Chapter 301 The Power of Runes
The exhaust plumes of the alchemical shells tore through the night, illuminating the night with flickering light. The roar of the explosions and the heavy footsteps of the steel golems intertwined to form the prelude to destruction.
The two armies, like two raging torrents carrying death and steel, inevitably collided with each other on this nameless land south of the Lin Tu Lie Dao!
The instant of close combat.
This once quiet and desolate land was instantly transformed into a bloody meat grinder that devoured lives.
The heavily armored infantry of the Albert family, with their tacit understanding honed through years of bloodshed, instantly formed an impenetrable, dense shield wall, forcefully withstanding the first wave of frenzied attacks from the monster tide. The steel scimitars wielded by the gnoll warriors struck the giant tower shields, which had been enhanced multiple times by alchemy, but could only produce a series of futile sparks before being precisely pierced through the throats by spears that emerged like venomous snakes from the gaps in the shields.
A furious ogre warrior let out a deafening roar.
He strode closer, and the giant spiked mace in his hand, accompanied by a fierce gust of wind tearing through the air, slammed down, instantly sending a heavily armored soldier in front of him, shield and all, flying backward like a rag doll.
The heavily armored warrior who had fallen to the ground didn't even have time to struggle to his feet.
He was instantly overwhelmed by the swarming, bloodthirsty monsters from behind, and was torn to pieces before he could even let out a short scream.
The ogre, having just achieved its goal, was grinning as it searched for its next prey when suddenly, a dull, thunderous sound of iron hooves echoed from its flank.
An elite lancer launched a lightning-fast attack, the highly concentrated magical energy at the tip of his lance converging at a single point, piercing with unparalleled precision through the gap in the ogre's helmet's visor.
*Pfft!* Hot blood gushed out like a fountain.
On the other side, the centaur riders were also charging and galloping wildly, their heavy greatswords and sharp spears mercilessly reaping the lives of elite human soldiers.
And those steel golems, like mobile fortresses.
Every swing of their heavy iron fists or slash of their massive blades inevitably brings forth a storm of blood and gore.
When these steel behemoths from different factions collided with each other, the resulting noise was a piercing, tooth-grinding sound of metal twisting and tearing that sent chills down one's spine.
"Storm...converging!"
General Rhodes of the Wolf let out a low growl, and the ancient engravings on the runic greatsword in his hand suddenly lit up with a dazzling blue-white light.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom—!!
Bolts of lightning, as thick as an arm and incredibly violent, descended from the sky as if responding to a summons, exploding precisely in the area where the monsters were most concentrated.
The low-level monsters were wiped out in the blink of an eye, leaving only a pile of charred remains.
Immediately afterward, the Rune Knight, wielding his humming greatsword, leaped into the air. Wind runes flashed rapidly on his boots, and his figure moved as swiftly as an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. He precisely slew the powerful monster leader, who was still paralyzed and in pain from being heavily wounded by lightning!
Pfft!
Rhodes' greatsword easily ripped open the stomach of the nearest ogre warrior, and intestines mixed with blood gushed out.
Without pausing, he spun around and swung his shield, the heavy edge of which, like a warhammer, smashed the skull of a gnoll leader to his side.
At the same time.
Out of the corner of his eye, he keenly noticed that three exceptionally fierce figures had already torn apart the front-line formation.
Roar!!!
The ferocious white tiger leaped forward, its figure as fast as a silver lightning bolt tearing through the battlefield.
Where the enormous tiger claws swept, they stirred up not wind, but a death storm mixed with armor fragments and thick blood mist.
Three heavy cavalrymen who tried to intercept, along with their horses, were instantly cut in half at the waist. Before the dying neighs of the horses had even faded, the tiger's tail, like a steel whip, swept out, sending several infantrymen who were trying to flank and ambush them flying like kites with broken strings. The sound of bones breaking could be clearly heard.
Yo—!
The Ice Deer Lord let out an ethereal yet deadly neigh as its massive, crystal-clear horns pierced the ground, unleashing a torrent of frigid tidal energy that exploded and spread wildly through the cracks.
The soldiers within a radius of twenty paces were instantly transformed into ice sculptures of various shapes, their eyelashes even covered with a poignant white frost.
The Ice Deer Lord then raised its iron hooves, as big as bowls, and charged forward, easily trampling and smashing the ice sculptures into countless glittering ice dust!
Sizzle—!
The giant serpent lord snaked forward, its hard scales scraping the ground and leaving behind crevices of corrosive, toxic saliva that resembled molten asphalt.
It suddenly raised its ferocious snake head and spewed out a large cloud of thick, impenetrable purplish-black poisonous mist.
The all-pervasive poison penetrated the gaps in the fine armor, like the most concentrated acid splashed onto flesh and blood. The surrounding human warriors immediately let out shrill screams as their skin and muscles rapidly rotted and dissolved.
However, the strong on the human side are naturally no ordinary people either.
Sienna was enveloped in a surge of alchemical, lightning-like magical energy.
One after another, intricate components gleaming with a cold metallic light flew out from her spatial artifacts, clanging and spinning rapidly under the sweep of magical energy, instantly hovering and taking shape behind her, transforming into dozens of alchemical guns and cannons of various shapes, calibers, and lengths.
This is precisely the method of the Gunner, a special branch of alchemists.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom—!!!
As Sienna's icy eyes locked onto her target like a hawk's, a death storm composed of various attacks—metal, fire, frost, and energy—instantly poured down on the three-headed monster lord.
Armor-piercing projectiles, scorching hot flames, and freezing rays that blast the air.
Each attack is cunning and precise, targeting their relatively weak points such as the eyes, joints, and old wounds.
The monster lords were instantly torn apart, their bodies bursting with blood and bits of flesh. Faced with the relentless attacks targeting their vital points, they felt a real threat to their lives and had no choice but to rein in their ferocious offensive and instead focus on defending their own weaknesses.
The chanting of the Dharma protector Sanchez never stopped.
He was radiating a powerful and profound protective magical energy. His rapid and efficient incantation, combined with the occasional tearing of magic scrolls, quickly applied one large-scale protective spell after another to the warrior.
Protects against sharp object strikes! Protects against blunt object blows! Protects against energy impacts! Protects against physical penetration! Protects against elemental corrosion!
He enhanced the warriors' physical and elemental resistances in almost every aspect, temporarily turning them into nearly indestructible steel bodies.
Bang!
The ferocious white tiger's claws slammed into a heavily armored warrior, but failed to tear him apart as before; it merely sent him flying far away with its immense force.
The warrior rolled a few times after landing, but surprisingly struggled to his feet again, shook his head, and charged at the giant tiger once more.
The same situation occurred when the ice deer encountered the giant serpent.
They received special attention from the powerful humans.
In an instant, the threat posed by the three-headed monster lord to the human army's lines was greatly reduced.
but.
In addition to the monster lords, three even more terrifying dragons were circling on the battlefield.
White Dragon Therese folded her wings and swooped down like a falling ice meteorite, her frosty white dragon breath like an ice waterfall, washing over the human-held positions.
A dozen heavy infantrymen who couldn't dodge in time were instantly transformed into lifelike ice sculptures. Their resolute expressions and shield-raising stances were frozen in the chilling mist. Taking advantage of the moment, the Ice Deer Lord raised its forelegs, its crystalline horns gathering a piercingly cold light, and slammed into the group of ice sculptures—BOOM! The frozen flesh and sturdy armor shattered together, turning into a sky full of ice crystal dust.
Samantha, the red dragon, skimmed low over the battlefield, unleashing a devastating dragon breath.
Wherever the crimson flames breathed, soldiers screamed and turned into human torches. Their shrill cries even drowned out the roar of the explosions. The pungent smell of burnt flesh filled the air, so strong it was nauseating, completely overpowering the smell of gunpowder.
Upon seeing this, Sienna immediately manipulated the cluster of alchemical guns and cannons floating behind her to turn towards the red dragon.
The numerous small firearms instantly disintegrated into their most basic components, and then, under the pull of magical energy, instantly recombined, transforming and coalescing into an exceptionally thick and long giant sniper cannon filled with energy circuits, its muzzle firmly locked onto the red dragon raging in the sky.
Just as her finger was about to pull the trigger.
"Well!"
She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head, as if a thin, red-hot iron needle had been plunged into it, and her focused mind began to dissipate slightly.
It's Iron Dragon Sorog.
He disrupted Sienna's sniping with a psionic attack, and at the same time, his massive dragon claw grabbed an alchemical golem that was fighting an ogre, flew into the sky, and brutally destroyed its core engine with his claws. Then, he swung the heavy wreckage and smashed it down on the alchemist like a stone.
boom!
The wreckage was eventually intercepted by the energy shield erected by the guardian Sanchez, and exploded into a fireball.
The war was exceptionally fierce.
What made things tricky and unexpected for the human commander was...
None of these three evil dragons, without exception, lost their bloodlust and reason due to the fierce battle, and landed on the ground, giving the enemy a chance to surround and attack them.
They cunningly soar and raid through the sky, relying mainly on their terrifying dragon breath to destroy human defenses from a distance. Occasionally, they use their powerful dragon bodies as weapons for a fierce dive attack, and after the attack, they immediately take to the air again.
Never linger in battle.
"Close airspace!"
The guardian Sanchez, with a solemn expression, suddenly tore open a scroll inscribed with a complex magic circle.
Buzz—!
The surrounding air seemed to solidify into glue instantly, and a powerful magical field specifically designed for flying creatures suddenly descended, exerting a tremendous suppressive effect on all flying skills and instincts.
Human soldiers, officers, and powerful alchemical golems.
They all stared intently at the three figures in the air, ready to launch a thunderous attack the moment they lost their ability to fly and crashed to the ground.
However, things did not go as planned.
The three dragons exchanged a glance, and simultaneously opened their massive jaws, revealing a mocking smile.
Several alchemical artifacts they wore on different parts of their bodies—dragon horns, neck, wing roots, etc.—simultaneously emitted a soft yet stable glow, neutralizing and dispelling the surrounding binding force field, allowing the surrounding air to resume normal circulation, and their flight ability was only slightly affected.
When humans regard dragons as a great enemy, they must have various spell scrolls or barriers to block the sky.
Many arrogant dragons throughout history have fallen victim to such tactics.
Most dragons rely too much on their natural talents, are arrogant, and disdain to make special preparations for such situations.
Under the long-term influence and strict requirements of the red iron dragon Garos, the Ignas dragons, although each dragon still has a distinct personality, have more or less learned the importance of caution, and thus have long been equipped with corresponding counter-alchemy tools.
They ignored the spell that blocked the sky.
The dragons continued to soar and wreak havoc above the heads of humankind, each breath of their breath or swooping attack causing immense damage and panic to the lines and morale of the human army.
On the other side.
General Rhodes of the Wolf seemed to have eyes in the back of his head as he suddenly turned to the side, dodging a centaur warrior's long-prepared lance thrust. At the same time, he turned and swung his sword. The heavy runic greatsword, with a shrill sound of tearing through the air, cut the strong centaur warrior in half at the waist.
Monster leaders roared and lunged at him from all sides.
But they were all quickly turned into cold corpses by the rune knight's swift and ruthless counterattack.
(End of this chapter)
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