Chapter 795: Chapter Thirty-Two: Ambush

On the lava slope behind Black Soil Fortress.

Su Xiao blended in with the imperial soldiers, the earlier sense of danger gone; he chewed on compressed rations, occasionally sipping water to avoid choking.

During war, he didn't care if food tasted good—what mattered was filling his stomach quickly.

After resting among the crowd, Su Xiao's exhaustion faded; he had expended tremendous physical energy in a short time, but hadn't overextended himself, so his stamina recovered rapidly—after all, his physical attributes were undeniable.

His wounds had been roughly treated: deep ones stitched, shallower ones left unattended, hastily wrapped in special medical bandages.

After wrapping with the special bandages, the wounds sent a cool sensation—this was the analgesic effect of the bandages.

The imperial army's situation was favorable; they had already surged past the summit of Black Soil Fortress, forcing the tribal forces back onto the stone slope below. If they maintained this advantage, the imperial army would drive back the tribal forces in no time.

Taking advantage of the moment to recover stamina, Su Xiao checked his current battle merits.

【Current Battle Merits: 9243 points.】

Seeing this number of battle merits, Su Xiao wasn't surprised; roughly estimating, he had killed over three thousand enemies in this battle. Though he had fought for only two hours, he had cut his way up from behind the tribal lines to the summit of Black Soil Fortress, felling many along the way.

If he had only killed three thousand ordinary soldiers, he wouldn't have accumulated this many battle merits. Su Xiao had previously sniped over fifty dwarf crossbowmen—each dwarf crossbowman slain granted sixty battle merits. Moreover, during his charge through the tribal ranks, he had killed several other special troop types. Combined with his prior reserve of 1436 battle merits, having 9243 now was no surprise.

Exchanging for the 【Sacred Oak Branch】 required 9000 battle merits; Su Xiao had enough. Unfortunately, with war ongoing, leaving the battlefield would be deemed desertion, and his battle merits would be instantly erased.

Su Xiao's stamina had partially recovered; he prepared to return to the battlefield to gather more battle merits. After all, the battle merits shop contained other valuable items besides the 【Sacred Oak Branch】.

Passing through allied soldiers, Su Xiao reached the summit of Black Soil Fortress.

The tribal forces had been pushed back onto the opposite stone slope; the imperial army now held the high ground, accelerating the tribal retreat.

Su Xiao hurried across Black Soil Fortress and arrived at the stone slope, where the tribal forces appeared ahead.

"Brothers, do not retreat—behind us lies our homeland."

A minotaur roared. Indeed, if the tribal forces were driven back, it wouldn't merely mean losing Black Soil Fortress—the imperial army might surge deep into tribal territory, launching a counter-invasion.

Though the Dragon Ascension Empire had no interest in the barren lands of the Tribal Alliance, it took great pleasure in destroying tribal cities or villages. War demanded "give and take"—constant passive defense would crush morale.

The roaring minotaur was exceptionally fierce; minotaurs were the strongest branch of the beastmen, their individual strength far surpassing other beastmen.

Su Xiao targeted the minotaur, using nearby imperial soldiers as cover to approach silently.

"Imperial scum!"

The minotaur gripped two imperial soldiers in one hand, using them as weapons to smash against other nearby imperial troops.

The imperial soldiers formed a circle; they all knew the minotaur was dangerous and must not be given room to charge—otherwise, those horns would pierce through countless allies.

The minotaur was ferocious on the battlefield; he had already crushed three imperial soldiers with the two mangled corpses in his grasp.

"Huff, huff…"

The ferocious minotaur gasped heavily—he had fought for two hours, and at least dozens of imperial soldiers lay dead at his hands.

As the minotaur caught his breath, he suddenly felt a chill at his back and spun around.

Clang!

The minotaur saw only a flash of light before everything returned to normal—a sword-wielding imperial soldier glanced at him, then turned and walked away.

"Huh?"

The minotaur was astonished to find the imperial soldiers surrounding him had scattered—as if no one cared about him anymore.

"Did… did I scare them off?"

As the minotaur puzzled over this, he heard dripping.

Drip… drip…

Red liquid seeped from his chest; he instinctively looked down—and the motion caused his upper body to topple forward.

After a dizzying spin, his upper torso hit the ground. He saw a familiar body standing beside him—the body severed at the chest, standing for a moment before collapsing.

"So I'm going to die."

The searing pain of a chest-slash struck him—his enemy's blade had been too fast, faster than he could perceive the cut.

The minotaur lay on the ground waiting for death. An imperial soldier ran past his field of vision; he paid no mind. His mind filled with the faces of his loved ones.

Suddenly, the dying minotaur realized something: would his loved ones suffer the same pain he now faced?

Thinking of this, the minotaur pushed himself up with both hands and crawled forward. After crawling half a meter, he lunged and bit down hard on an imperial soldier's leg—clamping on with all his strength, refusing to let go even as the enemy slashed at him with blades.

War was this cruel—no one softened because the enemy had family.

After eliminating the minotaur, Su Xiao approached several beastmen with his sword.

Zzzz~

A buzzing sound came—like summer bees flying nearby.

Su Xiao turned toward the sound—and saw actual "bees." More precisely, a dozen mechanical bees.

These mechanical bees were the same size as ordinary bees, with thin wings, red light glowing from their compound eyes, and a cylindrical glass vial the size of a peanut attached to their bodies, filled with orange-yellow liquid.

Seeing these bees, Su Xiao instinctively thought of enemy contractees with bombs and immediately retreated.

Zzzz~

The dozen mechanical bees accelerated toward Su Xiao, flames spurting from their legs like miniature missiles.

Before the mechanical bees drew near, Su Xiao felt nothing—as if they were harmless ordinary bees.

Su Xiao leaped backward, instantly forming an energy shield before him. He severed the energy connection to the shield, pushed his palm forward, and the shield glided forward, colliding with the mechanical bees.

Boom, boom, boom…

Deafening explosions erupted. These small bees created a blast zone spanning over ten meters; the 50-point-strength energy shield shattered instantly.

A gust of wind blew; Su Xiao landed, his trench coat flapping violently.

Su Xiao raised his metal-armored left hand before his eyes, scanning ahead through his fingers for any suspicious enemies.

Duddududu…

A rapid vibration surged beneath Su Xiao's feet; he instinctively jumped.

Ding.

An iron rod burst from the ground, its tip crowned with a spherical object emitting pulses of energy outward.

Huh, huh…

The pulses spread; the surrounding counter-shields coalesced into a circular barrier, shielding Su Xiao.

Pop, pop—dozens of imperial soldiers within fifty meters had their skulls explode, brains splattering like shattered watermelons.

Not only imperial soldiers—the nearby tribal soldiers also had their skulls burst upon receiving the pulse.