Chapter 252 - The Terrifying Second Line

"If things keep going like this, not only will the Corruption Realm collapse, but our warriors will be completely exhausted." Felisk indicated with a meaningful tone, "By then, we will truly have nothing left, including the capital to expand our territory."Triggered by this reminder, Prince Elton involuntarily looked around, his heart skipping a beat in alarm. Including himself, the remaining Foul Giants and Cyclops, combined, numbered less than ten.

If it hadn’t been for Felisk’s intervention, probably another two or three would have fallen. At that time, everything would indeed be lost.

Prince Elton exhibited extraordinary decisiveness and pounded his battle axe, "We can’t hold these dark altars any longer, we can’t wait for reinforcements. Go, go, we must leave immediately and find Olivia."

Once all the dark altars were shattered, the High Priest of Black Mirror would surely react. By then, the arriving reinforcements would no longer be reinforcements, but an execution army sent to punish them.

Fortunately, he had long since prepared an escape plan.

If he had known earlier that these dark altars wouldn’t hold, he wouldn’t have been greedy. He should have led his troops to leave much earlier.

But in this world, there’s no medicine for regret; deciding now wasn’t too late either.

However, before Prince Elton and his men could start to act, a commotion and screams came from the other side of the cave.

"Ambush, ambush, we’re being attacked by the enemy!"

"My lord, enemies, we have enemies!"

"Make it clear, what kind of enemies?"

"Giant Dragons... It’s Giant Dragons... Ah..."

Before Prince Elton could ask, two streams of dragon breath had already swept down like a blanket on the densest cluster of Dark Servants.

A rain-like Strong Acid Breath.

A Hellfire-like Flame Dragon’s Breath.

The former cleared a straight path through the Dark Servants, those hit either died on the spot or screamed miserably while emitting black smoke.

The latter covered a conical area, igniting all Dark Servants inside, whether alive or dead.

Fierce flames illuminated the entire cave as bright as day.

The attackers’ figures were revealed.

A Red Copper Dragon, and a Red Dragon.

This odd combination gave Prince Elton and Felisk pause, somewhat failing to understand.

Weren’t colored dragons and metal dragons supposed to fight on sight according to the legends?

How had they joined forces to attack them?

Could it be related to the knight atop the Red Copper Dragon?

All the Foul Giants’ gazes focused on that Dragon Knight.

In their deformed and ugly eyes, there was an unmistakable fury.

They sensed a rich, familiar essence from him.

It was the essence of the Foul Giants that lingered after their death.

Although famously ugly, the Foul Giants, in the utmost center of their ugliness, harbored the most beautiful essence. If absorbed by other races, it would endow them with unparalleled charisma.

Others might not be able to discern it, but these Foul Giants could recognize it at a glance.

Especially since the aura on the Dragon Knight was not just strong – it meant that more than one Foul Giant had died by his hand.

This guy was in cahoots with the Yalings; it was him who had previously attacked the Corruption Realm through mental assaults.

"Attack!" Gaven shouted loudly.

Being stared at by so many Foul Giants, not to mention Gaven, even the Young Red Copper Dragon felt a chill down its spine, feeling all kinds of uncomfortable, as if something were about to burst out from its body, and even its coordination was starting to falter.

Boom!

A pitfall appeared under one of the Foul Giants.

The unguarded Foul Giant failed to evade in time and fell straight in, with only half of his head sticking out, as Earth Element converged around him, trapping him firmly.

This was Susie and Zack working together.

Susie’s Instant Pitfall was precisely targeted; trapping the coordination-impaired Foul Giants was almost certain.

Then she left the pitfall and handed it off to Zack, using an expanded Stone Shaping Spell to manipulate the surrounding earth and stone, trapping the fallen Foul Giants alive.

When a second Foul Giant also fell into an Instant Pitfall,

The remaining Foul Giants could no longer afford to curse Gaven with their malevolent gaze; they moved frantically, trying to make it difficult for the enemy to lock onto a target through their movements.

In their panic, several large feet landed on the heads of those buried Foul Giants, nearly stomping them breathless, which caused them to swear furiously.

Pff!

A muffled thud.

The Cyclops looked incredulously at the spike protruding from his chest, not understanding how the enemy had launched the attack, considering he was backed against tree roots.

Straining to look back, what he saw was a mix of earth, vines, and wood staring at him with cold eyes, filled with cold anger and hatred.

The Twilight Guardian.

What awaited the Cyclops was a deadly combination.

The fists made of earth were covered in sharp wooden spikes, similar to a curled-up hedgehog.

It was a punch that hit hard and true.

Three successive punches from the earth fists hammered directly onto his head, brutally bursting his sole eye.

The Cyclops, now blinded, could only swing his great sword wildly.

He failed to hit the Twilight Guardian, but did solidly strike an ill-positioned Foul Giant.

This Foul Giant, infuriated, immediately gave the Cyclops a heavy blow.

Most Foul Giants had intelligence comparable to Gnolls and were not particularly clever; in their eyes, Cyclops were their servants. The idea of attacking them was reprehensible and deserving of punishment, regardless of the circumstances, which was a concern for the wiser individuals.

The Cyclops, now physically blinded, were unable to discern friend from foe and lashed out blindly with their great swords at anyone who attacked them.

For a time, master and servant clashed with a clangor of metal.

The instigator, the Twilight Guardian, had already drawn its thornspike and, utilizing the Wood Escape Technique, appeared before the other two Cyclops and unleashed a storm-like assault.

A Twilight Guardian with intelligence and one without were entirely different matters.

Without intelligence, even possessing the Wood Escape Technique, it would not know how to apply it effectively.

Now, it utilized it with perfected finesse.

What had been displayed before was tactical application.

What was now being displayed was combat skill.

Let’s not forget, the Twilight Guardian inherited Gaven’s memories, and with them, the combat techniques of a Legendary Warrior. Zhang You, a world-medaled fighting expert in Sanda and grappling, was well-versed in both arts.

After awakening its intelligence, the Twilight Guardian adapted its fighting style to its unique characteristics, fully integrating its thornspike, fists, and wings into one seamless flow of movement, even adjusting its body structure for a new phase.

Or rather, it now had two states.

One was a quadrupedal stance, and the other a bipedal, upright stance.

The Twilight Guardian pursued a strategy of bold and unrestrained offense; it never evaded but only attacked relentlessly.

Being constructed of earth and stone, even if it was hacked apart, a roll on the ground would heal much of the damage.

If an enemy were hit by one of its punches or its thornspike, they would be incapacitated for a long time.

Facing it now were only the thick-skinned, large-bodied Cyclops. Had they been up against mere humans, they would have been floored in droves.

The soft fear the hard, the hard fear the vicious, and the vicious fear the reckless.

Facing such reckless tactics, the two Cyclops were clearly intimidated, continuously retreating under pressure to catch their breath.

Two Foul Giants were trapped in a pitfall.

One Foul Giant was entangled by a blinded Cyclops.

Two Cyclops were suppressed by the Twilight Guardian.

In the arena, only Prince Elton and Felisk stood alone, with two Foul Giants isolately positioned.

For a moment, they were slow to react.

Though it would take long to tell, in reality, from the initiation of the attack to the present was but a single round of action.

Elsewhere, another colossal figure thundered forward.

Foul Giants were massive, but they paled in comparison to this being.

This was a Treant with the lower half of a Dragon Beast, its head bearing a banner that fluttered in the wind and shone so brightly it made the Dark Servants along its path shriek and squint, unable to open their eyes.

Any Dark Servant standing in the way of the huge Treant was typically dispatched with a single kick, either being sent flying or crushed flat beneath its foot.

For the former, there was still a chance of survival; for the latter, it usually meant instant death.

The Treant, Thornspike, came onto the scene running at full speed, its head thrust forward and charging straight towards Prince Elton.

The glistening crown atop Thornspike’s head signaled its status. If not to charge at him, who else would it target?

A charge from an ordinary knight was already heart-stopping.

Let alone a charge from a gigantic Treant, for whom the weapon was not a lance but a Siege Hammer.

The moment it initiated the charge, it made minor adjustments: the fluffy side branches closed like an umbrella, and the root-like hands joined the run, turning its sprint into a six-legged dash—though the driving force still came from the back four legs, with the arms mainly providing support to ensure the stability of the main trunk.

The Dragon Oak War Banner swayed wildly as Thornspike charged.

Prince Elton, targeted by the charging Thornspike, felt far from splendid.

An invisible force from all around seemed to press down on him, attempting to pin him in place and await the impending charge.

This was not just any charge, but a Special Ability, a Magic Charge meant to fasten the targeted object firmly on the spot.

Prince Elton dared not take the brunt of such a charge; he could assure that if he were hit directly, he would lose at least half his life even if it didn’t kill him.

Aaah!

Prince Elton roared, gathering strength as his muscles bulged wildly.

He possessed both extraordinary speed that surpassed most Foul Giants and a remarkable strength, evident by the weapon in his hand.

When exceptional strength gathered, the air cracked sharply, breaking some of the invisible force.

While not entirely freeing himself, he could at least move his arms now.

Without a second thought, Prince Elton pulled the Death Priest Felisk in front of him as a shield, just as Thornspike’s charge arrived.

Pu!

The man-thick main rod of Thornspike, driven by tremendous force, pierced through the Foul Giant Necromancer Shaman with unimaginable sharpness, impaling him effortlessly. Nᴇw novel chapters are publɪshed on ɴovᴇl(ꜰ)ir(e).nᴇt

It was unknown whether impaling the Carrier Bug had endowed Thornspike’s tip with a piercing magic ability akin to penetration.

The defense line set up by Prince Elton was not limited to a single measure.

After a momentary slow-down by Felisk, Elton’s massive battle axe had already been raised in front of him.

A loud bang resounded as Prince Elton was pushed backward dozens of steps by the horrific impact, finally coming to a halt.

However, he had at least withstood that formidable charge.

Felisk, used by Prince Elton as a shield, though pierced through the chest, did not die immediately. He struggled to free himself while hurling curses at Prince Elton, "Elton, you selfish fool, without me your chances of escape are slimmer. Idiot, hurry up and pull me down, I have a Teleportation Spell scroll here."

Thornspike gave them no such opportunity, stretching out to raise its trunk again, and hoisted the pierced Felisk into the air.

Felisk’s own weight carried him downward, his arms clasping the rod with all his might failing to stop the descent.

The rough main rod of Thornspike grinding within him was excruciating.

Yet his tenacious life force prevented him from dying immediately.