The Era of Gods - Chapter 140

Chapter 140: 140 The Clan of the Wise Goblins

Translator: 549690339

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The result was indeed a hit on a teammate, and the Supreme Naga took the opportunity to bounce off two Ogres. With a powerful flick of its serpentine tail, it propped itself up off the ground, sword coming down from above once more. Accompanied by a sharp ‘crack,’ a ferocious and ugly Ogre head flew off, and the Dual Hand Greatsword plunged deeply into the ground, hilt deep.

No matter how tenacious an Ogre’s vitality, decapitation meant certain death.

With one Ogre dead, the remaining two let out furious roars and fearlessly pounced to engage the Supreme Naga in a fierce melee.

“Combat power is good, upper tier for its rank!”

An observer evaluated first and then paused before adding:

“I’m not sure about its reproductive ability, I hope it’s not too low.”

Immediately, another observer chimed in:

“The feeling is that its reproductive ability isn’t high, with currently less than a thousand in number.”

The observer who spoke first had a glint in his eye as he casually said:

“Then we must discount its performance.”

“Indeed, while it is strong, its usefulness is indeed limited if their numbers are low. However, a single flaw does not negate the many virtues. It has value worth sculpting; I’ll keep watching. If possible, I could extend a special recruitment invitation.”

No sooner had those words fallen when another will expressed astonishment:

“You guys at Ether only have five special recruitment spots this year, right? You’re willing to use one on him?”

The first will didn’t answer, instead counter-asking:

“What, does the Heart of the Holy Dragon also want it?”

“That’s the idea, but we want to observe a bit longer.”

“Alright then.”

The will from Ether nodded and redirected its gaze back to the battlefield.

At this point, the battlefield was in utter chaos. Every now and then, two, three, or four Ogres would be seen ganging up on a Supreme Naga, especially as the battle entered a fever pitch with the arrival of Transcendent-level Two-Headed Ogre Mages and Supreme Naga Whale Knights.

There was no need for commands at this time; it was purely a display of the inherent strengths of each Clan. Slarda hefted an anchor and swam quickly towards the battlefield, then suddenly leaped dozens of meters high, charging headfirst at a tall figure ahead.

Just as he sprang up, a massive Flame Burst Fireball landed exactly where he had just been, followed by a thunderous explosion. A violent fireball erupted, covering half a basketball court, instantly crushing every Small Fishman and Hyenaman within it to dust.

Standing at five meters tall and sporting two grotesque heads was a Two-Headed Ogre, whose Flame Explosion was less powerful than the Dragon Breath Flame Explosion of Kobold Magicians but still well beyond the defensive capabilities of a Small Fishman.

With one head holding a steel shield as large as a banquet table and the other clutching a huge Wolf Fang Club—over five or six meters in length and thicker than most waists, studded with steel spikes over ten centimeters long—it advanced like a tank toward Slarda.

Slarda, falling from the sky, swept his tail to clear the minions around him and turned to face the oncoming Two-Headed Ogre. With a powerful slam of its serpentine body, it burst from the ground, creating a large pit. Its massive form shot out like lightning, traversing over two hundred meters in an instant, colliding fiercely with the Two-Headed Ogre.

Slarda’s Salted Fish Charge had been elevated to a Hero Skill, greatly increasing the distance of the charge.

The Two-Headed Ogre Mage reacted swiftly, its repulsively ugly face twisted into a cruel, savage grin. One head spewed incomprehensible spells as a layer of red flame surrounded it, guarding its entire body as it pushed forward with a huge shield.

“Boom!”

The two colossal beings collided with brutal force; the massive anchor smashed into the center of the shield, causing an eardrum-shattering explosion. An invisible distortion exploded out like lightning, the ground beneath their feet sunk suddenly, and a thick layer of upturned soil and grass burst out in all directions like waves.

After a brief struggle, lasting less than 0.1 seconds, both heads and all four eyes of the Two-Headed Ogre Mage widened in alarm, the red protective flames around its shield collapsed, and the center of the shield caved inward, deforming and bursting with a blast.

Through the Hero Skill that magnified his strength fivefold, Slarda’s terrifying power—comparable to a Rank 7 High Transcendent—was unleashed with a single strike of the anchor. High above the Vault of Heaven, Lin Xiao saw as the anchor shattered the Two-Headed Ogre Mage’s shield, the very space around it distorted, as if it struck a transparent film, creating a downward drag resulting in distinct spatial imprints, as the anchor crashed into the Two-Headed Ogre Mage.

“Bang!”

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The massive Two-Headed Ogre Mage was like an ordinary person hit in the abdomen by an anti-material sniper rifle, exploding into several pieces and instantly killed on the spot.

Slarda’s terrifying brutality made Li Shengyuan’s eyelids on the Vault of Heaven twitch slightly; he ordered the dispersed Two-Headed Ogre Mages to converge at the center. Eight Two-Headed Ogre Mages stood in a row, casting spells simultaneously, creating flame explosions as large as washbasins that flew into the enemy ranks, instantly turning hundreds of Fishmen to dust and bone fragments.

Seeing this, Slarda roared loudly. The similarly dispersed seventeen Transcendent-Level Supreme Naga Whale Knights began to gather around him and charged the Two-Headed Ogre Mages, who were continuing their second round of casting from afar.

The Whale Knights, with their massive size akin to heavy cavalry, effortlessly knocked the smaller soldiers on the battlefield aside as they plunged into enemy lines. Seeing this, Li Shengyuan commanded the Two-Headed Ogres to cast again; a shower of red light descended, causing the Hyenamen and Ogres to roar in unison and fearlessly charge forward.

This was one of the Two-Headed Ogre Mage’s two signature spells, the Bloodthirsty Technique, similar to Berserk but less powerful. It could stimulate the potential of those affected, increasing their strength and speed, reducing some damage, and enhancing resistance to mental magic, though it also slightly reduced intelligence, but not to the extent of Berserker’s uncontrollable rage.

The Bloodthirsty-enchanted Ogres and Hyenamen fearlessly met the charging group of Whale Knights. Even as they were knocked around or trampled to death, their resolve did not waver, and more and more Ogres, Hyenamen, and Grey Dwarves surged forth. Even Slarda was held back by this endless resistance.

These fearless little guys attacked Slarda with their weapons, driving swords into the gaps between his scales and many even tried to climb onto him.

An enraged Slarda swung his tail fiercely; his Hero Skill, Thunder Shatter, smashed down, and with an explosion akin to a dust blast, all enemies within a fifty-meter radius centered on Slarda were reduced to a shower of blood mist splattered across the ground.

At the same time, the other Transcendent Supreme Nagas followed suit, setting off consecutive thunder blasts.

Ogres and Grey Dwarves, with their strong physiques, might hold up against the onslaught. Lesser races like the Hyenamen simply couldn’t withstand the Transcendent troops’ skills, being killed off in droves.

By now, the Two-Headed Ogre Mages had cast three rounds of Flame Explosion, killing a large number of Fishmen and even dozens of Supreme Nagas.

Li Shengyuan had no intention of letting his Transcendent troops engage in direct combat; he was well aware that in a head-on fight, his Two-Headed Ogre Mages would surely be outmatched. Instead, he used their advantage: casting spells to clear the field.

Thus, an odd balance was formed: on one side, continuous spell bombardments decimated the Fishmen, while on the other, cannon fodder was piled against Slarda and the Supreme Nagas to hold them off. The vast battlefield turned into two bloody meat grinders, with cannon fodder from both sides being relentlessly drawn in and slaughtered.

There was nothing Lin Xiao could do about this; he couldn’t break the deadlock in a short time, only awaiting the second cooldown of the Salted Fish Charge after ten minutes to see if he could break the stalemate with a burst of power.

But within these ten minutes, who knew how many of his Clan members would die.

As Transcendent creatures, each Two-Headed Ogre Mage had enough Magic Power for dozens of Flame Explosions, and together, eight meant hundreds of Flame Explosions. This was enough to kill off most of his Clan.

This was the first time Lin Xiao had encountered such a formidable opponent. He had to admit, the Magic-based Transcendent troops were indeed powerful, whether it was the Two-Headed Ogre Mages or the Kobold Dragon Vein Magicians; both were formidable foes.

His own group of over fifteen hundred Fishman Magicians was like a younger brother compared to these two types of Magic-based troops, with their Sea Water Boundary falling apart after one or two Flame Explosions, and summoned Fire Elements dispersing like the Fishmen at the first blast. Not to mention the other spells, which didn’t even have that range.

Lin Xiao stroked his chin, already contemplating the idea of adding a powerful Magic-based Clan to his Divine Realm.

Otherwise, if others had such powerful Mages and he didn’t, wouldn’t that be a huge loss?

At the current stage, it’s manageable, but in the future, when Legendary-level Magic-based troops appear, that would be truly terrifying. A powerful spell from a Legendary-level Magic-based troop could annihilate an entire army; without a similarly ranked Legendary-level Magic-based troop, there would be no resisting it.

“Boom!”

A Flame Explosion detonated amidst the Great Naga Group. Even though the Supreme Nagas swiftly scattered to escape, the aftermath still flipped over a dozen who were too slow.

When they emerged from the flames, their scales were shattered and charred, and they were severely injured.

At this point on the battlefield, there were very few Clan members left on either side. Li Shengyuan’s forces were down to about one thousand five or six hundred Ogres and less than two thousand Hyenamen and Grey Dwarves, including the eight Two-Headed Ogre Mages.

On Lin Xiao’s side, there were just over five hundred Supreme Nagas and fewer than a thousand Small Fishmen left. All seventeen Supreme Naga Whale Knights were still present; before, both sides had been clearing each other’s cannon fodder and hadn’t attacked the upper tier troops.

But now, as the cannon fodder was nearly all dead, a decisive battle was imminent.

Li Shengyuan gathered all the remaining forces, placing the eight Two-Headed Ogre Mages at the center to protect them, especially one leader among the Two-Headed Ogre Mages. Lin Xiao was surprised by his opponent’s strength, but noted there wasn’t a single Hero among them. If there had been a Two-Headed Ogre Hero, it would have been difficult to fight; Heroes were generally far more formidable than ordinary troops.

His side’s strategy was simple: the remaining Clan members were arranged in a straight line with a spread formation to avoid being wiped out by a single wave of spells.

Lin Xiao’s expression remained composed, showing little worry. Although his remaining Clan were fewer in number, the ten minutes were up, and all Skills had cooled down. Plus, those left were essentially the elite of his forces. He did not feel inferior to the opposition at all.