Chapter 476
Chapter 476 - 456: First Battle
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10 min read
Black bones filled with fluid, ashes covering the circulating phantom, and the eye sockets of the giant wolf’s head burnt with two blue flames.
It silently stood at a high point, silent and peering.
Its surroundings were filled with the smell of decay, and it carried a supernatural aura of death.
What was more terrifying than a horror movie scene come to life was that this was another validation of a prophecy - the prophecy of the apocalypse!
At this moment, Captain Ben’s roar awakened the knights’ senses.
"A hundred battles..."
The next moment, the knights quickly formed ranks, centering around Walker, facing the swarm of wolves and the Wolf King, repositioning for battle.
"...A hundred victories!"
As lance handles and footsteps hit the ground simultaneously, the earth trembled. Sound waves shook the earth, causing some beasts to leap back suddenly.
It took merely a single command for the formation to face the enemies.
Turtle Spirit’s force field shield was completed, but it could not obstruct the hungry gaze of the undead beasts.
However, the sudden ignition of the Holy Fire wall brightened the night sky.
The burning Holy Flame expelled the darkness and cold, as well as the courage of the beasts.
They subconsciously took a half step back. In their memories, in the imprint of their genes, these flames and the warriors who wielded them were the natural enemies of their kind.
But the sudden howl of the Wolf King, a call from its soul, left the beasts unwavered.
Under the king’s command, the idle beasts transformed into loyal soldiers.
Amid the silent roar, shields and fangs collided. Knights and beasts collided with one another.
The smell of decay lingered in the air, twisted tentacles danced in front of beast faces, and cursed flesh flowers splattered in the center of the battlefield.
This was not a time to conserve strength.
One by one, the Holy Flame Priests ignited the Holy Flame. The limited but powerful divine grace descended upon the battlefield, easily dividing it and reducing the magic monsters to dry bones and ashes.
"How interesting..."
When the knights were preoccupied, the most important VIP on the battlefield, the leader of the foreign visitors, and the lord who was repeatedly instructed to ensure the safety of Lu Ping’an, was unknowingly at the forefront of the battle.
He held a skeleton wolf in his hands, tearing it in half with one motion.
His curious gaze fell upon the interior of the skull. Lu Ping’an saw that in the bony seams, there were tentacles wriggling.
He then pried open the leg bones, observing the twisted tentacles moving around, and nodded with satisfaction.
"...As I thought."
The young man’s gaze turned to the Wolf King, his heart full of curiosity. Why could such a highly contaminated creature retain its intellect? It was even a complete social and intelligent creature?
"Best... to get a living one..."
The card group in his hand had already completed the first round of draws.
A red card, when thrown, landed on the ancient tree in front of him.
The giant tree uprooted itself and soared. The towering tree-man charged towards the Wolf King as soon as it climbed up.
The unbelievable size was the most powerful source of energy. The pack of wolves couldn’t withstand the giant tree, and soon after, more trees succumbed to frenzy and transformation into tree-men.
Before the disbelieving eyes of the knights, their protected target effortlessly awakened the forest behind him.
In his wake, the colossal black tree that was even larger than the century-old trees uprooted itself. Its twisted tentacles attacked all the magic monsters.
Explosions resounded, and unlucky wolves were blown into the sky. Somehow, this place had turned into a minefield full of landmines.
"Heh, attacking a Gardener in the forest, these wolves are pretty dumb."
"With these low-level Magic Plants around, what could be a better home field for a Gardener?"
The quiet discussions of his companions did not affect the battle. Since Lu Ping’an had gotten serious, they naturally followed suit.
Lu Ping’an, who had just acted, didn’t hold back. He played three cards in a row, two red and one yellow, causing the Wolf King to fall into a frenzied pincer attack.
As if trapped in a gladiator ring, it was attacked by two giants, with punch after punch landing on its face and body.
It was in pain, staggering as its own fangs tore at nothing but wood shavings and bark.
It howled furiously, its commands causing countless wolves to swarm. The entire forest was filled with green fireflies and responding howls.
But the knights rushed forward, and the foreign guests didn’t just stand and watch the show this time.
The paper cranes, infused with a strange purple light, were unleashed like a rain of arrows. The first round of rapid fire achieved astonishing results, and the woman who exposed a joyful expression was satisfied with her recent harvest.
Little Swordsman jumped directly to the outside of the field, launched a series of Sword Qis to eliminate two shadowy snakes, and then stood at the forefront of the team.
The irritable "Fighter" could no longer bear the fury within her heart, so she leaped directly into the center of the monsters, where she was greeted by countless claws and beastly roars... but she was only filled with manic laughter and ecstasy.
Unlike the uniform tactical system of the knights, the professionals from the Foreign Domain had entirely different abilities combinations, but as long as the individual was strong enough, they could still become a pillar against the tide of monsters.
While the ladies charged fiercely, men like Xue En and Lin Feng chose to fall back instead.
They took great care in protecting the non-combatants in the team, including a few new recruits, as well as Miss Rou and the small translator, who had little to no combat experience in logistics.
Another rib of the Wolf King was broken, causing him to scream in pain incessantly.
In the background were endless hordes of corpses and beasts, frantically attacking the line, trying to save their king... But at this moment, with the three giants fighting each other, their attempts only resulted in being crushed to pieces.
𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
The ancient tree, which had been around for countless years, had transformed into a furious and frenzied tree giant, whose abilities and power far surpassed the giant beastmen that Lu Ping’an had temporarily cultivated before.
It seemed to have self-awareness and harbored resentment, each strike causing the Wolf King great agony.
The fury of nature became reality, as the classic showdown between the Life system and the Death system played out once again... If it were a one-on-one match, there would still be a chance, but Lu Ping’an, who controlled the main battlefield, held a trump card in his hand.
"Tsk. So this is the guaranteed critical hit when facing arch-rivals, this card is quite handy." This giant tree person’s strength even exceeded Lu Ping’an’s estimation.
If he were to base it on the strength of the light-wood Tree-men from Earth, this ancient tree Tree-man of over a hundred years could beat four or five domesticated light-wood Tree-men... Wild boars that have been battle-hardened for a long time and pigs that have emerged from the pen a few months later are naturally not in the same league.
At the same time, this was the first time that Lu Ping’an felt the so-called home-field advantage of a Gardener.
The entire forest was sending him warnings, and the unnatural undead creations had long infuriated it. Following that, the fury of nature awakened by its mortal enemy allowed Lu Ping’an, who could read the forest’s intentions, to effortlessly control the surrounding low-level Magic Plants.
However, the Wolf King made a grave mistake from the beginning - as a legionary leader, he was too close to the humans, far too close.
He should never have appeared before the humans... He underestimated the ferocity of these prey.
"Ahhhh!" Now, like a wet dog filled with regret, he was being pummeled by two burly men and, with his body being held back, he could not fully unleash his abilities.
But at this time, how could Lu Ping’an possibly let him re-establish distance and allow his army to engulf everything?
He prepared to deliver a fatal blow, and as for the most suitable...
"Little Flame... Never mind."
Originally, he was going to summon Little Flame, but he feared that if it came out, nothing would remain after the battle.
Moreover, he sensed that the forest hated the Holy Fire far more than the mutated undead creatures.
Behind Lu Ping’an, a metallic humanoid figure flickered, and in the next moment, a phantom materialized in mid-air, with a massive suit of armor slamming down fiercely.
Right in between the furious tree giants that sandwiched him, a metallic giant descended from the sky.
He had nowhere to avoid it.
The weight of the plummeting figure instantly snapped the spine of the wolf.
"Ahhhh!" Its cry was like that of a wet dog with a broken back.
Then, the metallic giant who rode on the wolf’s body lifted its blade-like metal right hand, swung it accurately and swiftly in a series of strikes.
At first, it aimed for vital parts like the head, neck, throat, and wrist joints, but when it found that the effect wasn’t good enough, it immediately targeted the joints’ connection points.
"Crack, crack!"
After a series of excruciating bone-breaking sounds, the giant beast was once again immobilized. Zhi Xi remained interested in continuing to squeeze or break bones, changing the fractures from simple to comminuted fractures.
Finally, the giant wolf could no longer move, and its subjects still tried to save their king.
This time, the metallic giant’s foot crushed the skull directly.
With one step, one twist, and one stomp!
As a large pit appeared on the ground, the greenish soul flame was instantly extinguished.
Around the "Animated Armor", an unknown force seemed to draw in the eerie pale green flames, directly absorbing them.
"Delicious..."
For the first time, the synthesized mechanical voice revealed an emotion of joy.
And Zhi Xi, who had been hiding in the team all this time, revealed her true self for the first time.
"Mechanical Spirit Awakening object? Huh?" Someone seemed to imply something.
"No, didn’t you see that she obviously looks like a walking armor? Look at that shape and its characteristics."
"...But she talked, and clearly has emotions, too."
"Hehe, these days, walking armors are so intelligent that they’re almost as if someone is controlling them."
"Is someone controlling it?"
Words like these could be ignored; besides, this was no big deal since the prohibition was lifted, especially in a team assembled by Lu Ping’an.
Compared to the random creations that Lu Ping’an had previously displayed, the "self-walking armor" could hardly be considered taboo.
What surprised everyone even more was how far he had gone in seemingly irrelevant fields.
Meanwhile, the knights looked at him with more respect and admiration; in any era or world, the strong would always be favored.
— End of Chapter 476 —