Chapter 1610: Giant Shadow
Minotaurs are well-known Otherworldly beings. This race is extreme: the gentle faction is extremely good-hearted, willing to live in peace with any race, and is benevolent and charitable. Those who have interacted with them all say they are loyal friends.
The other faction is extremely bloodthirsty, fond of fighting and killing, and loves slaughter and war. They generally believe in various Evil Gods or gods representing war. Judging by this group of Minotaurs with reddish eyes and skulls tied to their bodies, they should be the latter.
Minotaurs are incredibly strong, with sturdy bodies and extremely high defense. They can wield many giant weapons, but their only weakness is their lack of speed, and normal mounts cannot carry them.
This means Minotaurs are not suitable for directly chasing trains. Instead, they would set up an ambush here in advance, and when the train approaches, these Minotaurs would rush out together to hit the train with their immense strength.
This is exactly what is happening now. When dozens of Minotaurs charge together, their heavy footsteps can be felt vibrating on the main road even from this distance.
The patrol soldiers who had just intended to rush to their support hesitated when they witnessed this scene. With their current equipment, facing the Minotaurs would be suicidal.
“Clang!” With a loud noise, the Minotaurs in the front row crashed into an armored train car. Although the riflemen inside were also constantly firing at the charging Minotaurs, their thick hides and flesh made them impervious to damage.
On the contrary, the train’s armor plates were directly deformed by the force of their horns. The entire train was lifted and thrown off the tracks.
“This is bad.” I watched as the Minotaurs successively rammed the train. Four or five carriages were overturned. Although the Train Captain desperately tried to stop the Minotaurs, he only managed to injure three. It was difficult to kill the thick-skinned Minotaurs with a single-handed sword.
Goblin Wolf Riders attacked first, forcing the anti-aircraft turrets to turn and fire at the goblins. Then the Helicopter took the opportunity to conduct an airstrike, destroying the steam cannon turrets and, ideally, the train’s engine. Stopping here at the turn, the train was then overturned by the Minotaurs.
This was a meticulously planned series of tactics. The timing of the Wolf Rider attack, the stage of the Helicopter’s surprise attack, and the section where the Minotaur ambushers were deployed in advance were all precisely calculated, taking into account the time difference.
Even if there were some errors in the preceding stages, there was a margin for error. For instance, even if the train couldn’t be stopped, when it reached this turn, the Minotaurs lying in wait would attack together, driving the train off the tracks.
Even if all the turrets couldn’t be destroyed, they were still diverted to attack the Helicopter. This was the only weapon that posed a threat to the Minotaurs. As the ambushing Minotaurs rushed out, the turrets couldn’t react in time to suppress the charging Minotaur horde.
Such a meticulous ambush, combined with powerful forces like the Helicopter and Minotaurs, indicated that this Tribe was by no means a random group of bandits, but a large Otherworldly being Tribe with a strict organization and considerable strength.
Facing the Minotaurs’ attack, the people inside the carriages were forced to crawl out. Some of them were train guards, but most were Commoners. Most of them were well-dressed, and in this era, one couldn’t afford to travel by train without money.
Against these giant Minotaurs, the train soldiers were simply no match. They weren’t even professional soldiers, just crew members who had received basic training and were armed with firearms. If they put down their guns, they wouldn’t be much stronger than the passengers.
The Minotaurs, on the other hand, carried weapons like halberds and great hammers. When they swung these massive, heavy weapons, ordinary bayonets and firearms couldn’t block them. They would either be split in half along with their weapons or smashed into pieces of flesh.
“Ahhh!!!” The passengers, witnessing train crew members being killed before their eyes amidst horrific bloodshed, were utterly terrified. Some collapsed to the ground with weak legs, some vomited on the spot, and some were so frightened they wet themselves.
“Damn it! Hurry and go!” The Train Captain continued to fight the Minotaurs diligently, covering the passengers’ retreat. He fought with frenzied determination, covered in blood. He had already killed four Minotaurs, and one had its head directly severed by his blade.
Seeing the Train Captain’s ferocity, the soldiers finally mustered the courage to approach the train. The handles of their halberds were also firearms, allowing for ranged attacks. They attempted to alleviate the pressure on the train crew through ranged support.
In addition, some travelers on the main road also picked up weapons and charged towards the train. These individuals were mostly clad in leather armor, likely some hot-blooded Adventurers who would draw their swords to help those in need.
The Goblin Wolf Riders were preying on the stranded passengers. Under ranged fire and seeing Adventurers charging towards them, their leader’s shout signaled them to abandon the defenseless civilians and charge at the Adventurers and soldiers.
They clashed. The Goblins were too weak to match the Adventurers and several were killed. Although the Half-Werewolves possessed strong vitality, they were not true Werewolves. It would take time for them to recover from severe injuries, and a series of follow-up attacks could kill them.
Among the Adventurers were several experts, and even some casters. They easily broke through the Wolf Riders’ defense line and attacked the Minotaurs, drawing their aggro. The train crew also retreated to the armored carriages to continue firing.
Seeing that they still had a chance to defeat the bandits, even the mercenaries began preparing for battle. As long as it wasn’t a suicidal fight with no hope, these mercenaries, who fought for money, would consider fighting against evil forces.
However, just as the situation was at a stalemate, a giant stone suddenly flew over, hurled towards the Adventurers attacking the Minotaurs.
“Ah!” Two Adventurers were directly crushed into pulp by the giant stone. One of them was holding a Magic Apparatus shield, but even magic couldn’t block this massive stone. After smashing the shield and killing the two individuals, the stone created a large crater on the ground.
“What’s going on?!” Everyone looked in astonishment. In the distance, on the mountain, a giant figure could be seen. It was carrying a massive boulder and throwing it like a cannonball.
Witnessing the stone being thrown such a long distance, especially the sensation of seeing it fly overhead, blocking out the sun, giving the illusion of the sky being covered, this pressure reminded me of the javelin thrown by the Royal Knight not long ago.
“Boom!” This time, it struck the patrol soldiers who were firing. Although the soldiers dispersed in time to evade, three or four of them were still hit by the stone and died on the spot.
Only then could I clearly see the black shadow on the mountain. It was seven to eight meters tall, with a giant Minotaur head, but only one eye. Its entire body was covered in bronze skin that looked like metal. It also had four arms, and a red branding iron resembling the character “米” with two horizontal bars added was on its chest.
The mere presence of the giant figure on the mountaintop exuded an aura of oppression, madness, and bloodlust, as if wherever it stood, rivers of blood would flow, filled with strife and slaughter.
Undoubtedly, it was also a Minotaur, but excessive mutation had made it unrecognizable from its original form.
