Part 2
Laureton, Florida and Adam Menlo simply had no idea that their every move was under Han Shuo’s surveillance. They were still under the impression that their attack would be extremely unexpected and at least the first wave of flying magical creatures would be able to easily descend and cause huge problems for the Soul Destroyer mercenary band. They would then be able to unceasingly transport experts down, settling the battle in one go.
Unfortunately, they would never have guessed that Han Shuo was able to know their every intention and was able to calmly put in place preventive measures to attack their “hidden” descend head-on. With a large number of gargoyles, Han Shuo had confidence in dealing a disastrous setback to the first wave of experts.
Once most of the experts in the first wave were killed, not only would it have a great impact on their morale, the next wave of experts would also be afraid to descend on the flying magical creatures. With the advantageous terrain, Han Shuo believed that the three powers wouldn’t achieve what they wanted this time around.
The twelve mystical demons scrutinized every action of the three powers. Han Shuo methodically instructed Grant and the rest to gather the mercenaries that were good at shooting, distributing all the various bows and arrows. Even the spears and javelins were all brought out, in preparation to face the first wave of experts on the flying magical creatures.
As time passed silently, Laureton and the rest had discussed for a long time. Finally, they finally determined the three hundred experts in the first wave and they would be protecting tens of valuable mages. The first wave could be described as the concentration of the strongest experts in the few powers, with the weakest swordsmen which were included in the first wave also reaching the rank of senior swordsmen.
The dead of night was able to conceal their movements. At night, the fog would also become denser, hence the operation was expectedly arranged to be a night mission.
As the full moon slowly rose into the sky and shined gentle moonlight, the lofty precipice was shrouded in white mist. More than two hundred harpies, frost eagles, griffins, pegasus and various flying magical creatures were formed into teams. They were gathered from the House of Menlo under Adam Menlo’s orders.
The three hundred experts picked out from the various powers were ready and waiting for these flying magical beasts to appear. At the instructions of the heads of the three powers, all of them mounted the tamed magical creatures. The leaders Adam Menlo and Florida were also among them.
Florida himself was a mage and didn’t require any flying magical creature mount. Adam Menlo rode his super rank golden-winged roc, which had finally recovered after he had spent a huge amount of resources on it. However, the feathers on the golden-winged roc were very sparse, making it look a little miserable.
The golden-winged roc was in such miserable circumstances due to protecting Adam Menlo. It was also because of Adam Menlo’s endless hatred toward Han Shuo that he made a move on Trunks.
Although Laureton could reach thrice berserk and his strength was higher than both Adam Menlo and Florida, he still was unable to fly.
Furthermore, they needed someone to control and arrange matters for the majority left behind. Hence Laureton rationally stayed behind to take charge, instead of joining the first wave of attack.
Under the hazy moonlight, the flying magical creatures spread their wings, forming a screen in the sky which obstructed the moonlight. Lifting his head as he gazed at the ascending magical creatures, Laureton was actually somewhat uneasy.
Actually, ever since Trunks had suddenly be miraculously rescued, Laureton had an uneasy feeling. This was because, no matter how he saw it, the Soul Destroyer mercenary band should have sunk into frenetic circumstances after they lost their leader Trunks. He was clear about dark dragon Gilbert’s strength, but as he had been in contact with Gilbert before, Laureton knew that Gilbert was purely a subordinate and definitely wouldn’t be able to come up with any meticulous plans!
The reason why Laureton waited for so long was that he firmly believed that the Soul Destroyer mercenary band would leave their natural stronghold and attack. At that time, they would be able to easily annihilate the Soul Destroyer mercenary band’s experts. However, the Soul Destroyer mercenary band’s ability to stay calm surpassed his expectations. Not only did they not exit their natural stronghold, they even recalled all their experts in the surroundings.
When the news of Trunks’ disappearance had spread, Laureton was truly surprised. After much contemplation, he gradually felt that there was another hidden hand within the Soul Destroyer mercenary band controlling the ground. It was precisely because of this hidden existence that the Soul Destroyer mercenary band were able to stabilize and slowly start to organize their resistance.
“I must be thinking too much. Currently, it has reached an important period of time within Ossen City. That fellow shouldn’t have come.”Laureton rubbed his head as he muttered to himself.
“Leader, it would be absolutely safe this time around. The person you are worried about wouldn’t appear. I’ve received news yesterday that he is definitely still within Ossen City. It is impossible that he would show up in the Valley of Sunshine. Don’t worry, we will definitely be able to eradicate the Soul Destroyer mercenary band.” Harris understood what Laureton was worried about. The reason why Laureton had chosen to act this time around was precisely because he was sure that Han Shuo was too busy to worry about the matters of the Valley of Sunshine. Otherwise, Laureton might still be hesitating!
“I hope that is the case. Although Trunks was frightening, he still isn’t my primary concern. Only that fellow would be the most troublesome opponent. Ah, it’s a pity. Trunks and that fellow are true men. If not for Trunks’ Soul Destroyer mercenary band becoming the biggest threat to our mercenary band, perhaps I could still be friends with them.” Laureton sighed as he said to Harris.
“This is their choice. When they first arrived in the Valley of Sunshine, Leader had already tossed them an olive branch, only for them to reject it. Now that things have reached this point, Leader can’t be blamed to have acted ruthlessly. This is all due to their ambition to seize the power in our hands.” Harris knitted his brows as he reassured Laureton.
“Forget it, let’s drop the conversation. However, I feel that something’s not right. I hope that Florida and Adam Menlo wouldn’t disappoint me this time.” Laureton’s bald head was illuminated by the moonlight. This meant that Adam Menlo’s flying magical creatures no longer concealed the moonlight and had already entered the foggy area.
“Everyone be careful. Although they are unable to notice us, we still need to be attentive and be cautious of any changes!” Adam Menlo said to the surrounding people while on his super rank golden-winged roc.
“Leader, be at ease. We know what needs to be done.” The people from the House of Menlo smiled as they responded, grasping the magical staffs in their hands tightly, prepared to deal with any possible changes.
A short distance away from Adam Menlo’s flying troop, Florida’s eyes sparkled as he carefully watched for any potential anomalies. He then softly whispered to his trusted aides, as though discussing details of the operation later.
As the wave of people passed through the dense fog, they reached an area where the fog was thinner. In a few hundred meters, they would have entered the territory of the Soul Destroyer mercenary band. A huge indistinct shadow gradually appeared from within the thin fog. Transforming into a dark dragon, Gilbert’s lantern-like eyes stared at the three hundred intruders. Without saying a word, a dragon breath which was mixed with a fishy smell was shot out.
Having evolved into a rank two magical creature, the toxins in Gilbert’s breath was even more frightening. In such a humid environment, the strength of the toxins was enhanced substantially. More than ten swordsmen and mages who rode on harpies were the first to be sprayed head-on by Gilbert’s breath.
An extremely stifling feeling was suddenly felt on their chests as if they were suddenly being crushed by a mountain. Apart from the harpies who were also poisonous magical creatures, the humans were all dizzy with blood flowing from their nose and mouth. Besides the toxins, the force of the dragon breath was also equally terrifying. The harpies shrilled loudly as they swayed, throwing off more than ten people in the process.
“Dark dragon! It’s that dark dragon!” Terrified shouts could suddenly be heard. Some people have clearly spotted Gilbert.
“Hey, all of you dare to come to my territory, die for me!” Gilbert’s imposing voice resounded through the sky. With a swing of his neck, a raging fireball was shot out, burning down more than ten magical creatures and humans who had scattered.
“Attack, it’s just a dark dragon, there’s nothing to be afraid of!” Adam Menlo who had just arrived suddenly shouted aloud, the wings of the golden-winged roc underneath him suddenly set off a hurricane, covering an area of ten meters, directing Gilbert’s fireball to the side.
Riding the golden-winged roc, Adam Menlo who held a pike which sparkled in silver radiance charged toward Gilbert like lightning. On the other side, a few mages who had steadied themselves interweaved magic spells and continuously shooting them toward Gilbert.
If it was only Adam Menlo, Gilbert wasn’t afraid. However, just as Han Shuo described, the first wave of attack which gathered the strongest experts from the three powers was definitely not something Gilbert could deal with himself. Several magic spells of different types suddenly flew over and Gilbert had no choice but to dodge the attacks and hide within the dense fog.
“Hmph, with just a dark dragon, what can you achieve!” Adam Menlo loudly ridiculed, waving his hand and said, “Our whereabouts are exposed, we need to quickly head to that place. We must not delay and give them the chance to prepare.”
“Charge. After tonight, the Soul Destroyer mercenary band would forever disappear from the Valley of Sunshine!” Florida similarly shouted coldly, utilizing floating magic to take the lead toward Adam Menlo’s location. “Huhu… Huhu… “ strange noises suddenly appeared from all directions.
“That’s weird, what’s that sound!” A mercenary said what was on everyone’s mind as everyone looked around puzzledly, not knowing what was that queer sound.
Out of a sudden, a dense crowd of creatures enveloped them like a dark cloud as dense as a swarm of locusts. They saw thousands upon thousands of gargoyles that were arranged in orderly lines rapidly approaching the area.
Gargoyles aren’t formidable undead creatures, their individual fighting strength was lower than any flying magical creature from the House of Menlo.
However, gargoyles usually appeared in groups!
There would definitely not be just one or two gargoyles appearing. This time around, with his greatly improved mental energy, Han Shuo had summoned more than four thousand gargoyles at once, which seriously seemed like a dense dark cloud.
Any living creature at scale would be extremely terrifying. Even for mosquitoes and ants, once they were at scale, they would also be the nightmare of stronger creatures. For gargoyles who individually had an extraordinary attack, once they were at scale, they would naturally be more terrifying. When the surrounding gargoyles seemed to fill up the entire space, the first wave of experts who had thought that their sneak attack wouldn’t be detected were all momentarily stunned.
“Light mages, purify these filthy existences for me!” Florida was only distracted for two seconds and was the first to shout out orders when the gargoyles were getting closer.
After he shouted, Florida himself started to act, rapidly retrieving his magic staff and reciting a magic spell. A ring condensed from light elements suddenly flew toward the gargoyle swarm. The ring immediately turned thirty gargoyles into asses when it charged into the gargoyle swarm.
There were another seven light mages within this group of experts. They were unwilling to fall behind, all of them unleashing the light magic they were proficient at when they saw Florida making his move. As each light magic spell entered the gargoyle swarm, they really caused huge damage to the group of gargoyles.
However, the strongest Florida was only a light archmage. The stronger of the rest were only adept mages while the weaker ones were only novice mages. There was a limit to the strength of the light magic they could unleash and a loss of two hundred gargoyles was simply negligible when compared to their total number of four thousand.
“Idiots! Undead creatures do fear light magic, but other elements of magic were also useful. Why are all of you staring blankly over there, act quickly!” When Adam Menlo saw that the remaining mages merely watched when the light mages acted, he cursed them exasperatedly.
Being scolded by Adam Menlo, these people suddenly reacted, the mages started chanting different spells one after another. Wind blades, lightning and fire serpents whistled as the flew from every direction toward the gargoyles, suddenly causing the deaths of another four to five hundred.
However, at this moment, the gargoyles had finally charged into their ranks. Groups of gargoyles scattered, clawing and biting specifically at these mages. The magical creatures under them also spared no effort in battling the gargoyle swarm.
Suddenly, magnificent rays of light radiated in the whole sky as a dark shadow flew about, accompanied by mournful cries from time to time as one person after another fell from the towering height, their bodies torn and their bones crushed.
“Wakaka, I’m here again. I want to see how do you all beat me this time around!” dark dragon Gilbert shouted arrogantly once again, his enormous body extending out.
By dark dragon Gilbert’s side, hydra Lania was like an enormous octopus, charging together with dark dragon Gilbert towards the experts who were attacked by the gargoyle swarm.
“Florida, we meet again!” Han Shuo’s voice suddenly sounded. Within another wave of gargoyles, Han Shuo had a dark expression as he walked on the air toward Florida.
Behind Han Shuo, the numerous gargoyles whistled and danced violently, as an enormous undead flying creature slowly appeared from within the gargoyle swarm. The majestic little skeleton raised his three-meter long bone spear as he rode on the bone demon, closely following behind Han Shuo.
Part 2
Laureton, Florida and Adam Menlo simply had no idea that their every move was under Han Shuo’s surveillance. They were still under the impression that their attack would be extremely unexpected and at least the first wave of flying magical creatures would be able to easily descend and cause huge problems for the Soul Destroyer mercenary band. They would then be able to unceasingly transport experts down, settling the battle in one go.
Unfortunately, they would never have guessed that Han Shuo was able to know their every intention and was able to calmly put in place preventive measures to attack their “hidden” descend head-on. With a large number of gargoyles, Han Shuo had confidence in dealing a disastrous setback to the first wave of experts.
Once most of the experts in the first wave were killed, not only would it have a great impact on their morale, the next wave of experts would also be afraid to descend on the flying magical creatures. With the advantageous terrain, Han Shuo believed that the three powers wouldn’t achieve what they wanted this time around.
The twelve mystical demons scrutinized every action of the three powers. Han Shuo methodically instructed Grant and the rest to gather the mercenaries that were good at shooting, distributing all the various bows and arrows. Even the spears and javelins were all brought out, in preparation to face the first wave of experts on the flying magical creatures.
As time passed silently, Laureton and the rest had discussed for a long time. Finally, they finally determined the three hundred experts in the first wave and they would be protecting tens of valuable mages. The first wave could be described as the concentration of the strongest experts in the few powers, with the weakest swordsmen which were included in the first wave also reaching the rank of senior swordsmen.
The dead of night was able to conceal their movements. At night, the fog would also become denser, hence the operation was expectedly arranged to be a night mission.
As the full moon slowly rose into the sky and shined gentle moonlight, the lofty precipice was shrouded in white mist. More than two hundred harpies, frost eagles, griffins, pegasus and various flying magical creatures were formed into teams. They were gathered from the House of Menlo under Adam Menlo’s orders.
The three hundred experts picked out from the various powers were ready and waiting for these flying magical beasts to appear. At the instructions of the heads of the three powers, all of them mounted the tamed magical creatures. The leaders Adam Menlo and Florida were also among them.
Florida himself was a mage and didn’t require any flying magical creature mount. Adam Menlo rode his super rank golden-winged roc, which had finally recovered after he had spent a huge amount of resources on it. However, the feathers on the golden-winged roc were very sparse, making it look a little miserable.
The golden-winged roc was in such miserable circumstances due to protecting Adam Menlo. It was also because of Adam Menlo’s endless hatred toward Han Shuo that he made a move on Trunks.
Although Laureton could reach thrice berserk and his strength was higher than both Adam Menlo and Florida, he still was unable to fly.
Furthermore, they needed someone to control and arrange matters for the majority left behind. Hence Laureton rationally stayed behind to take charge, instead of joining the first wave of attack.
Under the hazy moonlight, the flying magical creatures spread their wings, forming a screen in the sky which obstructed the moonlight. Lifting his head as he gazed at the ascending magical creatures, Laureton was actually somewhat uneasy.
Actually, ever since Trunks had suddenly be miraculously rescued, Laureton had an uneasy feeling. This was because, no matter how he saw it, the Soul Destroyer mercenary band should have sunk into frenetic circumstances after they lost their leader Trunks. He was clear about dark dragon Gilbert’s strength, but as he had been in contact with Gilbert before, Laureton knew that Gilbert was purely a subordinate and definitely wouldn’t be able to come up with any meticulous plans!
The reason why Laureton waited for so long was that he firmly believed that the Soul Destroyer mercenary band would leave their natural stronghold and attack. At that time, they would be able to easily annihilate the Soul Destroyer mercenary band’s experts. However, the Soul Destroyer mercenary band’s ability to stay calm surpassed his expectations. Not only did they not exit their natural stronghold, they even recalled all their experts in the surroundings.
When the news of Trunks’ disappearance had spread, Laureton was truly surprised. After much contemplation, he gradually felt that there was another hidden hand within the Soul Destroyer mercenary band controlling the ground. It was precisely because of this hidden existence that the Soul Destroyer mercenary band were able to stabilize and slowly start to organize their resistance.
“I must be thinking too much. Currently, it has reached an important period of time within Ossen City. That fellow shouldn’t have come.”Laureton rubbed his head as he muttered to himself.
“Leader, it would be absolutely safe this time around. The person you are worried about wouldn’t appear. I’ve received news yesterday that he is definitely still within Ossen City. It is impossible that he would show up in the Valley of Sunshine. Don’t worry, we will definitely be able to eradicate the Soul Destroyer mercenary band.” Harris understood what Laureton was worried about. The reason why Laureton had chosen to act this time around was precisely because he was sure that Han Shuo was too busy to worry about the matters of the Valley of Sunshine. Otherwise, Laureton might still be hesitating!
“I hope that is the case. Although Trunks was frightening, he still isn’t my primary concern. Only that fellow would be the most troublesome opponent. Ah, it’s a pity. Trunks and that fellow are true men. If not for Trunks’ Soul Destroyer mercenary band becoming the biggest threat to our mercenary band, perhaps I could still be friends with them.” Laureton sighed as he said to Harris.
“This is their choice. When they first arrived in the Valley of Sunshine, Leader had already tossed them an olive branch, only for them to reject it. Now that things have reached this point, Leader can’t be blamed to have acted ruthlessly. This is all due to their ambition to seize the power in our hands.” Harris knitted his brows as he reassured Laureton.
“Forget it, let’s drop the conversation. However, I feel that something’s not right. I hope that Florida and Adam Menlo wouldn’t disappoint me this time.” Laureton’s bald head was illuminated by the moonlight. This meant that Adam Menlo’s flying magical creatures no longer concealed the moonlight and had already entered the foggy area.
“Everyone be careful. Although they are unable to notice us, we still need to be attentive and be cautious of any changes!” Adam Menlo said to the surrounding people while on his super rank golden-winged roc.
“Leader, be at ease. We know what needs to be done.” The people from the House of Menlo smiled as they responded, grasping the magical staffs in their hands tightly, prepared to deal with any possible changes.
A short distance away from Adam Menlo’s flying troop, Florida’s eyes sparkled as he carefully watched for any potential anomalies. He then softly whispered to his trusted aides, as though discussing details of the operation later.
As the wave of people passed through the dense fog, they reached an area where the fog was thinner. In a few hundred meters, they would have entered the territory of the Soul Destroyer mercenary band. A huge indistinct shadow gradually appeared from within the thin fog. Transforming into a dark dragon, Gilbert’s lantern-like eyes stared at the three hundred intruders. Without saying a word, a dragon breath which was mixed with a fishy smell was shot out.
Having evolved into a rank two magical creature, the toxins in Gilbert’s breath was even more frightening. In such a humid environment, the strength of the toxins was enhanced substantially. More than ten swordsmen and mages who rode on harpies were the first to be sprayed head-on by Gilbert’s breath.
An extremely stifling feeling was suddenly felt on their chests as if they were suddenly being crushed by a mountain. Apart from the harpies who were also poisonous magical creatures, the humans were all dizzy with blood flowing from their nose and mouth. Besides the toxins, the force of the dragon breath was also equally terrifying. The harpies shrilled loudly as they swayed, throwing off more than ten people in the process.
“Dark dragon! It’s that dark dragon!” Terrified shouts could suddenly be heard. Some people have clearly spotted Gilbert.
“Hey, all of you dare to come to my territory, die for me!” Gilbert’s imposing voice resounded through the sky. With a swing of his neck, a raging fireball was shot out, burning down more than ten magical creatures and humans who had scattered.
“Attack, it’s just a dark dragon, there’s nothing to be afraid of!” Adam Menlo who had just arrived suddenly shouted aloud, the wings of the golden-winged roc underneath him suddenly set off a hurricane, covering an area of ten meters, directing Gilbert’s fireball to the side.
Riding the golden-winged roc, Adam Menlo who held a pike which sparkled in silver radiance charged toward Gilbert like lightning. On the other side, a few mages who had steadied themselves interweaved magic spells and continuously shooting them toward Gilbert.
If it was only Adam Menlo, Gilbert wasn’t afraid. However, just as Han Shuo described, the first wave of attack which gathered the strongest experts from the three powers was definitely not something Gilbert could deal with himself. Several magic spells of different types suddenly flew over and Gilbert had no choice but to dodge the attacks and hide within the dense fog.
“Hmph, with just a dark dragon, what can you achieve!” Adam Menlo loudly ridiculed, waving his hand and said, “Our whereabouts are exposed, we need to quickly head to that place. We must not delay and give them the chance to prepare.”
“Charge. After tonight, the Soul Destroyer mercenary band would forever disappear from the Valley of Sunshine!” Florida similarly shouted coldly, utilizing floating magic to take the lead toward Adam Menlo’s location. “Huhu… Huhu… “ strange noises suddenly appeared from all directions.
“That’s weird, what’s that sound!” A mercenary said what was on everyone’s mind as everyone looked around puzzledly, not knowing what was that queer sound.
Out of a sudden, a dense crowd of creatures enveloped them like a dark cloud as dense as a swarm of locusts. They saw thousands upon thousands of gargoyles that were arranged in orderly lines rapidly approaching the area.
Gargoyles aren’t formidable undead creatures, their individual fighting strength was lower than any flying magical creature from the House of Menlo.
However, gargoyles usually appeared in groups!
There would definitely not be just one or two gargoyles appearing. This time around, with his greatly improved mental energy, Han Shuo had summoned more than four thousand gargoyles at once, which seriously seemed like a dense dark cloud.
Any living creature at scale would be extremely terrifying. Even for mosquitoes and ants, once they were at scale, they would also be the nightmare of stronger creatures. For gargoyles who individually had an extraordinary attack, once they were at scale, they would naturally be more terrifying. When the surrounding gargoyles seemed to fill up the entire space, the first wave of experts who had thought that their sneak attack wouldn’t be detected were all momentarily stunned.
“Light mages, purify these filthy existences for me!” Florida was only distracted for two seconds and was the first to shout out orders when the gargoyles were getting closer.
After he shouted, Florida himself started to act, rapidly retrieving his magic staff and reciting a magic spell. A ring condensed from light elements suddenly flew toward the gargoyle swarm. The ring immediately turned thirty gargoyles into asses when it charged into the gargoyle swarm.
There were another seven light mages within this group of experts. They were unwilling to fall behind, all of them unleashing the light magic they were proficient at when they saw Florida making his move. As each light magic spell entered the gargoyle swarm, they really caused huge damage to the group of gargoyles.
However, the strongest Florida was only a light archmage. The stronger of the rest were only adept mages while the weaker ones were only novice mages. There was a limit to the strength of the light magic they could unleash and a loss of two hundred gargoyles was simply negligible when compared to their total number of four thousand.
“Idiots! Undead creatures do fear light magic, but other elements of magic were also useful. Why are all of you staring blankly over there, act quickly!” When Adam Menlo saw that the remaining mages merely watched when the light mages acted, he cursed them exasperatedly.
Being scolded by Adam Menlo, these people suddenly reacted, the mages started chanting different spells one after another. Wind blades, lightning and fire serpents whistled as the flew from every direction toward the gargoyles, suddenly causing the deaths of another four to five hundred.
However, at this moment, the gargoyles had finally charged into their ranks. Groups of gargoyles scattered, clawing and biting specifically at these mages. The magical creatures under them also spared no effort in battling the gargoyle swarm.
Suddenly, magnificent rays of light radiated in the whole sky as a dark shadow flew about, accompanied by mournful cries from time to time as one person after another fell from the towering height, their bodies torn and their bones crushed.
“Wakaka, I’m here again. I want to see how do you all beat me this time around!” dark dragon Gilbert shouted arrogantly once again, his enormous body extending out.
By dark dragon Gilbert’s side, hydra Lania was like an enormous octopus, charging together with dark dragon Gilbert towards the experts who were attacked by the gargoyle swarm.
“Florida, we meet again!” Han Shuo’s voice suddenly sounded. Within another wave of gargoyles, Han Shuo had a dark expression as he walked on the air toward Florida.
Behind Han Shuo, the numerous gargoyles whistled and danced violently, as an enormous undead flying creature slowly appeared from within the gargoyle swarm. The majestic little skeleton raised his three-meter long bone spear as he rode on the bone demon, closely following behind Han Shuo.
