Meanwhile.
The two teams sent out to wage war had successfully eliminated ten Gray Wolf Lairs along the way.
At that moment.
Beneath a hill not far from the Gnoll Tribe's lair.
Christian and his Wolf Hunters were stationed there.
They had arrived ahead of Lilith.
Because, aside from Christian, all the Wolf Hunters under his command had captured Gray Wolves.
They had become Wolf Riders with mounts.
This made moving through the mountain forests extremely convenient.
Although Christian had arrived outside the Gnoll Tribe ahead of time.
He had not rashly approached to investigate.
Instead, he had hidden beneath the hill.
Waiting for Lilith to lead her troops over and meet up with him.
"Where are Lady Lilith and the others?"
While warily observing his surroundings, Christian quietly asked the Wolf Hunter squad leader behind him.
"My lord, the Wolf Hunters we sent out have not returned yet."
"However, judging by the time, Lady Lilith and the others are probably still some distance away."
Christian pondered for a moment.
He thought to himself, Lilith's strength far surpasses mine.
Furthermore, all her subordinates are Flame Mages, so their damage output is extremely powerful.
The enemies along the way are all Gray Wolves and Gnoll patrols.
Their average strength is around the third White rank.
A few Flame Mages would be more than enough to deal with them.
Even though we have mounts and are faster, there's no reason they should be this much slower!
Unless they ran into some unexpected trouble!
But what could it be?
Just as Christian was making guesses.
The Wolf Hunter squad leader responsible for the outer perimeter came over to report.
"Lady Lilith and the others are here."
Christian looked up.
Sure enough, he saw Lilith leading her troops over.
As soon as she approached, Lilith spoke.
"On the way here, I sent some troops ahead to set up an ambush around the Gnoll Tribe."
"That's to prevent the gnolls inside from escaping in every direction after we break through their defenses head-on."
"That delayed us a little."
Christian did not mind.
She quickly said, "As long as Lady Lilith has made proper arrangements."
"Next, let's plan how to attack."
"I'm planning to—"
Unexpectedly, Lilith cut him off.
"It's only a level-five tribe. There's no need to plan anything."
"You're cavalry, and you brought Wolf Riders."
"Spread most of them out and work with the Flame Mages I placed around the perimeter to deal with any gnolls who escape."
"As for the main camp."
"You take five Wolf Hunters as the vanguard."
"I'll take five Flame Mages to provide fire support."
"Just blast our way in with magic!"
"Why would we need a plan?"
"Back during the Great Calamity, this was how we fought too!"
Christian fell silent upon hearing Lilith's words.
He knew the woman was telling the truth.
The simplest tactics brought the ultimate enjoyment.
Of course, the mages were always the ones enjoying themselves.
But on the battlefield, mages were kings.
In the end, Christian had no choice but to bow slightly.
"I will obey your command!"
Lilith nodded with a smile, satisfied with Christian's attitude.
She quickly said, "Good. I'll give you three minutes to prepare. Attack in three minutes."
"Remember, leave no survivors this time. The lord is taking this matter very seriously!"
Christian's nickname was the Holy Light Fox. It referred not only to his unpredictable and bizarre use of Holy Light Magic, which was difficult to judge.
It also referred to how shrewd he was, unlike most Templar Knights, who were so rigid.
Without hesitation, he said, "Yes! Everything is for the lord!"
Only then did Lilith nod in satisfaction.
Soon.
Following Lilith's order.
The forty-five Wolf Hunters split up and scattered around the Gnoll Tribe.
They laid traps and worked with the Flame Mages Lilith had deployed, surrounding the area so thoroughly that not even water could pass through.
Once everything was ready.
Beneath the hill.
Lilith patted her little mouth, stretched, and said, "Ah, I'm so tired. Let's hurry up and finish this."
"Come out!"
"Wrathful Flame!"
In an instant!
With a clap of Lilith's hands, ten enormous Fire Elementals appeared out of thin air.
The Flame Mages behind her also summoned their own Fire Elementals.
As second-level mages, they could summon two each, though they were certainly no match for the ones Lilith had summoned.
But they were more than enough to deal with the gnolls.
Lilith waved her hand.
The ten enormous Fire Elementals, accompanied by ten smaller Fire Elementals, charged toward the Gnoll Tribe.
The Wolf Hunters watching from the side were stunned.
They had never seen such terrifying Fire Elementals.
Christian, however, was not surprised.
He had seen even stronger ones.
Seeing his astonished subordinates.
Christian shouted angrily, "Pathetic!"
"Hurry up and follow!"
Only then did the Wolf Hunters come to their senses and chase after the troops ahead.
The Gnoll Tribe's location was actually quite good.
It was backed by a cliff, with only one passage leading into the tribe.
There was also an earthen wall piled up at the foot of the mountain.
A small river outside the wall served as a moat.
Building a city here would have created a natural fortress.
Even with the defenses piled up by the Gnoll Tribe.
An ordinary infantry force attacking from the front.
Without several times their numbers, and without sacrificing several waves of soldiers.
They likely would not be able to take this place.
The gnolls clearly knew that their camp had excellent terrain and was easy to defend but difficult to attack.
That was why they had not sent many gnoll soldiers to patrol outside the camp.
As a result, even after the patrols had been wiped out and the enemy had approached, they still had not noticed.
By the time they discovered them, everything was already too late.
At this moment!
Outside the Gnoll Tribe's camp.
The sudden appearance of twenty Fire Elementals stunned all the gnolls.
Especially the appearance of the ten enormous Fire Elementals.
It caused an even greater panic.
"Above us, Wolf God, what is this?"
"Has the god descended to the mortal world?"
"Wolf God, you have sent down divine punishment!!!"
One gnoll after another fell to their knees.
Although these creatures had had their souls extracted by the Ten Thousand Realms Battlefield and had new souls molded from the War Mist and infused into their bodies.
The ignorance and foolishness originating from their instincts could not be replaced.
This scene alarmed Glimu, the commander inside the Gnoll Tribe's camp.
He was a high-tier BOSS unit.
Compared with the foolish ordinary gnolls, he could tell at a glance that this was an enemy attack.
Glimu let out a wolf howl.
The enormous sound jolted the stunned gnolls awake.
"Idiots!"
"They're the enemy!"
"The Wolf God is above the mist and will only bless us."
"These are terrifying invaders from another world!"
"For the Wolf God!"
"Kill!"
Upon hearing these words.
The gnolls who had been lying on the ground moments before were immediately encouraged.
Their faces turned ferocious.
"For the Wolf God!"
"Kill~"
But before they could finish shouting.
A voice suddenly rang out across the battlefield and drowned them all out.
"Shut up!"
"Chain Fireball!"
"Fire!"
The moment the words fell, fireballs blanketed the entire battlefield.
Their density rivaled a torrential downpour.
After the rain of fireballs passed.
Not a single living soul remained in the entire Gnoll Tribe.
This highly efficient method of slaughter left the Wolf Hunters behind them stunned once again.
"Th-this can't be a mage's forbidden spell, can it?"
A Wolf Hunter squad leader murmured.
"No. This is just a little trick of a mage!"
"A forbidden spell?"
"That has the power to make heaven and earth change color!"
Christian replied calmly.
At the very instant they were speaking.
Lilith had somehow flown into the Gnoll Tribe's main camp.
She kicked aside the already carbonized head of the gnoll chieftain.
Then she took a book from his body.
"This should be the Earthbound Spirit."
"Someone come!"
Christian rushed over when he heard the shout.
"Lady Lilith, what are your orders?"
Lilith tossed the book over and said,
"Give it to the lord and tell him of our great victory!"
"Yes!"
"My lady, right now?"
"I see the battlefield hasn't been cleaned up yet. There's still a lot of loot that hasn't been collected!"
Lilith swept her eyes over it.
"Nothing else is as valuable as this."
"Hurry back and report."
"Yes, my lady!"
Meanwhile, in the main city of the Wilderness Territory,
Fang Yuan was still brooding over the bounty placed on his head.
Suddenly, he heard a notification sound beside his ear.
"Ding! The Gnoll Tribe has been wiped out, and Winter Spring Village's request for aid has been completed. The rewards are being calculated."
"Ding! The Gnoll Tribe has been successfully cleared out. The loot is being sorted."
"Ding! The Gnoll Tribe's leader has been killed. A special item of no quality, the Book of Curses, has dropped."
Upon hearing the notifications, the displeasure in Fang Yuan's heart instantly vanished.
"Too bad I don't know what the reward is yet. I'll have to wait for Lilith to return with the loot, too."
"Huh? This no-quality item, the Book of Curses—what is this thing?"
Curious, Fang Yuan clicked to inspect the item.
Name: Book of Curses Quality: No quality Use One: Cursed Item. After use, it randomly generates a curse for the target. Use Two: An Earthbound Spirit has fused with the Book of Curses. Resolving its lingering obsession may yield an unexpected reward.
"So the Earthbound Spirit from the Gnoll Tribe is actually inside the book!"
"Then this book should also be what activates the Golden Flower Family quest."
"However, judging from the book's uses, the second one must have formed later. The first is its primary function."
"A curse!"
"I wonder what effect it will have!"
"Curses are usually extremely troublesome. The effect definitely won't be weak!"
Just then, a voice came from outside.
"Reporting, my lord."
"Lady Christian requests an audience. He has brought back the Book of Curses!"
Almost the instant that voice rang out,
a thought immediately rose in Fang Yuan's mind.
"A gentleman takes his revenge!"
"From dawn till dusk!!!"
"Quick, bring it up at once!!!"
Before you continue