"Uh, finally we are leaving… I need to get new clothes…"
A rather annoyed Isabella was looking at the entrance of the seemingly active volcano. After Zhang Dong's victory, a week had already passed. The dwarves were celebrating for a few days and everyone was drinking themselves stupid.
The young members from the royal family nor the hero party were safe from this. Everyone got drunk with the exclusion of Zhang Dong, Beatrice, and Isabella that were safe thanks to their scary lightning chaperone.
Neither the dwarves nor the humans were willing to cross his path as he had proven himself in being a great wall that could not be breached. Some of them tried, like Takeshi that for some reason or another had changed his target from the pink-haired princess and was now trying to court Beatrice.
This resulted in some strange encounters that mostly ended with Isabella shouting at everyone. With him backing her up even the royals couldn't do anything. Their side had now both the elves and the dwarves, the golems had been brought on the large elven ship and were now part of the crew.
'This actually looks like a competent fighting force…'
Zhang Dong thought to himself while looking through the people that were on the current ship. They were given a large battalion of golems with experienced operators. They also had many flying ships with the super large one in the middle.
This flying ship on its own possessed magic power that could rival a demon lord. It could even deliver a more devastating strike similar to the Argonaut that he made back home. Just like with his own model it needed some time to charge.
"I wish victory upon you all!"
"Thank you, my king!"
An old-looking dwarf with many battle scars on his face was saluting to his new king, Thondin Hillmane. The new monarch looked like a proper king with his crown. It looked like he had made peace with his new position and was willing to take this task on.
The old dwarf was the commanding officer that the kingdom was lending him. This man was supposedly the best man for the job. With him around, there would be no problem in organizing some strategies.
"Great Spirit Emperor, we are ready to depart."
"Let us depart then, let us go to the dark lands, time for the final battle to commence!"
The dark lands were a dark place covered by a gloomy forest. It was a spot on this continent where the barrier between the lands of demons and the other races was thin. Through it, lesser demons were able to slip in.
It was not something that anyone was willing to venture towards. The armies of the three main races remained outside the danger zone and could only observe. Any expeditions that they attempted were unfruitful.
The expeditions were never a combined venture, this was the first time that a large force of this size would be attempting it. Together with the heroes and the famous Lightning Emperor things were looking well. Three of the five demon lords were dead and now it looked like humanity would regain its footing at the top of the food chain once more.
"Will we really be able to defeat the demon lord?"
Beatrice asked while looking out through a window that was in the large ship's interior. They were now flying through the air on the course towards the lands that were still occupied by the demons.
"Of course we will and we must."
Replied Zhang Dong that was awaiting this day with desperation. Some months had passed by and he was still here. Even though he didn't want to put these people in danger there was no other way of getting the rest of the cubes.
He also wasn't willing to use the one that was used to bring Takeshi and the three girls over. Without it, the three would be stuck here as he took it away and the teleportation array that brought them over here was not in a working condition.
"Don't worry, just leave it to me. Takeshi might not look that reliable but he isn't weak either."
The heroes were also at a high level compared to the people in this world. If they worked together they should be able to take out a demon lord. What they lacked was experience but gaining it would prolong everything.
Thus he didn't put much faith into them instead, he used the time to improve on the golem designs and also shared some magical knowledge with the elves. By strengthening his own forces he hoped to mitigate the weakened state of the heroes.
'But still… I think it might be bad to let these kids take out a demon lord instead of me...'
Zhang Dong had a little theory that he couldn't test out. He had taken all the corrupt cubes for himself but he believed that they might have been intended to fall into the heroes hands. Maybe by absorbing their power, the hero party would gain enough strength to be able to take on the last boss.
He feared that if they killed one or two of the remaining lords that he would lose the nuclei in the process. The question was if it was better to increase the strength of the hero party or to believe in his own power. He had stayed busy and cultivated his own soul constantly.
Its size had increased which would translate well if he ever reached his old cultivation level. He even felt that he could use it to battle against masters at the great circle level.
"Great Spirit, we are approaching the dark lands, what are your instructions."
With him now having both dwarves, elves, and a chunk of the human faction on his side he was turned into the commander of this expedition. It seemed like things were coming together but he knew that this was just the time when something usually went wrong.
"Tell everyone to stop, I will head out and examine the situation."
After giving the standby order everyone was instructed to wait for further instructions. The dwarves quickly entered their golems and the elven wizards prepared for battle. The other ships stood a bit behind the main elven one while they waited.
Zhang Dong in his adult form floated forward towards the dark lands. Just as they were described it was an area covered by grayish fog and darkened forest. This reminded him of the thick fog that the Cthulhu-like monster was occupying.
'Is this fog blocking my perception as then?'
Even while he focused with all his might the fog was somehow blocking his spiritual sense. It was similar to that one time back in his own world, he was unable to peek too far. His range was at about three hundred meters in all directions. The only things that he could feel were some animals and insects.
'These life forms… they have been altered by the demonic energies of this place…'
He could feel that the animals were twisted by the evil energy that resided in these lands. They had grotesque demonized appearances that were ghoulish in nature. Even the insects were corrupt, any stings by them would result in poisoning.
'I guess we'll have to venture into the unknown…'
Zhang Dong returned to the ship, the party of heroes was here along with his two summoners.
"How was it, did you see anything."
Takeshi asked with some concern in his voice.
"Yes but not much, the corruption runs deep. The fog that covers this place is filled with demonic energy; it will slowly deteriorate a person's psyche if they breathe in the fumes. I believe that any regular person would start changing into a grotesque creature after a few hours."
"Grotesque creatures?"
Ami flinched at that notion along with the other girls that were here.
"So, we will become like one of the royal family members?"
Isabella slid in a little joke while the other people gathered here chuckled. Lucky for them the people in question were on their own ships and not very willing to lend their men.
"Don't worry, this ship has a protective shield that can block out this miasma. You four will be okay, something like that will be unable to harm your bodies. It will only affect untrained people anyone versed in magic should be fine."
Zhang Dong reassured everyone that this fog would not affect them. They also had the elven flying ship that possessed a giant barrier that would not let anything through.
"Let us move in but remain vigilant, it's still some time before we reach the edge of the barrier."
The order to move forward was given, every ship that was here possessed some kind of magical barrier. With it out the dark fog would be unable to move in and claim any victims.
Magical barriers in various colors started to appear and the hero party entered the demonic territory. Every magical device that could detect demons was activated but due to the fog, the readings were all a jumbled mess.
Zhang Dong stood at the front of the ship while looking forward. This demonic forest spread for a couple of kilometers and at the end would be the point that they would need to strike. The plan was quite straight forward but if it came to fruition no one knew.
Most of it relied on Zhang Dong's capabilities. Some people still had the misconception of the heroes being the ones that they needed to rely on. The ones that could see the bigger picture knew that Leigong was the pivotal point of this operation. He had already proved himself to being stronger than a demonic lord.
"Mr. Leigong…"
"What is it, you both should return to the protective cabin."
While slowly gliding through the thick fog a worried Beatrice arrived. She was alone but he could tell that Isabella would probably be arriving soon. The two had become inseparable since becoming a good team.
"I've been meaning to ask you…"
"Hm, yes?"
"A-are you going to be leaving after the demon king is destroyed?"
"Huh?"
Zhang Dong almost tripped over his feet as he was asked this question. Somehow Beatrice had figured out that he was not here to stay. He had never mentioned this fact to this girl or to anyone else. Somehow she must have come to this conclusion herself.
"What makes you think that?"
"You seem awfully set on battling the demon king… as if you don't have enough time…"
"Ah… was it that obvious?"
He was indeed rushing it, this was a half-assed plan brought on by him worrying about his family. For all that he knew they could be getting attacked by some other sect at this very moment.
"I… I was right? You are really leaving?"
Beatrice flinched back as Zhang Dong didn't even try to hide it. He felt like at this point he owed his summoner an explanation. He felt that if she stuck to Isabella her future would be assured.
But before he could give her a proper explanation he noticed something.
"Damn, Beatrice, return to Isabella, I need you both to lend me your power… a demon lord has appeared!"
He turned to the fog while squinting with his eyes, there he felt a surge of demonic energy coming his way and there was more than one.
"Everyone prepare for battle!"