âElder Calvin, has the village been discovered by the forest trolls?â Han Shuoâs face turned grave as he turned his head to look at Calvin, asking him solemnly.
âHan, why do you suddenly ask this question? There have been a few forest trolls appearing often nearby the past couple of days, but even we donât know if theyâve discovered something.â Calvin first started and then explained.
According to the field of vision coverage by the original demons, Han Shuo discovered that the amount of forest trolls numbered five or six hundred this time. There were forest trolls, warriors, hunters, and priests. They all advanced in an orderly fashion, and coordinated with each other in exceedingly reasonable ways. This indicated that this batch of forest trolls must surely come from a strong faction. Five to six hundred forest trolls grouped with sufficient troll hunters and priests would make for a sizeable power.
There were only 50 or 60 who could participate in battle within the villages of the dwarves. Add to that Han Shuo and a few elves, their strength was completely subpar to the forest trollsâ. This made Han Shuo understand that it would truly be tough to tide over this timeâs danger.
âFive to six hundred forest trolls are headed in this direction. It looks like your village has already been exposed.â Han Shuo sighed lowly and slowly voiced the truth.
Benedict had listened to Han Shuoâs words with some disbelief, but the group of dwarves that Calvin was leading immediately panicked upon hearing that five to six hundred forest trolls were headed their way. They were at a loss of what to do and proposed wild plans.
âWhat to do, what should we do?â An iron mallet waved in Bennettâs hands as he looked at the female and children behind him, appearing very worried and resigned.
The dwarves werenât a race that was cowardly and afraid of danger, but they couldnât be irresponsible towards their females and children. When danger arrived, their first thought how could they protect their children and females.
âChief Calvin, I know that your village is within a mountain valley. Do you have any other ways of leaving the valley? No matter how suitable the valley is for your residence, I think we need to evacuated out of here as quickly as possible. Weâll be hard pressed to fight against five to six hundred forest trolls.â Han Shuo tried persuading.
Calvinâs brow was knit tightly as he appeared quite anxious. After thinking for a while, he spoke to Bennett first. âGo assemble all the villagers and have them pack their things to leave from the mountain valley in the back. Weâll stay first and see if we can bring some punishment to these villains.â
Bennett immediately left with Calvinâs orders, calling out continuously in the small houses towards the back, exhorting all the villagers to pick up rations and weapons, and to temporarily leave everything else behind.
At this moment, the two dwarves standing guard outside finally walked in with looks of panic, they started yelling out loudly before reaching the chief, âBad news, terrible news! A lot of forest trolls are headed our way. Theyâre everywhere within the shrubbery!â
Benedict had been a bit hesitant, but no longer doubted Han Shuoâs words by now. The group of elves with Benedict as their leader all unsheathed their weapons and wiped them down with calm expressions. Benedict held the bow behind his back in his hand, appearing ready for combat at any time.
âThe forest trolls are the natural rival of us elves. Iâd like them to get a taste of our power this time.â Benedict didnât display any frightened emotions and rather spoke with eagerness.
Bennett had already finished giving the dwarves behind him their reminders by this time. Han Shuo discovered through observing from the original demons that the forest trolls were indeed headed towards the mouth of the village. He looked back involuntarily at the dwarves around him and said to them, âI think we should block off the narrow passageway into the village at this time, and endeavor to win time for the females and children to leave.
Han Shuo nodded at Calvin when he said these words and took a few steps forward to the mouth of the village. Benedict hesitated and indicated his intentions at the elves, and followed behind Han Shuo, heading for the entrance to the village.
Up until now, Han Shuo could basically be certain that these forest trolls were aiming for the dwarves this time. Otherwise, they wouldnât have all appeared here with such coincidence. The five hundred or so forest trolls started searching through the nearby shrubbery beneath the yells of the particularly stocky forest troll, searching for the entrance to the dwarvesâ village.
According to how the situation was developing, the shrubs and leaves covering the entrance to the village wouldnât be able to conceal it for long. Han Shuo didnât become panicked after arriving here and recited a portion of magical incantation. Several skeletal warriors and two bulky zombie warriors appeared in front of him.
âWe should take the time to set up some simple traps. The entrance to the village will surely be discovered, but itâs not too spacious here and so we can take advantage of this to create some trouble for them,â Han Shuo said calmly when these dark creatures appeared.
The skeletal warriors and zombies immediately started digging traps beneath Han Shuoâs orders. The zombie warriors possessed strong bodies and were in charge of moving rocks from the distance to block the way. The dwarves had set up some traps here to begin with, Han Shuo merely added in a few more measures. The dwarves also all mobilized themselves to help Han Shuo set up.
âNecromancy magic is the most disgusting magic, to think that you, human, are an evil necromancer!â Benedict seemed to abhor the appearance of the skeletal and zombie warriors as he complained.
Han Shuo was completely unmoved by Benedictâs complaints and only concerned himself with setting up the traps. When Han Shuo felt that all was pretty much in readiness, he took out a few crossbows from his space ring and distributed them to the dwarves around him. He then directed them to retreat to the rear and disperse themselves within the strong growth of trees and shrubs.
The dwarves were masters of forging weapons, but the complex bows didnât need superb crafting skills, rather required precision design and thought instead. The firing range and power of a crossbow was exceedingly high, and was one of the most outstanding inventions from humans in recent years. Their drawbacks were that they were too heavy and that the frequency of firing wasnât that quick. Every crossbow needed a small amount of time to reload after shooting, unlike how a bow and arrow could be quickly reloaded.
Han Shuoâs body was strong, thus he could easily lift such heavy crossbows. Although the dwarves were diminutive in stature, their strength was also equal to Han Shuoâs, and so they too lifted the crossbows easily.
As Han Shuo and the dwarves stood ready to defend, a loud forest troll shout traveled in from the distance. The forest trolls then immediately cheered and rapidly approached with loud yells. Through the eyes of the original demons, Han Shuo knew that one of the forest trolls had already discovered the concealed entrance.
Indeed, the new forest troll leader gave orders in the forest troll language as more than a hundred forest trolls came charging over with weapons in their hands. The troll warriors were in the advance, with hunters and priests following close behind, as they carefully and slowly attempted to brush away at the coverings.
Han Shuo roared lowly and didnât wait for the forest trolls to walk into the entrance. The crossbow in his hand had already been fired, and the dwarves beside him also sent crossbow bolts whistling through the air.
Some of the forest trolls that had just entered this area and hadnât had the time to peel back the coverings were sent flying by the enormous momentum behind the crossbows. One of the forest trolls that Han Shuo had hit was pierced through by his crossbow bolt and nailed to a tree that was the width of two people.
âLook at the power of my magical arrow.â Benedict glanced disdainfully at Han Shuo and suddenly pulled back on his bow. Faint magical pulses came from the bow in his hand and the arrow suddenly began burning fiercely in mid air after it was shot out. When it landed amidst the forest trolls, it suddenly exploded ferociously with sparks. Ten or so forest trolls who suffered splash damage from the sparks started burning, Three of them didnât put the flames out in time and were swallowed by the spreading tongues of fire.
Han Shuo was truly surprised, he hadnât expected the arrow to have such power and involuntarily looked askance at Benedict.
âBenedict, you should waste such precious magical arrows on these cursed forest trolls. You know that these magical arrows are all very precious!â A female elf was a bit angry at seeing Benedict show off and lectured him.
Benedict stuck out his tongue and made a face when the female elf lectured him and then spoke self righteously to Han Shuo, âDid you see that just now? The magical arrows that have been imbued with magic from our elders has such strong power after being shot out with a magical bow. If these dwarf forged weapons are modified by us, they will immediately turn into powerful magical weapons and bring lots of trouble to the forest trolls. You should give those weapons to us.â
It looked like the elf still hadnât forgotten his duty, even now, and was still attempting to use his naive and laughable words to persuade Han Shuo. It was a pity that apart from flicking him a glance in the beginning, Han Shuo paid no more attention to him and only calmly gave a few orders to the dwarves around him.
After the first batch of forest trolls that had entered paid a heavy price in casualties, they were much more cautious the second time around. They first had the troll warriors approach, and then the priests added blessings on them, making their bodies more nimble and strong. The enhanced forest trolls immediately shoveled away the weeds at the entrance with great enthusiasm.
At this moment, the crossbows in Han Shuoâs and the dwarvesâ hands continuously shot out across the tall grass, but whenever their crossbolts appear, so would the long spears of the troll hunters rake through the air, also falling on Han Shuo and the dwarvesâ hiding place.
But because the crossbows had a longer firing range, this caused the forest trollsâ judgement of distance to be off the mark. The long spears fell in rows in front of the group without causing any damage to them.
After paying the price of the lives of a few more troll warriors, the forest trolls finally cleared away the obstacles to the village entrance. With another loud yell, the forest trolls raised their weapons and charged in with large steps.
The traps set at the entrance to the village started displaying their lethality. The forest trolls out in front all fell into deep holes with sharp sticks in the bottom, and they lay there moaning in pain. The entrance to the village was finally about to be overcome with the mounting forest troll death toll and casualties.
âThere are simply too many forest trolls, I think we should retreat.â Han Shuo looked at the village entrance thronging with forest trolls and understood that the difference between the two was simply too great. He shook his head and sighed.
Benedict also displayed his fright at this time and nodded in agreement with Han Shuoâs words. âYes, I think we should retreat first and wait for me to go back to the tribe to alert our people. When our people arrive, these cursed villains will pay a painful price.â
When Han Shuo and Benedict said so, the ten or so dwarves around them seemed to be a bit dejected as they all laid down their weapons. One of them said, âThe chief said that we should listen to Han. If Han wants us to retreat then weâll retreat.â
Han Shuo smiled faintly upon hearing his words, âSince this is the case, then all of you should come back, otherwise weâll be in big trouble.â
The dwarves, who had been bent on fighting to their deaths, all retreated to the back of the village in accordance with Han Shuoâs orders. The crossbows within their hands continued to fire. In the face of a densely packed forest troll advance, the crossbow bolts would all fit their targets even without being aimed.
Upon seeing that the dwarves had already retreated, some of the dwarves also stood tactfully in the back. Han Shuo thought for a moment and summoned the little skeleton. He wanted to use the seven bone spurs on the little skeletonâs back to shed a last wave of blood and create some trouble for these forest trolls.
However, out of Han Shuoâs expectations, when the bone dagger wielding little skeleton appeared at the village entrance, he hadnât even had the time to shoot out his bone dagger when the forest trolls in the very beginning all displayed very excited expressions. They laid down their weapons with a thud and bowed down to the little skeleton with highly raised hands, calling out continuously, âDatara, Datara, DataraâŚâ
Han Shuo was flabbergasted and stunned where he stood. He didnât know why the forest trolls were worshipping the little skeleton so faithfully.