After killing all the snake people, the journey became much more monotonous. No unexpected enemies appeared, and Levi and his team returned to the Beastmaster Castle smoothly.
After not seeing it for a few days, there have been significant changes here. Generally speaking, various defense facilities have been further strengthened, and the number of God's Chosen Heroes coming and going has also increased.
Even the sharp-eyed Levi noticed that a few guys had run away on the eve of victory in the previous Battle of Black Castle, but now they appeared at the forefront of the battle against the greenskins.
Although Levi was somewhat contemptuous of them, their arrival did strengthen his own strength, and they might even be more reliable than ordinary God-chosen heroes.
Because of the lessons learned from the last time, if these guys make the same mistakes again the next time they face a strong enemy or a tough battle, it would be too embarrassing. They will be nailed directly to the pillar of shame and their accounts can be deleted directly.
When they saw Levi's troops, they were somewhat surprised and surprised. They were not surprised at the overall size, but more surprised at the proportion of night elves in his troops.
As a race that has only recently been introduced to the public, it is extremely difficult to gain reputation with the Night Elves, as they have almost no demands and no quests to take.
But now they see so many night elves appearing in the teams of other God-chosen heroes. Doesn’t this mean that they have been left far behind?
But when they saw Levi, they were relieved. If it was him, then it would be understandable. He had been particularly active in many recent wars.
Levi also noticed that their troops were stronger than before. Now, basically all the first batch of God-chosen heroes who entered have their own heroes under their command.
Those who are stronger or luckier may have more than one hero, but their race and strength cannot be fully guaranteed.
Levi has seen more than once that heroes of other races such as humans, dwarves, halflings, and even ogres appear very abruptly among a large number of elf troops.
But on second thought, apart from the blank hero Rowan who was thrown into Blood of Glory by him, there seemed to be no heroes from the elves under his command. It was indeed not easy to recruit the most suitable subordinates.
After officially entering the Beastmaster Castle, Levi discovered that there were even greater changes here. The most obvious one was that there were many more types of elven troops that appeared. Judging from the emblems and symbols on their bodies, they were probably reinforcements from a dozen different temples or kingdoms.
Black Castle and Ashridge Town should have also sent reinforcements. High-level soldiers such as the Swordmaster of Hoeth, Phoenix Guard, Sisters of Avalon, etc. can be seen occasionally, but what attracted his attention most were some winged elves.
Compared to ordinary high elves, they are generally more slender, with a pair of huge wings behind them, usually white, but occasionally black or brown.
If you ignore their pointed ears, many winged elves look no different from angels at first glance.
However, the colors at the ends of their wings are messy, even more complicated than the colors of the rainbow. With his previous experience of the drow elves dyeing their hair, Levi felt that these colors were most likely dyed by themselves.
However, looking at their thin armor and the fact that they generally used short swords and longbows as weapons, Levi believed that their fighting power should still be inferior to angels of the same level. There was no other reason, it was just that they might not be able to withstand a beating.
But Levi didn't think it was a big problem. He had his own military commander position to support him. Even if it was only reduced by half, it could slightly improve their survivability. If there was a chance, he could try to recruit some.
While thinking about these things as he moved forward, just when Levi was about to go directly to the council hall to find Michaela and Reiner, he happened to meet Master and his group from the Temple of Offa.
When Levi saw their sad and absent-minded looks, and that they didn't even notice his arrival, he couldn't help but feel curious.
Just along the way, almost all the chosen heroes had smiles on their faces. Judging from their equipment and the number of troops, they should have reaped a lot in the battle against the greenskins.
But why did Master and the others have this expression? Did they lose a battle?
So he took the initiative to greet the other party, and Master and others woke up from their dreams. They all forced a smile: "Ah, Levi, you are back? Is everything going well?"
Although he didn't know Levi's real purpose of going to the Underdark, he did roughly know where Levi was going.
Li Wei smiled and said, "Although the original goal was not achieved, there were still some gains."
At first, he wanted to invite Alduin to fight against the orc warrior, Mogro the Monster Eater, and try to obtain the gem ring in the other party's hand. Although Alduin did not come, he really gained a lot in other aspects.
Master managed to adjust his mood: "Ah, congratulations."
Levi raised his eyebrows and looked at him and the many mages behind him who looked like eggplants hit by frost: "What's wrong? What problems have you encountered?"
Master opened his mouth, as if he was hesitant to speak, but in the end he decided to tell the truth.
"Something went wrong with our golem."
Levi was a little confused. What could go wrong with the golems? They were essentially just tools of war. As long as there were enough magic crystals to provide energy for their actions, they didn't even have to worry about morale issues.
Moreover, Master and his companions have become self-taught. Not only can they repair damaged golems by themselves, they are now able to manufacture level 2 clay golems and level 3 sandstone golems on a small scale. They are currently working towards making stronger metal golems and granite golems.
What troubles many God-chosen heroes now is no longer simply a matter of money, but a problem of insufficient manpower. Many people often cannot recruit enough troops even if they have money.
But as long as there are enough materials, the Temple of Arcane will not even have to worry about the problem of manpower. Why do they still have this expression?
Master gritted his teeth and said, "Levi, you don't know that high-level golems are not only about the materials needed to make them, but more importantly, they are about consciousness, wisdom, and soul!"
It is precisely because of their serious lack of intelligence that golems often have very good panel data, but actually perform less than satisfactory in combat.
Even with the chosen heroes constantly issuing orders, they often appear very clumsy in battle.
Ultimately, it is because they are just puppets with almost no self-awareness.
As their strength increased, Master and his companions gradually found a way to improve this aspect, which was to use the souls of other intelligent creatures.
But playing with souls has always been a taboo for all lawful and kind races, and even for the gods themselves.
Killing the body alone may be out of helplessness, but manipulating the soul is a truly heinous crime, which is equivalent to directly depriving mortals of the possibility of returning to the Temple of the Gods.
This is why the undead, demons, devils, etc. are so hated.
Once Master and his men try to attack from this direction, their camp will fall hopelessly into evil and be condemned by everyone.
It is said that there was once a powerful force composed of many wizards who specialized in creating golems. However, because they attacked souls and violated the realm of the gods, they were directly besieged and destroyed by many forces in the blink of an eye.
It is precisely because of their destruction that many technologies for making golems, gargoyles, etc. have become widely spread in the main world.
But if they don't use souls, their golems will stop at level 3, and even granite golems will be almost impossible to successfully create. This is tantamount to directly and completely denying their development direction. How can they not be troubled by this ?
With their foundation, they can still hold on for now, but it will become increasingly difficult as time goes on.
You have to know that in order to drive the army of golems, many of their people's expertise, magic, equipment, etc. were chosen accordingly, in order to maximize the power of the golem army.
If they want to change now, it is not completely impossible, but the cost will be very huge, and when they make changes, they will definitely be surpassed by others.
With all these things happening, it's no wonder that they look so sad.
After listening to Master's series of complaints, Levi couldn't help but grin. He really didn't understand this. If he were in Master's shoes, he would probably have a headache too.
Fortunately, by now, he is no longer particularly dependent on external objects. Even if he does not have summoned creatures or a large army, with his own magic, as well as Donna, Cindy, Elegy and others, they can still exert quite good combat effectiveness.
After thinking for a while, Levi came up with a new idea: "Have you ever thought about going to the Zhendan Dynasty? The terracotta warriors there are much more powerful than ordinary granite golems, or consider the Tomb King?"
If we talk about the most famous constructs, the first one is the Zhendan Dynasty, and the second one is the Tomb Kings.
It is said that at regular intervals in the Changyuan of the Zhendan Dynasty, there are huge terracotta warriors as guards. They usually serve as city walls, but when needed, they become the most powerful weapons of war.
There are also eighteen bronze men in its capital, Weijing, which are said to be made by the Zhendan Dragon Gods themselves. They are much stronger than the Granite Golems in terms of strength and prestige, and are nicknamed "Zhendan Gundam" by many gods' chosen heroes.
Next is the Tomb Kings. They have even more types of constructs, not just limited to humanoids. There are also scorpions, scarabs, big cats and the like.
Compared to ordinary golems, their intelligence is much higher, because it is said that they let the souls of warriors descend into the inside of the constructs and control them like a mecha.
Master sighed, "We have thought about it, but how could they easily pass on such precious knowledge to us foreigners?"
"Besides, the journey is too long. Even if it is the relatively close Zhendan, we still need to defeat the entire Ogre Kingdom before we can reach it."
Li Wei smiled and said, "Since you find it difficult, why not just come to me? With my strength, I will definitely not treat you unfairly."
There are some members with good qualities in War Heaven, but he has never managed the guild. Except for Qian Thief who has a good relationship with him, those people are basically closer to the Sun Knights or Lightforgers. He is too lazy to train his younger brothers from scratch, so he might as well recruit a ready-made one.
The God-chosen heroes and the indigenous people each have their own advantages and disadvantages. It would be best if we could do both at the same time.
And as they got to know each other over this period of time, he felt that Master had a very similar personality to his own, and the mages he recruited were also quite similar to him, so overall they were very compatible.
"Forget it, I'm already in such a miserable state, stop joking..."
Master subconsciously wanted to refuse, but looking at Levi's expression, he suddenly realized: "Wait, are you serious?"
Levi did not comment: "At least, I give you one more choice."
By now, he has almost understood Master's personality and abilities. He certainly has many advantages, but in Levi's opinion, he is not particularly qualified to be the president.
The situation is similar for the vice presidents under him. They focus more of their energy on studying magic and making golems. They don't seem to have any long-term plans for the future development direction of the guild.
If you really want to use the golem for a long time, you must at least obtain a stable source of materials, such as mines and elemental channels, right?
They only knew to use golems as the main force, the elves' troops as the auxiliary force, and their magic as the output. This was at best just a battle plan, and it couldn't be considered a real long-term plan!
Master thought about it, and finally shook his head firmly: "Sorry, Levi, this guild is not only my temporary interest, but also the joint efforts of all of us."
As the guild continued to develop, he did feel tired and inadequate. He also knew that with Levi's character, once he chose to agree , he would never treat himself unfairly.
There is even a high probability that he will still put everyone under his command. He will only be responsible for guiding the key directions and gathering everyone to fight together when necessary.
But it’s been less than half a month since the guild was formed. If he gives up so easily, it would be too embarrassing for him!
Levi chuckled: "Of course, you don't have to rush. You haven't seen my true power yet."
It is indeed almost impossible to take over the entire Arcane Temple now, but if his plan can be implemented smoothly, the gap between him and the opponent will only get bigger and bigger.
The dozens of mages of the Arcane Temple can be settled by conquering a few villages. As for the issue of military forces, Sobek also has those special constructs under his command!
Of course, if Master really disagrees, it wouldn't be a big deal.
Now he almost understood that the level of ordinary God-chosen heroes was basically equivalent to that of green-quality indigenous heroes. Stronger heroes like Donna, Elegy, Alduin, etc. could beat several of them alone.
Not to mention the stronger Reiner and Mikaela. Even if they reach the same level, it is almost impossible for ordinary God-chosen heroes to compare with them.
If I can't recruit Master and the others, then I will have to focus more on the indigenous people.
For example, Zhou Miyin and Cindy, once they grow up to be heroes, they will definitely be much stronger than ordinary God-chosen heroes.
Master's eyes widened instantly. He immediately realized that there was something else behind Levi's words. The most likely possibility was that Levi's trip to the Underdark this time would bring him much greater gains than he expected!
He confirmed again: “Levi, are you really not kidding?”
Levi smiled and said, "It depends on your attitude."
If Master didn't agree, it would be just a joke, but if he agreed...
Before Master could say anything, a general in full armor came over and asked, "Hey, why are you all blocking the door and not going in?"
Master could only hold back what he was saying, but he had to admit that he did have some thoughts on this, because being the guild president was too difficult and tiring, and it was completely different from what he had imagined before!
Levi immediately apologized: "Reiner, something unexpected happened and I was unable to invite that reinforcement."
Reiner waved his hand and said, "It's okay. We don't need him that much right now. The Kingdom of Charis has sent several rank 6 Celestial Lion Knights. The Kingdom of Iris has also sent a team of Gavin Knights, which includes several Giant Eagle Knights and Griffin Knights."
"If that arrogant greenskin dares to fight alone in the air next time, that will be his death. If he fights on the ground, my spear is no pushover either."
Levi smiled, not feeling the slightest bit surprised. Just as he had said before, as a proud high elf, how could he possibly rely entirely on reinforcements from foreign races?
At Reiner's invitation, Levi and Master came in one after another, but his vice presidents did not have the same treatment and could only do what they were supposed to do.
Their identities were not important to Reiner. What really mattered to him was military rank, reputation, and even legendary status, etc. They were not qualified yet.
Then they all saw Michaela discussing something with several unfamiliar faces, pointing at the battle map on the wall. It should be about the next battle plan.
Seeing Levi and the others coming, Michaela didn't care too much. She just nodded slightly, motioning them to listen together first.
Soon Levi also realized that although he was not here these days, the offensive of the high elves was not affected at all.
With the brave fighting of a large number of God's chosen heroes, they not only regained all the lost territories, but also captured dozens of villages and gathering places of the greenskins in succession. Many God's chosen heroes stood out in this process.
Although the greenskins tried to launch a counterattack, except for Mogro the Demon Eater, who achieved certain results by relying on his own powerful strength, almost all the others, whether they were the natives or the chosen heroes, ended in failure.
Even the previously powerful Beast Blood Boiling Guild, after several attempts, failed to gain any advantage and instead suffered heavy casualties.
It can be seen that under the harassment of demons and ratmen, the greenskins have been distracted too much and it is difficult for them to compete with their own side on the front battlefield.
Now the entire battle line has advanced to the vicinity of Zhuguan Town, but it will be difficult to make new progress from now on.
On the one hand, it was because their supply lines were too long and easily attacked, and on the other hand, it was also because of the special geographical environment of Zhuguan Town.
It is difficult for our side to attack that swamp as it is too large to completely surround it, so the greenskins can rely on the geography to attack from all sides.
They have lived there for generations and are much more familiar with and adaptable to the terrain than our side. In addition, they also have some special soldiers with swamp adaptability skills, which further widens the gap.
So unless this problem is solved, the current situation is almost the best possible situation.
After all, it is because we do not have an absolute advantage in strength.
The God-chosen heroes and indigenous people of Zhuguan Town together have at least tens of thousands of troops. Our overall military strength is several times more than that, but we can't just sit there blocking the door all day, right?
Therefore, several indigenous people said that the many chosen heroes should first guard the villages at hand, and then slowly confront each other. After the greenskins and demons were both defeated, they would find a way to deal with them.
But Michaela felt that such a rare opportunity would be a waste if they only captured some villages, which would only be considered as a barely revenge.
After the threat from the demons has subsided, the dark elves across the sea might declare war on us again.
Compared to the greenskins, those evil and cruel blood relatives are the real threat.
Even Levi agreed with this point. The dark elves were truly lawful evil. They were very methodical in doing things, not to mention that the other side had legendary heroes leading them. The threat they posed was definitely not something the Red Cloud Tribe could match.
After a fruitless discussion, Michaela couldn't help but turn her gaze to Levi: "Levi, do you have any suggestions?"
Li Wei thought for a moment and said, "Since we are temporarily blocked here, how about changing direction and marching by sea?"
"You mean Broken Bay?" Mikaela glanced at Reiner beside her, "You two are on the same page in this regard."
When Levi heard Michaela's words, he knew that she must think that this method was not appropriate.
Without Levi asking, she continued, "But it's difficult to get supplies by sea. Our navy is currently busy fighting the Shahua fishmen. There are also some pirates wreaking havoc in that direction recently. I'm afraid I'll be in some danger."
Battles at sea are completely different from those on land. The battles there are more three-dimensional. In addition to the ground on the water and in the sky, you also need to be alert to enemies emerging from underwater at all times.
Once a ship is damaged, all the troops on board will die unless they have the ability to swim or fly.
"Sahuagin? Weren't they beaten back by the sea elves before?"
"Indeed, but we have recently confirmed that they are cooperating with the undead, and Umberlee from the Furious Gods has teamed up with Secora, the God of the Sahuagin Fishmen. Although she currently seems to have no intention of becoming an enemy of His Highness Deep Sea Sashela, this still involves a lot of energy."
After listening to it, Levi also felt a little headache.
The Furious Gods are a collective term for a number of human gods. Their common characteristics are that they are extremely violent and their camp is basically chaotic evil.
This Amber is the goddess who controls the oceans and ocean storms. It can be said that few people who sail on the water can ignore her.
Since most aquatic races have their own racial gods and do not believe in her, her belief in her actually comes mainly from intimidating sailors on the sea and citizens of coastal cities and island nations.
In this way, we can imagine how she would behave under normal circumstances. Now that she has encountered such a thing, it is only natural for her to take the opportunity to spread fear.
The Shahua people normally inflict fear on other aquatic races. To some extent, this goddess and the God of the Shahua people can be said to be birds of a feather.
Under normal circumstances, there are many other gods among the elven gods who can rival her besides Deep Sea Sashela, but in addition to the Queen of the Sea, she has several other well-known titles.
That's the bitch queen, the whore queen, or the shrew queen.
As a god of medium power, yet with such a nickname, one can imagine the impression she leaves on gods and mortals.
Just like the other members of the Furious Gods, it's not that they cannot be provoked, but once they really get into a hostile state, the other side will use any means. It is even not impossible for her to directly drive the sea water to flood all the coastal villages of the colony.
Whether she would be beaten up by the elven gods afterwards is another matter, but the elves’ losses would definitely not be small.
It is precisely because the Furious Gods have always had no bottom line in doing things, and they have made many enemies in the chaotic evil camp, but they can still live peacefully to this day. After all, normal people don't want to be enemies with lunatics, especially some lunatics with considerable strength.
Although according to Michaela, Amberlee seems to have no intention of being an enemy of them now, she is a deity of the chaotic evil camp, and her biggest characteristic is that she is capricious and does not keep her promises.
For the sake of interests or simply because of her mood, she can change the promise she just made at will. Of course, what she said cannot be believed, and her gods and elves must be fully prepared for this.
"Then just issue the mission to the chosen heroes and let them figure it out on their own. As long as the reward is high, I believe many elves will be willing to go."
Michaela thought about it carefully and felt that this was the only solution.
As the battle situation continues to change, the greenskins now retreat to the Swineherd's Town and its rear. Except for those chosen heroes who have successfully captured the enemy's village, the other chosen heroes have nothing to do.
It's a good opportunity to find them a task. No matter what means they use, as long as they succeed, we will definitely not be stingy with the reward.
However, she did not make this decision immediately. On the one hand, the specific details needed to be further improved, and she also needed to determine with Princess Belinda the rewards after success.
More importantly, as soon as she saw Levi's expression, she knew that perhaps he had not successfully invited the Bronze Dragonborn back, but he must have gained a lot in other aspects.
Noticing the other party's eyes, Levi did not hide anything: "Yes, I do have some information to share with you, about bugbears, snakemen, vampires, and lizardmen, etc."
"Also, do any of you know the name 'Zehir'?"
Reiner and Michaela, who were a little excited when they heard about the bugbears, looked at each other and saw the confusion in each other's eyes.
The other few, who might be natives from other temples or Black Castle, were also completely confused.
"Is he a strong man from the snake people?"
"Or the bugbear's?"
"There shouldn't be such a name among vampires."
However, Master, who was not expected by Levi, unexpectedly provided a little information: "I seem to have heard from a friend of mine from the Tomb King faction that it might be a name once used by a god in the Mulhorand pantheon."
"But we were just chatting at the time, so I don't know exactly who it was. How about I ask him to find out later?"
This answer was beyond Levi's expectations. It turned out to be from the pantheon of the giant crocodile Sobek?
After quickly recalling all the snake-related gods in their pantheon, Levi couldn't help but twitch his mouth. He felt that there was probably no need to ask about Master.
Could this so-called "Zehir" be Set's vest?
Set has many titles such as Lord of Carrion, Father of Jackals, God of the Desert and Brother of the Giant Serpent. He is also the only god in their pantheon who is related to snakes.
Could it be that he is trying to steal the faith of the snake god, Melshok, in the heart of Horus?
Well, it seems that someone mentioned on the forum before that Set is the only god among many pantheons who is more capable than his own king of gods.
His elder brother, Osiris, the current king of gods, is the god of the dead and agriculture, and his godhood is 11.
His younger brother's godhood is 12, and many of his duties are related to combat, including a crucial duty - the desert.
As we all know, almost all of their believers live in the desert, which gives him a lot of power of faith.
Now it seems that Seth is no longer satisfied with those, and he begins to try to expand new beliefs.
It seems understandable why these snake people would travel all the way to the dark area under this land.
Since it was theft, he certainly didn't dare to confront it head-on for the time being, so of course he would just grab it and run away.
In this case, I might have offended the other party unknowingly after just killing so many snake people so quickly and efficiently.
Even though there are only a few hundred snakemen, you have to know that the original Moonbow Goddess, who failed to spread the faith among the night elves, had such weak divine power that she might only have a few thousand devout believers.
There is no way. There are hundreds of gods among the multiple races in the main world. The competition for believers and beliefs is extremely fierce.
To be specific, he may need to find the big crocodile to confirm. As the only two evil gods in the pantheon, Set is lawful evil and the big crocodile is neutral evil. They must be relatively familiar with each other.
But if they really offended each other, there was nothing they could do. There was no one kind among the snake people. They were born to conflict with the high elves, so fighting was inevitable.
However, even if he really offended the other party, Levi was not particularly worried for the time being.
Not to mention that the main sphere of influence of the Serpent God Set and his pantheon is far away from here, and he is in the lawful evil camp and is not welcome in his own pantheon, which is basically equivalent to a lonely man.
As long as he can continue to receive the protection of the two goddesses, Moonbow and Lilith, Seth will never easily cause trouble for himself.
Although the elven pantheon has almost occupied all nine camps, they are still very united when facing the invasion of foreign enemies. What happened in the colony this time is enough to explain everything.
More importantly, Set was a thief of faith in the first place. If the truth were to be exposed, what he should worry about more is that another snake god, Mershok, would cause trouble for him!