Chapter 271 - 40: Drag Racing
Chapter 271: Chapter 40: Drag Racing
Whether by coincidence or design, the moon, which had been absent until now, chose this very moment to shine brilliantly, illuminating the scene before Ancient Dumu Town as if it were day and allowing many of the common goblins to witness the sight.
It would have been better had the moon remained hidden. Its light dealt a fatal blow to the goblins’ morale.
If even Chief Umm, a Silver-tier Extraordinary, reacted this way, how could the other goblins fare any better? Many of them saw the scene before Ancient Dumu Town—a field of mangled corpses, a sight straight out of Hell. The strength fled their legs, and they collapsed to their knees.
Goblins were known for their cunning, but they were still intelligent, thinking beings. Even a demon would recoil from a scene like this.
Chief Umm could even smell the acrid stench of urine, but he was in no mood to dwell on it.
To be precise, Chief Umm’s mind was completely blank, filled only with the memory of the arrow volley and the hellish sea of blood before him.
The sight had completely stunned him, rooting him to the spot.
Suddenly, another volley of whooshing sounds tore through the air. But unlike the last one, the target of this arrow rain was clearly Ancient Dumu Town itself.
Chief Umm stood frozen, forgetting even to activate his Fighting Qi Body Protection. It wasn’t until an arrow pierced his shoulder that the searing pain jolted him back to his senses.
Chief Umm finally snapped out of it. Staring at the rain of arrows descending upon him, he now understood exactly what the goblins from moments ago had felt.
"Run... Run for your lives..."
"Run! This is divine punishment! It must be divine punishment!"
After suffering such immense pain, if one cannot find the will to rise again, they will be utterly and completely broken.
Chief Umm was living proof of this. Faced with the sky-blotting arrow volley, all he wanted was to save his own skin. To hell with his tribe, to hell with glory! Chief Umm’s only thought was to escape with his life.
Unfortunately, fate has a way of being cruelest when a person is at their unluckiest.
Perhaps because he was fleeing in such a desperate hurry, the mighty Silver Extraordinary actually tripped over a pile of rubble.
Just as Chief Umm was about to cry for help, the rain of arrows in the sky suddenly stopped.
"It... It stopped..."
’It stopped?’ Chief Umm gasped, panting heavily as he stared at the clear sky. For a moment, the sight felt strangely unfamiliar.
’Why are there clouds in the sky, and not arrows?’
Before Chief Umm could ponder these questions, he heard a deep rumbling. The massive carriages had arrived.
...
In front of Ancient Dumu Town, dozens of carriages had already stopped at the entrance. Atop them, Non-commissioned Officers were barking orders at the Soldiers.
"Quick! Dismount! Move it! Squads of ten!"
"Move it! Squads of ten! First Battalion, advance! First Battalion, advance! The rest of you, follow in order!"
"Once inside, assume the third combat formation! Third combat formation!"
This was the first time Ais had formally commanded a legion in battle. After giving the orders, he wondered, ’Have I missed anything?’
Just then, Robson came up behind Ais and patted his shoulder.
"My lord." Ais turned in surprise to look at Robson.
"Hmph. Don’t be so nervous," Robson said with a smile. "Your arrangements were good."
"Thank you for your praise, my lord!" Ais said, his expression solemn as he placed a hand over his heart.
Robson nodded but said no more.
Ais was an experiment of his. And it proved that this world was just like Robson’s previous one: no one was inherently superior. Even though Ais was born a peasant, he could still command troops with perfect order.
The battle was essentially over. The victor had already been decided.
Following Ais’s command, the Soldiers leaped from the carriages one after another. Then, in groups of ten with swords in hand, they swiftly charged into Ancient Dumu Town.
"The humans are charging in! The humans are charging in!"
"We’ve lost! We’ve lost!"
"Run!"
The moment the human Soldiers set foot in Ancient Dumu Town, the fate of the Beastmen within was all but sealed.
The two previous volleys of arrows had made a good portion of the population simply disappear. The goblins both inside and outside the town had been scoured by the downpour.
The goblins screaming and scattering in every direction were the ones who still had their wits about them. Many others just stood frozen, their eyes vacant as they stared at the carnage, having completely lost their minds.
Even when human Soldiers came to stand before them, their eyes remained blank, and they had no idea what to do.
"Aargh! Demons! You are all demons! I’ll fight you! I’ll fight you to the death!"
Watching the humans charge in, the terror and rage that had been building inside Chief Umm finally erupted, and he began to burn his Fighting Qi.
In an instant, blood-red Fighting Qi erupted from Chief Umm’s entire body. Though he was only a Silver Fourth Tier Extraordinary, the Fighting Qi that now enveloped him was even denser than that of some at the Silver Fifth Tier, even approaching the level of the Silver Sixth Tier.
The human Soldiers were only taken aback for a moment by Chief Umm’s sudden frenzy. Soon after, three nearby human squads locked onto him, presenting a wall of shields and leveled spears, accompanied by a nocked arrow.
An arrow!
"Demons! Damn you! Damn you all!"
It was as if a switch had been flipped. The sight of the arrow flying toward him made Chief Umm roar, and he charged murderously toward the one who had fired it.
"Demons! Demons! Damn you! Damn you!"
Chief Umm screamed curses without pause, so quickly that those around him could barely understand the words.
Seeing Chief Umm charge, the humans merely raised their greatshields, with longspears braced at their flanks.
It was as if they truly intended to use such simple equipment to fight to the death against a Chief wreathed in Fighting Qi.
"Damn you! Damn you!"
Chief Umm no longer cared about anything else. All he wanted was a glorious battle to vent the mountain of anger and fear piled up in his heart.
Suddenly, with another sound of something slicing through the air, Chief Umm froze in place as if he had been petrified.
Chief Umm felt no pain, only confusion. He didn’t understand why, but his limbs had suddenly gone rigid, completely unresponsive.
The only things he could still move were his eyes.
Chief Umm saw that the humans who had been preparing to receive his charge were now looking behind themselves.
Following their gaze, Chief Umm peered through a gap between the greatshields and saw a man standing there.
He wore gleaming silver armor, and under the pure white moonlight, he appeared almost divine. With his brilliant golden hair and powerful physique, he was the kind of man who would be popular with the young ladies, even in the Human World.
What drew Chief Umm’s gaze most, however, was the longbow in the man’s hands. There was no arrow on its string, and his body was shrouded in a silver-white light.
The man lowered his longbow as if he had just completed some trivial task, then turned to speak with another human beside him.
Suddenly, the humans in Chief Umm’s vision seemed to grow half a head taller.
With his last shred of consciousness, Chief Umm guessed that his lower body was no longer under his control. He must have fallen to his knees.
"Damn it all..." Chief Umm whimpered.
Chief Umm finally collapsed. His pupils dilated, and the last image reflected in his glassy eyes was the silver-white moon in the sky.