It doesn't matter what the lord is.

No matter how many times she is criticized, Alayya will always prioritize following Reed's orders.

5. Love Around the Corner

This is not the first time that Reed and Alayya have ventured deep into the demon territory.

Before, these two people would come to the demon clan every month to cause trouble, and the surrounding demons all knew this pair of bandits. The demons with a little wisdom would choose to avoid the bad luck of these two disaster stars at the end of the month, while those with low IQ or stubborn heads would stay to test their abilities, but most of them would lose their lives in this test.

But those killed by Alayya before were basically idle demons. They fend for themselves in this land or occupy the mountains as kings. Occasionally, they would spontaneously kill adventurers who came to explore, but they would not take the initiative to attack the cities in human territory. At most, they would wander around nearby and then return to their nests. Generally speaking, they did not pose much threat to humans. Many demon leaders who dominated a region would even be beaten to death by adventurers, and the materials on their bodies would be taken away, making them no different from prey.

But the real fear of the demons is the powerful high-level demons and the demon army under them who obey orders. The demon army integrates all kinds of demons together to maximize the role of each demon. There is no internal strife, they are fearless and numerous, and they are a nightmare on the battlefield.

For example, three years ago, a team of adventurers that had been famous for a long time and had conquered many eighth- and ninth-level demons entered too deep into the demon's territory due to a mistake in command, and all four masters with a ninth-level cultivation level or above died in a foreign land. According to the information sent back from the front line, the four people died in the mouths of the low-level demons [Man-eating Ants]. A man-eating ant is only as big as a fingernail, and a strong adult can kill seven or eight of them with one foot, but a nest of 80 million man-eating ants is under the unified command of the queen ant, and even masters above the ninth level can only be drowned in the waves, and not even bones are left.

After officially entering the demon territory, Reed became more certain of the danger of this operation.

The demon land had not changed from before, and even the marks that Alaya and I had made on the trees before were still clearly visible. But the visibility around was not high, and a faint mist lingered here. The low-level demons that were once common in the mountains and fields could not be found now. There was no wind, and the leaves were motionless. The footsteps of a hundred people were clearly audible, and silence soon enveloped the army of a hundred people.

The leader of this army of 100 soldiers was named Bei Dimo, a 24-year-old young man. He did not come from Tianxing City with Fang Shisan, but was recruited by Fang Shisan from the local army of Yuxi City. Bei Dimo ​​himself was not strong, and his ability to deploy troops was limited, but he had a cheerful personality and a clear mind. He dared to make judgments at critical moments and could lead the army to effectively implement her deployment, so he was usually in charge of the vanguard.

"Is the city lord okay? The army is currently following the formation of Lord Fang Shisan and has not left the protection of Yuxi City. The fog has little impact on us. But the city lord is not a member of the army. If you feel unwell, please tell me as soon as possible."

Bedimos said to Reed who was walking side by side.

Of course, Lid didn't feel any problem. This little mist wouldn't affect him at all. But after thinking about it, he replied:

"Apart from a slight headache, it's nothing serious. I'm the lord of Yuxi City, so I can still receive some protection. It's okay."

Bedimo nodded and said in a slightly admiring tone:

"As expected of you, Lord City Lord."

Lid smiled slightly, and when he turned his head, he began to sense the movements of the demons around him silently. With his current strength, the low-level demons no longer had any chance to hide in his eyes. As long as they were close enough, he could directly sense their positions even if he couldn't see them with his eyes. But for now, apart from this strange fog, there were no demons around.

This means that all the demons nearby have been gathered together and are just hiding somewhere, waiting for the order to attack from above.

Alayya does not have Reed's strength, so she dare not carry even a trace. Her hand is always on the hilt of the sword, and she never leaves Reed's side. She looks around with her beautiful eyes, fighting wits and courage with the enemy who does not exist yet.

The army encountered nothing on the first day.

At dinner time in the evening, Reed sat on the ground in the army formation. He did not act pretentiously and ate with the soldiers from the same pot.

Bedimo sat beside him, deeply moved. He didn't know at this moment that after he fell asleep, Lid got up and secretly cooked a small meal by himself, eating half a dozen of the spiced dried meat brought by Alaiya.

Before going to bed, Bedimo specially left some soldiers to keep watch, and they took turns to rest. Everything was in order.

That night, Lid only slept for six hours, which was far from his usual ten hours of sleep a day. The reason for such a short sleep was not because of nervousness or vigilance, but because the ground was uneven and he couldn't sleep. Although he slept soundly with Alaiya's thigh as a pillow in the second half of the night, he still yawned in the morning because he didn't get enough sleep.

The next day, the army again gained nothing.

Qian Teng, who was following not far behind, also sent a message, saying that although they had sent troops to explore the surrounding area as much as possible, they still found nothing. Not only the low-level demons like the Goblin and the Horned Rabbit, but also the elite demons of the fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth levels were missing, leaving only an empty territory. It was as if the duty director of the Family Planning Office, the Purple Potato Monster, snapped his fingers, and all the demons seriously suspected of having more than one child disappeared.

A lot of precious materials collected by the demons were also found in their territories. Qian Teng asked the army to pick out some important ones to take with them. If they could return safely without encountering any danger, it would be considered as some extra money earned.

That night, even Bedimo couldn't help but mutter while eating:

"It's strange. He used to fight like a cannibal, but why is he so cowardly this time?"

If it were an ordinary army, they would be more or less slack after not seeing the enemy for such a long time. But these hundreds of people still maintained a high level of vigilance. Beidimo also organized soldiers to patrol the surrounding area every day. They would rather advance slowly than take the risk of being cut off.

It was not until five days later that the army of Yuxi City encountered the demon army on the front line.

It was an accidental encounter. The person exploring the way ahead was caught off guard when he pushed aside a bush and saw a wrinkled face like bark. He shouted "wcnmd" to give himself courage, and in panic, he stabbed the forehead of the bark-like face with a sword. Green juice splashed, and the wooden man let out a shrill howl, causing waves in the forest.

Of the three people who were exploring the way, two were left to cover the rear, and the remaining one quickly rushed to the rear and reported the news to Bedimo.

The battle with the demons has begun.

6. Alayya the Woodcutter

When Lid and Bedimo arrived at the scene, the tree monsters had already gathered together, swaying their dead branches and leaves while slowly moving forward. The one at the head looked obviously different from the others. Most of the tree monsters were brown like dead wood, but that one was silver-gray. It was on the branch above the head of this elite tree monster that the bodies of two soldiers were carried.

The two people in charge of the rear did not survive, but they also fulfilled their final responsibility: to ensure that the soldier in charge of communications returned safely to the army.

The elite tree monster grinned with its toothless mouth, its red eyes narrowed into two slits, and it shook its head deliberately to show the two soldiers' bodies that had been drained of nutrients. The soldiers' muscles were no longer as plump as they were when they were alive, and were gray and black in color. From a distance, it looked like the tree monster had two ponytails growing on its head.

The surviving soldiers clenched their spears. Bedimo drew his sword from the scabbard at his waist, pointed it at the tree monster's head, and shouted:

"Form a battle array to meet the enemy! Don't be provoked!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the soldiers behind him quickly dispersed and formed a formation that had been practiced hundreds of times. No one fell behind, because an army of a hundred people would be equipped with a reserve of ten to twenty people, so even if two soldiers were sacrificed, the total number would still be over a hundred, and they could still receive the protection of the formation after forming up.

But before they could finish forming their formation, a figure flashed by and rushed towards the elite tree monster in the front.

The long sword [Scarlet Fire] spun around at high speed, cutting off a branch on the top of the elite tree monster's head cleanly and neatly, and continued to fly backwards. Alayya held another long sword [Dragon] in both hands, jumped high, and personally cut off another branch on the top of the tree monster's head, and the two shriveled corpses fell to the ground.

Alayya possessed the body, first picking up the collar of the corpse closest to her, and then walked towards the other corpse.

The elite tree monster's head was spurting out emerald green juice. The smile on its face was still there, but it was already a bit painful. It wailed and slapped Alaya on the head with its withered hands covered with vines, intending to smash this arrogant human woman into a meat pie and then suck her dry. But unfortunately, Alaya didn't even look at it. She bent down and picked up another corpse. The tree monster's claws were only a few centimeters away from her, and were suddenly nailed into the soil by the flying [Scarlet Fire]. The force was so great that the elite tree monster couldn't stand steadily and fell to the ground.

Alayya returned to the human army with an expressionless face, and swung [Dragon] to the ground, creating a pit. She threw the two bodies into the pit and buried them, giving them a place to rest.

The human army immediately burst into cheers, while the group of tree monsters seemed a little exasperated.

There are many top-notch demons in the tree monster category, but those tree monsters are usually towering trees with extremely high heights. They live in the inland areas of the demon tribe and are basically invisible on the border. Many demons with insect or rodent habits will eat tree monsters, which makes it difficult for this type of demon to become too strong. Most of the tree monsters in front of them are at the third or fourth level, and the tree monster elites are just over the fifth level. They are very difficult opponents for the army, but not to the point where Alaya will be in a difficult battle.

After all, they are just the vanguard of the demon clan.

After commanding the soldiers to line up, Bedimo launched a charge towards the group of tree monsters. There were a total of fifteen tree monsters in front of them, of which the elite tree monsters were left to Alaya to deal with, and the army's target was the ordinary tree monsters behind the elite tree monsters. The spears pierced into the tree monsters' skinny bodies, and the tree monsters would also fight back with their vine-covered strange hands. However, the army was protected by the formation, and the strange hands hitting the soldiers could not cause very effective damage. Instead, the soldiers who were eager for revenge became more and more courageous.

Alaya fought with the Elite Tree Monster for several rounds. Although her realm was nearly two levels higher than the opponent, Alaya still needed some time to win even though she had the upper hand. This was mainly because the Elite Tree Monster had a variety of attack methods and no obvious weaknesses. Cold weapons such as swords and guns could hardly cause effective damage to it.

Seeing Alayya chopping off branches from the tree monsters like an old gardener, Lid couldn't help but think that it would be good to bring Fileta with him. In the demon territory, he didn't have to worry about setting fire to the mountain and being in jail, nor did he have to worry about the police station under the volcano on the mountain. These tree people could be burned cleanly with a few fireballs, and maybe even burn some charcoal for making delicious barbecue.

The fight lasted about half a minute.

The elite tree monster used a lot of tricks on Alayya, including vine attacks. Unfortunately, due to the huge difference in strength, the fantasy of bondage play did not happen, and the sword energy directly broke the dead branches and rotten leaves.

When the elite tree monster was chopped in half by the logger Alayya, with its upper half hanging on the forest tops and its lower half floating in the pond, the mentality of the other tree monsters changed. Their smiles gradually became distorted, and the weird red smiles on their faces gradually turned into crying faces with lowered brows and crooked mouths.

In order to reduce the damage, Alayya went to support other soldiers, while Reed slowly walked to the corpse of a tree monster, pinched some soil from the roots of its feet, put it to the tip of his nose and smelled it, frowning slightly.

No one noticed his little move, as the army had already begun to pursue the victory. Although Beidimo was not as good as Fang Shisan in strategic command, he still knew what to do and when to do it. He immediately ordered people to cut off the retreat of the tree monsters and killed all of them on the land of the demons. Looking at the wood chips all over the ground, the soldiers who felt unsatisfied kicked them twice.

Lid was not too surprised by this great victory, but Beidimo's face was filled with excitement. This was his first great victory independently after leaving Fang Shisan, which was something to be very proud of for any general.

"Lord City Lord, although the demons had ambushed us, we still won. We showed them the power of humans. This is a victory for Yuxi City... Sorry, I'm so excited that I can't speak. I was born and raised in Yuxi City. Before Lord City Lord came, I don't know how many times the demons came to my doorstep and I could only rely on Lady Fileta to defend the city alone. I was in the city at that time, and I was worried all day long. When I heard that the demons were coming, I ran back home with the people around me and hid in the cellar, trying to get a little sense of security... Who would have thought that in less than a year, we could already kill these once arrogant demons on the demon land."

The soldiers raised their spears high and slammed them against the ground several times. At least half of them were from Yuxi City, and the rest were veterans from Tianxing City and new soldiers from the four cities including Zhenmo City. But no matter who they were, the demons were an existence that could not be easily forgiven.

Bedimo cupped his hands and said:

"Lord City Lord, please give the order. We will strike hard at the demons' vanguard army and avenge the humans."

7. Still can’t reach Fang Shisan’s level

Reed nodded.

No matter from what angle, he had no reason to refuse. Fang Shisan's plan was already very thorough. Their main task was to give the demons' vanguard a head-on blow, even if the demons had already ambushed them here. As long as they retreated and joined Qian Teng, the two hundred people could easily withdraw to human territory.

Besides, morale is high now, so there is no reason not to go.

"Have a good fight according to your judgment."

Lid patted Bedimo on the shoulder. Bedimo stood at attention, raised his head and chest, and said loudly:

"As ordered!"

With great enthusiasm, he organized a hundred soldiers and planned to pursue the victory.

Fortunately, Beidimo was not carried away by victory. He ordered his soldiers to march in formation, preferring to march at a slower speed to ensure that the formation's protection would not be lost when dealing with sudden situations. He also ordered a messenger to quickly rush to Qian Teng to tell him about the situation here and ask him to be ready to respond at any time.

After making sure that everything was safe, Bedimos walked side by side with Reed with excitement.

Reed understood his feelings very well, but passion alone was not enough.

Next, the human army fell into a bitter battle.

When they met the demon army again, the soldiers under the command of Bedimo quickly gained the upper hand. The demon army looked a little embarrassed under the attack of humans, which also gave the human soldiers great confidence. Alaiya's sword was still very fast, and she quickly messed up the demon army, giving the human soldiers a chance to reap the rewards.

But this advantage did not last long as it encountered fierce resistance from the demons.

There were many types of demons among them, including a white, slender creature that looked like a giant earthworm as high as a two-story building. As it twisted, mist continued to spray out of the pores of its body. This mist quickly swept across the entire human army, greatly reducing visibility. Even though these soldiers had become accustomed to night battles under Fang Shisan's training, they could not help but panic when they suddenly lost sight of their companions, and their formation instantly became less solid.

What followed was a counterattack by the demon army. Various demon creatures rushed forward, and the soldiers in the front were killed before they could even react.

Bedimo's heart trembled, he raised his sword and shouted:

"Don't panic! Do as you were trained! Charge with me again, don't retreat, not even a single step!"

He was still very sober. After all, the soldiers had not fought with the demons too many times. If they retreated at this time, the formation would be completely shaky and would be difficult to save.

In the moment of crisis, another sword energy shot up into the sky. The violent flow of air instantly drained away the fog and flew towards the sky with the mist.

Alayya held the long sword [Scarlet Fire] in one hand and stood solemnly among the demons. The white giant earthworm in front of her had been broken in half, but this creature would not die easily, and the two halves of its body were still bouncing on the ground. The move just now was not an ordinary sword skill, but one of the two-handed sword moves Qingyun taught her, [Broken Sea].

[Kai Shan] deals with tangible things, while [Duan Hai] cuts off elusive elements.

This is why Qingyun can deal with most attacks with just these two moves.

Having broken through the demons' attack, Alayya did not hesitate at all and continued to charge into the demons with two swords in hand. These demons made her feel very dangerous, and some of them were even difficult for her to deal with. She could only rely on the sharpness of her weapons and her agility to pull back and forth in the encirclement of the demons as much as possible. If she was not careful, she might die directly.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the human soldiers launched another charge, and no one knew how many people they had sacrificed, but they managed to repel the demon army and restore their formation. But in the current situation, it was unknown how many rounds of attacks they could withstand from the demons.

For the first time, Bedimo felt beads of sweat on his hand holding the sword.

When he won a victory against the tree monster, he suddenly felt that war was nothing special and that he could reach Fang Shisan's level. At this moment, he finally understood that he was too naive. Many people would play in a favorable situation, but would not know what to do when they were against them. Once they were at a disadvantage in this life-and-death situation, the pressure alone was enough to make Beidimo unable to bear it.

Should we fight? Should we flee? How should we fight? How should we flee? Who should fight? Who should flee? Can we win if we continue to fight? Can we escape if we flee? Maybe the demon clan’s formation will collapse if we hold on for a while longer, or maybe they will have endless reinforcements behind them. The question is, should we gamble? What if we lose the bet?

Countless questions flooded into Bedimos's mind in an instant, leaving him at a loss as to what to do.

I really don’t know how Fang Shisan managed to hold on despite being at a disadvantage.

Beidimo swallowed his saliva and heard Lid beside him say calmly:

"Every general has to pay a price to grow. There is no one in the world who wins all his life. Even Fang Shisan came to Yuxi City only after he lost to me. Fight when you want to fight, and run when you want to run. However, no matter whether you fight or run, don't hesitate. If you bet right, you will receive the reward. If you lose, you will take the blame. Since you are a general, you must have the courage to make this decision."

Bedimo's grip on the sword loosened slightly.

Reed's calmness made him feel a little ashamed. He took a deep breath and said quickly:

"We don't know the specific strength of the demons, and they don't know the situation on our side. If we continue to drag it out, Qian Teng will arrive soon, and we will still be able to fight after we join forces. Since we have the conditions, we must teach them a lesson. I request to continue fighting."

Lid nodded. Beidimo thought he agreed with his judgment, and then said:

"But the safety of the city lord is also very important. I hope to send someone to escort the city lord back to Qian Teng. It's too dangerous here..."

Before he could finish, Lid shook his head and said with a smile:

"No need. Unless my maid dies, no demon can attack me."

Bedimo said no more, tightened his sword, and shouted to the soldiers:

"How many of your families have suffered at the hands of the demons over the years? How many innocent civilians on the border have lost their families to the demons? Today we finally have a chance for revenge. If we don't fight to the bitter end, how can we still be worthy of the name of Yuxi? Even if we die, we can't let these guys take even one step east!"

He bowed to Lid, personally led the soldiers to attack, and rushed forward towards the demons.

Lid watched his back go away, and then glanced at the mixed demon army, without a smile on his face. Under his deep gaze, it was unknown what he was thinking.

8. Use Yourself as Bait

Bedimo didn't remember how the fight went on. His hair was disheveled, his armor was full of cracks, the blade of his sword was bent, and his clothes were soaked with blood from someone unknown. At the end of the fight, the entire army, including the reserve army, was less than a hundred people. Once the formation's protection disappeared, the casualties were even more severe. These well-trained soldiers were still able to attack the demons in groups, but they could only fall down if they were hit.

Fortunately, the number of demons was decreasing very quickly. Although there were many strong ones among them, they did not have an outstanding leader like Alaiya, and their actions were disorganized, so Alaiya killed many of them alone. In addition, Bedimo led his soldiers to fight to the death, and the vanguard of the demons began to retreat slowly after leaving behind countless corpses.

But Beidimo did not rest, but continued to attack with his soldiers. It didn't matter if the results were minimal, he had to maintain the offensive posture to give the demons the illusion that humans still had some strength left. Once they found out that they were at the end of their strength, the demons would not be so easy to send away.

Alayya returned to Reed with a tired look on her face.

Her armor was also quite damaged, but fortunately, both swords were extraordinary and did not break down at the critical moment. They accompanied her in fighting a bloody battle and were still as bright as new. If it weren't for the sharpness of the weapons and the lack of leadership in the demon army, Alayya would not have dared to rush into the demon army alone to fight for her life.

"Master, I'm back."

Alayya shook the blood off the sword and put it back into the scabbard.

Reed took out a handkerchief from his bosom, wiped the blood off her face, and asked:

"Are you injured?"

Alayya shook her head: