Reforged Chapter 43: Please Call Me the Hundred-Handed Reaper

What the heck was Avis?

Duke had no idea. However, he could guess that since the Naga originated from the Highborne Elves, Queen Azshara, and her nobles, Avis must be a rather noble clan name within the Naga.

Surprisingly, when Duke mentioned the name, the dim-witted Murlocs shuddered as if they were terrified. They all shifted their doubtful gaze towards Duke, the so-called 'Ocean Messenger.'

"Hmph!" Duke snorted coldly.

He didn't know why the Murlocs bowed down to him, but it probably had something to do with the Mage Hands he conjured.

Were they just impressed by his many hands?

Come on! Who's afraid of whom?

Duke raised his hand, and the system spirit activated immediately.

Although the enhanced Mage Hands were now a Level 2 spell, its energy consumption and requirements were like a trivial Level 0 cantrip.

No burden at all!

In an instant, 108 Mage Hands, shimmering with an azure arcane radiance, hovered neatly in the air, forming a mysterious wing-like formation.

This display was undoubtedly formidable.

The only thing that left Duke dumbfounded was the gesture made by the Mage Hands - all of them were raising their middle fingers!

What did a forest of middle fingers look like? This was it!

The glaring middle fingers exuded supreme disdain and contempt.

"Hey! What's going on? Why are they all middle fingers?" Duke roared in his mind at the system spirit.

"Uh, I detected that the most common gesture from you was this one, so I accidentally set it as the default for the Mage Hands."

"Change it! Change all of them! Just use regular palms from now on!"

"Your will be done."

Fortunately, the international hand gesture seemed to be non-universal here. Neither the Murlocs nor the Naga seemed to understand it.

However, the Murlocs completely misinterpreted Duke's gesture.

Having been servants to aquatic high-level beings for over ten thousand years, Murlocs didn't remember much. But there was one gesture they had to remember - the direction in which their superiors pointed with their fingers. It only meant one thing: attack, you lowly beings!

"Garoo gakoo lalala oh (This sea god has even more hands; he's the real deal. Kill the lower-grade impostor) -"

Well, a six-armed Naga was more impressive than a four-armed one, and an eight-armed Naga was even more remarkable than a six-armed one.

In the simple minds of the Murlocs, the one with more hands was the boss. With a total of 108 hands, Duke was undoubtedly the genuine ancient sea god!

Whether Duke himself believed it or not, the Murlocs were convinced!

.

Duke's countless mage hands seemed to infuse these slightly foolish creatures with a power deep within them - a power called confidence. In the heyday of marine life, they ruled all of Azeroth. Multi-armed sea monsters, like banners on the battlefield, were a manifestation of the will of the sea - an invincible force!

Contrary to their earlier game of hide-and-seek, the Murlocs now brimmed with courage, swarming towards the Naga in a counterattack.

The Murlocs were not purely a melee race; they wielded simple spears and other weapons, and many Murloc sages unleashed bright spells.

The unscientific fact that Murlocs could use the Frostbolt spell was perfectly demonstrated in the world of Azeroth.

Although the Naga were undoubtedly stronger than the Murlocs, they could not afford to ignore the sheer number of their foes.

The leading female Naga's face turned pale.

Unwilling to disregard these frenzied Murlocs, the female Naga named Avis ultimately uttered a single word, "Go!"

Unable to retreat to the sea behind them, they risked heading to a small river on Duke's left, attempting to seek refuge within the Westfall wilderness.

A smile appeared on Duke's face. Instead of stopping the Naga, the mage hands remained pointed at the Naga behind them.

The Murlocs engaged the Naga at the rear, and though they didn't break their lines, they managed to hold their ground.

Many male Naga, wielding huge tridents, danced and spun their weapons like fiery wheels, each strike cleaving at least one Murloc in two. However, the Murlocs' fearlessness shocked them.

When had a mere poke at a single Murloc sent the rest fleeing in panic? Now, they could still see fear and terror in the Murlocs' eyes, but they were clearly dominated by an even deeper dread and a stronger will.

All of this was undoubtedly due to the human on the shore, surrounded by numerous hovering hands of light!

"How dare a mere human command our Naga's servants to attack us!?" the largest Naga leader roared in anger!

Completely ignoring the Murloc sages' Frostbolts, he brandished his trident, sweeping horizontally three times in a row, painting the surrounding sea red with Murloc blood and entrails.

He violently swung his long, sea-serpent-like tail, creating a clear white wake across the undulating waves!

In just twenty seconds, he broke through the entire Murloc battle line, reached the shore, and stopped ten steps away from Duke.

"Puny human! Pay the price for defiling the God of the Sea with your life!"

Duke felt apprehensive about naval battles. He could only swim a meager 50 meters in a pool before sinking. But a Naga on land? Ha!

The previously formidable male Naga, who had seemed invincible, suddenly panicked.

He felt the surrounding water evaporating rapidly.

Darsson's Fiery Furnace activated!

In an instant, the once damp and hot beach beneath him transformed into a parched and scorching desert of death. The burning sand irritated his unprotected serpent belly, and the rapidly rising temperature caused him to panic.

The water droplets on his scales sizzled and vanished, leaving large burn marks. It was as if millions of invisible hands were forcibly extracting every water molecule from the gaps in his scales and even his skin.

He could clearly see his once-swollen body rapidly withering. His vital water supply was being forcibly taken away, and his entire body seemed to be trapped in a blazing inferno of despair!

He panicked!

"What sorcery is this!?" he screamed, trying to throw his trident at Duke in an attempt to impale him.

It was useless!

Dozens of azure magical hands appeared from the void, grabbing him before he could even throw his trident. The hands exerted a tremendous force, as if dozens of adult human strongmen were holding him down.

To his astonishment, he found himself unable to move!

...