Malin pricked up his ears but could not hear any other footsteps.
"Electrum, wait a moment, I have a question for you." Malin pocketed his lighter and placed his cigarette behind his ear while gesturing to the Dwarf to stop moving.
The Dwarf halted and turned to look at Malin, who was pressed against the right side of the trench wall. Although he did not understand why, he complied and moved to the opposite side: "Your Excellency, what is the question?"
"According to the schedule, which Patrol Team passed by here last, and when would they arrive at this location?"
"Seven minutes ago, it was Konen Stark’s thirteenth Patrol Team..." The Dwarf glanced quickly at the hard, muddy road beneath his feet, and when he lifted his head, his expression had changed.
"These lazy bones will need a good lesson when we get back." Malin said with a smile, as he flipped the safety off his semi-automatic weapon. Bippo wriggled out from his waist pouch and took the flare gun from Malin’s side.
The Dwarf disengaged the safety on his semi-automatic firearm and also opened the fastening on his chest’s dagger sheath.
Malin took a deep breath, and the next second, waves of Spiritual Energy emanated from beneath his feet, tracing invisible solid bodies into visible forms as they spread along the trench.
The Dwarf was the first to open fire; Quicksilver Bullets were very effective against these creatures, but they were clearly outnumbered by the creatures. After Malin’s Spiritual Energy traced their forms, the monsters finally cancelled their cloaking ability—it couldn’t be a Spell Formation, otherwise Malin would have been able to observe it with the naked eye.
These were four-limbed Chaos Demons, crawling on the ground. Malin couldn’t differentiate them or tell what they were called, but their massive mouths and bloated bellies hinted to Malin where the Patrol Team had gone.
Bippo screamed angrily as it fired the flare into the sky, its rage giving Malin some idea about the origin of these creatures—they must be the hounds of Sinspawn.
How interesting, after the Nagoth, now the legions of Sinspawn show up. Are the Four Evil Gods taking turns making an entrance?
"Your Excellency! I’ll cover the rear!" Electrum shouted as he advanced, not reloading even after his rifle’s magazine was empty, and instead, he drew the shortsword and Shotgun from his waist, hoping to buy Malin time to retreat.
"No need." Malin clenched his hand, and in an instant, the Spiritual Energy still clinging on the Demons compressed them into a messy pulp of flesh and blood.
The whole front line came alive; Bippo opened the barrel of the signal gun, pulled out a white-shelled flare from its own little pouch, stuffed it in, and shot it into the sky.
This signal indicated the presence of stealth units. Fifteen seconds later, the artillerymen in the rear gave their response—numerous shells laced with glitter dust streaked across the sky, the powder taking effect as it fell, and shells carrying even more dust exploded in front of the defensive line.
Malin handed his semi-automatic rifle to Lorrin to handle and switched to a handgun, freeing up his left hand for Spellcasting. Waves of Spiritual Energy emanated from him, sweeping across the entire front and marking all active targets.
"These are stealth demons... creatures from another world, pawns of Chaos." The Dwarf was now examining a body: "They have appeared in past records of the Tide of the Dead. They can swallow a Half-human whole or bite and kill a human before consuming them. Your Excellency, how did you detect them?"
"There were no signs of foot traffic on the ground, there were bloodstains on the walls, and I smelled their stench," Malin explained while raising his left hand. The approaching demons from opposite the communication trench were suddenly compressed into the middle of the trench, and across the land, the creatures were thoroughly ground as if cast into the millstone.
"We’re moving to the surface." Malin said as he turned and climbed the steps formed from the trench wall to reach the ground level, with the Dwarf following him up after taking one last look at the closed-off trench.
"Your Excellency!" A battle Mage descended from the sky where he was on patrol: "There are stealth demons everywhere, what should we do?"
"Deploy your incendiary shells on the previously marked coordinates 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 8. Tell Sudel on the ninth high ground to watch out for them climbing up from the cliffs."
"I will notify them now, Your Excellency."
"Electrum, head to the command post, have her and Miss Thainan with the guard team take care of the wounded at the rear hospital. Let the communications squad inform the Frost Giant, tell them to move towards the hospital direction." After delegating the orders, Malin placed the cigarette from his ear into his mouth.
In the contaminated zones covered in flashing dust, hordes of stealth demons were showing up, and at times, even larger Chaos creatures could be seen.
"Jason, establish communication with the artillery positions behind me."
"As you wish, Your Excellency." Jason’s small mechanical entity crawled out of Malin’s collar. Being a liquid metal, it split into two units, one of which flew to the rear.
Behind Malin, a passage was being created, with Eleven and Seventeen wearing power-enhanced exoskeletons stepping out of the tunnel. They each carried an eight-barrel rotating cooling heavy machine gun—the most suitable equipment from the Seafloor Base for Eleven and Seventeen.
"Are these creatures from another realm, Your Excellency?" Eleven asked.
"Yes, they are also our targets. Eleven, Seventeen, prepare for crossfire." As Malin spoke, he removed the half-smoked cigarette from his mouth and threw it into an opened Subspace portal.