Chapter 671: Vol V Chapter 31
In Baron Dahl’s battle plan, the tribal chief and the Gnome Shaman posed the greatest risk in this tribe of gnomes. These two fellows were not only outstanding in their martial power, but they were also even more outstanding as leaders and auxiliary soldiers. With their leaders.h.i.+p, even ordinary gnomes would see a great boost in strength. Those that were not weak to start with, like the gnome hunters, gnome warriors and gnome archers, would experience a further increase in strength. They would become so powerful to the point where normal soldiers would not be their match at all.
Of course, Baron Dahl would also have men who could command as leaders and serve as auxiliary soldiers. But their “professional” ability was much weaker than that of the tribal chief and the Gnome Shaman.
Firstly, these two mid-ranked magic beasts were indeed quite powerful. Secondly, their auxiliary abilities were almost exclusively directed at the gnomes, or even completely directed at this tribe of gnomes. The greater limitation in turn brought more power.
Compared to Baron Dahl’s men, who were so skillful that they could perform well at using auxiliary power regardless of who they were cooperating with, the auxiliary effect was of course, much stronger.
Under normal circ.u.mstances, gnomes would never be able to beat healthy and strong humans. But with the help of the tribal chief and the Shaman, it was hard to say. Furthermore, even if they could win, it did not mean that they would not suffer any losses.
If it were not for the clergymen from the Church of the Void Mask, it was likely that no matter what, this war would end up with some dead and some wounded.
Seeing the crowd from the Church of the Void Mask pitting themselves up against the gnome tribal chief and Shaman, Baron Dahl nodded and exhorted the mages and knights around him to get ready to provide support anytime.
Although he abhorred these clergymen who hindered his authority, he was still able to weigh the advantages against the risks.
Even if it was a contradiction, he still had to wait until all these magic beasts were exterminated, and then after, he could make a triumphant return to Dahl City.
In this world, there were indeed simpletons who in the face of formidable enemies could still busy themselves with infighting, even going to the extent of roping in external enemies to tackle their fellow colleagues. But Baron Dahl was not such a character.
Indeed, no good men came from the Dahl family, but neither were they fools.
Just as the various masters of the clean-up army had readies themselves, the tribal chief was the first to make a move.
Instead of a direct attack, it let out a strange roar, and then its body glowed with a flouris.h.i.+ng green light.
In an instant, the green light dispersed. This fellow, who originally sported quite a big build, suddenly grew many times bigger and became a giant.
“Giant Growth?!” exclaimed that mage beside Baron Dahl in surprise. “How could it become so big?”
This was a question that also popped up in everyone else’s minds—Giant Growth was not a rare spell. Most of the masters present had seen it before. But by right, the spell would at most double the body size of the user. Given the size of the gnome tribal chief, if its size was doubled, it would at most be taller than that burly and bearlike Sacred Warrior by one or two heads. How was it possible for it to directly become a giant?!
Judging by its current height, it was most likely even taller than the roof of a common two-story building. Standing before it, that Sacred Warrior, who was already considered to be a towering figure among the normal people, did not even make it to its waist level!
“Don’t get distracted!” roared the old priest, whose hair was already half-white. His shout woke the crowd from their state of shock. “Focus on the fight! We can’t fight recklessly!”
As he spoke, the Gnome Shaman had already made a move. It took out a fresh, b.l.o.o.d.y bone and chewed on it a few times in its mouth. It was unknown where such a strong occlusal force came from, but the Shaman simply bit this piece of bone into dregs and then, spurted everything out in one breath.
These bone dregs that were mixed with blood were reduced to a blood cloud the moment they were spurted out and covered a large area around them. The eyes of many gnomes engulfed by this blood cloud turned red while their muscles obviously became one size bigger. They were even exuding a ghastly murderous intent. In particular, the murderous intent coming from the gnome tribal chief was the strongest. Those professional soldiers did not even dare to get close to it while the archers did not dare to shoot at it.
This was a spell that everyone could recognize at first glance. It was Bloodl.u.s.t, one of the most common spells that the Shaman used.
This spell could magnify the strength of its subject, give it a boisterous fighting spirit and even reduce agony in times of injury. It was indeed very practical.
But because of this, mages who knew how to crack this spell were everywhere.
That middle-aged mage next to Baron Dahl had been keeping a close watch over that Gnome Shaman. When he saw it putting the bone into its mouth to chew, he had already figured out which spells it was most likely to use and had prepared himself well. At the very moment when that blood cloud appeared, he put away a few things, leaving only a small silver bottle of high-purity holy water.
Chanting a spell repeatedly under his breath, the mage splashed the holy water in that silver bottle into the air suddenly. The holy water splattered but did not fall to the ground. In the air, it became a thin white fog that flew rapidly in the direction of the Gnome Shaman.
This white fog seemed powerless at first glance, yet when the gnomes came into contact with it, their eyes would immediately show signs of sobriety, the bloodthirsty red light would fade, and their muscles would regain normality.
This was the typical confrontation in a spellcasters’ battlefield. In just a few seconds, both sides would have fought a round.
And for this round of crossfire, the middle-aged mage had the upper hand.
The Gnome Shaman obviously had not expected to be caught in such a situation. The great shock caused it to freeze for a short moment. Then it hesitated for a short moment before it was awakened by the intense fighting nearby. Hurriedly, it began to prepare for the next spell.
By this time, the clergymen were well into a battle with the gnome tribal chief.
These seasoned combat experts certainly would not fight recklessly against the gnome tribal chief, who had transformed into a giant. They spread out in all directions and kept it surrounded within their circle.
They used 70 to 80 percent of their full Zen Power, which allowed their pace to increase rapidly. And they were constantly changing positions, looking as though they were on a huge carousel.
They had specifically trained themselves in using this battle array for the purpose of besieging magic beasts of such enormity. This cla.s.s of magic beasts usually possessed immense power and moved at quite a fast speed. Their vitality was so tenacious that it was terrifying. Common bows and arrows were unable to cause them significant injuries, while mid and low-level spells would not be able to help much. Basically, all their opponents could depend on was close combat. So while it was dangerous to take them on in close combat, there was also no other option. The only thing that could be done was to perspire more through hard work on normal days in order to avoid bloodshed during war time.
The Sacred Warriors from the Church of the Void Mask usually perspired more than enough, so this time around, they finally reaped good results. Despite the gnome tribal chief’s roars and successive attacks, it was unable to hit the same Sacred Warrior twice in a row. And although the Sacred Warriors were much weaker than the tribal chief, so long as they could put up some resistance, they were still able to pull through.
On the contrary, the gnome tribal chief suffered quite a fair amount of loss. At the beginning, it was simply striking randomly. But after a while, it realized that the situation was not right, so it set its target to be that burliest Sacred Warrior. As it roared and spun, it strived to strike this Sacred Warrior as viciously as it could as though it could not wait to mince him up into a meatloaf. However, the outcome not only failed to produce its desired effect, it was left with dizzy from all that spinning instead.
Being big had its advantages and disadvantages. The gnome tribal chief was clearly not very accustomed to such a giant form; its reaction speed was obviously a little slower and the degree of accuracy of its attacks also became quite a problem. If it were to continue fighting like this, no matter how hard it tried, it would not be able to last long…