26 Battle of Dragontail Valley (1)
Baroc was not a member of the Royal Army, but he was not nearly dense enough not to recognise the sound of war horns.
As he moved to get up from the flooring made of beast skin, Baroc could see from the corner of his eyes that his three companions had reacted similarly.
When the quartet left their tent, they were greeted by soldiers rushing around as the soldiers hurried to get into positions.
By now, the first light had just broken through the horizon, though visibility was still extremely low, largely due to the heavy rain and looming dark clouds.
But in this wilderness, the members Phoenix Sentinels did not have to see in order to know who they were about to face in battle.
The entire reason why they were here was due to these opponents after all.
However, was there a need for such a huge fuss just to defend against some small goblin raiding party?
Baroc shook his head in disapproval, but still led the way towards the command tent where the king was seen to be addressing some other high ranked soldiers.
He patiently waited until the high ranked soldiers were done with receiving their orders before approaching, not wanting to disrupt their chain of command.
"Your Majesty," they gave the customary bow before Roland gestured for them to raise their heads.
"So it is Phoenix Sentinels," King Roland exclaimed upon seeing them. "Not a good start to your stay here, is it?"
"On the contrary, I actually think it is quite fortunate that I get to see Your Majesty's army in action this soon," Baroc gave a relaxed smile.
Goblin raiding parties were difficult to handle for the average adventurer group, but when it came to Phoenix Sentinels, they could completely obliterate any such parties within minutes.
That was also the reason why Baroc still felt relatively relaxed.
Considering that adventurers were usually stronger individually as compared to regular soldiers, it was no wonder that the king was careful about his handling of a raiding party.
Even so, the scale of activation was a little too overboard, testament to the king's inexperience in combat!
"Is that so? Can I count on your help when the need arises then?" Roland could sense that the man before him was truly feeling relaxed, and not just faking it.
From that, Roland actually gained a slight bit of admiration for the other party.
Even after telling them that there were three Goblin Kings among the opponents, they were still able to act with such calmness.
Perhaps S-ranked adventurers were much stronger than he initially thought!
"Leave it to us! We will definitely jump in when necessary!" Baroc bowed before he turned to head towards one of the outer watchtowers.
With every step that he took, the sound of drums grew louder.
Initially, the members of Phoenix Sentinels were still joking among themselves as they made their way to the watchtower, laughing at how the Royal Army even set up their war drums for such a small skirmish.
However, it did not take long for them to realise that the source of the drumming was not within the camp.
Even the cold rain did not compare to the chill that ran down their spines when they finally realised that something was amiss.
The adventurer group Phoenix Sentinels hurriedly climb up the watchtower and stared into the distance in shock.
How could this be compared with an ordinary attack by a goblin raiding party?!
With each beat of the drum, their eardrums rattled.
With each stomp of the goblin horde, the ground trembled in resonance.
Even they as S-ranked adventurers had never seen a scene like the one before them.
Goblins!
Lots of goblins!
They were like ants scurrying out of the earth, charging up the steep slopes as if they were looking to escape from the dense vegetation of Dragontail Valley, and trying to smash into the fortifications set up above.
But why would the goblins suddenly launch such an all-out offense when the area was obviously so well guarded at the moment?
Baroc did not have much time to contemplate over that question.
The first volley of arrows arrived at this moment, striking at the perfect distance as if the goblins had activated a trap mechanism when they entered within the range of the archers.
It was only unfortunate that the heavy rain had greatly reduced the effective range of the arrows.
Steel mercilessly sank deep into the flesh of the goblins, drawing blood that was promptly washed off by the rain.
Yet the goblins did not fall.
Goblins had always been considered as relatively weak demihumans, having low intelligence and body frames that were short and thin.
A regular goblin could be easily taken down by a well-placed arrow, or at least that should have been the case.
However, Baroc watched in horror as the goblins took arrow after arrow, struggling to continue moving forward, finally falling only when an arrow struck a critical point on their bodies.
This was completely unlike normal goblins that fell with a single arrow.
What was this unprecedented tenacity and body strength?
Were these demihumans before him truly just goblins?
He no longer knew for sure.
At this time, Baroc suddenly recalled the words spoken to him in the command tent the night before, words that he had been pondering over for the whole of last night.
Goblin King!
Baroc had never stood on the same battlefield as a Goblin King, but if such an entity were truly present among the ranks of the enemy, then this incomprehensible phenomenon before him might be explainable!
Volley after volley of arrows were fired from the backlines, and dozens of goblins perished each time.
The dead were mercilessly trampled over by the ones that came after them, resulting in bodies being crushed and innards spilling onto the ground.
Even the heavy rain was unable to completely wash the ground clean of the dark red blood, resulting in a gruesome sight that was not suited for the weak hearted.
Yet the goblins kept charging forward, seemingly oblivious to their fallen comrades.
At this time, the goblin wave finally reached the barricades.
The gargantuan wooden barricades constructed by the expedition army were firm and sturdy, with huge protruding spikes facing the oncoming goblins.
The only downside to the barricades was that its supports were not driven deep enough into the ground, which also meant that it was not able to withstand the passing of time as the surface soil got worn off by the rain.
However, now when it was freshly constructed, it was more than enough to withstand the onslaught of the goblins.
Even under the cover of the thunderous rain and drums, the collision of the first group of goblins against the barricades resounded with a loud bang.
Roland's heart skipped a beat along with this loud collision.
What the hell? They just smashed right into the barricades? Did they not see the protruding spikes?
Roland could hardly keep his mouth from gaping slightly as he stared in shock.
It was as if the goblins were suicidal, willingly impaling themselves onto the spikes of the barricades.
However, further observation would show that after the first group sacrificed their lives, the spikes of the barricades were now almost non-existent, buried under the layer of goblin corpses.
The groups of goblins behind were then able to disregard the spikes by simply climbing over their dead comrades.
The goblins were starting to breach the barricades!
Roland frowned and turned to leave the watchtower, but was promptly blocked by Alexander who stood by his side.
"Your Majesty, it is not yet the time for you to enter the fray!" Alexander shook his head resolutely.
"Then when? They are already starting to breach our defences!" Roland agitatedly pointed his finger to the frontline.
"Did Your Majesty forget how numerous the goblins are? If Your Majesty entered the battle right now, then exhaustion would have kicked in before the end of the battle! Believe in the Royal Army!" Alexander answered with conviction.
Roland wanted to retort, but the Royal Guard's words made sense.
The goblins were truly too numerous.
Personally joining the battle as a front line combatant would definitely serve to alleviate pressure on the front line, but it would also quickly drain Roland of his stamina.
With that, the king reluctantly turned back to watch the front line.
The first wave of goblins that climbed over the barricades was easily taken down by the spearmen who stood ready for them, but the goblins seemed to be endless!
The goblins continuously poured out from Dragontail Valley, heading straight towards them.
Just like everyone else, Roland was confused by the rationale behind the goblins' actions, but he had no time to think about such things.
Even if he did not personally join in on the battle at the forefront, he had to do something to aid his soldiers, or things might just take a sudden downwards spiral after they grew exhausted from defending against the goblin horde.
If it came down to that, then it would be too late to save those soldiers who had willingly put themselves at the forefront of battle!
Baroc was feeling a similar sense of urgency slowly build up within him as he watched the goblins corpses start to pile up by the barricades.
Even up to now, there had still been no deaths on the side of the expedition army, something that greatly astonished him.
The spearmen behind the barricades were also being rotated regularly, giving each soldier time to rest to slow down their exhaustion.
But the space they had was gradually getting less and less, restricted by the corpses of the goblins.
This would slowly grow to influence the effective combat space of each spearman, affecting every swing and thrust.
Eventually, the spearmen would have to retreat from the barricades, allowing the goblins to freely engage them in open combat!
By then, the expedition army would lose its terrain and strategical advantage.
Just as Baroc was about to lead his team and join the battle, an immense spiritual pressure swept past him in pulses, even causing his wet hair and clothes to flutter strongly with each pulse.
He stopped in his tracks, shocked by the feeling of helplessness in the face of this extreme power!
It was not just him either.
The wave of spiritual pressure spread out across the battlefield like a shockwave, even serving to push some of the piling corpses of goblins off of the barricades.
The dimly lit battlefield was suddenly illuminated by a blinding white light, as though someone had just brought out a mini star that should have belonged to the night sky.
The source of this light was also the epicentre of the spiritual pressure pulses – the top of the innermost watchtower.
Even the goblins that had only been mindlessly charging forward slowed down as they tilted their heads up to watch in dismay.
Before this intense light, they felt truly small in comparison.
"This…" Klint, the specialised spellcaster within Phoenix Sentinels had his eye opened wide in horror as he joined everyone present and turned to look at the top of the watchtower.
The light was extremely bright, completely overshadowing the tiny rays that broke through the dark skies.
An immeasurable amount of spiritual energy coiled around the watchtower like a tornado, stretching upwards from the ground as if holding up the ball of light.
Those with sharper eyes such as the members of Phoenix Sentinels could faintly make out a dark silhouette of someone stretching an arm out behind the ball of light, as though he held the mini star in his outstretched hand.
It was a figure that commanded respect and reverence, giving off an aura like that of a divine being that had descended amongst mankind.
As if it was not bright enough, the light continued to rapidly grow in size and intensity, finally reaching a point when the figure behind could no longer be seen.
[Supreme Amplification – Roar of the Lightning Dragon]!
From the ball of light, multiple thick lightning bolts the size of tree trunks shot out towards the charging goblins, smashing into the ground and causing huge explosions upon impact.
Goblins caught by each lightning bolt were completely vaporised, while those that stood just out of range were still struck by the explosions that sent rocks flying out like shrapnel.
These shrapnel served as natural bullets, penetrating goblins that were unfortunate enough to be standing in their paths!
And things did not stop there.
The first wave of lightning bolts was followed by a second wave, then a third, and a fourth…
