Gray Dwarf Bandits
(Hey, 2024, here we come! Happy New Year everyone!) Roy hesitated a bit.
He and his Guard Squad had just arrived at the Third Mine...
Having endured wind and rain along the way, the Elf Warrior had not recovered their physical and mental strength and were unable to unleash their peak combat power.
He originally planned to rest for one night at the Third Mine, and wait for the Elf Warrior to recover their strength before sneaking into the mine to deal with the Gray Dwarf Bandit.
But when Timothy suggested raiding the mine, Roy thought the plan was feasible.
Moreover, these Dark Moon Elf Warrior are full of fighting spirit; perhaps their edge will disappear after tonight.
He glanced at a ballista covered by a tarpaulin outside the Fourth Floor Warehouse, frowned, and pondered for a moment before making up his mind. He said to Timothy, "When we enter the mine, I'll lead a squad of Half-Elf Warrior to distract these Gray Dwarf Bandit. You guys sneak around to the back and ambush them. Make sure you capture the shaft entrance!"
"Yes, Boss!"
Captain Timothy, seeing that Roy had taken his advice, replied with some excitement.
Roy turned to a Half-Elf Warrior captain beside him and instructed, "Vitas, take some men and bring over the crates from the warehouse. We'll go back later..."
The Half-Elf connected the three gondolas together and suspended them from the derrick.
Once everything was ready, Roy led a squad of ten Half-Elf Warrior to jump onto the first gondola. As the Half-Elf Warrior on the derrick platform pushed the winch to lower the first gondola into the mine, the second gondola landed on the derrick platform. Timothy led a squad of ten Dark Moon Elf onto the gondola. As the gondola descended, the third gondola slowly landed on the derrick platform, and Tennyson led a second squad of Dark Moon Elf onto the third gondola.
The gantry carried thirty Elf Warrior, and the ropes on the pulley system were pulled taut. As the Half-Elf on the platform pushed the winch, the three connected gondolas slowly descended.
Once the caisson was completely submerged in the shaft, Roy was plunged into darkness once more.
However, as he quickly recited a prayer, a ' Divine Light ' floated up, and the soft holy light shone on the faces of each Half-Elf Warrior in the hanging box.
Roy leaned back in the gondola, smiling as he asked the ten young Half-Elf sitting around him:
Are you scared?
These young Half-Elf Warrior seemed a little shy and quickly shook their heads.
Roy, holding the ' Hammer of Judgment Book,' continued, ' The Gray Dwarf Bandit you are about to face have modified pickaxes and shields, as well as simple armor. They are a real band of robbers! So when fighting them, remember to put aside your pity, do not hesitate, and do not take any chances. Those Gray Dwarf Bandit in the mines are all desperados. Do not give them any chance! Otherwise, we will be the ones who fall.'
"After the gondola lands, the four of you will stand at the front with your shields, so you need to jump out of the gondola as soon as possible with your shields raised."
Roy spoke to the Elf Warrior with the Iris Shield hanging on his arm.
After saying this, he turned to the two elven swordsmen and said:
"You two and I will stay close behind those four. When the Gray Dwarf Bandit charge, we need to strike them with a fatal blow through the gaps in their shields. Whether we can protect them and prevent them from getting hurt depends on how decisively we three act."
"You four stand in the third row. If you see any Gray Dwarf injured during the battle, try to take care of them as quickly as possible."
Did you hear what I said clearly?
"Understood, Boss," the Half-Elf Warrior replied.
Roy quickly made a shushing gesture, lowering his voice:
"Okay, relax, take a deep breath!"
Afterward, Roy blessed each of the Half-Elf in the hanging box with the ' Strength Blessing '. He then carefully adjusted the Magic Inscription Construct on his body and fastened the chains of the ' Hammer of Judgment Book ' around his waist.
He stood in the middle of a group of Half-Elf Warrior, looking expressionless, but he was actually more nervous than any of the Elf Warrior. His hand holding the Holy Scepter was sweating. Roy wrapped a roll of bandage around the hand holding the Holy Scepter to make himself feel a little better.
The gondola descended very slowly, but the descent was very smooth.
Clearly, the infrastructure of the Third Mine was superior to that of the other two mines, especially the gantry cranes built on the platform, which greatly inspired Roy.
The elevators in the Second Mine may also need to be fitted with such sturdy supports in the future to make the elevators more stable.
After a long descent, the caisson finally landed steadily at the bottom of the shaft.
The moment the carriage landed in the well, four shield-wielding Half-Elf Warrior leaped out at top speed. Using the faint light from the sacred mine, they pounced straight at the Gray Dwarf Bandit guarding the entrance.
Roy and two Half-Elf swordsmen followed closely behind the four shield-wielding Elf Warrior.
At this moment, the Gray Dwarf Bandit had already spotted the Elf Warrior rushing out of the crates. They were momentarily stunned; they hadn't expected Elf Warrior to charge down at this time...
But then, the eight Gray Dwarf Bandit guarding the cave entrance moved almost simultaneously. They shouted in Dwarvish, and two Gray Dwarf Bandit rushed into the vertical mine shaft first, raising their pickaxes and digging down at the head of the Half-Elf Warrior.
The Half-Elf Warrior raised their Iris Shield, lunged, bent their knees, and swung their Elf Long Sword horizontally in perfect unison.
Although the Gray Dwarf Bandit were rather short, they were surprisingly quick. Upon seeing the Half-Elf swing his longsword, they instantly raised their shields in front of them.
The next moment, four Half-Elf Warrior collided with two Gray Dwarf Bandit.
The Half-Elf Warrior possessed the ' Strength Blessing,' and with all four of them exerting their strength simultaneously, the two hastily charging Gray Dwarf Bandit suffered a silent defeat.
The two Gray Dwarf Bandit staggered backward, taking two steps back, before being stopped by their companions who rushed up from behind.
Although they were not injured, their momentum was halted.
The Half-Elf Warrior instantly took the initiative, especially the two swordsmen hidden behind the shield-wielding Elf Warrior, who thrust their longswords almost through the gaps in the shields.
The Gray Dwarf Bandit did not notice the two swords that lashed out like venomous snakes, and Gray Dwarf Bandit longsword pierced his abdomen.
Immediately, blood gushed from the abdomens of the two Gray Dwarf Bandit...
Two Gray Dwarf Bandit at the forefront fell, and the Elf Warrior, shield in hand, continued to push forward.
The Gray Dwarf Bandit behind them, also carrying wooden shields as large as doors, quickly erected a second line of defense...
A Hammer of Judgment, radiating holy light, spun out from behind the Half-Elf and struck the Gray Dwarf Bandit precisely on the forehead. A fist-sized hole appeared in the Gray Dwarf's skull, and he fell backward.
The Elf Warrior cut down three Gray Dwarf Bandit in succession, which greatly boosted their morale.
The Gray Dwarf Bandit ' spirits plummeted. Their eyes were filled with fear as they strained to hold up the wooden shields they held.
The Gray Dwarf Bandit had caught up, and these Gray Dwarf Bandit were definitely much stronger than the Half-Elf Warrior. After only a few rounds of fighting, they regained the upper hand...
In the cramped space of this mine, the Elf Warrior could not use their combat skills and could only fight head-on with the Gray Dwarf Bandit. Obviously, the Half-Elf Warrior were weaker. When the Gray Dwarf ' pickaxes hit the Iris Shield, they could immediately chisel a hole the size of a bowl into the Iris Shield.
The shields of the four shield-wielding Elf Warrior were almost pierced by pickaxes, and the Gray Dwarf Bandit took the opportunity to knock the Half-Elf Warrior to the ground.
Several Half-Elf Warrior were injured, and a chaotic battle broke out at the mine entrance.
Roy, holding the ' Hammer of Judgment Book ', blocked the pickaxe that the Gray Dwarf Bandit was chiseling down. He then swung his Holy Scepter and slammed it hard into the Gray Dwarf Bandit's shoulder. The scepter emitted a faint holy light, and all the Magic Inscription Construct on his body were activated...
Stone Skin, Iron Armor, Magic Armor, Stamina Recovery, Grace of Wind, Great Bear Strength, Agile Thoughts —a total of seven Magic Rune Array were activated simultaneously.
In the dimly lit mine, Roy possessed an undeniable magical aura.
With both ' Strength Blessing ' and ' Great Bear Strength ' at the same time, Roy's power has almost doubled.
The Gray Dwarf Bandit opposite could even smell a rocky scent on Roy.
The moment that seemingly unremarkable scepter landed on the Gray Dwarf Bandit's shoulder, the Gray Dwarf Bandit felt as if a giant mountain had been placed on his shoulder.
Then, the Gray Dwarf Bandit's left shoulder collapsed, and his collarbone and scapula shattered simultaneously.
With a scream, the Gray Dwarf Bandit collapsed, groaning in agony...
The chaotic battle at the entrance of the shaft quickly alerted the Gray Dwarf Bandit inside the mine.
These Gray Dwarf Bandit rushed out of the mine and blocked the entrance to the shaft, fighting fiercely with the Half-Elf Warrior...
The gondola in the shaft had already been Half-Elf Warrior on the platform, leaving Roy and the Half-Elf Warrior with nowhere to retreat in the shaft.
All ten Half-Elf Warrior were slightly injured. The shield-wielding Elf Warrior almost all had fractures in their left arms and were unable to continue fighting. Roy and two elf swordsmen held the mine entrance, with four half- Half-Elf Warrior wielding spears behind them.
Roy only brought four Half-Elf Warrior down into the mine; each one injured meant one less fighter.
Meanwhile, the Gray Dwarf Bandit kept pouring into the mine.
Although eight Gray Dwarf Bandit fell one after another, the Gray Dwarf Bandit who rushed up from behind held the Half-Elf Warrior firmly in place.
Even Roy was struck four times by the pickaxe in succession. If it weren't for the Iron Armor and Stone Skin protecting him, he probably would have suffered broken bones and torn tendons by now...
The Gray Dwarf Bandit stormed out of the mine, taking over half of the shaft. They were about to wipe out Roy's fighting squad in one fell swoop, and the Gray Dwarf Bandit roared with excitement...
But at that moment, twenty Dark Moon Elf assassins suddenly appeared from all around the rock walls of the vertical shaft mine, as if they had appeared out of thin air in the night.
The Gray Dwarf Bandit were completely unprepared. These assassins each had their own targets. There were only a dozen or so Gray Dwarf Bandit had rushed into the vertical shaft mine, and almost all of them were strangled by the Dark Moon Elf Warrior at the same time.
The Gray Dwarf Bandit clutched their own necks, blood constantly flowing from between their fingers.
They were breathing desperately...
But he discovered that what he was inhaling was not air, but his own thick, fresh blood.
The Gray Dwarf Bandit lay sprawled on the ground, while Captain Timothy and his Dark Moon Elves vanished into the darkness once more.
Upon discovering the appearance of the Dark Moon Elf assassins, the Gray Dwarf Bandit at the mine entrance quickly retreated, while they skillfully hung Carbide Lamp in the Mine Road, attempting to make the Dark Moon Elf Warrior appear from the darkness.
As the Gray Dwarf Bandit retreated into the Mine Road, the Half-Elf squad once again secured the entrance to the shaft.
Captain Timothy led the Dark Moon Elf Warrior into the Mine Road.
At that moment, the Gray Dwarf Bandit sprinkled Moonstone Powder into the Mine Road. In the glowing dust, Captain Timothy and the other Dark Moon Elf Warrior revealed their silhouettes.
Captain Timothy also noticed the moonstone dust and quickly led the Dark Moon Elf back from the Mine Road...
"Damn it, how did they know to use Moonstone Powder to make us visible?"
When Captain Timothy returned from the Mine Road, his face was extremely grim.
He failed to seize the opportunity and take over the Mine Road ahead in one fell swoop.
Once they lose control of the Mine Road, the Dark Moon Elf Warrior will be unable to infiltrate the mine...
Now, Roy's squad of Elf Warrior is trapped in a narrow mine shaft.
The Half-Elf Warrior did not have a clear advantage in terms of weaponry. The Gray Dwarf Bandit not only had thin armor, but each gray Dwarf Warrior had been through countless battles. While they could not be called battle veterans, they were far more experienced than the young Half-Elf warriors.
A Gray Dwarf Chieftain, clad in thick iron plate armor, strode into the Mine Road, a hammer in his hand, his beard almost reaching his ankles, his muscles incredibly muscular. He practically jogged into the Mine Road.
He was followed by a large group of Gray Dwarf Bandit...
Roy wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes fixed on the Gray Dwarf Chieftain who was rushing out of the Mine Road.
All four shield- Half-Elf Warrior were wounded. The four Half-Elf Warrior were originally standing behind Roy quickly picked up their shields from the ground, stepped over Roy, and stood guard at the entrance of the mine...
As the Gray Dwarf Chieftain charged forward, Roy opened the ' Hammer of Judgment Book ' again, and a Holy Light Hammer condensed from the divine runes, then spun continuously and flew towards the Gray Dwarf Chieftain.
The Gray Dwarf Chieftain roared and swung his hammer in a wide arc...
'Bang!'
The Holy Light Hammer and the two-handed hammer collided in mid-air with a muffled thud, and the head of the two-handed hammer in the Gray Dwarf Chieftain's hand was smashed off by the Holy Light Hammer...
The Gray Dwarf Chieftain appeared before Roy, reaching out his strong right hand to grab Roy's shoulder, while his left hand swung the hammer handle in a wide arc, smashing it down towards Roy's forehead.