Crown, so Mammon had to divide his attention. She readied herself. She didn't have Spring Crown's ability to safely block Mammon's weapon, but she had the dragon lord reflex that help her dodge Mammon's attacks.

"Have you run out of juice?" Mammon said as he looked back at Jeanny. What worried Jeanny was the devil was grinning.

A dark sphere appeared from Mammon. The sphere enlarged and covered them all. It reached even some who were fighting in the vicinity. The defenders inside the sphere suddenly found themselves in a pitch-black environment. They couldn't see anything!

Those outside the sphere were startled to see a black dome suddenly materialize on the battlefield. They couldn't see what was inside this black dome. They estimated the diameter of the dome to be around half a kilometer.

"Spring! David! Move back!" Jeanny yelled once their surroundings turned into complete darkness.

The two had begun learning mana sense, but they were still inadequate. Against opponents like Mammon, they wouldn't be able to cope if they had to rely on their limited mana sense.

Spring Crown wasn't an amateur. He flew away once he lost vision. He was not fast enough, though. Luckily, he had basic mana sense. He detected an incoming attack a split second just before it hit. Luckily, he already transformed his weapon into a buckler and put it before him. He managed to shift the buckler a bit when he sensed the attack. He felt a strong impact on the buckler. He suffered damage as his body flew uncontrollably from the impact.

David was in a better position because he was further away. However, he didn't know where to aim since he couldn't see the target.

His celestial soldiers were also in trouble. They couldn't see in the darkness except for the twenty mythical grades who had mana sense. The most troublesome thing with this dark sphere was it only affected enemies. The demons had no problem seeing the defenders. They didn't let go of this chance and pounced at the celestial soldiers who had become blind.

The skill Mammon used was called the Absolute Darkness Domain. Its effect was not only robbing the enemies of their vision. It also caused damage over time, reduced the enemies' stats and defense, and increased all the dark-element damage suffered by the enemies.

As the DOT started appearing above her head, Jeanny sensed an incoming attack. Luckily, the time slowed before she was hit. She barely dodged the slash. It was harder now because she suffered a debuff, which made her slower.

Before she could do anything, she sensed another incoming attack. She again narrowly dodged this attack. Mammon's attack speed was already abnormal, to begin with. With her being slower and the sole focus of Mammon's assaults, she knew she couldn't keep this up for long. All the while, Mammon's laughter echoed through the dark space, taunting her.

When she decided she shouldn't hold back anymore, several bright silver lights shone all over the place. These lights couldn't drive away all the darkness, but they let the people inside the dark sphere at least see a little.

These silver lights were produced by a spell cast by the Soul Swan. These lights not only provided vision within Mammon's domain, but they also provided buffs to allies. These buffs countered the stat reduction from the Absolute Darkness Domain.

Mammon looked over at the Soul Swan with dissatisfaction. It was still fighting one of his wolves. He was about to rush over to teach the soul swan a lesson when he heard Jeanny's voice.

"Your opponent is me!"

Mammon looked back at Jeanny. He was surprised to find that her appearance had changed. She was geared in full body armor that was different than before. The armor looked like a set. They had a dark blue glow and had shapes that showcased draconic features.

Jeanny stabbed her spear aiming at Mammon's face. Mammon twirled his monk's spade. The weapon's bladed end slapped the spear. The spear was repelled, but it returned with lightning speed. The spear's pointy end hit Mammon's weapon. The impact was one time, but seven clanging sounds were heard.

The monk's spade was thrown back as a result. This greatly surprised Mammon. The force he felt from the recoil was stronger than when Spring Crown deflected his weapon. While he knew Spring Crown used an unknown secret technique to repel his attack, he was sure Jeanny's feat just now was brute force. This woman outworlder was able to generate enough force that rivaled his strength.