Chapter 1925: 542 Shadow Castle_2

Matthew shrugged his shoulders,

“I hope so.”

If Glacia really became overconfident, his chances would undoubtedly increase by a lot.

But for now, he wouldn’t assume his enemy to be simple-minded.

And something that happened next seemed to confirm Matthew’s opinion.

On the second layer of the torn plane,

The devil army they were part of had smoothly arrived at a hilly area.

Below the hills was an endless plain.

Abruptly standing on the plain was half a castle–

The other half of the castle was entirely hidden within the shadows, making it impossible to capture with strained eyes.

The Devil Army was obviously moving towards the direction of the castle to surround it.

But what concerned Matthew more was that,

During the march, he had actually discovered a large number of Air Elements on the flank of the Devil Army!

These Air Elements, unlike what Matthew had seen before, did not start fighting the Devil Army right away.

Although they appeared indifferent and even somewhat hostile,

The Air Elements were also marching.

And their direction was also towards that castle!

The two different race’s armies maintained a certain distance, each marching on their own without any friction.

Clearly, this was no accident.

“The Air Elements and the demons are feigning a fight.

On the surface, they appear to be battling to draw troops, but as soon as the main forces arrive, both sides immediately turn their guns towards the Shadow Core where Beckman resides!”

From this angle,

Glacia’s campaign in the torn plane was evidently not a spur-of-the-moment decision, but a calculated one.

She had recruited the Air Elements as allies.

And the lord of the torn plane, Beckman, had become the target of the Devil and Air Elemental allied forces’ crusade.

Soon,

The numerous allied forces had surrounded the half-castle from different directions, leaving no escape.

At this point, Matthew had seen that

The castle in front of them was the gate to Beckman’s tomb.

Behind the gates was the connecting area between the second layer of space and the Shadow Core.

It should be a space that is half-shadow, half-material.

The space was incredibly vast and complex.

Relying solely on mental power to sense from the outside, even Matthew could not detect the end of that space.

He only felt a large number of labyrinths and traps unique to the Shadow Plane embedded within.

Matthew had not sensed Beckman’s presence immediately.

This could be because the Lord of Darkness was adept at hiding.

Or perhaps He had simply hidden within the Shadow Core, not confronting the Devil Alliance head-on.

Regardless,

The scene before him brought a slight concern to Matthew–

During the march,

He still had not found an opportunity to approach Glacia.

After all, she was a high and mighty lord.

Those who could get close to Glacia were either

The guard squad of the Demoness of Desire or mid to high-ranking demons.

Matthew and Camela, playing the role of common soldiers, were even if willing, still kept at a safe enough distance.

At this distance,

Even if he released the three Thieves, they would hardly have any room to maneuver.

Matthew clearly understood that

Opportunities needed to be waited for.

However, if the strength of both sides in this war was not equal and the situation became one-sided in favor of the demons, then the opportunity Matthew was waiting for would become exceedingly slim.

Seeing that the vanguard troops of the allied forces had already begun to attack the castle gates,

Matthew even began to consider whether or not to secretly lend a hand to Beckman!

Fortunately, it wasn’t long before

Finally, there was movement from within the castle.

Weird crunching noises of beasts chewing emerged from the shadows.

Seconds later,

A large number of shadow creatures jumped out from the cracks in the castle walls.

They fearlessly charged towards the demons and Air Elements,

In a short few minutes, they managed to rely on their superior numbers to push back the allied forces’ vanguard.

At the same time,

Matthew also spotted more shadow creatures jumping out of shadow nodes across the plain.

These shadow creatures mostly did not have humanoid forms but were in the form of beasts like Shadow Dogs, Shadow Wolves, Shadow Tigers, and such.

Although in terms of fighting power, the Shadow Beasts were much weaker compared to their materially embodied relatives,

The shadow creatures held an absolute numerical advantage locally.

Firstly, their appearance was so sudden that it was completely unexpected by the enemy.

As a result, before long,

the vanguard unit tasked with ramming the gates withdrew swiftly.

They left a vast buffer zone outside the castle.

Some shadow beasts still wished to pursue.

But they were met head-on and fiercely beaten by the equally prepared devils and lords of the Air Element.

It didn’t take long for them to disintegrate into shadow fragments that dissolved into the earth and sky.

Seeing this,

roars of the beasts once again emanated from the castle.

The shadow creatures that wanted to pursue further scratched the soil on the spot, as if reluctantly, and then retreated under the castle walls.

With that,

both sides returned to a standoff.

Matthew’s hanging heart finally settled down:

“I knew it, the legendary Lord of Darkness, how could he be anything but well-prepared…”

He eagerly anticipated that the two sides would be evenly matched,

ideally resulting in mutually assured destruction!

Moments later,

a Purgatory Beast emerged from the ranks and stopped in front of the castle.

Only the Demoness of Desire sat atop the war beast.

Two figures floated on either side of her, one being the Phantom Baron and one a lord of the Air Element.

As for the King of the Air Element,

Matthew could not identify him–not in the crowd, most likely amongst the old and cunning.

“You’ve overstepped your boundaries, little Glacia.”

A soft, pleasant male voice drifted from the shadows deep within the castle:

“I thought you just wanted some candy from me; I never expected you wanted my life.”

“Ironically, do you really think you can succeed?”

“That’s something even your father Barthor couldn’t do…”

Glasia’s crimson eyes focused intently on a spot within the shadows. Her voice was melodious, akin to the music of the heavens, but her tone was indescribably domineering and resolute:

“You know why I’m here, Beckman.”

“Hand over my father’s horn, and I will leave immediately!”

Beckman’s voice carried a mocking laughter:

“You used to call me ‘uncle,’ little Glacia.”

“Do you think I’d believe your word? Perhaps after I hand over the horn, you indeed may leave, but the remaining devils and those allies you brought will swarm us, turning my domain into ruins. Am I right?”

Glasia replied coldly:

“We can sign a contract; the specifics can be negotiated.”

“But my father’s horn is a prerequisite for all this.”

“It was originally a part of my father’s body; it rightfully should be returned to me.”

Beckman laughed heartily:

“My little Glacia, have you forgotten?”

“This horn was personally handed to me by your father, with strict instructions to never give it to you. Why not go ask under the Bridge of All Life?”

Glasia responded unabashedly:

“Clearly, you lied.”

“My father would never give you the horn, and if someone did say that, he definitely wouldn’t be my father.”

Beckman, upon hearing this, remarked with sentiment:

“The finest devil indeed.”

“Your current brazenness isn’t too far off from your father’s back in the day.”

“I will not hand over the horn to you.”

“We no longer have any need for conversation between us; let’s just fight it out!”

The Lord of Darkness showed unexpected firmness.

Yet Glacia merely scoffed:

“Do you think the Tong Luo Gods will have your back?”

“Do you really believe Galan will sincerely assist you in transcending?”

“Do you truly think you can replicate the ‘Blood Meteor’ incident in purgatory?”

“Uncle Beckman, you’re naive to the point of not resembling a millennia-old lord, but rather a desperate gambler at a dead end.”

“Come on, show me your allies–”

“The half-dead Galan?”

“The gasping-for-air Jassiliven?”

“The Evil Queen Babasha, left breathless by a small mage who never falls?”

“Among them, who can withstand my Blasphemy?”

The very next second,

terrifying skyfire, like a gigantic waterfall, suddenly appeared above the castle!

At the same time,

a group of individuals dressed as spellcasters also silently appeared atop Shadow Castle’s walls.

…