Due to the rampage of the beastmen, even if they joined forces, the journey ahead would not be peaceful.
And the closer we get to our destination, the more difficult the road becomes.
But fortunately, the caravan has been through this many times and is very familiar with the terrain. Levi and his men are strong enough, so there is no big problem.
At the same time, in exchange for a magic carpet and several magic items, Levi also successfully obtained several metal-related magics from the caravan wizard.
According to the other party, he is a member of Zhendan's special magic profession - Alchemist. Killing enemies is not his forte. What he is really good at is refining a variety of elixirs.
He even said that he had personally participated in an alchemy competition hosted by the god of forging and metal among the Zhendan dragon gods, Binlong-Zhaoming.
This god of forging is also the guardian of the Longfang Road and the dragon god who is specifically responsible for liaison with the Ogre Kingdom.
It is said that in the province of Wesile under his command, there are thousands of ogres serving as mercenary warriors.
If Levi were to march eastward in the future, he would inevitably have to deal with him.
He is also the dragon god that the Zhendan people are most likely to see in person, because he likes to communicate with humans about his experiences in alchemy, metallurgy, forging, etc.
However, this also caused some dissatisfaction among other dragon gods, because he showed too much enthusiasm for the dimensional stone when forging it.
Such evil materials are usually mainly produced from the bottomless abyss of the devil, or the nine layers of hell of Baator of the devils.
At the same time, he is also one of the Dragon Gods who is very popular among the soldiers and civilians under his command. When he is in a good mood or the foreign war is going well, he may even drink with the Dragonborn or generals for fun.
Unfortunately, the alchemist had almost used up all his pills along the way and had no way to show them to Levi.
There are three types of magic that the alchemist gave Levi: Destruction Molten Stream, Rust Plague and Shining Robe.
They all use special metal elements to attack, reduce the defense of enemies wearing metal armor, and increase the defense of friendly forces.
Their rank is not high, but they are extremely practical. The Alchemist only uses these three magics, but they are enough for him to deal with most enemies he encounters on the road.
This time, the Beastmen not only launched a sneak attack, but also had a large number of Harpies and a few Manticores as their air force. Caught off guard, although they fought back desperately and killed all of the opponent's air force, they also suffered heavy losses.
Most of the Zhendan caravans have little air force, so if they cannot detect the enemy in advance and stop them with long-range attacks, they will easily fall into a passive position.
In other words, this also applies to many factions or races whose main output is ranged, such as humans, elves, etc.
So even though the caravan leader sighed, their loss this time was not too unfair.
Continuing forward, when they arrived near the Peak of Resentment, the leader of the caravan apologized to Levi and said that for safety reasons, they planned to take a detour. Although this would take a little more time, it would be safer.
Levi could also understand it, because this caravan had fought more than once on its way west.
The main reason was that a huge melee was taking place in the Ogre Kingdom. Many legendary ogres became ruthless and their generals also went crazy. They almost beat anyone they saw, and they also suffered a shock as a result.
Otherwise, in their heyday, they would actually be able to deal with today's Beastman troops.
Without a certain level of strength, how could they dare to travel thousands of miles to trade?
Now there are only about two hundred caravan guards left. Even with me as assistance, they don't want too many casualties.
Unfortunately, even though they were careful along the way, they still couldn't completely avoid the danger.
Just as they were about to leave the area of ​​​​the Peak of Resentment, Luna warned Levi that there were ratmen in the jungle ahead, and they seemed to be preparing to ambush them.
Since the ratmen are good at ambushes and are cunning by nature, they sent out a large number of sentinels, in addition to some giant wolf-like rats as scouts, so they did not dare to get too close.
But according to a rough estimate, there are at least two thousand ratmen in the forest that stretches for five or six miles.
The caravan leader's face turned pale immediately. There was no doubt that among the ratmen of this size there must be high-level soldiers and heroic units.
After seeing Levi's strength and being told that there were reinforcements in the sky, he did not doubt whether he could win, but even if he won, his caravan would definitely suffer some losses.
Because ratmen have never been a race that likes direct combat. They just like all kinds of sneak attacks and are particularly good at digging holes, which they call "underground threats."
When the caravan leader thought of this, he felt a little uneasy.
Because the area under our feet is all soft soil, who knows whether those despicable rat people have already prepared for this in advance?
Levi was not in a hurry to speak. He was just a guard for now and it depended on what the other party said.
Otherwise, if we listened to him and a fight really broke out and the caravan suffered losses, would he compensate or not?
Even if he could pay compensation, how could he compensate for the lives of those dead guards?
To be honest, he had only heard before that the rat people were annoying and would frequently use kite tactics.
Moreover, they are like sticky candy. They will run away when hit, and come back to hit again after a while. They are very resilient and often make the enemy very annoyed.
But in fact, he had never fought against a large number of ratmen. Perhaps this time he would be able to see their strength with his own eyes.
Fortunately, the leader of the caravan was well-informed and he immediately realized that this battle was inevitable.
Because if we take a detour, we may not be able to reach Lahmia before dark. The danger at night is completely different from that during the day.
So he immediately asked Levi for help to see if there was any way to stop the other party from digging holes.
Of course there is a way. Levi can use the skill of turning mud into stone to turn the surrounding ground into hard rock.
According to Levi's current strength, these rocks will be about two meters thick.
When rats dig holes, they mostly rely on their own claws and rough and simple tools. It is not easy for ordinary rats to penetrate this layer of rock.
Even if the scroll was given to the caravan's mage, he could at least create a rock that was more than half a meter thick, which would be enough.
But we can't be too careless. Logically speaking, the rat people around here are not a big deal, but now so many of them have gathered here.
If they hadn't deliberately gathered a wave of troops, it might have been foreign ratmen.
For example, a God-chosen hero passing by or something.
The leader of the caravan didn't think about these things for the time being. After Levi demonstrated the magic once, he couldn't help but sneer. He could already imagine the expressions of those ratmen later.
He immediately asked Levi for help again to fight back here, otherwise they would not be safe until they arrived at Lahmia.
Levi naturally had no objection, so the caravan leader quickly issued a series of orders.
First, all kinds of goods were concentrated near the magical area, and the only guards were also gathered together. The troops were arranged in three layers inside and outside, and it looked quite organized.
Levi couldn't help but feel emotional after seeing this. He was just a caravan leader, but he was capable of doing more than just selling goods.
But even though he was feeling emotional, it did not stop him from doing his work. He ordered his troops to defend the caravan, while temporarily infusing Xiao Qi with magic such as fireball.
We set fire to the enemy last time. Can we do the same trick again this time?
After hearing Levi's plan, Sally and Sefa also became interested. After all, who is a fire mage and hasn't dreamed of setting fire to an army with a wave of the hand?
So when the caravan was almost ready and the Silver Guards had arranged their formation, they each boarded their flying carpets and followed Levi to fly in the direction of the ratmen.
First the caravan stopped moving, then several mages flew straight over. The rats also sensed something was wrong. Their ambush might have been discovered by the enemy!
Then, accompanied by a slightly sharp cry, hundreds or thousands of "squeaks" responded together.
At the same time, Levi, who was looking down from a high place, also discovered that, just as Luna said, there were probably more than two thousand ratmen in this jungle.
Unfortunately, they woke up too late!
With a light shout, several fireballs flew out at the same time and exploded in the jungle.
The power of magic caused the forest, which was usually difficult to ignite, to instantly catch fire. Sefa and Sally first threw out a large amount of fire glue, and then summoned several fire elementals at the same time.
Originally, Sefa didn't know how to use this trick, but Levi wanted to make her his subordinate and partner, so he naturally wouldn't hesitate to do so.
Almost instantly, the rats' screams rose several levels. Just now they were responding to orders, but now they were screaming out of pain, panic, and even fear.
At the critical moment, a slightly manic male voice finally rang out: "Damn it, everyone, rush forward and get out of the forest. Whoever gets out first will be rewarded with a dimensional stone by Uncle Jerry!"
Then a female voice followed: "Watch out, all the supervisors. Anyone who retreats will be executed!"
Under their encouragement and threats, the rats, although still squeaking, soon endured the pain and launched a charge outward, looking quite imposing for a moment.
But Levi couldn't help but understand in an instant that ordinary ratmen would not set up a supervision team or anything like that, because if the war went unfavorably, those supervision teams would probably be the first to choose to escape.
And Jerry, I don't know where Tom is? The other side is obviously some God-chosen heroes.
So out of caution, he took Sefa and Sally back a little.
Although he believed that at this stage there should be no God-chosen hero with a higher level or stronger strength than himself, each race had different characteristics and no one knew whether the opponent would have any special moves.
Sure enough, almost immediately after they retreated a few dozen meters, a green, filthy-looking whirlwind appeared out of nowhere, followed by crackling lightning of the same color.
If they still stay where they are, they will probably be caught.
Sefa was also a little surprised: "This is the destruction magic of the rat people. Is there a rat prophet among the opponents?"
As a kind of beastman, the ratmen certainly cannot have a systematic magic inheritance like humans or elves.
But after countless years of hard work and with the help of the power of the dimensional stone, they still have their own spell system.
On the surface it may look like wind or lightning, but in fact it may be mixed with plague, toxins, etc.
Compared with regular magic, their damage may not be very high, but when it comes to disgusting people, they have never fallen behind.
Levi nodded slightly, then waved his hand to signal the two of them that they could retreat. The fire attack had been successful, and the next step was to retreat back to their own line.
As long as the rats come out of the woods, we have plenty of ways to deal with them.
As for himself, he stayed behind.
If the opponent is a hero chosen by God, he may be more difficult to deal with than the natives, not in terms of combat power, but in terms of the opponent's brain.
So in order to end this battle as quickly as possible, he might need to put on a little show...
So he first threw down two walls of fire to intercept some of the ratmen, and then released the Radiant Crown to see its effect in actual combat.
Then he found that although this thing can attack the enemy with almost 720 degrees without blind spots, its range is very limited. And the probability is also very bad.
It was certainly enough to deal with ordinary slave rats and clan rats. Some of them were blinded on the spot and jumped around in panic, while others fainted directly on the ground and had no reaction even when burned by flames.
But for stronger ratmen, the chance of being affected is not that high.
Fortunately, this skill will make a judgment every few seconds during its duration, and he does not need to control it, so it is barely acceptable.
Then he threw out a rainbow eye, and the rainbow-like eye flashed continuously. For a moment, ray attacks of fire, strong acid, lightning, toxin, ice, petrification and mental attributes came one after another.
The ratmen around that were hit were also dyed different colors. Some of the unlucky ones were hit by multiple rays at the same time and turned into corpses on the spot.
After two consecutive moves, although the number of enemies killed was not yet obvious, the chaos caused was not small. The ratmen who tried to rush out of the forest were obviously delayed.
The male rat man immediately became furious: "Damn it, I recognize him, he's that Levi!"
Although there is no ranking of levels or professions in this game yet, Levi, who has made a lot of splashes, has already been recognized by many people.
They originally just wanted to rob a caravan from Zhendan, but they didn't expect to end up dealing with such a tough guy.
No matter whether you win or lose, you will probably suffer heavy losses in the end.
But the female ratman was not surprised but happy: "Don't worry, his troops must be insufficient or not well prepared, otherwise he wouldn't be here to delay us!"
The male rat man took a look and realized that was right. Except for the fireball at the beginning, Levi didn’t use any high-powered attack magic at all. He must be delaying time!
So he also got angry: "Damn it, if that's the case, then don't blame me. You can keep flying in the sky, I can't do anything to you, but you can forget about saving your caravan!"
As he said this, he whistled continuously, and then used up several magic scrolls in succession, and it was obvious that he was bleeding a little .
Then Levi discovered that there was a sudden roar of wild beasts in the forest, and soon several burning trees were knocked to the ground.
Levi was also a little surprised. The ratmen have always been known for their numbers and meanness. They don't have any monster-type troops that are both powerful and fast.
I have heard before that the Corrupted Clan, one of the four major clans of ratmen, is very fond of and good at breeding war beasts through hybridization.
It's just that most of those war beasts are weak and extremely unstable, and they will easily backfire on them, so they are not really taken seriously.
The only known successful case so far is that they once used wild wolves, ratmen and mice to breed a monster called wolf-rat.
Could it be that they have made some new achievements this time? Then I would have to take a closer look.
While waving his hands to release more fire walls, as if he really stayed here to delay the ratmen, Levi sent a message to Luna, asking her to prepare for an outflanking attack.
The rat man was very good at escaping, so in order to avoid being disturbed by him on the way, she needed to be extra careful.
In just a few dozen seconds, at least a hundred large and small trees in the forest had been knocked down, and more than a dozen monsters that were taller than ordinary ogres had already rushed out of the burning jungle.
After seeing the other party's true face, Levi became more certain of his previous guess.
Because these big guys with muscular bodies, using their hands and feet to move forward, look like a combination of trolls, gorillas and ratmen.
Moreover, their weapons are also very special. They are claws or gloves full of filth and blood, and glowing green. They are obviously forged from dimensional stone.
This special equipment that emits radiation energy is undoubtedly an evil weapon that can ignore the damage reduction capabilities of Levi and high-level celestial creatures.
According to the naming rules of the ratmen, perhaps they can be called rat trolls?
They didn't even look at Levi in ​​the sky, but just headed straight towards the caravan.
Levi tentatively fired a few fireballs, but found that the effect was not ideal.
The male ratmen before must have been cast with some special protective magic, or they themselves had undergone special modifications.
Therefore, the flames in the forest did not affect them much, and they were also highly resistant to fireballs.
Even after being attacked by Levi, their wounds were still healing slowly, which is something that ordinary trolls could never do.
Because under normal circumstances, fire, acid, etc. will inhibit the recovery ability of trolls, etc.
Although he has plenty of ways to get rid of these rat trolls, the meaning behind it is quite different.
For a long time, ratmen have been looked down upon by other races, almost regarded as the same as goblins and kobolds.
But now it seems that this may not be the case.
Being able to survive under the siege of many kind and lawful races already represents a certain level of strength.
The fact that they were able to secretly develop these special powers, with technology and magic advancing hand in hand, shows that their ambitions are definitely extraordinary.
Then in the next moment, several green lights flashed, and Levi's big palm was attacked.
Looking at the more than an inch long dimensional stone bullet embedded on it, Levi could no longer fail to understand that this must be the Ratman version of a sniper rifle!
Could it be a new thing created by the Skryre clan, one of the four major clans of ratmen, who specializes in copying and plagiarism?
No matter when and where they came up with this thing, since they now dare to give it to the God-chosen hero, it means that they must have accumulated a considerable amount of power.
For him who has the big palm to protect his body, this thing poses little threat, but for fragile characters like Sally and Sefa, it can be fatal if they are caught off guard.
Considering their evil nature, if the ratmen can equip themselves with such weapons in large quantities, it may not be long before a disaster caused by them breaks out in the main world...
Should I ask Lilith if she knows anything about this?
This thought flashed through Levi's mind, but his actions were not affected at all. He turned around and flew towards the direction of the caravan.
It is possible for him to get rid of the other party now, but if he doesn't let the other party out, how can he see more possible surprises?
The two ratmen in the forest were a little surprised. They didn't expect that the new weapons they had obtained with great difficulty could not even break the opponent's defense.
But when they noticed Levi's actions again, they looked at each other, and they both saw surprise in each other's eyes.
It seems that even the famous Levi can't withstand such an attack, otherwise how could he escape in such a panic?
"Go, go, go! If we can defeat Levi today, we'll have something to brag about in the future!"
"That's right, kill him!"
Following the two ratmen's orders, more ratmen troops emerged from the woods.
Levi looked back and found that the situation might not be as bad as he had imagined.
Because apart from the dozen or so rat trolls, plus thirty or forty wolf rats, and less than ten teams of well-equipped level 4 storm rats, the rest of the rat army is still mainly cannon fodder.
Many low-level ratmen, even if they struggled to crawl out of the forest, were burned to death before they could go far.
As for those who are still left in the forest, I'm afraid many of them have also turned into corpses.
He could even say with great confidence that even without using summoned creatures, he could easily kill all these miscellaneous soldiers in a short time.
But of course he wouldn't do that. He just flew back to the formation and waited for the other party, while also sending a signal to Donna.
In this situation, in order to protect the caravan and to solve the problem once and for all, she will take action later.
Soon, large groups of ratmen surrounded them from all directions.
Although their numbers were significantly reduced after a round of fire attack, the caravan leader couldn't help feeling a sinking feeling in his heart when he saw that their eyes were still red and they looked very fanatical even though their fur was burnt.
He had seen ratmen more than once or twice, but this was the first time he encountered a ratman in this state.
Moreover, I have never heard of those strange-looking beasts before...
But no matter what his mood was, the two sides soon started fighting.
For a while, Cindy, Sally and Sefa's magic kept flying out. Although the main target was the rat trolls, even if it was just the aftermath, it could take the life of more than one low-level ratman each time.
Elegy and Alduin were also on high alert. Although their opponents were ratmen, they looked different. Moreover, this was an escort mission. If the caravan suffered too many losses, it would be embarrassing for them.
The many summoned celestial creatures also launched their own attacks.
Since Xiaotian and the supervisor were temporarily staying in the black iron mine, Levi mainly summoned auxiliary units such as the fox spirit and the winged snake Ai Ci this time, and the rest were mainly celestial creatures that could fly and shoot.
Because apart from magic units, they are easier to kill enemies, survive, and even advance, which will be of greater benefit to Levi in ​​comprehending other summoning abilities in the future.
Similarly, the remaining guards of the caravan continued to attack with bows and crossbows and dragon staffs, and the effect was surprisingly good.
Levi was soon attacked again, and then he found that the other party was not using a sniper rifle, but some special rifle.
As the name suggests, it is a super long type that is several meters long and requires two people to lift. It is not strong.
The multi-headed ratmen would carry them on the shoulders of their companions in front, and then aim and shoot.
Under their attack, many of the Jade Warriors in the caravan who were not holding shields soon suffered casualties.
This special type of rifle is quite good in terms of range and power.
Moreover, once hit, even if one is lucky enough not to die on the spot, one will be infected by the dimensional stone bullet and fall into a special poisoning state, which even an ordinary priest cannot purify in one go.
Fortunately, after Levi noticed this, he immediately used his new ability - Holy Power Cleansing, which was able to easily eliminate this effect.
However, each success would cost him 7 gold coins, which was even higher than the recruitment price of ordinary Jade Warriors...
As the rats got closer, the two sides soon came into close combat. Elegy and Alduin both rushed to the front line with their respective guards and easily blocked the swarms of storm rats.
As the Silver Guards swung their spears, the clan rats fell one after another, but their attacks were completely unable to break through the defense.
Even Yaling Qiufeng, whose original strength was not outstanding, and the newly joined ogre Leslie, could take down the rat heads easily.
Levi, who was doing nothing but observing the battlefield and ready to counter the opponent's spells at any time, couldn't help but curl his lips when he saw this.
My goodness, could it be that the opponent has no attack or defense at all, and only focuses on the leader?
The caravan couldn't help but feel relieved upon seeing this. It seemed that even though the other side had a large number of troops, they were actually not worth mentioning.
Their reaction was already anticipated by the Rat People. With a sinister laugh, the male Rat People sent a signal to his other subordinates.
How could they have only this much strength after choosing such an ugly race and paying such a heavy price? Don't forget the talents of the rat people!
But after waiting for a few seconds, he didn't see anything happen as he expected.
The female rat next to him couldn't help but urge: "Brother, have you sent a signal?"
"This Levi is really strong. We have lost a lot of troops. You should let them do it quickly. Let's grab the money and run away."
Yes, in fact, even if Levi had not appeared unexpectedly, they had no intention of really annihilating the enemy from the very beginning.
They are rat people. Only a fool would engage in a head-on battle. If the enemy is too strong, they will just rob the things and run away. That is the most appropriate behavior for them.
As long as they get the stuff, the death of a few hundred ratmen is a common occurrence for them, right?
The male rat man was also full of surprise. This shouldn’t be the case. He did send out a signal, right?
There are not only several rat heroes underground, but also several giant rats that he has recently acquired.
This tactic of attacking both inside and outside has killed countless enemies in the past, so why didn't it work this time?
But Levi on the other side couldn't help laughing, because he sensed that the magic he had cast before was being attacked, and the opponent was indeed planning to launch an offensive from underground.
But the rock that is more than one meter thick is not something that these ratmen can easily destroy, and once they notice something is wrong, they can further strengthen it at any time.
Similarly, the caravan mage quickly informed his leader of the news, and the caravan leader breathed a sigh of relief and temporarily felt relieved.
Seeing his expression, Levi couldn't help but ask, "Why, didn't you say before that you have been on the business road for more than ten years? Why are your emotions still so fluctuating?"
The leader of the caravan couldn't help but smile bitterly upon hearing this: "Although there were endless dangers in the past, they were never as difficult as this year. Especially in the past month or so, it seems that all of a sudden, the entire main world has become chaotic."
"I'm already lucky. Some caravans have lost contact with us after they left. I'm afraid they are in great danger."
So Levi didn't say anything more. Wasn't the past month the time when the God-chosen heroes began to gradually become active?
At this time, the male rat man on the other side sent out signals several times, but still received no response. He finally became a little annoyed.
He immediately raised his head and shouted angrily: "Levi, did you do something? Why is my 'underground threat' gone?"
Levi was not angry: "If you want to know the answer, tell me which clan these rat trolls and the equipment that attacked me before are from."
The male rat man thought about it and decided that it wouldn't hurt to tell him, since he wasn't the only one who got these things anyway.
In order to obtain more dimensional stones for their experiments, the two clans openly sold them to dozens or even hundreds of ratmen clans, large and small.
Even if he didn't say it, Levi would be able to get the information from other places quickly as long as he put a little thought into it.
So he snorted and said, "Okay, I believe the famous Levi wouldn't lie to me. The Rat Troll comes from the Corrupted Clan, and the Dimension Sniper Rifle comes from the Skryre Clan."
Levi immediately understood. This was not beyond his expectations.
However, the original impression given to the outside world by the Skryre clan seemed to be that they were useless and could only copy, but not well.
The various war machines they developed using dimensional stone killed far more ratmen than they killed enemies.
Of course, because the total number of ratmen is large enough and the reproduction speed is astonishingly fast, ratmen become adults when they are five months old, so they don’t care about this.
They only pursue great power and do not consider the side effects at all, which even makes the Skryre Clan the leader of the four major clans.
But in the eyes of other races, the products of their clan are really not that good.
But from what we just saw, the range of the dimensional sniper rifle is at least over two hundred and thirty meters, and we don't know if that is its maximum range. This time the Skryre clan has really developed something incredible.
After a slight sigh, Levi also answered the other party's question: "It is to turn mud into stone."
The male ratman suddenly realized what was going on, but the female ratman next to him frowned and said, "You've already discovered us?"
Levi smiled slightly: "The answer is correct. Next, I will give you the reward!"
Even though they couldn't see Levi's expression due to the relatively far distance, the two ratmen felt something was wrong just by hearing these words.
Unfortunately, it was too late. Before they could do anything, a sudden cry came from the sky, followed by arrows raining down, instantly nailing a large number of ratmen to the ground.
They subconsciously looked up and saw that high in the sky, on several Sky Slashers, a large number of archers were continuously shooting, and dozens of griffins, giant eagles and the like were swooping down from the air.
At the same time, there were unusual movements behind them. A large number of night elves riding black panthers were waving moon blades and quickly reaping the lives of the ratmen.
The male rat man suddenly let out a howl, knowing that he was completely doomed this time.
He simply took out a large electric drill that was more than one meter long and glowed with bright green light. He dug through the soft soil under his feet in a few strokes, and then drilled in with one foot.
The female ratman did not hesitate at all and followed in.
Only a slightly dull male voice came out from underground: "Levi, just wait for me, I, Wang Jierui, will not let you go!"