Chapter 40: It’s Absolutely Impossible to Win!

The upcoming battle was not particularly difficult for the Rose Knights.

Many of the demons wandering inside the fortress were easier to deal with than the Nightmare Demons and the like.

After killing more than a dozen ordinary demons, Leanna suddenly seemed to sense something, her heart beating with unease.

She looked up toward the direction of the Fortress Castle. In her perception, it was as if some colossal creature had opened its eyes and was staring directly at them.

The next moment, her pupils contracted sharply, and her body jerked backward with great effort.

At the same time, a streak of red light flashed past her eyes.

A few strands of hair were sliced by the red light, drifting down and disappearing into the air.

Had she not leaned back just in time, that red light would have severed her neck.

“Heh heh, not bad reflexes. If it were a knight from before, this strike would have already taken his head off.”

Accompanied by a sharp voice, a mantis-like demon emerged from the end of a nearby street.

The aura of its magic caused the surrounding gravel to tremble slightly.

Leanna squinted, her hand gripping the longsword beginning to sweat.

“Be careful, it’s dangerous.”

“No matter how careful you are, today you all will die without fail!”

As the words fell, the Praying Mantis Demon charged straight at Leanna.

Its sickle blades moved at incredible speed.

Even though Leanna’s swordsmanship was excellent within the Order of Knights, her defense was quite awkward.

Only after Meilin joined did the situation start to improve somewhat.

Ding ding—!

After Leanna parried several strikes, no one expected Joina behind her to suddenly change her expression, panic clear in her eyes, and run backward.

“Joina?!”

“We—we absolutely, absolutely can’t win!”

Leaving behind these words, Joina vanished in an instant.

Aelia and Sally were stunned for a few seconds before quickly following after Joina.

From their perspective, it seemed they too were no match for the Praying Mantis Demon.

Leanna lowered her head and cursed under her breath, then helplessly exchanged a glance with Meilin before immediately retreating from the battlefield.

Their speed was not much slower than Joina’s; they turned around and disappeared from sight, but in front of the Praying Mantis Demon, it was still too slow.

“Heh heh, want to run? No chance!”

After crossing that street, within moments, the Praying Mantis Demon that had been behind them appeared ahead of them.

Its two sickles spread wide, their sharp blades flickering with a cold light in the dim illusion.

The demon seemed certain of its victory, stepping toward them steadily.

“Run now? Why aren’t you running anymore? Out of stamina? Can’t move?”

Leanna and Meilin had been panicking, but after seeing something, a strangely dangerous smile curled on their lips.

“Run? Why should we run? The one who should run isn’t you.”

The Praying Mantis Demon froze.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t you get it? Demon, look under your feet.”

Lowering its gaze, the demon saw blue magic circle markings had appeared on the ground beneath it at some unknown moment.

The power contained within the circle made it shudder.

“A trap?!”

With its shout, the magic circle surged, and suddenly, a dazzling bolt of lightning crashed from the sky, striking it heavily.

The terrifying current crackled loudly as the demon’s green shell instantly turned charred black under the strike.

Several places even cracked open, exposing the flesh beneath.

Once majestic, the Praying Mantis Demon was now barely clinging to life.

“Despicable! You’re all despicable!”

It understood now—the girls’ earlier retreat was just a lure to bait it here!

From the start, they never intended to fight it head-on!

“Ahhh—!”

It screamed in madness. Its wounds rapidly healed before their eyes as it rose again from the ground.

Its sickle blades remained razor sharp.

“You think this will defeat me?!”

“Of course not.”

Leanna shook her head, her smile unwavering. The demon suddenly felt a surge of panic.

Whoosh—!

With a shrill whistle, before it could turn, an arrow flew with unstoppable force, piercing through its head and continuing toward a nearby wall.

Boom—!

The wall was blasted open by the arrow, leaving a large hole.

The headless body of the Praying Mantis Demon stood briefly before falling over, the magic aura around it dissipating.

“Yeah! One shot, one kill!”

From the rooftop in the distance, Sally held her bow, shouting excitedly. Joina, the first to flee, stood beside her, breathing a sigh of relief.

Her flight had been part of the plan all along.

The battles within the Golden Dungeon had taught them that facing enemies head-on was always the worst last resort—because when it’s a fight for survival, there’s always a chance to lose.

The best strategy was to set traps and lure the enemy into them.

By doing this, they avoided any threat to their own lives while effortlessly eliminating the enemy—killing two birds with one stone.

The Praying Mantis Demon died because of such a scheme.

“All right, let’s go help the other squads. The demons inside the fortress must have started rioting.”

After confirming the death of the Praying Mantis Demon, Leanna looked up at the sky.

There, a Flying Dragon Demon had just flown past.

She could clearly sense that after that scouting demon died, the entire Sand Fortress seemed to “come alive,” as countless demons lurking in the shadows awakened.

Among them were beings even stronger than the Praying Mantis Demon.

They had to hurry to assist the other squads.

With this in mind, Leanna and the others headed toward the nearest second squad of the Order of Knights.

After only a few steps, they stopped, their faces growing grave.

Ahead, a white mist had spread at some unknown time.

Within the mist came heavy footsteps, and soon, the form of a Dragonkin Demon appeared—a creature with sharp horns on its head and a thick tail trailing behind.

Its arrival seemed to plunge the entire Sand Fortress back into deadly silence.

Leanna could now barely hear anything but her own heartbeat and breath.

A formidable enemy!

This Dragonkin Demon was undoubtedly the strongest demon within Sand Fortress!

Sweat beaded on their foreheads. At this moment, none of them dared move, fearing they would provoke the Dragonkin Demon.

Yet, the Dragonkin Demon clearly had no intention of letting them go.

Shifting its gaze from the Praying Mantis Demon’s corpse, it twitched its nose and fixed its cold eyes on Leanna and the others.

“I smell that disgusting Divine Aura on you.”