Volume 3 Takeoff Chapter 280: Marching into the Haunted Town
With the departure of many God-chosen heroes such as the Sun Knight, the number of the large army was rapidly reduced. Perhaps because their military ranks were high enough and their relationships with Michaela were good, some mages such as Master and Suifeng also stayed.
Not to mention Levi. Michaela treats him differently from other God-chosen heroes. Now she basically thinks of him whenever something good happens, and shares a lot of information with him.
However, Master gradually became confused, because with the addition of the indigenous troops, their main force now has about five or six thousand people.
With so many people gathered together, this might not be a simple raid on a small village, right?
So after eliminating all the impossibilities, whatever remains, no matter how incredible it is, is the fact.
He couldn't help but asked with a little excitement: "Levi, are we going to attack the haunted town now?"
Levi chuckled. There was no need to hide anything now. "Yes, I guess Michaela will explain the situation to everyone later."
Master suddenly became more excited, but he couldn't help frowning: "Do we have enough troops? It's just a town after all."
He was a little confused about Michaela's operation. If the purpose was to attack the town, why disperse the troops?
Although Levi also thought so, that a lion would use all its strength to fight a rabbit, but since Michaela made such a decision, she must have her reasons.
I guess she was worried that there would be greenskin reinforcements coming from other directions to interfere, so she sent those chosen heroes out to attract attention.
This is not completely impossible. It is said that the boiling blood of beasts drove away all the green-skinned native defenders who were originally entrenched here. So when they noticed the battle happening here, it is indeed possible that they would take advantage of the situation to rob. Michaela was well prepared.
So Levi explained a little: "It doesn't matter. The haunted town is different from other towns. It is already in a semi-abandoned state and its defense is very weak. Our strength is enough."
There was no need for him to tell the information about the bear goblins now. After all, the other party would understand it after a while.
Seeing that Levi seemed to be a little worried, Master knew that he must have something else to say, but since Levi didn't want to say it for the time being, he wouldn't be stupid enough to dig into it.
Anyway, just follow Levi for now. If the enemy's resistance is strong, the worst that can happen is that he won't do any work. He is very good at slacking off.
After walking for a while, when the shape of a small town appeared in the distance, the other chosen heroes of God understood something more or less, and they all became excited.
I thought we were here to get some free money from the indigenous people, but now it seems that they are not just here to drink the soup, they may also come to eat the meat!
Michaela immediately ordered the troops to slow down and prepare to take a short rest in the open space several miles in front of the town to replenish supplies and strength, etc., in order to prepare for the next battle. At the same time, she was also waiting for that special moment to come.
At this point, she no longer hid her intentions and officially issued the mission to all God's chosen heroes to attack the haunted town.
Levi also took the opportunity to take a look at the defense facilities of the haunted town.
You know what, it's really bad. I thought the defense facilities of Zhuguan Town were relatively poor among many towns, but I didn't expect there would be worse ones here.
Except for some arrow towers that are still intact, the whole town exudes an air of desolation from the inside out.
The city wall was originally only three or four meters high and had fallen into disrepair after years of neglect. Huge holes could be seen almost everywhere. Given this, except for level 2 spearmen who found it difficult to climb up, ordinary level 2 rangers could easily cross it, right?
Combined with the information that Michaela knew, it was no wonder that she dared to attack with only such a small number of troops and her own chosen heroes, because this siege would not be too difficult no matter how you looked at it.
Previously in Swineherd Town, the crocodile people and giant crocodiles under Sobek's command failed to break through the town's fortifications in one fell swoop, and Michaela had to help.
But if it was the haunted town in front of them, Levi had no doubt that they would be able to easily break through it in minutes.
However, the greenskins inside should have discovered their advance long ago, so at this moment the city walls were densely packed with bear goblins, with no end in sight, and Levi was not sure how many there were for a moment.
He knew very well that this must be the majority of the blood-boiling fortune, after all, the greenskin natives had no channels to recruit the bugbears.
It’s true, these big guys who look like a cross between goblins and grizzly bears can be quite oppressive when their numbers increase.
Unfortunately, the bear goblins have never been good at long-range attacks. They mostly use heavy weapons such as sticks or maces. Now the distance between the two sides is so far, even if they are resting, they can only stare blankly.
But at this moment, accompanied by a series of shrill screams and flapping wings, a large group of harpies rose up in the haunted town.
Without any hesitation, they flew straight towards the Skyslayer airship in mid-air. The greenskins actually took the initiative to attack them!
Levi was immediately shocked, because at a rough glance, the number of the opponents was nearly two thousand. Although the average strength of the harpies was very weak, their number reached this level, which could be considered a considerable threat.
Moreover, they seized the opportunity so cleverly, obviously they had been closely observing their own movements through some special method.
In addition to the harpies, there are hundreds of gray-white soldiers that look a bit like demons or giant bats. They are gargoyles.
Gargoyles can be roughly divided into two types: one is a mechanical, movable statue, and the other is some kind of living creature.
Levi is not sure what category these guys belong to for the time being, but he knows that they all have both physical and magical resistance, and are among the more durable ones among the level 2-3 troops.
Next is the Dapeng, one of the greenskins’ signature soldiers, who is over half a hundred strong.
The Dapeng themselves do not have any special abilities. Their greatest feature is that their basic attributes are very balanced and excellent, without any obvious weaknesses. Even if they fall to the ground, they can still fight for several rounds with infantry-type soldiers of the same level 4.
But the real threat was in front of them, nearly twenty monsters five or six meters long, with the bodies of lions, strong bat wings, and long scorpion tails behind their butts.
They are the 5th-level flying soldiers - Scorpion Tailed Lions. In addition to their powerful attack power, their claws and scorpion tails are also highly poisonous.
It is said that its advanced unit, the Level 6 Poisonous Scorpion Tailed Lion, can release a special toxin that has a chance of paralyzing the enemy. In addition, they are a flying unit, making them a very difficult enemy.
As soon as he saw them appear, Levi knew that there might still be something wrong with Michaela's intelligence. It was very likely that last night, Beast Blood Boiling had sent further reinforcements to the haunted town.
Originally, Michaela thought that there were only bear goblins among them. Once that condition was triggered, the strength of the defenders would be greatly weakened.
But now it seems that some new changes have taken place.
Michaela also frowned, but she immediately ordered the troops to prepare for the attack. Even if an accident occurred, it was still under her control at the moment.
Levi also gave orders to the people on the Sky Slasher. At the same time, he felt that the battle griffin under his crotch was slightly agitated, and it had obviously noticed the existence of those scorpion-tailed lions.
Levi could clearly see that many of the feathers on its neck were standing up, and its eyes had become much sharper, and it was obvious that it was already impatient to fight with the other party.
It is said that the manticore is the mortal enemy of the griffins. In addition to the fact that the two have similar strengths and habitats, so they often compete for survival in the wild, their personalities are extremely different, even opposing.
Griffins often advocate frontal attacks. In addition to being absolutely loyal to their masters, they always hold their heads high most of the time, so many people believe that they symbolize honor and bravery, which is indeed the case.
But these manticores prefer surprise attacks. Specifically, they use their poison to weaken the enemy first, and then slowly kill the opponent. Moreover, they are not loyal to their masters and have retaliated against their masters many times.
So over time, the two races accumulated a lot of hatred, and the griffins began to be very keen on challenging the manticores in single combat. Although they basically lost more than they won, it was said that once they succeeded, their chances of advancement would increase significantly.
But now Levi couldn't let the other side fight, because on the backs of more than a dozen scorpion-tailed lions, there were some greenskins and bear goblins sitting upright, holding battle axes, swords, staffs or spears.
Even though they had never fought each other, from the magical equipment shining on their opponents, he was almost certain that they were all hero units, some were chosen by God, and some were indigenous people.
When they started to use foul language, Levi was able to confirm their identities. After all, even if the indigenous people were cursing, they would not curse so dirty.
But he wasn't that angry. What was there to be angry about when someone was about to die?
However, he was somewhat surprised by the weapons used by some of the bear goblins.
The manticore is five or six meters from head to tail. Can you really fight well in this kind of air combat with a mace and a club that are more than one meter long?
But this thought was fleeting in his mind, and he also piloted the griffin to take off urgently, ready to cast magic. At the same time, the 15 giant eagles he had recruited before also guarded him on both sides. Xiaotian and the Yakongs temporarily guarded the Sky Slayer airship on both sides.
Many mages in the Temple of Arcane also took action, and began to release a large number of enhancing magic as if it were free. Master even personally brought several mages with flying mounts and a part of the air force to follow behind Levi, ready to fight alongside him.
Although their main force is golems, they have recently begun to gradually change the composition of their forces, and have also recruited and trained some air force.
As the enemy approached, some impatient God's Chosen Heroes on the ground had already ordered their troops to start shooting, but because the harpies were flying high enough, few of these arrows could hit the target successfully.
Many Sky Slashers began to move slowly backwards. They had strong defense and health points, but there was no need to take risks here. Not only were the Sky Slashers themselves very expensive, but they were carrying a large number of troops and could not afford any mistakes.
The winged elves , moved forward a little and began to shoot. Their attack power was not high, but at least it was enough to deal with the harpies.
With their rain of arrows, nearly a hundred harpies fell to the ground. Even if they were not killed directly, given their fragile physiques, the impact damage alone after falling from such a height would be enough to be fatal.
But it has little effect on gargoyles with stronger defenses, and is even less effective on scorpion tails.
Seeing this scene, several green-skinned people dressed as shamans roared at the same time, accompanied by flashes of green light, and they seemed to have activated some special abilities.
The originally large black mass of harpies immediately began to move rapidly, roughly forming a triangle, and their flying speed suddenly increased by nearly 20%.
This move was completely beyond the Winged Elves' expectations, and they had no choice but to start aiming again.
Fortunately, the archers on the Sky Slasher did not just stand there to watch the fun. Hundreds of arrows flew over together and killed some of the harpies.
Some mages and druids who could use wind and electric magic also took action. In air combat, these two types of magic are the most practical.
Levi also took the opportunity to launch the Thunder Cloud Technique, and this time he chose his target very cleverly. He did not choose the strongest Scorpion-tailed Lions, nor did he choose the weakest Harpies, but chose the Roc and the Gargoyles.
Once this magic, which was most effective against flying troops, was cast, even those of higher ranks could not ignore it and were injured one after another.
The casualties caused by his magic were secondary. The most amazing thing was that he directly split the opponent's flying troops into two parts with one move, causing the Scorpion Tailed Lion and the many heroes on its back to lose the rhythm of the main force in a short period of time.
Although this time may only be a few seconds, it is also a great opportunity in the ever-changing battlefield!
Of course Michaela would not miss this opportunity. She gave a delicate shout and commanded her strongest Heavenly Lion Knights and Gavin Knights to launch a charge.
Without much communication, she immediately began to cooperate with Levi's actions, intending to further separate the large force of Manticores and Greenskins so as to defeat them one by one.
At the same time, streaks of fire flickered on the bodies of many flying troops. She was a fire mage, and was not good at air combat with almost all offensive magic, but she could cast some magic to assist.
Master and others naturally chose to follow. Although none of them had mastered the Thunder Cloud Technique, other wind or electric magic were also more or less useful.
Especially the few who could use sky turbulence made some gargoyles dizzy and flew in the opposite direction.
This also allowed Levi to confirm that these gargoyles should be living creatures rather than mechanical creations.
The green-skinned heroes also knew that this was the critical moment. They roared and used their best abilities. For a moment, all kinds of magical lights flickered. Two bear goblins rode their scorpion-tailed lions directly towards Michaela, as if they wanted to use a decapitation tactic.
Levi wanted to laugh when seeing this scene. Even though Michaela was a mage, her mount was a sub-adult phoenix. Even without mentioning its combat effectiveness, its speed alone was far beyond the reach of the scorpion-tailed lions.
It can even be said that as long as she doesn't do anything stupid, the Manticore will never be able to catch up with her in this lifetime!
Sure enough, after releasing a series of fireballs, Michaela retreated directly and easily created a considerable distance. Then she started casting again and threw another series of fireballs. She also knew how to use kite tactics.
The two reckless bear goblins were immediately put in a very awkward situation. They couldn't catch up with their opponents, and it seemed they couldn't escape either. For a while, they could only take a beating.
After casting another Thunder Cloud spell to further divide a part of the enemy forces, Levi summoned some celestial creatures and Cindy also summoned several angels, and together they besieged the two most reckless bear goblins.
As long as the opponent's strongest Scorpion Tailed Lions and the hero units on them are killed, the remaining enemies will only be a trouble rather than a threat.
Moreover, he took a fancy to the weapon in the hands of one of the bear goblins, a two-handed greatsword flashing with lightning. It should be very suitable for Elegy, right?
After entering the battle, he found that these two bear goblins should have just obtained the scorpion-tailed lion not long ago, especially the one bear goblin using a mace, its weapon obviously could not effectively cooperate with it.
In most cases, its one-meter-long mace can only be used passively for defense rather than for attack because it is too short.
At this time, many rocs and gargoyles rushed up. Michaela directly commanded the giant eagles to intercept them. They did not seek to kill the enemy. As long as they could delay until the Heavenly Lion Knights killed all the scorpion-tailed lions, their mission would be accomplished.
Master also sent their air force over. There were probably a hundred or so of them. Although their types were very diverse and their strengths varied, they were still enough to serve as cannon fodder.
The Skyslayer airship and the Winged Elves began to retreat quickly. They were not good at close combat and naturally needed to keep a distance from the Harpies.
Although the harpies tried their best to chase, they could not catch up and instead had to continue to suffer losses.
The speed of the Winged Elves is slightly better than that of the Harpies. As for the Sky Slasher airships, although they look very bulky, they are actually powered by magic and are not something the Harpies can catch up with.
While retreating, they gradually stretched their formation into a long arc, and the winged elves even formed a special formation like an upright wall, which would best enable them to exert the power of their ranged units.
Moreover, their attacks are extremely targeted, and they don't even particularly pursue efficiency in killing the enemy. They only have two goals:
First, kill the harpy that is too close to them and poses a certain threat;
Second, launch a covering salvo at all harpies that try to approach Michaela, Levi and others, and try to prevent the harpies from interfering with the battle there.
Due to Mikaela and Levi's quick response, the greenskins were completely unable to achieve the effect of the surprise attack. Instead, they fell into a very passive situation, with more than one casualty every second.
While they were fighting fiercely in the sky, the situation on the ground was not completely peaceful either. A mixed force composed of goblin wolf riders and green-skinned boar boys took the opportunity to quietly run out from the side, seemingly intending to launch a rear attack.
But before they got close, Reiner had already noticed the other party first. He led the Dragon Prince and the Silver Helmet Knights to charge directly. Simon, Luna, Julia and others naturally chose to follow.
Although the combined cavalry forces of both sides numbered just over 500, the encounter was extremely fierce and the outcome was decided very quickly.
How could these low-level green-skinned cavalrymen be a match for Reiner and his men?
After just one charge, the leading greenskin hero was killed by Reiner and the dragon princes, and the remaining greenskin cavalry were no match for him.
After fighting for a while, the result appeared on a small battlefield in the air. Levi and Cindy successfully killed the two target bear goblins and successfully seized the greatsword that Levi wanted.
Their manticore mounts were still struggling, but without their command, they were already close to death.
Mikaela also cooperated with the Heavenly Lion Knights to kill several of the more threatening greenskin shamans.
On the other hand, Gavin's Knights have not been able to achieve any results yet, not only because those green-skinned heroes cooperated very well, but also because the strength of Gavin's Knights did not offer any advantage over the Scorpion-tailed Lion.
And they probably won't have any chance next time.
Because after a brief defeat, the greenskins quickly adjusted their battle strategy. A considerable number of harpies were withdrawn and no longer chased the unreachable Skyslashers and Winged Elves.
They began to try to besiege Levi, Michaela and others, and it must be said that this trick did produce some effect.
Although these harpies are very weak and the proportion of level 3 ones is quite small, no matter how weak they are, they are not enough to allow Levi and his men to completely ignore them.
Apart from anything else, their blocking of vision alone can play a considerable role in the battle, forcing them to constantly distance themselves from the opponent like the Sky Slasher just did.
Even the stronger Mikaela is no exception, because she still has to be careful to guard against whether a manticore or harpy hero will suddenly rush out from behind these harpies and launch a surprise attack on her.
Once she was really entangled by the opponent, she might not be able to end the battle quickly. The Phoenix was not a type of soldier that was particularly good at close combat, not to mention that her Xiaohong was still in a sub-adult state.
After losing the assistance of Michaela and Levi, the Harpies quickly relied on their numerical advantage to rescue the Manticores that were besieged by the Celestial Lion Knights and others, and instead let them be besieged.
But fortunately, at the critical moment, Michaela ordered them to break out. With the 6th-level Celestial Lion Knight as the vanguard, they successfully met up with Michaela.
The greenskins seemed to have tasted the sweetness of this, and they once again commanded the harpies to rush forward, some of them attacked Levi and Michaela, while the others turned and flew towards the giant eagles.
It seems that they have made up their minds to cooperate with the gargoyles and the eagles to eliminate part of their own combat power first.
Even though Michaela issued the order immediately, the giant eagles were still inevitably surrounded and suffered casualties quickly.
The giant eagles were no match for the big roc in a one-on-one fight, and now that they were under siege, they were even less of a match.
As for Master and his air force, their strength was generally inferior to that of the Giant Eagle, and they suffered heavy casualties, but they were not too sad, because when they decided to take the air force into battle, they had already anticipated that this situation might happen.
Moreover, they also roughly understood Mikaela's character. Although she was very cold towards other God-chosen heroes except Levi, she was truly clear about rewards and punishments. As long as they could successfully defeat the enemy in front of them, their losses would be compensated several times over!
The Sub-Kongs led by Xiaotian also suffered heavy losses. Now it seems that the Sub-Kongs, who are only at the third level of the Legion, are still too fragile in a battle of this scale.
However, in this way, without the harassment of the harpies, the troops on the Winged Elves and Sky Slashers were able to fully exert their combat power, and the number of harpies began to decline rapidly.
Almost every second, nearly double-digit harpies fell from the sky. Soon their number was less than a quarter of the initial number, and the pressure they brought to Levi and the others quickly weakened.
After another thundercloud spell severely damaged some gargoyles and affected some eagles, Levi discovered that the giant eagles under Michaela's command were almost dead.
It seems that she has not learned the skills of the Giant Eagle Commander. The campaign attributes and equipment bonuses alone are not enough to keep her Giant Eagles alive in this situation.
Seeing the remaining manticores, rocs and gargoyles gathered together, as if preparing to launch the next round of attack under the cover of the harpies, Levi smiled instead.
The enemy's air force was almost entirely composed of melee units, but our side was mainly ranged. The longer the time dragged on, the more advantageous it was for our side. In the ten seconds that the enemy took to reorganize their formation, hundreds of troops were killed.
Even if the greenskins managed to launch another attack, it would be nothing more than a desperate charge.
He prepared to cast the Thunder Cloud Technique again and replenished the celestial creatures. In such a fierce battle, the celestial creatures died too quickly.
After several lessons, the greenskins have gained some understanding of this tactic. They will no longer foolishly rush into the coverage of the thundercloud spell, but will try to detour from both sides when possible.
However, although this detour could prevent them from suffering harm, it could also allow Levi to achieve his goal, because his original intention was to split the enemy's formation, and killing the enemy was secondary.
Master and others took the opportunity to release a wave of magic, killing some gargoyles and several rocs. Although this battle was extremely thrilling, it has to be admitted that it was also very exciting!
Michaela cast some auxiliary magic for the Heavenly Lion Knights while looking at the ground again.
As the supreme commander of this battle, her mission is not only to defeat the enemy's air force, but also to control the overall situation. Otherwise, even if she is a fire mage who is not very good at air combat, she will definitely cause more casualties to the enemy when she is at full firepower.
After a few seconds, the greenskins rearranged themselves into a triangle formation, and under the cover of the remaining two hundred or so harpies, they launched another charge, and this time they still chose Mikaela as their target.
Seeing this, Levi couldn't help but laugh a little. It seemed that his priority of killing all the God-chosen heroes in the enemy army did have a significant effect.
Otherwise, according to their usual behavior, in this situation, they would either change their attack targets or simply start running away. Only these stubborn green-skinned natives would be so persistent.
Mikaela also snorted, feeling that she was being looked down upon, but she actually hoped that all the greenskins could be so stupid.
In that case, perhaps she could capture more territories belonging to the Red Cloud Tribe before Lord Dragon Prince recovers and returns!
But despite her thoughts, she immediately ordered her troops to retreat and try to keep a distance from the enemy. Although they could win by fighting head-on, there was no need for that.
Seeing the fierce battle in the sky, many God's chosen heroes on the ground gradually became bored from the initial excitement and excitement, because they could only watch the fun and could not get any experience points or other rewards from it, and it was also tiring to keep their heads up all the time.
Some of the God's chosen heroes, led by Suifeng, could not help but talk about it, and gradually shifted their attention to the haunted town ahead.
These bear goblins don't seem to have any long-range weapons. If they get closer now, as long as they are careful about the opponent's arrow tower, they should be able to gain a big advantage, right?
Unfortunately, Michaela had not issued any new orders to them for the time being, and Levi and Master were busy fighting, so they could only discuss in a low voice and did not dare to take any rash action.
At this moment, a painful wail that seemed to penetrate everyone's ears and hearts suddenly rang out. Before they could react to what had happened, a system prompt had revealed the truth to all the chosen heroes.
"The god of fear of the Bearland Spiritual System - the demigod - Skegret, fell in the Underdark."
"Affected by this, all non-legendary bugbears within a radius of 100 miles will have their strength reduced to varying degrees over a short period of time, and will have a chance to randomly enter states of fear, madness, shock, or trance."
Before they could react, another voice rang out, but this time it was not a system prompt, but a male voice that sounded powerful and full of resentment.
"I used to be called Dalar Firecloak, the Lord of Green Flame of the Elven pantheon, the enemy of the Spider Queen Lolth. Now I have returned successfully."
"From today on, I will be the embodiment of fear, the messenger of vengeance, the hunter in the night, the protector of the night elves. My name is Illidan Stormrage!"
