Chapter 32: Ambush
On the magma slope behind the Black Earth Fortress.
Su Xiao mingled among the Imperial soldiers. The sense of crisis he had felt earlier had vanished. He chewed on a piece of compressed biscuit, occasionally taking a sip of water to avoid choking.
During wartime, he couldn't afford to care about whether the food was delicious; the key was to fill his stomach quickly.
After resting for a moment among the crowd, the feeling of exhaustion faded. He had expended a large amount of stamina in a short time, but fortunately, he hadn't overexerted himself to the point of depletion. His stamina recovered quickly, after all, his physique attribute was what it was.
The wounds on his body had been roughly treated. Deeper wounds were stitched, while shallower ones were left for now, hastily wrapped with a special type of medical bandage.
After applying the special bandage, a cool sensation spread from the wounds—the bandage's pain-relieving effect.
The Imperial army's situation was favorable. At this moment, the Imperial forces had already charged over the top of Black Earth Fortress, pushing the tribal army back to the stone slope below the fortress. If they could maintain this advantage, it wouldn't be long before the Imperial army repelled the tribal forces.
Taking advantage of the break to recover his stamina, Su Xiao checked his current battle merits.
[Current Battle Merits: 9243 points.]
Seeing this amount of battle merits, Su Xiao wasn't surprised. Roughly estimating, he had killed at least over 3,000 enemies in this battle. Although he had only fought for two hours, he had cut down many people along the way, having charged from behind the tribal army all the way to Black Earth Fortress.
If it were just over 3,000 ordinary soldiers, he naturally wouldn't have this many battle merits. Earlier, Su Xiao had sniped over 50 Dwarf Crossbowmen, each kill granting 60 battle merits. Moreover, during his charge through the tribal army, he had also killed some other special troop types. Combined with the 1,436 battle merits he had saved earlier, having 9,243 battle merits now wasn't strange.
Exchanging for [Sacred Oak Branch] required 9,000 battle merits. Su Xiao's battle merits were already enough for the exchange. Unfortunately, since it was wartime, leaving the battlefield would be judged as desertion, and his battle merits would be cleared immediately.
With his stamina somewhat recovered, Su Xiao prepared to return to the battlefield to earn more battle merits. After all, besides [Sacred Oak Branch], the battle merits shop had other good items.
Passing through friendly soldiers, Su Xiao made his way to the top of Black Earth Fortress.
The tribal army had been pushed back to the stone slope on the other side. The Imperial army had the high ground, which accelerated the tribal army's retreat.
Su Xiao quickly walked across Black Earth Fortress and arrived at the stone slope, where the tribal army appeared ahead.
"Brothers, we can't retreat. Behind us is our homeland."
A Minotaur roared. The truth was, if the tribal army was pushed back, it wouldn't just mean losing Black Earth Fortress. The Imperial army might drive straight in, charging into tribal territory for a counter-invasion.
Although the Soaring Dragon Empire looked down on the barren lands of the Tribal Alliance, they were very interested in destroying the tribal alliance's cities or villages. War required "give and take." Being constantly invaded would lower one's morale.
The roaring Minotaur was exceptionally fierce. Minotaurs were the strongest branch of the Beastman race, with individual strength far surpassing other beastmen.
Su Xiao targeted that Minotaur. Using the cover of nearby friendly soldiers, he silently approached him.
"Imperial scum!"
The Minotaur grabbed an Imperial soldier in each hand, using the two soldiers as weapons, smashing them violently against nearby Imperial soldiers.
The Imperial soldiers formed a circle around him. They all knew the Minotaur was tough to deal with and must not give this guy a chance to charge, or else those horns would pierce countless of their own.
The Minotaur was exceptionally fierce on the battlefield. Using the two deformed corpses in his hands, he had already killed three Imperial soldiers.
"Huff, huff..."
The ferocious Minotaur gasped for breath. He had been fighting for two hours, and at least several dozen Imperial soldiers had died by his hands.
Just as the Minotaur was catching his breath, he suddenly felt a chill behind him and immediately turned his head to look.
Zheng!
The Minotaur only saw a flash of light before his eyes, then everything returned to normal. An Imperial soldier holding a long blade glanced at him before turning and walking away.
"Huh?"
The Minotaur was surprised to find that the Imperial soldiers surrounding him had dispersed, as if no one cared about him anymore.
"Did... did I scare them off?"
Just as the Minotaur was puzzled, he heard the sound of dripping.
Drip, drip, drip...
Red liquid seeped from the Minotaur's chest. He instinctively looked down, and this downward motion caused most of his upper body to fall to the ground.
After a dizzying spin, the Minotaur's upper half landed on the ground. He saw a familiar-looking body standing beside him. That body was severed at the chest, stood for a moment, then fell.
"So... I'm going to die."
The excruciating pain from being chest-severed hit him. The enemy's blade was too fast, so fast that he hadn't even noticed being cut in half.
The Minotaur lay on the ground waiting to die. An Imperial soldier ran past his eyes, but he paid no attention. In his mind, the faces of his family members appeared one by one.
Suddenly, the dying Minotaur thought of one thing: would his family suffer the same pain he was experiencing now?
Thinking of this, the Minotaur used his hands to prop himself up and crawl forward. After crawling half a meter, he lunged forward and bit down hard on an Imperial soldier's leg, clamping down tightly. Even when the enemy struck him with a weapon, he refused to let go.
War was so cruel. No one would go easy on an enemy just because they had a family.
After dealing with that Minotaur, Su Xiao raised his blade and approached several beastmen.
Buzz~
The sound of wings vibrating came, like bees flying by in summer.
Su Xiao looked toward the source of the sound. He actually saw over a dozen "bees"—more precisely, over a dozen mechanical bees.
These mechanical bees were the same size as ordinary bees, with thin wings. The compound eyes on their heads emitted red light. Attached to their bodies was a peanut-sized cylindrical glass vial filled with an orange-yellow liquid.
Seeing these bees, Su Xiao instinctively thought of enemy contractors plus bombs. He immediately retreated.
Buzz~
The dozen or so mechanical bees accelerated toward Su Xiao. Flames shot from their legs, making them look like small missiles.
Before these mechanical bees got close, Su Xiao felt nothing, as if they were harmless ordinary bees.
Su Xiao leaped backward, quickly forming an energy shield in front of him. He severed his energy connection to the shield, pushed his palm forward, and the energy shield moved forward, colliding with the mechanical bees.
Boom, boom, boom...
The explosions were deafening. These small bees caused an explosion zone spanning over a dozen meters. The energy shield with 50 points of strength was instantly shattered.
The blast wind blew. Su Xiao landed, the hem of his coat fluttering noisily.
Su Xiao raised his left hand, wrapped in a metal bracer, to shield his eyes. Through the gaps between his fingers, he scanned ahead, searching for any suspicious enemies.
Dududududu...
A rapid vibration came from beneath Su Xiao's feet. He instinctively jumped.
Ding.
An iron rod burst out of the ground. At the tip of the rod was a sphere, emitting pulses of energy that spread outward.
Whoosh, whoosh...
As the pulses spread, the counter shield around Su Xiao gathered into a sphere, protecting him inside.
Pah, pah, pah... The heads of Imperial soldiers within several dozen meters of Su Xiao exploded, brains splattering like smashed watermelons.
Not only Imperial soldiers, but nearby tribal soldiers who endured the pulse also had their heads burst open.