Ashendrake Thunderlight raised his four thick limbs and walked around the hall, carefully examining everything of note. Finally, after ensuring that there were no major problems, he took out three thunderlight stones and tossed them towards the door of light.
A terrifying surge of electricity blasted out of the gray stones when they came into contact with the door of sky-blue light. When the three thunderlight stones embedded themselves into the metal door in a triangle formation, another triangular spatial passage formed in the middle of the portal.
Once the spatial passage had stabilized, ripples spread across the black screen of light. Almost three dozen mighty dragonborn of the same size as Ashendrake Thunderlight emerged from within.
The vast hall appeared to be reasonably spacious. It could fit over a thousand goblins without being too crowded. However, just these thirty-five dragonborn already made the place seem tight.
The black spatial passage started trembling intensely after all thirty-five members of the Dragonborn Vanguard had arrived. It was almost as if a humongous entity was stuck within the passage, unable to exit or retreat from it. Just like that, the spatial corridor slowly started to expand, and a strange sound rang out from the tremendous force being exerted upon space.
Finally, a dragonborn larger and more muscular than Ashendrake Thunderlight broke free of the confines of space with a muffled boom. He finally started to appear in this world.
"Praise thee, our leader, Lord Zacha."
"We welcome your arrival, Lord Zacha."
The dragonborn scouts immediately bowed before their powerful leader the moment he stood straight. Their right arms, covered in green scales, pressed against their chests as they bowed in unison.
The ones chosen as scouts for the Vanguard Army were all First Grade at the very minimum. On the other hand, the last one that had been teleported over as the Scout Leader was a Second Grade powerhouse. When he appeared in the hall, cloaked in blinding blue light, an intangible planar power surrounded his body and caused this Second Grade powerhouse to grunt involuntarily.
As creatures from a different plane, the Second Grade lifeform needed to endure far harsher planar suppression compared to First Grade lifeforms.
Fortunately, apart from the innate dragon abilities inherited from their bloodline, Dragonborn also possessed the powerful and muscular bodies of the dragons. Even if their innate magic was temporarily unavailable, their powerful bodies alone were more than enough to crush most of their enemies!
"Brat of the Ashendrakes, what's the situation here like?" The Scout Leader still betrayed fearsome power even as he endured terrifying planar suppression.
"Leader Zacha, that goblin is untrustworthy, just as we expected. The construction of the planar door used the most inferior of magical materials. It is entirely impossible for it to sustain long-term use. Moreover… "
"Moreover what?"
"The energy source of the planar door seems somewhat strange. It contains traces of superficial knowledge from the World of Adepts. As such, I am worried that our invasion this time might be met with some unexpected enemies!"
"The World of Adepts… "
The dragonborn scouts present couldn't help but frown when they heard this name. Scout Leader Zacha's expression soured slightly. A blinding electrical radiance shot out of his amber eyes.
"What about the goblin that traded with us?" Leader Zacha's mood was utterly spoiled when he heard such unpleasant news. He couldn't help but roar in a chilling tone.
"He has already been expelled from the hall. I am worried they will fiddle with the energy source of the planar door. They can cut our path of retreat just by cutting the energy source."
Ashendrake Thunderlight was a rare intellectual amongst the Dragonborn. Even though he was young at the age of only a hundred and three years old, logic and reason lied behind every one of his judgments.
As if rushing to prove his deduction, the lights in the hall suddenly extinguished. The energy surging into the planar door also rapidly subsided. The large door of light inside the metal door was rapidly dimming. Only the triangular spatial passage supported by the thunderlight stones still radiated a faint glow.
"Haha, these sly and shameless goblins. Do they really think they can cut off our retreat path by just cutting the power?" Leader Zacha roared, "Thunderlight, you take five men and guard the planar door. You must not let it shut or be destroyed. Here. These are the three hundred thunderlight stones I specially brought for this occasion. It's enough to sustain the planar door for a month!"
Zacha removed a large leather sack from his back.
The sack fell on the ground, and the free opening came unwound. Hundreds of brilliant and blinding blue light shone out from the bag.
"Understood, Leader!" Ashendrake Thunderlight waved his hand, and five members of his team swarmed towards the metal door. They pulled out electric spears from behind them and went on alert.
Just then, a loud metallic clanging came from the entrance of the hall. Rows of magical machines in formation, hordes of intimidating tanks, and squads of fully-armed goblin soldiers poured in like a tide.
How could the dragonborn still not understand the intentions of the goblins with such a turn of events!
"Dragonborn Warriors, charge!" Leader Zacha raised the three-meter-long electric spear in his hand and roared at the top of his lungs, "Blast these lying and shameless goblins to pieces!"
Following Zacha's orders, several dragonborn scouts shook their large bodies and charged towards the goblin army with electric spears pointed forward.
Even though the charging dragonborn scouts only numbered thirty men, it felt as if an entire army was throwing themselves at the enemy!
Each dragonborn was approximately thirty tons in weight. Thirty dragonborn together would be over a thousand tons.
Can you imagine a horrifying monster made of one thousand tons of solid flesh, tough bones, and hard scales charging towards you with thunderous steps?
The loud rumbling echoed through the belly of the mountain, melding with various other sounds. It was almost deafening.
Unlike the direct charge of the dragonborn scouts, the goblin army was very orderly.
The ones standing at the very front were the undefeated magical machine squads. They took up three rows, with each row comprising of five three-meter-tall magical machines. Once the dragonborn came within shooting distance, these magical machines immediately fired their guns, attempting to use their terrifying barrage to stop the enemy's advance.
Ordinary metal bullets didn't do much damage to Dragonborn.
After all, the green scales around a Dragonborn's body was more than enough to resist any physical and magical attacks below twenty-five points. However, the force that each of the bullets carried with them was not so easily negated. Even the mightiest of the soldiers had to slow down when seven or eight streams of bullets crashed upon their scales. Advancing forward became a difficult task.
Occasionally, one could even hear the grunting of dragon soldiers when their scales were penetrated!
However, the fearless dragonborn warriors did not shy from the challenge. They raised their left arms and blocked their exposed faces while roaring and summoning a water-blue electric shield in front of themselves.
With the electric shields to negate the force behind the bullets, the dragonborn once again started to pick up speed.
Behind the magical machine squad, the goblin chariots and tanks quickly swerved to the side of the formation. They slowly unfolded their metallic supports before a black gun barrel one meter in diameter emerged from within the machines. The fully metallic magic cannon was composed of special alloy materials. The entire cannon itself glowed a deep crimson as magic energy filled the device.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
Several fireballs containing violent magic energies fell in a graceful parabolic arc before landing at the frontlines. They then exploded and turned into sizeable clusters of fire.
Any enemy would have to back down temporarily against such ferocious and concentrated energy attacks. However, the dragonborn warriors became even more fearless and courageous when faced with the storm of energy fireballs.
They roared in the strange Dragontongue that outsiders could not comprehend. Once they closed in on the first row of magical machines, terrifying white chain lightning shot out of the electric spears in their hands. The savage chain lightning would bounce between the magical machines, dealing incredible damage to the metallic machines with every jump.
The ten magical machines in the two front rows of the formation turned into clusters of blinding fire without any resistance. The goblin mechanics within were also instantly reduced to cinders.
The goblin army hadn't expected the Dragonborn to possess such overwhelming powers of lightning and electricity. It was the first time they were fighting the Dragonborn. The tragedy was in the materials used to construct the magical machines. All the devices were made with high-quality alloy materials, yet none of them had been subjected to non-conduction treatment.
Consequently, as the best conductors of electricity, not only did the magical machines fail to protect the goblin mechanics, they were even the cause for the effectiveness of the chain of lightning.
The magical machine squad of Gazlowe's goblin army was decimated at first contact!
Chapter 525 The Underground Battle
The first round of the battle.
Minimal damage had been inflicted upon the dragonborn warriors, but the goblin's magical machine squad had been crippled!
As dragonborn soldiers slaughtered their way into the goblin army, the casualties among the magical machines rose exponentially! It was hard to even look at the numbers!
The goblins had indeed covered their flaws of weak strength and pathetic combat ability with their tough metal shells. However, the destruction that they could wield while piloting the magical machines hinged upon the magic energy weapons and explosives that the machines carried with them.
Even though these weapons could attack without stop, they also had obvious limitations regarding power.
The best example would be the metal bullets that were propelled by gunpowder. Attacks like these could never go above an upper limit of thirty points of physical damage, regardless of how well-crafted and well-designed the weapons were.
On the other hand, magic energy weapons mostly functioned by firing magical energy attacks through the activation of magic energy batteries. When violent magic energies accumulated to a certain degree, they were able to deal decent energy damage to planar creatures.
However, the magic energy weapons that the goblins invented were primitive products. The energy damage they dealt was only somewhere between thirty-five to eighty points. While attacks of such power were enough to wound the dragonborn, they could only inflict flesh wounds and non-lethal damage.
The dragonborn didn't retreat after being bombarded and scalded by the magic energy fireballs. Instead, they became even more aggressive and reckless. They waved the electric spears in their hands, stabbing and sweeping away the goblins in their path. Those that were not in melee range would use chain lightning to strike the goblins. Every close-ranged strike was accompanied by a tide of lightning that crackled in every direction.
The electricity that spread out clearly couldn't break through the excellent magical resistance of the dragonborn. They were all insulated by the indigo scales of the Dragonborn, unable to affect them whatsoever. However, the magical machines they were fighting against couldn't do that.
The magical machines couldn't compare in size, weight, or offensive power. Moreover, they were frequently being electrocuted. That was why the dragon soldiers almost wholly crushed the magical machines at the start of the fight.
As the line of magical machines was broken, the goblin chariots behind them were also attacked by the dragonborn soldiers. The goblin soldiers who had spread around the chariots became the victims of the berserk dragonborn rampage.
The weapons invented by the goblin engineers weren't useless; they just dealt too little single-target damage, making it hard for them to break through the Dragonborn's electric shields and the tough scales beneath. That was why the entire combat strength of the goblin army quickly plummeted the moment their formation was breached.
The goblin soldiers frantically escaped from the dragonborn. They couldn't even hold the perimeter, much less attack the enemies in an organized manner!
In less than fifteen minutes, the thirty dragonborn soldiers had routed this army of seven hundred goblins, and the goblins that died on the battlefield numbered over three hundred. No deaths had appeared on the side of the dragonborn. Even though most of the dragonborn had minor wounds and injuries, these injuries were healing and recovering at a rate visible to the naked eye.
Just this alone was more than enough evidence of the tremendous regenerative abilities of the Dragonborn!
As the goblins scattered, this vanguard formed of dragonborn scouts split into ten groups and started chasing after the goblins, slaughtering them by the lot. Each group had three dragonborn.
Given the usual style of the Dragonborn's rule, they would have to first commit a bloody slaughter before subduing the victims as their slaves. On the one hand, this allowed them to vent their violent tendencies. On the other, they could establish their image as a powerful and undefeatable race!
…………
A game of hunting and escaping began in the sprawling underground tunnels as the dragonborn chased the goblins.
A goblin chariot that had escaped from the battlefield creaked as it charged out. The metal wheels spun wildly against the stone floor, and two clearly defined swerve marks were left behind as sparks flew into the air.
The goblin chariot crashed from side to side, sending sparks flying as it ground against the walls of the tunnel. Meanwhile, the magic energy cannon at the top of the vehicle was rapidly charging and firing at the massive form stubbornly pursuing behind them. The revolver rifles at the back of the chariot were wildly firing bullets, cracking against the enemy's blue electric shield.
When enemy got too close, the chariot would shoot out a stream of fire, drowning the giant silhouette and everything around it in an intense blanket of flames.
Sadly, even if the goblin chariot had been operating at 200% combat capability, it still couldn't deal any effective damage to its pursuer. In fact, most of the time, the goblin chariot was creaking and drifting from side to side under the frantic control of the pilot. All this was to avoid the blinding electricity shooting from behind.
While the goblin chariot could only deal meager quantities of damage to the dragonborn with each attack, it was a pretty decent amount when accumulated. Still, without the protection of the magical machines, the goblin chariot had no choice but to fight while running and trying its very best to trip up the enemy.
The goblin chariot couldn't do anything to the dragonborn. On the other hand, the Dragonborn could easily pierce through the fifty-centimeter thick metallic plate if his attacks landed. The leather-armored goblin inside the chariot would instantly be vaporized.
Most goblin soldiers were only ordinary lifeforms. Their basic bodily attributes couldn't even compare to these dragonborn. They were no more than dust before the dragonborn without their chariots. The enemy only needed to exert a little strength, and they would be wiped out of existence.
The chariot sped away, the cannons fired, and roiling red flames filled the tunnel.
The dragon soldier didn't seem to be affected at all. It was still dragging its heavy body along and closely chasing after the chariot. He had already split up with his two companions due to the complexity and twists of the tunnel. However, the tiny rat that was frantically running from it had successfully ignited his rage. He recklessly followed the chariot down tunnel after tunnel, making turn after turn.
Just as they were about to run into a narrow tunnel, the furious and rampaging dragonborn scout stopped
. His triangular dragon-like head quickly assessed his surroundings. Electricity climbed up the spear in his hands, occasionally releasing terrifying arcs of lightning.
Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong!
Four continuous clangs and four magical machines akin to the earlier ones appeared in front of the dragonborn's vision from the front and back. Two came from the front and two approached from behind, perfectly sealing all escape paths available to the dragonborn.
It was a trap!
The dragonborn scout figured out the truth without much guessing.
He might have fallen into the enemy's trap, but he was not at all fearful. Instead, he slowly cracked his neck and wrists before brandishing the electric spear and striking at the two enemies before him.
They were four Second Grade magical machines!
On the surface, the goblins seemed to possess the absolute advantage. They should have been able to take down these dragonborn scouts with few losses.
However, an embarrassing scene unfolded in front of them as the battle started.
The four-man goblin crew only sent a single Second Grade magical machine to deal with this First Grade dragonborn scout because of their confidence. The outcome of the battle exceeded their expectations. The First Grade dragonborn scout destroyed the Second Grade magical machine while only sustaining moderate wounds. Even the goblin mechanic hiding inside the magical machine had been torn out of the vehicle and crushed to paste.
The lifeform grade system held by the goblins as standard criteria had a massive difference when it came to different species.
The magical machines that the goblins hailed as Second Grade seemed to reach the standards of a Second Grade creature when every one of their specs were listed out. However, when put together, these machines still couldn't reach the level of a true Second Grade lifeform.
In fact, in the eyes of some powerful First Grade beings, these Second Grade machines of the goblins were no more than slightly troublesome toys. The frail bodies of the goblin mechanics couldn't unleash all of the might of the Second Grade machines, resulting in a waste of excellent resources.
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