Chapter 493 - 392: Winning a Battle for the Future of the Duchy
Chapter 493: Chapter 392: Winning a Battle for the Future of the Duchy
"Human! I’ll kill you!"
Cashmo had gone completely berserk. He charged recklessly toward Raylo.
Raylo just sneered as he watched Cashmo’s flustered and exasperated state.
"Still coming?"
"Fire!"
SWOOSH SWOOSH SWOOSH!
Another merciless volley of javelins flew through the air.
Cashmo shuddered at the sight of this oncoming rain of death. He frantically channeled his Magic Power, conjuring layer after layer of Magic Defense in front of him.
But how could defenses hastily erected possibly block a volley of over a hundred Poisoned Spears?
THUMP!
A dull thud echoed.
A javelin had sliced a deep gash into Cashmo’s right leg.
Although it hadn’t pierced all the way through, the deadly poison on its tip—the Sigh of the Giant Dragon—quickly seeped into his body through the wound.
Cashmo felt his right leg go numb, and in an instant, he lost all feeling in it.
He looked down to see his right leg turning a ghastly blackish-purple at a visible rate.
"Dammit! It’s a potent poison!"
Cashmo’s expression changed drastically. Not daring to linger for another moment, he turned tail and fled wretchedly back into his army’s formation.
"Black Stone Territory! Retreat to the high ground!"
Watching Cashmo’s pathetic retreat, Raylo did not give the order to pursue.
He understood the principle of not pursuing a desperate foe.
Besides, this wasn’t the time for a pursuit.
The outcome of the battle in the sky was still unknown.
The priority was to secure the fruits of their victory, fall back to advantageous terrain, and then plan their next move.
The army of the Black Stone Territory began an orderly retreat.
The Giant Legion and the Mammoth Knight Order remained at the vanguard, forming an indestructible mobile barrier. They covered the troops behind them as they slowly withdrew toward the high ground to the south.
As Raylo’s forces retreated, the battle in the sky also shifted.
After the Golden Dragon Sun broke free from the will of the Modo Giant Beast, it immediately joined General Gaius’s battle group.
With this powerful reinforcement, the stalemate was shattered in an instant.
Under the combined assault of Gaius and the Sun, the two Domain Level Lizardfolk were overwhelmed and found themselves in constant peril.
One of them was hit squarely by a blast of the Sun’s Dragon Breath and was incinerated on the spot, turning into a charred husk that plummeted from the sky.
Cashmo’s heart bled as he witnessed this.
’It’s over.’
’It’s all over.’
The Heart of the Giant Beast had been stolen, and his most elite Domain Level Powerhouses were either dead or injured.
The power the Lizardfolk had built up over a century was all but crippled in a single day.
"Retreat! All forces, retreat!"
Cashmo let out a roar filled with unwillingness and despair.
The surviving Lizardfolk army, as if granted amnesty, lost all their previous fearlessness. They threw down their armor and fled like stray dogs deep into the swamp.
The massive, hard-fought battle ended with a whimper, not a bang.
Raylo and his men retreated to their camp on the high ground, shaken but unscathed.
The Knights immediately began reinforcing the fortifications, cleaning up the battlefield, and treating the wounded.
Despite having achieved a great victory, the atmosphere in the camp was far from relaxed.
Everyone’s gaze drifted involuntarily toward the northern sky.
The battle there was still raging on.
Aiden Duke and Thunder Dragon Astra had been locked in a fierce struggle with the kilometer-long Thunderboltous Giant Serpent for a long time.
The entire northern sky had become an ocean of lightning.
Thunderbolts constantly collided, intertwined, and annihilated each other.
Every collision unleashed terrifying energy, enough to rip the heavens asunder.
Even from a hundred kilometers away, they could still feel the world-destroying might.
"The Duke... He’ll be alright, won’t he?"
Raylo stood on the high ground, clutching the Heart of the Giant Beast tightly in his hand, his own heart filled with worry.
He knew the Duke was powerful, and that Lord Astra was as well.
But their opponent was, after all, a Catastrophe Level existence—even if it was only an avatar.
Time passed, second by second.
The sky gradually began to darken.
The Thunderstorm in the sky showed no signs of weakening; instead, it grew even more violent.
Raylo could see that the Thunderbolt Domain, created by the combined power of the Duke and Lord Astra, was being slowly compressed and eroded.
The Duke and his allies were losing ground!
"General!"
An officer from the Thunder Dragon Knight Order hurried to Gaius’s side, his face etched with anxiety.
"We have to go support the Duke!"
"No!"
Gaius refused without a second thought.
His eyes were fixed on the sky, his expression incredibly grim.
"That’s a Catastrophe Level battle. If we go, it would be a suicide mission! It would be meaningless!"
"Then what do we do? Are we just supposed to stand here and watch while the Duke...?"
"Silence!"
Gaius barked, cutting him off.
It wasn’t that he wasn’t worried about the Duke’s safety.
But as the supreme commander of this army, he had to remain absolutely calm.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
’Before the battle, the Duke ordered me to obtain the Heart of the Giant Beast at all costs.’
’Now, the Heart of the Giant Beast is in our hands.’
’Our strategic objective has been achieved.’
’The only reason the Duke and Lord Astra are locked in this grueling fight is to hold back the Demon Serpent Avatar and buy time for the army.’
’Right now, our only—and our best—option is to take the Heart of the Giant Beast and retreat immediately!’
’Only if we retreat safely can the Duke and Lord Astra escape without having to worry about us.’