Chapter 1121: Radiant Legion

Korsaro killed the troll chieftains of two tribes in a single strike, and his terrifying might caused the troll army that was being slaughtered to collapse completely.

When the Holy Warriors shouted "surrender and we will not kill," they dropped their weapons and gave up resistance.

Of the 80,000 elite trolls, 60,000 survived.

When the Holy Warriors secured the captives, Korsaro immediately held swift trials in the forest, seizing trolls with high-level power; anyone who hesitated or refused to convert to the Lord of Radiance was executed on the spot before tens of thousands of trolls.

The Thundercast Celestial Soldiers singled out all the trolls who reacted violently—whether angry or harboring revenge—and executed them publicly.

Blood ran like a river through the forest.

After several hours of bloody purging, the remaining 50,000 troll captives were killed so terrifyingly that they dared not even think of revenge.

Korsaro watched the entire process himself and devoured the souls of all the slain trolls.

Such slaughter is far too common on the Southern Continent.

The hatred between tribes, wars among the Loa, disputes over territory, faith, and profit—all sorts of reasons spark endless bloodshed; to eliminate future threats, the victors often annihilate the enemy tribes on a massive scale, amounting to true genocide.

If the methods aren't severe enough, trolls will never bow or convert; they are accustomed to this brutal rule.

Most trolls survived, which is considered a good outcome.

"Enter the city."

At Korsaro's command.

The Holy Warriors escorted the troll captives toward the entrance of the Tanzar Gorge; the troll guards on the city wall saw everything from afar and tried to hold their ground, but before they could act, they were ambushed from behind by Thundercast Celestial Soldiers lurking in the city, and the gate fell instantly.

The Sunfire Tribe's army entered Tanzar unopposed.

And then another massacre began.

Korsaro targeted only the tribal chieftains and upper-tier trolls, as well as the most devout followers of the hunting god Wu Lei Er Si, limiting the purge to a smaller scope.

He needed the trolls alive to contribute their faith power to the Lord of Radiance.

One day later.

Tanzar was fully under control; the hunting temple in the city lay in ruins, and everything associated with Wu Lei Er Si—altars, prayer rooms, books—was destroyed. After a day and night of purging, the city's population fell by about 20,000, an unavoidable loss.

As usual, Korsaro left a contingent of Thundercast Divine Soldiers to lead 5,000 Holy Warriors to garrison Tanzar, then led the remaining army to Kazu Rua.

Kazu Rua's size and population were comparable to Tanzar's.

However, when Korsaro arrived, the trolls of Kazu Rua had already fled about half, leaving fewer than 200,000 behind; the city was in utter chaos.

The two remaining Hunt King and troll warlords of the Sharp-tooth Tribe had already abandoned the city.

The Holy Warriors met little resistance and seized Kazu Rua; after the army entered the city and began the purge, Korsaro stationed the Thundercast Divine Soldiers, rode out alone for a circuit, and returned with the two fleeing troll chieftains.

He brought back two heads.

The upper families and elite trolls who fled with the two chieftains had been reduced to ash.

The Thundercast Celestial Soldiers, together with the Holy Warriors, completed the purge of Kazu Rua in just half a day.

Thus, all three cities fell under Sunfire Tribe control, and the Headhunter Tribe that had existed for over a thousand years became a thing of the past.

Korsaro did not let his guard down.

Eradicating the Headhunter Tribe was easy, but these trolls worship the hunting god Wu Lei Er Si; the loss of millions of followers is intolerable to any deity. The Way of the Hunt is one of the trolls' oldest beliefs, spanning tens of thousands of years, now long declined, and the Headhunter Tribe comprised Wu Lei Er Si's most concentrated and numerous followers on the Southern Continent.

The Southern Continent still has scattered troll tribes that follow the Way of the Hunt, but together they may be less than half the size of the Headhunter Tribe.

Korsaro feared Wu Lei Er Si's retaliation.

He returned to Hazleik, kept watch among the ruins of the hunting temple for several days, and intermittently felt a gaze from the distant void upon him—filled with anger and fury, but more with hesitation and helplessness.

In the end, that gaze eventually left.

Korsaro smiled faintly.

All of this had been within his expectations; a million followers are important, but if Wu Lei Er Si strikes in spite, the price could be several times greater than a million followers.

The sealing of the ancient holy altar would cause His divine power to drain explosively, and it might still fail to achieve the goal.

Wu Lei Er Si is one of the oldest deities, yet He is merely an upper-tier god.

Beyond the Southern Continent, the hunting god has many more followers, spread across Ai Lun E Si and numerous planes; there is no need to risk for the Headhunter Tribe.

Half a month later.

Korsaro returned to Salta with the chieftain's guard.

The Sunfire Tribe was in a frenzy; although they had already received news of victory, seeing the chieftain return with his army and countless gold, gems, weapons and massive wealth left them exhilarated beyond words.

The whole city held a three‑day, three‑night victory celebration, the Sunfire trolls partying nonstop and praying to the Lord of Radiance.

Sheng Jilesi's divinity increased dramatically.

He freely bestowed blessings, converting most of the energy derived from devouring souls in this war into Holy Light power; using sacred blood amber he blessed the Sunfire trolls—those already Holy Warriors received Divine Technique, while those yet to master Holy Light were granted a constant Divine Technique, thus becoming Holy Warriors.

In three days, the number of Holy Warriors in the Sunfire Tribe grew by ten thousand!

In Korsaro's plan, all 120,000 Sunfire trolls of Salta will eventually become Holy Warriors; they will be the Lord of Radiance's core followers, and when the Southern Continent is unified, the Sunfire trolls will form the ruling class of the Gulaman Empire.

Of course, they will later be renamed Radiant Trolls.

Below the Radiant Trolls are the Gulaman Trolls, followed by Forest Trolls, Frost Trolls, Desert Trolls, and so on.

Sheng Jilesi did not forget Hazleik, Tanzar, and Kazu Rua; among the nearly one million Forest trolls, several hundred Holy Warriors were born in these days.

These Holy Warriors are seeds of believers.

The Forest trolls' talent falls short of the Sunfire trolls by one tier, making it harder to become Holy Warriors; these few hundred were selected at a rate of one in a thousand, and, willing to worship the Lord of Radiance, once they publicly displayed their Holy Light power, Korsaro immediately entrusted them with important duties and promoted them to wield some authority.

Although many trolls muttered that they were traitors, they all saw the benefits.

Soon more trolls secretly volunteered to pray to the Lord of Radiance.

Over a month later, Holy Warriors among the Forest trolls in the three cities were no longer rare, exceeding ten thousand in number.

The troll believers no longer need to hide their faith.

Driven by survival and power interests, the trolls of the three cities gradually abandoned the Way of the Hunt and embraced the Lord of Radiance.

The Lord of Radiance's temple was also erected.

At the same time, the Thundercast Divine Soldiers took charge as city lords, began governing the city, and beyond merely altering faith, they delved into public security, judiciary, agriculture, animal husbandry and other daily affairs, vigorously developing and improving living standards, cutting down forests to clear farmland, exploring mines, and introducing the Empire's superior crop seeds, mechanical tools, and so on.

Lei En has never regarded the Southern Continent solely as a divine harvest ground.

Labor is the most precious resource!

The Southern Continent is home to one hundred million trolls; the overwhelming majority of tribes are still in a relatively primitive tribal era, with backward production technology. With a little guidance, leveraging the trolls' wisdom and physical strength, they can quickly unleash astonishing potential and generate countless value.

Moreover, the land and forests of the Southern Continent contain immense wealth.

Collecting that wealth also requires trolls.

The power of faith is important, but it cannot be pursued at the expense of everything else; it is merely one of the added values created by trolls.

And only when believers enjoy a stable and safe living environment can they contribute more faith power, become more devout toward the deity, and achieve sustainable development, which is the true path.

Faith power, territories, wealth, labor!

I want them all!

Lei En's ultimate goal is to eventually lift the seal on the Ancient Saint Altar, annex the Southern Continent into the Empire's domain, and make the hundred‑million trolls become Empire subjects.

Ke Er Sa Luo, after the situations in three cities stabilized and fell into order, immediately set out on a new path of conquest.

There are dozens of troll tribes in the Divine Abandoned Land.

The total population is about six million!

Yin He Nie Luo is the largest Divine Abandoned Land; because two damaged Ancient Saint Altars are connected there, the number of troll tribes is twice that of other Divine Abandoned Lands.

The Headhunter Tribe is the strongest among them, while the Scorching Sun Tribe ranks third.

The other tribes, upon first learning that the Headhunter Tribe had been conquered, were like startled birds, restless day and night, and sent troll scouts to probe the situation.

Ke Er Sa Luo ignored them, but had already chosen a target in secret: the second‑ranked Frost Axe Tribe. This tribe consists of the relatively rare ice‑frost trolls of the Southern Continent; their city "Katale" is built among several high peaks of the Klerra Mountains, at a very high altitude, about eight hundred li south of Sarta, with a total population of roughly five hundred thousand.

The journey from Sarta to Katale is long, passing through several tribes along the way.

Ke Er Sa Luo led the army out.

This time, he brought a full thirty‑thousand troll army, of which only one‑third were Saint Warriors of the Scorching Sun Tribe, and the remaining twenty thousand were all Thundercast Celestial Soldiers.

Of course, the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers' outward identity is Dark Spear Trolls.

Half a month earlier, the chief of the Dark Spear Tribe led the entire tribe to surrender to Sarta, staging a spectacular show before the Scorching Sun trolls.

The Dark Spear trolls not only agreed to surrender, but also declared their willingness to worship the Radiant Lord, follow Ke Er Sa Luo in unifying the Divine Abandoned Land, and even the entire Gu La Man Empire!

The Scorching Sun trolls were greatly delighted.

Even though High Priest Tu Su Er of the temple had never heard of this Dark Spear Tribe and was initially skeptical, refusing to let the Dark Spear trolls enter the city and ordering them to camp outside, within a few days a large number of Saint Warriors were born among the Dark Spear trolls!

The emergence of Saint Warriors is the best proof, showing the Dark Spear trolls' devout faith in the Radiant Lord.

The Scorching Sun Tribe, from top to bottom, immediately accepted the Dark Spear Tribe.

Ke Er Sa Luo also displayed full trust in the Dark Spear Tribe, yet the Saint Warriors of the Scorching Sun Tribe did not know that the chief's trust in the Dark Spear trolls actually exceeded his own.

The Dark Spear trolls are Gulamian trolls.

In essence, they are Thundercast Celestial Soldiers, high‑grade transcendents with power comparable to legends. Except for the very first batch, the later‑created Thundercast Celestial Soldiers never mastered the Star‑Lake Meditation, so even though they are born with Arcane Elements, they cannot cast spells.

The substitute is the Radiant Meditation.

The Thundercast Celestial Soldiers thus transformed from battle mages into Saint Warriors.

Even though, due to the limits of Creation Art, they cannot undergo soul metamorphosis to ascend to legend, they possess the complete Divine Technique granted by Sheng Jilesi and profound Holy Light power, so their overall strength still far surpasses elite Saint Warriors.

To differentiate them from the earlier Thundercast Celestial Soldiers, Lei En named them "Radiant Warriors".

In the future, as Ke Er Sa Luo conquers the Southern Continent, more and more Radiant Warriors will join his ranks; not only Dark Spear trolls, but also those disguised as various troll tribes and lineages, will combine with troll Saint Warriors to form a "Radiant Legion"!

The Radiant Legion will replace the Scorching Sun's Edge and the Chief's Guard, becoming the strongest army of the Gu La Man Empire.

This expedition to the Frost Axe Tribe includes, besides twenty thousand Radiant Warriors and ten thousand Saint Warriors, also two thousand Thundercast Divine Soldiers.

Of course, most Thundercast Divine Soldiers disguise themselves as Dark Spear trolls, hidden within the Radiant Legion.

Ke Er Sa Luo led his forces southward all the way.

He did not head straight for the Frost Axe Tribe, but instead took a long detour around the Divine Abandoned Land; along the way, some troll tribes surrendered at the first sign of his forces, while others resisted stubbornly, yet before the Radiant Legion all resistance proved futile, and resistance only invited even harsher purges.

It took a full month, during which the Radiant Legion conquered over twenty tribes, averaging nearly one conquest per day.

The troll population under Ke Er Sa Luo's rule surpassed three million.

Sheng Jilesi's divinity surged accordingly.

In the Divine Abandoned Land of Yin He Nie Luo, the central, eastern, and southern regions are almost entirely under Scorching Sun Tribe control, leaving only the Frost Axe Tribe. In the north, there is no particularly strong troll tribe; once the Frost Axe Tribe is defeated, the north can be conquered at any time.

Several days later.

Ke Er Sa Luo led the Radiant Legion up the Klerra Mountains, where they were repeatedly attacked by ice‑frost trolls, but each time the assaults were uncovered and the attacking trolls were completely annihilated.

After a full day of climbing, Ke Er Sa Luo saw a magnificent city nestled among three peaks.

The world was ice‑bound, snow‑covered, with howling cold winds.

Ke Er Sa Luo glanced twice, gave his troops a brief rest, then immediately issued the attack order. The battle unfolded without surprise: the Radiant Legion, led by Thundercast Divine Soldiers, breached Katale's city gates in just fifteen minutes and poured into the city.

Among the Frost Axe Tribe, seven Saint Rank trolls fell, three of them killed by the siege of Thundercast Divine Soldiers.

The three strongest were slain by Ke Er Sa Luo himself.

He had just slain the Frost Axe Tribe's chief when a dragon roar echoed from the sky; looking up, he saw a dozen massive white silhouettes plunging down from the mountain peaks.

(End of Chapter)