RBCT Chapter 46 [Clash]
Chapter 46 [Clash]
The dwarven expedition was the first faction to reach the edge of the crater.
After crossing a rugged mountain ridge, the sight before them made them all stop in their tracks.
A huge scar, a circular abyss etched into the earth.
From their vantage point, they looked like a gray, dead eye staring at the sky.
In the center, there is a spherical rock the size of a small hill, half of which is buried deep in the scorched black earth.
An eerie aura emanated from the stone, even distorting the surrounding space.
"Oh...the mountains above..." Thorin removed his helmet, his breath condensing into white mist in the cold air. "Is this the divine iron that fell from the heavens?"
The Iron Guards around them, along with Lynch, who were used to all sorts of wonders in the 21st century, were also struck by the magnificence and wonder of this other world.
"Set up camp here!" Thorin ordered, drawing the attention of the onlookers back to the main point. "Craftsmen's team, establish a perimeter! Scouts, advance 500 meters outwards and report back every standard time!"
The dwarves sprang into action, and within a short hour, the fortified defenses were taking shape.
Trenchs, arrow towers, and mobile shield walls reinforced with frostfire forging made the camp impregnable.
Lynch wasn't in a hurry to participate in the camp's construction and walked alone to the edge of the crater.
The mysterious battle axe in his hand trembled even more violently, as if it were resonating with the huge piece of metal at the bottom of the pit.
A yearning, an impulse to deconstruct, analyze, and integrate it into oneself, emanated from the axe handle.
Moreover, in Lynch's strange perception, the life around the pit became very unstable, tainted with frenzy and mutation.
……
the other side.
The Black Tide champion's advance team of 100 people also set foot in this area.
Their task was simple and clear: eat, and make the most of their abilities by eating to their heart's content.
The meteor caused nearby creatures to mutate; even docile herbivores could turn into monsters covered in bone spurs.
These creatures are excellent food for the Legion.
While hunting a mutated giant lizard that was as big as an elephant, they discovered a dwarf outpost on the edge of the woodland.
A simple arrow tower guarded by three people.
The Black Tide Champion stopped in his tracks, tilting his head, black flames dancing in his eye sockets.
His, or rather the Legion's, way of thinking is very simple: everything within their sight is food, everything is an object to be conquered or conquered.
He raised his arm, which was now amplified by the black tide, and swung it forward.
Dozens of Black Tide warriors behind him transformed into streaks of black shadows and launched a surprise attack on the lone arrow tower.
The scouts on the watchtower reacted quickly and spotted the danger.
"Enemy..." There was only a brief warning before the black bone spear pierced through the air and went straight to his throat.
The alarm bells rang in the camp, and the dwarf warriors formed a shield wall.
The frost and fire shields were linked together, their runes shimmering, forming an insurmountable steel dam.
The warriors of the Black Tide followed closely behind. They didn't need formations or coordination; each individual was a pure killing machine.
The first wave of impact crashed into the shield wall.
Superior equipment and ferocious flesh clashed violently together.
"Thump—" This caused the entire shield wall to shift backward a short distance. The arms of the dwarf warriors in the front row went numb and their hands cracked, but they still held on.
Lin Qi rushed out of his tent and joined the battle.
The battle axe in his hand allowed him to easily circle around to the flank of the shield wall, preparing to launch a flanking attack on the enemy.
When Lynch fought the first Black Tide warrior, he realized something was wrong.
These orcs, in all aspects of strength and even their regenerative abilities, far surpassed all the enemies they had encountered before.
A dwarf warrior's battle axe struck a Black Tide warrior on the shoulder, creating a deep wound that exposed bone. But the Black Tide warrior only let out a howl, and the flesh in the wound began to writhe, stopping the bleeding and healing.
Lin Qi used the same trick again, channeling his mental energy into the battle axe and locking onto a Black Tide champion charging at the forefront.
The champion was covered in armor made from the bones of a mutated creature.
Lin Qi flashed past, lightly touching the champion's breastplate with the blade of his axe.
"Buzz..." The sturdy bone armor crumbled, turning into a handful of white dust.
"Kill him!" Thorin seized the fleeting opportunity.
One of the dwarven guards roared and slammed his heavy hammer into the chest of the champion who had lost his armor.
"Bang!" The Black Tide champion was sent flying!
The dwarves cheered in victory, but Lynch, with his keen observation, noticed something amiss and his expression turned serious.
The moment the Black Tide Champion fell, a thick black mist rose from his corpse.
The black mist didn't dissipate; instead, it was absorbed along with the other Black Tide warriors.
The warriors who absorbed the black mist saw the black flames in their eyes burn even brighter, their muscles grew stronger, and their strength and speed both reached a new level.
They became even more violent.
The Black Tide soldiers, who could previously only contend with dwarf warriors, were able to forcefully send the dwarf flying, shield and all, after absorbing the black mist.
Lin Qi realized that against this kind of enemy, simply targeting and killing them would be a drop in the ocean.
He also noticed that their power did not come from training, but from extracting it from enemy corpses through killing.
It's like... having equipment with lifesteal properties.
Fighting is not an option, nor is not fighting; being inflexible has led to a dilemma.
Several kilometers away on a high mountain, Lila and Valen hovered in mid-air, observing the war.
Before Lila, the massive "Eye of Magic" magic circle slowly rotated.
At the center of the magic circle was a crystal ball, on which the battle scene below was being broadcast in real time in high definition.
"Interesting, very interesting!" Valen exclaimed, gazing intently at the images in the crystal ball. "The dwarves' equipment—the forging techniques far surpass what we know; it's unbelievably sturdy!"
Warren was quickly drawn to Lynch.
"And that orc! Look at his axe! My god, it completely ignores defenses! The Black Tide Champion's bone armor is like nothing to him! It's art!"
Lila ignored Valen's fervor.
Her entire focus was on analyzing those Kuroshio champions.
Fingers traced lines in the air, and complex runes formed, calculated, and then dissipated before him.
She recorded her conclusions in front of a recording crystal.
"The target... exhibits typical characteristics of parasitism, phagocytosis, and unlimited proliferation..."
Lila paused, trying to calm herself, but her fear only intensified.
"This... based on observation, the target should be using a plague that distorts the laws of life... its level is far beyond ours."
The conflict in front of the crater did not last long.
After losing more than a dozen soldiers, whose power was infused into the champion's body, the Kuroshio patrol team chose to retreat.
Having gathered enough intelligence, they needed to return to report to their monarch.
Although the dwarves held their ground, their camp was in ruins, with more than ten warriors killed and nearly twenty wounded.
A somber atmosphere replaced the initial joy of discovering the sacred iron.
Holding his invincible battle axe, Lin Qi gazed in the direction the black tide had receded, feeling a sense of unease and confusion.
The battle axe can dismantle anything tangible, but it cannot dismantle this heaven-defying existence that grows stronger the more it is killed.
In Thea's private research room at the Arcane Sanctuary, thousands of miles away.
A magical messenger traversed space, delivering an emergency report crystal marked with the highest threat level to her.
Inside the crystal, Lila's trembling state and the disturbing battle footage turned Thea's expression icy.
Standing before the enormous world map of Ashem, the crimson spots representing the Black Tide Monarch on the map were so glaring.
In the real world, in the courtyard of an old house.
Xu Ye looked at the battle report that the Heavenly Dao System had edited for him and took a sip of warm tea.
The first collision was even more exciting than he had anticipated.