Mengya and Old Fish had no way of knowing Qisi's panicked mental journey, nor would they ever imagine that a group of newly born little slimes had scared off that terrifying bug swarm by a freak combination of factors.
After repeatedly probing with extreme caution and confirming that those terrifying bugs had truly left completely, they finally dared to sneak back into the port trembling with fear.
They didn't want to return to this place where a nightmare had just unfolded either, but they had no choice.
If they didn't come back to collect some supplies, they probably wouldn't even make it to High Fortress.
However, the tragic extent of the scene before them still far exceeded their imagination.
The flames seen from afar earlier had mostly extinguished.
Not because someone put them out, but because almost everything that could burn had already burned out.
The city gates were wide open; the heavy door panels had turned into a ground full of charred and twisted fragments.
The city walls had collapsed in many places, as if smashed open or dug through by some giant beast using brute force. Crushed stones and broken wood were mixed with dark red bloodstains.
The inside of the city was also a mess. Many buildings had been violently dismantled, wooden structures gnawed with huge gaps, and stone walls covered in deep claw marks.
Some places retained traces of fierce resistance: broken weapons, shattered shields, and fragmented armor pieces belonging to demon soldiers were scattered sporadically all around.
However, walking all the way, they didn't see a single corpse.
Demons, bugs—none at all.
Mengya could roughly imagine the whereabouts of those corpses and couldn't help shuddering.
Finally, near a large stone warehouse that was relatively less damaged, they found some survivors.
About twenty or thirty demons huddled by the warehouse wall. Most were injured; some bandaged with tattered strips of cloth oozing blood, some with limbs bent at unnatural angles, faces mixed with bloodstains and undried tear tracks.
Their eyes were empty, filled with the trance of surviving a disaster and bone-deep fear.
Weapons were scattered aside. Many just hugged themselves tightly, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
A few guys who looked like low-ranking officers were forcing themselves to keep up their spirits, maintaining order in low voices, counting the number of survivors, while striving to scavenge for sporadic supplies around that could still be used.
When Mengya and Old Fish's figures appeared in their field of vision, especially the round Puchi silhouette following behind them, these survivors first flinched in terror reflexively, almost grabbing stones at hand.
Only after seeing clearly that the comers were not those hideous bugs, but demons and a Walking Mushroom, did they breathe a collective sigh of relief as if their bones had been removed. But those taut nerves didn't truly relax; despair and confusion still shrouded every demon.
These demons had already had their courage shattered by the bugs.
As a frontline strategic port, although those active outside daily were mostly small groups or mercenaries from within the Empire, the ones responsible for the port's defense itself were genuine Empire regular legions.
When Qisi's bug swarm launched a raid from the sea, although losses were heavy initially due to being caught off guard, the demon commander stationed here, who had undergone the baptism of true war, still quickly displayed the quality he should have.
In an extremely short time, he gathered the troops, relying on city defense fortifications to organize a tenacious and orderly resistance.
However, no matter how elite and brave the troops were, facing a bug swarm that was stronger, more numerous, capable of invisibility, and had absolutely no concept of death, they couldn't hold on!
Moreover, the demons underestimated Qisi's intelligence, initially treating them merely as magical beasts, which cut off their last sliver of hope.
After both sides engaged, Qisi locked onto those demon mages on the battlefield capable of casting anti-invisibility magic and detection magic through scattered Eye Bugs.
Subsequently, it premeditatedly raided these mages, even if it meant losing more bugs.
As one mage after another was torn apart amidst screams, the demon defenders became like blind men.
Although [Refractive Invisibility] wasn't perfect, and there were methods like footprints, water traces, and smoke to detect the bugs' tracks, when magnified to the battlefield scale, this was ultimately a huge advantage.
The defensive line was torn apart again and again from unexpected angles. When casualties soared to thirty percent of the total force in an extremely short time, all soldiers became afraid.
Military discipline and honor collapsed before the instinct for survival. Even knowing that fleeing would only turn them into live targets for the bugs' pursuit, even as commanders shouted themselves hoarse trying to suppress it, the collapsing defenders still wailed and dropped their weapons, stripped off the heavy armor hindering them, and surged like headless flies toward what they thought was the only way to live—the city gate.
And this played right into Qisi's hands. Just as the demon soldiers began to rout, the war turned into a one-sided massacre.
The small group of routed soldiers Mengya and Old Fish saw earlier rushing out of the city gate and quickly being chased down by Six-Clawed Bugs were actually the very few lucky ones who escaped the port's encirclement in this collapse.
Their number wasn't even one percent of the total defenders.
As for the port's chief and deputy commanders, those two Palace-tier powerhouses who were still openly fighting and secretly struggling for power a day ago—this time, neither survived.
They fought heroically at the beginning, but after losing the support of the army, they were still drowned in the sea of bugs.
Precisely because of this, in the port ruins at this moment, only some bewildered low-ranking officers remained, barely maintaining the last order among the survivors.
And Mengya, who had only reached Gold Rank not long ago, actually counted as one of the strongest among this pile of people!
The port was destroyed. Even if the bugs didn't come back for a second round, humans would sooner or later detect the changes here. Continuing to stay here was no different from waiting for death.
In the end, a team of over a hundred demons was organized.
Although food had been looted clean by the bugs, other supplies such as potions were left for them, as the bugs didn't care for them.
Most supplies were destroyed in the battle and the great fire, but there were leftovers after all, and coincidentally, the number of surviving demons wasn't large either.
Daring not to delay too much, after simply collecting supplies, the survivors set off toward the only way to live—High Fortress.
Mengya and Old Fish naturally followed along.
Along the way, all demons were on tenterhooks, guarding against being discovered by humans.
However, human adventurers didn't bump into them; instead, they were ambushed by the cult!
At the critical moment, if not for No. 13 suddenly erupting and slaughtering two Gold-tier cultists in a row, Mengya and Old Fish would have become sacrifices again.
And these two guys were also surprised to find that the weak Puchi they always thought it was turned out to be the strongest in the entire team.
No. 13 saved Mengya to follow her back to the Empire; as for other demons, it didn't care.
In the end, fewer than ten demons arrived under the walls of High Fortress. Each was covered in grime, looking less like soldiers and spies and more like beggars.
And these demons, along with Mengya, Old Fish, and No. 13, were soon brought before Sigmund.
...
The port's destruction was no small bad news!
But its impact on the current Empire situation wasn't significant. With the sea route blocked, that area on the West Coast was indeed somewhat useless.
Therefore, compared to these demon soldiers, Sigmund's attention was focused more on that Puchi.
Although Mengya tried hard to block No. 13 behind her, this clearly had no meaning.
"That one... isn't an ordinary Puchi, right?"
Sigmund ultimately asked the question Mengya feared most.
She could already imagine the scene of the Puchi being intercepted later and her beautiful future turning into bubbles.
Meanwhile, No. 13 was somewhat puzzled at this moment.
Why did this non-mushroom before it, who wasn't even a mushroom servant, give it a very amiable feeling?
(End of Chapter)
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