Chapter 239 Surprise Attack, Decapitation! (Long Chapter, Requesting Monthly Tickets)
"Stop those bedbugs climbing the wall!"
Suddenly, the roar of the human guards came from above.
The War Lizardmen have been exposed.
At the same time, the lizardman leader let out a sharp screech.
Almost simultaneously, the climbing lizardmen raised their heads, their mouths filled with tiny, sharp teeth opened, and jets of dark green, viscous liquid shot out like water arrows.
Sizzle—!
The corrosive liquid fell onto the stone platform, corroding the rock at a visible rate. The archers felt the ground tremble and become unsteady, and their aim became slightly off.
The War Lizardmen no longer concealed themselves and charged forward at top speed, attempting to assassinate ranged units such as archers and sorcerers/shamans.
However, things did not go as planned.
Whoosh whoosh!
Barbarian guards, as agile as monkeys, scrambled up the cliff face as if walking on flat ground, rushing towards the lizardmen. In close combat, their battle axes and greatswords were unstoppable, and the lizardmen were swiftly killed and eliminated.
Berserk Attack!
A flame seemed to ignite in the barbarian's eyes, and his movements suddenly quickened.
The head of the lizardman leader flew into the air, decapitated by an axe, but the monster was tenacious and did not stiffen even in death; its sharp tail blinded the right eye of the berserker elite.
Silently, as the barbarian chieftain roared, a shadow emerged from behind him.
Doug's dagger grazed the berserker's neck, and blood gushed out like a fountain.
Heh heh heh. The barbarian's eyes widened, and he swung his axe in a backhand strike, but it landed on empty air. The treacherous kobold assassin had already vanished without a trace.
"Smash it open!"
The cannibal leader, Baroque, roared in a harsh voice.
He and the other strongest ogres charged alongside the massive gate, wielding heavy, hard steel weapons inscribed with alchemical enhancement runes, and smashing them down.
Thump—! ! !
A dull, heart-stopping roar echoed through the pass.
The enormous impact caused the entire gate to tremble violently, and dust and gravel fell from the top.
The heavy gate continued to cave inward, the bolts groaning under the strain. Even though it was made of hard metal and protected by magic cast by a warlock shaman, it could not withstand the ogre's attack.
As the ogres launched their ferocious attack, more rubble fell, and large cracks appeared on the door panels.
"Hold on! Hold the gate!"
The roars of human warriors came from behind the door, mixed with the creaking sound of wood being squeezed to its limit.
The archers on the cliff top were distracted by the venomous attack from the lizardmen, and the rain of arrows briefly thinned out.
The gnoll chieftain seized this fleeting opportunity, letting out a bloodthirsty growl: "You wolf cubs! Follow me!"
He no longer clung to the wall; like a gray lightning bolt, he led the gnolls through a sparse rain of arrows, charging towards the narrow, relatively safe blind spot below the gate.
They had to use their claws and teeth to tear apart the spears that were trying to stick out from behind the door, buying time for the ogres.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Click!
With a sharp crack, a thick bolt snapped completely.
The gate was slammed open, creating a gap large enough for the ogre to squeeze through sideways.
"Roar—!" The ogre leader roared in victory, his huge hands gripping the edge of the door, his bulging muscles bulging like granite, ready to tear the obstacle to shreds.
However, at the very moment the gate was forced open...
A scorching, violent aura, mixed with the stench of sweat, metal, and blood, swept over them, causing even the ogres to feel a chill run down their spines.
Baroque had just squeezed half his body through the gap when he was suddenly enveloped by a surging shadow!
Those were not human soldiers.
They're orcs! The elite berserkers of the Ironblood Tribe!
They were like demons crawling out of hell's lava, each over two meters tall, their bulging muscles covered with scars and smeared with dark red battle patterns, their rough, heavy plate armor covering their vitals, and their bare arms and calves with muscles like intertwined tree roots.
They wielded enormous double-edged battle axes, almost as tall as a human, with serrated and nicked edges, heavy flail, and giant hammers with menacing barbs.
The orcs at the front had bloodshot eyes, their muscles twitching and contracting like living things, and inhuman roars rumbling from their throats.
This is a reaction that simultaneously activates the states of rage and berserk.
"kill!!"
A thunderous orcish war cry erupted from behind the gate, almost shattering the bloody smell in the air.
Baroque was greeted by a warhammer with a sharp whistling sound!
The warhammer slammed solidly into his thick chest with a dull thud, like striking leather. Baroque's massive body lurched violently, the skin on his chest splitting open to reveal the tough texture of his muscles, and the shards of iron embedded in his flesh clanged.
The excruciating pain enraged the cannibal.
He roared, and his enormous fist, carrying immense force, slammed into the berserker who was attacking him.
Boom! The fist missed its target and slammed heavily against the rock wall beside it, sending rocks flying everywhere.
The orc berserker dodged with astonishing agility, his left-hand battle axe striking Baroque's thick arm. The axe blade embedded itself deeply into the tough flesh, but was held in place by the hard bone inside.
Baroque grabbed the orc's helmet with his other hand, slammed it to the ground like a rag doll, and then stomped it down with his heavy leg.
Click!
The sickening sound of bones cracking.
The orc's head shattered like a rotten watermelon, splattering red and white matter all over Baroque.
But more berserkers, like sharks smelling blood, surged forward madly! Heavy weapons rained down on the ogres like a storm, producing a chilling thud.
The Baroque's enormous body became the perfect target.
He roared and swung his spiked club, sending two orcs who couldn't dodge in time flying and crashing into the rock wall. But in an instant, more weapons came flying at him.
"Hold on!"
The other ogres finally squeezed in, their massive bodies temporarily blocking the gap.
They brandished their weapons, each strike unleashing a storm of blood. An orc berserker was struck in the waist by a stone club, sending him flying like a tattered sack, knocking down several of his companions, his entrails spurting from his mouth.
But the orcs' counterattack was equally fierce. An orc wielding a huge flail spun a spiked iron ball and slammed it hard into the side of an ogre's knee. A chilling cracking sound rang out, and the ogre's mountain-like body fell to one knee in agony.
Another orc berserker seized the opportunity, leaping high into the air and slashing his double-bladed battle axe with all his might toward the ogre's nape.
The axe blade severed the thick neck bone, and the enormous head, accompanied by a spray of scalding blood, shot into the sky before the headless corpse crashed to the ground.
The cramped space behind the gate instantly turned into a meat grinder.
The roars of ogres, the war cries of orcs, the sounds of bones cracking, weapons piercing flesh, and the screams of the dying blended into a cruel symphony.
Thick blood plasma flowed freely on the rough ground, mixing with mud and broken entrails, making it sticky and slippery to walk on.
Lak and the other gnolls, along with a small force, outside the gate attempted to rush through the breach to provide support, but were stopped by the kobold leader's roar: "Fools! Up there!"
Lak looked up and saw that, because the gate had been smashed open, the human archers were freed from the venom's interference and were nocking their arrows again. Even worse, he saw several figures wearing heavy animal skin robes and with their faces painted with oil paint appear on the edge of the cliff.
—The shaman of the Dawn Tribe.
One of the old shamans held aloft a staff inlaid with mammoth tusks and an unknown crystal, chanting obscure incantations. Suddenly, the crystal at the top of the staff shone with a blinding white light!
"spread!"
The gnolls were terrified and screamed.
Boom! A thick white bolt of lightning tore through the air, descending from the sky with a deafening roar.
The gnolls' worries were unnecessary; their target wasn't the gnolls on the ground, but the ogres.
Lightning struck a warhammer-wielding ogre with pinpoint accuracy, the blinding white light instantly engulfing it. Before it could even scream, its body was charred, carbonized, and trembling violently, its life ending with a follow-up attack from the orc berserker.
And when other monsters want to come to the rescue.
The Dawn Tribe's barbarians leaped down like cannonballs, charging through the waves of gnolls and kobolds, while archers and sorcerers joined the fray, leaving them overwhelmed.
The battle inside the gate also took a sharp turn for the worse.
The old shaman brandished his staff, and pale lightning struck again and again, causing heavy casualties among the ogres, who were killed one by one by the berserkers in coordination.
Now only Baroque and another cannibal remain.
Although both were incredibly brave, they were no match for the overwhelming force of the orc berserkers. Under their relentless and fearless attack, they were covered in blood and riddled with wounds.
Baroque's arm was severed at the elbow by a giant axe, and blood gushed from the cut.
He wielded his spiked club with his remaining arm, forcing back several orc berserkers, but an orc berserker wielding a heavy two-handed greatsword spotted an opening from behind.
The orc berserker had a huge wound on his chest, but seemed completely unharmed.
He took a deep breath, his muscles bulging, his eyes bloodshot, and with the power of his entire body and the momentum of his charge, the greatsword, like a black lightning bolt, stabbed fiercely towards Baroque's back.
*Thud!* The greatsword pierced through the ogre's thick back, and blood and flesh gushed out from his chest.
The ogre froze instantly, staring incredulously at the blood-stained sword tip protruding from his chest.
His massive body swayed a few times, a strange hoarse sound emanating from his throat, and the fierce light in his eyes quickly dimmed. But just before he collapsed, he had a final burst of energy, and his spiked club suddenly shot up, smashing into the orc berserker's head, causing it to explode like a watermelon.
At this moment, the last ogre was also pierced by several weapons at the same time, and after letting out a final scream, he collapsed to the ground.
At the breach in the gate, orc berserkers, stepping over the massive corpses of ogres, brandished their blood-dripping weapons and roared with deafening victory! Their crimson eyes peered over the blood-stained gate, fixed on the molten iron cannon fodder outside, who were briefly thrown into chaos by the death of their leader.
The Ironforge tribe's offensive, after suffering heavy losses, was abruptly thwarted outside the pass.
Black Stone Pass, like the blood-stained fangs of a giant beast, chewed up and swallowed wave after wave of charging Iron Soldiers.
"Aren't you coming down?"
"Skull Eater Skarr whispered to himself."
He was a high-ranking barbarian chieftain of the Dawn Tribe. He did not participate in the battle directly, but instead gazed at the sky from the shadows of the pass, his eyes fixed on the white dragon shadow soaring high in the sky, ready for battle.
This offensive and defensive battle was extremely fierce.
The Ironforge tribe was at a disadvantage, but their counterattack was strong, causing them considerable casualties. The entire Blackrock Pass seemed to have become a meat grinder.
However, at this point, the outcome has already been decided.
The ogre's corpse blocked part of the breach in the gate, but it couldn't stop the orc berserker's bloodthirsty desires.
They roared furiously, like ferocious beasts breaking free of their shackles, leaping over the corpses of their comrades and enemies, charging out of the narrow shadows of the pass, and rushing towards the Iron Legion's vanguard, which was in disarray on the plain.
"Push it up! Push it up!"
The gnoll overseer's voice was shrill and distorted with fear as he brandished his long whip, lashing desperately at the gnolls and kobolds who cowered in fear at the death of their ogre leader. The crack of the whip and the overseer's screams seemed so weak in the face of the orcs' war cries.
The kobold Doug flapped his wings and appeared silently at the shaman's location.
Tear!
His dagger sliced across the old shaman's neck, slitting his throat and killing him. Then, under the horrified gazes of the surrounding barbarian guards, he vanished again, only to reappear in mid-air, flapping his wings.
"retreat!"
The battle leader, with his iron will, issued the order to retreat.
The already demoralized monsters fought and retreated, leaving behind a trail of corpses as they were pursued by humans and orcs.
"Why hasn't it made a move? What is the purpose of this white dragon's existence?"
The skull-splitter frowned, feeling inexplicably uneasy.
Just then, his communication device began to vibrate violently.
—The ancestral altar has been attacked!
A few dozen seconds ago, in the northern part of the border area, at the ancestral worship site of the Dawn Tribe.
The spine of the Iron Ridge Mountains lies silent in the night. The ancestral altar is embedded at the top of the main peak, and the ground, which has been carved flat, is covered with ancient rock paintings depicting ancient hunting, war and star totems.
The ancestral guardians stand like ancient mountain rocks, their totem patterns gleaming faintly in the shadows.
Their physiques far surpassed those of ordinary barbarian warriors. They wore hard leather armor inlaid with thick bone plates, and their exposed skin was branded with intricate and dense tattoo patterns, telling the story of the Dawn Tribe's ancestors challenging nature and hunting ferocious beasts from ancient times to the present, exuding a profound sense of history.
The ancestral shaman Leoni was a thin but upright old woman with long, silver-grey hair braided into countless fine braids that reached her waist.
She is the most powerful shaman and the oldest sage of the Dawn Tribe. The current leader, Brunhilde, was born under her watch and received her blessing when she was an infant. She is highly respected and holds a lofty position in the Dawn Tribe.
Leonie's eyes were slightly closed, and her lips moved silently.
She seemed to be listening to whispers from the depths of the earth, or perhaps praying to the sleeping souls of her ancestors.
Suddenly, her heart tightened, as if gripped by an invisible hand, and she felt an extremely dangerous palpitation.
Buzz—!
A sharp tearing sound suddenly pierced the deathly silence.
It wasn't a mountain wind, nor was it thunder.
Rather, it was something tearing through the air at an terrifying speed, producing a deathly sound that could make rocks tremble!
Leonie the shaman suddenly opened her eyes, her aged eyes clear and bright, and she slammed her bone staff heavily onto the altar stone.
"Enemy attack! Ancestral spirits protect us!"
Her hoarse voice, carrying a strange resonance, almost drowned out the piercing shriek, as if awakening the sleeping mountain spirit.
At the same time, the ancestral guardians around them were struck as if by an invisible hammer, instantly bursting out of their calm state with a terrifying aura.
The four guards protecting the core area of the altar almost instinctively looked up at the same time, their arms, gripping their weapons, bulged with muscles like steel cables, and the totem patterns on their bodies instantly lit up with a dazzling light.
However, it was too late.
The majestic, ferocious dragon shadow, its entire body resembling a peerless weapon, was already close at hand.
The ominous star of death has arrived!
Listen to the deathly silence of extinction!
boom!
The dragon's shadow blazed like a falling meteor, tearing a long tail across the sky, carrying with it flames and lightning powerful enough to ignite the air, and a devastating shockwave, before crashing with unparalleled precision onto the mountain peak.
Crack! Rumble!
The earth shook violently, and through the enhancement of magic, the rocky ground, as hard as iron, cracked, shattered, and rose up like fragile thin ice.
The guard in the center was killed instantly, leaving no trace of his body. A deep, circular impact crater was formed in an instant, and huge, spiderweb-like cracks spread wildly in all directions from the point of impact, making the entire mountain teeter on the brink of collapse.
Then.
The majestic figure slowly rose from the dust and rubble, making the air itself seem to freeze into iron.
The red iron dragon spread its wings, its entire body covered in cracked black and silver dragon scales. A chilling aura rolled out, freezing the surrounding ground inch by inch and turning it into frost.
"Humans, use the remains of your ancestral spirits to offer sacrifices to my battle banner and soothe the souls of the Iron Warriors."
With an aggressive and dangerous gaze sweeping over the surviving ancestral guards and the old shaman, Red Iron Dragon spoke slowly.
As soon as he finished speaking, two shadows simultaneously enveloped the mountain ruins.
Iron Dragon Sorog and Red Dragon Samantha, two teenage dragons, soared on either side of Red Iron Dragon, circling him with fierce glints in their eyes.
Taking advantage of the battle at Blackrock Pass drawing the attention of the Dawn Tribe, the Ignas brothers used their dragon dominance over the skies to launch a surprise attack on the Dawn Tribe's ancestral altar.
With the ancestral altar in place, barbarian chieftains could be brought back to life as long as they didn't die on the spot.
Moreover, this place embodies the beliefs of the Dawn Tribe and is their spiritual home.
As long as this place is destroyed, and the humans of the Dawn Tribe are plunged into grief, whether they become even angrier or their morale collapses, the casualties suffered at Blackrock Pass will be all worthwhile.
P.S.: It's almost the end of the month, please vote with monthly tickets! I'll be updating a lot tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)
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