Chapter 145: Demons Must Die

Duke knew very well that he could not guard Karazhan forever.

Stormwind was under siege outside, and the green tide of orcs was raging across the continent. No matter how he looked at it, he had to rush back as soon as possible.

The task of defense could only be entrusted to helpers like Khadgar and Michael.

Though the Valiant Spirits may be of a higher rank than the elite soldiers of the original Stormwind, fighting demons was like fighting orcs - relying solely on numbers was meaningless. Unless they faced a hero like Lothar, even the most experienced elite soldier would be no match for a demon.

Duke suddenly remembered a game he used to play, and combined with a book he found in Medivh's library called "The Complete Guide to Mechanical Traps," he had an idea.

Khadgar stared in disbelief.

He watched as Duke, who had previously struggled with a lot of magical theory, restructured the first and second floors of Karazhan as if he were building with blocks.

"Damn, even if Karazhan is currently located within a temporal rift, if you mess around like this, it will still collapse!" Khadgar couldn't help but exclaim.

"What? You know about architecture?"

"Uh!?" Khadgar was a mage, not a master mason. When Duke asked this, he was immediately dumbfounded: "Do you?"

"Of course, as long as I don't touch the supporting pillars and load-bearing walls, even if I hollow out the first and second floors, it'll be fine. Besides, I've calculated the gravity here, and it's only about 80% of the outside world. I can be even more daring."

Although Khadgar couldn't understand what Duke was saying, he was still impressed!

In just about a day, Duke turned the first and second floors of Karazhan into a massive death maze.

Spike traps, tar pits, arrow walls, spring traps, blade walls... Combined with gaps that led directly to the chaotic void, Duke created a catapult trap capable of launching a massive body weighing over a ton.

Everything was ready; all that was missing were the demons.

Two days later, at the main entrance of Karazhan, a chaotic red and black void opened. A thick green light, reminiscent of moldy pea soup from the darkest of cuisines, illuminated the entrance.

In Duke's perception, an evil aura pierced the chaotic void, connecting Karazhan to an unknown world.

Space was forcibly torn apart by a huge crack, and some kind of magic was rapidly reinforcing the rift. A terrible, almost tangible, evil aura poured out from the portal. Duke, who was stationed at the endpoint of the second floor, could quickly smell the foul stench.

Khadgar's expression changed slightly as he stood beside Duke. After seeing Duke nod, he approached an arcane-glowing crystal ball and pressed his hand against it.

This was the Soul Crystal Ball, capable of connecting the minds of all the Valiant Spirits on the first and second floors.

"The guests have arrived! I repeat, the guests have arrived."

As the words fell, at the main entrance, a huge red gauntlet gripped the edge of the portal. The next moment, a humanoid demon over five meters tall with red dragon wings emerged from the portal.

The demon's body was covered in explosive red muscles and heavy armor, its head resembled a rugged orc, but it bore massive horns not found on orcs.

Its strong legs were like those of a goat, bent backward and ending in massive hooves.

The scorching flames entwining its body cast a sinister glow on its enormous frame, making this Doomguard appear even more terrifying and menacing. "Annihilate all resistance here, Master Sargeras cannot possibly fall in such a place! Search! Search for me! Even if we must completely destroy this place, we must find the passage to where the Master resides!"

This enormous demon, using the Eredar language, also known as the Demonic language among humans, roared orders to his subordinates. Countless terrifying figures charged out from beside him. There were demonic hounds with red bodies, four limbs on the ground, two long black and white tendrils, and two massive bull horns.

There were also demonic guards with indigo skin, baring their powerful chest muscles, wearing red and white heavy armor on their arms and waist down. Their heads and spines were adorned with long, red horns. And there was a Void demon, whose core was a deep blue energy triangle and was clad in full armor.

In a disorderly manner, they rushed into the long hallway of Karazhan's main entrance. Suddenly, the fastest Fel hound seemed to step on something. In the darkness, the sound of metal scraping could be heard.

The next moment, over a dozen sharp spikes sprang up from the floor, as if trying to skewer the Fel hound through its abdomen. As a scout and vanguard of the demonic legion, the Fel hound possessed agility unknown to Duke.

This Fel hound managed to arch its back and spring into the air like a coil just as the spikes were about to touch its abdomen. Unfortunately, without any warning, a two-meter by two-meter square from the low ceiling came crashing down.

Before the Fel hound could react, it was slammed back down onto the ground. With a hiss, the sharp metal spikes ended the life of the Fel hound. As the "clack clack" sounds echoed, the spikes retracted back into the ground, and the fallen ceiling piece was pulled back up by the gears, silently waiting for the next victim. Of course, more than one Fel hound fell victim. As the demons charged, suddenly, with a "bang," a massive demon capable of easily slaughtering twenty elite human warriors was launched into the air by a metal floor tile.

The unfortunate creature, caught off guard, was like a cannonball stuffed into a barrel, and with a resounding explosion, it was ejected out. Demons were not mindless beasts that only knew how to kill. The strange situation took them by surprise.

Their eyes followed the victim's trajectory until the victim hit a wall and stopped; only then did their pupils begin to focus. Before they had a chance to shift their focus, the seemingly ordinary wall suddenly shot out three sets of intersecting massive axes. Those were such exaggerated axe blades that even an ogre lifting them would find them too heavy.

The axe blades, with a diameter of over a meter, were more than capable of cleaving a demon or effortlessly severing a dragon's neck if placed upon it. With a chilling glint, the demon only had time to let out half a scream before the cold light of the axe blades flashed across its body.

On the wall, only a few deep fissures remained, along with the splattered demon blood and scattered pieces of flesh that could never be pieced back together. What was going on? (To be continued.)