Chapter Eighty-One: Shattered Bone Battle Flag
2014-11-28
Author: Floating Tower (Zhusheng Futu)
Legendary-level Lord of Storms. This was Soren’s first encounter with a legendary professionist in this world. Though the Merchant Caravan Mistress was powerful, she was merely a high-level wizard, and there remained a considerable gap between her and a legendary professionist. The woman before him was a female warrior living near the tropical jungle, and they generally worshipped the God of Storms. War-like, brutal, and bloodthirsty by nature, they held a slight contempt for men, viewing them as mere tools for mating and reproduction. They were referred to as Amazons.
The Amazons were not solely humans but included all intelligent races living near the tropical rainforest.
It was a place very similar to the Underdark, where the females of the Drow ruled their tribes with cruelty. Within the tropical rainforest, humans, centaurs, Naga sea monsters, and others equally ruled their tribes with ruthless methods. They preserved a tradition of female superiority, with females as the core of the tribe, responsible for combat, killing, and protecting their territory, while any males were treated as subordinate products. Due to the constant dangers in their living environment, the intelligent races there were exceedingly warlike.
Their population was less than one percent of the Southern Region, yet their combat power vastly overshadowed the entire Southern Region.
If it weren’t for their internal fragmentation into countless tribes, unifying the tropical jungle all the way to the coastal areas would have been a straightforward task. The adventure level of that area was 12, just slightly below that of the Underdark.
“Ogre.”
The female warrior, holding a war spear, spoke with a voice laced with anger, resembling a powder keg ready to explode, her words sounding like thunderclaps. “Take your tribe and leave here!”
“Otherwise, I will k*ll you all.”
The two-headed ogre displayed no fear, even in the face of the legendary-level Lord of Storms.
It took out a heavy battle flag and planted it into the ground. The flagpole was likely several hundred pounds heavy, adorned with a strange skull design, yet it seemed unbothered by its weight, plunging it into the earth several dozen centimeters with one hand. As the distance tightened, the gathering ogre warriors became visible to others. A typical ogre stood about 2.4 meters tall and weighed over 500 pounds, covered in thick fat but not in a bloated manner; instead, it was a robust layer of fat over muscular build.
Especially their belly, which looked chubby but still presented the outline of well-defined abs.
The two-headed ogre stood over three meters tall, resembling a small giant, with the left head speaking while the right remained somewhat silent. It had deep blue paint smeared across its face, extending from its forehead down to its chest, and its thick arms bore tattoo-like runes, adorned with a beastskin cloak. “Humans.”
The two-headed ogre raised the battle flag, behind it rising a chorus of ogre roars, as though they had consumed drugs. Although it cast no spells, the other ogres quickly reddened their eyes, muscles bulging with strain, raising their weapons to roar. The dull sound of war drums grew more intense, those ogres excitedly gazing at the flag before them as if ready to go into a frenzy at any moment.
The two-headed ogre looked at the White Horse City army standing tall under the towering battle flag and, as a wizard, showed no intention of retreating, roaring, “The flag of the Shattered Bone Tribe has been planted on this land. Let battle decide who has the right to claim this land!”
Boom boom boom!
The wild sound of war drums erupted as the ogres glared at the approaching White Horse City army, grinning as they brandished whips. With the cracking of the whip, over twenty iron-spined wild boars charged towards the human army before them. These beasts, weighing close to half a ton, exhibited a shocking momentum; they belonged to a mutated species, nearly the size of rhinos, with a diet including some rocky minerals. Werewolves and lizardmen slaves were pushed forward, followed closely by ogre warriors wielding spiked clubs.
“Form ranks! Crossbowmen!”
The command came from a fully armored warrior, his entire body shielded by armor, and his head covered by an iron mask, only a deep voice could be heard. Following his command, the White Horse City guard began to disperse, rows of heavy infantry adorned in chain mail and half-plate armor advanced, carrying steel shields on their backs and long swords at their waists. They drew heavy crossbows from behind and quickly loaded them.
Thirty men formed a line, spaced about five meters apart, with five interlaced lines, creating a defensive formation three meters deep.
These heavy crossbows, which required ordinary people to step on them to load, were loaded effortlessly by the guards, who then aimed crossbow bolts but did not yet fire, awaiting commands from their commander.
“Form ranks! Crossbowmen!”
As the ogres drove the iron-spined wild boars and captives rapidly forward, the commander of the White Horse City army remained calm, and as he gave his order, the rear light infantry spread out on the flanks, aiming their crossbows at the enemy.
“Prepare Third Knight Squad!”
The heavy cavalry in knight plate armor assembled, lowering their knight’s visors and calming their steeds, then raising their long lances over four meters long, forming a line of ten with a three-meter interval as a standard formation. These knights were all second-tier or higher warriors, some even reaching third-tier strength, elite among the White Horse guard.
“Wizards prepare!”
Over thirty golems gathered, marching forward with heavy steps from the flank, the entire formation taking on a concave shape, resembling a pocket, with adventurers on the sides providing cover. The wizards began to cast spells, enhancing their Mage Armor and Shield spells; the battle had not yet reached the point where they needed to intervene; those in front were mere fodder, driven forth to d*e.
“Courage Song! Blessing Spell!”
A rousing battle song rang out as a white-robed Holy Bard appeared; this was an advanced profession of the bard that also served as a priest. With his voice echoing, everyone felt emboldened, a glow of white light appearing as the accompanying priests began to bless the warriors with divine favor, allowing them to temporarily forget their fear and even somewhat dulling their pain. More than ten assembled ballistae were rolled out, their bolts thick as arms, aimed at the enemy ahead.
The distance grew shorter.
As the distance between the two sides closed to within three hundred meters, the commander suddenly swung down his sword and roared, “Fire!”
Swish swish swish!
The crossbows instantly pierced an iron-spined wild boar, creating a bloody hole. The front heavy infantry fired their heavy crossbow bolts, bringing down a large number of lizardmen and werewolves before them. They calmly loaded the bolts, and after the third round of attacks, directly set down the heavy crossbows, drawing their long swords and raising their shields as they reduced the distance to three meters, forming ranks to prepare.
The rear light infantry continued to sh**t rapidly, with ogres driving the captives falling one after another, dying before even reaching one hundred meters. Yet the tough-skinned iron-spined wild boars still retained some survivors; even when filled with crossbow bolts, they furiously charged forward. The heavy infantry in front within fifty meters began to spread out, widening the gap to five meters, and when the iron-spined wild boars rushed in, they suddenly darted sideways, thrusting their long swords at the necks.
bl**d splattered everywhere.
These heavy soldiers, all above second tier, ignored the boars as they rushed past, reforming once more into a loose five-meter formation, tightly gripping their shields and long swords, facing the ogres charging from the rear.
“Auxiliary troops! Take down those wild boars!”
Adventurers began to attack the iron-spined wild boars that had breached the first line, these foolish beasts only moving in straight lines. After the first line of heavy infantry moved aside, they charged towards the rear, preparing to attack the light infantry behind. The adventurers providing cover on the flanks had already begun to sh**t; the size of these beasts was considerable, with thirty meters of space in the second line, ample for the archers to launch a round of fire. Soren also took out his crossbow, hitting one boar in the head, gaining 500 points of killing experience.
“Golems advance!”
The large golems marched forward, meeting the charging ogres.
As the distance closed to about seventy or eighty meters, the charging ogre warriors pulled out their iron spears and hurled them violently towards the heavy infantry warriors ahead.
“Dodge!” commanded the commander with a low growl.
— “Protect from ranged weapons!”
Dozens of iron spears struck the energy barrier but instantly shattered it. Seven or eight of the heavy infantry, unable to evade, were hit, five pierced through their armor and died, while three were knocked down by the force while blocking with their shields, quickly scrambling back to their feet. Equipped with steel shields, even if struck by an iron spear, as long as they blocked with their shield, it wouldn’t be fatal, but they noticeably had difficulty fighting.
Ogres charging with weapons over a hundred pounds in weight came rushing closer, the distance reduced to 50 meters, their skins reddening as they roared, swinging their spiked clubs forcefully.
— “Grease spell!”
— “Web spell!”
— “Haste spell!”
— “Strength spell!”
— “Turn rock to mud!”
…………
Wizards and priests began to cast spells in succession, but they were not offensive spells; rather, they continuously cast control spells while enhancing the heavy infantry in front with Strength and Haste spells. These spells lasted for a very short time, measured in minutes, and even a third-tier wizard could only maintain them for over ten minutes.
The Grease and Web spells had little effect on the ogres, who advanced step by step. The grease spell only caused slight slipping, while the web spell was easily broken, failing to slow their charge speed. As the distance closed to about 30 meters, the ogre warriors let out a roar, instantly increasing their speed, achieving maximum sprinting, swinging their heavy spiked clubs as they smashed toward the enemy before them!
Clang clang clang!
The sounds of continuous blocks rang out, as the first row of heavy infantry stepped back one step, firmly withstanding the ogres’ attack.
…………………
