Chapter 170: Chapter 165: Black Iron Legion

Pinned by the wall of thorns, the Stone-skinned Giant Demons could only endure the beating.

In just a few breaths, over a hundred Stone-skinned Giant Demons fell under an intense barrage of Magic.

As time passed, more and more Stone-skinned Giant Demons were mowed down like straw.

However, the Stone-skinned Giant Demons’ numbers were simply too great. They were naturally tough and thick-skinned, with an astonishingly tenacious Life Force.

After suffering immense casualties, they finally tore through the living thorns with sheer brute force and overwhelming numbers, breaching the barrier.

However, what greeted them were the thick, giant-arm-like branches of the Sentinel Trees.

Whistling ominously, the branches smashed down hard, striking the Stone-skinned Giant Demons on their heads and chests with a deep, thudding impact.

The massive bodies of the Stone-skinned Giant Demons staggered back from the blows, their formation thrown into disarray.

The Oak Guardians seized the opportunity and swarmed forward.

They were even larger and more powerful than the Stone-skinned Giant Demons. Each blow from their thick trunks sent the Giant Demons stumbling back, unable to defend themselves.

Like leopards in the forest, the Elf Guards struck from the flanks. Their Rune weapons stabbed with precision into the Stone-skinned Giant Demons’ weak points—their necks, armpits, and joints.

After landing a hit, they never lingered, retreating in a flash to melt back into the shadows of the woods.

Casualties among the Stone-skinned Giant Demon vanguard rose dramatically.

The Elves, on the other hand, used the Sentinel Trees and Oak Guardians for cover, perfectly avoiding a direct confrontation and suffering negligible losses.

Even if one of them was carelessly injured, they could immediately retreat to the rear, down a regeneration potion, and be ready to fight again in moments.

In the temporary command post on the small hill, Aurion took in the entire scene, his expression showing no great stir.

’The Elf population is small, so they cherish every one of their fighters. That must be why they’re using those Oak Guardians and Sentinel Trees as a vanguard to wear down the Vassal Legion.’

’But Dragon City has no such concerns.’

’In the eyes of the ruling officials, the Vassal Army is merely expendable, far less precious than the Golem Legion. They wouldn’t feel the slightest pang of regret no matter how many died.’

’Using cannon fodder to wear down the Silver Moon Race’s forces is a bargain, plain and simple.’

’Once the Oak Guardians and Sentinel Trees are all destroyed, we’ll see what those Elves have left to use as a shield.’

What surprised Aurion, however, was that the Elf Guards currently in battle all possessed, without exception, the strength of the Black Iron Tier.

Some of them, who were clearly Elf officers, had even reached the Silver Tier.

Moreover, their equipment was superb. The leather armor they wore and the weapons they wielded were, astonishingly, all Micro-Light Level Magic Equipment!

Micro-Light Level Magic Equipment wasn’t a dime a dozen; each piece was incredibly valuable.

Across the entire Eldron Plain, besides Kresol Dragon City, no other power could systematically outfit their army with Micro-Light Level Magic Equipment.

Even the Radiant Flame Legion had taken Dragon City immeasurable resources and time to fully arm.

Beyond that, the fighting style of those Elf Warriors was also very strange.

They showed no sign of using Magic Power, seeming to fight purely with physical strength. Yet, in both power and speed, they were by no means inferior to those enhanced by Magic Power—in fact, they might have even been stronger.

"Are these the elites of the Silver Moon Race’s Forest Guard?" one of the officials couldn’t help but ask, his voice tinged with shocked suspicion.

"I think so," another official replied, though he didn’t sound sure.

’Surely not all the Elf Guards in the Forest Guard are at this level of strength?’

With the Elf Warriors and Oak Guardians joining the battle, the Stone-skinned Giant Demons were continuously beaten back, showing signs of an impending rout.

Fortunately for them, the Gray Scale-man infantry and the Spine-backed Serpent-men had also reached the edge of the forest by this time.

The Gray Scale-man infantry relieved the heavily battered Stone-skinned Giant Demons, holding back the Elves’ assault with a dense shield wall.

Meanwhile, the Spine-backed Serpent-men scaled the treetops and fired down from above, unleashing a rain of arrows in an attempt to suppress the Elven assault.

At the same time, the Poisonous Hyena Cavalry, positioned on the flanks, finally made their move.

According to the original plan, they were supposed to use their mobility to outflank the enemy and launch a surprise attack from the rear.

But the forest terrain was complex and the trees were dense. The Poisonous Hyena Beasts were also quite large, making it difficult for them to navigate through the woods.

So the hyena-man cavalry simply changed their objective, brandishing their scimitars and beginning to chop down trees in an attempt to clear a battlefield where they could maneuver.

But just as they began, a mass of grayish-brown figures burst from the woods. Like a moving wall, they slammed into the Poisonous Hyena Cavalry’s formation, instantly sending men and mounts sprawling in chaos.

The observing officials were taken aback. As they focused their gaze, their eyes widened in utter astonishment.

The figures that had suddenly charged out were Elves, each riding a Scale Rock Lizard.

"The Silver Moon Race domesticated Scale Rock Lizards?"

"How is that possible?"

"How did they manage that?"

The officials cried out in shocked disbelief.

’Besides the Dragon Race, another race can actually domesticate Dragon Beasts?’

And judging by the scene before them, this wasn’t just a few isolated cases of forced taming. They had clearly established a large-scale, systematic domestication program.

But how was that possible?

Taming Scale Rock Lizards wasn’t as simple as finding a few cubs and locking them in a cage.

It had taken Dragon City hundreds of years of selective breeding and domestication, combined with the Dragon Race’s innate bloodline suppression over Dragon Beasts, to successfully tame the Firemane Beast as a war mount.

The Silver Moon Race lacked the Dragon Race’s bloodline advantage. Logically, it should have been impossible for them to tame Scale Rock Lizards.

And yet, they had succeeded.

This discovery left the officials shocked and uncertain.

Aurion’s face was as black as thunder.

The Scale Rock Lizards themselves possessed combat strength at the Black Iron Tier. They were tough, thick-skinned, and ferocious. Paired with Elf riders who were also at the Black Iron Tier, their combat effectiveness was far superior to the Poisonous Hyena Cavalry, who only averaged the White Rank.

The clash between them was almost completely one-sided.

The Scale Rock Lizard cavalry sliced through the Poisonous Hyena Cavalry’s ranks like a hot knife through butter. Scimitars and Long Swords flashed under the sun, the clash of metal mingling with screams of agony.

The Poisonous Hyena Cavalry tried to resist, but their scimitars only left shallow white marks on the Scale Rock Lizards’ rocky Scale Armor, failing to inflict any real damage.

The Scale Rock Lizard cavalry’s Rune weapons, however, easily cleaved through their iron-studded leather armor, felling both rider and mount together.

In just a few moments, the Poisonous Hyena Cavalry’s formation was completely shattered.

The surviving hyena-man cavalry shrieked in terror, spurring their mounts into a mad flight. The Scale Rock Lizard cavalry gave relentless chase, cutting them down from behind and leaving a trail of corpses and wreckage at the forest’s edge.

Nine hundred Scale Rock Lizard cavalry had utterly routed a force of over two thousand Poisonous Hyena Cavalry.

After scattering the Poisonous Hyena Cavalry on the flanks, the Scale Rock Lizard cavalry did not stop to rest. Instead, they changed direction and charged toward the rear of the Vassal Legion.

Their target: the Spine-backed Serpent-men.

The Scale Rock Lizards carried their riders over fallen trees and thorns, cutting into the Vassal Legion’s flank. Their Rune Long Swords swept and chopped, cutting down the Spine-backed Serpent-men one by one before they could react.

In an instant, the rear of the Vassal Army descended into chaos.

The Bat-winged Demons circling in the sky shrieked sharp, urgent commands, attempting to stabilize the formation, but the chaos had already spread like a plague.

This chaos quickly spread to the Gray Scale-man infantry in the front ranks.

Attacked from both front and rear, their formation began to waver.

Cracks appeared in their once-impenetrable shield wall.

Just then, a piercing whistle suddenly ripped through the air.

Tens of thousands of green vines erupted from the earth, surging out from the depths of the forest like a verdant torrent, sweeping toward the enemy formation like a tidal wave.

The vines coiled around the Gray Scale-man soldiers’ ankles, arms, and shields, instantly throwing the Vassal Legion’s formation into complete disarray.

The Forest Guard had clearly been waiting for this moment.

A large number of Elf Guards charged out from the depths of the forest, fearlessly slaughtering their way into the enemy ranks.

The space between the Oak Guardians and Sentinel Trees was suddenly teeming with figures clad in leather armor etched with Runes.

The Gray Scale-man infantry’s shield wall collapsed completely.

The faces of the officials on the small hill turned pale.

By now, how could they not realize? Those incredibly skilled Elves from before weren’t some specially selected elite unit at all.

Every single guard in the entire Forest Guard clearly possessed strength at the Black Iron Level or higher.

"The Silver Moon Race... they’ve been hiding a Black Iron Legion."

Walt’s expression was grim, each word forced out as if through gritted teeth.

Composed of Black Iron Tier soldiers and Silver Tier officers, with every member equipped with Micro-Light Level Magic Equipment—this was the recognized standard for a Black Iron Legion on the Dawn Continent.

Any legion of this caliber was a powerful military force that struck terror into the hearts of its enemies.

On the Eldron Plain, only Kresol Dragon City’s Radiant Flame Legion had ever met this standard before.

Now, the Silver Moon Race was another.

Only now did the officials abruptly realize that the military might of the Silver Moon Race was far greater than they had ever imagined.

From the very beginning, they had failed to grasp the true extent of their opponent’s strength.

This Elf Race, which had once barely scraped by under the oppressive might of Dragon City, had at some point transformed into something this terrifying.

For the first time, their certainty about the outcome of this war was shaken.

The calm confidence that had come from their assumed victory was completely gone.

"A bunch of useless trash," an official couldn’t help but curse aloud.

Despite outnumbering the Elves more than ten to one, the Vassal Army hadn’t advanced the front line a single step since the battle began. They were completely pinned down on the battlefield at the forest’s edge.

They were being so thoroughly suppressed they couldn’t even fight back, and now they were on the verge of a complete rout.

"The Silver Moon Race is much stronger than we anticipated. The Vassal Legion alone won’t be enough to break them," Walt said, looking to Aurion and asking in a low voice, "My lord, shall we deploy the Golem Legion?"

Aurion was silent for a moment before finally nodding. He gave the order in a heavy voice.

"Deploy the Golem Legion."

With the command given, the Golem phalanx began to advance.

The sound of their dense, heavy footsteps merged into a dull roar, like distant thunder rolling across the plain.

The Bat-winged Demons above the battlefield let out a sharp shriek.

Hearing the signal, the soldiers of the Vassal Army parted to the sides as if they’d been granted a great pardon, clearing a path for the main force behind them.

The Golem Legion quickly entered the battlefield and charged toward the Elves, preparing to deliver a crushing blow.

But at that very moment, a dense, five-colored radiance surged out of the forest.

Azure, crimson, yellow, white, and black light intertwined into a dazzling curtain, painting the sky above the forest’s edge as if an aurora was pouring down.

From within the light, figures leaped forth one after another.

They were not as tall as the Steel Golems, but they were clad in magnificent, streamlined armor. Their helmets were adorned with various designs—some with antlers, some with sharp spikes, some carved into dragon heads. Each one exuded an aura as profound as an abyss.

The Five Camp Divine Soldiers!

Thousands of Daoist Soldiers leaped from the curtain of light, fearlessly charging the Golem Legion.

"What is..."

The sudden scene left the officials aghast.

They had seen the combat footage of Anton killing Marcus and five of their colleagues, and they quickly recognized these as the Alchemy Puppets Anton had summoned.

It was just that their numbers far exceeded anything they could have imagined.

There were at least two or three thousand of them by visual estimate!

These Alchemy Puppets possessed Silver Peak combat power on their own, but they could also form five-man cells and battle formations, allowing them to unleash power far exceeding their individual strength.

From the very first clash, Kresol Dragon City’s vaunted Golem Legion was beaten back relentlessly.

Steel Golems fell in swathes, like wheat before a scythe.

Even the Refined Gold Golems couldn’t withstand a single exchange before being destroyed, their shattered metal components littering the ground.

The Golem Legion was routed even faster than the Vassal Army!

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