I'm a monster in Demon King's Castle

"Retreat." →

With the battle in such a state and Qihe absent, Gerald naturally abandoned any thought of continuing the march, deciding to retreat back to the Mist Marsh camp for reorganization.

No one had anticipated the Demon King's City's counterattack to be so fierce, and the timing so perfect.

As the banner moved, the Kingston and Clive families began to retreat; the royal banner also moved, but instead of retreating, it conjured a curtain of light, abruptly disappearing with the Central Army behind it.

The royal banner teleported away, directly emptying an entire formation—the royal family, under the protection of the Grand Archmage Wright, left the battlefield.

"How quick…"

The empty space in the rear ranks gave Kingston and Gerald plenty of room.

They clung to the damaged magic cannons, avoiding the fate of falling into the underground lava, leaping one by one to the solid ground behind.

Then they discovered that the center of the cannon fire had shifted, covering the escape route of the two families.

"Master said… if they want to run… eliminate as much of their forces as possible…" In the library, Tom and Harry observed the battle with telescopes, adjusting the landing points of the artillery barrage in real time.

"The humans are running away ha—the first contact battle, I unilaterally declare the Colosseum victorious—"

Li Yue continued to ignite the audience's enthusiasm, but this time he harvested more malice than bloodlust.

Malice from the humans.

Li Yue found it delicious, deeming the time spent outside the Forbidden Forest laying down the death line well worth it.

But soon, in the image projected by the domino, the battlefield where the imperial army was located ceased to tilt, and the ground was re-stitched—a mass of yellow and black mud swept across the moat, lifting the thin surface and supporting the feet of the imperial army.

Yellow and black Qihe had returned.

The Qihe who had been driven away by the King of the Colosseum.

As for the end of the bloody rainbow, a thunderstorm continued to rage, with Aka and the other five rivers engaged in fierce combat.

Only two rivers remained of Qihe at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

"He still has the face to come back ha—" Li Yue announced this good news to the audience, "Then of course we must treat him well—"

Nolamore shrank into the shadows, taking Egg, Li Yue, and his sack body with him, instantly flashing along the Moonlight Trail to the Forbidden Forest.

"Advance."

Qihe arrived at the battlefield and quickly stabilized the imperial army's formation after reshaping the terrain.

Qihe had not given up.

The cannon fire descending from the sky was absorbed by the shadows, falling into the lava river outside the imperial army's ranks.

Clearly, Qihe was already very weak and struggling; otherwise, he should have reversed the cannon fire back into the Demon King's City.

And even after losing a large number of tanks and magic cannons, the elemental grand archmage still issued the order to attack.

Seeing Qihe return, the general in the central formation felt as if he had eaten shit, yet had no choice but to swallow it.

He feared Qihe's absence, yet also feared his recklessness.

And now, recklessness had arrived.

"Were you out having dinner? At such a crucial time, you were actually absent? And even driven out of the city?" Surrounded by knights, the general expressed his dissatisfaction to Qihe.

"The royal family has already left; there's no need to continue fighting! We need to regroup!"

"Advancing is the only opportunity."

Qihe didn't explain much, but instead erected an embankment connected to the shadows behind the imperial army's formation.

When soldiers of the Clive family leaped into the shadows, they were immediately teleported to the front of the formation, charging straight into the Forbidden Forest.

Qihe had created a one-way conveyor belt on the battlefield.

Unable to retreat, they could only advance.

And the souls of the soldiers tainted by the shadows seemed to have undergone a slight fracture, charging without hesitation, as if fear and reason had been torn away by the shadows.

Qihe's mind was filled with the thought of breaking through the Forbidden Forest, reaching the Colosseum, and taking down that rag doll and that shadow demon.

"Tsk tsk tsk… the grand archmage is very brave ha… lost his mind ha…" Li Yue immediately commentated.

He was carrying a Twisted Eye, walking along the Moonlight Trail, while having Xin Xin split the broadcast signal, half focusing on the battlefield and half focusing on the cloth bag's face.

Split-screen live broadcast.

"Is there anyone who wants to see the Empire's vanguard annihilated? Please give me some noise, let me see your broadswords—"

When Parroting relayed Li Yue's shouts, the Demon King's City erupted once more.

Li Yue even suspected that after this battle, the Colosseum wouldn't need to open next month.

Outside the Forbidden Forest, the Empire's vanguard continued to charge under Qihe's coercion.

The Kingston and Clive families couldn't resist the mad Qihe either; Gerald caressed the magic mirror in his arms, ready to jump in at any moment and leave this hellish place.

Even losing the mirror again was better than losing his life.

As the vanguard launched its charge, the yellow and black mud finally turned its attention back to the Demon King's City, rushing to the forefront.

Immediately afterward, the yellow and black mud shook off yellow earth and shadow mud like fleas—earth and shadow merged into mud puppets of varying sizes, earth elementals, and rock giants, instantly propping up a powerful military force.

Tens of thousands, densely packed, rushed towards the silent Forbidden Forest like a flood.

Qihe finally highlighted his value on the battlefield.

Even with only two rivers remaining, he himself was a massive army.

The generals in the central army formation hastily instructed the knights to disseminate enemy-ally identification, recognizing the mud puppets, earth elementals, and rock giants as teammates, sharing the impending damage together.

The two families also hastily followed suit, fully leveraging Qihe's role.

"Grand Archmage ha…" Li Yue knew that Qihe was suited for the battlefield, but didn't expect him to bring such great pressure.

And this was only the summons formed by earth and dark elements—if all seven rivers were present, would the enemies facing the Forbidden Forest at this moment also include monsters of other species and elements?

One person equals seven armies.

No wonder he dared to charge even after being beaten into this state.

"Are you all as excited as I am to see how the Empire's army, fused with Qihe, will perform?" Li Yue didn't forget to add fuel to the fire for the audience, "Then please let me hear your screams—"

"Death… death… death…"

The various demons in the Demon King's City shouted out their inner bloodlust, not even certain themselves whose fall and demise they wanted to see.

The entire city seemed to come alive, waiting to devour the humans delivered to its mouth.

But the Empire's army formation remained unperturbed—the knights' formations had already been established, and under the influence of the general and Gerald, courage ceaselessly filled the hearts of every soldier.

Light shields continuously shattered and bloomed again, stalemating with the cannon fire overhead.

The entire vanguard merged into a sharp blade, a blade aimed at the Forbidden Forest.

Immediately afterward, the sound of aircraft engines roaring began to come from the sky behind the vanguard—Qihe, in the gap of teleporting out of the Demon King's City, issued an attack order to the aircraft at the Mist Marsh base.

This endowed the imperial army with even more courage, and the sharp blade wrapped in light became even sharper.

Qihe, the Knights, steam-powered mechs, clockwork warriors, summons, aircraft… the Empire's vanguard mobilized everything.