The draconian legion commenced their assault.
The grand marshal Zhang San led the charge, with over twenty draconian generals following close behind. They launched a charge head-on towards the Bloody Fortress.
The fortress guards were stupefied by the spectacle before them.
A terrific earth drake with a body length of forty to fifty meters and covered in gold-encrusted diamond scales, leading more than a dozen black iron earth drakes over ten meters long, charged towards the fortress with an astonishing speed and momentum.
"What is this?"
"Attack! Hurry and attack!" the guards shouted.
The guards immediately attempted to halt their charge with a barrage of arrows and magic.
And yet their attacks had little to no effect on the Level 4 overlord diamond earth drake, as if they were merely tickling it.
After becoming the Earth Drake Grand Marshal, Zhang San not only grew in size and had more grandiose scales, but also underwent many other changes.
In his earth drake form.
He developed a row of backward facing spines along the outer side of his limbs.
Like a razor sharp blade, these spines could effortlessly slice through anything that dared to come close.
Additionally, a single horn three to four meters long had appeared on top of his head, which was not only incredibly sturdy, but also carried powerful effects that could dispel magic and penetrate armor.
Regardless of physical defenses, shields or barriers.
None could withstand a head-on charge from Zhang San.
The diamond earth drake attracted the vast majority of the firepower, yet was almost unscathed. It eventually rammed directly onto the Bloody Fortress's defense barrier.
With a loud bang.
Like a sharp blade piercing through cardboard.
Zhang San easily breached the barrier with little resistance, instantly shattering a large chunk of the defense barrier, leaving Bloody Fortress exposed.
"RAAAAWWWRRRRRRR!"
The diamond earth drake let out a howling roar and charged forth once again, using its horn to break through the walls of the fortress. It took the lead in storming the interior of the fortress, drawing most of the firepower on itself.
The earth drake species.
They were innately tough and tenacious.
Zhang San had undergone several evolutions and now possessed the physique of a golden diamond earth drake. His defenses had reached a level of unprecedented heights in which no ordinary Heroes could break through.
The dozens of iron earth drakes followed Zhang San closely behind.
The fortress guards abandoned their posts and fled in terror. Their defense line was no match against these ferocious behemoths.
Before the fortress could mount up a proper resistance.
The second wave of the draconian legion's assault had already arrived.
Hundreds of mystic battlemages who had transformed into winged drakes, along with hundreds of super soldiers made their way into the fortress through the breach and began launching attacks from every direction.
Lastly, there was the main force of the draconian legion.
Thousands of normal soldiers, battlemages, and high soldiers rushed out from the woods like a raging black torrent and stormed into the fortress with an unstoppable momentum.
The entire fortress.
Had completely fallen.
Su Yan watched as flames were raging, swords and steel were clashing everywhere in the battlefield. In this situation, it no longer mattered whether the Demon King personally intervened or not.
Zhang San was invincible and a force to be reckoned with.
Even if He Tianzong was alive, he would not be able to hold him back.
Moreover, this siege mobilized more than twenty draconian generals, along with numerous draconian priests, including the high priest, Li Si.
"The Bloody Fortress is finished!"
Su Yan was thrilled, "Without this important stronghold, the empire won't be able to easily interfere with the Chaos Forest anymore!"
The Bloody Fortress was vital to their plans.
If the fortress had finished its construction.
Its sturdiness and defensive capabilities would be ten times stronger than it was now. Then, the empire would discreetly deploy a large number of elites to cooperate with the Divine Sword in order to take over the various forces of the Chaos Forest.
At that point, it would not be easy to occupy the fortress.
Even if the draconian legion was mobilized.
It would probably pay a heavy price.
However, the Demon King acted swiftly and decisively.
He got it done before the empire could intervene.
"Leave it to Zhang San and Li Si, there's nothing more to see here. Come with me." Zhang Nu beckoned to Su Yan, "I'm taking you to handle another matter."
Su Yan did not quite catch what he meant, "What is it?"
"Do you even need to ask? Since I'm here in person, how can I not pay a visit to my kins settled nearby?"
Zhang Nu asked teasingly, "What? Do you not want to go? If you don't, then forget it. I won't force you."
"Go! I'll go!"
"How can I not go!"
"I must be there for this sort of affair!"
Su Yan was overjoyed.
Boss was determined to go the whole hog.
He wanted to take care of the Vampire Demon King while he was at it.
This was a great opportunity for her to have the Boss personally bring her along to kill a Demon King. It was clearly a disguised means of granting her benefits.
If Su Yan still could not understand this.
Then she was a massive fool.
Zhang Nu could have dealt with the Bloody Fortress long ago.
So why did he wait until today and even send Su Yan to go undercover? It was simply to find out how many forces of the Chaos Forest were under the empire's control.
He had now obtained the relevant information that he desired.
Now, the purge could be commenced.
Zhang Nu regarded the entirety of Chaos Forest as his potential territory.
He would never allow the empire to dip their fingers in his territory. As for the twelve Demon Kings who had joined the empire, their existences must be wiped out, without exception!
The Vampire Demon King Bai Hongzhuo would be the first to face his wrath.
With the help of the empire.
Bai Hongzhuo had already ascended to a Level 4 Demon King!
Such a level of strength was still relatively rare among Demon Kings, it would be ideal for Zhang Nu to personally get rid of him.
However, there were no rewards for a Demon King to kill another of his own.
Which was why the fox-kin Hero was so ecstatically thrilled.
It was apparent that the Boss was quite satisfied with her recent performance, so he intended to give her a great reward.
...
Scarlet Valley.
Within the Demon King's castle.
Bai Hongzhuo had long sensed that his troops had suffered heavy casualties.
He immediately realized that the operation in the Darkness Valley had failed.
"How could the raid fail?"
"Damn! This is bad!"
"I've lost almost half of my troops!"
"Shit! He Tianzong swore the operation would succeed, but it turned out to be a shitshow! I've suffered huge losses...I have to demand an explanation and compensation from the empire!"
Among the twelve Demon Kings, Bai Hongzhuo had the most aerial combat units.
Most of the elite units in the joint army that attacked Darkness Valley actually came from the vampires of Scarlet Valley.
No wonder the Vampire Demon King was furious.
Bai Hongzhuo had not even had the time to ask He Tianzong for an explanation.
"Master!", his subordinate rushed in.
"Bad news!"
"The Bloody Fortress has been sieged!"
"The defense line has collapsed!"
Bai Hongzhuo was utterly flummoxed. Not only did the assault on Darkness Valley fail miserably, now they were the one getting attacked now? What in the hell was going on?
There was a saying.
Without the lips, the teeth would be exposed to the cold.
The Scarlet Valley and the Bloody Fortress were on the same boat, and the fortress was just right outside the valley.
If the fortress was breached, Scarlet Valley would share the same fate very soon after.
"Hurry!"
"Gather the troops!"
"Bloody Fortress must survive!"
The several vampire subordinates promptly went to carry out his orders.
All of a sudden, a voice rang out in the Demon King hall.
"There's no need to waste your efforts."
"Bloody Fortress is already finished."
"Now...you should worry about yourself."
The Vampire Demon King, as well as his subordinates were startled.
"Who's there? Stop hiding! Show yourself!"
Bai Hongzhuo unhesitantly entered his combat state. His eyes turned bloodshot, revealing his blood-sucking fang, and his entire being was entwined with an aura of blood.
Then, he saw it.
Two figures appeared in the hall.
One was a burly draconian, whose presence was exuding an oppressive atmosphere; and the other was a petite fox girl, who quickly hid behind the draconian.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Take a guess."
Bai Hongzhuo's eyes widened in realization, "You're the Dragon Demon King of Darkness Valley?!"
The Dragon Demon King nodded, "Correct."
"You have a lot of guts!"
"As if sneaking into my castle alone with a useless Hero wasn't bad enough..."
"...You dare to show yourself before me like this? Are you that eager to die?"
Zhang Nu had killed many lonewolf Heroes.
He had acquired multiple stealth skills such as Shadow Stealth and Shadow Leap.
With his current strength, even having to bring Su Yan along, it was not difficult for him to avoid the troops outside as well as the low leveled alerting facilities such as the Level 1 Detection Tower.
Zhang Nu replied calmly, "Don't get me wrong, I sneaked in solely because I don't like wasting my precious time in a garbage dump. I'm an efficiency oriented person and I like to get straight to the point."
These two Demon Kings were both Level 4, and yet the Dragon Demon King was acting so contemptuously and arrogant towards Bai Hongzuo. So much so that his ego took a heavy blow from his attitude.
"The audacity of this bitch!"
"Kill him!"
The vampire subordinates on the scene immediately moved to strike.
These vampires who could stay by the Demon King's side were naturally the elites amongst the elites. All of them were Level 3 elite units, some were even Level 4.
They possessed astounding speed.
Wrapped in an aura of blood.
They arrived before Zhang Nu almost instantaneously.
Seeing this, Su Yan hastily called out, "Boss! Be careful!"
Zhang Nu formed a ball of dragonflame in the palm of his hand, he then violently crushed the fireball within his grasp. As the dragon flame exploded outwards, a small storm of blaze was set off and the dragonflame surged forth ferociously, engulfing the approaching vampires.
"Ahhhh!"
Agonizing screams and cries echoed across the hall, the vampires were burning alive and their flesh was charred. They fell to the ground, screaming and struggling, but the bodies became motionless after a short while.
[You've slain a Vampire General. Gold +12,000!]
[You've slain a Vampire Super Soldier. Gold +1,000!]
[You've slain a Vampire Super Soldier. Gold +1,000!]
[You've slain a Vampire Super Soldier. Gold +1,000!]
[...]
Bai Hongzhuo stared in disbelief, his eyes widened, "Impossible...Impossible! We're both Level 4! This doesn't make sense! How are you so much stronger than me?!"
Vampires were not ordinary creatures.
They were a type of blood kin that was a hybridization of undead and divine.
Blood kins have very keen senses, proper intelligence, and resilient life force. But currently, they seemed so fragile and vulnerable before this opponent.
"Now, it's your turn!"
Zhang Nu reignited his dragonflame, "Don't say I didn't give you a chance. Whatever tricks you have under your sleeve, use it while you're still alive!"
The Vampire Demon King's strength paled in comparison to Zhang Nu's.
Even if he was compared against the Succubus Queen, Han Kexin, who was also a Level 4 Demon King, there was a huge gap in power.
While the vampire had considerably decent talents.
It was not particularly strong.
It was far behind the innate talents of an Abyssal Dragon or a Succubus Queen.
Not only did Bai Hongzuo not redouble his efforts to collect additional skills to compensate for the lack of strength, he was being foolishly complacent and arrogant, believing that he was already a top Demon King. It was truly a short sighted and idiotic mindset!
After a few brief rounds of exchanges.
The Vampire Demon King had already been burnt into a human shaped charcoal.
His face was full of shock and horror, but he was not dead yet and a breath of life still remained within him, all thanks to his tenacious vitality.
"Stop!"
"I surrender!"
"I can submit to you!"
"My strength can be valuable to you!"
"I'm willing to be your subordinate! I can aid you against the empire's forces!"
Zhang Nu's expression remained indifferent.
He did not even glance at the Vampire Demon King.
He simply made a gesture to Su Yan with a look.
Su Yan promptly drew her short sword and walked up to Bai Hongzhuo.
"Our Boss doesn't need a self-righteous, arrogant, short-sighted frog in the well!"
A smile lit up Su Yan's face, "You can rest assured and move on to the next life. As for your last wish, there is a way to fulfill it."
"I will use your power to assist our Boss!"
Bai Hongzhuo roared out in reluctance, "NOOO!!!"
With a strike from the short sword.
The last blow was dealt.
Piercing the heart of the Vampire Demon King.
[You've slain the Vampire Demon King!]
[You gained ??? training points, Blood magic talent, and Blood Kin's Physique!]
After killing the Level 4 Demon King.
Su Yan immediately received a prompt.
The rewards for killing this Demon King was immaculate!
It was like a dream come true to her! She could even wake up laughing in her dreams!
She had received over 300 training points, which was equivalent to the cultivation achievements of an ordinary folk over several lifetimes. Moreover, she was incredibly lucky to receive two talents from the Vampire Demon King.
The first one was Blood Magic, which was an advanced magic type exclusive to the higher blood kins.
The second was Blood Kin's Physique.
Su Yan, as a Hero, would not turn into a vampire because of this talent. In spite of that, she would gain many beneficial features and stats bonuses that were present in the vampire's bloodline.
Suffice to say.
Killing a single Vampire Demon King.
Was more rewarding than killing a dozen ordinary Level 3 Demon Kings.
If Su Yan ignored every other aspect and just dumped all the training points into leveling, she could immediately become a Level 3 Hero. However, her strength would be somewhat lacking.