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Path to Prosperity - B3 Chapter 64
🕑 Added 2025-01-11 11:00:02 +0000 UTCA glacier-blue lance pierced the Demon Lord before Percy could deal the finishing blow. It wasn’t even like Percy was desperately struggling against the Demon Lord, yet a rider of the united forces considered it necessary to place the knight in shining armor for him.
Percy glanced at the rider, who sat atop what looked like a frozen horse. The horse was blueish-white with an icicle as its mane. That was already unique and attracted Percy’s attention, just like the trail of freezing mist it left in its wake.
Paul Reeze!
He recognized the Duke, who smiled faintly at him. Paul Reeze was also one of the kingdom’s Pillars. He was one of the strongest, to be precise. Nonetheless, Paul didn’t possess enough strength to fight the Devil alongside King Phillip and the Beast King.
His power was better used against the demonic forces. Slaying Greater Demons was no problem, and even Demon Lords struggled to keep up with him when he went all out.
“I’m happy you decided to join the fight, Your Excellency,” The Duke mentioned, his voice filled with respect.
It was the first time Paul Reeze called him ‘Your Excellency’. That was far from the norm and would have confused Percy if he didn’t understand what was happening.
Do you think you’re going to die today? Is that what the final formalities are for?
Percy clicked his tongue and turned away. He accessed his bond with Blue and checked the battlefield through the Glacial Roc’s eyes. The removal of the demon corpse piles and the masses of demons spread across the battlefield – they’d slowed the Demons, forcing them to be more careful not to slip and fall – changed a lot.
The demonic forces, albeit fewer, charged the defense lines in one compressed mass like they were one entity. The Devil’s endless hunger stirred them. It overshadowed their instincts and transformed the demonic forces into mindless slaughterers. That wasn’t great for those who couldn’t defend against mindless creatures, but the Glacial Roc showed the Glacia Knight Order and the Gaia Knights how it was done.
Blue used [Cyromancy] at its fullest to conjure massive walls all over the battlefield instantly. The walls were close to ten meters tall and several meters wide. Even if some Lesser Demons and Elite Demons were to attack the walls, they wouldn’t crumble. Not even a Greater Demon’s attack would be enough to destroy the ice walls that easily.
Many demons tried climbing the walls, but they found their bodies impaled by massive stakes jutting from the ice walls. The demonic creatures were impaled, the freezing properties of [Cyromancy]’s power seeping into their bodies, killing them slowly.
The Glacia Knights, Gaia Knights, and Mythics were already exhausted; their mana drained more than once, but they nonetheless retrieved a set of Mana Potions from their storage devices. The cork sealing the potions was smoothly removed, and the potion content emptied at once, filling the Knights with enough mana to create lesser versions of Blue’s spiked walls.
The Knights would have done that much earlier, blocking the demonic hordes and forcing them to split up to seek other paths to pounce the united forces, but their entire mana reservoir was drained from creating a large, durable, spiked wall using mana.
Their mana wasn’t as pure as Percy's, forcing them to use much more to produce the same results. It was simply not worth it. Or had been.
Now, however, the tides were changing. The Glacial Roc’s ice feathers killed hundreds of Demons in a good minute, while the Black Wyvern was having the time of its life by unleashing [Dragon Wrath], inducing fear in the demonic creatures’ hearts, and [Dragonbreath], burning all but Demon Lords in their wake.
Even the Gnoll Warlord, its potential to reach the Peak of the Guardian Tier, contributed to the changes on the battlefield. Wielding a pair of massive broadswords while using [Berserk] and [Master of the Blade]. He relied on [Greater Strength Boost] to overwhelm his enemies, even though that was hardly necessary with its high Potential. He cleaved through the masses of Elite Demons and Greater Demons like they were no more than Lesser Demons.
He didn’t struggle fighting Lesser Demons anymore. That time had passed a long time ago. Hyena was strong now. Stronger than ever. Bloodier than ever.
He wreaked havoc, each strike cleaving multiple enemies apart. Every death nurtured [Berserk], pushing the Gnoll Warlord forward, while [Master of the Blade] assured that the Gnoll Warlord would remain level-headed enough to use the knowledge and understanding of the blade to his advantage.
Percy’s summoned Monsters weren’t the only ones contributing to a subtle change in the battle’s tides. The Knight Orders’ Summons were strong enough to aid and protect common soldiers once the massive walls slowed the demonic forces, whereas the Knight Captains and Leaders of the Knight Orders had even better Monster Cards.
Everyone was exhausted, but the crown prince’s appearance and how King Phillip regained enough vigor to fight the Devil head-on were enough to lightly push the united forces.
Percy saw everything through Blue’s eyes and smiled.
[Your Tier increased by one rank.]
The Abomination was still busy consuming demon carcasses, whereas Percy was absentmindedly investing all Prosperity into the Capture Card to accelerate his Tier’s progress. He progressed quickly, and the last rank-up was what Percy had been waiting for.
He’d eliminated the Demon Lords spread across the battlefield with the Pillars and Apex’s help, earning him enough to rank up. Thus, now that the enemies second only to the Devil had been eliminated, Percy turned to the grand prize. The enemy they had to defeat to protect the two nations. The mortal realm.
He stared straight at the Devil, who had wrestled the Beast King to the ground while simultaneously fending off King Phillip with his scales tail.
The Devil looked back at Percy, excitement and fury mixing in its crimson-glowing eyes as it disappeared from the spot.
Percy perceived the essence coursing through the Devil’s body via [Roc Eyes] before he disappeared. He had enough time to use [Dragon Wrath], [Berserk], [Master of the Blade], and to flex his muscles, pure mana coursing through his body.
The Devil appeared behind Percy, his claws mantled in blades of darkness. His arms shot forward, ready to kill Percy on the spot, but the crown prince was prepared. His body twisted as Dragon Fang jumped into action.
He approached the Devil instead of pulling away, which was barely enough to evade the first strike, but it wasn’t enough. Percy was forced to lean toward one blade, which threatened to reap his life at any moment, only for the Syreablade to appear in time. It collided with one of the darkness blades, altering its trajectory slightly.
The first blade missed Percy entirely, whereas the other darkness blade scraped across the Dragonscale Armor.
I can manage that much!
Percy shouted inwardly while the Devil pulled his arms back.
Now that the Devil’s ‘surprise attack’ failed, he didn’t disappear again to attack others. His focus remained on Percy and the Abomination gushing out of him. It looked more at the Abomination and even tried using his powers to access the Abomination and reclaim it. However, despite the Devil’s tremendous power, the Abomination could resist.
Maybe the Abomination was strong enough to block the Devil’s influence entirely, or the Devil was too busy dealing with so many enemies simultaneously. The Devil never stopped attacking Percy while trying to overwhelm the Abomination and force it back to where it belonged, but the deadly attacks never hit the mark.
Percy’s enemy was fast, precise, and deadly, but Percy gained enough strength through his Tier, Augmentations, and the Cataclysmic Dragon’s blood to put on a fight with the Devil.
His skin rippled, and black scales formed underneath, protecting Percy when the Devil managed to pierce through the Draconscale Armor. The Dragonscale Armor wasn’t shattered, but the tip of the Devil’s blade sunk into Percy’s flesh. Or it should have. A black scale formed underneath his skin where the Devil’s blade struck, blocking its path to his heart. Percy’s skin was pierced cleanly, but that was all the damage the Devil could inflict in a good minute against Percy.
Too much mana is leaving my body. Maintaining half a dozen Augmentations at full power is already a burden, but doing so while clashing with the Devil?
Percy was also forced to infuse mana into Dragon Fang, increasing its sharpness and durability while circulating mana through his body, fortifying and enhancing it.
Simultaneously, Percy had yet to comprehend everything about his new bloodline abilities.
His skin rippled in anticipation as the fight with the Devil continued, while the white in his eyes was slowly replaced by the darkness of his Cataclysmic bloodline.
The Devil’s eyes narrowed, fury flickering in his eyes. He stopped trying to reclaim the Abomination for a moment and focused solely on Percy, smashing him harder and harder. But while his attacks hit the mark, they had yet to injure Percy lethally.
Percy was injured, and the Dragonscale Armor was damaged, loosely hanging onto him, but the Devil’s obsession over Percy was exactly what the Beast King and King Phillip needed to attack.
