The Demon Realm, a place where evil spirits gather, is a location even the Demon Tribe calls the Cursed Land.

An ancient yet majestic palatial complex stands atop the canyon's pinnacle. Not even the eternal winds of destruction in the Demon Realm could shake the palaces in the slightest.

In the deepest part of the palatial complex, within the tallest and grandest tower-like building, a blurry silhouette sits high upon a throne. In front of it is a nearly ten-meter-tall enormous round mirror, currently displaying the battle outside the New Hope Assembly Site.

Its gaze focused on Sequence Number 2, watching the man enveloped in black light in the mirror. The blurry silhouette emitted a low, deep laugh.

"Lord Demon Spirit, the Demon Lord summons you."

The voice of the Soul Puppet responsible for guarding the palace echoed.

Upon hearing the Puppet's report, the Demon Spirit gently waved a hand, and the mirror before it surged into its body like flowing water.

Afterward, the indistinct figure rose. The terrifying presence hidden beneath the lights and shadows murmured softly.

"Very well, it's time to see that old fool. I want to ask if this Sequence Number 2 is just another one of those petty tricks it used to play..."

...

With the death of the purple monster, the attack and defense battle at the New Hope Assembly Site, which lasted slightly over an hour, finally came to an end.

As Wen Yu glided down towards the New Hope Assembly Site from the sky, what he saw were walls reduced to ruins, corpses strewn across the ground, and Cyclops and Star showing off as much as they could.

Thanks to the replenishment of red and black flames, the previously breached Pitch-dark Barrier stood once more as a massive wall of fire. The wall of fire once again isolated the Demon Fiend's assault. When Wen Yu returned, the Demon Tribe finally sounded the retreat horn.

The sky filled with Demon Fiends assembling a defensive line around the New Hope Assembly Site again. Though temporarily retreating, by looking at their deployment, Wen Yu could tell that the Demon Fiends had not given up the intention to continue attacking the New Hope Assembly Site. Even though Wen Yu couldn't figure out how the Demon Tribe could break through his defense without top-tier Demon Fiends, the Sixth Soul had not yet emerged, leaving Wen Yu trapped here to endure the attacks and unknown conspiracies of the Demon Tribe.

This is fine. It's just a battle, after all, and fighting is what gives meaning to Wen Yu's existence.

Ignoring the hurriedly retreating soldiers, Wen Yu focused on assessing the Assembly Site's losses and reestablishing the barrier. In any case, there would be plenty of time to engage in further battles with them.

However, Cyclops seemed to have become bloodthirsty, its massive body engulfed in fierce burning Devil Flames, chasing after the retreating Demon Tribe with formidable aggression. After pursuing them for over a dozen kilometers, it let out two arrogant roars before lifting its hind leg, urinating in satisfaction. Ignoring the frightened gazes of the Demon Army ahead, it leisurely returned to the assembly site.

Seeing this, Wen Yu just smiled and shook his head before landing beside Ray.

...

Ray's injuries had fully healed due to the healing potion, though his mental state remained tense. After Wen Yu briefly disrupted it using Soul Power, even the mild post-battle symptoms disappeared.

Looking at the severely injured Barbarous Tyrant and the droopy-headed Death Harbinger Raven and Wilderness Butcher, Wen Yu sighed inwardly.

Descended from the sky earlier, Wen Yu had already roughly estimated the losses.

The scars of war bring unbearable pain to anyone. This battle left the tribesmen of these three divine beasts half-crippled. Though they live together, even without words, Wen Yu could see the sorrow in their eyes.

This was Wen Yu's fault.

Indeed, the blame lay with Wen Yu...

For personal desires, countless lives were sacrificed. Yet, given that it's been done, if not to the grave, then at least to the end—plans have reached this stage, a mere two days away from completion, Wen Yu did not bother apologizing. The losses are already incurred, and if he can't protect the "strongest mutant life form" about to emerge, wouldn't it be a double loss?

Thus, thousands of words boil down to one simple command.

"Consolidate the remaining combat units."

"Got it."

Ray provided a cover for Wen Yu, then led the three divine beasts, dazed, to tally up post-battle losses and reestablish a defensive perimeter.

Meanwhile, Wen Yu called forth a Pitch-dark Screen, once again adding a strong layer of protection to the assembly site.

...

After wandering around, Cyclops trotted over to Wen Yu's side with small steps.

The dog head, highly compressed and formed of flame energy, affectionately rubbed against Wen Yu's body, sparks flying where flame met darkness, before Wen Yu kicked Cyclops far away.

"Hurry up and recover; the next attack could come at any time."

"Oh."

Cyclops whimpered twice, then began its task—clearing away the bodies left over from the battle.

Star, flying in midair, transformed into a miniature size and landed on Wen Yu's head. Wen Yu took out a bottle of healing potion and handed it to Star, then asked, "Where's Victor?"

"Still in the trap, Faceless hasn't finished yet, Victor is supporting nearby…"

Supporting meant that after dealing with the Corpse King, they opened a spatial rift for Faceless—Faceless and the Corpse King's power would just slightly lack compared to the current Wen Yu. Victor couldn't possibly contend with such power.

The Contract Fortune briefly communicated with Victor, and upon receiving the report, "The battle is about to end; returning soon," Wen Yu felt relieved about the last battlefield.

Sitting right there, Wen Yu pulled out a large amount of food and drink from his space ring and began to devour them.

A hard day.

Even for Wen Yu, that recent round of Demon Tribe's assault required careful handling—a single misstep could have meant the destruction of the city and complete annihilation, even putting his soul pet in mortal jeopardy.

Thankfully, the immediate crisis was over.

Thinking this, Wen Yu gazed back at the busy mutant beast troupe behind him.

The New Hope Assembly Site isn't very large or very small, but the coordinates given by Star Praying have already been encompassed within it. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

Now, Wen Yu had his guesses about the "strongest mutant life form" mentioned by Star Praying, assuming it would simply be a newly advanced divine beast. If such a creature were to exist, it would surely be born among the remaining mutant beasts, though many uncertainties lingered.

If the creature died before advancing, how would that prophecy hold? If the anticipated advancement fails due to the Demon Tribe's massive assault, what then? There are far too many fragmented and variable factors, and Wen Yu can only pray that Star Praying accounts for these sudden factors. Only then would Wen Yu's efforts and sacrifices not have been in vain.