Chapter 527: Capturing Iron Jaw

"Crack!"

Iron Jaw swung his great axe in a wide arc, cutting down three or four bull-centaurs charging at him, all while not forgetting to shout loudly to suppress the undisciplined Badlands recruits; such ferocity naturally drew the enemy's attention to him.

"Moo~ I recognize you! Your head is worth a large bounty at the Secret Society. If I capture you alive and sacrifice you to the Father God, I, Suke-Jiashi, will receive even more favor!"

A bull-centaur with a body far exceeding its peers kicked out its four hooves and launched a charge at him; those who blocked its path, friend or foe alike, were trampled into a red mist before they could react.

"Boom!"

"Creak, creak!"

The double-edged great axe, forged into the shape of Hashut's bull-head symbol, smashed down from above. The Black Orc Warlord raised his axe horizontally to block it steadily, one pressing and one carrying, starting a contest of strength right there in front of the formation.

"Ahhh!"

The Warlord, no matter how fierce, began to fall into a disadvantage after a brief stalemate. Seeing the axe blade press down to the tip of his eyebrows, he thought quickly, falling backward to dissipate the force, then rolling forward in an attempt to get under the bull-centaur's belly.

"Clang, clang!"

As the leader of the bull-centaur troops, Taoluke possessed wisdom not inferior to a Dwarf. It continuously and rapidly stomped the earth, causing tremors that made the Warlord lose his footing, failing to slash open its belly with his axe at the first opportunity.

"Old man, if you keep watching the show, I'm going to be annoyed!"

Monsters excel at charging into battle and sieging cities, but they are at a significant disadvantage in flexibility when dueling smaller humanoid creatures. Dodging backward, cold sweat soaking the mane on his back, Suke-Jiashi roared at the sky in anxiety.

Those with "bull" characteristics manifested externally held high status, generally serving as guards of the Hashut temple and executors of sacrifices. Their relationship with the Demon Smith sorcerers was not one of servitude, but rather cooperation.

"Don't panic, don't panic!"

Bashrak, watching the battle from mid-air, was also startled. He knew the Black Orc was formidable and intended to use it to dampen the bull-centaurs' arrogance, but he hadn't expected Taoluke to nearly lose its life in just one exchange.

"In the name of the Bull God, all turn to stone!"

The Hashut magic system is a combination of fire and Chaos, mostly large-scale destructive spells that do not distinguish between friend and foe. Considering the bull-centaurs had larger frames and might be roasted to death if he wasn't careful, the Demon Smith rolled his eyes and unleashed a curse.

"Bah! Two against one, what kind of hero is that!"

This was to use the dark power of Hashut to inflict the backlash borne by one's own body onto others, causing their bones to petrify and their flesh to turn to dust. Iron Jaw only felt as if his whole body were filled with lead; knowing things were bad, he cursed loudly.

"Trash! The boys from the Badlands are all trash! Running away will only make you die faster; only fighting hard gives you a chance to live!"

There was a group of mages led by a Savage Orc Great Shaman accompanying the army, but the surprise attack had scattered the lines, and they were nowhere to be found. Seeing that only the elite Black Orcs were persisting in their resistance and were on the verge of being surrounded, Iron Jaw cursed inwardly but gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

"Boys, all of you jump into the river!"

"Can you run? If I let you run, who will dig the master's mines, and who will pull the drills?"

Iron Jaw's decisiveness earned a sneer from Bashrak. On land, two legs couldn't outrun four hooves. Jumping into the river might solve an immediate crisis, but the Black Orcs' strength relied on their discipline and their equipment; to avoid sinking to the bottom, discarding their heavy armor was no different from a turtle crawling out of its shell.

"My lord, should we send them a message?"

"No need, look over there! Chase them, just get the lassos and whips ready!"

Some of the Greenskins who were not diligent in running had already been pinned down and tied up in rows by the Chaos Dwarf infantry following closely behind the bull-centaurs. The adjutant who was reporting followed the direction pointed by the Demon Smith's staff and saw the shadowy figures of the mountain Dwarf Rangers.

"You truly are prescient! Should we tie them up? This subordinate is worried..."

"No need. In this terrain, facing a cavalry-like assault, if they don't want to run up the mountain and become living targets, they have to jump into the river. Just knock them out; someone will come to receive them over there shortly."

At the river bend further down the Blood River, Theodore Bruckner was riding a demigryph, organizing the human army to pull up a long string of nets to salvage the Greenskins drifting with the current; having discarded their armor and weapons, they no longer possessed their former ferocity.

"Waaagh..."

"Bang!"

"Still struggling! Could this be the Iron Jaw mentioned in the Ranger's letter?"

After recovering a bit of strength, the Warlord rose violently, snatched a halberd, and after knocking down several soldiers, tried to run into the woods. Bruckner urged his mount to catch up. Remembering the orders before departure, he changed his lance from a thrust to a sweep, and then a heavy Rune Chain pressed down on Iron Jaw.

"Weren't you being arrogant with Grandpa Bull just now? Hahaha!"

"Bah! Beast, give me a quick death!"

"In your dreams! Look at these teeth; they are all sturdy laborers."

The main force from the Tower of Beast-Runners soon arrived, and the commanders laughed loudly as they looked at the Greenskins lying all over the ground. Suke-Jiashi lifted the Warlord's chin with his great axe and turned it slightly to remove its helmet.

"Head back! The entire Zha'er-Dukepingyuan is short of laborers; we can sell the ones we have left for a high price!"

"Master, I have something to say, I don't know if I should say it?"

"You want to say that my doing this is being used as a pawn by Sinuoli in the south, and it will bring trouble upon myself? You want to say that the runaway slave Tiepi is not to be trifled with? Why, do you really think I can't see that clearly?"

The Great Taurus belongs to those that can fly but are not good at flying. The one pulling the bull for Lord Bashrak was his newly recruited Apprentice—as the petrification intensified, the old Demon Smith would kill off senior Apprentices who coveted his position.

"I dare not..."

"Hmph, I got what I wanted, and that is enough. As for retaliation, you just made a trip through the Siwangxiaojing; there were at least three places where ambushes were set that were enough for this lord to barely escape with his life. Do you really think the tens of thousands of people in Eight Peaks are just for show?"

Bashrak's attitude represented many Councilors of the Tower of Zharr: the Dwarf gods are awakening and the race is beginning to revive, and you, Snorri Thorsson, are a Demigod who suppresses one side, but what does that have to do with me?

If he were to personally lead an army to conquer, I would naturally admit defeat, but to make me bow down based on a single letter is wishful thinking. Drazhoath is still young; I have no petrification curse and not many years left to live!

"What? Iron Jaw was captured? Da Orks, think about it, think about it my ass! Kill them, kill the stunties! WAAAGH!"

Before he could finish listening to the report from the survivors, Tiepi opened his large hand and crumpled the map into scraps. He had only tasked the vanguard with surveying the terrain to find a suitable place to station troops; how were they wiped out directly without even a feint?

"Pass my order, move your legs! Run!"

"What? The black stunties are here? Da Orks, I think there's something fishy here!"

The Green Prophet, who was sitting in the center of the army, only received the news half a day late. In order to exert enough pressure to force Belagar to ask for help, they had mobilized a large number of technician boys to urgently cobble together engineering equipment, and the sprawling army almost blocked both sides of the river valley.

"Move aside! Make way for the prophet of Gork and Mork!"

Urging the terrifying war pig under him named the Rage Ripper, the warning from the Great Green made the Green Prophet anxious.