While Mini Bubble Gum vented her frustration, the two fronts on the other side also showed overwhelming dominance and superiority.
“Heyaaaah!”
Anne yelled, sprinting ahead briskly. The shield in her hands expanded and wrapped around her like a safety fence. Blustering green winds also formed a sturdy wind barrier with the young lady in the middle, keeping out all threats. Not only that, but thick stone skin also covered her entire body. At that moment, Anne was like a bulldozer baring its fangs and brandishing its claws as she crushed her way through. As a matter of fact, this was indeed the case. Anne couldn’t care less about who was in front of her. The instant both parties clashed, Anne expanded her shield and wind barrier and charged ahead. This innocent, yet violent strategy showed some obvious, positive results. The dark elf army, which didn’t expect Anne to act this recklessly, broke out in a fluster. Although the duergars also raised their shields to resist Anne, before they came into contact with her, they were engulfed and swept away by the wind barrier like home runs. Meanwhile, the soldiers who weren’t struck off by the wind barrier didn’t have it any better. They waved their weapons in vain to stop the young lady from trampling them down, but in the face of a gigantic, steaming bulldozer, how much damage could muscles and flesh inflict?
None.
The plight of the duergars and bugbears was the best evidence for this scenario. They swung their weapons in despair, but were blasted away by the wind barrier before even scratching the young lady. The dark elves’ arrows weren’t effective either. Even though the knives and arrows they released managed to pass through Anne’s wind barrier, they were stopped completely by the hard stone layer of skin on Anne. Even though Anne was a scatterbrain most of the time, she was more than qualified as a shield warrior in battle. She never stopped or noticed her surroundings. She simply lowered her head and charged forward like a roaring flood that kept going on and on until everything was completely submerged. The earth trembled underneath her feet. Strong houses were razed to the ground helplessly by the violent whirlwinds. Wherever Anne went, there would be nothing left except for flattened ground and corpses buried within them.
“Oh-no-no. Really, that is a little too barbaric…”
Unlike Anne, Angelina sauntered by the rear, putting up an elegant smile like a young noble lady taking a stroll in the back garden. Angelina extended her arms and along with this action, blood-like mist escaped the land around her. The mist trembled and struggled constantly as though it were self-willed, before slipping back into the ground. Angelina clapped her hands together. Countless bursts of red lightning erupted from her palms and struck her surroundings. Shortly after, the land ‘flattened’ by Anne earlier rose gradually. One by one, twisted and bloodied creatures crawled out of the soil, their eyes glinting in the scarlet and mysterious hue of death. At the next moment, the creatures stood up, turned around, and staggered toward the front.
“Damn it!”
Gazing at the frantic storm of attacks in the distance, the dark elf mage donned in an elegant robe turned grim. She was one of the reinforcements requested by the fourth family. As a matriarch herself, she was once the eldest daughter of Verna. But according to the ‘traditions’ of the dark elves, after doing her best to live 500 years under Verna, she earned the right to leave the family and establish her own. And now, after close to 500 years of operation and devouring countless smaller families, she successfully raised her family to the top 20 in rank.
Of course, she also set eyes on bringing her family into the top 10. As a matter of fact, there was never a moment every daughter who broke away from the matriarch didn’t stop thinking about expanding her family and eventually dethroning her mother. There was no such thing as ‘kinship’ in the values of the dark elves. If they were able to kill their own mother and take over her position to inherit her power and authority, that would be the highest of all ‘filiality’.
She was also aware that a ‘subordinate-family’ like hers had given their all to reach their current level. If she acted too conspicuously and the council matriarchs realized her intention of entering the top 10, her family would face imminent catastrophe. Perhaps it wouldn’t take long before her family disappeared entirely in a mysterious ‘battle’.
Due to that reason, when she received orders from her mother, she was extremely excited. As a non-council member, she wasn’t aware of the true identity of Rhode’s group. But it was apparent to her that their existence was a dangerous threat to her mother. If not, her mother wouldn’t have allowed her and her younger sister to show up at the same time. However, huge risks also meant huge rewards. If she eliminated the threats, she was certain that she would be rewarded generously by the council!
However, she didn’t expect these people to be so crazy to start a battle inside a city of dark elves. It seemed to her that these people from the surface were dumber than she had imagined. She was certain, confident, and sure about the final destiny of these people.
No one can retreat unscathed after taunting the dignity of us, dark elves. They must pay the price for their foolishness and recklessness. My family shall shoot to fame in this battle and become the rising star of Carlesodar City!
At this thought, the matriarch couldn’t help but feel agitated. All of a sudden, she unsheathed a dagger with six blades and returned to her senses abruptly. She turned around and pierced the mysterious dagger into the chest of the male dark elf guard standing beside her. The dark elf guard didn’t expect this ambush at all. He widened his eyes in bewilderment, staring at his matriarch in fear and wrath. However, the matriarch didn’t say a word. She presented a cruel smile and gripped the hilt of that menacing dagger. Shortly after, along with this action, the specially-modified six blades on that mystifying dagger rotated and dug deeper into his body. Then, she pulled her arm back and a heart dripping in blood could be seen within the six blades. Shortly after, she raised the dagger and chanted loudly. Along with the incantation, the heart was enfolded in a black mist instantly and began to tremble.
“Halt to my attack!”
The matriarch bellowed and swung the dagger forward with force. Along with this action, three sharp, pitch-black claw marks appeared in midair, slashing toward Anne in ear-deafening and disturbing whistles. Nothing, not even her guards, in the paths of the three claw marks were spared as they were shredded by the powerful and mysterious force. Not only that, but the other dark elf private soldiers were also instantly smeared in blood as they collapsed to the ground and howled in torment. At the same time, the three claw marks slammed into Anne’s barrier from the front. Looking at the view, the matriarch revealed a prideful smile. She could almost imagine the state of that disintegrated barrier. This was one of the most sinister spells of the dark elves. It was especially so after sacrificing the lives of other dark elves, where it would be strong enough to destroy anything that stood before it!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The three, pitch-black claw marks collided heavily with Anne’s wind barrier. But what surprised the matriarch was that her imagination didn’t come true. The three claw marks withstood the violent barrier, but failed to rip it apart. On the contrary, even though the wind barrier seemed obviously weakened by her attack, at the next second, strong tempests erupted and thoroughly deflected the claw marks!
“How is that possible?”
Looking at this scene, the matriarch couldn’t believe her eyes. This was one of the strongest and most terrifying of all evil spells. She was certain that not even the matriarch of the first family could resist this spell head-on. But now, not only did this outsider stop her attack, but she was also unharmed?!
Well, that wasn’t surprising since many pieces of shields were hidden inside Anne’s main shield. Among them, the most valuable one was the ‘King’s Protection’ that Rhode extorted from the Country of Light. Before this legendary shield, the effects of any magical spell would be decreased drastically. Not to mention, the ‘King’s Protection’ also had holy attributes, while magical spells of dark elves were products that undoubtedly belonged to the evil camp. Conflicting attributes had inherent weakening effects. In addition to the magical resistance of the King’s Protection, Anne’s wind-elemental barrier, and activated rock skin, not even an all-out attack from a matriarch would be able to hurt her. Apart from stopping Anne’s advancement slightly, there was no other purpose.
“That damn surface pig!”
Looking at this scene, the matriarch couldn’t help but fly into a rage. Even though her attack earlier looked clean and straightforward, as a matter of fact, she had also given serious considerations to it. The male dark elf whom she killed wasn’t just a guard, but was also the spell expert of the family. As the power of spells was proportional to the spiritual power of the sacrifice, the stronger the sacrifice, the more powerful the spell would be. That was why she lay hands on the spell expert to coalesce more power into her spell and deal a deadly blow to the enemy. However, the best laid plans of mice and men often went awry. Not only did her attack fail, but she also suffered a double loss. She lost the spell expert and consumed half of her power, which was utterly foolish!
“Attack! Give them hell!”
The matriarch roared in rage. She extended her arm and pointed ahead. Along with her command, four other female mages clad in the same mage robe and standing on floating dishes began to launch their attacks. They waved the snake whips in their hands and chanted evil incantations. Shortly after, spots of magical light exploded, streaking across the air and flying toward the target. In an instant, magical brilliance scattered and linked together as one.
This time, Anne finally slowed down. Under the suppression of magic, the powerful wind barrier shrunk, tightened, and spun to coalesce into a defensive barrier of higher quality. Looking at this scene, the dark elves became increasingly frantic. The female mages standing on the floating dishes continued to chant a curse, brandished the snake whips to abstract energy from the darkness, and released a string of attacks. Under their attacks, the whirlwind barrier shrouding Anne that was four to five meters tall seemed like a tiny boat struggling to stay afloat in the rough waves. It trembled, curled up, and after a few seconds, was buried entirely in the magical brilliance.
“Good, continue! Kill! Kill them all!”
The matriarch couldn’t help but gnash her teeth. Her face exhibited her emotions—excitement and joy. She gazed at the area enfolded in magical brilliance and couldn’t spot the presence of wind elements. In the bombardment of the dark elves, Anne’s surroundings were blasted into debris, where even the sturdy stalactite pillars shattered and crumbled one after another. Looking at this scene, the matriarch let out an inward sigh of relief as she felt less nervous.
Seems like the enemies are indeed powerful, but it’s a pity that they underestimated the power of us dark elves! They are asking for death to be going against dark elves in Carlesodar City! Now, after I check the state of the battle—…
“…!”
At that moment, the matriarch who had let her guard down suddenly noticed a wave of uproar ahead. She couldn’t help but pucker her brows and glare at her pathetic slaves.
What exactly is going on? How dare those bast*rds stir trouble during such a moment. After the battle ends, I will let them experience the consequences of defying my family!
“Reporting, Matriarch! This is bad!”
At that moment, a dark elf guard scuttled toward her in a fluster, staring at her. His dark face almost turned white out of extreme fear.
“We can’t withstand the attack of the undead creatures!”
“What?!”
The matriarch was taken aback. At the next moment, a chilliness erupted deep down in her heart without any warnings, instantly engulfing her entire body.
Undead creatures were considered the nemesis of dark elves. The latter was most adept at poison, sinister spells, and assassination. All these methods were deadly on mortals, but it was an entirely different matter on undead creatures. Undead creatures weren’t afraid of the dark elves’ poison. Moreover, not only could the evil magical spells of dark elves not eradicate the presence of undead creatures, but it would also strengthen them instead. As for assassinations—hahaha, if the dark elves were capable of killing an undead creature, one would surely be there to pay one’s respect.
Due to that reason, dark elves basically couldn’t lift their heads before undead creatures because their proudest skills were useless against them. When the matriarch learned that they were ambushed by undead creatures, she immediately froze to the spot. All of a sudden, she felt like something was amiss. But it was a pity that it was too late.
Innumerable dark figures staggered across the battlefield. These intelligent creatures who walked on two feet lost their original form and turned into wild animals on all fours. Their skin glowing in the luster of life turned ashen, while their soft flesh hardened. They moved in broken bodies that shouldn’t have been able to support their movements. The power of the undead imprisoned their souls, seized their bodies, and gave them a new purpose and lease of life.
Slaughter and death.
Swish—!
A dark elf brandished his sword. His stance was so splendid and vicious that the blade, smeared with poison, smoothly punctured the eye of a duergar. Normally, this attack would have been sufficient to kill the victim. But now, the brain-punctured duergar didn’t fall to the ground. On the contrary, it snarled and pounced on the attacker. It hugged and crunched the dark elf’s upper thigh to stop his retreat.
“Ahhhhh!”
Upon feeling a tremendous pain, the dark elf let out a distressing scream. He withdrew his sword and forced the duergar away from him. But at that moment, four to five other duergars crowded and pounced him onto the ground. Then, after the disturbing sound of those creatures tearing at him that left one’s hair standing on end, the dark elf stopped struggling. After a few moments, the undead duergars with blood and flesh hanging from their mouths stood up and stumbled ahead. But this time, there was a fresh voice among them.
“Retreat immediately! Seal off the entire camp!”
Upon realizing the dangers, the matriarch instantly decided to retreat. Along with her snarls, the floating dish underneath her feet turned around and flew back toward the stalactite pillars at the rear. After hearing her command, the dark elves swiftly prepared themselves for evacuation. They berated, urged, and sent their slaves to their death, while earning themselves a chance to escape. With the opportunity, they dashed toward their family camp.
But suddenly, a violent blast exploded.
Boom!
Green, elemental winds broke the bombardment of magical spells as they rose from the ground and into the air. In an instant, the entire city shook. The dome trembled in the fierce bombardment and pieces of gravel fell from time to time. Some dark elves who couldn’t evade in time were crushed to death by heavier boulders that landed from above. The massive airwaves sent many dark elves rolling on the ground. At that moment, the matriarch turned around and hurriedly glanced at the situation.
Then, she witnessed a scene that she could never forget.
An enormous, translucent white wolf, two to three meters tall and emanating elemental brilliance, appeared before her very eyes.
