"What are you doing?" The gladiator at the front grinned and casually picked up another fist-sized rock. "Why, we're going to... kill you!"
Whoosh—! Empowered by immense strength, the rock flew through the air and slammed into a warship a hundred meters away like a small cannonball, killing one of the Noxian soldiers near the front.
Every one of these gladiators had a special skill.
"Damn it... Attack! Attack!!" The commander finally stopped hesitating and gave the order to attack.
Unfortunately, the gladiators were far more agile than ordinary people. In the darkness, it was nearly impossible to hit them with shots from a distance.
By contrast, their attacks hit the warships with ease.
Worse still, they were using flaming arrows.
The commander immediately realized their target: the two-eared clay jars!
"Full speed to shore! Get us to shore at full speed, no matter the cost!" At his command, the warships, which had slowed to avoid the reefs, picked up speed again.
But he never expected that this was exactly what the Ionian people wanted.
In an instant, more torches lit up—not just a few dozen this time.
There were hundreds.
Hundreds of archers emerged from the darkness, all holding flaming arrows.
It was... the Ionian Resistance Army!
The commander was about to give another order when a brilliant Twin Gemstone, wreathed in blue magical energy, flew out of nowhere.
In the blink of an eye, the Twin Gemstone drained the life essence from everyone on deck, including the commander.
The one-sided slaughter began...
The local gladiators knew the surrounding area like the backs of their hands.
The Reef Strait was like home to them. They could tell you in detail what lay in every corner.
With the advantage of knowing the terrain, and each of them possessing their own special skills, this small-scale battle was all but decided.
In less than an hour, guided by the gladiators and aided by favorable conditions, the Resistance Army had utterly crushed the Noxian warband. The locals knew where the reefs were and where the wind would make it easier to fire arrows. With a little guidance, they could create an overwhelming geographical advantage.
The warships were riddled with flaming arrows, and the sea had nearly become an ocean of fire. The gladiators even used volleys of arrows to drive two warships at high speed into the reefs, sinking them on the spot.
Of course, Chen Ce and Ahri had also fought ferociously, securing a great victory with minimal casualties. As long as the warships couldn't reach shore, they could be dealt with at sea, where the alchemical weapons on board were useless.
But... one thing puzzled Chen Ce.
Why hadn't the alchemical weapons exploded aboard the ships?
He had ordered the archers to use flaming arrows partly to destroy the warships as quickly as possible, but also to detonate the alchemical weapons at sea and prevent unnecessary casualties on shore.
"This is strange... Wait here. I'm going to check something."
The more Chen Ce thought about it, the more something felt wrong. After waiting a long while and confirming that nothing was going to explode, he went aboard the closest warship himself.
He tried to avoid the sea of flames, and eventually found a number of familiar two-eared clay jars in the hold.
These were indeed the same containers he had seen in Dragonspine Canyon, the ones used to hold alchemical weapons. Even so, something still felt off.
A sudden, ominous feeling came over him.
He cautiously approached, then used his spear to lift the lid of one of the jars as far away and as gently as he could.
The moment the lid came off, his unease reached its peak.
Inside the jar...
Was a pile of rocks.
A little bounty~
Bounty Results Announcement
Chapter 55: Vermin—!
Yasuo had traveled north from Placidium and finally reached the Placidium Plains, where the fighting was raging.
By then, the Noxian Legion had launched a full-scale invasion. Their fearless, brutal fighting style and terrifying chemical weapons had driven the local Resistance Army back again and again. In just a few days, they had pushed the Resistance Army's defensive line on the Placidium Plains back nearly twenty miles.
The air was thick with a pungent chemical stench. Rotting corpses and black blood littered the ground. Yasuo had seen this deeply revolting sight once before.
It had been in Dragonspine Canyon, on the rainy night he had turned his back on Elder Souma.
The scene before him filled him with rage. He couldn't understand how the Noxians could be so utterly heartless.
Once released, those terrible alchemical weapons slaughtered everyone indiscriminately—warriors in their prime, women, and children who couldn't fight at all; the Ionian Resistance Army, and even their own Noxian soldiers.
They would stop at nothing to win the war, abandoning every shred of humanity!
But this time, they wouldn't get away with it!
"Brother, let's go!"
The moment he saw the Noxian Legion charge toward them, Yasuo drew the sword at his waist.
"Come on, little brother. Let's show them the power of the wind!" Yone unslung the twin blades from his back.
The sound of blades leaving their scabbards was like a signal. The hundreds of soldiers from the Placidium Resistance Army behind them immediately charged forward.
On the beautiful plains, ravaged by war, roars, wails, curses, the clash of blades, the tearing of flesh... every kind of terrible sound blended together.
Seeing reinforcements arrive, the local Resistance Army rallied and roared as they counterattacked the Noxian invaders.
They had been outnumbered, but with the reinforcements, they suddenly had the advantage in numbers.
They also knew the local terrain better, giving them the upper hand. The tide of battle soon began to turn.
They pushed forward, inch by inch, determined to drive every last Noxian invader out!
The peaceful First Lands would not welcome brutal invaders!
As the battle intensified, the pressure now fell on the Noxian Legion.
The highest-ranking commander in this operation was the same Overseer who had failed to raid the village and had been chased off by Chen Ce. Watching his soldiers driven back again and again, he grew more and more anxious.
Colonel Emystan had ordered him to take the Placidium Plains and make up for his past failures. But at this rate... not only would he fail to redeem himself, he was likely to suffer another defeat and compound his offenses.
They had nearly taken the Placidium Plains... Damn it... Damn it...!
The more the Overseer thought about it, the angrier he became. The angrier he became, the more he brooded, until his face was twisted with panic.
At last, he decided to risk it again.
Even though he knew the Windswordsman who had arrived was especially effective against alchemical weapons, he was still going to try.
"Bring out the weapons!!"
The Overseer shouted as he struck the war drum before him with all his strength. Its booming call drowned out the other sounds and soon carried across most of the battlefield.
At once, all the Noxian soldiers near the camp began running back.
When they returned to the battlefield, each of them carried a strange two-eared clay jar—the last of the alchemical weapons.
Yasuo recognized what they were holding at once. Chen Ce had told him that the terrifying alchemical weapons were stored in two-eared clay jars.
He immediately ordered all the Resistance Army soldiers to retreat, putting as much distance as possible between themselves and the Noxian soldiers carrying the weapons.
Then he stepped forward alone.
"Yasuo, are you going to...?" Yone asked, looking surprised.
Yasuo simply shook his head calmly.
"I won't let that tragedy happen again... At the very least, I won't let it happen again in front of me."
As he spoke, he walked forward, facing the Noxian army alone.
The enemy charged toward him at full speed, then stopped at a certain distance and placed all their two-eared clay jars on the ground.
The wind was blowing toward the Ionian Resistance Army.
The Placidium Plains were flat and stretched to the horizon. There was nothing for miles that could block the poisonous gas.
After setting the jars down, the Noxians all retreated a hundred paces, then lit their arrows in unison.
"Loose!" At the Overseer's command, countless flaming arrows shot toward the jars.
The next moment...
BOOM—!
The fragile clay jars shattered instantly. Terrifying chemical flames burst out amid a series of explosions, and pungent poison gas flooded the entire battlefield.
Yet Yasuo stood quietly where he was, unmoving.
Only when the terrible poison gas was about to reach him did he suddenly draw the sword he had just sheathed.
His quick-draw slash was fast.
Fast enough to cut through the wind.
And enough to... control it.
"HASAKI!" With a furious shout, an astonishing burst of energy erupted from his sword.
He gathered the surrounding wind along the blade, then sent it all surging forward at once. The gust spread as widely as a massive tornado.
Of course, he wasn't yet strong enough to conjure a tornado. He could only make the wind spread as far as one, and its force probably couldn't even lift a three-year-old child.
But... that was more than enough to blow away a gas.
Whoosh—! The wind roared past, overpowering the breeze that had been carrying the poison toward the Resistance Army.
The poison gas caught in the wind naturally changed direction.
The Noxian soldiers stared wide-eyed and scattered in every direction.
But how could anyone's legs outrun the wind?
In an instant, cries of pain and screams rose all around them. They had heard those sounds from their enemies before, but this time... it was their turn.
The poison gas swept over them like the Grim Reaper, claiming Noxian lives. Everyone who died from it had bulging eyes, blisters all over their bodies, and blackened blood. Their corpses were ghastly.
Seeing this, the Overseer, at the rear, knew the battle was lost—but he still refused to give up.
If it wouldn't work on one side, he'd continue on the other!
"Keep using the alchemical weapons!!" he shouted recklessly.
The remaining Noxian soldiers obeyed at once, charging in another direction with the last few two-eared clay jars.
This time, they wouldn't use flaming arrows to set them off. They would... charge straight in with the jars and detonate them, leaving Yasuo no chance to blow the gas away.
A suicide attack.
"Yasuo!" Seeing this, Yone grew tense.
But Yasuo simply smiled calmly.
Facing the charging "suicide bombers," he remained unhurried and confident.
The moment the suicide bombers rushed forward and detonated the jars, spewing chemical flames and poison gas, he swung his sword again.
But this time, he didn't drive the wind forward. Instead...
He formed a massive wall of wind in front of himself.
"SUOLIER!"
The Wind Wall formed. The flames and poison gas could advance no farther, swallowed up completely by the wind.
The alchemical weapons were spent.
The Overseer smiled and lowered his weapon.
Before you continue