Chapter 743: The Roaring Chaotic Mountains
The war between the human race and the demon race began with the struggle for control of this continent, but the reason the two sides fought to the death without cease was closely tied to one thing.
The demons ate humans.
This was the greatest fear and fury of the human race, and also their greatest source of courage.
In truth, no matter the era, humans were never the demons' primary food source. In the beginning, demons eating humans was more like a remnant of the barbaric age, driven by considerations of mystical combat, self-enhancement, flaunting power, and intimidating enemies. It was only over time that this behavior became a habit among the demons.
Later on, this terrifying practice no longer served its original motivating purpose for the demons, and its effect of terrorizing humans had mostly transformed into hatred and courage. From any perspective, this behavior brought no benefit to the war between humans and demons—only negative consequences.
The insightful among the demon race had recognized this early on. But breaking an established tradition inevitably faced many obstacles, not to mention that for a race renowned for brutality, any bloody and horrifying act was their most welcome spiritual enjoyment.
It wasn't until many years ago that the famous scholar Tongusi, after twenty years of research, finally made a judgment on this behavior from theological, customary, physiological, and psychological perspectives. In his work, the great scholar clearly pointed out that eating humans offered no benefit to demon advancement; on the contrary, certain substances in the human body would contaminate the gray matter of the demon brainstem, eventually causing demons who ate too many humans to go mad and die by self-mutilation. At the same time, Tongusi expressed extreme theological disdain for this behavior, declaring it a blasphemy against the Moon God.
In Xuelao City, Tongusi's research naturally met no opposition, just like any of his previous studies. And the only other scholar qualified to question him in that era—the Southern Pope—remained silent on the matter.
Perhaps it was precisely because this silence was so different from the fierce debates between the two in previous years that many private discussions circulated. Some demon scholars suspected that Tongusi's thesis itself was flawed, while scholars from the Luminous Palace secretly proposed an astonishing possibility—that the book about demons eating humans was very likely co-authored by Tongusi and His Holiness the Pope, or at least that the Pope had provided significant assistance.
If these suspicions were true, then there was naturally something wrong with the matter, and it might even be complete fabrication. But as mentioned before, since this was Tongusi's conclusion, and the royalty and nobility in Xuelao City remained silent, and His Holiness the Pope in the Luminous Palace also remained silent, who dared to raise any objections?
With the publication and spread of this work, the practice of demons eating humans gradually waned. Until a thousand years ago, that mighty Demon Lord who dominated the continent finally took the opportunity to issue a prohibition decree. From then on, this behavior was completely banned in the demon domain, especially in Xuelao City, where it basically never appeared again.
But the power of tradition was truly terrifying. The demon domain's snowy plains were vast, and the differences in knowledge and civilization among various demon classes were immense. Even great beings like Tongusi and the Demon Lord couldn't make this behavior disappear entirely. Low-level demons in small tribes still secretly ate human flesh, even taking pride in it. How many human bodies had vanished from the battlefields over centuries? Among the dozens of demon generals, how many had never tasted human flesh?
Now, with the death of that Demon Lord and the war between demons and humans becoming incredibly brutal, the binding force of this decree had severely weakened.
In remote corners of this snowy plain, such cruel scenes appeared everywhere—like now in the Chaotic Mountains.
A demon soldier and a bloodthirsty mutant wolf were tearing at the corpse of a human soldier.
Blood dripped from their mouths, falling onto the hard, cold ground.
Watching this scene, someone finally couldn't bear it. Letting out a mournful cry, he threw down his weapon and ran toward the rear of the mountain path. But he didn't get far before a wolf rider guarding the southwest caught up to him. With a brief scream, he became a smear of bloody flesh on the ground.
On the battlefield, humans learned this bloody lesson every day.
—Only by fighting together with comrades was there any hope of survival; any betrayal or flight led only to death.
Fear and anger were always twins. When that soldier fled in panic, the remaining dozen or so soldiers became incredibly furious.
Anger was the greatest source of courage. The soldiers gripped their weapons tightly again and roared at the five wolf riders.
The captain of this Songshan Military Prefecture squad was a veteran who had been purifying his marrow for many years. His combat experience was rich, making him far calmer than any of his subordinates.
As cries of pain and roars of fury rang out, he was still observing the surrounding terrain, assessing the current situation, and thinking of ways to escape.
His gaze fell on the stretcher, and he silently apologized. His squad was doomed to total annihilation; they would have to use their last two measures. But even if they succeeded, not a single living person would remain. By then, the formation master on the stretcher would either freeze to death in the bitter cold or starve—a miserable end.
Formation masters were the most respected and welcomed people on the battlefield. Dying in battle was one thing, but they shouldn't have to suffer such a tragic fate.
And this formation master was still very young.
The minimum requirement for a formation master was the Tongyou realm, so generally, they were older.
The formation master lying on the stretcher now was dark and thin, his face covered in blood and grime, but his youth was still visible in his features.
Such a young formation master was extremely rare, not just in ordinary combat units like theirs, but even in the main headquarters of Songshan Military Prefecture.
A formation master this young must have extraordinary talent. If he could survive, he would surely have an infinitely bright future.
The captain understood that this was probably why their superiors had ordered them to escort this formation master away, even amid such fierce fighting.
Unfortunately, the demon wolf riders they had been fighting must have noticed this too, so they had sacrificed some of their strength to send several riders in pursuit.
Watching the approaching wolf riders and looking at his subordinates, who were filled with the resolve to die, the captain threw away his iron sword and took out a magical artifact from his waist.
The artifact emitted a faint aura, resonating with something inside his body through his armor and clothing.
The soldiers seemed to sense something and turned to look at him.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
The soldiers guessed what he was about to do, and their faces turned pale. One young soldier's eyes reddened—not from anger, but from grief.
There was no time to persuade, no time to comfort. The demon wolf riders had already charged, their stench filling the air.
A roar erupted in the Chaotic Mountains.
The human soldiers launched a countercharge against the wolf riders. No matter how sharp the mutant wolves' fangs, no matter how powerful the demon soldiers' iron spears, they charged forward!
In that process, not one person looked back at him.
Blood sprayed wildly, severed limbs flew everywhere. In an extremely short time, the human soldiers were all dead, with only two demon wolf riders lightly wounded.
The soldiers' corpses fell under the wolf riders' claws, hung from the demon soldiers' iron spears, clamped in their jaws—a scene of utter bloodshed and horror.
Looking at the last human, the demon soldiers let out harsh laughter.
He couldn't understand what they were saying. He directly crushed the artifact in his hand.