Multiple snowy-white pointed javelins were sent thrusting like blooming flowers, and a few soldiers in leather armour collapsed, blood splattering everywhere. Amongst them, there was even a knight in heavy armour!
In front of the elite Underground Winter Spider Knights, regular soldiers and knights could not take on even a single blow, and only Grand Knights had a chance to win.
“Secondary Energy Fireball!”
“Vine Winding!”
“Icy Pearl!” The magicians waiting on top of the city walls immediately acted,and the knights who had just rushed up the walls were drowned in the colourful rays of magic spells.
Their powerful bodies and mounts that they had always been proud of were torn into pieces by various spells.
However, the surviving Underground Winter Spider Knights still charged on fearlessly, and many captains and vice-captains launched forth with spells of their own, clashing with the Magi on the walls.
“Hands of Corrosion!” A knight in gleaming armour, riding a larger spider than its peers, called out loudly. Numerous black palms extended from the air and advanced towards the opposing Magi.
“Ah!” A level 3 acolyte’s face was caught by one of the black hands and immediately wasted away, blood and flesh wearing away.
“Be careful! He’s a vice-captain and has the strength of an official Magus!”
A middle-aged Magus with white air spoke in a low voice, his innate defensive spell formation flickering.
“The situation doesn’t look good,” Leylin commented, watching the scene below.
At this moment, the three Magi felt a few bursts of spiritual force aimed at them that equalled their own strengths being released from the enemy camp. If they dared intervene, they would be faced with a terrifying attack by the matriarchs.
In a situation where the higher-ranked forces were level, whoever first made the first move would be at a disadvantage.
Thankfully, Leylin and the others were not planning on doing so.
From the looks of it, though, only rank 2 Magi could change the outcome.
“Let’s begin!” Leylin spoke lightly, the apathy in his eyes becoming more evident.
“The command has been sent down. I only hope the matriarchs won’t go crazy and fight with us!” The ring on Fendix’s finger flashed red as he smiled wryly.
At this moment, it looked like the official Magi on the city walls had received the command.
“Begin! Activate!” They shouted, and all sorts of spells were aimed at the casks, causing them to explode into fragments.
*Rumble!*
The wooden boards exploded open, and the red liquid within spilled to the ground.
This red liquid was very muddy and looked to be some red wine that had yet to settle. After reaching the ground, it became volatile and created a red mist.
In that moment, the top of the city wall was wrapped in red mist.
“Be careful of the toxic attack! Activate your defensive runes!”
A dark elf in golden armour ordered.
*Weng Weng!* In the twinkling of an eye, multi-coloured rays rose from the dark elven knights’ armours.
After being wrapped within this layer of light, the knights charged towards their enemies once again, undaunted.
They were very confident in the durability of their bodies, since they were members of a high-energy race. Dark elves might have lower reproductive abilities, but the durability of their bodies far surpassed that of humans. This racial ability extended to the immunity to many toxins.
It wasn’t as if the humans hadn’t considered using poison, but most poisons that were deadly to humans only left dark elves feeling slightly giddy, or gave them a nosebleed.
Using poison would only hurt them more, and lead to more city guards dying. Thus, after a few attempts, the humans had given up on this method.
Now, however, the situation was slightly different.
“Hm?”
An Underground Winter Spider knight rushed up the city wall and sent a Grand Knight flying. Just as he was about to stab his lance into his opponent’s heart, he suddenly lost his grip, and the lance fell to the ground.
Recalling the short burst of weakness, the knight wondered, ‘What’s going on? How did these toxins paralyse me? Didn’t I already activate the runes that defend against this?’
The sudden realisation that the red mist had passed through the defensive layer without obstruction alarmed him. It was as if these runes were fake.
Large numbers of yellow pustules and blisters erupted all over his skin, bursting as quickly as they had formed. The knight screamed out, miserably.
“Attack!” A ray of light flashed, and the Grand Knight that had been sent flying grasped this opportunity and brandished the giant steel sword in his hands, slashing it at this dark elf’s neck.
A line appeared, which soon turned into a fountain of blood.
This dark elf’s delicate, pale neck was severed, its skull rolling on the ground.
Alicia
Similar events occurred all along the city walls. Even the Underground Winter Spiders weren’t spared. Their eight legs crumbled down and their eyes dimmed, following which they were overrun by stampeding troops…
This frightening effectiveness in battle managed to surprise even Fendix who was hovering in the air. “This toxin is truly very strong! If we manage to produce it in large quantities…”
His eyes beamed with excitement.
“It isn’t as simple as you’d think!” Leylin smiled bitterly, “I specifically concocted this using plant concentrate based on the anatomy of dark elves. On its own, it isn’t a toxin, which is why it can pass through their defensive runes. Once it enters their bodies and begins circulation, it begins to react with their endocrine system. In a matter of moments, the benign gas transforms into neural poison.
“This is just a petty trick that makes use of a gap in their defenses. Once this battle ends, the dark elves will change their runes to protect against this method of attack, which will render it useless in the end!”
In fact, Leylin based this poison off his own rank 2 spell—Toxic Bile. With the help of Nature’s Alliance’s research, he managed to get the approval of the joint conference, which only helped him improve upon it.
“Even so, Sir Leylin’s research on dark elves has far surpassed ours.” The female Magus showed admiration at Leylin’s accomplishment despite him downplaying it. That alone showed the level of Leylin’s ability in alchemy and the depth of his research on dark elves.
“After this, I’m afraid that even I will have to pay a visit to the joint conference to learn from Sir Leylin’s works,” she said as she broke into a smile.
“I would gladly welcome any discussion with you, what’s more, any fresh thoughts you may have on the subject,” Leylin said humbly.
“This isn’t the right time to speak about this, the matriarchs are about to act!” She pointed at the dark elves’ camp across them where the spiritual force was climbing to its peak.
“They seem to have become anxious now, and might leap into action at any moment. We should prepare.” Fendix took out a short black gentleman’s cane. A sparkling diamond, as large as an egg, was embedded into the top.
Leylin smiled without saying a word.
Nearly three thousand of their elite Underground Winter Spider knights were fighting in this battle, half of their entire force. It was only to be expected that the turn of the situation had made them anxious.
At this moment, darkness energy particles gathered together, and a strong wave from a spell arose from the opposite side.
“Black Torrential Rain!!”
A sweet female voice was accompanied by a large amount of water vapour condensing above Dolon city. This was followed by a storm of endless black raindrops descending upon the city.
When the black raindrops and red mist came into contact, an explosion sounded out. They fused into a charred-black liquid that dropped to the floor, revealing the Un
derground Winter Spider knights who were lying on the ground, on the verge of death.
Leylin’s poison was only powerful against the elite Underground Winter Spider Knights. A rank 1 Magus could use the energy in their body to resist it. As for matriarchs who were rank 2 existences? It could not affect them in the slightest.
”Peng! Peng! Peng! Peng!”
The ground cracked apart, and numerous strands of black hair emerged from the depths. These snake-like hairs wound around those knights who were still alive and pulled them back.
In just a moment, the hairs had managed to pull back a dozen miles, bringing the knights to safety.
Still, half of the Underground Winter Spider knights had already perished.
“You…!!!” A few rage-filled voices emerged from the sky above the enemy camp. The black vapors dissipated, revealing the appearances of the three dark elf matriarchs.
Leylin examined them.
These matriarchs all possessed the ravishing beauty intrinsic to dark elves. The revealing clothing made of a leather-like material displayed their voluptuous bodies and their hands were adorned with thorn whips.
‘Yup! They definitely resemble the dominatrixes from my previous world!’ Leylin thought as he rolled his eyes.
At this moment, the opposing three matriarchs were already on the verge of exploding into anger, powerful spells taking form in their hands.
“You guys dared to go against the agreement and take action!” Fendix touched the short cane which he was holding and remained stoic.
“Humans! How dare you use such despicable means to bring harm upon my brave soldiers, I will behead the lot of you and gift them to Her Majesty!” The matriarch at the center lashed out in the dark elven language, paying no heed to Fendix’s accusation. She wore the most revealing outfit of the three, and the two golden rings at her bosom gave off a sensual vibe.
“Hehe! Since when did the dark elves that are renowned for being sinister and cunning start accusing others of using despicable means?” The female Magus said with a sneer before Leylin had a chance to speak.
”Speaking anymore is useless! Take action!!” Leylin exclaimed.
Large amounts of black mist appeared, forming a gigantic black snake whose back was filled with patterns. It sucked one of the matriarchs into it.
Leylin had grown bored of remaining in this place in spite of the minimal danger and occasional respites. He wanted to end this once and for all so he could head back and further his plans.
“Begin the counterattack!” Fendix sent out via secret imprint as he sneered.
“Retaliate! Retaliate! Retaliate!”
A sea of voices flooded out from within the city walls. The door which had been closed for a long time started to creak open. Numerous knights and magicians rushed out, heading for the dark elves’ camp.
After the previous battle and Leylin’s poison, the dark elves had suffered a devastating blow that had forced a retreat. It looked like the humans had taken hold of the advantage now.
Leylin did not pay much attention to the situation below. After some probing attacks, he had begun to lure one of the matriarchs to a suitable battlefield.
A dark elf matriarch had strength comparable to a rank 2 Magus, and Leylin could not afford to let his guard down against such a strong opponent. In addition, both the extent and range of destruction brought down by a rank 2 spell far surpassed that of one at rank 1. Thus, his opponent willingly followed him so that they could avoid unnecessary casualties.
After all, the two armies were in a melee, and any attack would definitely harm both parties. Considering their already low population, the loss would hurt the dark elves more than it hurt the humans.
In actual fact, looking at the two sides engaged in battle, the matriarch was pain-stricken by the loss.
Dark elves took 300 years just to reach adulthood. This made it much more difficult to recoup the loss of their soldiers, and every single member of their army was irreplaceable. On the other hand, humans with their high fertility and short life cycles had no such problems.
One-third of the elves on this battlefield belonged to this matriarch’s army, and among them were her own descendants.
“Here should be fine!”
Leylin brought the matriarch to a plain which was not far from Dolon City
There were a few cities near this plane, but they had all been evacuated long ago. The roads leading to the plain were already covered with weeds, and unnecessary casualties were unlikely to occur here.
“I am known as Alicia, you are worthy of knowing my name!”
This matriarch had completely calmed down, as she had to face an existence whose power rivaled her own.
Looking at this elf who was dressed in revealing leather, Leyin flashed a smile. ”I am Leylin!“
*Kacha!*
As he said that, he suddenly shot backwards, dodging a shadow spider.
This floating shadow spider had ominous green eyes, and the mouth which had just tried to bite Leylin was now producing a crunching noise.
“Do all you matriarchs act this shamelessly?” Leylin had been stumped by her actions.
“There is no use for face when up against someone of a different race! Surrender and defect to our side; I’ll gift you with my family’s bloodline and bestow unimaginable rewards upon you!”
The matriarch licked her sexy lips and flaunted her voluptuous body, hinting at him subtly.
”Hehe… this kind of seductive energy once again!” Leylin shook his head.
A large amount of spiritual force chased the energy out.
“Scorching Touch!” He scattered a red powder just as he was chanting the spell, and red rays started ripping across the sky and immediately appeared in front of Alicia. The might of the two forces from the ray made her pale.
”Aldershkry!” Alicia started to chant and a white shield started to hover in front of her. On the surface of the shield was the image of a spider web and flowers.
*Peng! Peng!*
The scorching rays attacked the shield one by one, and screeching sounded out.
Cracks started to emerge on the surface of the shield
*Kacha!* Under Alicia’s stunned gaze, the white shield shattered to pieces and fragments flew in all directions.
“This shield was smelted from the ore of the mine guarded by the Underground Winter Spider Emperor! You shattered it!” Alicia’s gaze at Leylin was now filled with dread.
“Could you consider my proposal? You can have all the females in my clan, including me…”
“Sorry! I can’t see any sincerity in your words!” Silver spiritual force continuously shot out with Leylin’s detached reply.
He was not a lecher, and the price of betrayal was far too steep when compared to the profits he would obtain.
Defeat And Assistance
Anyone who betrayed their community for profit would immediately be labelled as unreliable. How, then, would they do well in the opposing camp?
Furthermore, Leylin was confident in the humans’ ability to defend. Even if the protector of the eastern Twilight Zone were to perish, and the entirety of it fell into enemy hands, he still believed the humans in the subterranean world were not weak enough to go extinct.
As a result, matriarch Alicia’s temptations did not affect Leylin in the slightest.
On the contrary, Leylin was eager to fight this rank 2 matriarch.
“Perfect. The template of a rank 2 Magus, as well as the rank 2 spell models the A.I. Chip deduced, can now be tested.”
Leylin’s eyes flashed, which caused Alicia who was opposite him to feel cold within her heart. She had a bad premonition.
But Leylin would not give the other party a chance, and he swiftly made the first move. ”Shadow Flames!” Dark red flames poured into the sky, forming a pillar of raging fire.
[Shadow Flames: rank 2 spell. Elements: darkness, fire. Might: 120 degrees (Elemental essence conversion added)]
These were the A.I. Chip�
��s stats on the spell which had been evolved from the Latent Fireball that he had previously made.
Over the last ten years, Leylin had obtained the spell model of a powerful rank 2 spell from Nature’s Alliance. The guilds that they had consumed had also net him quite a few such models as well. Of course the Alliance, as a medium-scale guild, had possessed the most outstanding model.
Thereafter, during his stay in Dolon, he had exchanged for many more rank 2 models. By luck, he had even managed to collect two damaged rank 3 models, which he had treated like gems and diligently copied down. The A.I. Chip had been tasked with restoring these two models.
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