In the mountain valley, the members of the Alliance were either lightly snoring, dozing off, or sound asleep. Very few could stay awake. Even the few lonely, cautious people gradually closed their heavy eyelids under the sleeping effect of the fog.
Everything seemed perfect. The outcome seemed preordained the moment the death guards began to advance into the mountain valley. It would have been a classic sneak attack for the books, had it not been for a terrifying, loud rumble.
Rumbling...
A gust of wind blew from who knew where just as the deathguards crossed the channel into the mountain valley. The force of it was fierce. The wind first uprooted a small tree on the mountain, creating a strange butterfly effect. One tree after another fell in a bizarre sequence. This eventually caused the incredible collapse of the rocks on the mountain.
Moss-covered rocks the size of millstones crashed straight down into the mountain valley. This kind of movement created earth-shattering sounds, waking up all the mercenaries who had been sleeping soundly. They jumped to their feet as if facing the greatest enemy of their lives, grabbed their weapons and looked around.
Edwin was also a skilled alchemist. He understood that only sleeping drugs with minor effects could be used, the kind that would not be so easily detected by experts. Edwin had been gloating over the victory within his grasp when the rumbling sound completely shattered his wishful thinking. He looked at the mercenaries stationed in the valley, all looking around with weapons in hand, and then at the Death Guards entering the mountain valley. Edwin had to swallow his curses and gave the order to attack: "Forward, kill!
Both Edwin and Laureton realised that their ambush was no longer perfect, thanks to the rumbling avalanche. The two secretly cursed as they hastily gave the order to attack, their eyes sweeping up and down the epicentre of this tumultuous event. A strange suspicion filled their hearts.
Why had this avalanche occurred? How could it have been so powerful? How could it have produced such an astonishing effect? If it was man-made, who had done it?
Doubt after doubt immediately piled up in their hearts, but only for a moment. The two of them couldn't think much as all their attention was drawn back to the carnage that was about to take place in the mountain valley.
"Enemy attack, enemy attack!"
The thousand mercenaries in the mountain valley were jolted awake by the avalanche of rocks. A small portion of the mercenaries at the edge of the valley kept dodging the falling rocks. The mercenaries at the far end, who were responsible for the night patrol, had now spotted the Death Guards. They immediately began to shout.
The Alliance mercenaries reacted immediately. They drew their weapons, chanted magic spells and drew their arrows. They were all aimed at the entrance to the mountain valley.
The three hundred death guards of the Church of Calamity spread out like ghosts in the night, darting like faint shadows in the moonlight. Evil, sinister air permeated their bodies, their eyes filled with frenzy and excitement. Exotic spiked weapons in their hands, they glided swiftly across the ground into the mountain valley.
The ground shook as a series of sharp earth spears pierced the earth. A blazing fire quickly gathered into a defensive wall. Bolts of lightning twisted and flashed across the sky above the valley before crashing down. One by one, mermen and water dragons materialised and rushed away from the firewall.
Whistling sounds accompanied the arrows as they rained down upon the death guards. Mages and archers formed layer upon layer of obstacles within the mountain valley. They immediately slowed the momentum of the rushing Death Guards, itching to kill the whole bunch of blatant invaders.
However, as a religious scourge whose reputation had spread throughout the Profound Continent for so many years, the Death Guards of the Calamity Church weren't so easy to deal with.
The speed of the three hundred Death Guards didn't slow down, but increased at an alarming rate. The black-grey robes they wore had a strong resistance to magic, and the flames that came were snuffed out with a wave of their sleeves. Even the violent thunderbolts only caused them to pause for a moment, without doing any fatal damage.
"Hmph! The Death Guard's armoury is one of the secrets of our Calamity Church. How could normal magical attacks have any effect?" Dark Grand Magus Edwin landed behind them and looked ahead with a sinister face, speaking contemptuously. He could have destroyed most of the power in the mountain valley without a sound. Of course, he was irritated now that this unexpected incident had thrown a wrench into his plans.
Laureton stood next to Edwin, clutching the divine artefact Berserker's War Axe. He let out a loud, vicious laugh and said, "That's fine. We're just wasting a little more time. It's more interesting to let them fight in their death."
The Cairo Mercenary Band had committed all of its elite forces to this battle. Add to that the three hundred Death Guards of the Church of Calamity and the alliance of a dozen small forces, and this was a reasonable amount of power to destroy the forces in the mountain valley. Laureton was someone who thirsted for battle to begin with. That's why he was even more excited when the Alliance mercenaries woke up, because the ambush had turned into an open battle.
Curling his lip, Edwin said nothing. He watched the waves of mercenaries pouring into the mountain valley and secretly calculated how much more he should extort from Laureton. After all, the cost of sending three hundred death guards wasn't small. Even though their purpose had been to block the Church of Light, he'd also helped Laureton, hadn't he? Therefore, the latter should also pay a little.
The Death Guards were certainly worthy of their reputation as the forces of the Evil God. They charged forward with unstoppable momentum, even when attacked by violent magic spells. The three hundred Death Guards scattered into groups of ghostly shadows, using sharp, spiked weapons to pierce bloody holes in the mercenaries' bodies.
These Death Guards cultivated a strange kind of combat aura. They seemed to be able to borrow the power of the Evil God in battle. An evil presence would naturally appear on their bodies, and their eyes could attack the souls of their opponents. The strange combat aura carried with it an intense corrosion that could destroy the opponent's defences and cause injuries to the body.
Han Shuo sat cross-legged on a rock in the mountain valley. After secretly helping to start the terrible battle, he silently circulated his magical yuan to absorb the power of the dead that had not yet dissipated. At the same time, he was also watching the battle in the mountain valley.
The astonishing performance of the Death Guards shocked Han Shuo. He could even sense a bit of the Evil God's presence from their bodies.
Clarendon, who'd died a tragic death at Han Shuo's hands in Valen City, had used an altar to summon the three-eyed demon god Ansidesi. In the lower layers of the Cemetery of Death, the figure of an evil god that was three hundred metres tall reappeared in Han Shuo's mind. Han Shuo could sense the presence of Ansidesi and the evil god from the Death Guards.
The Death Guards might be able to absorb some of the Evil God's strange power because of their fanatical beliefs. Perhaps they could only borrow a hundred thousandth of the Evil God's power. However, the power that was unleashed was still nothing to sneeze at, as the tragic deaths of the mercenaries they faced proved.
Three hundred Deathguards wasn't a huge number, but the damage they did was terrifying. Since the Temple Knights of the Church of Light possessed a similar level of power to those Death Guards, Han Shuo could imagine that the power of the former was surely just as impressive.
Hahaha, this is getting more and more interesting!" Han Shuo muttered to himself with a cold smile. He suddenly let out a sigh of relief, "What's coming is coming. Otherwise, it would no longer be interesting!"
Dark Grand Magus Edwin also frowned as Han Shuo finished these words. He abruptly used his levitation skill to float up and out of the mountain valley. He carefully took in his bearings before quickly returning to the mountain valley. He quickly landed next to Laureton, now twice berserk, "A large number of mercenaries are gathering here. How could this happen?"
"The Rainbow Sickle mercenaries aren't far from here. They must have discovered something because we've caused such a big stir here. Hehehe, four to five hundred of the thousand mercenaries in the mountain valley have already died. Florida will only die if we make good use of the time and kill them all. His Rainbow Sickles alone can't stop our momentum!
Laureton threw out a random answer as he chopped a two-metre tall Orc warrior in half with a wave of his berserker's war-axe. He then rammed into the crowd in front of him, seemingly mad with happiness at being able to indulge in battle.
"This is not it. It's not just the Rainbow Sickles. There's also a large group of Orcs!" Edwin shouted to Laureton as if a fire raged in his heart.
"Damn it! How can that be?" Laureton was startled. He sprang to Edwin and asked in horror.
"Kill them!" Adam Menlo was riding a ten metre long flaming bird in the air. He charged forward with his family members behind him, also riding various magical creatures.
The dull sound of iron hooves hitting the ground outside the mountain valley was heavy, like a beating drum. The experts of the three great powers were gathered in the valley, blocking the retreat of Laureton's group.
"Push everything and use all your strength, or none of us will be able to escape!" Since the situation had become like this, Laureton naturally understood what was to follow. He let out a long howl to the heavens. His ferocity erupted as he charged forward to kill the remaining mercenaries in the mountain valley.