51: First Orc War

The scene erupted in an uproar.

The Elf King raised his hand, signaling for everyone to quiet down.

Leige said, "Those scourges are in the southern part of our tribe. There's a safety barrier there, and inside are nineteen people. They are all of the Human Race, with yellow skin and black hair, unlike the white-skinned, blonde Human Race on our continent."

The Elf King elegantly stated, "The Elf Race has followed the guidance of the World Tree for generations, valuing peace and never proactively initiating war."

"Peace?" Leige suddenly flared up, "When the iron fire of those scourges burns down your Emerald City Walls, and flames reduce the World Tree to ashes, will you still have peace then?!"

The Elf King was calm as water: "The arrival of the scourges in the prophecy is the arrangement of the oracle. Going against the will of the gods will only lead to greater disaster."

"I don't need you to attack!" Leige said in a deep voice, "I just need to borrow a hundred Elf Elemental Bows to help me shoot through that safety barrier! Our Orcs will surely flatten their camp, and then all their treasures will be yours to choose from!"

"Principles cannot be shaken," the Elf King's voice was as cold as frost, "Even if we don't act, if you fail, these foreign people will surely blame the Elf Race. By then, the flames of war will burn every green leaf, and our century-old foundation will be destroyed in an instant."

Leige suppressed his anger: "Ten! We'll buy ten bows, that should be acceptable!"

The Elf King slowly rose: "Today is my birthday, and I did not wish to get angry, but if anyone speaks of the scourges again—" He pointed a hand towards the palace gate, "—then please leave this pure land."

"Pedantic! Stubborn and unyielding!" Leige kicked away a golden fruit platter at his feet, turned, and strode away, "You don't dare to provoke the scourges, but we will!!"

Leige, furious, left directly for the Dwarf Race's subterranean caves.

The air was filled with flying sparks and deafening hammer blows.

Dwarf King Gelong sat by a pool of molten lava, guzzling ale from a ruby-encencrusted flask, his beard covered in foam: "Isn't this the great warrior Leige? Have you come here to buy weapons, or to get a beating?"

Leige ordered his men to bring over hundreds of chests of treasures; gold coins and gems spilled everywhere:

"I hope you can forge three hundred sets of Starfall Armor for the Mammoth War Beasts, armor that can smash through the world's most robust barriers!"

Dwarf King Gelong's eyes gleamed: "Haha, easy, easy. Thirty days of quenching, sixty days of forging, the tempering of Starfall Iron... at the fastest, three months, but at the slowest, a year won't be enough!"

Leige was anxious: "I can't wait that long, one month! It must be completed in one month!"

Grom cunningly said: "It's impossible to be that fast, unless..."

Leige: "Unless what!!"

"Unless you pay more!!"

Leige knew the other party was raising the price, but he had no choice. He could only endure it, ordering his men to return and tell the chieftain to bring all the treasures. This battle must be won!

If we win, we will be heroes who have overcome a natural disaster, destined by fate.

If we lose, then it will be complete annihilation, and money will be useless.

Soon, the Orcs brought all the treasures accumulated over generations.

Dwarf King Gelong's eyes glowed: "No problem, everyone get ready to work!!"

...One month later.

Three hundred mammoths, clad in Starfall Armor, advanced towards the safe zone with heavy footsteps! Each one was three stories high, and their ponderous steps shook the ground.

One hundred ranged archers were neatly arrayed behind the mammoths, holding powerful bows meticulously crafted by the Dwarves. Their quivers were filled with arrows containing explosive fruit arrowheads. One hundred Orc heavy shield soldiers held giant shields taller than a man and wore gleaming silver heavy armor. Each plate of armor had been magically forged by the Dwarves, reflecting dazzling light in the sun.

They marched in unison, their shields clashing with a resounding "thump-thump," like war drums, inspiring every Orc!

Chieftain Golok rode the most majestic mammoth, wearing a crown and a cape woven from saber-toothed tiger hide, holding an obsidian scepter symbolizing power.

Great Shaman Zhaka wore a black robe covered in runes, a bone necklace around his neck, and held a bone staff.

The strongest warrior, Leige, stood beside the chieftain, his muscles bulging, a newly forged Starfall Battle Axe on his shoulder, and his armor covered in spikes.

The three stood imposingly at the forefront of the army, behind them countless Orc soldiers raised their weapons, shouting in unison, their voices soaring to the sky, startling the birds into scattering.

The chieftain looked down from above, his eagle-like gaze piercing through the safety barrier, his voice like thunder: "Scourges, come out and surrender quickly, and we might spare your lives! If you stubbornly resist, today will be your doomsday!"

Roar! Roar! Roar!

As soon as he finished speaking, the Orc army erupted in earth-shattering roars... Chen Xu, Su He, Cheng Xue, Shen Nanzhi, Zhang Ye, and eighteen other Transmigrators were fully armed. They wore soft silver armor that Cheng Xue had improved ten times, offering both toughness and defense, yet light enough not to impede movement.

Chen Xu rallied them before the battle: "The time of life and death has arrived. This battle concerns the lives of all of us. Everyone must have the determination to die. Remember, this is not an exercise; this is a real war! Everyone, take your positions as I arranged earlier."

Wang Hao operated the only cannon, and Zhao Ling was responsible for loading the shells. This couple worked together seamlessly, and there were generally no issues.

Additionally, Su He, Ma Gang, Hu Zhenxing, Xu Yao, Chen Xue, and thirteen others held firearms, forming a single-line formation, ready to shoot at any moment.

Chen Xu held a long spear, Li Changqing wielded a long sword, and Shen Nanzhi held a moon blade. All three were Beginner Magicians and capable of fighting.

Previously, Chen Xu had tested the safety barrier. Stones thrown from the inside could reach the outside, but those thrown from the outside could not enter, indicating that the safety barrier was one-way.

Furthermore, outside and inside the barrier, on both sides, there were dug trenches and traps.

For this battle, Chen Xu had made thorough preparations.

The two armies faced each other.

Three hundred mammoth regiments, over a hundred archers, and over a hundred heavy shield soldiers, a total of five hundred troops!!

Meanwhile, Chen Xu's side only had nineteen people, and Wu Hao was still recovering from a broken leg.

The Orc Chieftain deliberately mocked: "Bugs! Look at my mammoth legion behind me! They can easily crush your bones. Now, kneel and lick my boot soles, and perhaps I'll leave you whole corpses!"

In the past, the chieftain often used this mocking tactic to enrage his opponents, causing them to rush forward to their deaths.

But this time, the other side was not provoked and instead mocked them back.

Chen Xu pointed his lightning-patterned long spear directly at the chieftain: "Don't blame me for not giving you a chance. You still have time to retreat now, otherwise, I'm afraid you'll all be annihilated."

The chieftain raised his brittle bone hammer high: "Such big words, with your scrap metal, you think you can defeat us? Don't dream about it..."

Chen Xu raised his hand high and shouted loudly: "Cannon in position! Fire!!"

"Three! Two! One!"

The moment Wang Hao pulled the firing cord, a ten-foot-long orange-red flame erupted from the muzzle, and the scorching heat left charred marks on the ground.

The cannonball, trailing a fiery tail, sliced through the sky with a sharp sonic boom, flying towards the mammoth legion.

Shaman Zhaka was the first to react. He waved his bone staff, attempting to cast a defensive witch spell, but before he could finish chanting, the cannonball fell like a meteor.

Boom! Mud! Horse!

The cannonball landed in the middle of the mammoth legion, blasting a thirty-foot-diameter crater in the ground.

There was no dazzling magic, only pure physical impact—three hundred pounds of gunpowder exploded with a roar underground, instantly blowing a dozen mammoths into shredded meat.

The shockwave transformed into a visible air current, lifting dozens of mammoths into the air.

The secondary damage from the explosion was even more terrifying than the direct impact. Chen Xu had added hundreds of iron fragments to the cannonball, which shot out with a sharp, air-tearing whistle.

The heavy shield soldiers in the front row had raised their heavy shields and initially resisted the shockwave of the cannonball, but they did not expect the sharp iron fragments to pierce through their shields. The heavy shield soldiers did not even have time to let out a full scream before the iron fragments pierced their throats and chests, and blood gushed out like a fountain.

"Ah—" A heavy shield soldier's abdomen was torn open by an iron fragment, his intestines spilling out of the wound. He painfully knelt on the ground, his hands futilely trying to cover his constantly overflowing internal organs, but his mouth could only emit muffled whimpers.

Half of another Orc's face was sliced off, revealing white bone and still-trembling muscle tissue. He waved his arms in terror.

The iron fragments continued to mercilessly reap lives. The Orc archers in the back row had not even had time to draw their bowstrings before they were hit in the head and heart by the iron fragments, their bodies collapsing to the ground like broken puppets.

Screams, wails, groans, one after another!

The ground was quickly covered with scattered bodies, severed limbs strewn everywhere, and blood pooling into streams.

The chieftain's eyes widened in disbelief at the hellish scene before him: "What kind of magic is this, so immensely powerful? Even a Great Magician probably couldn't achieve such terrifying power. The opponents clearly look like a group of ordinary people, how can they possess such terrifying magic!!"