Chapter 681.5: Sword Demon!
Massive clouds of smoke and ash twisted through the sky.
The monsters' screams echoed endlessly around Mount Aso.
The green tide's enhancement of the mutated monsters.
Truly boosted their overall power by more than one tier.
They now possessed not just greater vitality and defense, but their combat capabilities had also improved significantly.
Even after enduring bombardments of explosive and magical artillery, volleys of bolts, and waves of searing flames, they still had the strength to charge the walls.
Fortunately, Bay Territory had upgraded the flamethrowers.
They could now project flames farther and with greater lethality.
This finally brought serious trouble and damage to the enemy.
Even when some massive and powerful mutated monsters barely managed to scale the wall—
They had already lost more than half their lives under the scorching fire.
Strike while they're weak—finish them off!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Just as they climbed the wall, the waiting heavy ballista bolts fired instantly.
The enormous, grotesque bolts easily pierced their heads.
Though the large mutated monsters reached the walls and pressured Bay Territory's soldiers, they couldn't break the staunch defenses.
Soon, a second Twisted Treant reached the fortress wall.
It raised its legs high and stepped into the magma river.
While sprouting dense bloodthirsty vines to devour following mutated monsters, it rapidly healed its lava burns.
Its powerful regenerative ability was on full display.
Even Yaya had to first prevent the Treants from regenerating via the bloodthirsty vines—
Before tossing them into the volcano for "sterilization."
To deal with this second formidable Twisted Treant—
Elio took over defensive operations.
Elio hadn't yet undergone Dragon Warrior transformation.
But her power-up speed was on par with those who had.
Her class level had reached 16, and she had advanced into an incredibly rare class—Sword Demon!
A brand-new class—so far, Elio was the only one who had successfully acquired it.
Though Elio didn't create the class, her efforts were crucial.
Originally, this class was to be co-developed by players and demonkin over a decade later.
It started as a bold and creative experiment by some players.
These players sought to suppress the uncontrollable slaughter urges of demonkin to preserve gameplay experience.
By that time, players were not only fully adapted to the world, but had studied it deeply.
While they hadn't reached the very peak of the class pyramid—
Their creative ideas brought vibrant innovation to the profession system.
Most innovations were meaningless, some even led to weakened characters or account deletion.
But many innovations impressed top-tier professionals, prompting them to learn or adopt them.
Sword Demon was one of the most successful player-created classes!
With Elio's demonkin bloodline and solid swordsmanship as a foundation, Matthew handled the preliminary development.
The Old Swordsman was also highly interested in the Sword Demon class.
He believed Matthew's concept, with its emphasis on honing the will, could offer valuable insights to Sword Saints and Monks in resisting evil.
So he generously instructed Elio in sword techniques and energy manipulation.
Matthew not only supplied her with resources but also trained her in key Phantom Sword Saint skills and feats.
Elio demonstrated considerable talent in this field.
Starting from basics, she combined insights about swordsmanship from all three paths.
With Matthew's guidance, she trained in tense live combat.
Eventually, her strength skyrocketed—not only stepping into the extraordinary tier but laying the groundwork for the Sword Demon class.
Though still foundational, the strength of this advanced class already satisfied Matthew greatly.
To further enhance Elio's combat power and prepare for future armor development—
Matthew built her a custom version of Thunder Magic Armor tailored for agility types.
It shared core traits with the standard Thunder Magic Armor—
But it was slimmer, more flexible, and visually sleek, like riding the wind.
To distinguish it, Matthew gave it a dark-gold flame paint scheme.
So that it wouldn't stand out as much as regular Thunder Magic Armor.
He hadn't named it yet—he planned to finalize the specs first, then give it a proper name.
"Different variants, different models, sell them separately and make more money..."
Elio had no idea of her lord's "business acumen."
When the Twisted Treant attacked the wall, she immediately triggered the flamethrower.
Like a streak of dark-red lightning, she slammed into the Treant's chest.
Her dark-gold destruction sword unleashed a 4-5 meter-long arc of dark-red sword energy, slashing open the Treant's massive face.
Crack!
Its thick bark split deeply, and a surge of dark green fluid gushed out.
The Treant, stunned by the critical hit, paused before screaming shrilly.
First blow to the face—Elio didn't stop there.
The flamethrower's thrust rocketed her like a crimson whirlwind—
Dodging the Treant's massive swing.
As she dodged, she swung her sword at its hand.
Boom!
The sword energy landed solidly on its huge hand.
The terrifying force penetrated, tearing deep gashes with surging energy.
"Roar...!"
In pain, the Treant swiped again at Elio.
But she had already developed a strategy—she leapt upward, plunging her sword into its bark.
Violent sword energy erupted—dark-red destruction aura pierced straight into its "eye," blasting a gaping hole.
Using the sword as leverage, Elio flipped behind it.
Though it lacked joints or blind spots in the usual sense, its limb adjustment still took time.
Elio, constantly ascending, wouldn't give it that chance.
Her body surged with dark-red energy, black-red light blazing with destructive power.
Like a wild Sword Demon, she unleashed relentless slashes.
Red destruction sword energy flooded into its body.
Bloodthirsty vines shot out to entangle and bite her.
But Elio had predicted this—
In mid-air, she raised her left hand, revealing a gray-black flamethrower nozzle.
Fwoosh!
Roaring flames scorched the incoming vines to charcoal.
A Sword Demon without fire? No way!
Elio leapt onto the Treant's head, cleaving at the twisted branches.
These seed-bearing branches were weaker than the main trunk.
Elio could sever them with a single strike!
She swung her sword without hesitation.
She felt the violent sword energy fusing with her demonkin power, creating a unique destructive force.
This force grew with every swing, slowly accumulating.
But channeling the bloodline power brought mental strain.
Strange whispers and voices resurfaced in her ears.
The bloodline's killing urge tempted her toward madness.
The Sword Demon class brought power—but also a harsh test of will.
To integrate swordsmanship, energy, and bloodline, Elio had poured her soul into her training on Hero Continent.
Besides handling Bay Territory's affairs, nearly all her time went to battle and refining technique.
She constantly challenged all kinds of enemies and monsters—
Hordes of mutated lizardmen.
Frenzied minotaur warriors.
Undead from New World's underground ruins.
Twisted dragon beasts warped by deep corruption.
Even powerful and bizarre half-giant demon beasts.
Elio's fierce fighting style always favored direct duels.
This risky method accelerated her growth—accumulating experience and mastering skills and feats.
Though she'd never fought a monster as massive as a Treant—
She still knew how to restrain and weaken it.
Her idea to attack the treetop came from Yaya's example.
But channeling destruction energy into the slashed wound—that was her own innovation.
The rampaging sword energy tore into the Treant's body.
She let it go wild inside, relinquishing control.
The internal chaos brought immense pain.
The Treant failed to suppress it in time.
By the time it recovered, it was shocked—
Those little sword energies carried a terrifying aura.
They devoured its life force and grew more solid and sinister.
It had never been prey before—
Now something dared to feast on it from within!
The Treant shifted tactics, hardened its body, and sent bloodthirsty vines inward.
Though the vines were shredded by the savage energy—
They still managed to extract the sword energy bit by bit.
Elio's "fight fire with fire" struck its weak point.
The Treant's own regenerative energy fed the parasitic sword energy—
Forming a self-sustaining cycle of destruction.
It took tremendous effort for the Treant to purge them.
Just as it prepared to retaliate against Elio—
It realized she had already finished her task—every branch atop its head was gone.
After painfully regrowing them—
It readied a batch of twisted seeds—only to see a terrifying shadow fall over it.
Yaya had arrived!
"Yooo-hooo!!"
The gleeful Yaya slammed into the Treant.
Yudala and Rika flanked it with grinning faces.
Amid its wails and flailing, they tore it apart.
As Yaya dragged the Treant skyward, its upper body still twisted and twitched.
Through swirling smoke, it saw—
The last two Treants being bombarded by Bay Territory's weapons and forces.
Half an hour later—
The final Treant roared and howled.
It pounded its raised fists on a cracked section of the wall.
Huge stones fell, crushing charred mutated monsters below.
The horde surged like a tide, piling around the Treant, fueling it with blood.
But even as Catachan Devils burst from the mob—
They couldn't breach the gap the Treant had opened.
A towering bastion spewed fire and death.
Yaya hovered overhead—
Instead of attacking, she circled patiently.
When her moment came, she dove like lightning.
She always found the hidden Catachan Devils among the horde.
Against her might, they were powerless—she dragged them back to the volcano in seconds.
The Evil Shadow Spirits stared dumbfounded at the stalemated front.
"Can the last Treant still hold out?"
"Should we send more Catachan Devils?"
"How many new weapons does Bay Territory have?"
"How much strength can this little wall consume?"