Chapter 864: The Comical Battle in the Valley of Babotali (Part 8)

A tremendous force whistled, scattering outward from the point of impact between the two heavy weapons.

The air was stirred, transforming into a massive crashing sound audible to intelligent beings; the volume was so great that the wounded whom Jier had previously knocked down all squeezed their eyes shut in pain, and those who could move their hands covered their ears one after another.

People, whether Human or Dwarf, opened their mouths to scream amidst this deafening roar, as if to counter such immense volume.

Faster than the sound, however, was the white light generated when the two weapons collided.

It was the natural light and heat emitted by shattered metal ignited by the immense friction and impact force; it was simply no match for the Sun God Blinding Divine Power released by Jier's Hunting Sword! Although brief, in that instant of impact, it possessed a radiance no less than the sun overhead!

The moment the weapons clashed, Jier had no choice but to close his eyes beneath his helmet's faceplate; he could not tell who had won or lost this strike, but the shockwave that subsequently rebounded from the shaft of the long spear told Jier the answer.

He could barely hold onto the spear shaft in his hands; the massive force vibrated through the shaft in his grip, just like holding a vigorous large-tailed river fish with both hands!

"Damn it!!!!"

Jier screamed out, and the next instant, the warhorse surged forward, breaking away from the spot where he had just engaged the Dwarf wielding the large sword.

Opening his eyes to look, Jier was somewhat incredulous; the all-metal long spear in his hand now had a small portion of its spearhead missing, while the rest of the head was twisted into S-shaped or Z-shaped bends.

As Jier looked down to observe, he also discovered that the front of his armor on his right side had many scorched marks left by the friction and impact of tiny metal fragments.

Needless to say, the missing part of the spearhead was right here!

Jier turned his head abruptly to look, seeing that Dwarf in a posture of having delivered a heavy cleave to the ground, remaining motionless; he did not know what had gone wrong.

Rolling his eyes, Jier guessed that perhaps the metal shards that exploded outward during the weapon collision had wounded the Dwarf?

The opponent wore only sleeveless Leather Clothing convenient for movement and did not even wear a helmet, having only an iron band on his head, which clearly could not protect against flying metal fragments.

This judgment made Jier heave a sigh of relief; if this were the case, although he had failed to best the opponent in the weapon clash, judging by the result, he had actually gained the upper hand?

But then Jier's expression turned gloomy; he vividly remembered seeing several other Dwarves with similar attire earlier, and if every one of them was as formidable as this one, then he had absolutely no chance of winning this trip.

Slowing the horse to turn, Jier was reluctant to abandon his long spear, but the twisted and deformed weapon was clearly unusable, so he had to insert it into the Weapon Rack behind him, draw his sword and Shield to hold, and quickly approach the large-sword-wielding Dwarf from behind.

Jier still wanted to test whether this Dwarf was dead, but before he could approach on horseback, the Dwarf who had been cleaving the ground with his sword suddenly straightened his body, twisted his neck, and a pair of eyes radiating bronze-colored golden light stared fiercely at Jier.

"What the hell! This godforsaken place!"

Jier let out a strange cry and hurriedly pulled on the Jiansheng to make the warhorse slow down.

Looking closely, only after getting nearer could he see that this Dwarf wielding the large sword not only had eyes radiating bronze-colored golden light, but his entire body was also emitting a faint bronze-colored glow from his skin, as if he had been rubbed with oil.

This discovery forced Jier to tilt his neck back slightly: "Divine Power blessing?"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the large-sword-wielding Dwarf gripped the metal hilt of the large sword with both hands, crouched slightly on his short legs, and then jumped violently, leaping over ten meters in a single bound, brandishing the large sword in mid-air and bringing it down in a heavy cleave.

Fortunately, the distance between Jier and his opponent was more than ten meters, and the opponent's leaping cleave missed.

But even so, the large sword's heavy cleave into the ground still sent a large patch of surface soil flying, like a giant wave composed of dirt and wild grass, rushing toward the man and horse on Jier's side.

"That's too exaggerated! Even Knight Kela couldn't do that, right?"

Jier wretchedly made Tianxuecao run diagonally to avoid the majority of the incoming dirt wave, but quite a few bits and pieces from the soil still struck him and his warhorse.

With a pitter-patter sound, Jier dared not stop, his feet in the Stirrups clamping hard on Tianxuecao's belly to remind his loyal warhorse to hurry up and accelerate.

'Shishou', having missed his strike, panted a few times; his feet were numb, and the bronze-colored golden light on his body had dimmed somewhat, clearly showing that the powerful attack he had just unleashed was not without cost. This was not a power he could fully master, but one that came from the deity pendant on his chest. This small metal pendant was currently wrapped in a thick layer of bronze-colored Divine Power; this Divine Power of the God of Strength did not come from nowhere, as it was actually something 'Shishou' himself possessed as a believer of the God of Strength.

This power was originally meant to be mobilized only through the Prayer and Divine Art of the Dwarf holding the metal box, thereby granting their group of Dwarf Miners using Double-handed Heavy Weapons a massive, short-term boost in strength.

Yet for some reason, in the absence of any Priest of the deity, simply by wearing a deity pendant, 'Shishou' had automatically mobilized the deity's Divine Power within his body, and the power was many times greater than when he was blessed by his companions' Prayer and Divine Art!

This situation left 'Shishou' somewhat confused; he stared wide-eyed at the large area of attack marks he had 'created', and only after panting for a moment did he come to his senses and remember his primary objective at this time.

Thus, he raised his head and swept his gaze, scanning past his stunned Dwarf companions, past the frightened Human youths from the Village who had gathered into a cluster, and finally seeing the foreign Human Knight who was riding his horse and patrolling uncertainly.

'Shishou' raised his double-handed large metal sword with one hand, the undamaged tip of the sword pointing straight at Jier, while Jier, not to be outdone, struck his Shield with his Long Sword and let out a roar together: "Hah! Come! Come again!!"

'Shishou' squeezed his empty left hand, feeling as if he possessed near-infinite, tremendous strength at this moment; relying on this power, he began to run with long strides.

He went faster and faster, interspersing his long strides with small leaps; at first, it was just a small jump, but he soon mastered the rhythm of force and landing, so very quickly, he no longer needed to walk or run, instead landing on his left foot, then pushing off the ground, using the reaction force to propel his body forward in a short leap, then landing on his right leg, similarly pushing off the ground, propelling his body at an even faster speed, leaping higher, and quickly approaching the fleeing foreign Knight like a kangaroo.

Everyone present who saw this scene was dumbfounded.

In fact, they were not just dumbfounded now; ever since a moment ago, including the local Dwarves and the local Humans, they had all been dumbfounded together.

No one had expected that one of their companions, a local Dwarf Miner, would possess such powerful strength!

Among the local Humans, the three archers specifically tasked with guarding the Stone Wall outside the Village looked at each other, their faces no longer showing the indifference and ease they had before. Leaving behind the Village youths who were equally shocked and even frightened, the three archers gathered together and discussed in low voices.

"Damn it, that scene just now reminds me of some war stories from the Western Province," said the oldest of the three archers with a serious expression on his face.

"What kind of story?" another asked in a low voice, keeping an eye on the surrounding Villagers to guard against their conversation being overheard by others.

The other archer also pricked up his ears.

"It's that they often have wars with the neighboring Dwarves there; when the Dwarves attack the city, there would be Dwarf Warriors with glowing bodies and immense strength thrown from outside the city by their catapults. I heard those warriors were very formidable, one could sweep across a large section of the city wall's defense; I used to think it was just nonsense told by traveling merchants to fool people, but sigh, seeing this today, I know the stories weren't all just bragging," the slightly older archer sighed and recounted.

"I've seen this Dwarf before; although he's decent with a large sword, he wasn't this powerful. What on earth is..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but his expression revealed everything he hadn't said, and the other two understood his meaning.

"Are you saying he was deliberately hiding his strength? Or was it a temporary burst? If this Dwarf had been this powerful before, I don't think 'Iron Fist' would be the old guy calling the shots among the Dwarves in the Valley."

"That's true. It looks like the young foreign Knight is no match for this Dwarf. You guys say, after he defeats this Knight, what about the future in the Valley?"

"Who says who's in charge, right?" the slightly older archer finally said: "It's always been the Dwarves calling the shots in the Valley; the Villagers here don't have the heart or the strength to question, refute, or resist the Dwarves. They didn't have it before, and now, they have it even less."

The youngest of the three archers asked a question at this moment: "What about us? If the Dwarves in the Valley can spontaneously become this powerful, what will happen to the three of us in the future? Before, they still needed our archery to help guard the wall, but now, that one Dwarf is ten times more powerful than the three of us combined, right?"

These words made all three of them fall silent; they were not locals born and raised in the Valley, but had broken into the Huitou Forest years ago due to youthful competitiveness and a bet on their courage, and had been captured by the Dwarves in the forest and left here ever since.

Although they were left here, because of their excellent archery skills, they were able to be of some use, gaining the favor of the Dwarves and the praise of the local Villagers, which allowed them to live here in peace.

They had all planned to marry and have children here, living out their lives. As it turned out, the scene today might be indicating that the Dwarves here didn't actually need them that much?

The three archers carrying Large Bows looked at each other in silence, their eyes shifting uncertainly; in the silence, it seemed the three of them had reached some kind of judgment.

The young Villagers not far away were cheering for the Dwarf who was displaying such divine might, though amidst the cheers, one or two young people were frowning, deeply contemplating the future situation of Humans in the Valley.

These young people thinking about the future had all heard from their elders about the migrants who first arrived in the area in the early years, and how, after being trapped here by the Dwarves, they had gone through struggles and lobbying to reach a delicate balance between the two races through various aspects.

The Valley itself was a mine for the Dwarves, naturally producing high-quality metal materials. The Dwarves provided the Human migrants with sufficient metal, wood, and rock materials for production and living, while the Humans who had stumbled into this place used them to build houses, cultivate farmland, and provide manpower to build the Stone Wall blocking the other end of the Valley.

The houses built by the Humans were not only for their own use and residence but were also built in the Dwarf style according to their living habits for the Dwarves. At the same time, the crops grown by the Humans were provided to the Dwarves for free.

The migrants had brought many crop seeds from the Empire that the Dwarves had never seen before, which would greatly enrich the dining tables of these miners.

All of this seems easy, but in reality, the two sides only officially began to live together in the Valley after years of confrontation, suspicion, getting to know each other, understanding, and balancing.

These frowning young people have a premonition at this moment that, not to mention the arrival of the outsider Knight, the fact that the Dwarves have now erupted with such power means the balance between the two races in the Valley will likely be broken very soon.

Or rather, the balance has already been broken.

The young Villagers who are still cheering at this moment probably do not know that it won't be long before they can no longer laugh.

These few young people are urgently wanting to return to the Cunzi to report everything they have seen to their elders, hoping to rely on the elders' life wisdom to find a way to deal with the future.

On the Dwarf side, watching Shishou display such divine might, the reactions from all sides varied.

The most eye-catching one at this moment is undoubtedly that amateur Dwarf Priest who has been clutching a Metal Box and urging people to believe in the God of Strength.

Having not undergone formal religious training within the Dwarf Kingdom, and relying only on scattered things he had heard and seen, he had single-handedly pulled together a small group of believers of the God of Strength here, and by relying on his status as a preacher, he had obtained this small position of amateur Priest.

However, this Dwarf is currently holding high the box containing the metal Statue of the God of Strength, jumping up and down in a rage. The reason is not hard to guess: an ordinary Miner believer of the God of Strength under his command does not need his Prayer or Divine Art at this moment, yet has spontaneously received a powerful blessing of Divine Power that even he himself cannot achieve.

How does Shishou usually look at him?

How do the other believers of the God of Strength look at him?

How will these believers look at him in the future?

How will the other Miners in the mine who are not believers of the God of Strength look at him?

The God of Strength's divine might has been greatly displayed, defeating the powerful outsider enemy, but it was not done under his guidance; how does everyone look at him?

And most importantly, how does the great and powerful God of Strength actually look at him?

This amateur Priest becomes more terrified and uneasy the more he thinks about it; he stomps his feet, he rages, he curses, he feels hostile.

Regardless of the surprised looks from the Dwarf companions around him, after a bout of shouting and jumping, he hurriedly gathered the remaining believers of the God of Strength, pushing and shoving them, urging and ordering these people to follow him in pursuit of the fleeing outsider Human Knight.

"Is it worth it! Is it worth it! Isn't Shishou doing quite well?"

"Exactly, he alone looks like he can defeat that Human Knight, there's no need for us to go into battle. If we had known he was this powerful, the casualties among the others shouldn't have happened; so many people were hurt for nothing. I think Tie Quan is going to have a headache later."

"Ah, the God of Strength is favoring that guy Shishou, it's really a headache. I have always respected the gods too, why am I not this powerful?"

"It must be that Shishou guy has been secretly working out in private, that's how he got the god's favor! Heh, I'm going to work out hard when I get back, to make my body as sturdy and resilient as mithril ore."

"Shut up, have you forgotten the rules of the Zhenbao Mine? Once you leave the mine, you cannot say a single word about things inside the mine!"

Under the pushing and pulling of the amateur Priest, other Dwarves, some holding and some carrying Double-handed Heavy Weapons made of metal, followed him one after another to pursue the direction where the Human Knight fled and Shishou was chasing.

And this direction is exactly the direction of the Cunzi in the Valley.

In the Valley, on the dirt mound outside the Dwarf Zhenbao Mine, the young Dwarf Yingkeersi is currently half-squatting at the highest point of the mound, holding a delicate crystal Telescope, carefully and cautiously observing all the events happening on the grassy valley floor in the distance.

He saw group after group, team after team of Dwarf companions being knocked down by the outsider Knight, which simply terrified him.

You must know that he couldn't even beat a Dwarf Miner who was his elder, yet he didn't expect that these tenacious elders with brute strength were no match for that Human. Whenever he thinks about how he had crossed paths with the opponent in the Forest, he feels his whole body trembling.

At that time, the opponent must have been too cautious because of being ambushed, which is why he couldn't defeat and finish him off.

When he saw Shishou, who wields a great sword, covered in golden light and pushing back the outsider Knight in one go, he shouted excitedly: "That's awesome! That's it!"

Just as he finished shouting, a scolding voice directed at him came from below the dirt mound: "Xiaoxuezi! What are you shouting for! If you have the energy to scream like a ghost up there, why don't you come down and help your mother! I'm already overwhelmed over here!"

"Mom! You wouldn't believe what I just saw! Uncle Shishou is glowing all over, as if he has infinite strength, and is chasing the outsider Knight and beating him! Ha, that young Human Knight is running away! I saw it clearly!"

At the entrance of the mine, a sturdy female Dwarf is currently holding a potion, with a clean long cloth draped over her arm, wrapping the wounds of a Dwarf who is lying on the ground and groaning in pain.

It is chaotic here; several female Dwarves are either helping to bandage or holding open animal skin Scrolls, following the contents of the Scrolls to brew Healing Ointment on the spot in a small copper pot. Several injured Dwarves are sitting and lying on the ground; these are the unlucky guys who were knocked to the ground by Jier earlier. Old Tie Quan is also here, currently sitting drowsily leaning against a stone, holding a square cloth stained with Ointment with his own hand, pressing hard on the wound on his head.

Everyone heard the shouting of the young Dwarf on top of the mine, and for a moment, they were all stunned.

The middle-aged male Dwarves looked at each other in disbelief, then either turned their gazes toward old Tie Quan, or toward the young Dwarf's mother, the busy female Dwarf who is currently directing and leading the treatment.

"What are you looking at!" The busy female Dwarf didn't care when she heard her child's words, and with a slap, she shoved the potion in her hand into the mouth of an injured Dwarf beside her, not even bothering to remove the wooden stopper from the potion bottle.

"Didn't Yingkeersi have the same ability? And what was the result? He still didn't make it back alive. Or rather, he didn't even make it back to our Dwarf side alive. Now that another one has appeared in the mine, so what? Can he save everyone? Yingkeersi couldn't do it decades ago, so now, what can that Shishou do?"

As she said this, her hands didn't stop, randomly wrapping the injured Dwarf's wound with clean long cloth strips.

Beside her, Tie Quan let out a soft 'hmm', seemingly agreeing with the female Dwarf's words.

Seeing that the old leader agreed with this view, the other Dwarves at the scene lowered their heads, putting down the hope of returning home that had just risen.

But what everyone failed to see was that the half-squinting old Tie Quan's eyes were not the least bit senile at this moment, and the hope in his eyes was far more vibrant than anyone else present.