Chapter 869: The Comical Battle in the Babtari Valley (Part 13)

The heavy stones that had previously served as the wall of the house were scooped up by Shishou and thrown rapidly at the Human Knight charging toward him.

Jier dared not block them just like that; although his strength already far exceeded that of an average Human, a stone weighing over a hundred kilograms being thrown at him was not something he could block head-on just because he wanted to.

The problem here was very realistic: he simply wasn't heavy enough!

His own weight plus the weight of his equipment was only a little over a hundred kilograms; even with great strength, he could not withstand a heavy stone thrown by someone else.

If he tried to block it, he would be pushed away by the overall energy inertia brought about by the stone's weight and speed.

So he could only dodge.

Lowering his body, bending his legs, and then exerting force laterally to evade, he literally brushed past the heavy stone!

Jier charged forward again, the distance closing rapidly, but the Dwarf Warrior opposite him no longer had any heavy rocks of suitable size and weight at hand; with no other choice, Shishou could only grab a stone in each hand that was slightly larger than his own head and swing his arms to throw them at the Human Knight.

This was all the resistance he could offer before the Human Knight made his final charge; after that, he would have to see if he could rely on the defensive protection granted by Divine Power to grasp the opponent's weapon with his bare hands and engage in close-quarters combat.

Hu-ha, he didn't feel too afraid of that; Shishou let this thought flash through his mind, for after all, in the wrestling games the Dwarf Miners played during their breaks, while his record wasn't the best, he had the confidence to pin others down.

With two clangs, Jier knocked away the Dwarf Warrior's final counterattack with his Long Sword, then killed his way to the opponent's front, seeing at a glance the Dwarf standing in the ruins, poised to first snatch the sword and then wrestle.

That was quite a beautiful thought, but where would such a good thing happen!

Jier lifted his foot and, with a motion like kicking a soccer ball, kicked a fist-sized stone at the opponent; aided by his forward momentum, the force of this stone was not light.

With no other choice, the Dwarf Warrior had to abandon his plan to snatch the sword first and urgently waved his hand to swat away the incoming stone.

Seeing a bronze shimmer flicker on the opponent's thick palm, Jier gave a light snort and, firing from both sides, lifted his feet to kick several more stones. The Dwarf Warrior's reaction was not bad, but all in all, it was just so-so; after continuing to wave his palm to swat away the next stone, the remaining stones all struck his body.

Shishou had no choice but to use the forearms of both hands to block up and down, trying his best to protect the important parts of his torso and neck from being hit.

Bang!

Yet one stone still smashed into the side of the Dwarf Warrior's head; it didn't hurt much, but the momentary mental daze caused by the impact gave Jier a great opportunity, and with a push of one leg, he rushed forward, using the momentum to slash at one of the Dwarf's arms.

Zzz—

With a shimmer, the slash that Jier could have used to cut an ordinary person in two was completely blocked by the Divine Power blessing on the opponent's body.

But this was exactly what he wanted.

You can block one or two of my sword strikes, but what about more?

Exhausting the Divine Power blessed upon his body would defeat the opponent!

Seeing the bronze Divine Power flickering on his left arm, along with the force that had penetrated the divine protection to impact his arm, Shishou knew trouble was coming; he was all too clear about what the opponent was planning. If it were before, he would only laugh at the opponent's foolish plan, but now it was not looking too good.

With Divine Power blessed upon him, he knew all too well how much longer the remaining Power of the God of Strength on his body could last and how many more hits it could withstand.

Should he run away?

But that was the behavior of a coward and a craven!

How could the God of Strength favor such a Dwarf?

Those who possess or pursue strength must be brave, and they are certainly brave and fearless.

So, there was only one answer, wasn't there? All these years he had offered his Faith to the God of Strength, refining and polishing his body, which had given him, an 'ordinary' Dwarf, a chance to create a God's Miracle.

Although it seemed now that this chance for a miracle had failed, he still had one last chance to fight for his life.

To win now, he had to risk everything!

During the brief time the bronze shimmer flickered continuously on his arm, the determined look in this Dwarf Warrior's eyes underwent some changes.

It was the look of a fight to the death.

But perhaps, the gods were also watching this battle, and today was not necessarily the end for Shishou?

Seeing the bronze shimmer on the Dwarf Warrior's body growing thinner under his continuous slashes, Jier moved his hands faster and with more weight.

But the excitement of being about to defeat a powerful enemy did not make him lose the composure required in battle, especially after he had used the Red-eye Mushroom; his accelerated nerves and mental reactions allowed him to accurately see the subtle changes in the enemy's expression and aura even during the fight.

Although the changes in the Dwarf Warrior's expression and eyes were subtle, Jier immediately understood what this guy intended to do—risk his life for a fight to the death, right?

But how could he let you have your way!

He flicked his Long Sword, letting the tip scrape a mottled bronze shimmer across the opponent's arm, and then Jier tapped his toes lightly, jumped backward twice, and retreated five meters.

Seeing this, the Dwarf Warrior angrily questioned, "Do you not have the honor a Warrior should have? You coward!"

Jier did not dwell on these things; honor was more useful to the living than to the dead.

With the Dwarf's determination to fight to the death delayed like this, he didn't know whether to put down his raised foot, and his hands, prepared to pounce out and grab the Long Sword, were awkwardly held in mid-air, not knowing what to do.

There was only one chance for a fight to the death; if it was seen through by the opponent like this, it would be hard for it to have any effect. After all, the Human Knight could attack and swing his sword more cautiously, while Shishou had no more opportunities to fight, as the Divine Power blessing on his body had bottomed out and was about to dissipate entirely through waste and the opponent's attacks.

Seeming to see that the Dwarf Warrior before him was at the end of his rope, Jier approached again; sure enough, the initiation distance and sword swings of this attack were reserved, specifically guarding against Shishou's final desperate struggle.

'Is it over?'

Shishou thought this, and neither of his hands tried to block anymore.

But just at this moment, the sound of several things leaping close at high speed and the whistling of heavy weapons being swung came over.

Jier turned his head to look, and in an instant, he was so scared his neck went stiff, and he felt all the hair on his head standing up inside his Helmet.

It turned out that behind the two fighting, several Dwarf Warriors dressed for easy movement and each holding a heavy two-handed metal weapon were charging over, running and leaping, their muscles bulging and looking as if they possessed infinite strength.

Still ten meters away, these Dwarf Warriors raised their respective weapons one after another, making a move to strike.

It seemed impossible to hit, but Jier had a bad premonition; he stopped in place, squatted deep with both legs, and then exerted force to jump away.

The next moment, the Dwarf Warriors, still far away, threw their respective heavy weapons in mid-air as they charged; the target, naturally, was the position Jier had just been in!

Jier made a big jump to dodge, and before he had even landed, he turned his head to glance at the place he had just been, which had suffered an incredibly severe blow.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Four huge, successive roars—those were the sounds of the heavy metal weapons crashing into the ground one after another!

The solid mud of the ground splashed up like soft, rotten sludge, and the places where the ground was struck were smashed into several deep pits. The four different heavy, giant weapons were completely undamaged, each half-embedded in the ground; on the half-buried weapons, there was even heat generated by the friction of the impact, which slightly ignited the organic matter in the mud, sending up some wisps of blue smoke.

"You've got to be kidding? I fought one, and now four more have come?"

Jier looked displeased; at this moment, his energy and stamina were infinite, and it wasn't that he was afraid of being worn down by a wheel war, but one Dwarf Warrior dressed like this and using such weapons was already so troublesome—and now four more?

How was he supposed to fight?

After all, facing one enemy is not the same as facing four in terms of combat difficulty; this difficulty does not rise linearly, but exponentially.

Against one enemy, he could rely on footwork and retreating to open up distance, thereby controlling the rhythm of the fight and avoiding a disaster. But facing four newly joined enemies at once, with them attacking in waves or surrounding him, how was he supposed to fight?

"I can only retreat, right?"

Jier landed, standing on the chaotic and uneven ruins of the Dwarf houses, muttering to himself.

But before he could make a judgment, the four Dwarf Warriors in front, seeing the Human Knight dodge the four-fold weapon strike, ran and jumped with expressions of regret to where their weapons had landed.

They crowded together, each scrambling to pull their respective weapons out of the mud where they had half-embedded, but the next moment, it became chaotic.

"This isn't my gear! Who took my weapon?"

"Idiot, yours is this one!"

"Catch! Give my weapon back, we're in a fight, and you can't even use a warhammer."

"Don't throw things around! What if you hit one of our own? Being strong doesn't mean we've become as sturdy as Mineral Ore."

"Exactly, be careful! Ah, my precious battle axe! Come to father quickly!"

Jier could not understand the Dwarven Language of these Dwarves, but at a glance, he knew these guys were a mess, quite different from the Dwarf Warrior he had just fought.

It wasn't that there was any obvious difference in appearance; they all wore tight, sleeveless Leather Clothing sewn with a few pieces of armor, and each had a face full of thick whiskers. To Jier, they looked about the same, and if not for each holding a different heavy weapon, Jier wouldn't even be able to tell which Dwarf was which.

He mainly felt that these new Dwarf Warriors had an off-putting temperament, giving one a feeling of being both chaotic and formidable.

Were these people truly formidable?

Jier was somewhat skeptical.

But then, a Dwarf running while holding a Metal Box that was open at the front arrived. As soon as this Dwarf arrived, the four Dwarf Warriors who had been talking non-stop and acting in a chaotic manner became serious.

Although they still lacked proper form, either holding their weapons up, carrying them on their shoulders, or even, in the middle of a fight, resting their weapons on the ground without a care, these Dwarf Warriors at least stopped talking.

Although they were still winking and making faces at each other—especially at 'Shishou', who had lost his two-handed long sword, was empty-handed, and whose bronze-colored shimmer was very faint—they were shrugging their noses and pouting.

Their expressions were constant.

'Shishou' had an embarrassed look on his face, not knowing whether to greet his companions or apologize.

He felt guilt for his overconfidence in adventuring and fighting alone, abandoning his companions; he also felt guilt for failing to take down the enemy even after gaining great power; of course, what worried 'Shishou' most at this moment, and what he could not bring himself to say, was the matter of having involved the houses of everyone in the center of the Cunzi and causing them to collapse, along with the consequences.

Regarding the first two points, his teammates might be able to forgive him individually, but the last point was a trouble that no one dared to guarantee they could shoulder.

'Shishou' only had to look at his companions' winking and pouting to know that these guys were conveying one meaning to him: 'You brat, you've made a mess of the surroundings and still haven't taken down the enemy; you're finished!'

This made the corners of 'Shishou's' mouth pull downward, his eyebrows sag, and his face fill with worry.

While these few Dwarves were 'communicating' in silence, the last Dwarf to arrive, the one holding the box, merely glanced at 'Shishou' in the ruins, then held the heavy-looking Metal Box high with one hand, while pointing his other hand directly at the Human Knight in the ruins nearby.

He loudly said in Human Common Language, which humans could understand: "This is an enemy of the masses, an enemy of the mines, an enemy of the Dwarves!"

"I ask everyone to use their full strength, do not hold back. Put away your contempt and maintain respect for the enemy's power; put away your arrogance and maintain humility when facing the God of Strength; put away your conceit and maintain the clarity to correctly recognize your own power."

"Thus, brace your muscles, raise your respective weapons, kill the enemy, and exalt the might and majesty of our God!"

"Let all see that power surpasses a hundred words—"

After this speech, which sounded like a pre-battle declaration or religious propaganda, was finished, Jier saw with his own eyes that the muscles of the four new Dwarf Warriors swelled up again under the flash of a bronze-colored light.

It wasn't that the muscles were swelling up again; Jier hadn't noticed that when the four of them were talking nonsense or striking different poses earlier, the muscles that had been bulging when they charged were actually slightly shrinking.

This time, once the box-holding Dwarf finished speaking, their muscles bulged, their momentum surged, and their visible movements and demeanor all became arrogant.

'Hey, hey, hey, they clearly told you not to despise the enemy during battle, and especially not to be arrogant or conceited—are you all deaf?'

Jier curled his lip. His left hand wanted to equip his Shield, but after looking at the heavy two-handed metal weapons in the opponents' hands, he gave up. Instead, he picked up a metal dinner plate with intricate patterns from the ruins, held it in his left hand, and gripped his Long Sword with his right, preparing to fight.

After the box-holding Dwarf finished casting the Prayer Divine Art, 'Shishou', who was on the side, originally wanted to join the fight as well, but he looked suspiciously at his own arms, whose muscles had not followed suit and bulged, and then looked at the Dwarf Priest—who was not recognized by the church and followed a wild, spontaneous Faith—holding the Metal Box containing the Statue of the God of Strength high. He silently picked up two fist-sized Stone pieces from the ground, preparing to assist in the fight.

But 'Shishou's' spontaneous act of picking up Stone pieces to participate in the fight made the Dwarf Priest, who had cast the strength-enhancing Divine Art, feel dissatisfied. He waved his hand backward at 'Shishou' without speaking, but with the obvious intention of telling him to retreat and not participate in the fight after losing his great power and his weapon.

'Shishou's' face flushed red; he not only shook his head but also gripped the Stone pieces and moved a few steps closer to Jier.

The Dwarf Priest paid no more attention to 'Shishou's' spontaneous participation, and none of the others noticed the slight curl of the priest's mouth or the look of anticipation and success in his eyes.

The Dwarf Warriors, their strength newly surged, crossed the collapsed Dwarf house ruins with shouts and roars, talking to themselves in insults Jier could not understand while closing in on him in turns.

They looked chaotic in their movements, but Jier noticed that these guys were very cautious as they approached him; not only did the four of them take turns leading the approach, but when one person moved forward, the other two who were retreating and replacing him also appeared to be providing support.

Seemingly chaotic and disorderly, their actual operation was orderly, and the various shouting movements and incomprehensible but attention-grabbing curses all looked like a means to deceive the enemy.

A beast with poor intelligence or a person with insufficient combat experience might easily fall for their tricks, and by the time they were knocked down or killed, they wouldn't even realize it was an act these people had put on.

"Heh."

Jier gave a disdainful chuckle, flicked his left hand, and threw the metal plate he had picked up, which looked quite valuable.

The Dwarf being targeted was the Dwarf Warrior currently in the lead, holding a two-handed double-edged Great Axe. He immediately cut off his half-spoken insult and, without slow movement, blocked the Great Axe in front of his body.

The axe face, thick and tough like a rock wall, completely blocked the front of the Dwarf Warrior's body. Even though the plate Jier threw had an arc in its rotating flight, it still struck the edge of the axe, sparking a fire and producing a crisp clanging sound.

"Hm, this Human has quite a bit of strength! Everyone be careful."

The Dwarf Warrior who blocked the strike gave a warning to the others in Dwarven Language, and the other Dwarves nodded one after another.

'Shishou', holding the Stone pieces not far away, heard this warning and immediately remembered something. He had lost his weapon and lacked strength enhancement, making it hard to participate directly in the fight, but he could tell his companions the enemy intelligence he had gained from fighting the Human Knight earlier!

Thinking of this, 'Shishou' immediately shouted a warning: "Watch out for his Long Sword! It can emit a strong light that blinds the eyes!"

The Dwarves approaching Jier nodded, indicating they understood. A Dwarf holding a huge Metal Stick spoke up: "Anything else, say it all! Don't tell us you fought him and turned the surroundings into ruins, but don't know anything more."

'Shishou' nodded: "He has great strength! And he jumps far!"

The Dwarves rolled their eyes: "No need to say that, everyone can see it."

'Shishou' was a bit embarrassed: "His stamina is still very sufficient; be careful, this is his trick, relying on exhausting our Dwarven stamina to win."

The Dwarves nodded: "We saw it all outside the Cunzi; despicable guy, relying on horses to replace movement to exhaust the stamina of those chasing him."

'Shishou' continued: "Most importantly, this guy has absolutely no dignity or honor as a Warrior; he always dodges and runs away, never engaging in a head-on fight! He's just like a slug under rotting leaves, slimy and cold."

They looked at each other and expressed their contempt for Jier as an enemy: "How shameful! Are all Human Knights like this? The stories the people in the Cunzi tell don't seem to be the same? Ha, they must be bragging! Trying to elevate themselves in the stories! That's it!"

And so, the Dwarves' footwork quickened.