▪️GREAT DEFEAT
As the well-equipped Elven Legion entered their field of vision, the rcenaries fell into a state of turmoil…
No one had foreseen that the initial attack from over two hundred Elven Cavalry was just the beginning and an even more larger Legion of Elves would co forth to join their brethren.
And… the sheer number of opponents on the elven side was staggering!
At least a thousand Elves charged forward with wild abandon, ard to the teeth and brimming with unwavering resolve as their forces steadily closing in on the rcenaries’ encampnt.
Such spectacular scene left the rcenaries deeply impressed but also incredulous, as if they were in a dream.
As a dium-sized rcenary group operating on the Empire’s borderlands, the Crocodile rcenary Corps had encountered large-scale battles before. They had once subdued a thieves’ guild boasting over a thousand mbers and had been hired by imperial nobles several tis in the past as well to quell insurrections…
But whether it was a guild of thieves or a human army of insurrectionist, none had ever inspired the sa reverence as the current spectacle they are witnessing right now.
Elves!
Not humans, let alone orcs!
But a whole Legion of Elves!
In their everyday lives, many rcenaries within the Crocodile’s group had not seen Elves in years, if ever. In fact, it only had been yesterday that many amongst them had even laid their eyes upon these legendary, noble, and beautiful beings for the very first ti…
Yet, the experiences of the past two days was an eye-opener for many of them.
Yesterday, after capturing over fifty Elves through a surprise attack had already left the rcenaries amazed…
But today, they were witnessing an even greater sight!
On the road leading back to the Empire, nurous Elves stretched as far as the naked eye could see, with their gorgeous towering figures even discernible amidst the dense foliage on both sides…
From the rcenaries’ perspective, it felt as though there were more of these Elves than mbers in their own rcenary group!
By the Eternal Lord above, had all the Elves in the world sohow gathered here?
Since when had Elves beco such a common sight?
Of course, the appearance of the Elven Legion rely caused a commotion among the rcenaries, not fear.
After all… although the number of Elves seems staggering, the rcenary forces also amount to thousands.
Moreover, these Elves, in their loose formation, appeared considerably more disorganized than the rcenaries had expected. Looking at the more closely, they seed more like an unruly bandits about to plunder a village than a properly disciplined army…
In contrast, the Crocodile rcenary Corps, although they were rcenaries by trade, still had so semblance of organizational skills no less than a professional army and possessed the most rudintary discipline due to their past experience of dealing with insurrections.
But these Elves were different.
While they managed to maintain a semblance of formation, it was painfully clear that their leadership lacked significant experience in large-scale battles, thus rendering their ranks highly disorganized and improvised.
And their already fragile formation keeps descending even further into chaos as they move more closer to the rcenaries camp.
One could say that the appearance of these Elves is nothing like the noble elegance they were supposed to have, as depicted in the old legends.
However, the rcenaries had no ti to think about such matters…
Because, just after the Elven legion appeared, a dragon’s thunderous roar tore through the heavens, rendering the rcenaries immobile as they stood completely frozen in place, as if they were seeing death itself from above.
“A…D-Dragon! It’s the Bl-Black Bragon!”
Seeing the nacing black silhouette hovering in the sky, the rcenary group was instantly gripped with fear, as their morale further plumted.
A dragon!
Amongst the most legendary of the golden races in the world of Saigües, the tales involving dragons were renowned far and wide.
And amongst all dragonkind, the black dragon in particular had forever been depicted as the epito of malevolence upon such tales.
Hell, one could even argue that humanity has a deeply rooted and ingrained fear of black dragons due to growing up and listening to these tales…
Not to ntion, the rcenaries were well aware that their leader had recently led an operation to infiltrate a dragon’s lair just the day before, and their rather abrupt, forceful march overnight was an attempt to evade the black dragon’s potential retribution.
It was evident to everyone in the group that the black dragon had finally caught up with them, and it was here for revenge!
If the reinforcent consisted solely of elves, then, despite being shaken, the rcenaries still had confidence that they could mount a resistance.
On the flip side, if it was only the black dragon alone, then although it was still just as terrifying, the rcenaries could likewise attempt an organized defense.
Yet, when both of these formidable foes appeared simultaneously and joined forces, it completely exceeded the psychological threshold of what the rcenaries could tolerate.
Being confronted with a seemingly inevitable defeat, if not utter destruction, the majority of the rcenaries would not sacrifice their lives in vain unless they possessed unwavering resolve.
Under the hardened gaze of Crocodile, he witnessed most of his subordinates trembling, and their formation was already teetering on the brink of collapse even before the Elven Legion could reach them!
At the end of the day, rcenaries are, after all, just that—rcenaries.
They didn’t have the honor of knights nor the resolve of batlle-hardened soldiers. Moreover, the Crocodile rcenary group couldn’t be regarded as one of those famous legendary rcenary corps.
While they had a certain degree of organization, they lacked the discipline of a regular army.
Fighting when the odds are in their favor is their forte, but, on the contrary, when faced with adversaries they clearly could not contend with, most rcenaries would falter and retreat just to save their own skin.
In the midst of this uncertainty, the two sides finally clashed.
Amidst the resounding dragon’s roar overhead, whilst being accompanied by a thrilling symphonic background music, the Elven Legion charged forward and descended into sheer madness, a stark in contrast to the rcenaries who had lost their courage..
Their excitent reaching into new heights just after the players listened to the voice chat being constantly flooded with ssages from the Spider Cavalry mbers as they keep boasting about how much EXP they were accumulating…
Killing these rcenaries…yields huge experience points!
Kill them all!
They must get as many kill as much as possible!
With bloodshot eyes, the players’ morale surged to unparalleled heights!
They brandished their swords and axes, shouting “Ur-la! Ur-la!” like a pack of frenzied wolves, chasing off their prey with wild abandon and slashing at any rcenary within reach, whilst vowing to continue until their targets lay lifeless!
Their formation by this point had completely fallen apart.
Yet their morale was off the charts!
The players, charging one after another like a raging torrent, ruptured the already faltering rcenary formation with ease!
And the rcenaries, under the combined pressure of the black dragon and the Elven Legion, finally lost their will to fight…
The shield wall that was originally indestructible under the siege of more than two hundred spider cavalry now disintegrated like fragile paper, obliterated in an instant by the players onslaught!
The rcenaries witnessed the Elves charging recklessly, unleashing their skills with abandon and cutting down any foe in their path, as though reveling in the carnage…
Blood splattered everywhere, particularly noticeable after it sprayed onto the faces of the Elves, who wore bloodthirsty grins as if reveling in the wanton act of slaughter…
Such unbridled madness even made the most hardened rcenaries, which was accustod to killing, felt fear gripped their hearts.
“T-They’re insane… they’re all insane!”
Finally, one rcenary broke down.
He threw his shield to the ground before turning around and running away…
With the first one fleeing, soon the dam broke as one after another started following suit.
Gradually, as the Elves pressed forward, the entire Crocodile rcenary Corps succumbed to a mass rout!
And this rout further aggravated the chaos within the rcenary formation.
Soon enough, nearly half of the rcenaries turned around after discarding their armor, and fled without ever looking back…
In any case, their defeat was now inevitable!
So what’s the point of staying?
anwhile, Crocodile, whose watching his force crumble in an instant, simply stood there in stunned disbelief.
However, this was not the end of it.
Seeing the rcenaries shedding their armor and exposing their backs as they fled, the players’ morale once again surged.
“They’re running! Quick, chase them down! Kill them!”
Li Mu excitedly gave the command.
And the players on the forefront followed suit, roaring as they pursued the fleeing rcenaries…
Leaving your back exposed to the enemy was the most foolish action in the battlefield.
However, discarding one’s armor was even more foolish!
The Elves were naturally agile creatures with many of them even wearing boots with [acceleration] properties added.
Therefore, even if the rcenaries had discarded their armors, they still didn’t get far that much.
They were swiftly overtaken by the players in pursuit, before being cut down with ruthless efficiency!
Then afterwards, the equipnt the rcenaries had abandoned would be picked up by the players coming from behind before being carried on their backs.
The entire battlefield rapidly deteriorated, with one side collapsing and turning into a one-sided massacre!
Under the players’ frenzied onslaught, the rcenary corps had completely collapsed. Almost everyone had lost their will to fight and began scattering in all directions!
And at this mont, the Spider Knights stationed on the outskirts of the battlefield finally began to move.
They started to encircle and intercept any rcenaries who were fleeing, specifically targeting those who looks more stronger than the others…
Crocodile watched this scene with a hollow gaze, with his heart growing more colder.
Even with his interdiate silver-ranked strength, he still couldn’t change the reality of this situation.
The grim reality was that their side suffered a devastating defeat today.
—No
This was more than just a simple defeat.
Worse yet, the Crocodile rcenary Corps might very well be entirely wiped out after this!
Why were those Elves so ruthless!?
Crocodile clearly saw that so rcenaries sought to surrender, yet even their pleas were t with naught but the laughter and savagery of the Elves!
“C-Captain, we need to escape quickly! The Black Dragon hasn’t attacked yet; there’s still hope for us!”
At this mont, a few trusted subordinates rushed over to his side, with their faces drained of all colours.
Hearing their words, Crocodile’s bitterness intensified.
Indeed, the Black Dragon…had not attacked yet!
It was rely circling in the sky, leading the Elves.
However, these Elves had managed to defeat the force that Crocodile had worked tirelessly to build over the years, all on their own.
At that mont, his heart reached its freezing point.
Now, Crocodile deeply regretted succumbing to his greed, regretted infiltrating the Black Dragon Castle, and regretted capturing of those accursed Elves!
Alas… it was all too late!
Crocodile’s hands trembled slightly.
He then gritted his teeth hard and, with bloodshot eyes, he exclaid,
“We’ll use those captured Elves as hostages and make a break for it!”
The Black Dragon wielded unimaginable might, a force Crocodile could not challenge at his current strength.
Furthermore, his sole trump card, the Level 7 Teleportation Magic Scroll, had already been used up by him in yesterday’s operation.
By escaping alone, he feared he that couldn’t evade the Black Dragon’s pursuit…
Those captured Elves were his last glimr of hope!
The Black Dragon had mobilized so many Elves to rescue its kin.
This clearly indicated it attached great importance to these Elves Crocodile had captured!
And this… might be the sole path to salvation for the entire rcenary corps!
Having said that, Crocodile, along with few of his most trusted subordinates, returned in a disheveled state to where the captives were being held.
Then, upon the Crocodile’s orders, the rcenaries pulled out over fifty bound Elves and gathered them all together.
Afterwards Crocodile himself selected the most elegantly equipped, presumably the highest-ranking female Elf amongst them, and placed his longsword at her throat…
Then, with his eyes filled with conviction, Crocodile summoned all his strength and shouted towards the Black Dragon in the distance:
“Black Dragon! If you want to save your captive kins, command your Elven Army to cease their assault!”
“Otherwise, even if we die, we’ll take all these captives along with us to the grave!”
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