Azralion raised his right hand. He was wearing a pair of gauntlets. Both of them were legendary grade equipments from Adrosiean. However the two did not look the same.
The right gauntlet was known as the 'Hand of Dominance.' It can directly surpass and enslave many kinds of beings. Azralion used it to surpass and easily subjugated the demons which came out of the portal.
On his left hand was another legendary grade equipment called the 'Blazing Inferno.' Using it, Azralion could unleash all kinds of high level devastating flame related skills. Furthermore the power of the skills were greatly enhanced.
Equipping both of them at the same time granted the user a title called 'Authority on the Right, Power on the Left' which increase the user's control skills and damage.
This was not a rare title and quite easy to obtain as long as the players had sufficient legendary grade items but the effects were still decent. Azralion gained several titles like this after Adrosiean equipped him and fulfilling the requirements.
Adrosiean had carefully selected suitable equipments and items for Azralion. After all the stronger Azralion became, the longer he could hold on against the human alliance.
An eerie darkness shrouded on Azralion's right gauntlet as he telepathically sent out his orders to the roaming demons in the crimson forest.
"All troops, heed my orders. Retreat at once!"
Suddenly, shadowy light flashed across the eyes of the many demons in the forest. All of them stopped in a daze for a moment before starting to retreat back to Azralion's castle. In just a short time, the once demon crawling forest became extremely quiet.
Azralion then sent out some separate orders to his elite demons. His eyes were filled with eerie darkness as he smiled.
_ _ _ _ _
Within the vanguard army, Leanora felt extremely uneasy. Their path had been without obstacles unlike before. Apart from the stray corrupted beasts that Azralion did not bother to enslave, no demons came to attack them anymore.
In fact the whole vanguard army did not even see a single demon since they left their encampment. The whole crimson forest was strangely very quiet.
Because of that, the vanguard army had an easier time advancing. Previously, it took many days just to reach the first destination for the defensive base. Now the vanguard army had reached far deeper into the forest without any obstructions.
The soldiers had a raise of morals but Leanora felt like they were walking straight into a trap. However she cannot stop. Not just her, the other solar knights and the flacon knights from the Crenoth kingdom also sensed that something was terribly wrong.
These elites were all very anxious and on high alert for any possible ambushes. But no matter how much they advance, there were still no sign of demons.
The vanguard army steadily advance into the crimson forest until some mages came up to Leanora with their new discovery.
"Commander. We found some traces of strange demonic energies around this area. We suspect that the source of the poisonous fog is around here."
The leader of the mages reported.
"That's might be true. The poisonous fog is getting thicker in this area. There is definitely something around here. Can you trace the exact location of the source? If we can destroy it, our soldiers will be able to move freely."
Leanora asked. Although Leanora was not a mage, she can still sense the energies and the increasing amount of toxin in the air. She was a high level elite knight. Her senses were extraordinary.
"It is possible. The energies are vague but we can determine the estimated location by following the thick poison."
The captain of the mages answered. The mages of Solarstras Empire casted their various spells and searched for the source of the poisonous fog.
"Commander, we found it! We calculated that the poisonous fog is coming from that direction."
After a while, the mage captain reported to Leanora with excitement and pointed towards a direction further into the forest.
"Great job! Solar knights push towards that direction. Everyone follow our lead and press on. For solar alliance!"
With a newfound vigor, the vanguard army pushed forward. The poisonous fog had been troubling them for a long time now. If they could destroy the source, the soldiers would be able to fight in better conditions.
The vanguard army did not meet any big obstacles on the way. They quickly reached their destination.
_ _ _ _ _
In the fortress of thunder,
A middle aged man was standing straight on the high wall and gazing at the endless sight of the long mountain range. He was Vesta, one of the elders from the Astenora Empire's lightning magic tower.
He was sent here and tasked to guard the fortress of thunder by the lightning magic tower master. The six fortresses that blocked the entrance of the dragon spires were very important to the Astenora Empire. At least one or two elders from the magic towers were stationed there all the time.
Because there were no big movements of the monsters and beasts from the dragon spires at the moment, Vesta was the only elder in the fortress of thunder.
Besides Vesta, several lightning mages from the lightning magic tower were also dispatched. Most of them were Vesta's followers and disciples.
There were also many soldiers and knights aside from the mages. Majority of them lived in the fortress like their home and under the temporary command of whoever in charge of the fortress. Currently they were under Vesta's command.
"Master. Are you up here again?"
Vesta heard a voice. He turned to look at the young mage. He was one of Vesta's disciples. The magic tower elders often brought their own disciples with them when they were tasked with guarding the fortresses.
Protecting the fortress was a hard and long duty that many magic tower elders disliked. It was not difficult for the high level mages like elders but the process was long and somewhat boring.
Most of the elders preferred to stay in the magic tower and research on their own respective magic or increase their influence in the tower rather than going out.
However the six elemental fortresses were very important and the magic towers needed to send their elders to hold the fort. It was dangerous to just send weaker mages without the elders in case of unforseen situations.
Thus, when tasked with guarding the fortress, most of the elders often brought their students to continue their lectures in the fortress. The good thing was that the disciples can gain practical experiences by fighting against the monsters and beasts.
Vesta smiled and was about to talk to his student. However at this moment, a soldier hurriedly came to report.
"Lord Vesta, we sighted a person approaching the fortress!"
Vesta's raised his brows. Everyone in the empire knew of the famous six elemental fortresses. The citizens of Astenora Empire would not approach them carelessly.
Furthermore no people live near the dragon spires due to the high risk of dying to the monsters and beasts. Thus, it was hard to even see a civilian around these areas.
"Lightning Steps!"
Vesta casted a spell and sprint like a flash of lightning. He moved with a very fast speed and appeared back at the opposite side of the fortress walls.
Vesta grabbed the telescope from a nearby guard and look deeply at the strange person walking towards the fortress.
"Halt! This is the fortress of thunder under the justification of the lightning magic tower. Civilians are not allowed to pass through. Identify yourself!"
The commander of the knights shouted to the person and warned. His voice was not loud but everyone could hear it clearly because he was using a magic item to amplify his voice.
However despite tge multiple warning from the knight commander, the person did not seem to care and continued approaching the fortress.
The person was a tall young man who's face was covered in a strange half mask. Vesta casted several detection magic on the person but he did not find anything unusual.
No matter how many times he checked, the only result was that this person was a normal human. This young man did not even seem to be a knight or a mage as Vesta did not sense any aura or mana from him.
"Stop! If you come any closer, we will see you as an enemy and open fire."
The knight commander yelled. The archers around him also drew their arrows and aimed at the person. An arrow was shot as a warning and landed in front of the person. Finally the person also stopped.
Adrosiean looked up at the fortress. The fortress seemed to be constructed based on the lightning and thunder designs. The battlements on top of the walls were shaped like spiky lightnings and the fortress itself was covered in a lightning field generated by many magical devices.
Adrosiean sensed dozens of different magical barriers protecting the fortress. Furthermore several thunder strikes could be seen occasionally around the fortress. It was quite a sight.
Adrosiean saw many archers and mages were focusing their arrows and spells at him in a well organized manner. If he do something suspicious, they would immediately attack.
"I guess this is the farthest I can go."
Adrodiean murmured. He willed and secretly activated a few skills.
"Dark Isolation! Dimensional Restriction! Sound Confinement!"
Several invisible waves spread towards the fortress of thunder. Layers upon layers of darkness covered the fortress and slowly isolating it from the outside world. Despite everyone focusing their attention on Adrosiean, no one noticed anything.
Vesta felt something was amiss but he could not sense anything. After all Adrosiean was directly using the Gem of Eternal Darkness to conceal his powers.
Finally after making sure that the fortress can no longer communicate with the outside world, Adrosiean spread his arms and activated his skill openly with a grand shout.
"Let darkness consume everything, Tide of Darkness!"
Eerie darkness emerged from the Gem of Eternal Darkness on his chest and spread out towards the fortress of thunder. The archers and mages were alarmed and instantly attacked. Countless arrows and lightning bolts were shot towards Adrosiean.
However all of the attacks dissolved when they made contact with the darkness and disappeared even before reaching Adrosiean.
The tide of darkness swallowed everything on it's path and quickly reached the fortress. Anything that touched the darkness were trapped inside without any hope of escaping.
"Re... Retreat!"
Fear and panic rose as the soldiers saw their comrades swallowed by the darkness. They hurriedly ran away in horror. However the dark tide expanded very rapidly and caught up to the helpless soldiers one after another.
"Arghhhhh...!!!"
"Save me..."
"Please... Help me..."
The painful screams of the soldiers echo through the fortress of thunder. However no matter how loud they cry for help, no one could hear them. The whole fortress was completely isolated from the outside world.
Vesta quickly casted his spell and attempted to flee. However to his horror, his speed was decreased to the extreme unlike before.
Because of Adrosiean's control skills, Vesta was not even at a tenth of his previous movement speed. Vesta felt like he was in a swamp of death that slowly pulling him towards his demise. Soon even his spell was forcefully cancelled.
"What the hell is happening...?"
Lightning sparks flashed violently around Vesta as he casted all his spells and desperately tried to resist. However even his most powerful lightning attacks disappeared like they were nothing when they touched the eternal darkness.
"No... This can't be... Arghhhhh..."
In the end, he and all his screams got swallowed by the dark tide.
Not a single living being in the fortress of thunder had managed to escape. All of the soldiers, knights and mages were helplessly absorbed into the eternal darkness.