Chapter 789: Chapter Twenty-Six: Su Xiao Missed His Stop

Su Xiao had just carved out a space amid the tribal army, but before he could catch his breath, he noticed the orcs and dwarves around him beginning to retreat—not out of fear, not because they were terrified of him.

Boom… boom… boom…

The ground trembled slightly, and this unusual disturbance made Su Xiao alert.

The trembling grew stronger; moreover, the tribal soldiers' formation gradually parted, as if making way for someone.

"Crush the empire's cowards."

A dwarf riding a wild boar charged out from within the tribal ranks, wielding a short-handled war hammer, his mount's vital areas sheathed in armor.

Seeing this attire, Su Xiao immediately recalled the dwarves' "Mountain Rider Corps," but after closer inspection, he realized these dwarf cavalry were different from the "Mountain Riders."

The armor on these dwarf cavalry bore earth-yellow patterns—clearly the product of goblin forging techniques combined with dwarf alchemy.

The armor gave off a heavy, dense impression; while the Mountain Rider Corps was the dwarves' elite unit, it was impossible for every soldier to be equipped with such armor—that would be absurd.

Su Xiao grew wary and activated the Apostle's Eye to examine the attributes of these dwarf cavalry.

Data as follows:

Name: Bart

Type: Dwarf

Rank: Earth Rider Corps (dwarf elite cavalry, total 200)

HP: 00%

MP: 200/270

Strength: 52

Agility: 32

Stamina: 49

Intelligence: 27

Charm:

Skill: Elite Rider (passive lv. 9), increases HP by 400, Strength +3, Stamina +5.

Skill 2: United Will (passive lv. 20), when Earth Rider count reaches 0, Strength, Agility, Stamina +; when Earth Rider count reaches 00, Strength, Agility, Stamina +3; when Earth Rider count reaches 000, Strength, Agility, Stamina +5.

Skill 3: Earth Battle Armor (passive lv. 25), Defense +5, HP regen +8 per minute; generates a small Earth Aura; when Earth Rider count reaches 000, forms a large Earth Aura (crafted via dwarf forging + goblin alchemy).

Skill 4: T-Formation Charge (passive lv. 2), when formed by 000 Earth Riders, Charge Speed +40%, Morale +70%, Attack +2%; after charge, triggers Power Linkage, which attaches to the Large Earth Aura.

Skill 5: Life and Death Shared (passive lv. 29), candidate Earth Riders select a juvenile Spiked Boar during childhood; they train and live together, their bond surpassing that of knight and warhorse; prolonged shared survival creates symbiosis: when one's HP drops below 50%, they share life force to equalize both HP; if either receives a fatal wound, both lose HP simultaneously until death.

…

Seeing these dwarf cavalry's attributes, Su Xiao began to slowly retreat; if it were only one Earth Rider, he could obliterate the foe in seconds.

But now, over a thousand dwarf Earth Riders surged from the tribal ranks, charging in a line atop powerful boars, clad in alchemical battle armor, wielding identical war hammers—all forged with alchemy; could their weapons be inferior?

Boom… boom…

A thousand dwarf Earth Riders charged up the slope like a torrent of earth-yellow mudslide; since Su Xiao stood within the tribal army, he was the first to face them.

A wave of earth-yellow energy linked the thousand dwarf Earth Riders—they were preparing to crush Black Soil Fortress.

Su Xiao deactivated his Counter Shield; against such massed charges, the shield would only widen the impact area and launch him flying.

Qinggangying energy enveloped the Dragon-Slicing Blade; one Earth Rider wasn't strong, but a thousand charging together was an entirely different matter.

"Olaralala…"

As they charged, the dwarf Earth Riders let out strange, synchronized shouts—not meaningless noise; this unified cry boosted their own morale and intimidated enemies, draining their spirit.

The dwarves' cries spread; veteran imperial soldiers hearing them instinctively stepped back—but they couldn't retreat; too many soldiers pressed behind them.

Su Xiao held the Dragon-Slicing Blade horizontally before him; the dwarf Earth Riders were now ten meters away.

Distance closing rapidly: eight meters, seven meters…

Su Xiao stomped the ground, sending shards flying—he charged forward himself, launching a counter-charge.

The few dwarf Earth Riders ahead froze, then burst into laughter, mocking Su Xiao's arrogance.

"Small T."

Several dwarf Earth Riders formed a small T-formation; the earth-yellow glow on their armor deepened.

Su Xiao collided head-on with the few dwarf Earth Riders; raindrops from the sky slapped his face—cold.

Qinggangying energy surged along the blade; the dwarf Earth Riders raised their war hammers simultaneously.

Su Xiao raised the Dragon-Slicing Blade overhead, his right arm's muscles bulging slightly—he unleashed his full strength.

The Dragon-Slicing Blade met one war hammer.

Boom!

A shockwave erupted; the thousand dwarf Earth Riders' forward momentum halted—they were linked as one unit, their charge acting as a single force.

Crack! The war hammer in the dwarf's hand shattered, along with his arm and body.

Blood mist exploded; the few dwarf Earth Riders ahead burst into bloody pulp, including their Spiked Boars beneath them.

The few dwarf Earth Riders were reduced to nothing—shattered by overwhelming force collision.

Force is mutual; as the thousand dwarf Earth Riders halted, Su Xiao was flung backward toward the imperial lines.

Whoosh~

As he flew backward, Su Xiao heard the wind tearing past; his right side was numb, his right palm split open.

While hurtling through the air, Su Xiao activated his Counter Shield to protect himself.

Thud… thud… thud…

Imperial soldiers were flung away by the Counter Shield; Su Xiao became a train barreling into the imperial ranks.

Boom!

Su Xiao slammed into a higher stone slope, spitting blood—he didn't stop flying, but kept hurtling toward the fortress.

Dazed, he didn't know how far he'd flown until he came to rest behind several imperial soldiers, having cratered the earth; they stared at him, shaken.

"Is… is he friendly?"

"Probably… yeah, maybe he got thrown out by a troll."

Once confirmed as friendly, the imperial soldiers ignored him; they wouldn't check his wounds or treat him—this was a battlefield, no time for the wounded.

"Cough… cough… cough…"

Su Xiao spat out several mouthfuls of blood; he understood how he'd been flung—he'd absorbed the combined force of the thousand dwarf Earth Riders' charge, that earth-yellow energy binding them into one unit.

Su Xiao had directly resisted the collision force of the dwarf Earth Riders; though their charge only paused for an instant, that force was beyond what Su Xiao could withstand now—this was the power of the charge formation.

He swallowed a healing potion; the numbness in his right side faded, and the split on his palm began to heal.

Fortunately, Su Xiao's Stamina was high enough to withstand and continue fighting; any other Contracted One focused on Strength or Agility would have been killed instantly. Even Su Xiao's HP had dropped to 7% after absorbing that blow.

After some recovery, Su Xiao rose and scanned his surroundings—he was stunned to find himself behind imperial lines, nearly out of the battlefield, with a few confused overseer soldiers nearby.

"Soldier, are you alright?"

The overseer soldiers weren't fools; they'd seen Su Xiao fly in from the front lines—he wasn't a deserter, but a warrior who'd fought through blood.

"Not bad."

Su Xiao stretched his aching body; just as he prepared to return to the front, he noticed the battle's situation had turned wrong.

The front lines were filled with continuous screams—all from imperial soldiers.

A yellow tide crushed and trampled entire groups of imperial troops—it was the dwarf Earth Rider Corps.

A thousand dwarf Earth Riders advanced like bulldozers, unstoppable; they'd already reached the fortress's summit, forcibly pushing the imperial troops off, driving them down the lava slope—if this continued, the imperial army would be purged from Black Soil Fortress.

Boom… boom… boom…

Heavy footsteps echoed behind Su Xiao; towering giants, each ten meters tall, marched past him toward the front, clad in armor, wearing oversized metal boots with soles at least twenty centimeters thick—giantkind were the Earth Rider Corps' natural counter.

Su Xiao took a few steps forward and leapt, agilely climbing onto a giant's shoulder and standing atop it.

The giant turned his head toward Su Xiao, his gaze calm.

"Soldier, what are you doing on my shoulder?"

The giant spoke in a deep, rumbling tone, thick with regional dialect.

"Hitching a ride."

"Oh, alright. Just hold on tight—I'm charging now. Those little dwarves are tough, and their feet are bumpy. I like humans, my name's Eison."

The giant grinned, revealing two rows of door-sized flat teeth.

"Got it."

Su Xiao hadn't expected these giants to be so unexpectedly friendly.

"Hold on, I'm charging—those little dwarves are annoying, and their feet hurt my soles."

The giant grinned, bending his legs.

"Hey! You're not gonna—"

Boom!

The giant leapt—jumping hundreds of meters in one bound, soaring over imperial soldiers, landing directly on Black Soil Fortress.

Not just this giant—dozens of others leapt as well.

Boom… boom… boom…

Washinoki Washinoki Jishi of giants landed atop Black Soil Fortress; the fortress shook violently. The once unstoppable dwarf Earth Rider Corps was crushed underfoot—those twenty-centimeter-thick metal soles were terrifying.

"Retreat!"

With the giants' arrival, the dwarf Earth Rider Corps immediately turned and fled from Black Soil Fortress; within half a minute, the fortress was retaken by the empire.

As for Su Xiao, the one who'd "hitched a ride," he now stared at a group of stunned goblins beside a massive metal catapult—this was the device that launched the "Green Phosphorus Fire Bottles."

Correct—within ten seconds, Su Xiao had crossed the entire battlefield, traveling from behind imperial lines to behind tribal lines; the giant's Strength attribute must've been immense—Su Xiao guessed it was 80, the world's maximum limit.

Su Xiao stood up and looked around.

"I missed my stop."

No sooner had Su Xiao spoken than—

"Attack!"

Several goblins screamed—like a group of terrified middle-aged women.

Su Xiao couldn't stay here long; he had to fight his way back through the tribal army's rear to Black Earth Fortress and rejoin the Imperial forces. He was too far from them—if he didn't return quickly, and the Imperial army fell, he'd have no chance to retreat and would be overwhelmed and killed by the tribal army.

Su Xiao charged toward the terrified goblins, slashed a few times, and the weak goblins dropped dead. He was just about to charge into the tribal army from behind when his gaze accidentally swept over a metal catapult and dozens of green phosphorus fire bottles nearby.