Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
The Northguard Fortress...
As the ancient wall disappeared, the Yoked carried out their new wave of attacks.
The soldiers of the Northguard Fortress had no choice but to face the Yoked head-on. Many Mages had to go down the wall and hope they could survive while being surrounded by the Yoked.
They had to send someone to destroy the Cursed Runes that were enhancing the Yoked’s defenses. Otherwise, even Advanced Spells were not enough to kill the Yoked!
To do that, the Mages with the Wind Element, Shadow Element, and Earth Element had to sneak into the enemy’s army, resulting in lots of casualties. The majority of them never returned. They were either intercepted by the Yoked or dragged away by the Underworld Monarch Frog’s tongue when they accidentally got too close to the creature.
Several Advanced Mages died to the Underworld Monarch Frog. The soldiers of the Northguard Fortress had no choice but to risk their lives just to keep the army of undead at bay.
“Watch for the Yoked with several layers of Runes on them. They are the key targets!” Zhao Manyan yelled.
Many soldiers had died in the first wave. Zhao Manyan had volunteered to help; he could not sit back, knowing they were short on numbers.
He was now with the troop entrusted with taking out the Yoked who were distributing the Runes!
Lingling’s analysis and observation discerned that there were two kinds of the Yoked. One was the Yoked that received the defensive Runes from the Underworld Monarch Frog. The other kind were Runic Yoked, who were distributing the defensive Runes to the rest of the Yoked through the chains.
In other words, the Underworld Monarch Frog could not directly transfer the defensive runes to the Yoked at the front. It could only transfer the Runes to the Runic Yoked, and let them distribute the Runes to the rest of the Yoked.
It was a great weakness of the Underworld Monarch Frog. In other words, even without relying on the ancient walls, they just had to kill the Runic Yoked first, and the rest of the Yoked would turn into ordinary Warrior-level creatures. They would then be vulnerable to the magic blasts and the Advanced Spells.
The Runic Yoked’s defense was not enhanced by the defensive Runes, so it was possible to kill them. Unfortunately, most of these Runic Yoked were very close to the Underworld Monarch Frog, so when the Mages were close enough to attack the Runic Yoked, they were also within the attack range of the Underworld Monarch Frog! It was difficult to keep track of the range. Many Mages had already died!
Zhao Manyan also had an unyielding spirit too. He had volunteered to join the front line and drive the Underworld Monarch Frog back to the Underworld at all costs.
In terms of defense, Zhao Manyan was clearly no weaker than the Yoked strengthened by the defensive Runes. Most importantly, despite their outstanding defense, the Yoked’s attacks were only average. If both sides were similarly sturdy, why would they bother wasting their time on the Yoked?
As a result, the troop that Zhao Manyan was in managed to break through the Yoked’s defense and go right at the Runic Yoked hiding at the back of the army.
“I’ll attract the Underworld Monarch Frog’s attention. Get it done as quickly as possible!” Commander Bin Wei was fighting in the front line now. She used the demon lilies to move through the air and approach the Underworld Monarch Frog rapidly.
The Underworld Monarch Frog’s eyes bulged from their sockets. Similar to true frogs, it had bad eyesight. It could only see things that were moving quickly.
Its eyes rolled upward, obviously watching Bin Wei. It suddenly flicked its tongue out and snapped a huge demon lily in half!
Bin Wei crossed her hands in front of her and pulled her fingers apart gently.
Something was moving in the air. It was completely transparent initially, but barely visible when the dust swept past. Countless vines scattered above the Underworld Monarch Frog. Poisonous and thorned, the vines grew rapidly as soon as they made contact with the Underworld Monarch Frog. They completely covered the monster, who was like a small mountain of flesh, in an instant!
The Underworld Monarch Frog let out a loud croak and shook itself. It shattered the thorny vines to pieces with ease. The vines were clearly not strong enough to penetrate the Underworld Monarch Frog’s body. If the vines could inject their poison into the Underworld Monarch Frog, they would paralyze the creature temporarily.
The Underworld Monarch Frog locked its gaze on Bin Wei as its body suddenly sank a little. The yellow ground began to crack apart as it could no longer withstand its weight.
The Underworld Monarch Frog bounced up into the air, its pitch-black mouth lunging at Bin Wei like a terrifying abyss. It did not matter which direction Bin Wei tried to dodge in, as it would not make any difference at all.
The Underworld Monarch Frog’s mouth was big enough to swallow a cloud. Bin Wei quickly grabbed up, feeling a strong sense of death approaching!
An invisible vine appeared in her hand out of nowhere. Its other end was connected to the clouds. With a mere thought, the vine dragged Bin Wei high up into the sky at its fastest speed!
The black mouth had already trapped her, but just as the Underworld Monarch Frog was about to close it, she soared higher into the sky.
Bin Wei looked at the vine that had descended from the clouds and let out a relieved sigh.
She had the Cloud Vines and the Demon Lilies, two special plant species. The Cloud Vines allowed her to move freely in the air!
However, just as Bin Wei was feeling relieved after escaping from the Underworld Monarch Frog’s mouth, the creature flung its enormous tongue at Bin Wei as it was falling, taking her by surprise.
“Water Curtain!”
Zhao Manyan quickly tossed a huge Water Curtain into the air. The Water Curtain stood between Bin Wei and the Underworld Monarch Frog, blocking the deadly tongue.
Bin Wei was quite experienced. She immediately soared higher with the Cloud Vine after receiving the help to distance herself from the Underworld Monarch Frog.
BANG!
The ground cracked into pieces when the Underworld Monarch Frog landed heavily. The surrounding Yoked and Mages were knocked to the ground by the enormous impact.
Zhao Manyan had long braced himself for it, yet he still staggered a little...
Unfortunately, a Yoked that was knocked flying by the impact happened to come right at him!
Zhao Manyan managed to react in time. He avoided the crash by twisting his body beyond the normal capabilities of a human in mid-air.
“It’s a Runic Yoked!” Zhao Manyan turned around and instantly noticed the brighter Runes on the Yoked.
They were desperately searching for the Runic Yoked, but one of them had suddenly shown up right in front of them. Zhao Manyan stabilized himself and slammed his palms onto the ground heavily!
Obvious ripples appeared along the ground and swiftly spread to the spot where the Runic Yoked had landed. The perfectly-timed wave knocked the Runic Yoked back toward Zhao Manyan like a fish’s tail flip.
“Get him!” Zhao Manyan yelled at the soldiers around him, since he did not really have any move that could kill the creature instantly.
Several destructive spells were fired at the Runic Yoked before it could even land, blasting it into pieces, that were then burned to ashes by a Fiery Fist: Nine Halls!
As soon as the Runic Yoked died, the Yoked receiving the defensive Runes through the chains connected to it basically lost their armor.
It was very easy to identify the Yoked that had lost their defensive Runes. The soldiers on the walls of the fortress cheered whenever they saw the Yoked without their outstanding defense, followed by a rain of Elemental Spells pouring down on them. Those Yoked had no chance of survival against spells after losing their defenses!
“Well done!” Bin Wei exclaimed, standing on a Cloud Vine. Her impression of Zhao Manyan changed completely after seeing him take down another Runic Yoked for the troop.
His Water Curtain had come at a very opportune time, too. She might have died if not for that!
The Underworld Monarch Frog was an unusually slow but powerful creature. Most attacks could not inflict any damage on it, but if they managed to dodge a few of its attacks, the fleshy creature would have to rest for a period to recover its strength!
“There’s one here!” the captain of a Summoner troop riding a Fiery Wolf yelled from not far away.
The man was extremely bold. He had woven through a few hundred Yoked alone and dragged the Runic Yoked out with him. He was handling himself perfectly even after taking on a group of the Yoked on his own for more than ten minutes.
“Don’t let him run away. Eyes of the Rock Demon: Petrify!” Zhao Manyan cast the Advanced Earth Spell decisively when he saw the man was being chased by a huge number of the Yoked.
Zhao Manyan’s casting speed was a lot quicker than the rest of the Advanced Earth Mages. As a Mage who owned a Soul-grade Earth Seed, his performance in a battle also significantly outmatched the Advanced Mages who only had normal Spirit-grade Seeds!
A few dozen of the Yoked froze in their tracks when Zhao Manyan glanced into their eyes. Another Earth Mage using the same spell only managed to petrify nine Yoked, who managed to break free from the spell just a brief moment later.
“My Earth Element has received the Blessing of the God’s Seal, its base damage is 1.5 now,” Zhao Manyan explained with a smile when he saw the defeated face of the captain beside him.
“You have a Soul-grade Earth Seed, your Earth Element’s base damage is 1.5, and every defensive spell you cast seems to be enhanced by a special Rune. It’s similar to the Runes that the Yoked have...” the captain observed aloud, while catching his breath.
“Yeah...” Zhao Manyan nodded.
An uproar arose from the troop ahead. The soldiers were quickly backing toward them.
“Underworld Monarch Frog, it’s coming toward us, retreat!”
“Retreat, quick!”
The Yoked that they were struggling to kill were not the scariest enemy to the soldiers. The one that would bring them despair was the Underworld Monarch Frog. No one, apart from General Bin Wei, could possibly stand a chance against its tongue!
“It’s about to shoot its tongue out, dodge it!”
“It’s impossible, its range is too far!” the soldiers cried out in fear.
Zhao Manyan fixed his gaze on the Underworld Monarch Frog with a determined face.
He muttered, “It’s why I dare to stop a Ruler-level creature’s attacks, too!”
Chapter 1373
Slaying the Underworld Monarch Frog
Translated by XephiZ
Edited by Aelryinth
Zhao Manyan stepped forward when the others were backing away. The soldiers fleeing for their lives were impressed by his courage.
When Zhao Manyan made it to the front, the Underworld Monarch Frog’s deadly tongue was already flying toward him. The angle it was coming from and the power it contained were clearly going to sweep a dozen people into its stomach!
The soldiers on the front line were mostly elites, consisting of talented Intermediate and Advanced Mages. They did not suffer many casualties when fighting against the Yoked, but whenever the Underworld Monarch Frog made its move, their only outcome was to be eaten like the lowliest insects!
“Baxia Seal, Skytemper Rocks, Eyes of the Rock Demon, Titan Body!” Zhao Manyan yelled at the top of his lungs and spread his hands like wings, blocking for the soldiers.
His eyes emitted a blue-brown light. His body was engulfed in the brilliant glow of the Earth Element!
The Baxia Seal circled around him. The brilliant light of the Earth Element outlining Zhao Manyan pushed forward. The outline would expand a few times for every meter it covered. When it reached twenty meters away, its outline had turned into a giant!
Its body was made of blue-brown rocks, its shape exactly the same as Zhao Manyan, its arms spread wide. Just as everyone thought the Underworld Monarch Frog was going to eat them all, the giant rock statue defended them all!
The Underworld Monarch Frog’s tongue landed on the giant rock statue. Even though it managed to break the statue into pieces, and even though Zhao Manyan spit out a mouthful of blood from the feedback he received, he did not allow any damage to be inflicted on the soldiers...
Zhao Manyan staggered a few steps back, but he was wearing a reckless grin.
Ruler-level!
So what if it was an attack from a Ruler-level creature, he still managed to resist it!
The captain with the Earth Element standing beside Zhao Manyan stared at his smiling face like he was looking at a monster...
An Advanced Mage who could resist the full strength of a Ruler-level creature? Was he even human!?
Most Super Mages did not prioritize improving their defenses, so they were very vulnerable when facing Ruler-level creatures. However, this young man had actually resisted a Ruler-level creature’s attack. The giant statue slowly collapsing to the ground was like Zhao Manyan himself. The captain was beyond impressed!
Bin Wei, who had failed to stop the Underworld Monarch Frog busy, gasped in disbelief. She initially thought the troop on the front line was going to suffer incredible losses. She did not expect the pompous young man to possess such remarkable strength. He had really stopped the Underworld Monarch Frog’s attack!
The Titan Body’s defense was so outstanding that even a Ruler-level creature could not break through it easily...
They all thought the defensive Runes of the Yoked were incredibly powerful, but it turned out that the person with the greatest defense was in the Northguard Fortress. It explained why the troop had managed to get so far this time!
The Underworld Monarch Frog’s strength was solely in its powerful attacks, its undodgeable rolling tongue, and the Yoked that were its slaves. When Zhao Manyan used the Titan Body to stop its attack, it basically destroyed the Underworld Monarch Frog’s plan to wipe out the troop of Battlemages. The Battlemages quickly withdrew to a safe distance with the time that Zhao Manyan had bought them.
They had killed a dozen Runic Yoked in a short period of time, and taken down hundreds of the Yoked, too. The number of the Yoked were dropping rapidly. The Underworld Monarch Frog bellowed furiously, yet its movements were restrained by Bin Wei’s outstanding Plant Magic!
“I found another one!” The morale of the troop rose tremendously after Zhao Manyan defended the soldiers with the Titan Body.
Morale played an important role in a battle. The Underworld Monarch Frog was like an unstoppable devil to the soldiers. There were deaths whenever it attacked, but if someone managed to step forward and stop the Underworld Monarch Frog’s attacks, it was like giving the soldiers a powerful stim pack. Even though Zhao Manyan was only able to stop the attack once, it was still completely different than trembling in fear and waiting for their deaths previously!
“Don’t you dare run away! Lightning Swordbird, get him!” An expert of the Summoning Element locked his gaze on a Runic Yoked that was fleeing toward the Underworld Monarch Frog.
A bird covered with feathers flickering with lightning and wings resembling huge fans of swords dove from the sky. Its Summoner stood up on the back of the Lightning Swordbird and fired Giant Shadow Spikes down. They picked out the Runic Yoked from among the Yoked and nailed it to the spot.
The Lightning Swordbird swept past the Yoked and grabbed the Runic Yoked with its claws.
The Yoked tried to grab onto the Runic Yoked to prevent it from being abducted, but the Lightning Swordbird immediately unleashed lightning swords, stabbing down at them.
The Lightning Element had a strong penetrating nature, the unique trait of the Lightning Element. Even the Yoked’s incredible defenses were not so effective against the Lightning Element!
The lightning swords knocked a bunch of the Yoked to the ground. The Runic Yoked was unable to escape the claws, and was lifted into the sky!
The Lightning Swordbird tossed the Runic Yoked towards the army of Battlemages. The soldiers synchronized their spells and tore the Runic Yoked to pieces before it could even hit the ground!
“It’s Ye Hong! He finally showed up!” someone exclaimed.
The captain of the Summoner Troop, riding a Fiery Wolf, lifted his gaze, his face respectful. It was obvious that airborne Ye Hong was more reputable than him among the Summoners.
“Who’s that guy? He’s very strong!” Zhao Manyan was relieved after seeing an expert had shown up.
“The prodigal son of the Northguard Fortress. He normally just stays at the Northguard Fortress for a month every year, and spends the rest of the time traveling between places. It’s surprising that he has come back. It turns out that he still cares a lot about the Northguard Fortress,” the captain with the Earth Element, Feng Changyu, told him.
“He has been looking for the opportunity to reach the Super Level. He believes there won’t be any chance if he keeps staying at the Northguard Fortress. He used to be Chang Yi’s superior. He was in charge of the Fourth Troop, the strongest troop we ever had,” an old soldier added.
The man riding the Lightning Swordbird was very strong. He was roaming freely through the air, while the Lightning Swordbird was searching for the Runic Yoked with its sharp eyes. He had taken the pressure of around three hundred Yoked from the shoulders of the soldiers on the front line.
Many soldiers in the troop knew who Ye Hong was. The troop’s morale had skyrocketed when Zhao Manyan stopped the Underworld Monarch Frog’s attack, but the soldiers completely united and fought with an even stronger spirit when Ye Hong showed up. Suddenly, even the Yoked strengthened by the defensive Runes were not as scary!
“Three troops to the west! Seventh Troop, hold your position; Tenth Troop, fire Brilliant Light at will; Wind Mages of the Second Troop, stay at the back and assist the others with their retreat!” Ye Hong ordered from the sky.
Bin Wei was the commander of the army, but she was unable to give orders since she was busy fighting the Underworld Monarch Frog. As a result, the troops were simply following their instincts when fighting against the Yoked. The army became a lot more disciplined after receiving orders from Ye Hong.
Zhao Manyan was a little confused. Why did the man ask the Wind Mages of the Second Troop to assist with the retreat? Wasn’t it the perfect time to push forward and take out more Runic Yoked while they still had the chance? However, Ye Hong had ordered everyone to withdraw instead!
The soldiers obviously believed in him. The captains withdrew their troops immediately upon receiving the order. As the army was retreating, the Underworld Monarch Frog suddenly charged ahead and swallowed a huge area into its stomach. If the army had stayed and fought the Yoked, at least three companies would have been wiped out!
A company consisted of a hundred soldiers. How long would it take the Northguard Fortress to train three hundred soldiers?
When Zhao Manyan saw the reason behind the orders, he was impressed by Commander Ye Hong, who had just joined the battle not long ago. He had to be an experienced commander who had fought countless battles!
The Underworld Monarch Frog had long gathered its strength for an attack, but it ended up in failure. Most of the Runic Yoked were now dead, too. The number of the Yoked decreased rapidly. Only around three hundred were left!
“Now is our chance!” Ye Hong declared.
They had to kill the Yoked before dealing with the Underworld Monarch Frog. The Underworld Monarch Frog’s main fighting force was the Yoked. If they eliminated all the Yoked, it was the same as severing its limbs.
The soldiers of the Northguard Fortress united. They were clearly in control of the battle. They proceeded to slaughter the remaining Yoked!
——
The three hundred Yoked were slain in no time. Only the Underworld Monarch Frog and the Battlemages surrounding it remained on the battlefield, the remains of the Yoked scattered around.
“I never thought I’d have the chance to kill a Ruler-level creature one day!” Captain Feng Changyu blurted out excitedly.
Zhao Manyan was as excited as the soldiers were. Although he had fought a similar battle in Egypt before, this situation was just as grim. Mo Fan was around then to eliminate the Dark Swordmaster with the help of Little Flame Belle in her Adult Phase. Since Mo Fan was not around, Zhao Manyan had become a key person in the battle. He was being admired by the soldiers, just like Bin Wei and Ye Hong.
In the past, Zhao Manyan always thought soldiers were idiots whose lives were always at risk. He never wanted to be a soldier because of that, but after they managed to defend the Northguard Fortress and defeat the army of the Yoked led by a Ruler-level creature, he realized how passionate, exciting, and glorious it was to win a battle!
—
“It turns out that you’re more suitable to take my role after all.” General Bin Wei was a little worn out. She barely survived in the fight against the Underworld Monarch Frog. She was finally able to catch her breath when she saw Ye Hong coming to back her up on his Lightning Swordbird.
“My old comrades have given you quite some trouble. I apologize for that, but I believe no one is ever going to doubt you after today. You achieved the Super Level earlier than me, and you know the secret of the Great Wall. How could someone like me, who only knows how to kill, achieve anything?” Commander Ye Hong replied.
“Then I shall let you command the army to take down the Underworld Monarch Frog,” General Bin Wei informed him.
“My pleasure!” Commander Ye Hong acknowledged confidently.
Even though the man had yet to achieve the Super Level, this previous Commander of the Northguard Fortress clearly had the courage and capabilities of a Super Mage. General Bin Wei believed he would break through the barrier that had stopped him for almost ten years soon. He would surely achieve the Super Level and soar into the sky!