Looking at Bailang who was immersed in memories with a face full of grief, Pei Yan didn't continue to ask further and quietly waited for the other to sort out his thoughts. After a long time, he heard a sigh: "They hid too well, no, it should be said that we were too careless."

Speaking, Bailang lifted his head to look at Pei Yan and continued: "At the beginning, when the Disaster Legion launched a massive invasion, we didn't take it seriously because at that time they didn't have something as powerful as the Red Scourge to suppress us. Some radicals even imagined exterminating these invaders and counterattacking to occupy this newly discovered plane. Mr. Shitang, although you had the upper hand in our battle, you should have some understanding of our strength by now, right? You should know that this is no empty talk."

Upon hearing this, Pei Yan thought for a moment. Indeed, although it seemed that he was toying with the Demon Race at his fingertips, he understood in his heart that he was a monster forcibly pieced together by various opportunities. How many such monsters were there in his plane? Putting aside the superhumans, if the Demon Race fought against the regular armies of the present world, unless they were eliminated with remote heavy firepower from the very start, once they got close, just the vaporization ability alone would cause tremendous losses to the armed forces.

Thinking of this, he remembered another question and asked: "May I ask, what kind of strength does Raphael hold among you?"

Upon hearing this question, the guards behind Sifuer all let out disdainful sneers. Bailang snorted discontentedly and said, "Raphael may have been of lowly origin, but his strength is evident. What right do you have to mock him?"

With these words, besides those who arrived later showing some resentment on their faces, the others all bowed their heads in shame. After reprimanding his men, Bailang turned to Pei Yan again and said, "Except for the final time when he used that power which didn't belong to him, he was serving as a middle-ranking officer in the Demon Race army." Bailang paused for a moment and continued: "He should be considered one of the best among the middle-ranking officers. Mr. Shitang, when you fought with him, he was on the verge of despair. There were actually many techniques he hadn't had the chance to showcase before choosing to exchange his life for another's."

For Bailang's explanation, Pei Yan nodded in satisfaction, having gained a general understanding of the overall strength of the Demon Race. He looked at Bailang and smiled, saying, "Then I have no questions for now, please continue."

"Alas, the initial battles against the Disaster Legion were so smooth for us that we became conceited, too lazy to use any strategic planning or schemes, just steamrolling all the way. But just when we were overjoyed by one victory after another, disaster struck. The three main frontline forces were ambushed from the back by the enemy, and our retreat was blocked by the suddenly appearing Red Scourge." As Bailang, who led the territory soldiers of the Kataraga Autonomous Territory to war under the Demon God's call, recalled the horrors of the battlefield, he closed his eyes in pain.

Seeing the other party remain silent for a long time, Pei Yan couldn't help but quietly ask, "How did such a situation arise?"

"We had traitors among us!" Leohard, standing behind Bailang, bellowed in a low voice.

"Traitors?" Pei Yan asked in surprise.

"Leohard, they are not traitors! The Demon Race has no traitors!" a petite woman beside Leohard protested angrily.

Leohard quickly glanced at the woman speaking and then looked aside, saying in a somber tone, "Lilia, I'm not targeting you. Whether they volunteered or were forced to be corrupted and controlled by those things, they are traitors without doubt!"

Lilia wanted to retort but didn't know how to open her mouth. In the end, she only bowed her head helplessly. By this time, Bailang had recovered from his sadness, lifted his head, and sighed, "Leohard, don't blame her. The moment these people were controlled by the Disaster Legion, they ceased to be the descendants of the Demon God. Their souls have left their bodies, leaving just a husk to be puppeteered as walking dead."

Upon saying this, Bailang placed his hands on the table and continued, "Only then did we discover that many lords in the rear territory had long been controlled by the Disaster Legion. Based on our post-interrogation analysis, the time these lords were controlled was not after the war began. The earliest confirmed corrupted one was from a hundred years ago, and there may have been even earlier ones. We just didn't notice, as they hid too well."

"The sudden betrayal of these lords directly led to the destruction of the three major legions. They erected one Disaster Pillar after another behind the army, and within these pillars' range, swathes of Red Scourge formed a barrier blocking the army's retreat."

"Disaster Pillar?" Pei Yan asked, interested in a new term.

Sifuer interjected at the right time, his voice filled with hate, "That's right, the Disaster Pillar. This damn thing is inserted into the leyline, and wherever the leyline lies, the sky is covered by the Red Scourge, forcefully transforming it into another world, a world where we are completely unfit for battle!"

"Oh!" Pei Yan murmured thoughtfully for a while before saying, "So you're saying that the Disaster Pillar is kind of like an externalized Jiezhi Space, forcibly converting the space within its influence range? Haven't you thought about uprooting it? I see that this Red Scourge coverage has a time limit, just like you said, seven days, right?"

"The coverage time of the Red Scourge is indeed limited but only for already controlled fallen zones, where it will be covered by the Red Scourge seven days within a month. During these seven days, they will pursue the scattered demon remnants outside. As for the Red Scourge at the front line of the war, it remains in a perpetual state of coverage. We speculate that this happens because the Disaster Legion has occupied such a large area, and before they completely invade our plane, their energy is insufficient to support a continuous Red Scourge coverage over the entire area and thus prioritize the front line situation."

Bailang took over the topic to explain. After seeing Pei Yan nod to indicate understanding, he continued, "As for the Disaster Pillar, it's not that we haven't thought of ways to pull it out, but this thing is very strange. Once inserted into the leyline, it disappears without a trace. It can only manifest itself under the Red Scourge's cover. But you know how severely we are suppressed under the Red Scourge. We've taken great losses trying to uproot a few Disaster Pillars at all costs. The casualties were just too high, it wasn't worth it!" Bailang said in a defeated tone, shaking his head helplessly.

"Is there a lot of Disaster Legion guarding around the Disaster Pillars? How do you destroy these pillars? Do you need to pull them out entirely, or is it enough to destroy the part above ground? Who can give me detailed information about their appearance and hardness?" Pei Yan asked a series of questions eagerly, his eyes bright.