Chapter 79: The Tide Turns—The King Returns [Double Chapter]

A sharp crack echoed as the long spear shot through the air, striking the fleeing bear demon squarely in the back, piercing him in an instant. The bear demon, still carrying a longbow, toppled forward and collapsed upon the earth.

“He runs fast, doesn’t he…”

Lu Fei quickly caught up, picking the fallen longbow from the ground and unfastening the quiver at the bear demon’s waist, tucking them into his storage space. Only then did he reach out to pull his own spear free.

“Kill them all…”

“Wipe out the scum of Great Wilderness Mountain!”

“Don’t let a single one escape!”

From the distant battlefield, shouts thundered across the valley. Lu Fei raised his head and saw that in the section belonging to Wind and Cloud Ridge, the tide had turned; where the fighting had been fiercest, now one side’s monsters fled desperately, while the other pursued and bellowed.

From those cries, it was clear the escaping monsters belonged to Great Wilderness Mountain. Among their frightened faces, Lu Fei recognized a few—one from Wolf Mountain, another from Snake Coil Mountain.

“Are we losing…?”

Watching his side scatter and break apart under slaughter, Lu Fei felt a chill seize his heart. In a nest so overturned, no egg remains unbroken.

Seeing the pursued monsters closing in, he decided not to advance further. No one could reproach him for fleeing now. If punishment awaited him, it would only come if he survived.

Lu Fei turned, preparing to run. At that moment, he caught sight of two figures above, one chasing the other in midair. Suddenly, one was struck down brutally, crashing to the ground.

Lu Fei stopped cold, his face frozen, for the one beaten down was his former protector—a fellow white wolf, an elder of the demon clan, the wolf commander who had saved and cared for him.

The wolf commander was in the late stage of Demon General, just a step away from forming his demon core and ascending to Demon Commander. Among Wolf Mountain’s demon generals, his strength was second only to the Black General. Yet in the sky, before that stunted old man with a dwarf-like stature and two long advisor’s beards, he was utterly outmatched.

Clearly, that sinister old man was a Demon Commander, no doubt.

“What do I do?”

Seeing his benefactor in such peril, Lu Fei’s heart surged with worry. The Black General was likely already fallen. If the wolf commander died too… Though he himself had become a demon general and no longer feared the Bear Leader’s revenge, Wolf Mountain would surely dissolve.

He cared nothing for the others, but for the wolf commander who had always looked after him, Lu Fei could not simply watch him die.

But he was only a demon general, weaker than the wolf commander—how could he save him from the hands of a Demon Commander?

“What do I do?!”

He was as frantic as an ant on a hot pan.

The wolf commander rose again, charging at the old man in the sky. Predictably, he failed once more, struck hard and sent flying dozens of meters, crashing to the ground. The old demon didn’t even strike in earnest—he toyed with the wolf commander as if he were a plaything.

Lu Fei couldn’t bear it, but he was powerless.

His only possible means of rescue was to sneak over with his earth escape technique and whisk the wolf commander away—but against a Demon Commander’s power, Lu Fei was certain his attempt would do nothing but deliver himself into the old man’s hands. It would not save the wolf commander.

He had no other way.

“Is there no other general on Great Wilderness Mountain?”

“Where are the two elder brothers of the Third King—where have the First and Second Kings gone?”

“Are they just going to let their younger brother’s followers be slaughtered?”

Lu Fei cursed inwardly—cursed the Third King for failing to protect his own, cursed the elder brothers for not saving them, cursed the whole mountain as useless.

But cursing solved nothing.

He forced himself to calm, staring at the spear in his hand. Then, he glanced at the fleeing demons surging ever closer.

Lu Fei raised his spear, aiming at the sinister old general hovering above, and began to run. He hoped to distract the old man with a thrown spear, then use the chaos of the fleeing demons as cover—perhaps he could draw the old man’s attention for a moment and give the wolf commander a chance to escape.

It was the only plan he could muster.

Without hesitation, Lu Fei sprinted into the crowd of fleeing demons, then hurled his spear at the old man in the sky, not daring to look back at the outcome. He turned and ran, deliberately keeping pace with the others to blend in and confuse the enemy.

The spear flew swift as an arrow toward the old man, who was just about to finish off the wolf below. He turned sharply, seeing the iron spear hurtling toward him.

“Hmph…”

With a cold snort, the old man flicked his sleeve, sending the spear spinning off course to the ground.

He looked toward the direction from which the spear came, seeing only the valley full of fleeing demons from Great Wilderness Mountain—no way to tell who had thrown it.

Meanwhile, none of the demons on the battlefield noticed the change above them: from all directions, dark clouds swept swiftly across the night sky, shrouding the valley and blotting out the sparse moonlight.

Suddenly—

A thunderclap split the air, startling every demon on the battlefield.

Before they could react—

More thunder rolled, lightning flashing, turning night into day.

The demons looked up, bewildered, seeing the valley sky now thick with clouds. Only moments before, the moon had hung clear, with no sign of rain. In winter, such thunder and weather was bizarre.

Faced with this ominous sign, the lesser demons were puzzled, the demon generals uncertain, but the old Demon Commander sensed something amiss—he’d seen such changes before.

A fierce wind swept up, sending sand and dust flying, blinding all the lesser demons.

In that moment, every demon on the field heard a wolf’s howl from the distant heavens. When the old Demon Commander heard it, he realized what was happening and stared wide-eyed.

He turned quickly, seeing the white wolf demon who had been lying near death in a crater now rising to his feet.

His face and gaze no longer held exhaustion or pallor—only confidence, sharpness, and an unprecedented, commanding aura.

Then—

A thick bolt of lightning crashed above the wolf commander—no, the Wolf General Bai Yunxiao—illuminating the valley but not striking him. It seemed a warning.

“A breakthrough on the battlefield…”

Seeing the white wolf, still half-transformed, the old Demon Commander narrowed his eyes.

He’d heard tales of gifted demons breaking through limits in battle, crossing the threshold to ascend. But this was the first he’d witnessed it himself.

This wolf’s talents were exceptional—he had tried hard to recruit him before. But now, there was no need to think further—he had a new formidable foe.

With the wolf’s previous hostility toward him, Bai Yunxiao would surely seek vengeance for the death of the wild bull demon.

Though he did not fear the newly advanced wolf general, it was a pity. He regretted not discovering and recruiting him sooner, regretted not killing him at once and nipping the threat in the bud.

“What a pity…”

With a sigh, the old Demon Commander straightened, facing Bai Yunxiao and said, “Now you and I are equals. This battle—you’ve seen it yourself—Great Wilderness Mountain and your White-faced King are sure to lose. Your king is weaker than mine, Lord Hou Jun, and is injured. Your side will be defeated.”

While speaking, he secretly messaged his ally, inviting help to deal with this new wolf general.

His face unchanged, he continued, “Besides, your mountain’s other two kings are watching from above, but they don’t dare intervene because all four kings of Wind and Cloud Ridge are here.”

“I know your bull companion has only been at Great Wilderness Mountain for less than half a year. Why not come to Wind and Cloud Ridge?”

“If you join us, my king will treat you well—far more generous than your stingy White-faced King.”

“If not, my ally will arrive soon, bearing the king’s treasure. That bull couldn’t withstand him, and neither will you, newly advanced as you are.”

“Well?”

At this, the old man, his stature suddenly rising to three meters, his features morphing into a black mouse’s head, brandished a savage axe and addressed Bai Yunxiao, “I’ll ask only once—will you join Wind and Cloud Ridge?”

“Hmph…”

Bai Yunxiao snorted, reaching out as his black iron staff flew to his hand. He spun it through a few moves, then pointed it fiercely at the mouse commander in the sky, “I’ll answer only once—dream on!”

No sooner had the words left his mouth—

A booming laughter erupted.

“Well said…”

“Mouse, we of Great Wilderness Mountain are not to be compared with you lot from Wind and Cloud Ridge—faithless, treacherous cowards!”

A voice resounded across the valley battlefield from above.

“That voice…”

Hearing it, Bai Yunxiao halted his impulse to clash with the mouse demon, lifting his gaze skyward.

All the surviving demons in the valley did the same.

Lu Fei, now running near the edge of the valley, was no exception.

He had already noticed the wolf commander’s situation when lightning and thunder had flashed above, the clouds and wind, the bolt that nearly struck the wolf’s head.

From his conversations with other demon generals, he knew the signs that accompanied the formation of a demon core and the ascension to Demon Commander. The phenomenon before him was a textbook example.

Even a fool could guess—the wolf commander had broken through, advancing to Demon Commander.

This realization thrilled Lu Fei.

The Black General had just fallen—if no new commander arose, Wolf Mountain would inevitably be absorbed by another, its fate sealed.

Now, the wolf commander had risen in the crisis, ascending to Demon Commander. Not only would this stem the rout among the Great Wilderness Mountain troops, it might revive Wolf Mountain’s legacy and avert its demise.

But only if the wolf commander survived.

Newly advanced, Lu Fei didn’t know if he could withstand attacks from the other commanders—especially since the Black General had just perished.

As he worried and rejoiced, he heard the voice from above—the Third King’s voice, like music from the heavens.

“The Third King has returned!”

Some unknown demon cried out, exhilarated.

Then—

“The king’s back! Let’s fight!”

“Kill all the Wind and Cloud Ridge scum!”

“Kill those traitors—long live the king!”

“Charge!”

“Slaughter the Wind and Cloud Ridge scum!”

“Long live the king!”

“Kill…”

At once, the demons of Great Wilderness Mountain, who had been routed moments before, surged with renewed spirit and ferocity…

The tide of battle, the atmosphere, the very morale of the field shifted completely in an instant, all because of one voice.

“They have their king back?”

“Where’s our king?”

“What do we do?”

“What happened to our king?”

For a moment, the demon soldiers of Wind and Cloud Ridge were stunned. Bewildered, fearful—just as the tides of battle had changed before, so they did again.

Soon, Wind and Cloud Ridge’s demons had only one thought left: “Run!”

“Kill! Kill all the Wind and Cloud Ridge scum!”

“Kill them!”

“Long live the king!”

Demons who had already fled to the valley’s edge turned back at the king’s call, launching a counterattack on Wind and Cloud Ridge’s troops.

Now, Wind and Cloud Ridge’s demons reenacted the very scene that Great Wilderness Mountain’s had performed moments before—a desperate, chaotic flight.

“That voice…”

At the center of the battlefield, like Bai Yunxiao, the mouse Demon Commander was startled at the voice from above.

Bai Yunxiao’s face lit with joy at the sound.

The mouse Demon Commander’s face changed drastically; without hesitation, he turned to flee.

Just then, a streak of fire fell from the sky, striking straight at the fleeing mouse demon.

With a tremendous crash that echoed through the valley, only a cold, gleaming trident remained, stabbed into a massive crater at the center.

At the edge of the pit, the once formidable mouse Demon Commander lay barely alive.

—A Cat Dreaming in the Deep Sea