"Hold the line! Push them back!"
Leanora and the solar knights rushed to block the demons' advance. The soldiers at the back also came forward to fill the gap before the demons could overrun the alliance army's formation.
Several enhanced hell fireballs were thrown out by the abyssal guards one after another. The mages could no longer block them anymore and each hell fireball had dealt tremendous amount of damage to the alliance army.
Normally, a few dozen mages were enough to defend against even the enhanced version of the abyssal guard's hell fire when working together. However the mages were already occupied with shielding the entire army from the deadly fog.
Even after leaving behind a part of the army to guard the defensive base as well as many losses and deaths along the way, the vanguard army still amounted around fifty thousands troops. For a few hundred mages, it was a huge burden. Asking them to fight on top of it was just top much.
Moreover, the toxicity was far more potent around the demonic altar because of the blood crystal. The mages could not afford to distract from maintaining their defensive purification spells or the whole army would crumble.
The elites like solar knights and flacon knights could withstand the toxin to some extent and did not require much protection. However majority of the normal soldiers were not strong enough to endure the poisonous fog by themselves.
Without the protection of the mages, the weaker soldiers would be unable to fight or might even lose their lives in the deadly fog. Although the vanguard army had a large number of troops, they were still severely lacking in terms of quality.
After all this was just a probing attack and the nations only sent out their bottom level normal soldiers. Only Solarstras Empire who was an alliance leader and Crenoth kingdom which the crimson forest located in mobilized their elites.
Even then Solarstras Empire only deployed a small amount of the solar knights and a few hundreds of low level mages. The current mage captain in the vanguard army was nowhere near the level of someone like Vesta from Astenora Empire.
Although the Solarstras Empire was known for their knights, they did not lack powerful mages. They were still an empire with deep foundations. It was just that their quality and quantity were lowered compared to the Astenora Empire.
For the Crenoth kingdom, they were also preserving their strength and did not go all out yet. The demon lord was suspected to be in their territory and they could not afford to lose too much in the beginning or the whole kingdom might get wiped out.
They needed to rely on the alliance and share the burden with the others. The reason king Sermon sent the falcon knights to the vanguard army had it's own different political reasons. If all the nations from the Solar Alliance truly went all out from the beginning, not to mention Azralion, even current Adrosiean would find it troublesome.
Thus, the vanguard army was having a hard time against the hell fireballs without any way to block them. Series of explosions occurred as multiple gaps were formed within the army's formation. Under the command of the abyssal guard, the demons and corrupted beasts continuously charged into the gaps.
"Captain, what should we do? At this rate, we will get overrun."
A solar knight asked in dilemma. The formation was starting to show signs of collapse because of the constant assault by the abyssal guard and demons. If this continued, the whole army will get overrun by the demons and corrupted beasts.
"We cannot let that demon attack as he wishes. Solar knights, to me! We shall eliminate the demon commander!"
Leanora said while wiping out the demon blood off her face. Her golden armor was now covered in thick blood and painted in red. Leanora did not even remember how many demons she had killed. But the demons were still coming like they were endless.
Leanora knew that the vanguard army would slowly lose against the unending tide of demons if the abyssal guard was free to attack as he pleased.
Inside the crimson forest, the demons and the corrupted beasts seemed endless. However the number of human soldiers were limited and dwindling as time passed.
"But captain, how about the army? Without us, they will..."
A solar knight asked with hesitation. The solar knights were the main forces who were holding the army's formation at the forefront. Without a proper formation, no matter how many soldiers there were, they will just be a bunch of chickens waiting to be slaughtered.
"Let the Falcon knights take our place. We have no other choice. We can only hope that they can hold on until we defeat the demon commander."
The falcon knights were clearly weaker than the solar knights. They were also fighting in the rear. If the solar knights leave the formation, the falcon knights have to spread out to fill up their place and face greater pressure.
But Leanora had no other choice. The vanguard army would be wiped out if they just keep defending. They had to defeat the abyssal guard if they want to break out of the current deadlock.
The solar knights gathered around Leanora and charged towards the abyssal guard like a small group of elites. The flacon knights came forward and took charge of commanding and defending the alliance army in their place.
The demons and corrupted beasts attacked the solar knights and tried to block them but they cannot stop the solar knights' advance.
Without the burden to command and protect the army, the solar knights were like an unstoppable sharp spear that pointed towards the abyssal guard. The abyssal guard raised his hand and shot out hell fireballs towards the solar knights.
"Solar Core Formation, Solar Guard!"
With a shout, the solar knights activated their formation skill with Leanora at the center. The Solar Core Formation was a formation that combined everyone's strength into a whole.
It amplified the strength of Leanora by several times temporarily and her strength was directly raised to another tier.
Solar Core Formation was one of the solar knights trump cards. It was because of this formation that the solar knights could fight against the enemies that were far more powerful than them on equal grounds.
The hell fireballs hit Leanora directly. Leanora defended herself with her sword. The loud explosion could not hurt Leanora as she was left unscathed. Her whole body was overflowing with power and she continued charging forward with the solar knights.
"Maintain the formation!"
"Maintain the formation!"
The solar knights cried out in unison. Seeing that his attacks did not work anymore like before, the abyssal guard stopped shooting hell fireballs. He used the blood crystal to command a large amount of demons and corrupted beasts to obstruct the solar knights and buy time for him.
The blood crystal was a vassal that contained Azralion's blood and mana. The abyssal guard was borrowing Azralion's power to command the demons and gain temporary explosive strength.
The abyssal guard turned around and started to absorb the demonic energy from the blood crystal without stopping. Rays of blood red demonic energies flowed towards the abyssal guard like hundreds of small snakes entering his body each seconds.
Leanora sensed that the abyssal guard was becoming more powerful as time passed. She knew that she cannot allow it to continue but there were simply too many demons and it took the solar knights some time to clear through them.
When the solar knights finally stepped into the altar, the abyssal guard stopped absorbing the demonic energies and turned around to face them. His whole body was illuminating with blood red strings that looked like snakes swimming inside. It looked somewhat horrifying sight to see.
In terms of strength, the abyssal guards were a tier higher than mid tier human knights like solar knights. Moreover, the current abyssal guard had absorbed a large amount of demonic energy from the red crystal and became far more powerful than the normal abyssal guards.
The abyssal guard raised his dark sword and released an intense pressure.
'Hierarchy Suppression.'
It was a racial skill of the pride demons. When used, all enemies within the range that weaker than the user will be instantly suppressed. The pressure was intensified accordingly to the difference in level and strength between the target and the user.
Adrosiean had also used it before in front of the Crimson Cross members. But the difference between them was like day and night. Adrosiean could even kill using the pressure alone. The abyssal guard was no where near Adrosiean's level.
The abyssal guards were not pure pride demons. However this abyssal guard had absorbed a large amount of demonic energy from the blood crystal which contained some drops of Azralion's blood. Because of that, he could mimic the power of the pride demons temporarily.
The pressure pressed down upon the solar knights and their movements were halted.
"Blessing of the Sun!"
Leanora shouted and activated her skill. A ray of gentle sunlight shined in the dark shadowy forest and shielded the solar knights.
This was not the first time the demons of the pride branch appeared in this world. Thus, Leanora was not surprised and knew how to defend against them.
The solar knights broke free from the pressure and charged again at the abyssal guard, attempting to surround him. The abyssal guard also stopped using his ranged skills and went on melee without backing down.