Chapter 128: Respective Opponents

That was a colossal beast of what strange and beautiful nature.

The lower half below its head was sacred and beautiful; its snow-white body faintly emitted a natural luminescence, and where it moved, it seemed to tread upon clouds, with the cloud patterns it occasionally stirred even radiating a holy brilliance.

Yet the upper half of its skull was a deformed and massive naked brain.

The overly swollen brain tissue not only burst through the skull but also obscured its face, leaving people able to see only that deformed brain.

Huge fleshy tentacles extending from it constantly whipped through the air, as if issuing some command.

It, too, seemed to be an incarnation of the Elder Brain, and furthermore, a command tower on the battlefield.

"Boom!"

The hidden existence drove this massive war machine; the beast's single kick directly shattered the city wall.

Even though its hoof bled from exerting too much force, it did not hesitate for a moment.

"Vroom!"

But an invisible barrier behind the city wall blocked it!

The city's defense system had been activated; a pale purple force field shield stood outside the city wall.

When such strategic equipment is activated, there is no doubt: this is already true war.

And this monster possessed not merely flesh; the tentacles on its brain waved constantly, and one magical array after another appeared around it.

Whether fireballs, ice cones, or falling stars, they were hurled forth from within.

Those obviously oversized spells smashed heavily into the city's defense arrays, sending ripples splashing up.

Although it seemed they still had not pierced through, this was clearly a form of attrition.

"Wait, did we miss an episode? No, we missed an entire season!" At this moment, Li En was truly a bit stunned.

Our group only went out to clear some wild monsters; adding it all up, it hasn't even been three days, yet the final boss has already spawned.

"So this is Elsenar? What an outrageous monster." Gazing at that sacred yet twisted creature, Li En instinctively sensed malice.

"No, if this were Elsenar, one kick would have already obliterated Morsodilka. Moreover, it isn't this small." Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei, however, remained very calm; her beautiful eyes stared fixedly at the deformed giant stag, seeming somewhat interested.

But you call this small? It's already taller than the city wall! One kick like that would be enough to trample our whole group to death.

"Mind Flayer... Elder Brain?"

Even without looking at that deformed brain, glancing at the monster's companions nearby made the answer quite obvious.

The giant beast was eye-catching, but the slave army centered around a Mind Flayer surrounding it was the city's greatest threat.

A vast number of orcs, gray dwarves, and minotaurs (not orcs) slaves formed the legion's main force; among them, several beholders could even be seen.

They carried logistics vehicles and siege equipment, and were now deploying with high efficiency.

This was not a simple raid, but a war aimed at capturing the city.

As for why the Mind Flayers would attack a Dark Elf city... well, as long as the attackers are Mind Flayers, no further thought is needed.

The Mind Flayer race's lifelong pursuit is conquest and enslavement; whenever they have an opportunity, they will surely stir up trouble, otherwise they would not have become the enemy of all living things.

Enslaving other races, using them as backup food and breeding grounds, is their prerequisite for survival; this is an utterly evil creature parasitic upon other groups, and also the root reason why Li En had unhesitatingly kicked them out of the Hall of Heroes back then.

It is not completely impossible for a Mind Flayer leaning toward goodness to appear; it is said there is an extremely low chance for a host to reverse-possession the Mind Flayer.

But this probability is so low it can be completely ignored, and those capable of doing so are basically utterly outrageous great figures; they can be viewed as outsiders wearing Mind Flayer skins, and need not be considered at all.

"How should we handle this? Should we just return?"

As an external delegation, Li En's group had absolutely no reason to participate in this war.

And this monster before them seemed to be a predetermined target. Li En looked at Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei; she was also observing silently.

Sensing Li En's gaze, the magical girl smiled and shook her head.

"You give me too much credit. This is a Beast Prince forcibly rushed to maturity, with the Mind Flayer Elder Brain filling in its shortcomings of being poor at combat and lacking spell support, while I am merely an ordinary magical girl."

Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei raised her wooden staff and stood up; she had no intention whatsoever of interfering.

Generally, a fully activated defense barrier would obstruct teleportation, but Purple Miss Zi Qiangwei was confident she could penetrate it.

The question is, is it really necessary to enter the city now? Won't we be pushed to the front lines to fill the ranks?

From her standpoint, the Stag Prince falling to such a fate was actually a good thing; it saved a lot of trouble from chasing him down.

Such a forcibly rushed combat machine probably won't live much longer.

"Boom!"

The delegation was still hesitating when a sudden explosion attracted everyone's attention.

A dazzling "fireball" was slowly rising.

"Filthy monster, retreat! This is the glorious Talabar!"

That was a somewhat familiar voice; "Daughter of the Black Blade," Verna Talabar, had made her entrance.

Accompanying her arrival, hilts made of silver and brass floated in mid-air.

"Buzz buzz buzz!"

Upon the hilts, sword-shaped force fields faintly appeared.

What was infused within them, however, was deep shadow power.

The infusion of power ended in an instant; four "black swords" floating in mid-air slowly rotated, guarding Verna.

Sword Immortals in a magical world? No, they should be cruise missiles configured for fighter jets!

One of them suddenly plummeted, attacking the nearest Mind Flayer squad!

The brave climbers who had just been attempting to scale the city wall were now terrified out of their wits; the Mind Flayer itself even took to its heels and ran.

"Boom!" But how could it possibly escape?

Near the city wall where that squad had been, only a crater five meters in radius remained, with that black-lightning-flashing magic sword still embedded within it.

An eighth-circle divine spell, "Lady Silver Vase's Shadow Sword," whose spell model originated from the seventh-circle Mordenkainen's Sword.

But after infusing a bit of divine power from the Shadow pantheon, it could trigger a chain annihilation reaction causing ordinary matter and shadow matter to collide; its explosive power was sufficient to rival a ninth-circle spell!

Verna suddenly waved her hand, and the black sword plunged into the ground returned to her grasp.

One had already unleashed its burst, while the other three remained poised to strike.

She was both intimidating and guarding against another giant beast that might exist in the prophecy.

"Boom!"

But that deer monster responded with a mind-shattering explosion like a tornado.

Talk? Retreat? Impossible.

No words, no hesitation; once the conflict between them became a war for the survival and development of their races, it could not be stopped once started!

The mind flayer race and the brain, hiding and surviving like sewer rats, had waited too long for this day.

"Go! This city belongs to us!"

The mind flayers whipped their accumulated slaves, sending them to their deaths.

And atop the city walls, dark elf warriors and spellcasters appeared, engaging in a merciless slaughter with no pity whatsoever.

On the outer wall, the battle between the Divine Maiden and the giant beast continued.

The terrifying Shadow Black Sword constantly inflicted devastating wounds, yet the beast healed and recovered instantly in the next moment.

Instead, the "gravity field" it occasionally created forced the Divine Maiden to keep dodging.

She did not possess such outrageous regenerative abilities.

On the surface, it seemed the Divine Maiden held the advantage, but her consumption was also immense.

The clash of top-tier combatants was deliberately avoided by both sides; otherwise, even a mere graze would be a fatal-level loss.

"Boom!"

And the magical cannons on the city walls began to activate one by one, bombarding the giant beast in succession.

Unfortunately, the effect remained terribly poor, and it seemed they barely even breached the defense.

"Zzzzt." Suddenly, that giant deer slowly lowered its head, and something invisible seemed to be gathering on its skull.

"Evade!" a dark elf roared, but it was already too late.

"Boom!" A heavy pressure was released, knocking down a section of the city wall again, instantly turning the people on it into meat paste.

"Woo-woo!"

But because of this, it took a heavy blow from the Divine Maiden, and one of its legs was brutally severed.

Even though it could still regenerate, this painful groan echoed throughout the entire underground cavern.

Two races, fighting for the right to survive, had already begun a bloody and unscrupulous mutual slaughter.

Standing on the high ridge, Li En and his companions were still pondering: when evil clashes with evil, and enemies fight enemies to the death, should we adjust our stance?

But soon, there would be no need to hesitate.

The pure white magical girl descended slowly, her staff pointing at the purple rose with a smile on her face!

"Watching the show and stumbling upon a 'nemesis'—what luck." The floating pure white deer's pitch-black eyes were filled with naked malice.

It seems everyone has a destined opponent; then, let the great free-for-all begin.

The two races below fight for survival, and the two above seem to fight for the right to survival as well.

Accompanied by the Demon Tide, the race-survival war that was destined to come arrived before Li En and his companions in an unexpected way.

(End of Chapter)