Chapter 24: Powerful Reinforcements (Fourth Update)
When the dawn light rose from the horizon, casting shadows of the Black Melt City walls, 540,000 Wolf Cavalry had already assembled in the open space within the city.
Each dire wolf was fitted with saddle armor, some still warm to the touch, having been forged not long ago.
With the saddle armor in place, the ring shackles around the dire wolves' necks were no longer so conspicuous—or rather, they were now part of the armor itself.
The one-eyed old wolf was still locked in an iron cage. Having just finished its breakfast, it was restless. Though it hadn't been fitted with saddle armor, it realized the ring shackle on its neck was part of the armor, which unsettled it. Its collaborator seemed to have prepared everything long ago.
The Orc Hero, Worpole, rode an exceptionally strong dire wolf with blackish fur. In past hunts, this wolf had been the alpha leading the charge.
Everything was ready. A celebration feast had been held the previous evening, consuming much of the meat and draining all the liquor.
Grey Orc soldiers, who hadn't tasted alcohol in years—or even longer—had each received half a cup the night before. Though not enough to satisfy, it gave them a taste of what they'd missed.
Before the 540,000 Wolf Cavalry had even set out, their morale had already peaked at 100 points. If they were fed breakfast, it would soar even higher.
Su Xiao didn't do that. The Grey Orc soldiers had been eating meat for days—three meals a day, all they could eat, with dried fruit afterward. Their physiques had visibly thickened. Skipping one meal was no problem; a moderate hunger would make them more obedient and more motivated to kill.
"Warriors, today we will attack the Elf stronghold..."
The Orc Hero, Worpole, had barely begun his pre-battle speech.
"Kill!"
One by one, the Wolf Cavalry raised their weapons. They didn't need any more speeches or encouragement. They'd heard too many of those when fighting on empty stomachs before.
"Kill."
Worpole's blood surged. Even if ordered to fight 6 million allied troops now, he would charge at the front.
Su Xiao stood at the main gate of the Black Ring Fortress. The beast cavalry was essentially formed, and the plan could be refined further. What he needed now was a siege weapon. There was no time to cultivate alchemical creatures, but he already had such a weapon.
"Baha, ready?"
"Yeah, barely made contact. Which one we get depends on luck. The Void Tree might interfere."
Baha spread his wings. At the same time, Su Xiao took out 10 Soul Crystals (Complete), each engraved with alchemical formations. The cost was considerable, but worth it.
With a crackling sound, all 10 Soul Crystals (Complete) shattered. Su Xiao pressed his hands together, and Baha swooped down to land on his shoulder.
Su Xiao took a deep breath and held it. His mental energy felt a heavy strain and pull.
A phantom appeared behind Su Xiao, embracing him. With a sharp crack, the air behind him shattered like broken glass.
"Roar!"
A dragon's roar echoed. Hearing it, all the Grey Orcs trembled, as if an immensely powerful being was about to descend.
*Crack!*
A massive dragon claw emerged from the space behind, and a black dragon crawled out of the spatial rift—the Demon Flame Dragon.
The Demon Flame Dragon was entirely black. Beneath its rough dragon hide were vein-like magma patterns, and the area below its neck was pure magma color.
When the Demon Flame Dragon spread its wings, the span reached about 40 meters. In its vertical pupils, it was as if hellfire burned—flames, smoke, tough skin, a body hard to wound. That was the first impression the Demon Flame Dragon gave.
"Roar!!"
The Demon Flame Dragon, Barbatos, stood behind Su Xiao. Instinctively, it vaguely shielded him beneath itself, spreading its wings and roaring forward.
Suddenly, a black dragon appeared. The Orc women and little snake people who had been watching the Wolf Cavalry screamed and fled into the distance, driven by instinctive fear.
*Boom!* A bolt of lightning struck the Demon Flame Dragon, Barbatos. This world did not welcome it. It was the Demon Insect Race's strongest combat power, and the Demon Insect Race was a threat even to worlds.
"Quiet."
Su Xiao's voice wasn't loud, but Barbatos immediately calmed down. It habitually lowered its dragon head and angled one wing to form a slope against the ground.
Su Xiao walked up the dragon's wing onto Barbatos's back. Bubu Wang ran to Barbatos's front.
"Woof!"
"Grrr~"
Barbatos growled softly in response, playing along with Bubu Wang.
"Woof."
Bubu Wang was satisfied, as if to say: 'You've got potential. I'll have Jila extend your life later.'
Soon, Bubu Wang was also on Barbatos's back. Baha could fly on his own. As for Amu, he was riding a dire wolf, holding the Dragonheart Axe. The poor wolf's legs trembled, on the verge of doing a full split and collapsing. Whether it could actually run was uncertain.
Everything was ready. Su Xiao stomped on Barbatos's back, and Barbatos flapped its wings, lifting off. The wind pressure it generated tilted several nearby stone buildings, nearly collapsing them.
"Move out."
The Orc Hero, Worpole, shouted, charging out of Black Melt City as the vanguard, followed by 540,000 Wolf Cavalry.
After leaving Black Melt City and galloping for about an hour, the Wolf Cavalry reached the edge of the war zone. That was the advantage of high mobility.
Wind whistled past his ears. Su Xiao was checking the Demon Flame Dragon Barbatos's attributes. Barbatos consumed bio-energy to fight and maintain its body. It currently had 72,500 points of bio-energy.
Before coming, Jila had ordered it to devour a large pile of Life Stones. Each Life Stone could be converted into 10,000 bio-energy points. As long as it wasn't drained too heavily, Barbatos could fight for a long time.
Summoning Barbatos required Su Xiao to consume Soul Crystals (Complete). Since Barbatos wasn't even a temporary summon, Su Xiao engraved a temporary imprint on Barbatos's body.
Maintaining a summon in this form was normally impossible. But Barbatos belonged to Jila, and Jila was Su Xiao's permanent summon.
Thus, Su Xiao only needed to create an imprint node, strengthen his connection with Jila a second time, and engrave that node on Barbatos. This would allow Barbatos to stay in this world for a period of 10 to 20 days.
The problem was the imprint node. Su Xiao had constructed it using mana, consuming 15,000 mana points. That wasn't the issue. The key was that his mana cap had temporarily decreased by 15,000 points due to the node's existence.
Unless he dispelled the node and let Barbatos be pulled back to Jila, Su Xiao's mana cap was temporarily reduced to 14,520 points.
Losing over half his mana cap significantly impacted his overall combat power. It wouldn't matter in short battles, but against a strong enemy, he wouldn't hold up.
For now, the Demon Flame Dragon Barbatos had strategic value. If he had to fight a powerful foe, Su Xiao would sever the connection with Barbatos, restoring his mana cap to 29,520 points. Barbatos wasn't suited for fighting strong individuals; its greatest ability was spewing dragon flame. It was born for war.
Hundreds of thousands of Wolf Cavalry + Demon Flame Dragon Barbatos + War Lord (Seven Stars) were Su Xiao's means to deal with the Six-Clan Alliance. For now, he was just missing the Seven-Star War Lord.
[Prompt: Your battle merit ranking has dropped to second place.]
[Prompt: Your battle merit ranking has dropped to third place.]