Tilt

Lightning Storm!

The instant the magical radiance shot skyward, gales surged, the mountains and forests howled, and the clear blue sky abruptly filled with gathering winds and clouds. Dark clouds rolled in like a tide as chains of lightning crisscrossed overhead.

The sight was like a natural disaster.

This was the power of spellcasters. The more enemies there were, the more room they had to display their abilities. So long as their strategy was sound, a grand mage could even destroy an entire legion.

"Hold the line!"

Following the human commander's roar, soldiers rushed back and forth. Amid the clatter of colliding armor, sturdy shields were raised with ringing clangs, forming a gleaming metallic wall around ten heavy ballistae.

This army had originally numbered one thousand. Nearly two hundred had been lost in the black dragon's surprise attack, and another three hundred cavalry had been sent to pursue the black dragon.

Afterward, Roy had taken half the remaining soldiers away to launch a surprise attack on the Stone Crow Clan.

So how many professional soldiers were left to hold the position? It was a simple math problem. There could not have been more than two hundred and fifty here.

Caesar's decision had undoubtedly been correct. This was the best opportunity for the orcs to engage under the present circumstances. The chance was fleeting, yet the black dragon had seized it.

Energy flowed as the Lightning Storm brewed for a long time. At last, forked lightning carrying the breath of destruction came howling down.

This was the strongest spell Sifu could currently cast. This single attack had nearly drained all the magic from his body.

Its power did not disappoint.

The instant the chain lightning struck, the human defensive position exploded like a pot of boiling oil. They were immediately shattered, torn to pieces by the violent chains of lightning.

The soldiers on the front line of the spell's impact suffered incalculable losses.

At least fifty were killed on the spot, while those who survived lost the ability to move. Currents crawled over the bodies beneath their armor, making them convulse all over and giving off a smell like raw flesh scorched black.

That incomparable thunderous blow had cost the garrison the strength of nearly a hundred soldiers.

Yet they still managed to withstand the terrifying "Lightning Storm." The soldiers' orders were to protect the ballistae, and thus far, all ten heavy weapons remained unscathed.

At this point, the army had shifted from a defensive formation to an aggressive close-combat formation. The elite soldiers stood with red-rimmed eyes, gripping their shields and longswords tightly as they stared at the tall, ferocious, heavily armored orcs.

There was no other choice. More than eighty orc warriors had to face elite human soldiers twice their number.

"Now it's our turn."

The army commander swung his arm and pointed his longsword forward. "Counterattack!"

"For Brando's glory!"

"For the Stone Crow Clan!"

Human cries and orc roars blended together into an immortal song of war, accompanied by a creaking melody—the sound of heavy ballistae adjusting their aim!

"Thrum!"

In the blink of an eye, a blood-soaked orc warrior had not even had time to see what was happening before his thick breastplate was shattered. A massive wound burst open across his back as he was pierced straight through.

The thick heavy bolt did not slow, carrying the orc seven or eight meters backward before pinning him to a huge dead tree. Only then did it stop, trembling without cease.

"Roar!"

The orcs roared. Their vitality was powerful, and even after such an injury, he did not die immediately. His expression was twisted in pain and terror, yet he still gripped his iron axe tightly, struggling to launch an attack. In the end, a human soldier cut off his head.

No wonder the black dragon remembered these things so vividly. They were ultimate weapons bearing armor-piercing enchantments. Even the slightest graze could rob an orc of all combat ability.

Even Caesar, with his formidable physique, had felt that things were going badly after being struck by merely three of these. Though none of the bolts had hit a vital point, they had still severely limited the black dragon's movements.

Those three thick, terrifying armor-piercing bolts were still lodged in the black dragon's body.

If the battle continued like this, the orcs would surely be finished. They would fail to steal the chicken only to lose the rice, and be slain in return by the human garrison.

Fortunately, they also possessed a strategic weapon no less formidable than the armor-piercing ballistae.

Sifu narrowed his eyes and hid his head beneath his tattered hood. He rapidly constructed a spell model, doing everything he could as he began casting another large-scale destructive spell.

The battle had only just begun, yet it swiftly heated to a white-hot frenzy. The numbers on both sides were falling rapidly.

A familiar scene was unfolding elsewhere as well. War had become the main theme of the Wilds. On the other side, Roy's cavalry was likewise fighting Caesar with great ferocity.

"Roar!"

The enormous black dragon beat his wings, pouring down corrosive acid like rain. Caesar's acid breath was not much stronger than that of others of his kind, but it could still inflict considerable damage upon metal objects such as armor and weapons.

He controlled the way he exhaled it, striving to increase both its coverage and density. Even if the enemy force had a spellcaster at the grand mage level, creating a shield over such a vast area would be difficult to sustain for long.

Caesar was now flying high above the ground.

At such a great distance, it was difficult for him to harm the humans with fire or frost. Both types of breath dispersed widely through the air and could not produce truly effective killing power.

Fortunately, he had another kind of breath. Acid would likewise disperse in the air, but due to its inherent nature, its power would not diminish. Instead, it would grow even stronger.

The acid breath turned into acid rain in midair, blanketing the target area and continuously damaging the human cavalry.

This is a pretty good idea.

Caesar endured the turbulent currents high in the sky, keeping his flight steady.

It was worth mentioning that, as their contact dragged on, Caesar discovered another weakness humans could not avoid: stamina.

No matter how well-trained, elite, and powerful these soldiers were, they were limited by their race. Their ceiling was only so high, and stamina was that ceiling. Aside from a few exceptional individuals favored by the gods, humans could never compare to powerful orcs in this regard, much less contend with dragons.

After such a long, bitter battle, both these cavalrymen and the warhorses beneath them had gradually begun to show signs of fatigue. They were no longer at their peak.

Of course, the enemy was not foolish. This cavalry force had already realized the crux of the problem and begun withdrawing, preparing to return to their position and regroup.

But the black dragon would never let them leave so easily at a time like this. If possible, Caesar even wanted to summon the female orcs from the Duru Basin and have them fight Roy's army in round-the-clock shifts, twenty-four hours a day.

The scales of war tilted from side to side, and the identities of hunter and prey seemed about to reverse.