These spear-wielding Trolls who followed Jinsai to watch the duel were undoubtedly the enemy's elite; if they were wiped out, the Burning Thorn Tribe could be defeated in one battle.
Unas had used up all his most important defensive skills and had to switch back to the shield-and-hammer setup. Jinsai's death, coupled with the human riot, plunged the spear-wielding Troll into a brief panic, leaving him only knowing how to run away.
Unas charged into the tunnel, hammering down three Trolls who dared to turn their backs on him. The fourth enemy turned to fight back, but he couldn't hold out for long either; these guys were far inferior to the unkillable Jinsai.
Unas relentlessly wields Unas hammer and shield, charging forward without regard for whether he has completely killed the enemy. The people behind him will hack the fallen Trolls to pieces, and the enemy's spears and lances will become his own weapons.
With unwavering determination, they charged straight to the opposite mine. Almost all the Smolderthorn Trolls were gathered there, awaiting the outcome of the duel. Seeing their comrades retreating in disarray, they naturally knew the answer.
But their ferocious nature prevailed. After the initial panic subsided, most of the Trolls, who had always looked down on humans, picked up their pickaxes to fight back. Meanwhile, the elite spearmen, who had been almost completely wiped out and had witnessed their leader's death, tried to escape but were immediately surrounded, knocked to the ground, and had their weapons taken away.
When Unas rushed out of the cave, he saw this chaotic scene. The Trolls ' cannibalistic gazes made him realize that things were not good. Unlike the tunnel, the terrain here was not in his favor. If he rushed too deep and got surrounded, it would be very dangerous. Before the people behind him caught up, he decided to retreat and lure the enemy into the tunnel.
Thinking this, he turned and rushed back into the tunnel, shouting to Luther and the others, "Stop moving forward! Hold your ground!"
Luther immediately stopped, turned around and shouted the order to those behind him, who then relayed the order, and the human column quickly came to a halt.
The Trolls were successfully lured in, and Luther and Hart squeezed next to Unas to fight alongside him. After Unas gave them and the surrounding Warriors a full buff, the enemies charged in.
Unas repeatedly performed the actions of shield bash, hammer swing, hammer retraction, and shield bash again. Luther, a seasoned officer with countless battles under his belt, wielded his greatsword with great force. Hart assisted from the side with Unas's spare spear. The young man was agile and a promising talent. The passageway they guarded was impregnable, turning into a meat grinder for the Trolls.
After leaving behind more than a dozen corpses, the enemy finally realized that the tunnel was very disadvantageous to them and hastily retreated.
"We absolutely cannot let them establish an effective defense at the cave entrance!" Unas roared. "Charge with me in one fell swoop!"
The slaves around him responded with a roar, following the Paladin's not-so-tall figure straight ahead!
Faced with their kin retreating from the tunnels for the second time, most of the Trolls in the mines began to waver in their resolve. When the deafening shouts of humans echoed from the caves, a small number of Trolls turned tail and fled to the next mine.
One group of snakes, leaderless and demoralized, faced a united front with overwhelming momentum, and the scales of victory tipped completely in favor of humanity.
Unas led the charge, and the Troll left to resist collapsed. Their only escape route was the narrow opening opposite, barely wide enough for three people to walk side by side, where the fleeing Trolls had already crowded together.
They couldn't fight back, and they couldn't escape. The only option was to surrender. Once the first one surrendered, others followed suit. Groups of Trolls dropped their weapons, knelt on the ground with their heads in their hands, and seeing the situation, even those who wanted to resist surrendered in bewilderment.
Unas turned around and saw Frank emerging from the passageway he had come from. He immediately ordered, "Frank, keep an eye on the prisoners!"
After saying this, he led Luther and his group, kicking aside the surrendered ones blocking their way, and continued chasing the next mine. This time, they were determined to wipe out the Burning Thorn Tribe completely.
The Smolderthorn Trolls controlled three mining areas in the East District. Unas led his men through the enemy's territory until they captured the enemy's residential area. Further ahead lay the Dark Iron Dwarves' territory, which they couldn't touch for the time being.
During the battle, Unas also leveled up again, Paladin level 33 with 5% increase in Strength, Agility, Constitution, and Stamina. He also learned the skill Divine Storm (an instant Holy Light attack that deals damage equal to 110% of a normal attack to enemies within an 8-meter radius. Divine Storm also heals nearby allies for a total amount equal to 25% of the damage it deals).
This skill consumes a lot of energy, but Unas can use it more than enough to compensate for his lack of area-of-effect attacks.
Unas personally killed only a dozen or so Trolls, but the elite made up a large proportion of them and gave them a lot of experience. Among them, Jinsai gave the most experience, directly giving him 25%, and the rest were all obtained by chance.
There were over 140 Trolls in total. More than 50 were killed in action, a few escaped, and the remaining 89 all surrendered. Unas first led his men to confiscate all the ore they had mined and the food they had stored up that week, and then imprisoned the Trolls in their living quarters in batches.
Now the problem arose: what to do with these Trolls, and how to deal with the possible retaliation from the Dark Horde? He summoned several leaders to discuss the matter.
After this battle, Unas gained both fame and fortune. Several leaders knew that their martial prowess was several levels below his, and they had no choice but to bow down to him.
Luther was the first to pledge allegiance to him, and still basking in the afterglow of victory, he loudly proclaimed his loyalty. "Sir, there's no need for further discussion. Just give me your instructions, and I will carry them out!"
Unas patted him on the shoulder and laughed, "That's why I wanted to ask you all, since I'm still undecided. The first question is, what about the Trolls who surrender?"
"What are your thoughts, sir?" Luther asked.
"I want to kill them all, but I don't know what the consequences would be, so I'd like to hear your opinions."
He spoke of cruel matters in the most ordinary tone, making Unas seem even more cold-blooded and ruthless. The group felt a chill run down their spines. Frank said, "It's best not to. They're all labor. We've won the Troll Ore Deposits, but we don't have enough manpower. If we can't hold them, we'll lose them sooner or later."
Bas chuckled sinisterly, "If you ask me, killing them all wouldn't be a problem; keeping them around would only cause trouble."
Riedel's plan had completely failed, and he was somewhat unsettled. He asked, seemingly unrelatedly, "Those escaped Trolls must have already spread the word. Perhaps the Blackrock Orcs are regrouping. Fortunately, they're in the West District; it'll take them some time to get here. Let's hurry and prepare for battle."
"Didn't you say they were preparing to attack the Dark Iron Dwarves? Perhaps they won't let the small Burning Thorn Tribe ruin their grand plan," Unas said. "Even if they come, I'm confident I can defeat them."
The constant upgrades made Unas a bit arrogant, and he looked forward to the return of battles and experience. "Anyway, I've taken all your suggestions. As for the Trolls... let's kill half of them. Eighty-nine are still too many. They're inconvenient to manage and a threat. What do you think?"
Everyone fell silent, offering no further objections. It was unclear whether they were afraid to speak or simply didn't want to. Only Unas secretly gloated, thinking, "Experience, here I come!"