Birdman Egilson

Protected by the Dawnblade Armor Set and shielded by Protection Paladins at the front, it was practically impossible for the Forest Trolls to seriously injure the Protection Paladins.

As for minor wounds, setting aside the Paladins' formidable vitality and survivability, the Holy Paladins at the rear could easily heal them without even needing to enter the battle.

Whenever the High Elf Rangers of the Pathfinder Legion faced a crisis, Sun King Anasterian Sunstrider would dispatch the Kingdom of Quel'Thalas's most elite force, the Sunfury Legion, to fight the Forest Trolls.

Every time the Sunfury Legion was deployed, the Forest Trolls were inevitably defeated.

The High Elf Rangers of the Pathfinder Legion were equally elite, so why was there such a huge gap between them?

The reason was that the Sunfury Legion possessed the High Elves' strongest Warrior force.

Every Warrior of the Sunfury Legion had been painstakingly cultivated by Sun King Anasterian Sunstrider, and every member's weapons and armor had been personally forged by the High Elves' master smiths.

Plate armor was undoubtedly the strongest type of armor, offering defenses far beyond mail, leather, and cloth armor.

The Forest Trolls possessed greater strength and a fiercer fighting style than the High Elves, but they were at a tremendous disadvantage when it came to weapons.

As their territory shrank and their population dwindled, the Forest Trolls no longer had sufficient mineral resources to maintain and forge iron weapons. Their sharp population decline had also forced nearly every Forest Troll into military service, leaving them with little ability to train smiths.

As a result, Forest Troll Warriors could not inflict enough damage on the High Elves of the Sunfury Legion, while the High Elf Warriors of the Sunfury Legion, wielding sharp blades, could directly ignore the Forest Trolls' crude defenses.

Though the Dawnblade Legion was inferior to the Sunfury Legion in both elite quality and equipment, it was still enough to make the Forest Trolls suffer. Such a gap in equipment could not be erased by mere passion.

As the fierce battle continued, thousands of Forest Trolls fell to the High Elf Paladins of the Dawnblade Legion, while the High Elf Paladins' casualties were almost negligible.

This was because Tyrel's battle formation for the Dawnblade Legion allowed severely wounded High Elf Paladins to be swiftly rescued and treated.

Just as the Dawnblade Legion was about to completely cut off the Forest Trolls' retreat, a large number of Amani Warhawks swooped down from the sky and attacked the High Elf Paladins.

The Amani Warhawks' talons were incredibly sharp, yet they still struggled to pierce the Dawnblade Armor Set. As if under command, these Amani Warhawks seized the High Elf Paladins by the shoulders and carried them straight into the air.

When eagles encountered creatures with sturdy defenses, such as turtles, they would grab the turtles hiding in their shells, carry them into the air, and then smash them down hard. The fall from great heights would break through the turtles' defenses and kill them.

Prophet Vortale had once told Tyrel how eagles hunted turtles, so the moment he saw the High Elf Paladins being carried away by the Amani Warhawks, he understood what they intended.

"Use Hand of Protection!" Tyrel shouted as he raised his arm and cast Hand of Protection on a High Elf Paladin who was about to crash into the ground from high above.

Hand of Protection was an advanced Paladin skill. When cast on another person, it could make them immune to a certain amount of physical damage, including fall damage.

Upon hearing Tyrel's words, the advanced High Elf Paladins who had already learned Hand of Protection began casting it on their comrades who were about to fall.

Those High Elf Paladins who had not received Hand of Protection in time activated Divine Shield, their life-saving skill, and directly negated the damage from the fall.

Neither Hand of Protection nor Divine Shield was a skill that could be used casually, as both inflicted spiritual weakness upon the casting Paladin.

Without Mages and Priests casting Slow Fall and Levitate, they could not rely solely on Hand of Protection and Divine Shield to deal with these Amani Trolls.

The threat posed by the Amani Warhawks was even greater than that of the Forest Troll Warriors on the ground, so Tyrel decisively gave the order. "Kill these warhawks first."

Before Tyrel had even issued the command, Rilas Windrunner had already drawn his longbow. He then took five arrows from the quiver on his back and used Multi-Shot to target the Amani Warhawks.

The five arrows shot out in an instant. Then, five Amani Warhawks that had just seized High Elf Paladins let out mournful cries and fell from the sky.

Seeing the Amani Warhawks shot down, the High Elf Paladins launched their counterattack as well. Judgment, Exorcism, Hammer of Wrath, and other ranged skills flew forth. The Amani Warhawks that had been causing chaos moments before were struck hard and fell in great numbers.

"My beloved hawks!" A mournful, furious cry rang out as Egilson, who had received Zul'jin's orders, arrived. Controlling and commanding the Amani Warhawks was Egilson's specialty.

Egilson had originally intended to use the Amani Warhawks against the plate-armored High Elf Paladins. However, unfamiliar with Paladins, he had never expected them to possess skills that could negate physical damage.

Not only had the Amani Warhawks failed to achieve anything, but they had also been punished in turn by the Dawnblade Legion. In the blink of an eye, more than a hundred massive Amani Warhawks had been killed.

How could Egilson, a lover of hawks, not be furious and distressed?

Enraged, Egilson decided to teach those High Elf Paladins who had slaughtered his beloved hawks a painful lesson.

Under Egilson's spellcasting, thunderclouds gathered overhead, followed by enormous bolts of lightning and thunderclaps that struck the High Elf Paladins.

Steel possessed excellent conductivity. This time, the Dawnblade Armor Set could not protect the High Elf Paladins of the Dawnblade Legion. Under the powerful current, nearly a hundred High Elf Paladins were electrocuted to death. Only a few quick-reacting High Elf Paladins managed to use Divine Shield in time to save their lives.

Looking at Egilson, dressed like an upright birdman, Tyrel knew that this bizarre, even comical-looking fellow could inflict immense damage on the High Elf Paladins of the Dawnblade Legion. He could not allow him to keep casting spells without restraint.

"Rilas, interrupt that birdman!" Tyrel did not know Egilson's name, so he directly called him birdman.

Though the name birdman sounded strange, Rilas immediately spotted the birdman standing out among the Forest Trolls.

This time, Rilas Windrunner took out an Enchanted Arrow and fired a Silencing Shot at Egilson.

As a follower of the Hawk God, Egilson possessed eagle-like vision. With his natural hawk eyes, Egilson naturally noticed Rilas Windrunner aiming at him.

When Rilas's arrow shot forth, Egilson gave a mocking smile, nimbly dodged its trajectory, and continued casting Lightning Magic.

However, the arrow Egilson had dodged suddenly made an inexplicable turn and flew toward him once more.

Arrows that could turn did not exist in common sense, so Egilson was unprepared. The turning arrow struck him instantly, and the silence interrupted his spell.

"This arrow... can turn?"