The Centaurs' Pride

The Centaur Chieftain reared up, drew a deep breath, then slammed down with War Stomp—not at the enemy, but at the Centaur forces behind him.

The ground shook violently. The Centaur Chieftain's blow covered the entire force. The Centaurs had already been scattering in panic, and the violent tremor sent them tumbling to the ground. Many lost control of their bodies and crashed heavily into one another.

Both the allied army and the Centaurs watched the Centaur Chieftain in confusion, unable to understand why he had attacked his own troops.

The Centaur Chieftain drew everyone's attention on the battlefield. He raised his massive axe high and shouted, "Oric! Oric!"

The commander beside him and several Royal Guards also raised their weapons and shouted, "Oric! Oric!" Their desperate cries echoed across the entire battlefield.

Marcus asked Harrot in confusion, "What does that mean? What are they doing?"

How would I know? If you're asking me, who am I supposed to ask? But since Marcus had asked, Harrot still guessed, "It should be the Centaurs' own language. Probably something meant to raise morale!"

Marcus nodded thoughtfully and muttered, "They're still not ready to give up? The meteors are still falling!"

As if in response to Marcus's words, a meteor five meters in diameter happened to be plunging straight toward the Centaur Chieftain.

The Centaur Chieftain looked up at the rapidly descending meteor. Rather than dodge, he roared and leaped up to meet it!

"Oric!" The Centaur Chieftain shouted at the top of his lungs as he shattered the meteor with a single axe strike.

The five-meter meteor was intercepted and split apart in midair by the Centaur Chieftain. Though some fragments cut him, he did not care in the slightest. Centaurs were naturally vigorous, and as a Legendary Expert, his vitality was especially terrifying.

After shattering the meteor, the Centaur Chieftain fixed his eyes on Archmage Iltiran in the sky. He threw his heavy axe aside and began gathering power as blue lightning erupted from his body.

Everyone finally understood how the Thunder Tribe had gotten its name. Marquis Prague and Grand Duke Lance cried out tensely, "Not good!" "Damn it!" Ignoring the meteors still falling from the sky, they charged toward the Centaur Chieftain with all their strength.

After gathering power for several seconds, thunder rolled around the Centaur Chieftain. The crackling sound was unbearably piercing. Then the lightning converged upon his right hand, forming a long blue lightning spear.

The Centaur Chieftain reared up and stared directly at Archmage Iltiran. With a fierce roar, he hurled the spear.

In an instant, the spear shot toward the Archmage at lightning speed. Its devastating force split even the air apart. Just as it was about to strike the Archmage—

The necklace around the Archmage's neck flashed white, activating a translucent shield. Yet the shield lasted less than half a second before countless cracks appeared across it, and it shattered with a sharp crack.

The spear, its force not yet spent, pierced through the Archmage's body in an instant! Everyone cried out in alarm, but fortunately, the pierced Archmage was only an afterimage!

The real Archmage had already teleported away, appearing beside Harrot and the others—or more precisely, beside the elves.

The Archmage had been forcibly interrupted while casting and had instantly used teleportation. He was in an extremely weakened state and could no longer maintain his levitation. Protected by the elves, he began recovering.

The Archmage was no longer in much danger, but with his spell interrupted, the meteors stopped falling, and the sky brightened once more.

The Centaur Chieftain raised his heavy axe high and continued shouting, "Oric! Oric!" as he bravely charged toward the allied army.

The Centaur Commander and Royal Guards under him followed behind, shouting as they charged forward.

The Centaur Chieftain's brave display—shattering a meteor and striking down the Archmage—not only shocked the humans, but also greatly inspired the Centaurs of the Thunder Tribe.

In an instant, several hundred Centaurs charged alongside the Centaur Chieftain, shouting in unison, "Oric! Oric!"

The remaining Centaurs joined the charging force one after another. In the end, every Centaur of the Thunder Tribe followed the Centaur Chieftain in attacking the allied army.

Although the Archmage's Meteor Shower had been spectacular, it had not killed as many enemies as expected. Aside from the initial meteor, dozens of meters wide, whose impact and explosion had killed over a thousand Centaurs, the later meteor shower had only killed several hundred more.

The main reason was that Centaurs were large and fought as cavalry, with very loose formations. If it had been a human infantry legion instead, one large meteor would likely have wiped out tens of thousands.

The Centaur Chieftain had ruled the Thunder Tribe for over a century and possessed astonishing prestige. Through his courageous performance, he successfully salvaged the morale of the collapsing Centaur forces. All eight thousand Centaurs launched their attack with absolute determination to win.

Marquis Prague ignored the lesser foes, transformed into a giant, and charged at the Centaur Chieftain with all his strength. Grand Duke Lance, meanwhile, quietly hid nearby, waiting for a chance to launch a surprise attack. To capture the bandits, first capture their leader; killing the Centaur Chieftain was what mattered most.

Facing Marquis Prague, who was charging at him alone, the Centaur Chieftain waved his heavy axe, signaling for the other Centaurs to ignore him and crush the enemy army. He wanted to duel his opponent alone!

The Centaur Chieftain told the Centaur Commander not to follow the original plan of attacking the Legendary Expert alongside him. Instead, he was to lead the troops and defeat the enemy.

The Centaur Chieftain now believed that the person who had cast the meteor spell was the opposing tribe's leader. Whether or not he could kill this thick-skinned Legendary Expert was no longer so important. Crushing the enemy army as quickly as possible was what truly mattered.

The Centaur Commander was naturally more than willing. He even hoped that the Centaur Chieftain and the opposing Legendary Expert would perish together, so he could lead the troops to defeat the invaders and become the new chieftain of the Thunder Tribe.

More than six thousand Centaurs, led by eight Royal Guards and one commander, charged toward the allied army's central formation. During the earlier battle, the trampling of over ten thousand Centaurs had actually flattened the terrain somewhat.

Though the uphill slope still made it difficult to build up speed, it was far better than before. Every Centaur of the Thunder Tribe was wounded, but their morale was high, powerful warriors led and directed them, and they were naturally more elite than ordinary Centaurs.

The allied army's central formation, which had originally held back over ten thousand miscellaneous Centaur troops, was scattered by the charge of these eight thousand Centaurs. With Marquis Prague and Grand Duke Lance absent, the rear formation was no longer as steady either.

Only the dwarf legion still held its position firmly, though it had no strength left to counterattack and could only rely on the terrain for defense.

The Centaur Commander fought the Giant Dwarf who had activated Divine Descent to a standstill, while the other Centaur Royal Guards led their troops in attacking the human forces.

Both were beings whose strength was extremely close to the Legendary Level. Though the Giant Dwarf who had activated Divine Descent was no weaker than the Legendary Level in terms of attributes, he lacked Legendary Abilities.

The Centaur Commander possessed quite a few Legendary Abilities, but his severe injuries had greatly reduced his physical abilities. The two were truly evenly matched.