After the Battle

The Bone Maul seemed much heavier than usual. Kelman took a breath, lifted the Bone Maul, and the Fatty who was holding Bone Maul was also lifted up.

Kelman's 70 points of strength are indeed terrifying.

However, with Fatty holding the Bone Maul, it was unrealistic for Kelman to swing it freely as usual. Even if a weapon is a few ounces heavier, a skilled fighter's weapon feels very different from what they're used to, and Fatty weighed at least two or three hundred kilograms...

"Get out of here!"

Kelman slammed his Bone Maul down, letting out a roar, and his massive fist slammed down with tremendous force. His punches were powerful and heavy; even after being weakened by Fatty's armor, they still dealt around 80 points of melee damage. Each punch was as terrifying as a pile driver.

However, this is a completely different level of damage compared to when he wielded the Bone Maul.

While Fatty was holding onto the Bone Maul and taking Kelman's punches, Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi weren't idle. With their attack power and attack speed both increasing by 20%, Kelman's Life Value plummeted like an avalanche.

Kelman threw two punches, his Life Value dropping to less than 200. He let out another fierce roar, and the blood-red phantom of the giant Orcs rose behind him.

Third Blood Rage!

A punch landed squarely on Fatty's back. The damage was terrifying; the punch pierced through Fatty's Stitched Monster body, and purplish-black, semi-congealed blood slowly flowed down Kelman's arm.

The Stitched Monster, Fatty, is dead! In return, Bai Xiaowen and the others have three seconds to deal damage, reducing Kelman's Life Value to just over 100 points.

Kelman tore the Fatty's mangled body in two, his hands, stained with purplish-black blood, once again raising the massive Bone Maul. His fierce eyes gleamed with the satisfaction of revenge.

However, with Kelman's intelligence, he could easily deduce that the giant wolf and the corpse demon he had just killed were summoned creatures of the black-robed wizard (one of Bai Xiaowen's illusory forms in the eyes of the Spirit Realm). Only by killing this black-robed wizard could they achieve true victory and revenge!

Kelman aimed at Bai Xiaowen and swung his blood-stained Bone Maul.

Elite Terror Knight appeared out of nowhere, blocking Bai Xiaowen's path. However, the next second, the Elite Terror Knight was forcefully knocked away, and its already depleted Life Value exploded into bone fragments.

Kelman's Life Value was below 120 points. He stepped forward and swung his Bone Maul, this time facing the Shadow Assassin.

The Bone Maul slammed down, sending the Shadow Assassin flying with tremendous force. Fortunately, he had a racial passive ability that reduced physical damage by 50%, so he didn't die on the spot, but his 130 Life Value were reduced to less than half.

Kelman's Life Value dropped below 100.

The powerful Orcs warlord sensed the shadow of death. He suddenly pounded his chest and roared, and the gigantic phantom of the blood-red Orcs behind him reappeared.

Fourth Blood Rage!

Seemingly sensing the danger to its master, the Stone-Armored Monitor Lizard, which was being held back by Kitz and other Elite Tier soldiers in the distance, suddenly raised its head and fired two spiral beams of light at Bai Xiaowen's back!

This is the only control skill of the Stone-Armored Monitor Lizard mount: Petrifying Gaze.

At the same time, Kelman, enveloped in blood-red light, raised his Bone Maul high. His plan was simple: take advantage of Bai Xiaowen's petrification and inability to move, and finish him off with a single burst of Blood Rage.

However, under Bai Xiaowen's Divine Might, every movement of the Stone-Armored Monitor Lizard was crystal clear. Without even turning his head, a Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier appeared behind him, blocking the path of the Petrifying Gaze.

This is the last Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier, Bai Xiaowen's backup plan, meant to block skills at crucial moments. However, Kelman's skills all deal wide-area damage and cannot be blocked, so it has been kept hidden until now.

*Crack! Crack! Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier were petrified.

Bai Xiaowen anticipated Kelman's shot and lunged to the side.

Boom!

The Bone Maul struck the petrified Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier, smashing him into a pile of bone fragments.

After the Blood Rage state ended, Li Shuyi and the others who had retreated rushed forward at the same time and continued to attack.

Kelman's Life Value dropped below 80, then to 70, then 60...

With a loud bang, Li Shuyi's [Demonfire Jade Pendant] timeout ended, and the +7 special effect "Burst" was triggered.

The accumulated fiery energy converged and exploded within Kelman's body. He let out a muffled roar, and blood gushed from his mouth, ears, and wounds all over his body, turning into a mist of blood as the fiery energy evaporated.

Kelman's raised Bone Maul fell limply, and he knelt on one knee, supporting himself with both hands on the Bone Maul.

His Life Value had dropped to 1/720, leaving him in a state of "three no's"—unable to move, attack, or cast spells—and he was barely clinging to life.

According to Bai Xiaowen's understanding, the BOSS has already fallen, and now it's just a cutscene...

"What a disgrace..." Kelman murmured. "I thought my life would end at the hands of a powerful warrior, but instead it's you weak humans..."

He was speaking the Common Tongue of the Gorseflower Empire (Old Latin), Bai Xiaowen naturally understood.

Orcs Warlord Kelman continued, "... If it weren't for the injuries inflicted by the forbidden spell, forcing me to use the Great Shaman's Blessing... you would never have been able to defeat me."

Bai Xiaowen breathed a sigh of relief.

Only the weak make excuses for failure.

After saying that, Bai Xiaowen had no interest in talking further. The losses in this battle were greater than he had anticipated; even Rageclaw had been killed. Fortunately, the Spirit Realm Rules indicated that Rageclaw could be resurrected on the level completion screen, but he didn't know what price he would have to pay.

In addition, there is a level 6 Boss Tier creature, the Stone-Armored Monitor Lizard, waiting for Bai Xiaowen to deal with it.

Bai Xiaowen shot Kelman between the eyebrows, and the Orcs warlord Kelman fell to the ground dead.

A notification message regarding the Spirit Realm Rules sounded:

"Your squad has killed the vanguard commander of the Remnant Army, the Great Hammer Berserker Kelman."

"Your reputation with the Human Allied Army has increased significantly; your current reputation level is Revered."

"Your reputation with the Sinlands Coalition has dropped significantly, but your current reputation level remains unchanged."

The Golden Treasure Chest that Kelman dropped Prominent a size larger, shimmering with a mesmerizing golden luster.

Bai Xiaowen breathed a sigh of relief, put away the Golden Treasure Chest, and together with Li Shuyi, went to find the Stone-Armored Monitor Lizard.

The Stone-Armored Monitor Lizard astonishing defensive capabilities. Its natural stone armor significantly reduces both physical and magical damage, rendering Bai Xiaowen and his companions' attacks ineffective against it. In terms of defense, it surpasses even Kelman's by a considerable margin.

However, its strength was average, its agility was poor, and its offensive capabilities were weak, so it was unable to break through the combined encirclement of the guards and Julien's cavalry. Moreover, Bonita was constantly using [Holy Hand] to heal the guards, so there were no casualties.

The main reason Bonita wasn't involved in killing Kelman was due to battle evaluation considerations. Having characters from the Spirit Realm storyline participate would significantly reduce the rewards for defeating the Boss Tier. Besides, Bonita's healing was simply insufficient compared to Kelman's Berserk output; he would be instantly killed anyway, so there was no need for her to join in.

Bai Xiaowen ordered the guards to retreat, and he and Li Shuyi ganged up on the Stone-Armored Monitor Lizard.

Without Kelman, a formidable damage dealer, the Stone-Armored Monitor Lizard is nothing more than a punching bag. Under the combined attack of Bai Xiaowen, Li Shuyi, the Shadow Assassin, and the Skeleton Mage, its Life Value is slowly decreasing.

It's worth mentioning that the Stone-Armored Monitor Lizard regenerates its Life Value very quickly; it can almost instantly regain five or six points of health after losing ten. This ridiculously fast Life Value regeneration, combined with its outrageously strong defense, makes it virtually invincible in terms of survivability.

If the Stone-Armored Monitor Lizard also possessed formidable offensive capabilities, it would be far too unbalanced and wouldn't be worthy of being a level 6 Boss Tier creature.

It took more than twenty minutes to finally grind the Stone-Armored Monitor Lizard to death.

Of course, the deaths of summoned creatures like the Rageclaw and Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier also meant Li Shuyi had used up her ultimate skill, significantly reducing her damage output. Meanwhile, Boss Tier like the Stone-Armored Monitor Lizard, with their rapid health regeneration, prey on awakened players lacking sufficient damage output. If you brought in Standard Class, their healing wouldn't even keep up with their damage output—how could they possibly win?

This shows that Bai Xiaowen's initial judgment that the Stone-Armored Monitor Lizard and Kelman must be separated was wise. If these two Boss Tier were to combine their strength, they would be extremely difficult to deal with. Just imagine how monstrous Kelman attack power would be if combined with the Stone-Armored Monitor Lizard's survivability.

After the Stone-Armored Monitor Lizard died, it also dropped a Golden Treasure Chest.

Bai Xiaowen rallied the White Stone Army. The White Stone Army did not suffer heavy casualties in this battle, with more than forty people killed, but they achieved a brilliant victory by annihilating the Remnant Vanguard Army and made great contributions. It can be considered a great victory.

Bai Xiaowen encouraged Kitz and the others, promising not only the investiture of a second batch of knights but also a bounty of twenty gold coins per person, with double the compensation for the fallen. Since he was now wealthy and powerful, he figured he might as well use the gold coins, which he couldn't take with him, to Inspire morale.

The bandits and their Kitz cheered with joy.

White Stone Army went to clean up the battlefield and cut off the heads of the fallen soldiers and Remnants as proof of their merits.

The ground was littered with the corpses of the Remnants soldiers, and there were even more Remnants soldiers who died miserably in Blackiron Ridge, but most of them were burned beyond recognition, and it was only from their fangs that one could barely identify them as a subspecies of the Remnants.

Every White Stone Army soldier carried one or two heads of Remnants soldiers on their waist, even the new recruits. Cutting off enemy heads was a way to let them see blood and grow some courage.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi also cleaned up the battlefield, collecting treasure chests. The final count revealed 2 Golden Treasure Chest, 5 Silver Treasure Chest, and no ordinary treasure chests.

Suddenly, Bai Xiaowen's brow twitched, and he looked south. His Divine Might indicated that a large group of people seemed to be approaching.

Kitz lay prone on the ground, his ear pressed to the earth, then looked up and said, "Lord, there are cavalry and infantry, at least several hundred men approaching."

"Those coming from the south are definitely not the enemy; they should be His Highness the Prince's pursuit force," Bai Xiaowen said.

Bai Xiaowen's judgment proved correct; they soon spotted the Human Allied Army led by Prince Nicholas.

"Baron Dio?" Prince Nicholas saw Bai Xiaowen from afar, and after calling out, he suddenly froze for a moment.

Behind Bai Xiaowen lay a battlefield strewn with corpses, the most conspicuous of which was undoubtedly the headless corpse of Kelman, leaning on a huge Bone Maul.

"No way?" Lord Julien, standing beside Nicholas, said blankly.

On the other side, Lady Cecilia, dressed in light white armor, was also stunned.

They arrived, initially thinking they were there to rescue Baron Dio, or Dio the battle was over and they were there to collect his Baron.

But now... the battle is indeed over.

Baron Dio, leading the Seventeenth Infantry Formation, wiped out a large number of the elite remnants of the Remnants, along with the warlord Kelman!

This was completely unexpected.

Nicholas was the first to react. He dismounted and laughed, saying, "Baron Dio, you've given me another huge surprise."

Bai Xiaowen gently Knockdown his chest with his right fist, signaling Kitz to present Kelman's head, and said loudly, "This victory is dedicated to the great prince. Your valiant charge on the front lines determined the outcome of the battle. What I did was merely a small, insignificant contribution."

Nicholas "overjoyed" and said with a smile, "Humility is a virtue, but there's no need to be overly cautious. It was my oversight not to have laid an ambush beforehand, but you thought of this and took remedial measures in advance, and in the end, you even managed to kill the enemy Boss Tier. That is a great achievement."

After a pause, Nicholas said, "I will inform His Majesty to elevate your rank and expand your fiefdom."

A notification message regarding the Spirit Realm Rules has arrived:

"Your squad has earned 3000 Human Allied Army Merit Points."

"Prince Nicholas's Affection Level towards you has increased; the current Affection Level is: Acquaintance."

Three thousand merit points are equivalent to part of the reward for Bai Xiaowen completing the first step of the B-Tier "Hero Side Quest". More importantly, he gained Prince Nicholas's favor and increased his influence within the Human Allied Army. These are all implicit benefits.

As for being granted a title and land, they meant little to Bai Xiaowen.

"The entire army retreats. Follow me back to Blackrock Fortress. Baron Dio is qualified to attend and speak at future high-level military meetings," Prince Nicholas announced, then patted Bai Xiaowen on the shoulder and rode away.

Bai Xiaowen returned the twenty cavalrymen to Lord Julien. During the battle, Bai Xiaowen did not let these twenty cavalrymen engage in a direct confrontation with the remnants of Kelman's troops, but instead assigned them to shoot arrows on Blackiron Ridge, since the cavalrymen were all quite skilled archers.

Seeing that his beloved cavalry had not suffered any casualties, Lord Julien said with great emotion, "Brother Dio, thank you very much." He had originally prepared himself for the cavalry to be wiped out.

Bai Xiaowen shook her head. "On the contrary, I should be thanking you."

The two exchanged a smile. Bai Xiaowen received a notification from Lord Julien that his Affection Level had increased, directly reaching the friend level.

Cecilia, the White Rose, rode up and gave Bai Xiaowen a complicated look. "You won, but don't expect me to apologize." With that, she spurred her horse and rode away.

"This young widow..." Bai Xiaowen muttered softly, then received a notification from the Spirit Realm Rules:

"Lord Cecilia's Affection Level towards you has increased; you are currently considered an acquaintance."