Chapter 223: Chapter 192: Splendid Fireworks
The appearance of an incomprehensibly powerful individual could devastate a warrior’s resolve and morale. History may have its share of heroes who would fight to the death, but the Ogres before them were certainly not among them.
Being slaughtered like helpless sheep, their morale plummeted. They were beaten into a full retreat, their faces masks of terror as they pushed past their own kind to fall back.
Zat and several Beastman Giant Axe Guards followed Levi, forming the sharpest edge of the assault.
The Lord acted as the spearhead. No matter the foe before him, they were instantly cut down by his two unstoppable giant swords. Any who slipped past were dealt with by the Beastman Guards following close behind.
The battlefield had become a slaughterhouse. Swathes of Ogres at the front fell, blades flashed, and flesh flew amidst a continuous chorus of screams.
"Follow me!"
Mier, leading the Feder Archers, saw that his brother-in-law no longer needed help. He decisively led his elite archers to fire volley after volley of arrows toward the breach in the castle wall.
The Minotaurs and their Vassals at the breach were already suffering terribly under the assault of the Tree-men, able to do little more than force their way forward.
SWISH SWISH SWISH...
Now, a sudden rain of arrows fell upon them like vipers, each one finding its mark.
Fighting on two fronts is a cardinal sin in warfare; one misstep can trigger a complete rout. While some elite legions might be able to withstand such a tactic, the Wilderness People before them were not one of them.
Those on the outside tried to squeeze through the breach to escape the arrows, while those on the inside tried to fall back to avoid being crushed to a pulp by the Tree-men.
With the already-undisciplined Wilderness Alliance Army, the situation instantly devolved into chaos.
Of everyone present, none were more shocked and furious than Eliya. She had thought this small squad was a moth drawn to a flame, but they were acting like a tiger feasting on sheep.
The Ogres were being cut down like ryegrass. Worst of all, the leader of the squad—that little runt—had picked off most of her precious Zor Priests with thrown weapons, right over the heads of several Ogres.
Only four Zor Priests remained, as weak as lambs, scrambling backward in terror. They tried to create distance, muttering spells as they ran.
She had fought hard to win this chance to come to the surface from her Matriarch, all to advance her status and reputation. But now, with her Priests nearly wiped out, her hopes had all but evaporated.
"Dammit."
The calm composure on Eliya’s face vanished. "Men!" she roared, flying into a rage. "Go and slaughter those Beastmen for me!"
The Ogre Leader at her side rose and charged toward the battlefield, six hundred Ogre tribal Warriors following him.
He had watched his kin be slaughtered, a fire of rage building in his gut. He swore he would capture every member of this squad to feed his tribe. As for their leader, that runt, he would capture him alive and roast him on a spit!
Had she sent reinforcements when the squad first appeared, they would have arrived in time. But now, the two sides were a full four hundred paces apart. Even at a full charge, they wouldn’t get there in a moment.
And the Lord was exploiting that very window of time.
"...Weng Ba!"
Just as Levi was focused on cutting down his foes, the chanting suddenly crescendoed.
He glanced up and saw, through the gaps in the Ogre lines, the last four Zor Priests. Magic Power surged around them; they had finished casting their spell.
Four stone spheres, each weighing thousands of pounds, soared into the sky. Even from nearly a hundred paces away, the Lord could feel the intense heat.
The Ogres roared in excitement. They had seen these giant stones smash through the unbreakable castle walls; what chance did these little runts stand?
They scrambled away from the target area, craning their necks in anticipation.
"Boss, what do we do?"
Zat’s expression grew grim. ’Honestly,’ he thought, ’if a spell of that magnitude hit me, I’d be nothing but paste!’
"If this were Pure Elemental Magic, I’d tell you to run as fast as you can," the Lord sneered. "But this kind of composite Solid Magic..."
Levi plunged his sword into the ground and gripped a Fine Steel Javelin. The veins on his arms bulged as he threw it. Without looking, he grabbed and hurled three more in quick succession.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
Zat, standing closest to the Lord, suffered the most. Four thunderous cracks assaulted his eardrums, making them ache as if someone had slammed a giant hammer onto an iron ingot right next to his head.
It was a sound no one would ever want to hear a second time.
"...I’ll show you a magnificent fireworks display!"
The Lord gazed up at the four javelins streaking through the sky, his figure appearing tall and imposing from behind.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The four incredibly sharp javelins slammed directly into the falling stone spheres, followed by explosions that echoed across the heavens, like four successive claps of thunder.
For a moment, Fulina was nearly blinded. The collision was like a meteorite striking the earth; the mid-air stone spheres violently exploded, erupting in a brilliant orange-yellow light. Countless tiny, flaming fragments shot out in every direction.
These magic-enchanted spheres were no mere illusion; one could only imagine how hard they were. They were certainly not something that could be destroyed by a javelin thrown with human strength alone.
Fulina wasn’t the only one who thought so; the Zor Priests felt the same. Forget a javelin thrown by a man—even a bolt from a Bed Crossbow would only leave a crater. It was absolutely impossible to make one explode.
After all, the saying "only magic can defeat magic" wasn’t just an empty phrase.
But what were they seeing now? The magic they took such pride in had been intercepted in mid-air as easily as a child smashing a melon with a rock—and by javelins thrown with nothing more than raw strength.
"Fulina, is this ’Lion Hunter Knight’ of yours truly human?" The Elf Queen’s jaw dropped, wide enough to fit an apple.
"As far as I know, he has no Giant or Giant Dragon bloodline." Fulina’s heart was pounding. Compared to those below, they could experience the visual shock of the event much more directly from their vantage point on the wall.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t intercepted such magic before, but she had needed to concentrate most of the Combat Qi in her body to succeed. Yet this Lord of High Cliff Castle had done it with a seemingly casual strike. The chasm between their abilities was now starkly clear.
She had still underestimated this Baron Levi.
The seemingly unstoppable magic had been dealt with in a manner so effortless it was almost comical.
This caused the enemy’s morale to visibly plummet.
"Boss, you’re a fucking badass!"
Zat gave him a thumbs-up, offering the most unvarnished of compliments.
And it was a compliment the Lord enjoyed to the fullest.
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