27 Battle of Dragontail Valley (2)
[Roar of the Lightning Dragon] was a Level 7 spell, one that called upon the devastating power of lightning to completely decimate the opponent.
Roland was not especially fond of spells of the lightning element, but the fire element spells that he had always preferred would not be as effective considering the current weather conditions.
[Supreme Amplification] was an auxiliary spell that he came up with after years of training and meditation, which served to further strengthen the effects of any spell.
As if a Level 7 attack spell was not enough, this resulted in a further intensification of the damage output, resulting in the current scene of carnage!
Roland raised the ball of light charged with electricity in front of him, carefully guiding the lightning bolts that shot out towards the horde of goblins.
He might not be able to completely cut off the never ending stream of goblin attackers, but he was able to thin them out to such a level that the spearmen standing in front could even spare time to reorganise themselves.
The ball of light gradually grew smaller over time, and finally dissipated with the last lightning bolt, returning the battlefield to relative darkness.
This was when everyone finally managed to have a good look at the ground between the barricades and the dense vegetation below.
It had originally been a simple uneven slope covered with grass.
Since the battle started, the bodies of goblins killed by arrows and trampled on by the following waves had resulted in innards and blood staining the grass and making the ground even more uneven.
And now, what remained was a sight that did not even remotely resemble the original terrain.
There were still bits of flesh lying around the ground, but they were reduced to such small pieces that it was no longer recognisable as to where these pieces flesh originated from.
Huge craters littered the small stretch of land, the surrounding rocks and soil emitting black smoke from being charred by the high temperatures of the lightning bolts.
Some of these craters were even deep enough to act as trenches that even the usually fervent goblins would require some time to climb out of, creating an even greater terrain advantage for the expedition army as the charge of the goblins had now been greatly reduced.
Klint was trembling in horror as his eyes darted between the king and the charred ground.
He was a specialised spellcaster in a top tier adventurer group, and that was testament to his capability as a powerful magic user.
On top of that, Klint was almost double Roland in age, giving him a head start in terms of experience and time, two factors that were vital to any spellcaster on the path to the pinnacle of magic.
Yet never in his wildest dreams had he even imagine himself being capable of wielding such power, let alone truly being able to reach this level!
However, the young king whom they had been looking down upon had just done so!
At this time, Klint saw in Roland an entity that was far greater than himself, and felt true reverence and admiration.
While not as much as Klint, Baroc and the rest of Phoenix Sentinels were shocked as well, all at a loss for words as they stared at the devastation that was left behind.
Even Alexander, who knew that Roland had been training hard since young, was in disbelief!
He had often heard from the late king that Roland was pretty strong, but Alexander had never seen it for himself.
Alexander thought he had gotten a good grasp of the other party's abilities after the operation to explore Dragontail Valley the day before, but it seemed that Roland had barely shown anything that time!
Was this the result of a natural talent who had chosen to even forgo the fight for the throne in order to pursue the apex of power?
The soldiers cheered in unison, all burning with fervour upon seeing the magic support that they were receiving.
How could they not?
This was magic on an unprecedented level!
Never had they ever seen such powerful magic, much less be on the side that was being supported by it.
No one could put a finger to how many goblins had died from just that attack alone, but it was at least in the hundreds!
Killing hundreds with a single spell!
What kind of concept was that?
If the spellcaster was allowed to continuously throw out such attacks, wouldn't the spellcaster's kill count reach thousands or tens of thousands?
With such powerful magic support coming from the backline, it truly eased the pressure on them as the front liners.
But little did they know that the one who had just cast such an amazing spell was actually lamenting the fact that he was unable to join the front lines!
Roland pulled back his outstretched hand and looked straight ahead, past all the soldiers and goblins in the middle, straight at the one entity that had just stepped out from the dense vegetation.
This was the first time that a Goblin King had shown itself on this battlefield.
Roland did not know if it was his move that had forced out the Goblin King, but he was feeling quite depressed about how things had progressed thus far.
What he wanted was a glorious battle in which his name would resound far and wide.
He had envisioned matching the goblin army in multiple skirmishes, using his wits to slowly drain the goblin army of its numbers and finally wiping out the remaining goblins in one fell swoop, ultimately freeing the commoners of the region from the terror of the goblins.
The bards would then sing of his aptitude for war and concern for people as his name got engraved forever in history.
Who would have thought that the goblins would just charge straight into their fortifications like idiots?
And now, even a Goblin King had appeared!
This meant that at least a third of the goblin horde was involved in this mindless offense.
Whatever happened to the greater intelligence of Goblin Kings?
At this rate, he would just be remembered as a lucky king who happened to have things nicely fall into place for him!
Regardless, now that things had already progressed to such a state, Roland could go all out to defeat the opponent.
In order to do so, eliminating the Goblin King was essential!
Should he just charge across the battlefield to take out the Goblin King?
He had full confidence that he would be able to do so if he had the help of Rose and Alexander by his side.
However, doing so could trigger panic among the goblins, resulting in some goblins running away back into the Dragontail Valley.
If Roland were to lose sight of these demihumans, it would be extremely difficult to hunt down the remaining ones in the vast and winding valley.
Just as he was weighing his options, the Goblin King suddenly let out a roar loud enough to be heard over the thunderous drumming that came from right behind it.
The roar resounded across the entire battlefield, straining eardrums as it passed.
Hearing the roar, light immediately returned to the eyes of the seemingly despondent goblins.
As if they were revitalised by the Goblin King, the regular goblins answered with a roar of their own, and immediately started to charge forward once again.
It was almost as though the earlier display of power by Roland changed nothing.
Almost, but not entirely.
One thing was for sure, the modified terrain now made it much more difficult for the goblins to advance.
More volleys of arrows flew out, this time imbued with strengthening spells cast by the expedition army's team of spellcasters.
They were not able to do anything as flashy as what Roland did, but these specialised spell casters were able to contribute in their own small ways.
These magically imbued arrows took down a goblin immediately upon striking one, completely different from the previous volleys when the goblins could still continue trudging forward even after being struck.
The Goblin King continued standing at the edge of the dense vegetation, watching as its brethren rushed to their deaths.
Roland continued standing on the watchtower, watching as the goblin ranks thinned out.
However, things were not going as perfectly as it seemed.
The expedition army was on a timer as well.
The archers were steadily expending their stash of arrows.
The spellcasters were steadily emptying their mana reserve.
The spearmen were steadily tiring from the overexertion of their muscles.
To the expedition army's horror, two other drum rhythms started getting more audible, growing louder as time went by.
The roar of the Goblin King before was not just to raise the morale of its comrades, but also to call on the other two Goblin Kings for assistance!
When the other two Goblin Kings finally stepped up beside the original one, they gave a roar in unison, and a wave of bloodlust swept across the battlefield.
It contained an intense spiritual pressure that delivered a feeling of fear directly into the hearts of the soldiers.
Many of the more inexperienced soldiers were startled, stepping backwards in sheer horror.
The weaker-willed ones completely lost the strength in their bodies, directly falling to their knees.
The day was bright by now.
The sun might not have risen to the zenith, and it was still hidden behind the dark clouds above, but it still sufficed to light up the entire battlefield, allowing clear vision even despite the heavy rain.
Roland let out a deep sigh as he watched the three Goblin Kings standing at the other end of the battlefield.
With the appearance of all three Goblin Kings, there was no longer any doubt.
The goblin horde had completely focused their offense at this exit, and this first battle with the goblins would probably also mark the end of the expedition.
In the end, he would not be able to showcase his brilliant military mind and outplay the goblins with his unthinkable stratagem!
All of it boiled down to one straightforward clash here at one of the main exits of Dragontail Valley.
With how much the goblins had committed to this offense, it was extremely unlikely for them to retreat from this.
If this was the case, then he no longer needed to hold back!
It had already been an hour since the start of the battle, yet while his soldiers had been fighting with all they had got, he as the commander had barely done anything other than throw out a single spell.
This caused him to feel extremely restless.
After the spell from before, he had already consumed a mana potion to completely replenish his mana reserve.
Right now, he was in top condition!
Roland took a quick visual measure of the distance between them and the Goblin Kings, reached out to feel the steel of the sword hanging by his waist, and then turned to look at Alexander.
"I am going," Roland said calmly.
Seeing the determined expression on the young king's face, Alexander knew that he would be unable to change the king's mind, and could only nod in response.
Alexander would not have agreed no matter what if it was still the start of this battle, but after the king's ridiculous magical attack just now, the Royal Guard had a feeling that his master was not someone who could be understood by common sense.
"Let us go," Roland exclaimed as he stepped out of the watchtower for the first time this battle.
"Yes, Your Majesty," Rose responded matter-of-factly as she followed her master, heading straight towards the front lines.
The soldiers had done well defending against the seemingly endless waves of attacking goblins, and now it was up to them to spark off the start of their counterattack!
