Chapter: Chapter 430
“Hoo, I wonder if these things the chieftain gave us will actually be useful,” several fully armored orc warriors, tall and well-built, were chatting near the front of the Steel Spear army, which had already formed its battle array.
One of the warriors took out a small bottle containing a golden-red liquid. This was distributed to the elite warriors by the tiger-man during the final combat meeting that morning.
According to the tiger-man, this liquid could grant them extremely powerful strength, with the only price being a brief period of weakness after the battle.
“The chieftain has already tested it within the tribe, and its safety is absolutely guaranteed. With this, each of you can become a powerful warrior capable of fighting a hundred,” were the tiger-man’s exact words.
Out of trust in their chieftain, some warriors drank the liquid immediately after receiving it. However, the orc currently holding it felt something was amiss and had not drunk it yet.
“Don’t be so hesitant. I’m telling you, this potion works wonders. I feel like I’m about to combust right now. The old me probably wouldn’t last three punches against me now!” a companion of the cautious orc patted his shoulder vigorously. This companion was one of the orc warriors who had drunk the potion immediately.
His current state was like being injected with an excessive amount of stimulants, with heavy breathing, reddened eyes, and his strength greatly increased.
The cautious orc staggered from the pat, something that would have been impossible before.
“I just don’t trust that fellow. What did General Lord do wrong to be locked up? I’m just not convinced,” the cautious orc grumbled quietly. If the lion-headed general had been the one to give him this liquid, he might have drunk it without any psychological burden. But now, this liquid was from the tiger-man.
This created a sense of resistance in his heart.
“They’re fighting for power up there. We soldiers shouldn’t speak too much about such matters. General Lord will surely be alright,” the orc who had drunk the potion replied in a gruff voice. Naturally, he leaned toward the lion-headed general, but his loyalty to the chieftain outweighed his loyalty to the general.
Since the tiger-man said it was a secret weapon issued by the chieftain, he drank it.
Moreover, the potion’s effects were indeed good. He felt great right now, and his combat power had at least doubled compared to before.
Thump, thump, thump… The muffled sound of war drums echoed from afar. The Bone Wing tribe’s army surged out of their camp in a majestic wave, quickly forming their battle formation in front of the camp.
The atmosphere between the two sides instantly became extremely tense. There were no pre-battle dialogues, no communication. Both sides understood that the battle today would definitively decide who would reign supreme on the borders of this grassland.
“My lord, please give the order for the general offensive,” a general next to the tiger-man said to him, bowing his head, from the center of the Steel Spear army.
“Indeed.” The tiger-man nodded, his eyes gleaming with pride. In his opinion, not only was his side stronger in numbers and morale, but they also possessed a potent secret weapon. There was no way they could lose this battle!
The secret potion the chieftain obtained from the merchants could allow an elite warrior to unleash three to four times their normal combat power, with the only price being the exhaustion of their remaining lifespan. Since they, the carnivores, wouldn’t be the ones dying anyway, sacrificing some warriors for victory was entirely acceptable to them.
Besides, if they didn’t use the potion, these people might not survive anyway. It was better to have one last glorious burst of brilliance before death than to die without any purpose.
“Transmit my order, the entire army attacks!” the tiger-man shouted loudly.
This feeling of wielding such immense power was truly addictive. Think about it, so many people had to obey his command. How could a tiger-man, who could only flatter the chieftain, remain composed?
He was even fantasizing about what would happen after the war. With such great merit, it would be normal for him to replace that detestable lion-head and become the general, right?
With the chieftain’s favor, he believed that with a little maneuvering and a few kind words to the chieftain, that lion-head would definitely be removed by the chieftain, and he would undoubtedly be able to replace that fellow.
At this thought, the tiger-man’s eyes burned. He now only wanted to see his army instantly tear through the Bone Wing army’s lines and completely crush those ungrateful wretches!
But the development of events exceeded his expectations. The Steel Spear’s first wave of offensive did achieve significant results. The vanguard of the Steel Spear army broke through the Bone Wing army’s front lines in several places almost the instant they made contact.
However, the Bone Wing army quickly reacted, mobilized their forces, and stubbornly blocked the Steel Spear army’s charge. In an instant, on the wind-howling riverbank, the two armies became entangled, their shouts and cries so fierce they seemed to shake the clouds in the sky.
The golden, brilliant sunlight poured down from the sky, landing on the battlefield that had already turned scarlet.
“The Steel Spear’s assault is too strong! Our vanguard might not be able to hold on!” a messenger, riding his horse in a hurry, rushed to the side of the Bone Wing army’s general and reported anxiously.
The general’s eyes widened in disbelief at what the messenger said. “How is that possible? Haven’t we clashed several times before? Why can’t we hold on this time?”
“I don’t know. The vanguard of the Steel Spear tribe’s army is exceptionally strong. Our weapons can’t even pierce their skin or inflict any damage!” the messenger shook his head. He also didn’t understand why those vanguards were so powerful. He only knew that if this continued, there would be big problems. “General, let the mage corps deal with those fellows!”
If physical attacks were ineffective, then they should try magical attacks. If their skin could withstand physical blows, could they still be invincible against magical attacks?
This was the extent of the simple orcs’ thinking. If physical means failed, try magical means. If magical means failed, then perhaps they could only resort to metaphysics.
“The divine fire arts bestowed by the Divine Maiden are limited. We only have thirty uses in total, and there’s no way to replenish them once they’re used up!” The general was also anxious, sweating profusely as he pondered for a few seconds. He gritted his teeth. “Take twenty of them. Use them sparingly. The battle has just begun, and using up your trump cards now is dangerous!”
“Understood!” The messenger received the order and quickly left.
The general, left behind, frowned, looked at the chaotic scene in the distance, and felt a sense of unease.
The power displayed by the Steel Spear army this time puzzled him. He had fought against the Steel Spear’s army before, and they shouldn’t have possessed such strength. Their sudden surge in power this time was definitely a problem.
Did they use some dark art? He couldn’t figure it out. He only knew that he could only hold his lines for now and report this unexpected news to the Divine Maiden, awaiting her decision.
“Go deliver this message to the Divine Maiden. Remember, it must be fast!” The general beckoned another messenger and gave him the order.
The messenger responded with a curt “yes” and immediately set off towards the rear.
As the Bone Wing vanguard began to shift, the front-line army showed signs of faltering.
Several tall, armored orcs stood together, holding massive iron shields that were as tall as a person and wielding terrifyingly heavy spears. They slaughtered everything that dared to approach them like a meat grinder.
These were the elite warriors of the Steel Spear tribe. After consuming the golden potion brought by the tiger-man, each of them had gained an extremely terrifying combat bonus. Ordinary weapons could no longer even leave scratches on their bodies. The crossbow bolts from the Bone Wing tribe, when shot at them, actually broke, as if they were shot at a piece of hard steel plate.
These warriors moved in squads, like unstoppable drills, tearing open gaps in the otherwise solid defenses of the Bone Wing tribe. And within these torn lines, the power of these drills did not diminish. The Bone Wing warriors in their path could barely impede them.
“Kill! Kill! Kill them all!” The orc warriors, their eyes stained with blood, let out mighty roars. With continuous combat, their already exceptionally tall bodies expanded again, actually approaching three meters. Their physiques also swelled, making them look like unmovable mountains.
Ordinary orc warriors were around two meters tall, and the more elite ones were significantly taller, but even the most elite warriors couldn’t reach the three-meter mark.
The warriors of the Bone Wing tribe gazed at these mountains from the Steel Spear tribe, despair filling their eyes. They couldn’t find any way to defeat such opponents!
Several fearless warriors had used their lives to prove that in frontal combat, these fellows were almost invincible. With their sheer physical advantage alone, these mountain-like Steel Spear warriors could easily deal with several Bone Wing warriors.
And when these mountains stood together and cooperated, the warriors of the Bone Wing tribe found themselves unable to defeat these monsters.
They couldn’t match them in strength, they couldn’t hold them back by charging forward to stall for time, and their sneak attacks couldn’t even break through their defenses. How could they possibly fight?
If not for their faith in the Divine Maiden having a way to deal with these monsters, the orc warriors at the front lines might have already dropped their weapons and scattered.
Don’t expect these orc warriors to have good comeback potential when fighting from behind. Really, they aren’t regular troops, and achieving this much is already quite good.
“Look, what is that!”
A bright trail of fire streaked across the sky, precisely exploiting a gap in a Steel Spear warrior’s shield swing and accurately hitting the blood-soaked warrior.
Almost instantly, fierce flames erupted all over the three-meter-tall warrior. Witnessing this, the orcs couldn’t help but shiver. What a terrifying sensation that must be.
To be engulfed and burned by intense flames; for ordinary orcs, they would likely be rolling on the ground trying to alleviate their pain. However, this struck warrior seemed to feel no pain. Enduring the terrifying flames, he still swung his spear and killed two Bone Wing orcs who tried to approach him.
“What the hell are these monsters? Don’t they feel pain!” one orc called out in terror, seeing this spectacle. “They are monsters, real monsters!”
“They must have offered their souls to an evil god to become like this. But in the face of the great god’s divine fire, they will only have one outcome.” However, another orc standing beside the panicked orc appeared much calmer. The movements of the tall orc engulfed by flames had already slowed considerably, indicating that he wouldn’t be able to thrash around for much longer.
And indeed, this was the case. From the moment the flames ignited on this orc until he fell, it was about a minute.
After this orc fell, the flames still did not cease their erosion, appearing as though they would not rest until this orc was burned to ashes.
An ordinary Steel Spear orc, emboldened, tried to put out the flames on the tall warrior, but accidentally touched a wisp of the flame. Then, to everyone’s horrified gaze, he transformed into a fireball.
Unlike the tall orc before, this ordinary orc turned into ash in just a few seconds.
This made both sides understand one thing: the power of these flames was immense. The reason they seemed ineffective on the tall fierce orc was entirely due to their extreme strength.
Even a trace of such flames would turn an ordinary orc into a dead man within seconds.
Thus, by unspoken agreement, a cleared area was created on the battlefield, allowing the orcs on the ground to burn quietly. They would approach again to fight after he had finished burning.
Everyone valued their lives, so it was better to avoid this peculiar substance that killed on contact.
At this moment, several more trails of fire, similar to the previous one, streaked across the sky, heading towards the tall orcs who seemed oblivious.
Instantly, several more tall orcs turned into blazing torches, and some of these torches even spread their flames to their comrades, turning an entire squad of tall orcs into a torch squad.
In an instant, the precarious defense line of the Bone Wing tribe was stabilized with the support of mysterious spells. Without those terrifyingly powerful vanguard warriors, the ordinary Steel Spear warriors had no significant difference in strength compared to the Bone Wing tribe’s warriors.
“Brothers, kill! They have no more in their reserves!” The Bone Wing forward general immediately seized the opportunity and commanded the reserve forces, whose strength had not been significantly depleted, to counter-attack.
With the addition of this fresh force, the situation immediately tilted from Steel Spear to Bone Wing, and the Steel Spear tribe’s advance was pushed back instantaneously.
