bookpower Chapter 157 : Armored Troll
Chapter 157 : Armored Troll
Armored TrollGate of the Underworld, open!
Serea chose the path ahead of the ogres and activated the Gate of the Underworld. After using up fifty Death Crystals, a gray magitech formation appeared, then transformed into a pool of black-purple mire.
From beneath the mire, ten figures slowly emerged, all clad in black battle armor with faint flows of magical energy circulating over it...
It was magitech equipment!
Five skeletons appeared equipped with magitech gear. Upon seeing this, Serea immediately used Appraise to check their information.
Dread Warriors! Average level 20! Silver elites! Ten of them!
Slap slap slap!
Upon seeing this, Serea happily clapped her hands. The Dread Warriors weren't unfamiliar to her; back then, this was one of Little Black's evolution options. However, at that time, Serea had chosen to let Little Black evolve into a Bone Warrior.
But now, the "Dread Warriors" had resurfaced, all at level 20 and silver elite—just the chance to see how powerful Little Black's alternate evolution could have been.
Thinking back, she really was...
"I knew it! I must be truly lucky."
The short-statured goblin instinctively took the ten knight-armored skeletons for ordinary skeletons. In his mind, nothing could stop the rampaging ogres—not even that treant warbeast.
"My ogres are invincible!"
Ten Dread Warriors trying to block over twenty berserk ogres—no matter how he looked at it, it seemed difficult.
"For my lord, advance!"
But the Dread Warriors cared nothing for who their enemies were. Fearless of death, they fought with all their might, charging forward relentlessly!
The ten Dread Warriors held their swords upright to receive the enemy, raising their kite shields as one, while their knight swords were ready for attack.
Shield up!
Clang clang clang!
The knight swords struck against the shields, emitting crisp sounds. Hearing the noise, the scattered ogres were drawn together—these deprived of reason easily fell for the taunt.
"Smash you all!"
The ogres charged in, and when they encountered the blocking Dread Warriors, they swung down their clubs fiercely.
Clang!
A crisp sound rang out. The Dread Warriors' shield wall was shoved back half a meter, but thanks to their powerful attributes, they managed to hold the line.
Parry and counterattack!
Through the unique spiritual link of the undead, the ten Dread Warriors moved in perfect, practiced unison. As the shield pushed away, the knight swords thrust upward at the ogres' hearts—one ogre was killed on the spot, four were lightly wounded, and three were seriously injured.
"Loose arrows!"
With the Dread Warriors holding the front, the elven archers and blood slave archers rained arrows together, inflicting additional damage to the ogres.
The front line was held for the moment—until the level-28 gold elite giant ogre joined the fray. The giant club in his hand swung down, and in his berserk state, he knocked the shielded Dread Warrior back several meters. Fortunately, this didn't inflict much real damage.
But the problem was, he could break the formation. Once the formation was breached, the battle situation would immediately reverse.
"Be ready!"
At that moment, the wolf riders and skeleton cavalry who had maneuvered around returned, now behind the ogres. With the Dread Warriors holding the front, they seized the opportunity for a sneak attack. But their enemies were berserk ogres, so they needed to be thoroughly prepared.
Decay Curse (Tier 2)!
Casting Decay Curse on a chosen area just as the ogres stood closely packed—the ogres' strength and agility attributes were instantly slashed by twenty percent.
But that still wasn't enough...
Undead Chant (Tier Three): Chant a hymn, area of effect 500 meters. All undead in range gain a ten percent attribute bonus and weaken enemy buffs by twenty percent.
Undead Chant, activate!
The skill icon lit up. Serea opened her mouth atop a pile of bones, and a melodious yet eerie song rang out. Celia and Auna glanced at Serea in surprise.
A mysterious, uncanny vibe lingered in the song, but it didn't prevent everyone from enjoying the beautiful melody. For the ogres, however, it was another story.
It was as if demonic music pierced their ears. Their rage was further weakened, while the Dread Warriors and Skeleton Cavalry's attributes suddenly soared. For a moment, the giant ogre was no longer a threat.
"This is it—charge!"
The time was right. With the Undead Chant soaring, the wolf riders and skeleton cavalry stormed into the ogres' rear. Seeing this, the Shortie goblin shouted frantically.
"Fools! Look behind you!"
But the ogres had long lost their senses and ignored his command.
Resurrect!
Seizing her chance, Lola summoned vines to assist in control. The ensnared ogres were forced to stand in place, waiting for the cavalry's intensified assault.
Puff puff puff!
No matter how tough the ogres were, the lances of the empowered skeleton cavalry pierced their hearts. The wolf riders, too, darted around, slashing at ogre legs to bring them down, then finishing with the direwolves' fangs at their throats.
"No, stop! Or Lord Maregof's wrath will consume you all!"
Seeing the situation spiral beyond control, the Shortie goblin tried to threaten Serea with the name "Maregof."
But the slaughter continued. Deprived of reason, buff-crippled, and endlessly controlled, the ogres were simply toyed with and massacred by the cavalry and archers.
"Bastards! Just wait, I'll tell Lord Maregof!"
Now that all hope was lost, the Shortie goblin spat out a threat, then dashed into a sealed stone hut.
Serea didn't bother to stop him. Though she knew there was a powerful presence in the stone house, she figured that "power" was only relative to the goblin.
On the battlefield, with the Dread Warriors' aid, the berserk ogres rapidly fell or died; in the blink of an eye, fewer than ten were left.
Serea stopped paying attention and instead focused on the stone house. As she looked over, the ground began trembling. Then the stone wall collapsed with a thunderous boom.
Boom!
Dust rose everywhere. Everyone was drawn to the massive commotion, and in shock, they watched as a huge creature clad in jet-black magitech battle armor strode forth.
Serea scrutinized the armor, finding it odd. It wasn't like the magitech or magic armors she'd seen before—this armor wasn't just for protection, it was clearly meant to restrain the monster inside.
Appraise...
Identity: Augustin Warhammer (Troll race, Warbeast, Epic)
Level: 31
Status: Restrained, controlled
Spirit: C
Strength: S
Agility: B
Endurance: A
Physique: B
Charm: C
Luck: E
Skills: ......，Warbeast Slaughter (Tier 2), bone Shatter (Tier 2), rage (Tier Three), earth-Splitting Smash (Tier Three)
Description: A physically mighty member of the troll race, magically engineered by goblins into a powerful war machine.
It's a troll!
Now it was clear—the bloodthirsty invaders hadn't only invaded the trolls' homeland but also transformed trolls into such monsters. Serea's gaze toward the Shortie goblin grew icy cold.
Such a dangerous race had to be wiped out...
"Big guy, run! Take me to Lord Maregof!"
Realizing the ogres couldn't hold back the enemy, the Shortie goblin-nimbly climbed onto the armored troll's back—right into a metallic "iron box" clearly reserved for himself.
"Oooaaah!"
But the armored troll resisted, unwilling to yield to the goblin's command. That made the Shortie goblin quite angry.
"Idiot! Move it!"
He banged furiously on the troll's metal plate, but the armored troll refused to move, so the goblin pulled out his last resort.
It was a ring—one that Serea recognized after a moment. It was a mind-control ring, capable of controlling others with low mental power, but not very reliably.
"Go, now!"
The Shortie goblin's shrill command rang out. Initially, the armored troll didn't act, but as the ring's power took hold over its mind, the troll was forced to move.
The armored troll tried to flee. Little Black attempted to block him, but the troll's steel body left him helpless; besides, the troll was a warbeast-unit, so Little Black wasn't well-matched.
Even though Serea now had the Bloodfiend Treant, also a warbeast, senluoluo wasn't suited for battle and could hardly defeat the armored troll.
So—
"I'll have to use that move."
Facing an armored troll over five meters tall, Serea decided to use her ultimate ability.
Summon: Warbeast Bone Dragon!
Against the armored troll, a giant undead warbeast should do the trick. She immediately activated the skill!
The moment she triggered it, an immense surge of death energy erupted. Enveloped by its chilling power, Serea felt as though she might die at any moment.
For the first time, Serea felt so close to death. The feeling intensified; if it continued any longer...
System: Host nearing death state. Cancel "Death Decay"?
"Yes!"
Serea promptly halted "Death Decay."
Her hair reverted to its original gold, and her eyes turned scarlet again. After exiting the "Death Decay" state, she clutched her chest, reassured by her still-beating heart.
"What happened?"
Celia reached out to steady Serea, surprised by the icy cold of Serea's body. For a moment, she truly thought Serea had become a corpse.
"I'm fine."
After regaining her composure, Serea stood on her own. As Aruka and the others prepared to pursue, Serea quickly stopped them.
"That's a warbeast—cavalry will struggle. Let me handle it."
"Queen Serea..."
"Don't worry, I'm the Queen of the Darkmoon clan, after all."
Serea called them back, then produced a blood crystal.
"So why bother with all the tricks? This is much simpler."
Blood Frenzy!
Silvery hair danced. Mysterious black patterns crawled over her skin. Serea's dark golden eyes reflected the fleeing Shortie goblin.
"Gargoyle!"
Serea yelled, grabbed a ball of blood power extracted from the ogre priest, and used it to create a Blood Spring for summoning—a blood-red magic circle.
The magic circle appeared above the Shortie goblin's head. Seeing this, the goblin poked his head from the iron box, only to witness a massive meteor plummeting from the sky.
"What the hell is that?!"
"Clark is here!"
Boom!
Clark, controlling the armored troll, raised a huge executioner's axe, its shaft blocking the descending stone spear.
"A formidable foe indeed,"
Clark said in admiration. Although the armored troll was several heads shorter than him, the troll's strength was impressive. The warbeast attribute was "Slaughter," making it even tougher than Clark's "War Soul."
"Oooaargh!"
The armored troll roared, lifting his battle axe and launching Clark back. He swung his axe in a wide, sweeping arc.
Bone Shatter!
But Clark was unafraid. With his petrified body, he waded into the fray, the battle between the two locked in stalemate.
Serea was another story. Although she was getting used to the strange side effects, that didn't mean she could actually enjoy them...
Seeing Serea use that ability again, Celia rolled up her sleeve, extending her arm to Serea.
"Need some?"
Looking at Celia's arm, Serea noticed the faint bite marks from the last time she'd fed on her blood.
"No... It's not necessary."
Serea politely refused Celia's offer—there were plenty of corpses around for her to drain.
Celia withdrew her arm silently. Serea continued studying the armored troll. She was searching for something. Soon, her eyes lit up.
Found it!
It was a ring at the troll's neck.
Mental Receiver (Blue): Wearer can receive short-range mental power from the user and be controlled by them. If the wearer's level and mental power are too high, they may break free from control.
Seeing this, Serea thought to herself,
"So that's it..."
That troll was indeed being controlled by this. Otherwise, how would he obey an enemy like the Shortie goblin? The troll's spirit rating was only C—quite low. Although his level could compensate somewhat, this was still within the device's control range.
Now that Serea knew this secret, she had nothing to fear...
Let Clark and the armored troll remain deadlocked. Blood slaves and wolf riders surrounded the enemy to prevent escape. Although a handful of ogres still struggled, with the elven archers and Dread Warriors present, they couldn't stir up any major trouble.
Once the armored troll was dealt with, victory was certain!
(To be continued...)