They were currently outnumbered, outmatched, and the tower had no magical energy reserves to speak. However, the conclusion of the battle was not as obvious as it seemed.
These rural monsters that stayed cooped up in their homes would never be able to imagine the true extent of cruelty and savagery that an adept was capable of!
Greem had decided. If those magical creatures dared to come, he would leave them a lasting impression that they would never forget.
Trying to outwit a human adept?
Heh! Greem still had plenty of tricks up his sleeves!
Chapter 410 The Ferocious Horde
Three days later.
The area surrounding Plaguewood had turned into a sea of beasts.
The ground trembled, and the woods howled.
Countless iron rhinoceroses, razor boars, leopards, and pythons emerged from the depths of the forest. Their numbers swelled and flooded the land like an unstoppable tsunami. Behind them, packs of wolves, lions, and tigers roared and sprinted on the ground. Apes and baboons swung from tree to tree, letting out loud shouts as they did so.
From the skies, one could see countless beasts trampling across the mountainous terrain roaring, and even fighting amongst themselves. Surging black dots blanketed the entire forest. Lions, tigers, oxen, bears, boars, leopards, giant lizards, serpents, and even bats and owls were in the mix. Every single one of them was hastening towards Plaguewood with all they had.
The magical creature lords had driven all the animals under their rule out of their dens. Every single beast headed towards the adepts. They picked up even more ordinary woodland beasts along the way. By the time they reached Plaguewood, their party had turned into a small-scale stampede.
The manticores that used to rule Plaguewood didn't show themselves. The rioting beasts quickly entered the cave and headed straight for the underground through the dark tunnels. The bats that lived in the cave were caught by surprise. They flapped their wings and took to the skies, lingering there like an ominous black cloud.
However, with the arrival of powerful flying creatures, the reluctant bats promptly abandoned their home and dispersed into the surrounding woods.
A Magic Eye created from concentrated fire elementium observed everything from high in the air. It was trying its best to focus on the few enormous magical creatures among the beasts.
A dozen magical creature lords stood tall upon some boulders in front of the cave. They continuously commanded and drove the beasts into the underground cavern.
The stealthy Magic Eye slowly swept past the magical creature lords. Inside the adept's tower, Greem and Gargamel discreetly examined these invaders through a connected mirror.
Unguja, the Three-Headed Demon Hound was standing atop a boulder. He let out a strange howl when he opened his fearsome maw. Fourteen drooling and sniffing fiend hounds stood before him; they acted as temporary supervisors for the horde, continually growling and driving the beasts forward.
There was Dana, the terrifying Medusa who possessed the appearance of a beauty, a long snake's tail, and snakes for hair. Elegant purple and black scales filled her lower half's snake body. She had the beautiful face of a human woman. A thin layer of green scales only covered her four-meter-long body and naked torso beneath her chest.
Dana's bountiful bosom swayed with every action she took. It was an alluring sight. She carried a strange longbow on her back that seemed to be a powerful magical weapon.
She tried to stand on her tail as upright as she could, making herself seem more massive and intimidating than the other magical creatures around her.
Seven hissing gorgons holding shortbows in their hands gathered in front of her. They didn't look much different from a medusa other than the much duller color of their scales. Only two of the seven gorgons had reached adept-level. The other five were all somewhere between pseudo-adept and advanced apprentice-level.
A dozen muscular minotaurs surrounded the gorgons.
They looked like towering humans with the heads of bulls. The minotaurs were approximately two meters tall when they stood straight. They weighed over three hundred and twenty kilograms, with hair all over their bodies and a giant pair of horns on their heads. Their arms were the same as a human's; five fingers on a hand, opposable thumbs, with claws where their nails should be. Their feet had the same hooves as cows.
The minotaurs wore metal rings in their noses. Their every breath caused their nose ring to vibrate and clatter. Their angry, bloodshot eyes swept across the horde. Foot-long scars were not uncommon among these fearsome creatures. They held large axes in their hands as if they were ready to lunge at any moment.
These minotaurs were clearly the low-level magical creatures serving under the Medusa. They were loyally standing guard around the gorgons, cautiously looking out for any 'enemies' that might come too close!
Apart from these impressive magical creature lords, there was also the Giant Berserk Gelada Cracklefang, the Wyvern King Rrakk, and the Ettercap Guri. These strange creatures gathered near the entrance of the cave like the Monster's Encyclopedia come to life. They silently awaited the main character of today's battle.
They didn't wait long. Once the vast horde of beasts had entered the cave, a flood of terrifying Spiderites emerged from the Black Forest. Their numbers were shocking as they swallowed the entire field of vision of anyone looking at the place.
The Spiderites were the size of a fist. The creatures had hairy bodies with purple stripes, four pairs of slim spider legs, and a rounded abdomen.
Tula's gigantic body slowly appeared before everyone, escorted by his spiderites.
"Now that everyone is here, let the battle begin!" Tula's mental voice rang out in the minds of the magical creature lords, "I cannot wait to taste the sweet flesh of human adepts. Wake up, my children."
The number of spiders in the forest exponentially increased as Tula gave this order. Countless spiders of all species and sizes flooded out of nowhere, instantly drowning some more unfortunate beasts that had yet to enter the cave with their numbers.
Chittering sounds and the strange sound of biting and tearing came out from within the sea of spiders.
The silhouettes of the beasts disappeared. Only a small hill of spiders was visible. When the hill finally dispersed and the spiders left, a pile of white bones was all that remained.
No magical creature lords dared raise any objections that they had to these incidents of friendly fire. They could only manage their subordinates and keep them out of the way of the spider army.
Tula the Demon-Hunting Spider and veteran lord present did not seem to betray any expression on its 'face.' It extended its sturdy legs and left deep marks on the rock walls of the cave.
"Come, it is about time we enter!"
The magical creature lords followed behind the spider army under Tula's lead and slowly entered the bat cave.
…………
The battle on the frontlines had turned into a bloody one long before the lords moved out.
As the rulers of Plaguewood, the manticores possessed unchallenged influence in the underground world.
They had already gone deep underground and gathered all the underground creatures before the enemy had arrived. All these underground creatures had been directed towards the upper levels of the underground world. They were the first enemies the surface beasts had to face when they entered this dark and confusing labyrinth. These were cold-blooded assassins that hid in the shadows and in between the rocks.
Stone Serpents, Petrifying Lizards, Hook Horrors, Dwarves, Beholders, Gnolls, Lizardmen, Birdmen...
These creatures that lived underground were all experts at ambushes and sneak attacks. They hid in every corner of the tunnels. Whenever prey passed by them, they lunged and used their poisonous fang or unique talents to disable the victim instantly.
Their ambushes caused severe losses to the first forest creatures that entered the tunnels. All those beasts had been turned into food.
&n
bsp; Yet there were too many of them.
The silent and unassuming tunnels had transformed into a bustling market. Roars, howls, and calls echoed everywhere. The underground creatures didn't even have time to feast after their kills. Already they were faced with a new wave of enemies.
These underground beasts had never before seen such a sight. They didn't have the will to continue their slaughter. Every single one of them chose to avoid the stampede. This unstoppable force trampled all the unfortunate ones who were unable to evade it into the ground.
It was still alright if they were being stepped on by the likes of wolves and leopards. However, there were many large black bears and ferocious razor boars in the horde of animals. Even the Petrifying Lizards, with their thick scales, could not survive such torture.
The sounds of biting jaws and tearing fangs filled every corner of the winding tunnels. Tragic howls and angered roars mixed in with the sounds of fighting and killing. One by one, lives were snuffed out in these dark and unseen corners of the underground!
From the entrance of the cave, all the way to the caverns where the adept's tower was located, the corpses of the underground creatures littered the ground, and their blood stained the tunnels. The weaker animals didn't even have corpses remaining by the time the savage beasts trampled past them. They had been reduced to an unrecognizable pile of blood and flesh.
The underground creatures had defended the tunnels to the best of their abilities, but they were still unable to resist the overwhelming numbers of the surface creatures. In less than thirty minutes, this army of underground creatures had been exterminated. The unrestrained stampede continued to charge towards the depth of the underground!
Over three thousand surface creatures had died in the underground labyrinth in these mere thirty minutes. The underground creatures had killed only four hundred enemies. The remainder had all died to the chaotic rush of their own allies.
These surface creatures that had been driven into this cave were not used to the pitch-black environment of the underground. Here, they could not see anything or determine direction at all.
The beasts charging at the very front had all run into the walls of the cave. And if they stalled for a single moment, they would immediately be trampled to death by their companions pushing forward from the back. If they didn't want to die, they could only charge ahead without any regard for direction. As long as there was a path forward, they continued to run down that direction.
It was through such barbaric means that the monsters were able to use their overwhelming numbers to fill the labyrinth tunnels and slowly approach the tower.
Chapter 411 Prelude
Inside the tower.
Most of the detection crystals and Magic Eyes placed along the tunnel had been discovered and destroyed by the enemy. Only a few of them continued to transmit the situation outside to the water mirror in the hall.
The apprentices stationed in the tower gulped in fear when they saw the horrifying sight before them. Thousands and thousands of beasts charging through the cave. They were silently reassessing their decision to stay here.
The tunnels in the underground cave extended in every direction. Cracks and valleys led somewhere in almost every single part of the cave. As long as they escaped the tower, ran far away, and found someplace to hide, they might still be able to survive this disaster that they had never asked for.
The difference in power was so disproportionate that even Greem's pseudo-adept level disciples had lost their confidence in victory. Most of them secretly hoped Greem would give the order to run. A few of them still had a chance at surviving if he did so.
Once the horde surrounded the tower, what were they supposed to use to escape? There was no teleportation array in here!
The apprentices were painstakingly thinking up a method of escape, even as they continued to work hard on the duties assigned to them. None of them knew what was going to happen. In fact, none of them dared to think about what was about to happen!
Even though their teacher's title as the Flame Demon was known throughout the Feidnan area, how many could he kill when faced against this endless sea of opponents? Did his strength even matter? There were at least five elite-level magical creatures among the magical creature lords, and seventeen adept-level magical creatures. Even the ordinary magical creatures numbered in the triple digits.
On their side, only Greem could barely be considered an elite adept. Gargamel was a veteran adept, and Meryl was nothing more than a newly advanced adept. Apart from them, the most powerful of the tower's defense forces were the eleven manticores and Sabrina the robotic girl.
Of the twelve accompanying apprentices, five were pseudo-adepts, and seven were advanced apprentices.
This number of people might have a chance against the army of beasts if they owned a fully functional adept's tower. However, this particular adept's tower was destitute. Even after a desperate attempt to save up energy over the past four days the elementium pool still wasn't filled to the brim. If war erupted, they would have trouble holding the line for more than an hour.
In fact, their time would be even shorter if the battle was too intense!
The apprentices didn't have a chance to see the energy room for themselves, but even an idiot that was thinking with their toe would know that the tower had no energy reserves.
Still, for some reason, Greem's attitude was unusually determined!
He commanded the manticores to drive the underground creatures towards the invaders to buy time, but he didn't send any of his apprentices to fill up the bottomless pit that was the battlefield. It was impossible for the apprentices to stall the assault of the beasts at their level, especially when they had no significant cover or defense.
That was why Greem didn't even bother to give such an order. Instead, he gathered all of them within the tower and assigned each of them to an offensive array. He, Gargamel, and Meryl would be responsible for defending the doors of the tower; that would undoubtedly be the most heavily contested area once the battle started! It would be where the most ferocious battle would break out!
…………
On the third hour since the start of the beast invasion, the monsters finally managed to make their way out of the labyrinth. One by one they continuously entered the caverns where the tower was.
It was almost like a massive octopus had come to life in the caverns as the army of beasts continued to pour into the area. Their immense numbers soon took up every visible inch of space.
On the ground, there were countless predators such as lions, tigers, and leopards. Of course, you also had terrifying magical creatures like forest trolls, forest spirits, berserk apes, razor boars, forest sloths, and lightning leopards. In the air, you had crows, pigeons, woodpeckers and other birds, along with true predators of the skies such as thunder rocs, wyverns, and griffins.
In fact, there were many more harmless creatures within this tide of monsters, such as normal animals like deer, owls, and flower snakes. All these creatures packed into the caverns. They howled, roared, chirped, and called out in unison at the shining adept's tower in the middle of the cave.
The moment they set foot in the caverns, a tremendous magical energy fluctuation emerged from the tower. A barrage of Magma Fireballs crashed into the ranks of the animals, trailing black smoke in the air as they did so.
Dong. Dong. Dong.
It was like numerous grenades had exploded at the same time. The horde had barely made it into the caverns, and already beasts were being blown to pieces. The attacks inflicted severe injuries and death upon the unfortunate creatures. The violent flame shockwaves blasted everywhere, instantly exterminating all of the weaker animals. The splashing rain of lava swiftly killed off large groups of animals.
Ordinary woodland beasts didn't stand a chance. Even ordinary magical creatures with basic magic resistance couldn't possibly survive against such powerful fireballs!
The vanguard of the horde had been crushed the momen
t they entered the caverns!
The more frightening aspect of the tower's attacks was the rain of fire and magma. The ground had already ignited from the blazing heat. The hot temperature and the savage flames vaporized all the small critters that ventured too close.
Those predators and birds with no magical resistance didn't even dare to come close to these magical fires. It didn't matter how many of them there were; only death awaited them if they continued forward!
It wasn't your natural and ordinary fire. It was challenging to extinguish it by throwing bodies at it.
That was why the ordinary beasts struggled and paused before the cavern when the magical flames sealed the entrance. However, their companions pushing from behind were not having any of it. They continued to advance, forcing the despairing animals at the front towards their doom.
After his initial investigation of the species involved in the assault, Greem had calibrated most of the offensive arrays to release magma fireballs. The apprentice adepts didn't need to fight themselves. All they had to do was comfortably wait within the tower and hurl the magma fireballs in the direction that Greem pointed them at.
To save the tower's energy, Greem did not erect a dome-shaped defensive forcefield. Instead, he invested almost every single bit of power into the offensive arrays.
It was with these dozens of fireballs that Greem successfully sealed the entrance of the caves. The horde of beasts would have to pay a hefty price if they wanted to enter.
After the first wave of fireballs, the apprentices stopped their attacks and silently waited for Greem's next instructions.
This assault was a clear demonstration of the destructiveness of fire spells!
Most spells dissipated shortly after they took effect. However, the magma fireballs were able to create tiny seas of fire and lava at the entrance to the caverns. As long as the lava didn't solidify and cool, the sea of flame would never vanish.
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