Ethan agreed to help Allie and sent all his Divine Dragon Warriors as backup.
The Divine Dragon Warriors, following Allie, arrived at the Minotaur Dark Lord's base.
On arrival, they found the Minotaur Dark Lord's troops fully armed and ready to wipe out Allie's camp.
The Minotaur Dark Lord had his priests cast buffs, providing their Minotaur Warriors with enhanced defense.
As the priest's wooden staff glowed, a faint blue light emerged from all the Minotaur Warriors.
Next, the Minotaur Dark Lord signaled his Minotaur drummers to start drumming.
The sound bolstered their morale.
Pleased with this, the Minotaur Dark Lord gestured towards Allie's camp.
As the Minotaur troops charged towards the enemy, chaos ensued at Allie's camp.
Without Allie's leadership, they were no match for the enemy.
The camp was divided between two options - flee, abandoning Allie, or stay and wait for rescue.
Aho, standing on a wooden table, his voice hoarse from shouting, pleaded,
"Everyone, we must trust our Lord. She must have gone to get reinforcements. As long as we defend, we can survive!"
A voice from the crowd rebutted, "Easy for you to say! How do we defend? Look at those Minotaur Warriors. Each of them is at least with D-class strength. How are we supposed to face them? With our lives?"
"Yes, we acknowledge that My Lord saved us in our time of need. But shouldn't we value our lives? What's the point in standing our ground?"
Erhu, face flushed, pointed at a snake man named Trey and yelled,
"Damn it, Trey! You're despicable! You know how our Lord treats us. And now you just want to save your own skin! If you survive today, it's only because everyone else is safe. Otherwise, don't even think about running!"
Trey retorted, "Erhu, who are you to talk to me?!"
Seeing the argument erupt, Aho smirked and calmly said, "As for this, if anyone wants to leave, I won't stop you. But remember, anyone who leaves now, we're through with you, no matter what happens!"
At his words, the camp fell silent.
Soon enough, some turned and left.
In a few minutes, nearly half had chosen to leave.
Erhu stared at those retreating figures, his fists clenched tight.
At that moment, Aho jumped down from the wooden table, approaching Erhu.
With a raspy voice that barely allowed him to speak, he scrawled a few lines onto a parchment with a quill dipped in ink.
He tossed the message to Erhu and made for the exit.
"People have their own ambitions. We should be glad we weeded out so many traitors so soon," it read.
Watching Aho's retreating figure, Erhu's eyes welled up.
Suddenly, he yelled, "Those not afraid of death, follow me!"
Catching up to Aho, the others also hastily picked up their makeshift weapons - sticks, axes meant for chopping wood, and dull kitchen knives.
They were ready for whatever was to come.
Meanwhile, Allie had a determined look on her face.
She told the Divine Dragon Warriors following her to stay put, while she ventured alone into the battlefield's center.
The Minotaur Dark Lord noticed Allie, and he anxiously shouted, "Everyone, don't harm her!"
A grin appeared on his face as he thought of the blissful life that lay ahead.
What he didn't know was that this order would be the biggest regret of his life.
In Allie's eyes, the Succubus pattern flickered.
The Succubus effect known as "Enslavement" unfolded instantly at the center of the battlefield.
The more the effect spread, the greater the pressure Allie felt.
As Allie maintained the range, the Minotaur Warriors who stepped into it saw illusions.
They changed their perception of Allie in their minds, considering her their wife.
Lost in the illusion, the Minotaur Warriors turned their weapons on their allies, seeing them as enemies.
Before long, all the Minotaur Warriors near Allie found their "foes" and began exacting vengeance for Allie.
The battlefield descended into chaos, the Shaman squad was confused about who to save.
Seeing the dire situation, the Minotaur Dark Lord knew something was wrong.
Pointing at Allie, he screamed, "Everyone, kill her first!"
But no one was listening to him anymore.
At that moment, the Divine Dragon Warriors stood at the edge of Allie's effect, protecting her.
This was Ethan's command.
If his subordinates were bullied, Ethan had to step in.
Ethan, now in his Divine Dragon Form, flew into the center of the battlefield, his eyes fixed on the Minotaur Dark Lord.
Allie, sweating profusely, managed to look up at Ethan.
The golden scales on his dragon form shimmered under the sunlight.
"What a show-off," Allie murmured to herself, "but I kind of like it."
The Minotaur Dark Lord noticed Ethan too, but under the bright sunlight, he couldn't see clearly.
He laughed, thinking: So she does have allies.
Well, I have allies too!
As the Minotaur Dark Lord sprinted towards the center of the battlefield, he pulled up his system interface, found the Orc Dark Lord, and sent a message with his location,
"Brother, I found the mysterious object causing the Phoenix Phantom. As per our agreement, you take the object and I need nothing else. Hurry up! There's a Dark Lord contesting it. I promise, you can have the object, I don't want it!"
The reply from the Orc Dark Lord left Minotaur frozen in his tracks, his face a picture of disbelief as he stared at the response.
"Man, don't even get me started," the Orc Dark Lord wrote.
"These past few days I've been running on fumes, no food, can't make it there. If you can't handle it, just bail. It's no good to us anyway, we're not of the phoenix bloodline. Just leave it be. I've got my own stuff to deal with."
As the Orc Dark Lord's avatar turned grey, Minotaur was left cursing under his breath.
You're telling me to retreat now?
How am I supposed to retreat?
Of the over 50 Minotaur Warriors who stood in the battlefield, barely a dozen remained.
The Shamans, Priests, and Drummers were all but wiped out, and those cannon fodder Goblins were long gone from the start of the fight.
Minotaur Dark Lord's face was impassive, unsure of how to navigate the chaotic situation.
The sounds of battle, the yelling, the wailing, were a constant drone in his ears.
With a clatter, Minotaur Dark Lord's weapon fell to the ground.
He bent over to pick it up, but his hand was shaking uncontrollably.
He pressed his other hand on it to steady it, but to no avail.
He tried to pick it up with his other hand, but he couldn't muster any strength.
His knees buckled, and he fell to the ground.
His calves were cramping.
He never thought he would end up in such a state in just a few days.
The troops before him were all he had left.
Without them, he wouldn't even qualify to explore the uncharted regions.
Minotaur Dark Lord suddenly thought of a last-ditch solution, a glimmer of hope sparked in his eyes, he wanted to ask for help, he wanted to survive.
He typed a message into the world chat channel.
As he was about to send the message he had composed, something came to mind.
The Tiger Dark Lord he had once mocked was now in the same position he was in.
But now, he was the one faced with a threat of death.
A bitter smile crossed Minotaur Dark Lord's face as he stared at the world chat channel filled with other Dark Lords buying, trading, and felt a twinge of mockery.