In the next two days, I actively recruited all the demons I could recruit. The expressions on their faces were complex when they arrived at the entrance staircase to the upper level and saw numerous guardians on the staircase.
Because of this, I easily incorporated most of the demons who came seeking survival, except for a few with messed-up brains who actually wanted to enslave me and ended up being killed by the One-eyed Fiends. I mostly gave the obtained food to the little Fiends that were about to evolve, like Little San, while the other demons received only enough to fill their stomachs. At first, some demons were confused, especially the big Fiends with strength. I tried to explain to them, but the results were not satisfactory. In the end, it was the One-eyed with Nine Fingers who used brute force to suppress them. Fortunately, there were no casualties, although Nine Fingers complained a couple of times because of stomach issues...
Sure enough, Little San evolved on the second day. I happened to be present when Little San evolved. I saw muscles bulging on Little San's body, the skeleton growing larger, and the whole body forcefully expanding. In just a few minutes, Little San evolved from a little Fiend into a big Fiend.
In terms of appearance, the big Fiend was just an enlarged version of the little Fiend. They had no significant differences in shape, but there was a noticeable difference in strength.
A big Fiend could easily defeat five little Fiends, and a powerful one could even fight against eight or nine of them. For example, in the battle before encountering the big One-eyed, I came across a big Fiend who could single-handedly take on seven little imps.
Not only Little San, but also eight other little Fiends in the team successfully evolved. Adding those we recruited in the past two days, the number of big Fiends had reached nearly sixty. Unfortunately, it was still not enough. There should be over a hundred big Fiends guarding the entrance staircase to the upper level. Being at an advantageous high position, I would need at least one hundred and fifty big Fiends to be sufficient.
We had also recruited over six hundred little Fiends, but there were even more little Fiends guarding the staircase, at least two thousand.
We were indeed at a numerical disadvantage, but I already had a way to make up for it. What was the reason why humans achieved dominance on Earth? Because humans could create tools, unlike other animals!
I had already planned to manufacture weapons, but the resources in the Purgatory Blood Sea were extremely scarce. There was no metal, and not even any plants. Moreover, I couldn't make weapons before because of time constraints. Now that it was the time for preparation, I used the available materials. I ordered my demons to gather all the devils' corpses that were eaten and extract some harder bones to polish. Spear-like weapons were out of the question, but thigh bone clubs were completely fine.
Although the enemy had the advantage of being at a higher position, we wouldn't be too disadvantaged if we had weapons.
I continued to recruit scattered demons with my team, while the task of manufacturing weapons was assigned to the big One-eyed. Because the manufacturing process was extremely simple, as long as we had the materials, I could guarantee that every demon under me would have a weapon after two days of production.
Just as I finished recruiting a team of demons, Little Si ran over from a distance, panting heavily. As soon as it saw me, it blurted out the expected news, "Master, there are demons attacking the entrance staircase who have not been recruited."
"Which idiot is it?" I was slightly taken aback. There really were such stupid idiots.
"It's Scarface."
Scarface, the leader of a team I encountered yesterday, had thirty big Fiends and four hundred little Fiends. At that time, when I encountered Scarface, I only had three hundred little Fiends and twenty-five big Fiends. Our military strength was at a disadvantage.
Scarface immediately came forward to provoke me. As for how he provoked me... you guys understand. I didn't want to endure, so I delayed for time while summoning all my subordinates.
After comparing the strength of both sides when all my subordinates had gathered, Scarface wisely chose to retreat. It took his troops to roam in other directions, probably gathering more forces before choosing to attack the entrance staircase.
Demons are all brainless idiots. Besides eating and muscles, they have nothing in their minds, so it's not impossible for them to mindlessly attack the staircase.
"Let's go and take a look."
I divided half of my people to continue recruiting scattered demons, while I took the remaining demons to watch Scarface's fight.
Soon, we arrived at a slope not too far from the entrance staircase, where a fierce battle was taking place.
The first three staircases had been conquered, and Scarface was leading his subordinates to capture the fourth staircase.Scarface is a powerful and formidable fiend, named so because its face is covered in crisscrossing scars, looking completely disfigured.
In the chaotic battlefield, Scarface charges forward fearlessly, grabbing a small fiend by the head and forcefully pushing it towards the stone surface of the stairs. The small fiend's skull cracks upon impact!
Another large fiend confronts Scarface, its size no less intimidating than Scarface himself. I thought the battle would be evenly matched, but Scarface surprises me by using not only its claws but also elbow strikes and kicks!
It is the first time I've seen a demon use combat techniques resembling human martial arts. The demons I've encountered before would simply rely on their strength and size, charging indiscriminately.
Scarface fights like a skilled mixed martial artist, using various parts of its body to strike the enemy. In just a few moves, it disorients and incapacitates the larger fiend. Finally, with a powerful elbow strike from above, it hits the target's head, knocking it down. After a few convulsions, the large fiend lies motionless, presumably dead.
Scarface is much stronger than I had imagined, with a fighting style reminiscent of mixed martial arts. I have greatly underestimated these demons.
Each level of the entrance stairs is spacious enough to accommodate hundreds of demons fighting each other.
The demons guarding the stairs continue to pour down, and for every demon Scarface and its minions kill, another demon jumps down to fill the gap. Pushing up to the third level, Scarface pays a heavy price. As its minions are dwindling, it starts to consider retreating.
In just over twenty minutes, Scarface loses one-third of its minions.
"Let's go help," I say. I send Little Four to gather our scattered minions, and ten minutes later, they join the battle.
"Little Four, Little Five, take the little demons and collect all the corpses on the stairs. These bodies should be enough for our consumption today," I command coldly from the bottom of the stairs. Looking at the entrance stairs overflowing with corpses, I continue, "With the large fiends in the vanguard, Cyclops and Little Three will lead a team to the top. Make sure to ensure Scarface's safety and bring back more people."
"Yes, Master!"
After the demons acknowledge my orders, Cyclops, holding a bone club, and Little Three charge towards the stairs, followed by nearly fifty large fiends armed with bone clubs.
Armed with weapons, the demons are a force to be reckoned with. The bone clubs they use are thick thigh bones from deceased large fiends, solid and heavy. One blow from these clubs guarantees the enemy's suffering.
Since Scarface has cleared the first three levels of the stairs, Cyclops and the others climb up rapidly. With my minions joining them, the battle quickly takes a one-sided turn. The bone clubs are indeed powerful; before the enemies can even extend their claws, they are struck by the bone clubs. A stinging blow caught them off guard.
The sudden reinforcements inject a surge of excitement into Scarface and its minions. Scarface, who was starting to feel exhausted, seems to have found a renewed vigor, attacking with even greater force. It takes a moment to glance back at me, its expression incredibly enigmatic.
"Scarface, come down quickly. My people can't hold on much longer," I shout from the bottom of the stairs. Saving this guy is a last resort. There are simply too many demons guarding the entrance. If I can't unite all the forces that can be united, I may very well die here. I don't want to die, so I must suppress my disgust and enlist all the allies I can find.
Scarface and his minions retreat, followed by Cyclops and Little Three. The enemies, still unwilling to give up, charge out of the stairs, intending to pursue us relentlessly. However, once they leave the advantageous terrain of the stairs, the absolute advantage is on our side.
The guarding demons jump down from the stairs to the ground, their eyes red with bloodlust. Ignoring the gap in strength between us and the enemy, they ferociously attack.
With a swift turn, Cyclops delivers a backward strike with his bone club, hitting a large fiend chasing him on the head, knocking it out cold. Other large fiends follow suit, knocking down their pursuers. This move clearly intimidates the other pursuing fiends, and the guarding demons immediately stop their pursuit, swiftly returning to the entrance stairs...Back at the temporary base, Xiao Si and Xiao Wu were busy distributing demon corpses as food, and Da Yi and Xiao San were responsible for collecting souls for me.
Scarface walked up to me with a dark face, hesitated several times before finally asking, "Why did you save me?"
I glanced at the blood tide that was already faintly visible and answered coldly, "Tomorrow is the last day. Once tomorrow is over, everything will be submerged by the blood tide. I said I would unite all the forces. I want to survive. So, before I enter the entrance, you, who can become a power, cannot die."
"..." Scarface was silent for a moment, then lowered its head and said to me, "For now, I will follow your lead. But this relationship will only last until we enter the upper entrance."
"Alright, you and your men can rest here for now. Xiao Si and Xiao Wu will distribute food to you later. Because of the battle just now, there is still plenty of food. By the way, the rule here is that all souls belong to me." I stared expressionlessly at Scarface. "Is that understood?"
"Understood."
"Then, I'll leave first." After saying that, I was about to leave.
"Where are you going? The blood tide is coming soon."
"To subdue more demons! Because of the blood tide, the power we can collect will also increase exponentially. We can't waste a single minute or second."
I walked away from Scarface, and suddenly heard its voice from behind, "Wait for me. I lost this time, but I won't give up. One day, I will make you willingly be my female demon."
In a state of concentration, I almost stumbled upon hearing Scarface's words. I was about to retort, but Da Yi on the other side shouted, "Master is ours! We bet our lives on it, and we will never back down!"
"And me, I won't give up either!"
That was the voice of the one-eyed.
"Just go and die! Focus on your work!" I angrily cursed, then I was overwhelmed by a heavy sense of powerlessness and couldn't catch my breath. I couldn't stand being treated by the demons like I was some kind of treasure. What had happened to me... why did it turn out like this...
Xiao Si walked over and told me that scattered demons had appeared again. Before going to subdue them, I asked Scarface about the losses in their team. More than two-thirds of the team was lost, leaving Scarface with only ten big fiends and eighty-seven small fiends.
In just over half an hour, more than twenty big fiends and two to three hundred small fiends were lost. This battlefield is truly like a meat grinder. There are a total of thirteen levels, and the further back, the higher the enemy's numbers and quality. I really doubt if the Fiend leader guarding the top entrance level is a second-stage Fiend...
Well, let's take one step at a time. It's useless to overthink. The only thing I need to do is to try my best to survive.
Nicole, where are you? Are you okay?
Being in the purgatory blood tide, I miss you again. I hope we can meet again, and I will always look forward to that moment... until the end of my life...
