Instant Kill

The hatred between the Mind Flayers and Lizardfolk of the Youweimas Area had a long history. This region was vast, but few species lived here, and even fewer could serve as food that the Mind Flayers considered worthy. Among them, the Lizardfolk had the best brains. Thus, it could be said that these Lizardfolk were the family of Mind Flayers' "staple food."

Over all this time, at least hundreds of Lizardfolk had had their brains devoured by the Mind Flayers. Of course, as highly intelligent creatures, the Mind Flayers understood the principle of draining the pond to catch all the fish. They did not hunt the Lizardfolk nonstop, allowing their population to remain at a fairly stable number.

The two sides could be said to be mortal enemies. Because of this, the Lizardfolk had launched two expeditions to attack the Mind Flayers' home, which was many days' journey from their camp, but both had ended in failure. Their own camp had tall walls, but that did not mean they were good at attacking fortifications. Faced with the walls around the Mind Flayers' home, which were no shorter than their camp's walls, they had been completely helpless.

During the second attack, they had even tried to force their way in. However, when they gathered beneath the wall and prepared to attack, Moa and Mosen threw a Mind Storm down from above, and more than half of the Lizardfolk Warriors immediately collapsed.

After that, the Lizardfolk never attacked the Mind Flayers' family again. They merely strengthened their defenses to prevent the Mind Flayers from hunting them.

Several Lizardfolk scattered into the stone forest, surrounding the little Mind Flayer from multiple directions.

Only half of that Lizardfolk's brain had been devoured, but the little Mind Flayer showed no regret at all. Along the way here, Landen had constantly drilled one thought into his head: There's plenty of good food, so don't get greedy!

Thus, seeing that the Lizardfolk had been successfully lured over, the little Mind Flayer did not hesitate. He immediately released the Lizardfolk, turned around, and leaped into the stone forest. He was still small, and the stone pillars, which were several meters high, concealed his figure quite well. However, after Landen's repeated instructions, he certainly would not use the shadows of the pillars to slip away as he had when discovered in the past.

Every time he dashed some distance and reached a relatively safe spot, he would deliberately stick his head out to let the Lizardfolk spot him, then continue fleeing. Little by little, he led the Lizardfolk behind him toward the agreed-upon location.

Having witnessed one of their kind being brutally slaughtered, and carrying their long-standing hatred for the Mind Flayers' family, the Lizardfolk did not think any further. All they wanted now was to catch the cruel little creature who had no idea how many of their kind he had harmed, then skin him, dismember him, eat his flesh, and suck out his marrow. They completely failed to notice that the direction in which the little creature was fleeing was somewhat strange.

He was not fleeing beyond the stalagmite area, but toward the mountain wall on one side.

If he continued along this route, the little creature would eventually be trapped against the mountain wall.

Would a little creature that had successfully completed more than times hunts be stupid enough to walk into a dead end? Of course not!

When he was still several hundred meters from the mountain wall, the little Mind Flayer poked his head out from the stone pillars once more. This time, he did not immediately pull back. Instead, he suddenly raised his head and let out a sharp cry.

Amid his cry, another long howl rang out right after it. Then, the Lizardfolk pursuing the little Mind Flayer suddenly felt a tremor.

The tremor came from the ground. It was very faint, but the Lizardfolk, with claws and webbing on their feet and highly developed nerves, sensed it with exceptional clarity.

However, that sensation did not make them stop. This was the underground world, after all, where space was already unstable. Moreover, there were three entire volcanoes in this region, so they had long since grown accustomed to tremors like this.

They never imagined that this tremor would be different from any that had come before!

Less than seconds after the first long howl ceased, a second long howl rang out.

And so, the Lizardfolk witnessed a scene they had never seen before.

From between the gaps in the stone pillars, heads of Rock Lizards suddenly leaped up.

The Rock Lizards' mobility was excellent, and all the Lizardfolk knew this. After all, this species was also part of their diet.

What surprised them was that every Rock Lizard actually had a Hobgoblin riding on its back! The Hobgoblins' clothing was somewhat crude, even inferior to the Lizardfolk's, but every one of them held a standard-issue warhammer. The hammerheads, roughly the size of their heads, gleamed with a terrifying cold light beneath the underground world's unique dim glow!

Rock Lizards, using the stone pillars as footholds, raced forward by leaping. In the blink of an eye, they closed in on the Lizardfolk!

However, the first to launch an attack were not the Hobgoblin Knights who had drawn every Lizardfolk's gaze, but the other ones!

They had been concealing themselves in the shadows of the stone pillars while maintaining an extremely high speed. At the instant the Hobgoblin Knights leaped up, they likewise pushed the Rock Lizards' speed to its limit. Before the Hobgoblin Knights, they charged right in front of the Lizardfolk!

With their eyes focused above, the Lizardfolk naturally failed to notice the attack coming from below!

The warhammers rose from below in unison. The motion was not perfectly synchronized, but it was extremely orderly. This was one of the forms from the mounted combat techniques Landen had devised. Given the Hobgoblin Knights' height, such a strike could perfectly hit the "weak point" of humanoids standing between one and two meters tall.

For humanoids, regardless of species or sex, being struck "there" would cause pain far beyond the ordinary. Such agony was enough to make most of them lose their combat ability, or even die outright!

This was a combat technique prepared for war. Although it was somewhat unethical, it was incredibly useful!

Of course, Landen had given special instructions for this battle. Even if the Hobgoblin Knights used this move, the "groin strike," they were not allowed to actually hit "there." Every Lizardfolk here would become his subject in the future, so the fewer casualties they caused, the better!

Thus, the warhammers ultimately avoided that area and landed on the Lizardfolk's abdomens instead. However, enhanced by the Rock Lizards' high-speed charge, the blows were still tremendously powerful!

One strike!

More than half of the Lizardfolk who had come pursuing the little Mind Flayer fell down screaming.

The screams of their companions immediately distracted the other Lizardfolk. At that moment, the Hobgoblin Knights still racing across the stone pillars arrived as well.

With one hand gripping the reins, they leaned and twisted their bodies to either side, their warhammers coming around from behind!

The Hobgoblin Knights were short, but standing atop the stone pillars, which were around one meter tall, gave them a height no lower than the Lizardfolk's. Even when swung horizontally, their warhammers could still easily strike the Lizardfolk in the head.

However, still following Landen's orders, the warhammers shifted slightly downward. There was only a series of booming impacts, and the Lizardfolk struck in the chest were sent flying while screaming!

In less than minutes, of the several Lizardfolk who had come in pursuit, fewer than remained standing!

Those few could not remain standing for more than seconds either. Just as they tried to flee, they suddenly felt their feet slip.

Avina's Grease spell!

Clang, clatter! They all crashed to the ground!