171: Ten thousand jackals

The 1335th year of the Valley Reclamation Calendar, the morning of the second day of the Claw Moon.

Below Cloud Mist Peak.

Over 1,100 members of the Southern Sword Coast Allied Forces were fully equipped and ready to depart.

Outside the wall, in the fine rain, most of the Gnoll from the peak had descended last night, and over ten thousand Gnoll surrounded the mist.

The Dragon King had been guarding a pass in the southwestern direction of Cloud Mist Peak since last night.

He cut off the possibility of Gnoll entering the Cloud Mist Peak from Saint Cavell Valley.

In other words, as long as the Allied Forces eliminated the more than ten thousand Gnoll in front of them, the mission to rescue the myriad beings of Cloud Mist Peak would be largely completed.

The next step would be to pass through Cloud Mist Peak and enter Saint Cavell Valley.

Although some of the Allied Forces continuously shot and killed many Gnoll with arrows last night, it only attracted most of the enemies.

A small number of Gnoll still left from various directions.

At this moment, outside the green plant wall, one-fifth of the ground in a circle had been corroded by the “Corrosion Field.”

The dark red, cracked ground was barren.

The enemy shamans summoned hundreds of Earth Wolf Spirits.

The traps set by the druids in advance were also completely destroyed.

Their keen sense of smell ignored the interference of the mist, and they were already lying outside the green plant wall, launching ineffective attacks on the wall.

After waking up, Lai'en deliberately shrunk the range of the mist little by little, luring the Gnoll to further narrow their encirclement.

Last night, he also consumed a natural Pearl worth over 500 gold coins, selecting every divine and arcane spell attached to the Pearl Dragon Scale Armor for today.

Lai'en controlled the force field within the fortress, and in an open space behind the courtyard gate, he used an invisible force field wall to enclose a “concave”-shaped trap.

The Young Duke nodded to the Kedas City Lord and Master Tyrantier.

The Kedas City Lord led the other five priests to stand at six equidistant points inside the wall.

Lai'en controlled the mist to suddenly expand to its maximum range, enveloping most of the Gnoll.

The outermost edge of the mist was randomly adjusted into a dynamic dense fog maze, trapping over eight thousand Gnoll within it.

At this time, one-third of the Earth Wolf Spirits and a few scattered Gnoll entered the courtyard, following the strong human scent that Lai'en deliberately allowed to leak from the courtyard gate.

The soldiers in front swallowed nervously.

Then, they saw two invisible force field walls, from the left and right sides, clamp together like lightning.

Nearly a hundred Earth Wolf Spirits disappeared, and a dozen Gnoll, along with their weapons and armor, were compressed into a thin, crimson sheet, as if it were a smear of fresh red pigment that had always stood in the air.

Subsequently, the two force field walls dissipated into nothingness.

The red “pigment” fell to the ground with a clatter.

The “concave”-shaped trap reset.

The strange sight before them greatly reduced the soldiers' fear of the Gnoll.

But at the same time, more people who witnessed the effects of these force fields gained a clearer understanding and apprehension of High Lord Ryan Black's terrifying power.

Aside from the awe and apprehension of such powerful force, and the infinitely elevated image of High Lord Ryan Black, it is probably rare for anyone to remember that his appearance was still that of a ten-year-old boy.

Even though he himself stood beside them.

The boy and Tyrantier began to summon their ultimate weapons separately.

Tyrantier came to the inside of the eastern wall, took out a stone slab with a dragon pattern, and began to cast the fifth-ring enchantment spell: “Dragon Spirit Summoning.”

Instantly, a semi-transparent adult Crystal Dragon, 50 feet long and with a wingspan of 70 feet, appeared in the eastern sky.

And the Young Duke Lai'en, on the other hand, used the abilities attached to the Dragon Might Scepter in his hand: “Dragon Soul Awakening” and “Leopard Soul Awakening,” to summon powerful allies.

The boy first consumed a Pearl worth over 500 gold coins, summoning a phantom of an adult Pearl Dragon nearly 80 feet long and with a wingspan of nearly 90 feet in the western sky.

Then he consumed a Diamond worth over 500 gold coins, summoning a phantom of a magical leopard, eight feet tall at the shoulder and nearly 20 feet long, on the ground deep within the northern mist.

Its image was practically the mother of Black Little Leopard, that black female leopard that died in battle before Lai'en's eyes a year ago.

Although Lai'en had previously displayed the Dragon King's Pearl Dragon form, that was, after all, the size of a young dragon.

Now, he and Tyrantier summoned adult dragons, and even though they were all phantoms, their deterrent and shocking power were incomparable to a small dragon.

Especially the dozens of Kobolds in the army's Redemption Squad were incredibly shocked.

Most Kobolds regarded themselves as distant relatives of dragons, with their scale colors and roars resonating with dragons.

Their admiration for strength and bloodline recognition now made them utterly devoted to the giant dragons and their master, Lai'en, who could summon giant dragons.

The Young Duke discovered from the system's prompt messages that the loyalty of all Kobolds present had soared to over 90 points.

There were even a few with 100 points of loyalty.

Lai'en's lips curved slightly upwards, unable to be suppressed.

He hadn't expected such an unexpected gain.

The two dragons had begun to breathe dragon breath at the Gnoll crowd on the ground in a clockwise direction.

The breath range of an adult dragon was much larger than the Dragon King's young dragon breath.

At the same time, Lai'en commanded the Black Panther phantom to attack the Gnoll fleeing outside the northern mist.

After the two “giant dragons” circled the edge of the mist twice, breathing fire, they had eliminated nearly ten thousand Gnoll.

And Lai'en's force field trap had also eliminated nearly a thousand Gnoll and the remaining hundreds of Earth Wolf Spirits that had broken in.

Master Tyrantier's focused casting of “Dragon Spirit Summoning” could last for at most one hour.

The magical leopard phantom and adult Pearl Dragon phantom summoned by Lai'en could only assist in combat for a maximum of 10 minutes.

After the two major ultimate weapons summoned by Lai'en disappeared, Tyrantier ordered the Crystal Dragon phantom to also stop breathing dragon breath and instead use its dragon claws and mouth to crush the fleeing Gnoll.

The Kedas City Lord and the other five priests then cast the fifth-ring divine scroll: “Dawn,” towards the corners of the remaining Gnoll in the mist outside the wall.

Six rays of Dawn Light fell into the mist, forming bright light pillars with a diameter of 60 feet and a height of 40 feet. When these six sun-like light pillars appeared, every Gnoll under the light's illumination received 4d10 points of radiant damage.

Even if they succeeded in their save, they would still suffer half the damage.

Hundreds of remaining Gnoll inside the mist again had dozens killed.

Immediately after, Lai'en opened the force field wall and led over a thousand Allied Forces warriors, rushing out of the courtyard.

They began to slaughter the remaining few hundred Gnoll in the mist.

Lai'en had originally planned to prioritize shooting spellcasters, just like yesterday.

But he ran for a long time and couldn't find a single living Gnoll spellcaster.

These dying ones were all physically strong Gnoll elite warriors.

Twenty minutes later, the battlefield within the mist was cleared.

Lai'en, controlling the mist, and Kovenreid, began to lead the army in pursuit of the fleeing Gnoll.

More than an hour after the Crystal Dragon disappeared, the battle was largely over.

There were still some Gnoll who had escaped, but they no longer had the energy to continue the pursuit.

Upon returning to the camp, they began to cook and rest.

The priests, in cooperation with the druids and banshees, jointly purified the corrupted land outside the wall.