The seemingly ordinary but secretly powerful man realized his mistakes in a flash.
First, he had underestimated the situation, thinking he was well-concealed but not realizing his opponent had detected his lurking presence.
Second, he miscalculated Eddie's reaction speed, or perhaps Eddie's target was him all along, not James and the students. Eddie had been setting a trap, waiting for him to fall into it.
Third, he had underestimated Eddie's perceptiveness; his greatest weakness was his lower body, and Eddie's attack was precisely aimed there, no coincidence but a clear strategy.
"Summoning Tome!" In a moment of desperation, the man shouted, a silver tome appearing out of nowhere, emitting an orange glow.
A circular shield quickly expanded, protecting his body. The spear thrust at his lower body disintegrated under the shield's expansion, but the man was still in excruciating pain, kneeling and clutching himself.
Although Eddie's spear didn't deliver a fatal blow, it severely wounded the man. Eddie's keen insight had identified his greatest vulnerability.
There seemed to be an energy core in the man's lower body, where even a light attack could cause significant damage. If not for the man's contract with a powerful tome and the protective shield, he would have fallen to Eddie's attack.
Eddie internally lamented the missed opportunity, realizing the man was a contracted tome user. With the enemy writhing in pain, Eddie swiftly moved to Sophia, lifting her onto his back.
The strips of cloth from his torn shirt now served a crucial purpose. Eddie quickly and securely bound Sophia to himself, ready to make an escape.
The mercenaries, watching his actions, realized his plan all along had been to flee with his sister, explaining his earlier puzzling behavior.
"Yehken, Lyqeen, Lyken, what are you waiting for? Let's go!" Eddie shouted, dashing towards the crowd's edge and snatching a long spear from a stunned mercenary.
Yehken and the others were initially startled, but they quickly realized the grave situation when the seemingly ordinary man, clutching his groin, pressed a button on his tome, summoning a dark red portal with alarming speed. The chilling realization struck them: he was summoning a 'Demon's Gate'.
"Everyone, fall back!" commanded the Lady of Falling-Flower City, her expression changing as she summoned a golden tome, twice the size of a bronze one.
A golden shield surrounded her, and her three-tailed snow fox transformed into a bewitching six-tailed spirit fox, its tails fluttering gracefully.
From the dark red gate, endless monsters surged out, a terrifying mix of creatures, causing most mercenaries to flee in panic.
Eddie, too, was stunned by the unexpected outcome. He hadn't anticipated such a consequence when attacking the man.
Before the attack, he had sensed something dangerous about the man, but he never imagined he could summon a gate releasing hellish fiends. If they didn't destroy the portal soon, a demon lord like Hasin might emerge.
Unaware of the strict conditions required to summon a demon lord, Eddie was only familiar with the concept of sacrificing lives for such a summoning.
"What do we do now?" Yehken, who had managed to reach Eddie, trembled with fear.
Eddie's plan to simply deal with an unassuming foe had suddenly spiraled into a scenario involving a portal unleashing demonic forces, a situation far beyond his initial expectations.
Countless demonic creatures poured out of the 'Demon's Gate,' attacking the surrounding mercenaries.
Those unable to flee quickly enough were overwhelmed and torn apart. The other mercenaries, fighting for their lives, drew their weapons and summoned their beasts to confront the relentless tide of evil spirits. Most struggled against the onslaught, particularly those encircled by the fiends.
The Lady of Falling-Flower City, dressed in exquisite garments, summoned a golden scepter. When she thrust it into the ground, a wave of golden light spread out, covering a hundred-meter radius.
The weakest of the demonic creatures, like the yellow-skinned and green-fleshed monsters, collapsed under the golden light, while the human warriors felt invigorated and empowered, shouting in exhilaration.
Eddie noticed the Lady of Falling-Flower City produce a golden token, summoning a white aura. Instantly, a ring of white light appeared beneath everyone's feet.
Although Eddie wasn't sure of the exact extent, he felt his strength and senses enhanced at least twofold under the influence of the white light.
"The King's Command! All must fight the demons, or be treated as deserters," the Lady of Falling-Flower City commanded, instilling determination in the mercenaries.
She then turned to Eddie, "Thief, hold off that devil worshipper for just two minutes. I'll destroy this demon portal. Great Judgment Summoning, Aurora!"
A small orb of light emerged in her hand, merging into her body and enveloping her in a fierce white glow.
The light converged into her right palm, gathering a formidable energy that Eddie believed could rival the power of a demon lord like Hasin.
However, her gathering process seemed longer and more strenuous compared to Hasin's effortless execution.
Eddie, with spear in hand, fended off several attacking demons, carrying the unconscious Sophia on his back. He swiftly moved towards the man in ordinary appearance who was summoning a smoke-enshrouded monster despite his pain.
"Kill the Smoke Beast quickly! Find and destroy its crystal core!" Yehken shouted as he saw the man summoning a creature to spread deadly smoke, intending to use human deaths for a blood sacrifice.
Eddie, not familiar with the Smoke Beast, nonetheless could easily spot its weakness with his gifted vision. Earlier, his attack on the disguised man's groin wasn't driven by perversion but strategy.
He recognized the man's summoning beast, a special type of transformer, and targeted its crystal core concealed in the groin area.
The six-tailed spirit fox, quicker than Eddie, emitted a mesmerizing fragrance that tortured the physical-attack-immune Smoke Beast.
Its body condensed dramatically, leaving only a black pearl and swirling smoke. Before Eddie could act, Grey Wolf greedily swallowed the Smoke Beast whole.
"Damn you, greedy dog, that crystal was worth a fortune!" Eddie exclaimed in frustration, kicking Grey Wolf away.
"Hey, thief," called the Lady of Falling-Flower City, her energy finally gathered into a formidable orb of light. "As they say, an eye for an eye. The demons have invaded our realm, and we should strike back. Will you join me in a counterattack through the portal into the demon's domain? Your fighting skills may not be much help, but as a human elite, you should come to the demon realm with me for some real experience. Dare you join me in the counterattack?"
Eddie, sweating at the prospect, thought, 'Who says only demons are crazy? Humans can be much crazier! Invading the demon realm? That's insane! What if we encounter the demon lord, or worse, get trapped there with no way back?'
As the demonic creatures from the 'Demon's Gate' swarmed the area, the Mercenary Guild's alarm bells rang out, and dozens of small teleportation gates opened, releasing golden and silver armored human elite guards who rushed to the scene.
Eddie saw a fiery man riding a blazing lion leap into the fray, engulfing the surrounding demons in flames before kneeling before the Lady of Falling-Flower City. "Porking of the Great Summer Yan Family, at your service!" he declared.
When demons swarmed him, Porking effortlessly unleashed scorching flames, incinerating them. Then, a fearsome figure in bone armor wielding a sinister blade appeared, slaying monsters with each swing, their flesh rotting upon contact.
A cold voice cut through the chaos, followed by a whirlwind that swept up demons, freezing and shattering them. Amidst the whirlwind, a handsome man with frosty eyes and snow-colored hair glared coldly at Eddie, who was trying to enjoy the scenery behind the Lady of Falling-Flower City.
Eddie internally panicked, wondering why this icy man was glaring at him as if he were an archenemy.
He recalled his own escapades, contrasting them with his homebody personality, and wondered if there was some past conflict between this man and his previous identity.
Yehken, trembling with excitement, recognized the three arrivals as the 'Three Great Killers,' his reaction akin to a fanboy meeting his idols.
Everyone, including the battling mercenaries and newly arrived elite guards, felt a surge of energy, their spirits lifted by the arrival of these formidable warriors.