Chapter 883: Conflict and Light (Part 3)

At this moment, Jier was inside the room on the first floor of the Human wooden house where livestock were kept, while the Dwarf soldiers were on the dirt path against the wall outside the house. Both sides were exerting their full strength, using the Dwarf soldiers' Soldier Spears as tools for their tug-of-war, and neither side would give an inch.

Jier did not want to lose this opportunity to snatch away the Dwarf soldiers' spears. Without their weapons, these shorties were like mosquitoes without their proboscises, venomous bees without their stingers, crabs without their claws, or wild wolves without their fangs. And the Dwarf soldiers did not want to lose their weapons just like that; their entire martial arts and combat training relied on this set of sturdy, high-quality mine-guarding soldier equipment. If they lost the Soldier Spears in their hands, they wouldn't even know how to fight!

The Dwarf soldiers were not fools; they quickly reacted, and even with their heels they could figure out that it was that damned Human Knight causing trouble inside the house. But at this moment, they couldn't spare the breath to curse the Human for being cunning. Their faces under their Helmets were flushed red from the exertion, and the short, thick beards on their chins and around their lips stood straight up because their whole bodies were straining, trembling continuously as they struggled to inhale and exert force.

Sweat from their faces flowed onto their beards, only to be flung off by the trembling whiskers.

The Dwarves outside the house used all their strength, yet they couldn't pull back even a fraction of their weapons. Their feet constantly scraped and slipped on the ground, while their arms trembled as they kept exerting force. Yet Jier, separated by a single layer of wooden planks, suddenly felt as if he still had energy to spare.

He himself found it somewhat incredible, but after the first few moments of the tug-of-war with the Dwarves, as the Life Energy throughout his body gradually began to circulate, it produced a massive amount of power he had not even anticipated.

Jier fiercely tightened his arms around the Dwarf Soldier Spears in the crook of his elbows. The panting from his mouth and nose gradually changed from chaotic to rhythmic. Glancing at the Hunting Sword stuck in the filthy ground used for keeping livestock, Jier silently apologized to it, then steeled his gaze.

"Hoo, ha!"

Exerting force with a low grunt, Jier kept his arms still, while his legs, which had been curled up and braced against the sword's blade, suddenly kicked backward with force. His body also fell backward in one motion. Utilizing this immense power, Jier pulled the Dwarf Soldier Spears he had clamped in his arms more than a meter into the room in one go.

This move could not be underestimated, because the Dwarves outside the house, who had been using all their strength, were suddenly pulled like this and could no longer stand firm. Their feet scraped the ground continuously without finding purchase, or their bodies were suddenly yanked forward and they fell to the ground, after which they completely lost their best posture for exerting force, as well as their leverage against the ground.

Just like that, the Dwarves were now left with nothing but their own body weight and the weight of their weapons and armor to prevent them from falling into total defeat.

But even this, the Dwarves did not feel they could manage.

They felt only despair.

Inside the room, Jier, who had fallen backward more than a meter by using the Hunting Sword as a leverage point, was currently lying flat on his back on the filthy floor of the house. He could smell the excrement of the pigs and cattle that had relieved themselves at will in the room, which made him knit his brows fiercely.

It wasn't that Jier was worried about his body getting covered in this excrement during the fight—after all, the fight and the victory of the fight were the highest priorities, and he was wearing armor so he wouldn't be in direct contact with it; he could endure that much disadvantage. What really made him frown was that outside his armor, especially on his back where he had first made contact with the ground, he was wearing his expensive new cloak!!!

He didn't even let that precious thing touch a speck of mud or dust kicked up from the ground when he rode his horse, and now it was in direct contact with livestock feces; it was truly unbearable for him.

Thinking of this, Jier's face twisted, and he couldn't help but let out a strange cry: "My cloak!! My cloak!! It's all your fault, you guys! It's all your fault! Die!"

After shouting the word 'die' at the end, Jier kicked the sword blade with his foot, using the force of the counter-kick to retreat another step, which yanked the Dwarves outside the house until they were stumbling about. Then, Jier keenly sensed that the Dwarves struggling against him were in a state where they couldn't exert force, so he seized the chance to stomp his right foot hard into the ground, creating an Earth Pit, and used it as leverage to stand up.

Then he exerted force with his left foot, slamming it heavily into a spot one step back, and after planting it firmly, he retreated another step.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. Five times in a row, as Jier steadily retreated, the five Dwarves outside the wooden wall of the wooden house were pulled by their weapons and slammed fiercely against the mud wall.

The mud plastered on the outside of the wooden wall fell off in chunks due to the impact, covering and burying the five unlucky Dwarf soldiers, making them look exceptionally wretched. The Dwarves, who had their mouths wide open gasping for air to recover their strength, were even more unlucky; as soon as they opened their mouths, they ate half a mouthful of dry wall-mud fragments, causing them to spit them out with a series of 'ptui, ptui, ptui' sounds.

But with their breath broken, they had no strength left for the tug-of-war.

Jier inside the room heard the sound of the Dwarf soldiers hitting the wooden wall of the house in front of him. He first relaxed his body, letting the Dwarves pull back a little, then exerted force in a pull, fiercely yanking the five Dwarves to slam against the outside of the wooden wall once again.

Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang. Another five times in a row.

The Dwarves were overwhelmed; the wall mud that fell due to the impacts made it impossible for them to breathe normally. Being continuously and passively slammed against the house wall, while it didn't cause them any serious injury, made them as passive as a ragdoll in the hands of a bad child. Their arms and legs rubbed and collided with each other, and not one of them could even stand up, let alone stand properly to struggle against the Human Knight.

Because the spots where they had originally stabbed were close together, the Dwarf soldiers, who had been standing apart, were now, after being passively pulled against the wall, not exactly face-to-face, but shoulder-to-shoulder and heel-to-toe, their hands and feet intimately entangled. One person's buttocks were blocking another's face, and someone else's left leg was through another's crotch; the posture was extremely chaotic, and it gave them no chance to adjust.

"It's no use! We have to let go!" One soldier really couldn't stand the current situation, but didn't dare to be the first to let go and abandon the weapon in his hand, so he had to speak up and let their Captain decide.

The other soldiers also spoke up one after another: "That's right, ptui ptui, let go."

"Ouch, ouch."

The Dwarf soldier who shouted this was in a bad position; he had been dragged to the front after falling, so every time Jier pulled from inside the house, he was forced to 'kiss' the buttocks of a certain comrade with his face.

Although it was unsightly, this Dwarf felt at this moment that it would be better to actually 'kiss' his comrade's buttocks, because they were both wearing soldier armor; in reality, his Helmet was slamming into the armor on his comrade's buttocks over and over again. In the continuous impacts, he couldn't even feel his nose anymore, and he couldn't even feel his whole face.

He could only let out a series of painful 'ouch' sounds.

"No! You cannot let go!"

The Dwarf soldier Captain had the best position, but even he had to use his face to slam into the wooden plank wall of the Human house during the back-and-forth impacts. Fortunately, because of the repeated impacts, the mud on the wall had long since fallen off, and the wooden planks behind it couldn't be called sturdy—at least not as sturdy as his Helmet—so during the impacts, he only felt his neck was very uncomfortable; his face didn't hurt.

Because the face-guard part of his Helmet was sturdy enough, he even left a clear 'face mold' on the wooden planks of the Human building's exterior wall.

Bang! Another impact. The soldier Captain stubbornly took advantage of the time after the impact to reiterate to his subordinates: "No! You cannot let go! A weapon is a soldier's life!"

Bang. Just as he finished speaking, the weapon he was gripping tightly was pulled toward the inside of the house again, causing his head to slam into the wooden plank wall yet again.

'At least the Human building is made of wood; if it were made of stone like ours...' Finding joy in sorrow, he couldn't help but think this.

But just because he could continue to endure it didn't mean the other Dwarves could.

The first one who couldn't take it anymore was the Dwarf soldier who was 'kissing' his comrade's buttocks. It wasn't that this guy's fighting will wasn't firm, but in the back-and-forth impacts, this Dwarf soldier had been knocked unconscious!

Once he was unconscious, the hands gripping his weapon naturally loosened.

Then this unlucky guy was no longer affected by the movement of his weapon and gained a quiet sleep, fainting on the ground.

Like a ragdoll completely ruined by a bad child.

The next Dwarf to let go was the one whose 'buttocks' the unconscious Dwarf soldier had been hitting. After his comrade fainted, he immediately understood what had happened. He actually wasn't having an easy time either; his buttocks were being hit hard by a sturdy and thick object, and no one would feel good about that, right?

But he didn't want to be the 'coward' who let go first, so even though his right arm was jammed in front of him and dislocated from the impact, he still gripped his weapon tightly with his remaining hand.

And when he realized that the even unluckier guy next to him had fainted and let go, he immediately shouted: "Sato let go! Captain, Sato let go!"

"What?" The Dwarf soldier Captain had just reacted.

This 'buttocks' guy followed up by shouting: "I can't take it anymore, this won't work, my arm seems broken, I'm going to let go too!"

After he finished shouting, he immediately let go with his left hand, which he had still been able to grip with, and fell backward, slamming his back onto the dirt path in the village.

When he lay down on the slightly resilient dirt path, he finally let out a sigh of relief. Although the previous events were short, they were truly unpleasant.

"Damn it!"

The Dwarf soldier Captain discovered the next moment that when his two subordinate soldiers let go and abandoned their weapons, the three who were still 'persisting' were simply no match for that damned, cunning, immoral Human Knight on the other side of the wall inside the room.

Just as he expected, the Human Knight in the room directly sensed the change on this side of the wall, and then stopped the repeatedly torturous impacts.

But this was not a good thing!

The Dwarves who were still persisting immediately discovered that with two people fewer, the three of them remaining could by no means keep hold of the weapons in their hands.

Creak, creak, creak, creak.

No matter how tightly the three Dwarf soldiers gripped the shafts of the spears in their hands, the shafts were constantly being pulled into the house.

Inch by inch, section by section, the familiar spear shafts slipped away from their hands. Their familiar, proud weapons were visibly 'being lost'.

In less than two breaths, the very end of the spear shafts disappeared from their hands and drilled into the small hole in the wall they had poked earlier.

"Impossible! Impossible!" The Dwarf soldier Captain roared, ignoring the obstruction of his subordinates, and crawled to the large hole in the wall that the Human Knight had smashed open earlier.

But before he could rush in to snatch back his weapon, a not-very-sharp spear butt struck out like a raiding poisonous snake, hitting him directly in the center of his chest.

The spear butt that struck out from inside the room was extremely fast and had considerable force, knocking the Dwarf Captain off his feet and flying to the other side of the dirt road, where he slammed hard against the slightly damaged rock wall of a Dwarf Residence.

"Mmm..."

Although the tip of the spear butt was not sharp enough to pierce the Refining Qi armor on the Captain, this armor was not omnipotent. Just as we often say, not having a spearhead does not mean it cannot kill a person.

The spear butt hit the center of the Dwarf Captain's chest like a Great Hammer, instantly causing his vision to go black, his chest breathing to stall, and his heartbeat to perhaps even skip a beat or two.

But it was not over yet; when he flew several meters and hit the Dwarf Residence on the other side, it was as if someone had struck his back hard with an even larger iron hammer.

The pincer attack caused his lungs to stop working, and it was only after a good while that he began to breathe in small gasps with his vision still black.

The Dwarf Soldiers did not dare to recklessly rush into the pitch-black Human building like their Captain, so they had to retreat away from here to look after their guarding Captain.

"Captain! How are you, are you injured?" A subordinate helped the Captain, who had fallen to the ground, to sit up with his back against the wall of the Dwarf Residence.

His blackened vision gradually returned to normal; although there was only one Moon God casting thin moonlight in the sky, it was barely enough for the Dwarves to see things clearly.

The Captain struggled to twist his neck, moving his Helmet to look around.

One Dwarf Soldier lay by the Wooden Wall in front, seemingly unconscious; one soldier had his right arm hanging limp, while his left hand held a Small Iron Hammer for throwing, barely guarding the side. Somewhat suspiciously, this soldier seemed not to dare to meet his eyes, only pretending to be on guard against the building opposite.

The other two normal Dwarf Soldiers no longer had their Spears, which made the Captain feel some regret; it was clear that they had all been outmaneuvered by that cunning Human Knight who had taken their handy weapons. These two soldiers had also drawn the Small Iron Hammers from their respective Armor Belts, cautiously guarding the side of the fallen Captain.

The Dwarf Captain saw that one of them was not as brave as they appeared, because this Dwarf Soldier's legs were trembling slightly; if one did not pay attention, one would not notice it.

But he did not say anything more, because he had not done well either; he had been far too reckless just now, actually getting knocked flying by the Human Knight using their own weapons. This had caused all his subordinates to retreat back here, losing the opportunity to attack, as well as their Yongqi.

Compared to the soldiers' fear and his own recklessness as a Captain, his recklessness was indeed even more inexcusable.

After catching his breath for a while, the Dwarf Captain stood up by leaning on the body of his vigilant companion. He coughed a few times, but fresh blood was coughed out from his mouth, staining his beard red.

Fortunately, it was dark and no one saw; he guessed his lungs were bruised, not a critical injury, so the Dwarf Captain did not pay it any mind. He stared at the pitch-black wall opening opposite and asked: "What is the situation? Where is that damn guy?"

A Dwarf Soldier immediately replied: "Captain, he didn't come out, and there is no movement inside, after you, uh, after you were knocked away."

Lifting his Helmet to reveal his mouth, the Dwarf Captain spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, then said: "That's good, %%, ￥#￥, ptooey, it's not good at all. Sigh... anyway, he didn't come out, which means our weapons are still in the house. At least, he can't use five weapons by himself; that counts as good news."

After finishing, he also took two Small Iron Hammers used for throwing from his Armor Belt. After clinking them together, he encouraged the soldiers: "At least, with these things, we still have the ability and opportunity to fight."

Then he pushed aside the soldier in front of him and walked to the very front, facing the wall opening that was even darker than the surrounding night. He paused and said: "Human Knight, the battle is not over yet; it has only just officially begun!"

Inside the dark hole in the Wooden Wall, the sound of metal boots walking soon rang out, and then the Human Knight's voice came out: "Is that so? I saw you were so reluctant to part with these Long Spears, I thought you would cry and run home like little girls if you lost them."

"Don't be too presumptuous, Human Knight. Also, those are not Long Spears! They are our Dwarf Spears!"

"Oh, sorry, I just remembered. Because of your Dwarf height and arm length, these things that look like Long Spears to us humans are actually your Spears?" Although there was no laughter in his words, all the Dwarves outside seemed to be able to see the punchable smiling face of the Human Knight through these words.

These sarcastic words instantly enraged the Dwarf Soldiers, but the Dwarf Captain had calmed down by now. He deeply reflected on his recklessness just now, so this time he did not lose his head because of the Human Knight's words.

"Don't be provoked by him! Spread out, all spread out! Two people stay at the front of the house, one more on the left and right. Just watch him with the weapons in our hands; his armor is as soft as lambskin, it can't block our Throwing Iron Hammers!"

Upon the order, the two intact Dwarf Soldiers immediately dispersed to the left and right of this Human residence, while the Dwarf Soldier with the dislocated arm stood in place with the Dwarf Captain. Just then, three ordinary Dwarf Warriors rushed over. Under the command of the Dwarf Captain, one was assigned to the left and one to the right, while the Dwarf Warrior holding a Great Hammer stayed by the Dwarf Captain's side, together forming a three-person combat formation.

Inside the room, Jier ignored the actions of the Dwarves outside. In fact, he could leave whenever he wanted, but escaping was not his goal; defeating and capturing these Dwarves was his goal.

The trap arranged beforehand was nearby; as long as he led these Dwarf Soldiers a few more houses' distance, he could make them enter the trap.

By then, it would no longer be the Dwarves outnumbering him, but him outnumbering them.

Therefore, Jier was not impatient at all; the more Dwarves that came over, the better. At the same time, in his view, the threat of the Dwarves who had lost the Soldier Spears he currently held was reduced by more than half.

"Really amazing, this thing."

Jier muttered to himself, examining a Dwarf Soldier Spear in his hand that had been activated by something unknown.

This spear, which seemed to be about the same length as a Long Spear in his view, was made of a very special material and was not forged from ordinary steel. The metal shaft was sturdy but still had a certain degree of elasticity. The surface of the shaft was slightly thick, but considering the rough, large hands of the Dwarves, it was quite suitable. When Jier held the spear shaft with his steel Gauntlet, the size was barely suitable for him to use.

The shaft was thin at the front and thick at the back, but the difference in thickness was not very large. There was a sharp spike at the bottom of the shaft that could be driven into the ground; just now, this was the thing that had knocked away the Dwarf Captain who wanted to enter. However, this thing was not sharp enough and its armor-piercing capability was not strong, or rather, the armor worn by the Dwarf Captain had a defensive power that exceeded Jier's expectations. Considering that he could not even leave a slashing mark when he used his Hunting Sword to hack at it, the Dwarf Soldier's armor clearly had Magic Material added during the forging stage, belonging to magic material armor.

Or, was this Dwarf Soldier Spear also the same kind of Magic Material Weapon?

Jier touched the outside of his left thigh; it had been pierced slightly by the spear he was now holding. The armor on his thigh had been easily broken by the spear tip. If Jier hadn't dodged in time, his left leg would have had one more hole in it.

Looking back at the spear tip, it was stained with blood. At this moment, the mysterious Dwarf runes on the metal blade were emitting a faint light, which seemed to have brought some different changes to the whole weapon, only Jier did not know what it was. He couldn't just ask the Dwarves outside, right?

"Very good, it, and they, are mine now."

Jier nodded and solemnly announced this.

The Hunting Sword at his waist vibrated, seemingly a bit dissatisfied.

But Jier patted it, and the Hunting Sword stopped making a fuss.