Black-Skinned Mountain Monster

On the sixth day, at noon, the scorching sun hung high in a clear, cloudless sky.

Nine Red Hawks circled over a thousand meters up, parading their might but not attacking, as the Deer Demon's army had yet to arrive.

So Zhang Yang had been slightly mistaken in his assumption that the Deer Demon would precisely know the time he established his village, given the massive commotion such an undertaking would cause.

In reality, the Deer Demon's appearance was a full nine hours later than he had estimated.

As for the reason, it was simple in hindsight: the Deer Demon couldn't see the white light that appeared when the Village Building Order was placed, nor the white light that appeared when the village was successfully established. Therefore, it had no idea when the construction was complete. It had to wait until daylight, with good visibility, to confirm the presence of the two newly erected buildings from a distance before it would gather its troops to attack.

These extra nine hours allowed Zhang Yang to enchant five additional white-quality Imprisonment Spears.

He had initially felt quite pleased, but upon seeing the Deer Demon leading its deer-tribe soldiers, he became highly vigilant once more.

It had to be admitted, the Deer Demon was a formidable opponent—cunning, resourceful, and once it made a move, it attacked with full force, like a lion hunting a rabbit.

If Zhang Yang hadn't had even stronger trump cards, he might have immediately chosen to flee at that moment, because the force the Deer Demon brought was simply too overwhelming.

First, there were two hundred Azure Wolf Demons, followed by one hundred deer-tribe members clad in special armor. These were five meters tall, with massive antlers growing from their heads that hung no objects but were incredibly sharp, like clusters of spears.

These Deer Demons were also armored in iron and wore iron deer-helmets. They pranced proudly, neighing incessantly. On a battlefield, they would be an unmatched force of heavy cavalry.

But what made Zhang Yang most wary was a monstrous creature, like a small mountain, over fifteen meters tall. It shook the ground with every step, wielded a Giant Wolf Tooth Club over ten meters long and more than two meters in diameter, and could kick down a towering tree with a single blow.

Such a demon could easily destroy the small, hastily built fortress Zhang Yang and his people had constructed; it wouldn't even withstand one blow.

"Wu Yuan, can you take down this giant monster?"

"Village Chief, I am no match for this giant monster, but the magical artifacts you crafted can certainly heavily wound it. The only problem is, we would lose our means of killing that Deer Demon."

Wu Yuan mused. He was right. The Deer Demon's methods were unpredictable, and its soul strength was even greater than Zhang Yang's. If it also possessed some terrifying magical spell, and they lacked a quick way to kill it, the outcome of this war would be self-evident.

"Then we'll forgo killing the Deer Demon for now and kill the giant monster first. And I bet there's a high chance it'll be scared away!"

Zhang Yang made his decision after only a second of consideration.

Because, in a situation where death meant no resurrection and losing everything, any uncertain factor would make the Deer Demon hesitate repeatedly. This could be seen from the trap it set and the grand army it led—it was an incredibly cautious individual.

So, as long as the giant monster was killed, the Deer Demon would have to consider whether its Level 3 Protection could withstand the throwing threat of the Imprisonment Spear in Wu Yuan's hand.

Of course, Zhang Yang had also considered killing the Deer Demon first, capturing the king to capture the bandits. But this time, the creature stood a full three hundred meters away and immediately activated its Level 3 Protection, clearly guarding against Wu Yuan, a captain-level soldier, launching a desperate assassination attempt.

So, by killing the giant monster first, Wu Yuan could then charge in alone and scare the Deer Demon away.

"Yes, Village Chief, I understand."

Wu Yuan nodded heavily. In the current situation, hoping to annihilate the enemy was pure fantasy. Defeating and scaring the enemy away would grant them precious buffer time. With enough time, they could produce more Imprisonment Spears.

Just as Zhang Yang finalized their battle strategy, the Deer Demon on the other side launched a full-scale assault without a word.

Over two hundred Azure Wolves and over a hundred armored Deer Demons, surrounding the mountain-like giant monster, charged towards the hillside with surprising coordination.

In the sky, the nine Red Hawks also accelerated their circling but did not immediately dive to attack. Clearly, they were waiting for Zhang Yang to activate Level 2 Protection, at which point they would immediately swoop down and blast open the Level 2 Protection, creating a wide-area shockwave that would affect everyone indiscriminately.

"Then, as you wish!"

Zhang Yang stared at the Deer Demon from afar, snorted, made a gesture to Wu Yuan, and then activated Level 2 Protection within the fortress.

As expected, four Red Hawks immediately accelerated their dive. Their wind blade attacks alone were enough to blast open Level 2 Protection.

The remaining five Red Hawks maintained a fifty-meter distance, ready to join the battle in the second wave. This was quite a well-played tactical maneuver.

Too bad!

Two seconds later, Zhang Yang immediately deactivated Level 2 Protection. By then, the four Red Hawks had already dived to a height of 50 meters, and the trailing five Red Hawks had closed in to 100 meters.

But at that very moment, from another position, led by Wu Yuan, 19 elite soldiers simultaneously threw the wooden spears in their hands.

With a sharp whooshing sound, 20 wooden spears, like the fangs of death, easily blasted into the bodies of the nine Red Hawks—not a single one missed!

The training over the past six days had been remarkably effective.

In the blink of an eye, the bodies of the nine Red Hawks plummeted to the ground.

First round, Zhang Yang's side achieved a complete victory!

After reactivating the Level 2 Protection, Zhang Yang leaned out from the stockade wall and deliberately gave the distant Deer Demon the middle finger. He wanted to see if he could lure the Deer Demon closer, even just a hundred meters. With Wu Yuan's strength and the Imprisonment Spears, there was a chance they could kill it.

However, the Deer Demon paid no attention, remaining steadily within its protective barrier three hundred meters away.

"Roar!"

At this moment, the mountain-like giant monster let out a thunderous roar and suddenly accelerated, reaching the base of the hill in a few strides, now only fifty meters from Zhang Yang's stockade wall.

"Wu Yuan, now!"

"Archers, focus fire on the Azure Wolves!"

"Everyone else, focus your wooden spears on the armored Deer Demons!"

Zhang Yang rapidly issued commands. As soon as his voice fell, Wu Yuan had already leaped onto the stockade wall. An Imprisonment Spear in his hand was instantly thrown, creating a sonic boom. No one could even see the shadow of that wooden spear.

And almost simultaneously, the area near the giant monster's neck exploded with a loud bang, tearing open a blood-filled hole the size of a bucket!

The next moment, the Imprisonment Spear's binding property activated. The giant monster had just begun to raise its Giant Wolf Tooth Club when it was instantly immobilized. This gave Wu Yuan an even greater opportunity. In a flash, four consecutive Imprisonment Spears were thrown, all blasting into the giant monster's eye sockets. pitifully, this incredibly mighty monster didn't even have time to let out a scream before the four Imprisonment Spears blasted blood-filled holes the size of water tanks in its head, killing it instantly!

The power of these Imprisonment Spears was truly terrifying.

But thinking about it, it was normal. These were white-quality magical artifacts, thrown personally by Wu Yuan, a quasi-hero. Such terrifying damage was to be expected.

At this moment, Zhang Yang was truly overwhelmed with both shock and delight. He was shocked by the power of the Imprisonment Spear, and delighted that he had reaped such a massive reward so early in the battle.

There was no need to mention the lingering souls of the nine Red Hawks.

The giant monster Wu Yuan had just killed had actually yielded a complete Demon Soul!

Successfully eliminated an enemy village hero, Level 19 Black-Skinned Mountain Monster.

Because the opponent was a village hero, a complete Mountain Monster Demon Soul was successfully captured. It can be sold.

Gained 600 Energy.

Gained one Fragment of Hope (Grey). It can be sold.

Gained Mountain Monster Heart. It can be sold.

Gained 200 units of Mountain Monster essence blood, containing a large amount of Demonic Energy. It can be used to draw combat Talismans or refine magical artifacts.

Gained hero-grade weapon, Giant Wolf Tooth Club.