Chapter 346: Easy Extermination, Troll Nest

"Boom—"

The Troll slammed into the shields again, and several Long Spears pierced it simultaneously, but the immense impact still made Ximeng and the others tremble; just a moment ago, they had been inches away from someone being skewered by the bone spike in the Troll's hand.

Ximeng knew this state could not be maintained for long; perhaps by the next attack, a team member would die under the bone spikes, and even if not the next, what about the one after that!

It wasn't just Ximeng who could think of this; everyone else could too, but in the current situation, they could not flee immediately, as doing so would only lead to a faster death!

With the clear realization that the Troll intended to kill, even the most worried and fearful person had only one thought at this moment—grit their teeth and hold on, waiting for rescue.

Even though they knew they might die before the rescue arrived.

But between life and death, who could willingly give up even the slightest chance!

"Hold on!"

At this moment, there was no need for Ximeng to shout; everyone was bracing themselves, their temporarily heightened spirits suppressing their fear, and they stared viciously at the Troll, never relaxing.

Just then, a whistling wind came from afar.

Someone subconsciously looked back and immediately shouted: "It's the Lord, the Lord has come to save us!"

The Lord has come? Ximeng and the others felt a surge of joy, and their forcibly heightened spirits suddenly collapsed; the next moment, a scream erupted from one of the team members.

The Troll's bone spike entered through his chest and exited his back, and as the Troll pulled the spike out, it dragged it to the side, instantly tearing flesh and bone; a massive wound appeared, piercing through from front to back, and the damaged heart could already be seen from the outside.

This person was clearly out of breath!

Xia Duo saw this scene from afar, cursed silently, and hurriedly cast 【Ghost Sound】 to transmit his voice: "Keep your spirits up, don't make any more mistakes!"

At the same time, he had already begun preparing a Spell.

As the distance grew closer, the two Trolls had already abandoned their attack on Ximeng and the others and turned to look at Xia Duo; they seemed to have never seen a human who could fly, and as if out of curiosity or provocation, they waved the bone spikes in their hands at Xia Duo.

They let out low, harsh roars.

——Level 2 【Imprisonment Sphere】!

Xia Duo would not be polite with them; once at a suitable distance, the Spell was released while he was still in flight, and those two foolish Trolls could not detect the Force Sphere flying toward them at all.

They were imprisoned by their feet without exception!

"Defensive formation, retreat!" Xia Duo called out to Ximeng's squad below, then began the next Spell—a very ordinary level 1 Spell, 【Magic Missile】.

Only, Xia Duo shaped these force missiles to be sharper; with a *pfft* sound, two force missiles, or more accurately, two force spikes, pierced into the bodies of the two Trolls respectively.

Taking advantage of the fact that the force spikes had not yet dissipated, Xia Duo summoned two clusters of flames and stuffed them into the wounds; in an instant, the two Trolls were like oil bottles that had been ignited.

Flames gushed continuously from their wounds.

In pain and wailing, the two Trolls rolled on the ground, but magical flames were not so easily extinguished, especially with Xia Duo in mid-air supplementing them with a shot or two from time to time.

Their legs were imprisoned; although it was only temporary, this amount of time was enough to be fatal.

Soon, the two tall and sturdy Trolls were like two bundles of hay, burning completely, but even so, they had not yet died.

Xia Duo had already landed on the ground, quietly watching the Trolls as they approached death, without the slightest emotional stir; these Trolls, which were almost invincible in the eyes of ordinary people, were so vulnerable in the hands of a Spellcaster.

These two Trolls were shorter than the two Xia Duo had encountered last time, though compared to humans, they were still very tall; however, facing two Trolls this time, Xia Duo appeared much more composed.

Almost in the blink of an eye, the two Trolls were about to perish.

Behind him, Ximeng and the others looked at Xia Duo with awe, then thought of the teammate who had just died at the hands of the Trolls and showed expressions of grief, before glaring hatefully at the Trolls, which were burning fiercely and barely moving, and gripped their weapons tightly.

The flesh and blood of Trolls were excellent fuel; before long, the two tall and sturdy Trolls were reduced to a pile of scattered remains, and Xia Duo withdrew his gaze and turned to stand before Ximeng and the others.

He first asked about their encounter with the Trolls, then said:

"Today's clearing mission is canceled; take the deceased team member back for burial first. Go back!"

After speaking, Xia Duo took advantage of the fact that his 【Flight】 state could still last for a while and flew toward the southeast.

As he flew up, he saw a squad rushing over to provide support; it was Jibu Squad, but since Ximeng and the others had encountered Trolls, even with timely rescue, casualties were inevitable.

This time, it was fortunate that Xia Duo was nearby; otherwise, it would not have been as simple as just one death.

In fact, aside from the losses due to the two Troll encounters, the soldiers, residents, and Slaves of Daxia Territory had already lost nearly ten people due to wild beasts, poisonous insects, snakes, and diseases.

It seemed like a small number, but one had to know that apart from those at the river excavation site, there were only a few hundred people in the Territory; this mortality rate was somewhat exaggerated.

This was still the result of having Laidun, a Cleric; if not for him, there would have been even more.

I really don't know how other Pioneers solve this!

……

Xia Duo did not stop Jibu Squad from continuing to approach; it was fine for them to come and provide backup, while he himself flew toward the Troll's nest.

Not far away, only about 20 meters from where Ximeng and the others had fought the Trolls, was a rather tall Fange tree, its branches covered in fruit resembling pinecones.

But that was not the point; the point was that on the ground not far from the tree roots, there was a pit nearly two meters wide, and beside the pit was some camouflage turf that had been flipped aside.

A gray-brown hemp rope was tied to a thicker, exposed root of the Fange tree, hanging down into the pit; Xia Duo looked closer and realized that this rope seemed to be woven from Troll hair.

According to Ximeng's account, they were on their way to clear a pack of wild wolves when they passed by here and happened to see a Troll flip aside the turf and crawl out; at first there was only one, but Ximeng had seen the capabilities of Trolls with his own eyes and knew that even one was not something they could handle.

So they defended while retreating, but soon, another one crawled out of the pit, and Ximeng and the others were completely unable to run, so they could only defend in place while sending out a distress signal.

Until Xia Duo arrived, no more Trolls crawled out of this pit.

His Protective Spell was still active; Xia Duo just cast 【Flight】 once more, then took out his sword and shield and slowly flew down into the pit.

Looking from above, this pit was about 5 or 6 meters deep, and one could see the broken animal skeletons at the bottom; just after going down a little, a foul stench assailed him—he hadn't felt it much on the ground, as there were too many strange smells in the forest.

But inside the pit, it was truly indescribable.

Xia Duo hurriedly covered his nose and mouth with his sleeve, then manipulated the Magic Net to isolate the odor before continuing downward.