Chapter 147: Chapter 135 Another Ambush Chapter 147: Chapter 135 Another Ambush Deep into the night, a massive carriage departed from the newly-built castle, speeding towards a distant destination.
Even with magic-enhanced speed, it would take three non-stop hours of galloping to reach the destination.
The Dwarf Iron Guards couldn’t quite understand the act of delivering money in the middle of the night and inevitably harbored so resentnt. Many even believed that the King’s Hand, because he had lost a hand, was no longer the brave general who fought valiantly on the battlefield.
After the chaos began in Alchemy City, it seed that the Dwarf Race was delivering money every day, but no apparent benefits had co from these nurous deliveries.
However, such thoughts could only be entertained in their minds, as they dared not voice them out loud.
Inside the carriage, the Captain of the Imperial Guards, who had used shapeshifting to take on the appearance of Hoffman Ironfist, was also sowhat perplexed.
He didn’t fail to understand the need to send money—after all, avoiding war while solidifying control over the new territory required the transaction of benefits.
But why choose to deliver the money at night, and not only in secret, but also requiring him to take on the appearance of the leader for the handover? This looked rather unusual, like sothing illicit was afoot.
Despite his doubts, the Captain of the Imperial Guards remained absolutely loyal to Hoffman Ironfist. His orders were clear, and all he had to do was follow them.
The carriage sped on, lifted by anti-gravity magic that made its pace incredibly swift. However, about halfway through the journey, the galloping warhorses suddenly beca frantic, coming to an abrupt halt and struggling wildly as if trying to break free from their reins.
This behaviour was alarming. The warhorses were rigorously trained and wouldn’t panic and lose control even when facing a spear phalanx.
Sothing terrifying must be near, to elicit such a reaction from the warhorses.
Before the dwarves could investigate, hellfire erupted around the carriage.
The flaming inferno rose like towering walls, trapping all the dwarves inside. The surrounding space was twisted, disabling any use of spatial magic. The Gates of Hell had been opened, and roaring, screeching monsters surged out from the flas, rushing towards the dwarves like a tidal wave.
Though the dwarves didn’t understand why they were ambushed, the Dwarf Iron Guards responded quickly. Shields were linked together, and a Mana Shield was swiftly deployed, keeping the monsters at bay.
The seemingly light and transparent Mana Shield miraculously held against the onslaught of thousands of demons.
The Minor Coward Demons, no matter how fiercely they clawed, failed to leave even a scratch on the Mana Shield.
Defense was the strength of the Dwarf Iron Guards, so they remained more composed during the attack than elves would have been.
The Captain of the Imperial Guards initially wanted to lead a charge himself and break through the encirclent of Hellfire, but then he rembered he was impersonating Hoffman Ironfist. Taking action might blow his cover, so he could only shout orders loudly, “Kill these monsters! Break out to the east!”
The Dwarf Iron Guards responded with a loud roar, then lifted their heavy shields and pushed against the tide of demons to move eastward.
With each step they took, they let out a loud shout. Their heavy footsteps embodied imnse force, brutally squeezing a path through the demon wave, bolstering the Mana Shield.
Many Minor Coward Demons got crushed by the dwarves and their kind, gradually turning into a mashed mass of flesh.
This was a common tactic used by the dwarves—put up a super-strong shield and then compress the enemy’s living space.
Of course, they also had ans of counterattack.
Protected by the front-line Iron Guards, the Dwarf Mages in the back began casting freely.
Fireballs were thrown out, blasting the demons sky-high, and streaks of lightning flew forth, charring them into cinders.
This Dwarf contingent of fewer than fifty n had already dispatched more than a hundred monsters.
At this rate, they would quickly penetrate the encirclent of Hellfire. Once out of the distorted space, leaving the scene would be a re matter of a group teleportation spell.
But an ambush of this scale wouldn’t just feature Minor Coward Demons.
As expected, Balor Fla Demons made their entrance. Several Fla Giants stood in the dwarves’ way, swinging their fiery whips and greatswords, fiercely attacking the Mana Shield of the Dwarf Iron Guards.
The violent clash of energies exploded on the shield, creating bursts of light more brilliant than fireworks.
With every blow from the Balor Fla Demons, the Mana Shield trembled intensely, and the Dwarf Iron Guards had to halt, exerting their full strength to maintain the shield’s integrity.
The Dwarf Mages began focusing their attacks on these Balor Fla Demons, intent on taking them down.
However, the magic resistance of the Balor Fla Demons was extraordinarily high; even relentless assaults with ice spells made it difficult to kill them swiftly. Once the group stopped moving, demonic attacks ca from all directions without pause.
The Mana Shield flickered incessantly, clearly at its limit.
Seeing that the situation was dire, the Captain of the Imperial Guards could no longer keep up the act. He lifted his warhamr high and slamd it onto the ground with force.
Outside the Mana Shield, the earth shook, and countless spikes grew from the ground, impaling the bodies of the demons.
One of the Balor Fla Demons, unable to dodge in ti, had its feet skewered by the spikes and let out a painful roar.
The Captain of the Imperial Guards was also a warrior of Legendary Rank, and his profession was that of an Arcane Knight.
“Buff , I’ll handle those Fla Demons!” he commanded.
As the Captain of the Imperial Guards issued an order, the mages within the team continuously cast spells on him. Spells like Strength of the Bear, Agility of the Cat, Perception of the Owl, Stone Skin, Blessing Spell… every possible magic buff was thrown onto the Captain, turning him into a brightly illuminated beacon.
Then, he raised his hamr high and summoned his magical mount—a massive Black Goat.
The goat, larger than a cow, leaped over the Mana Shield with a single bound, carrying the Captain into the midst of the demons.
The mont they landed, the Captain and his mount blurred, with three identical illusions appearing at his side.
The demons couldn’t distinguish which one was real, and most of their attacks missed.
The Captain swung his hamr furiously, the massive weapon that weighed dozens of pounds felt weightless in his hands, not only creating afterimages but even producing sonic booms.
With the enhancent of so many spells, a Legendary warrior swinging his weapon could now break the sound barrier at full strength.
Not just that, the spellcasting ability of the Arcane Knight was also considerable. The Captain wielded both his hamr and magic, recklessly casting spells like Thunderous Wave and Burning Hands. Any demon that got too close was blown away by his spells, and he alone carved a bloody path through the legions of demons.
Advancing swiftly, the Captain soon arrived in front of a Balor Fla Demon.
The difference in stature between them was stark; were he not mounted on the massive Black Goat, the Captain wouldn’t even reach the Balor’s knees.
But size did not equate to combat prowess. With magical protection, the Fla Spirit Light’s effect was completely nullified against him, only causing minuscule sparks on his surface.
The Captain’s warhamr flew from his hand, turning into a teor and striking the Balor on the head.
The blow was massive and precise, hitting the demon squarely on the skull.
A dull thud sounded as the forehead of the Balor cracked open, spewing lava-like blood.
But this was just the beginning, for the heavy hamr instantly returned to the Captain’s hand in a whoosh the mont it struck its target—this was the Arcane Knight’s exclusive ability: Weapon Binding.
An Arcane Knight can select a weapon to bind to themselves.
A bound weapon would never drop, and even when thrown, it would quickly return to the Arcane Knight’s hand.
This led to the ergence of a combat style among Arcane Knights—the Thrown Hamr technique.
Clearly, the Captain was an expert in this style; not only were his throws precise, but his hamr also inflicted nurous special damages. The second throw made the Balor’s head explode without any chance for recovery.
After slaying one Balor Fla Demon, he once again swung his hamr and hurled it at another, anwhile pulling on the reins to direct the Black Goat to charge, dodging the Balor’s fiery whip as they did so.
The Captain charged back and forth through the demon horde. Occasionally hit by attacks, he completely ignored such damage, thanks to the dozens of spell buffs on him, while his hamr throws ant two swings for each Balor slain. At this rate, the dwarves would soon be rescued.
Yet, things are seldom that easy.
After the second Balor was killed, three scarlet beams fell from the sky.
Three Mana Bursts, their formidable power striking the Captain with precision, shook him to his core and shattered several of his protective spells.
This wasn’t the work of an ordinary spellcaster, but the force of Legendary Rank.
The Captain looked up involuntarily, only to see a winged shadow sweep across the dark sky.
“Is that… a dragon?!”
The dragon-shaped shadow charged toward the Captain, opening its mouth to spew forth a scorching dragon breath.
The Captain barely had ti to raise his shield to block, as a cracking sound erupted and most of the protective magic on him shattered, even his mount, the Black Goat, was severely burned by the dragon breath.
But the Iron Guard Captain was not about to just wait for death; he hurled his hamr, quick as a shooting star, striking the dragon’s head and sparking against its fine dragon scales.
The Flying Dragon roared, took flight, and then repeatedly bombarded the Captain with Mana Bursts.
Wave after wave of energy bombardnt made it difficult for the Captain to hold his ground.
Throwing his hamr was futile; even if its speed broke the sound barrier, by the ti it reached the altitude where the dragon flew, it had lost much of its initial montum, allowing the dragon to dodge it several tis.
The Captain was caught in a hard fight, barely able to take the hits and unable to retaliate.
And while the Captain was entangled with the Flying Dragon, the other dwarves were also caught in a bitter struggle.
Demons were inexhaustible, slowly chipping away at their Mana Shield. Once the shield broke, all dwarves would perish at the hands of demons. But the Captain could do nothing about this; although an Arcane Knight had magical abilities, he didn’t possess the versatile repertoire of a mage and couldn’t cope with every situation.
This Flying Dragon perfectly countered him, an Arcane Knight. If the battle dragged on, the dwarves’ only fate would be defeat.
Thus, the Captain made a ruthless decision. He abandoned the other dwarves, planning to break through alone.
At least soone had to get back to report!
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