Chapter 730

In the gray sky above, a terrifying aura surged and churned.

Amidst everyone’s shocked and stunned gazes, pitch-black dead smoke erupted from within the countless ice crystals, splitting into numerous dense fog serpents that exploded like flames, twisting and swirling beneath the rolling black clouds. In an instant, they regathered around the demon enveloped in frost mist, gradually forming a massive black fog mass.

“That is…”

“What is that…”

“It’s the Abyss…”

“It’s the Abyss’s dead smoke—!!”

On the burning scorched earth, the knights riding beasts widened their eyes. They had not yet received further orders from the formation when a sudden change occurred without any warning. The explosions overhead abruptly ceased, and the flying holy lances were instantly swallowed by the spreading black fog, quickly disintegrating into golden dust and vanishing.

The suddenly condensed black fog mass dispersed the frost mist, instantly enveloping the small figure of the demon, which emitted a dangerous and bone-chilling sharp wind howl.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh—

As the gathered smoke snakes increased, the fog mass grew denser and larger, becoming almost tangible in an instant. A torrent of black liquid flowed from beneath the smoke ball, emitting a spine-tingling “hissing” sound, plummeting down from the sky!

The calamitous scene reflected in everyone’s widened pupils.

“Back! Retreat—!!!”

The leading knight responded first, his face pale and lips trembling. He roared to the heavens and turned the beast’s head with the knights behind him. The golden flood made a large turn, speeding away from the scorched earth under the demon, followed closely by the other two groups.

“Go! Quickly go—”

The warriors shouted, turning their beasts’ heads with the leader. The hoofbeats became more muffled and urgent, mingled with the terrified neighs of the horses, rapidly retreating in three different directions.

“Leave this place!!!”

In the chaotic crowd, someone was shouting loudly, while others glowed with golden light. Thin sin were gradually condensing at the tail end of the retreating group. However, the speed at which the black liquid poured down was too fast. Before any miracle could form, it had already descended upon the scorched earth, raising a huge mud wave with a dull thud. The surging tide instantly shattered and submerged the barely formed sin, followed by the knights’ figures.

“Guh…”

“Aaaahhh—!!”

The high-splashing black abyss waves first struck the last group of knights who fled more slowly, instantly melting through their protective golden shields.

The devouring fluids fell one after another, landing on the golden armor behind them and splattering onto their helmets. Accompanied by the grating sound of corrosion, countless warriors screamed as they tumbled off the beasts’ backs. The rhinoceros beasts roared in pain and rolled away.

Behind them, an even larger black wave crashed over. The viscous fluids rapidly spread from the scorched earth, burying both the fallen figures and the rhinoceros beasts. Countless white smoke trails rose one after another from behind the three streams of gold, merging into the black smoke ball.

In the distance, the offensive of the Holy Lances had already stopped.

Bishop Alersta, Knight Commander Hopkins, shield-bearing knights, the Order of Faith—everyone at this moment seemed to lose their voices suddenly, staring dumbfounded at the eerie and terrifying scene in the distance, their faces filled with shock. Even the old priest who had risen angrily covered his chest with one hand, coughing lightly. His anger instantly turned into fear; his slightly turbid eyes turned red. He whispered, “Abyss… It’s the Abyss…”

His whisper soon turned into a hoarse roar: “Sin! Quickly deploy Sin! That is the power of Chaos—!!!”

“Signal!”

Suddenly, the old man heard a young bishop nearby also shouting angrily, “Give the order to attack! Don’t let the knights in front withdraw too far! Keep pushing forward! Use every means to launch the attack! Hold her down! Distract her attention! The Order of Faith must stop the abyss mud from spreading here, then I will personally set up the activation of the God-Chain!”

“Lord Bishop…”

The Knight Commander, upon receiving the order, was overwhelmed with panic and confusion, his face turning ashen: “That is abyss mud… Do you want to send them all to their deaths…”

“Execute the order!”

Alersta remained unmoved, his tone firm: “This time, we either succeed or die! I need you to raise your swords, risking the honor and courage of the knights!”

“But courage doesn’t mean throwing lives away…”

“This isn’t reckless sacrifice! This is attrition warfare! I need you to buy me time! Sacrifices are inevitable when fighting demons! But we have enough knights while she is just one demon, she will eventually tire out! We must use attrition tactics to capture her! No retreat! Signal—”

The Knight Commander’s face turned even darker.

He hesitated for less than two seconds, gritted his teeth, seemingly making a decision, and was about to turn around when the ground beneath his feet suddenly shook.

“Look…”

“Over there…”

In the distant view, on that scorched earth stirred by starlight, the black abyss mud flowed wildly from under the giant smoke ball in the gray sky. The mud had spread nearly a hundred meters across the land and continued to expand, unstoppable. The withdrawal of the three

A squad had already turned into a completely disordered rout; countless people fell down screaming, and more and more greenish-white smoke rose into the sky. In the next moment, someone saw what seemed to be a bizarre, human-like black arm emerging from the surging mud.

“What is that…”

“I don’t know…”

Before the knights could get a clear look, a second arm stretched out from the abyssal mud, followed by a third, fourth… fifth, eighth…

Dense, grotesque hands continuously emerged from the spreading marsh, followed by their heads and bodies, which were wrapped in black mud as they gradually came into view. They looked like humans but seemed to have no facial features—no nose, ears, or mouth—only two enormous, pale eyes. They appeared like evil spirits from hell, twisting their forms as they moved with a staggering yet swift pace that sent chills down one’s spine, rushing towards the fleeing knights first.

Then came even denser and more desperate screams.

These strange demons ran faster than the horned beasts, flooding out in waves. There was a constant bombardment of divine light among them, exploding into black mud everywhere, but it had no effect. The multiplying demons swarmed like a tide of ants, biting onto the tails of the fleeing knights in an instant!

The blood wave only surged for a brief moment before being completely suppressed by the endless blackness.

Bishop Alersta at the front of the formation was already staring blankly, his gaze frozen.

He opened his mouth, but no words came out.

“Sin! Obstacle!!!”

From the position of the believers, the old priest did not even have time to mount a horned beast. He limped over and shouted hoarsely to all the monks, “Onnastas! The gods will protect us—”

Buzzing—

Unprecedented divine light suddenly trembled at the rear of the formation. Radiance burst forth from the monks’ bodies, flowing toward the front of the army, forming a massive, towering wall of sin and obstacle in front of the vanguard knights, connecting with the barrier that had previously formed above their heads, enveloping everyone on the barren land.

Alersta stared with wide eyes; his orders were no longer necessary. Within a few breaths, the knights charging forward were almost entirely consumed by the abyssal demons. In the distance, only scattered dozens of people were still struggling to escape, but they would soon be swallowed by the increasingly close chaos, turning into demon fodder, dying here without any dignity.

This happened in the blink of an eye.

The terrifying abyssal mud had now spread to within fifty meters in front.

And the demons from the abyss began to surge toward areas where there were more people.