Chapter 871: The Comical Battle in the Barber-Tari Valley (Part 15)

"Have you defeated him?"

The Dwarf Warriors asked each other.

"Shishou" rubbed his back and said loudly, "Probably not. This Human Knight reacts very quickly. And he doesn't care about retreating or running away at all!"

As if in response to "Shishou"'s words, a coughing sound erupted from the dust raised by the collapse, coming from the second floor of a relatively intact Dwarf Residence next to the one that had just crumbled.

This sound immediately drew the attention of everyone present; suddenly, the dust was blown away, and the Human Knight walked out, coughing and continuously waving the cloak behind him.

"Cough, cough, cough, cough, this dust is so thick, cough, cough..."

Jier looked down and saw the six Dwarves present looking at him, then he waved his hand, feigning ease.

The next moment, the three Dwarf Warriors on the ground immediately leaped up, jumping onto the structure one by one.

Jier dodged the weapons they swung along with their jumps, and while the second floor of the house was constantly trembling, he said mockingly, "Be careful, everyone. Don't accidentally smash this place down. Because you are all still on the second floor of the house, too."

But these words did not reach the ears of the three Dwarf Warriors on the scene.

One led the attack while the other two assisted; their coordinated combat was very fluid. Often, after one person swung their weapon to attack, another would immediately follow up, leaving Jier with no opportunity to take advantage.

However, Jier still managed to see something based on his experience. Although the coordinated combat of the three Dwarf Warriors was very fluid, there were still some problems in the transitions of their cooperation, especially after all three had performed one round of attacks; at that moment, there was a flaw that Jier could exploit more than once.

Jier began to wonder if this was a so-called "flaw" deliberately left by the Dwarf Warriors during the battle, a means to lure him into taking the bait.

But he quickly thought that there were five Dwarf Warriors in total who used Double-handed Heavy Weapons, and they naturally trained for combat as a group of five. The "flaw" left after the three of them attacked might just be caused by the fact that the other two were not participating in the battle without their weapons.

"In other words, it's not a flaw?"

His tongue slid across his teeth, and Jier laughed softly.

But he did not rush to directly exploit this flaw; instead, he turned and jumped onto the roof of another nearby Dwarf Residence.

As it turned out, in the short twenty-plus seconds just now, the Dwarf Residence where the two sides were fighting was already teetering. The layer of stone walls supporting the roof was constantly trembling, with fine powder bursting out from the seams of the stones. As for the stone floor of the second story, it had already shattered in some places and could collapse at any moment.

It was simply not safe enough, not a good place for a fight.

"Come over here, let's continue our fight here!"

Jier waved to the Dwarf Warriors on the roof of the opposite house, signaling them to come over. Yet, despite the friendly words, it made the three Dwarf Warriors on the opposite side furious.

The Dwarf Warrior holding the Metal Stick was the first to rush over. He first took two quick steps, then jumped, leaping several meters to land.

Not only that, but upon landing, he also hugged his Double-handed Metal Club and rolled, sweeping across the roof like a spinning top.

Jier dodged with a light hop, but the flowerpots and potted plants that couldn't move suffered a terrible fate. Because of the Dwarves' height, they were all swept away and broken by the heavy Metal Stick; soil and stone flowerpots splattered everywhere, and the flowers and plants fell to the ground around them, stripped of their petals and leaves—a pitiful sight.

The Dwarf Warrior holding the Metal Stick spun with increasing vigor, his feet constantly trying to move, attempting to get closer to Jier.

But Jier was not worried about this. If he had a large team on his side, this Dwarf's move would be a big problem—no, it could even be called a disaster; in just over ten seconds, it might have caused dozens of deaths.

Since he was only one person, Jier just kept moving at a speed slightly faster than the opponent's rotation. What he was wary of, instead, was the fear that this Dwarf Warrior might suddenly let go while spinning and fling the heavy Metal Stick out to attack.

Although Jier did not think the Dwarf Warrior on the other side had the ability to aim accurately while spinning, he was afraid the opponent would just give up and throw the weapon randomly, gambling on whether it would luckily smash into him at close range.

Although Jier had always believed his luck was actually quite good, it was better not to take this gamble.

After spinning for dozens of seconds, the constantly rotating Dwarf Warrior finally couldn't help the dizziness and slowly stopped his rotation.

This was an excellent opportunity to attack, but before Jier could even lift his foot, the other two Dwarf Warriors jumped over one after another. When the third Dwarf Warrior jumped, the house finally couldn't withstand the force of the jump and collapsed violently amidst the tremors.

Jier and the Dwarf Warriors on the other house naturally didn't care, but for "Shishou" and the others approaching from the ground, it wasn't very pleasant. The blast of air from the house collapsing rolled over, and these three, including that Dwarf Priest, were all covered in dust from the collapse, looking like little gray men.

The Miners naturally didn't care about this, nor did they brush the dust off their bodies. "Shishou" and his companion who had lost his weapon picked up the stones that had scattered and rolled on the ground after the house collapsed and threw them directly at the Human Knight on the roof nearby.

Whether it would be effective was another matter, but at least they were helping with the fight, weren't they?

Jier kept retreating and dodging the offensive, not because he really couldn't handle these three Dwarf Warriors; he was just stalling for time, waiting.

Waiting for what? He was waiting for the time when the Prayer Blessing on these Dwarves would fade away, as he had estimated.

He hadn't paid much attention to this during the previous fight, only having a rough time frame, which was about one to two minutes. At this moment, he was counting the time in his mouth while dodging and judging the status of the enhancement on the Dwarf Warriors opposite him.

Since the Dwarf Warrior using the stick alone had consumed more than twenty seconds, Jier immediately felt the much more urgent mood of the other two warriors. This was easy; for Jier, who was fighting head-on, every attack, the speed of their footsteps, the swinging of their weapons, and even the pace of every breath allowed him to intuitively feel the situation of his opponents.

He clearly felt the increasingly urgent offensive of the three Dwarf Warriors as time passed.

Their footsteps were a bit messy, and the coordination of the battle was not as good as it was at the beginning. This could be because the end of the enhancement time made them anxious, or it could be that these three Dwarf Warriors were too confident in their combat coordination, thinking that the Human Knight opposite them had no way to break their combat combination.

Jier also felt it in the swinging of their weapons; the three Dwarf Warriors were putting more and more force into every attack.

This was wrong. The Heavy Weapon was already unstoppable; using more force wouldn't add much to the weapon's power, and in fact, because they didn't reserve enough strength to retract, it caused a huge flaw in an otherwise impeccable offensive.

At this moment, if Jier wanted to, he could launch a quick attack, using a flexible and rapid lunge to pass through the "gaps" in the Dwarves' offensive and cut the neck of a Dwarf Warrior with one sword strike.

The breathing of the three Dwarf Warriors had also become ragged; Jier could feel it.

Although the enhancement in strength allowed them to easily swing heavy Double-handed Metal Weapons weighing a hundred kilograms, even without considering anything else, combat was an activity that consumed a lot of physical strength and energy.

Even though Jier understood that the Dwarf Warriors opposite him were rare, powerful warriors with rich combat experience, the consumption of physical strength was still consumption. It seemed the God of Strength didn't have the ability to replenish these guys' physical strength?

This point actually made Jier somewhat happy; it turned out the God of Agriculture's side wasn't completely useless after all.

The original place of engagement was on the wild ground in the valley outside the village. These Dwarf Warriors had set out from the village carrying heavy weapons and ran around in the wild chasing him, which had consumed a lot of physical strength. On top of that, the battlefield shifted from outside the village to inside, and these Dwarves had to carry their weapons back.

Although Jier estimated that the opponent had already performed the Prayer Blessing for strength by this time, the subsequent series of battles, running, and jumping were all activities that consumed a lot of physical strength.

It was no wonder these Dwarves were breathing heavily and panting.

Subsequently, Jier and the others shifted once again to the second floor of a new Dwarf Residence; the previous house couldn't withstand the repeated smashing of the three Dwarf Warriors and collapsed directly.

The other three Dwarves on the ground were once again covered in dust.

The Wild Priest, holding the Metal Box high, opened his mouth to spit out half a mouthful of dust, coughed hard twice, and said urgently, "You two, hurry to the vicinity and find some water. I have a lot of dust in my mouth and nose; this won't do! It will affect the next round of Prayer Blessing! Hurry! Find water and bring it for me to wash!"

The words were not polite, but that was the situation. "Shishou" and his companion naturally realized the importance of finding water, and upon hearing this, they dispersed separately to search for fresh water in the nearby houses that hadn't collapsed yet.

Since the Wild Priest spoke in Dwarven Language, Jier didn't understand after hearing it, and he couldn't tell what "Shishou" and his companion were doing as they walked away separately, so he had to stay cautious.

As for the Priest alone on the road below the house, Jier, considering the situation with Bata'er Jiaoshi, did not dare to charge directly at the opponent without resolving the others.

What if the opponent used a Divine Power Impact and blew him away in one go? Right? If he were blown away and slammed into a nearby wall, not to mention the damage, it would at least be very unsightly.

Moreover, if this Priest had some means, Jier might not be able to hurt the opponent in a short time; after all, with things like divine protection, if a warrior like "Shishou" could use it, there was no reason a Priest couldn't.

Not to mention the Metal Box that the Priest opposite held high every moment, inside which a Statue of the God of Strength made of metal emitted a bronze-colored glow every moment, making Jier very wary.

Who knew what kind of peculiar abilities and skills these alien gods and their priests possessed?

Then, after destroying another Dwarf Residence, Jier deliberately moved close to the three Dwarf Warriors, cautiously tapping his Long Sword against their heavy weapons; it was not a real exchange, he just wanted to ensure these three Dwarves had no chance to disengage from the battle.

"The time should be about right, shouldn't it?"

Jier muttered to himself, because through the exchange, he clearly felt that as time passed, the attacks of these three Dwarf Warriors were becoming increasingly full of openings, and each of their feet seemed to be walking on hot coals, as if they were thinking about slipping away at any moment.

But with Jier fighting one of the Dwarves, it was impossible for the other two cooperating Dwarves to just walk away; that would be betraying their companion!

Moreover, Jier saw that every swing of the weapons by these three Dwarf Warriors was becoming increasingly strenuous.

"Their strength is fading rapidly!"

Glancing left and right, Jier noticed that the previously bulging muscles all over the Dwarves' bodies were no longer as swollen as before.

"Is that it? Is that all?"

Jier felt at this moment that these Dwarves were nothing more than this!

It was just a simple and crude "three-axe" technique; at the beginning, it could startle and surprise a person, and if an incautious person were to recklessly engage them head-on, they would indeed be easily defeated by the successive heavy strikes of these Dwarf Warriors.

Judging from the skillful coordination of these Dwarf Warriors and the fact that they specifically had the support of a precious Priest, these Dwarf Warriors using Heavy Weapons must be the ultimate strength of the local Dwarves, right?

Defeating them, the Dwarves likely had no more powerful means to bring out. After all, relying solely on a Priest, without a vessel to exert their power (namely the Dwarf Warrior currently fighting Jier), their combat capability was far from sufficient.

After making such a judgment, Jier prepared for a counterattack.

Shishou rushed into a Dwarf companion's house; he had kicked and rammed the door open, for which he felt quite nostalgic for the previous state of being blessed by Divine Power. At that time, he could probably have easily pushed open the door that he had just spent so much effort to open.

Even without the special state of the previous Divine Power blessing, as long as the Wild Priest gave him a Prayer to strengthen his power, he could probably have pushed open the house door blocking his way with ease.

Shaking his head, Shishou knew these thoughts were just a natural hallucination that occurred after enjoying great power. In the past, after they won a battle against a Monster, they would always have these constantly surging hallucinations. Often at such times, one needed to calm down and go down to the mine to dig Mineral Ore for a day, allowing the body and Spirit to re-recognize how much actual power they possessed, in order to discard these hallucinatory distractions.

But this time it seemed a bit different; Shishou, who was rummaging through the house for water containers, found that his inner desire for power had never been as intense as it was now. It wasn't even this strong when he was at the edge of the battlefield just now.

His breathing became rapid, his footsteps felt light, yet he felt his body was so heavy. With no other choice, he had to support himself with both hands on an overturned wooden table in the room.

Shaking his head, Shishou subconsciously felt that the wooden table, which looked heavy in front of him, was actually not heavy at all; he could pick it up and set it straight with just one foot, or even a single finger.

Just as he subconsciously extended his finger, Shishou slapped himself, letting the hallucinations shrouding his consciousness and brain dissipate.

He could not possibly pick up the heavy solid wood table with a single finger; a younger Dwarf might not even be able to flip this table over by himself.

"Go back, I must dig for a few days!" Laughing at himself, Shishou looked down and saw an overturned copper pot on the floor next to the wooden table; seeing the lid was still on the pot, Shishou stepped forward and shook the object.

Clatter, clatter, the sound of water rang out from inside.

Grabbing it, Shishou pulled off the tightly stuck lid, and upon smelling it, he knew it contained a pot of well-sealed ale.

Gulp, Shishou swallowed a mouthful of saliva; he really wanted to tilt his head back and drink down the large half-bottle of ale, especially with no one else around, no one to tell him otherwise.

"Just, just one sip!"

He said hesitantly.

But then, the sound of gulping continued in the room without stopping.

At the entrance of the Treasure Mine, even here one could clearly feel the violent tremors coming from the direction of the Cunzi.

"Wh, what's wrong?"

"What happened? Is the Earth Mother God angry? I've always heard of it, but I've never seen it in my life."

"Shut up! I've seen it; a city vanished in an instant. When I escaped to the surface, the ground had sunken into a huge pit, and then it rained heavily, and the big pit turned into a murky Da Hu in just one night. Provoking the Earth Mother God is that terrifying; a town of ten thousand people vanished in an instant. I don't want to see it again in my life anyway. I was able to survive back then, probably because I wasn't a local, and the Earth Mother God didn't take my life."

"Look! Look at the direction of the Cunzi!"

"By the God of Caves! What is going on there?"

"Such thick smoke and dust, it has rolled up into a pillar of smoke!"

"It stopped shaking? It seems it's not the Earth Mother God getting angry! I told you, our mine is just casually dug; with so few of us, how much soil and stone can we dig out underground?"

Tiequan, who had a head injury, closed his eyes in annoyance; if it weren't for the fact that he couldn't close his ears, he really wouldn't want to listen to the noisy commotion of the crowd around him. He had to know that he was injured, and as an old man, this was the time he needed quiet rest.

But he couldn't, not only because of his duty, but also because the other injured Dwarves around him had been wounded by the invading Human Knight precisely because they were trying to avenge him.

Opening his eyes, Tiequan patted a Dwarf beside him, signaling the other to help him up.

The Dwarf beside him was also injured, but after the 'treatment' by the female Dwarves, the situation was no longer critical; receiving the summons, he immediately used his strength to help the leader, who had been leaning back, to stand up.

"Find me anything, let me lean on it to move!"

Tiequan said.

Seeing that this Dwarf was about to really look for something suitable for the old leader, a female Dwarf passing by immediately stopped him: "No! You are different from these sturdy guys; you have a head injury, and the dizziness will last for at least several days. And you are so old, sitting here is already not quite appropriate; you should go to the mine and find a bed to lie down and rest!"

Tiequan was unhappy as soon as he heard this: "Little girl! I cannot rest! This is not just for myself, but also for these compatriots around me who are willing to bleed for me; they bled for me, so I must be with them. Besides, duty calls, I must see what happened in the Cunzi! This also concerns all of us!"

Unexpectedly, the female Dwarf was not polite at all: "I'm almost two hundred years old, I haven't been a little girl for a long time! If you're hurt, you should lie down and rest! Don't walk around randomly, and don't call others to go with you! They just applied the Healing Ointment, the ointment on their wounds hasn't even dried yet!"

But the old Dwarf didn't listen to the advice of the so-called 'little girl' at all, directly signaling the Dwarf who couldn't find a suitable support to help him walk, and calling another Dwarf to help support his two arms, arriving at a place where they could see the Cunzi.

As soon as the old Dwarf saw the huge pillar of smoke rising into the sky in the Cunzi, he realized what the situation was.

This was the kind of destruction that could only be caused by Dwarf Warriors who were true professionals among the Dwarves, capable of leading armies or guarding important Treasure Mines alone.

The original Captain of the mine's guard Soldiers, the very Dwarf he had sent out to seek contact, had the ability to create such a scene.

Originally, the appearance of such a Dwarf companion capable of such power should have let the old Dwarf rest easy and go back to lie down, because in his view, the young Human Knight who had broken in this time could not possibly defeat this newly appeared Dwarf Warrior of theirs.

But then, the non-stop sounds of battle in the center of the Cunzi, and the houses continuously collapsing due to the battle, made him realize that things were not as smooth as he had thought.

"Gather everyone! Listen to me, gather everyone immediately! We are going to the Cunzi!" The old Dwarf shouted loudly.

Everyone around looked at him, not understanding what use they, these remnants and wounded, could be in a battle of that level.

"We have underestimated the Human Knight who broke in here too much; to be able to fight our warriors like this, we must use all the power we can commit at once! Otherwise, once he moves the battlefield and defeats all our combat-capable people one by one, in the end, no one will have a way to survive. I mean all the Dwarves."