Powerful Centaurs

Two weeks had passed since the swamp wilderness was cleared. The Pioneering Alliance's troops had finished resting and regrouping. It was time to head east!

The main purpose of this operation was to determine what kind of creatures inhabited the Eastern Lands—their enemies—how strong they were, and where would be best to establish their new home.

The secondary objective was to capture an outpost in preparation for the main army's future advance and strategic deployment.

All the nobles set out together, and nearly every Transcendent Knight was mobilized. They brought only the elite among the soldiers. This time, they were not planning a large-scale war, so there was no need for vast numbers of ordinary soldiers.

There were twenty-seven nobles, more than two hundred Transcendent Knights, and five hundred elite soldiers, forming a small but highly capable and mobile force.

Besides Marcus himself and Knights like Harrot, his group also included Harrot's five Knight Squires, the Bald Man's five elite gladiators, and more than a dozen royal guards Marcus had personally trained.

The swamps and wilderness had been repeatedly cleared by Marquis Prague and the other nobles for months. Nearly every threatening creature had been slaughtered, so there would be no danger there for the time being.

The pioneering force reached the Eastern Lands in only three days.

It was an unexplored region full of the unknown and the novel! Everyone established a camp together before splitting up to investigate.

Even Marquis Prague was only half a rank above the other nobles. No one was willing to submit to anyone else, so each noble simply acted separately.

Those willing to follow others were free to do so. Marcus, with his lofty ambitions, naturally set out alone with Harrot and the rest.

They were currently in an area closer to the wilderness. The vegetation was not especially dense, and after half a day, they had not seen any intelligent creatures—only a few wild beasts.

But when they pushed deeper eastward, they encountered a terrifying enemy: Centaurs!

A bloodthirsty and savage race with human upper bodies and horse lower bodies, every Centaur possessed physical qualities far beyond those of humans. They were also natural cavalry, no slower than human mounted troops.

So far, Harrot and the others had not seen any villages or towns. The Centaurs' civilization was primitive, still centered around small tribes. Their buildings were crude as well; a dozen huts made from turf and wood counted as a tribal camp.

Though their civilization was backward, Centaurs were far stronger in battle than humans! Every one of them was a soldier, and men, women, old, and young alike were natural-born warriors.

The Centaurs who used bows were not only extremely accurate, but could shoot while moving. Their kiting ability was exceptional, leaving human cavalry with nothing to do but take the hits.

Melee Centaurs were even more powerful, with astonishing physiques. Including their human torsos, they stood over three meters tall and weighed nearly half a ton!

The power of a Centaur's first strike during a charge was particularly outrageous. Even the Bald Man could not withstand it. Only Marcus, a descendant of heroes with powerful Bloodline Power, and Harrot, with his extraordinary strength, could face a Centaur charge head-on.

Fortunately, the Centaur tribes Marcus and the others encountered were all small tribes with limited numbers, each containing only twenty or thirty Centaurs.

The Centaurs were bloodthirsty and savage, making communication impossible. The moment they saw Harrot and the others, they attacked. This time, Marcus suggested taking the initiative and attacking a Centaur tribe.

The group lay in ambush on a small hill a kilometer away.

"I'll lure the Centaurs over. You wait here in ambush!"

The Bald Man had the best Riding Skill, so he volunteered to serve as bait. Marcus nodded in agreement.

The Centaurs were extremely strong, but their intelligence was indeed lacking. When they saw the Bald Man riding past their doorstep alone, more than a dozen Centaurs immediately howled and gave chase.

The Bald Man instantly spurred his horse into a mad dash toward the ambush site. Along the way, he swung his weapon aside several arrows aimed at his horse. The Centaurs' archery was simply too accurate!

At full gallop, the one-kilometer distance was crossed in mere seconds.

Only then did the dozen or so Centaurs discover Harrot and the others lying in ambush. They did not flee. Instead, they howled and charged forward. In their eyes, every race across the Eastern Lands was nothing more than Centaur prey!

Flames burst from Marcus's body. With a loud shout, he hurled a blazing fireball at the Centaurs, even larger than the one Count Sarik had thrown when Harrot had seen him before!

Harrot could only condense a small fireball around thirty centimeters wide. It was not particularly lethal against creatures as tough-skinned and thick-fleshed as Centaurs, so he did not embarrass himself. Instead, he swung his greatsword and charged forward.

The Centaur struck by the fireball died instantly, his body completely swallowed by flames. The charge of the remaining Centaurs was thrown into disarray as well.

Harrot rushed in, and the battle became a chaotic melee. After Fire Enchantment, the greatsword in his hand became a flaming greatsword, its blade wreathed in fire. Combined with his terrifying strength, it could easily inflict severe wounds on Centaurs.

Although the Centaurs were quite strong, their weapons were crude. Their attacks did little damage against Harrot, who had "+40 Defense" within and refined steel plate armor without, dealing only four or five points at a time. With seventy-seven health points, Harrot was not worried in the slightest.

After learning that Commoners could also become heroes and gain bloodlines, Harrot's fighting spirit burned even hotter. He swung sword after sword as if he had endless strength, cutting down every Centaur surrounding him.

Following behind Harrot, the others also charged forward bravely. Marcus in particular was unstoppable. Whenever his flaming greatsword swept across a Centaur, it killed instantly. He was completely crushing them.

The Bald Man lacked the Transcendent ability of Fire Enchantment, so he still used an incredibly heavy double-bladed axe. However, his technique was superior. He completely suppressed the Centaurs, giving them no chance to retaliate.

Inspired by the fierce performances of those three, the other Knights and elite soldiers surged with momentum, and their combat strength rose sharply.

In the end, they defeated the dozen or so Centaurs without suffering a single casualty.

The Bald Man was astonished by Harrot's performance. Harrot alone had killed four or five Centaurs, nearly matching Marcus.

He felt that Harrot had already surpassed him. In only two months, Harrot had gone from a gladiator who could not even block one of his hands to a warrior praised even by noble lords.

While this made the Bald Man envious, it also spurred him onward. He had Orc blood too. There was no reason Harrot could keep growing stronger while he remained stuck where he was.

An Orc's physical prime lasted from adulthood until just a few months before death. This was the foundation of Orc strength. Age did not weaken their combat ability; it only made them more experienced, more skilled, and better at controlling "rage" and "qi."

With Orc blood, the Bald Man had not felt his stamina decline even as he neared forty. After receiving a share of Bloodline Power, he felt that his body's potential could advance even further.

"Good work. Keep it up. Leave one of the next batch of Centaurs alive!"

After praising everyone briefly, Marcus hurriedly led them to attack the Centaur tribe. He intended to capture several prisoners alive.

The Centaurs remaining in the tribe had not expected their companions to be defeated. Marcus and the others caught them completely off guard as they stormed in.

Only one Centaur smashed through a hut and escaped. The rest were either killed or captured.

Surprisingly, the Centaurs knew a simple version of the common continental language and could communicate with them normally.

On the way back to camp, Marcus obtained a great deal of intelligence and gained a basic understanding of this land.

The Centaurs were the absolute rulers of this land! Every other race was Centaur prey and slaves. The small tribe they had attacked was subordinate to the Thunder Tribe.

Centaur society was extremely primitive, consisting of tribes bound by bloodlines. Small tribes had only twenty or thirty members, while large tribes like the Thunder Tribe had nearly ten thousand.

Several major tribes like the Thunder Tribe ruled all the Centaurs of this land. They had no mature state or alliance system. Small tribes received no protection from the large tribes and did not need to offer tribute. They only had to obediently surrender the most fertile land and declare their submission.

For countless years, no external enemy had ever been able to invade this land. The Centaurs lived without worries, and only battles among their own kind made them feel danger. The Centaurs had even repelled an Orc invasion!

"Centaurs, the Thunder Tribe, and they repelled Orcs! This is a little troublesome!"

This intelligence kept Marcus frowning. Land ruled by a single race was far more difficult to conquer than land inhabited by many races.

It meant that humans were absolute outsiders in this land. There was no possibility of forming alliances and playing factions against one another. In the worst-case scenario, they would have to become enemies with all the Centaurs across the entire land!

And the most terrifying news was that the Centaurs had once repelled Orcs! Humans had always been at a disadvantage against Orcs. Even the Kingdom of Qiat, where Grand Duke Lance resided, had been beaten back by Orcs.

The Orcs had fought humans for more than a decade and occupied vast territories of the Kingdom of Qiat. Harrot's hometown was one of them.

If the Red Orcs had not needed to return and compete with the Green Orcs for the Sacred Mountain, forcing them to gather all their strength and leaving them unable to continue attacking humans, Marquis Prague would not have had a chance to pioneer this land even if he had reached Legendary Level.

The Centaurs had repelled the Orcs that humans could not drive back. There might have been other reasons involved, but it was still enough to show how powerful the Centaurs were. Could they truly defeat them?

When they returned to camp, many nobles had already come back from scouting. Every one of them looked worried, likely having been dealt a blow by the Centaurs.

The main reason Marcus could lead them to easily defeat the Centaurs was Marcus's own overwhelming strength. Harrot and the Bald Man also possessed strength no less than that of ordinary Bloodline Nobles.

The other nobles themselves were only about as strong as the Bald Man, while the Knights and subordinates they brought were slightly weaker than Marcus's Knights and followers.

Harrot roughly estimated the Centaurs' attributes. Their Strength was likely around fifteen to twenty, and their Agility ten to fifteen. Compared to humans, who averaged six points in Strength and Agility, Centaurs had triple the Strength and double the Agility.

The nobles' Knights were generally top-tier warriors with more than twelve points of Strength and Agility to begin with. After Bloodline Power awakened their potential, their physical attributes were no weaker than those of Centaurs. They also possessed Transcendent power, and their equipment vastly surpassed Centaur gear. Defeating Centaurs was easy for them, but the problem lay with the elite soldiers.

No matter how elite the soldiers brought by the other nobles were, they could hardly be stronger than Harrot's Knight Squires or the Bald Man's elite gladiators.

After upgrading from Newborn Northern Explorer, Northern Knight Squires had over fifteen Strength and Agility. They also possessed level three or four Power Strike, Iron Flesh, Weapon Mastery, Riding Skill, and other skills. Their combat strength came close to that of Knights who did not use Transcendent abilities.

The Bald Man's elite gladiators had spent years walking the line between life and death, breaking through their limits several times. They were also highly skilled at fighting large monsters and could deal with Centaurs easily.

However, the followers of the other nobles, as well as Marcus's elite royal guards, were ordinary humans. No matter how hard they trained, their physical attributes would still be suppressed by the Centaurs.

Without powerful fighters taking the lead and crushing the Centaurs' morale, it would be difficult to gain the upper hand against them. Even with superior equipment, they would most likely lose if their numbers were equal.

If a noble leading seven or eight Knights and over a dozen elite soldiers happened to encounter twenty or thirty Centaurs hunting together, they could only endure a difficult battle with heavy casualties.

Marcus did not take Harrot and the others out again. Instead, they rested at camp and waited for Marquis Prague to return so they could discuss countermeasures. The natives' strength had exceeded their expectations. They could no longer fight separately!