Chapter 296: A tragic battle

In the mountain valley, members of the alliance were either lightly snoring, nodding off, or dead asleep. Very few were able to stay awake. The few solitary, cautious folk also gradually closed their heavy eyelids beneath the sleeping effect of the fog.

Everything seemed perfect. The outcome seemed predestined the moment the Death Guards started to advance into the mountain valley. This sneak attack could simply be considered a classic one for the books, if it hadn't been for a frightening, loud rumbling sound.

Rumble…

A surge of wind blew from who knew where, just as the Death Guards crossed the channel into the mountain valley. The power of it was violent. The wind first uproot a small tree on the mountain, creating a strange butterfly effect. One tree after another fell in bizarre succession. This finally caused the unbelievable collapse of the rocks on the mountain.

Moss-covered rocks, as large as a millstones, smashed straight down on the mountain valley. This kind of movement created earth-shattering sounds, waking up all of the mercenaries that were sound asleep. They abruptly jumped up, as if faced with the greatest enemy of their lives, grabbing their weapons before looking at the situation.

Edwin was also an accomplished alchemist on the side. He understood that only sleeping drugs with minor effects would be the kind not as easily discovered by experts. Edwin had been gloating over the victory within his grasp when the rumbling sound completely destroyed his wishful thinking. He looked at the mercenaries stationed in the valley all looking around with weapons in hand and then at the Death Guards entering the mountain valley. Edwin had to swallow back his curses and issued an order to attack, "Forward, kill!"

Both Edwin and Laureton understood that their ambush would no longer be perfect thanks to the rumbling avalanche. The two secretly cursed as they hastily issued orders to attack, while their eyes looked up and down at the epicenter of that tumultuous incident. A strange suspicion filled their hearts.

Why had that avalanche happened? How could its force have been so large? How could it have generated such an astonishing effect? If it were man made, then who'd done it?

Doubt after doubt instantly piled up in their hearts, but only for a moment. The two couldn't think much as all of their attention was pulled back to the slaughter that was about to take place in the mountain valley.

"Enemy attack, enemy attack!"

The thousand mercenaries in the mountain valley were jolted awake by the rock avalanche. A small portion of the mercenaries near the edge of the valley constantly dodged the falling rocks. The mercenaries at the outermost region, who were responsible for night patrol, had now discovered the Death Guards by now. They immediately started yelling loudly.

The mercenaries of the alliance immediately reacted. They took out weapons, started to chant magic incantations, and notched their arrows. They all aimed at the entrance of the mountain valley.

The Calamity Church's three hundred Death Guards spread out like wraiths in the night, whizzing about like faint shadows under the moonlight. Evil, sinister air permeated their bodies, their eyes filled with frenzy and excitement. Exotic spiked weapons were grasped in their hands, they speedily glided across the ground into the mountain valley.

The ground trembled as a series of sharp earth spears pierced out of the ground. A blazing fire quickly gathered into a defensive firewall. Lightning bolts twisted and flashed across the sky above the mountain valley then smashed downward. Mermen and water dragons gradually materialized and rushed away from the zone of the firewall.

Whistling sounds accompanied arrows that fell endlessly upon the Death Guards. Mages and archers formed layer after layer of obstacles within the mountain valley. They instantly hindered the momentum of the rushing Death Guards, itching to kill the entire bunch of blatant invaders.

However, as the religious scourge, whose notoriety had spread all over the Profound Continent for so many years, the Calamity Church's Death Guard naturally weren't that easy to deal with.

The speed of the three hundred Death Guards didn't decrease, but instead spiked at an alarming rate. The blackish gray robes that they wore had a strong resistance to magic, the coming flames were snuffed with just a wave of their sleeves. Even the violent thunderbolts only made them pause a little without causing any fatal damage.

"Hmph! The Death Guard's armory is one of the secrets of our Calamity Church. How could normal magic attacks have any effect!" Dark grand magus Edwin landed behind and looked forward with a sinister face, speaking contemptuously. He could have soundlessly exterminated the majority of the force in the mountain valley. He naturally felt irritated now that this unexpected incident had thrown a wrench in his plans.

Laureton stood next to Edwin, clutching the divine artifact Berserker's War Axe. He let out a loud, malicious laugh and said, "It's also fine this way. We'll only waste a bit more time. It's more interesting to let them struggle in their death."

The Cairo mercenary band had expended all of their elite forces for this battle. Add to that the Calamity Church's three hundred Death Guards and the alliance of a dozen small forces, this was a proper amount of strength to annihilate the powers inside the mountain valley. Laureton was someone who thirsted for battle to begin with. This was why he'd been even more excited when the mercenaries of the alliance woke up, as the ambush had turned into open combat.

Curling his lip, Edwin didn't say a thing. He looked at the waves of mercenaries rushing into the mountain valley and secretly calculated how much more he should extort from Laureton. After all, the cost of dispatching three hundred Death Guards wasn't small. Even though their purpose had been to block the Church of Light, he'd also helped Laureton, hadn't he? Therefore, the latter should also pay up a little.

The Death Guards were definitely worthy of their reputation as forces of the Evil God. They rushed forward with an unstoppable momentum, even when attacked by violent magic spells. The three hundred Death Guards scattered into groups of ghostly shadows, using sharp, spiked weapons to poke bloody holes into the mercenaries' bodies.

These Death Guards cultivated a strange type of fighting aura. They seemed able to borrow the Evil God's power in a fight. An evil presence naturally appeared on their bodies, and their eyes could attack the souls of their opponents. The strange fighting aura possessed an intense corrosion with it that could destroy the defense of the opponents, causing injuries to the body.

Han Shuo was sitting cross-legged on a cliff of the mountain valley. After secretly lending a hand to help kick start the dreadful battle, he silently circulated his magical yuan to absorb the power from the dead that had not yet dissipated. He also paid attention to the battle in the mountain valley at the same time.

The astonishing performance of the Death Guards shocked Han Shuo. He could even sense a bit of the Evil God's presence from their bodies.

Clarendon, who'd ultimately died a tragic death in Han Shuo's hand in Valen City, had used an altar to call upon the three-eyed demon god Ansidesi. The figure of an evil god, that was three hundred meters tall, once again appeared in Han Shuo's mind in the lower layers of the cemetery of death. Han Shuo could sense a bit of the presences of Ansidesi and the evil god from the Death Guards.

The Death Guards could obtain a bit of the strange force from the Evil God due to their fanatical belief. Perhaps they could only borrow one out of a hundred thousandth of the Evil God's power. However, that power released still couldn't be looked down upon, as evident in the tragic death of the mercenaries who faced them.

Three hundred Death Guards wasn't a big number, but the damage they caused was terrifying. Since the Temple Knights of the Church of Light possessed were at a similar level of strength as these Death Guards, Han Shuo could imagine that the former's power was certainly just as impressive.

"Heh heh, it's getting more and more interesting!" Han Shuo muttered to himself with a cold smile. He abruptly heaved a breath of relief, "What will come will come. Otherwise it would no longer be interesting!"

Dark grand magus Edwin also frowned when Han Shuo finished saying these words. He abruptly used the levitation skill to float up and out of the mountain valley. He carefully took note of his bearings before quickly returning to the mountain valley. He landed swiftly near the now twice berserk Laureton, "A large number of mercenaries are gathering here. How could this happen?"

"The Rainbow Sickle mercenary band isn't far from here. They must have discovered something because we've caused such a big movement in this place. Heh heh, four to five hundred out of the one thousand mercenaries in the mountain valley have already died. Florida will only be coming to his death if we make good use of time and kill them all. Just his Rainbow Sickles alone simply can't stop our momentum!"

Laureton randomly threw out an answer as he chopped a two meter tall orc warrior in half with a wave of his Berserker's War Axe. He then rammed into the crowd in front, seemingly insane with happiness as he was able to indulge in battle.

"That's not it. It isn't just the Rainbow Sickles. There's also a large group of orcs!" Edwin shouted to Laureton as if there was a fire was raging in his heart.

"Damn it! How can that be?" Laureton was startled. He abruptly jumped to Edwin and asked with horror.

"Kill them!" Adam Menlo was riding a ten meter long flaming bird in the air. He rushed forward with his family members, who were behind him, also riding various magic creatures.

The dull sounds of iron hooves pounding against the ground outside of the mountain valley were heavy, like a beating drum. The experts of the three great powers were gathering in the valley, tightly blocking Laureton's group's retreat.

"Shove it all and bring forth all your efforts to bear, or none of us will be able to escape!" Since the situation had become like this, Laureton naturally understood what was to follow. He let out a long howl to the heavens. His ferocity burst as he rushed straight forward to kill the remaining mercenaries in the mountain valley.