The Shining Star Above The Heaven-Chapter 589: Preparing for the Last Battle? (2)

As Aldrian continued approaching the black pillar, the rest of the alliance forces also kept advancing, although one army lagged slightly behind. The forces led by Emperor Raymond had only just resumed their march, as reinforcements from outside the devil territory had now arrived in sufficient numbers.

How were the reinforcements able to reach the front-line troops so much faster? That was because in every region they successfully liberated from the devils, they built a teleportation portal. With the dwarves and formation masters among their ranks, all of this became possible. Thanks to this method, the reinforcements didn’t have to travel using traditional means like the main troops. They could simply teleport directly to the front line.

To build these teleportation portals, the dwarves didn’t need to construct anything as complex as the ones found in cities, so they could be built more quickly and efficiently. The only requirement was that they function well enough to transport reinforcements and supplies.

Emperor Raymond, who led the troops, was accompanied by his son beside him. However, Prince Ferdinand looked at his father with a worried expression. His eyes kept drifting to his father’s right arm, which had been severed from the elbow down. The wound had already been treated by the physicians and wrapped in bandages, but the emperor had been advised to avoid any excessive movement. freewёbnoνel.com

There was already someone who could take over if he could no longer lead the army, but the emperor remained adamant. He ignored his injury and continued to command the army despite his condition. Prince Ferdinand was deeply concerned to see his father pushing himself like this.

The battle against the Pride Devil had been truly bloody. That confrontation further cemented the Pride Devil’s name as the strongest among the seven deadly sins. Although he accompanied by a small force of ten thousand devils, it was more than enough to inflict heavy losses on the alliance troops.

Out of the two hundred thousand alliance troops under Emperor Raymond’s command, more than seventy thousand had been lost. It was a staggering number, especially considering they had only faced ten thousand devils. Among the casualties were some renowned figures. One of the ten great swordmasters of the continent had fallen in this battle.

He was Adel Schwertwächter.

He was part of Prince Wilmar’s faction during the civil war and had once attacked the Rosalind family. The Pride Devil showed no regard for identity or reputation, he simply unleashed his sword techniques on anyone in sight. He used his powerful attacks against all opponents, regardless of their cultivation stage, making the battle unimaginably brutal.

Anyone who stood before him, he would kill, especially when he saw members of the great swordmasters. He had long desired to fight them, and in the army led by Emperor Raymond, he finally encountered two: Adel and Elena.

Even though they were much weaker than him—still only at the King stage—he did not care. He used his sword techniques on them without hesitation. The result? Adel was instantly killed, while Elena had one of her arms and one of her legs severed. She even fell into a coma and had to be brought back outside the devil territory.

It was only thanks to the protection of her defensive artifact that her life was saved, although the artifact was instantly destroyed. The Pride Devil was then attacked from all sides, which prevented him from finishing her off.

The Pride Devil was bombarded from every direction. They even used the cannons from their flying fortress, but none of it was enough to put pressure on him.

The only moment they nearly managed to kill the Pride Devil was when Emperor Raymond used his legacy artifact to strike him. Even then, the Pride Devil managed to partially block the attack with a powerful technique. Although it injured him, it wasn’t fatal.

Fortunately, the Pride Devil retreated after his troops were decimated, as he did not seem intent on fighting to the death against their armies. Although the alliance had managed to kill many devils and could technically call it a victory, it still felt like a loss. The casualties they suffered were too great, and most of them were caused by one man.

"Father, based on the decision made with the other leaders, we know we’re allowed to call young master Aldrian if we can’t kill the Seven Deadly Sins in a single encounter. But I think that if we ever face that man again, we should call Young Master Aldrian immediately. We can’t afford to gamble in the future, we’ve already lost too much," said Prince Ferdinand as they stood atop the moving flying fortress.

Emperor Raymond only nodded. He knew it was the wise decision. This battle had already shown them their limits. They could not defeat the Pride Devil without paying a terrible price. It would be far better to ask for Aldrian’s help directly than to wait and hope they could bring the Pride Devil down in the next encounter.

They continued flying as usual for more than six hours, but then they noticed something strange. After all that time, they still hadn’t seen any sign of the devils. Their scouts even reported no activity as far as they could see on the distant horizon. This was unusual, because normally, even just a few hours of their journey through devil territory, they would already have spotted some signs of devil activity, no matter how small.

Sometimes they would catch glimpses of devil scouts observing the alliance’s advance. Other times, they would clash with devil troops during those hours, which had always irritated them, as the devils seemed to have an endless supply of forces to throw at them.

The devils also reckless, becoming truly troublesome opponents. They showed no concern for their own lives and fought with the clear intent to take down as many of their enemies as possible. This suicidal nature among the devils couldn’t be underestimated, it was one of the reasons the battles had become so brutal.

Now, for the first time in two weeks, something felt off on the devils’ side. Emperor Raymond began to wonder if this, too, was part of the devils’ scheme.

He then took out his communication artifact and connected to multiple channels.

"This is Raymond. I want to ask about the strangeness of the current situation," he said.

"Are you referring to the complete lack of devil activity at this hour?" a voice replied from the other side, it was Emperor Herman.

Emperor Raymond was slightly stunned but responded.

"Yes. Are you experiencing the same?"

"Yes, it’s truly strange. Normally, we would have already engaged in another battle by now, but we haven’t seen any devils at all. It’s as if they’re suddenly letting us advance without resistance. It’s confusing, and unsettling. It could very well be part of another devil scheme," Emperor Herman replied.

"I’m experiencing the same. There’s no devil activity in my area either," came the voice of Emperor Ladwin.

"The same here," said Emperor Durand.

One by one, the voices of other major territory leaders came through, each reporting the same situation. It became clear to all of them that this was no coincidence.

"Do you think this has something to do with the Alliance Leader opening what he called the fog wall? Could it be that the Devil Lord made a move after it was breached?" Emperor Raymond asked, uncertain.

"That’s possible," Emperor Ladwin replied. "If the devils started disappearing right after the Alliance Leader broke through the so called fog wall, then that wall must have been an important defensive line, one that guarded the path to the black pillar. Maybe the Devil Lord pulled back all of his forces to defend it."

"Amitabha... then the Devil Lord has mobilized every devil across the territory just to stop the Alliance Leader? He’ll have to face millions of devils—along with all the infamous ones from every rank, including the Seven Deadly Sins," said Venerable Karma Seeker.

"That’s a serious problem," Emperor Durand said. "If that’s the case, we need to move quickly. We can’t let the Alliance Leader face all those devils alone."

"How are we supposed to go any faster? We’re still quite far from the Alliance Leader. He’s using teleportation techniques, and the distance between us must be at least a week’s journey. There’s no way we can catch up to him in time at our current speed," said Emperor Raymond.

There was a moment of silence before King Douwin’s voice suddenly came through.

"What if we send a few of the fastest wyverns from each of our armies far ahead? Each wyvern group would include a team responsible for building a teleportation portal. They’ll have to fly as fast and as far as they can before taking a break. During that rest period, they’ll construct a teleportation portal as quickly as possible.

"We can use those portals to mobilize our troops and repeat the process until we reach the Alliance Leader’s position. However, there is a drawback, we won’t be able to bring heavy equipment or transports like the flying fortresses to the front. We’ll have to rely entirely on our individual troops for the fighting."

He paused, and silence followed again before Sect Master Ryu’s voice echoed across the channel.

"I agree. It’s better than being left out of the battle because we’re too slow."

"I agree as well. This is a good suggestion, what we need most right now is speed. Even if we can’t bring our heavy support, we can still fight," said Emperor Ladwin.

"I agree too..." One by one, the others voiced their support.

"Then it’s settled. We’ll use this method to advance. We won’t let the Alliance Leader fight alone!" declared Emperor Raymond.

With that, the alliance forces began reorganizing themselves for the new travel strategy. They prepared for the great battle ahead!

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