Chapter 332 - 173: First Round (Part 2)

And just like that, the Goblin Warriors were routed.

Halfway through their retreat, the fleeing Goblin Warriors ran into the reinforcing party of Goblin Warriors and Bear Goblins. The reinforcements had no idea what was happening up ahead. A moment ago, a thunderous horde had rushed past them toward the front, and now it was thundering right back at them.

What was going on?

Was the fight over?

The reinforcing Goblin Warriors and Bear Goblins were utterly confused. Then they saw a tide of Goblin Warriors scrambling toward them for their dear lives.

This...

What in the world happened up there?

It wasn’t until they saw a distant figure leap high into the air and land heavily before them that they finally understood. Loose gravel flew, PINGING and DINGING against its armor. The figure swung the hammer in its hand, sending several Goblin Warriors flying, and only then did they know what had happened.

’This is a goddamn rout!’

’We haven’t even reached the battlefield, and the front line has already collapsed!’

The Goblin Warriors and Bear Goblins, who had only made it halfway, didn’t hesitate for a second. They turned and fled, moving several times faster than they had advanced.

They were slow on the advance, but incredibly fast on the retreat.

To become a Goblin Warrior, combat prowess wasn’t the first priority. You had to be a fast runner. Especially when fleeing for your life, their speed was more than enough!

Don’t be fooled by their metal armor; it couldn’t slow them down at all!

What’s the prerequisite to becoming a Goblin Warrior?

Combat prowess?

Physical strength?

Of course not. It’s being a Fast Runner!

If you’re not fast, you’ll be dead. What kind of Warrior is that? To be a Warrior, you first have to be alive!

So, every last one of the Goblin Warriors was a sprinter. Even wearing Metal Armor, and despite starting their run after the other Goblin Warriors, they not only caught up but even overtook them.

From a distance, Li Ziyu saw that the enemy’s entire line had collapsed.

Liu Xingxing and Zhang Peng were dumbfounded. Two words echoed in their minds: ’That’s it?’

Weren’t they fighting so ferociously at the start? In the blink of an eye, they had almost fled all the way back to the Alliance Army’s camp.

’Hot damn. Just... hot damn. They’re far more professional at retreating than they are at charging.’

Goblins are short, and they run with a hopping gait, but they are surprisingly fast.

The Elite Heavy Hammer Skeleton Warriors only gave chase for half the distance. After the other Goblin Warriors also began to flee, they halted—this was on Li Ziyu’s orders.

In truth, the Undead didn’t really want to pursue them either. During the day, they grew weaker, which was a very unpleasant sensation. So, during the day, the Undead preferred not to move, appearing quite listless.

If it were night, the Elite Heavy Hammer Skeleton Warriors would have led the charge straight into the enemy’s main camp to teach them why the flowers are so red!

Seeing the enemy retreat further and further away, the Elite Heavy Hammer Skeleton Warriors gave their hammers a flourish, shouldered them, and turned to walk back. The Skeleton Undead that had just arrived were stunned for a moment, seemingly not realizing the battle was already over. They stared blankly at the Elite Heavy Hammer Skeleton Warriors and instinctively followed them back.

Palamede didn’t punish the Goblin Warriors for their rout, but he was still furious. The reason for his anger wasn’t the failure of the first battle—he’d experienced plenty of those. He was angry because of the intelligence!

In Palamede’s eyes, this failure had nothing to do with the Goblin Warriors. They had actually performed quite well, better than he had expected. If not for the faulty intelligence that led him to make the wrong decision, they might have already been victorious.

’Those idiots under me, what can they even do? They can’t even get the intelligence right. They don’t even know what kind of troops the Undead have!’

’How many times has this mistake happened?’

The last time, the Vanguard Camp was ambushed by the Undead because of an intelligence failure. This time, the first battle was lost, also because of an intelligence failure.

’This is too difficult a war to fight.’

Palamede felt a sense of helplessness. This army... there were too many things that needed to be changed. With their current strength, never mind marching into the Central Zone, it was questionable whether they could even conquer this Wasteland.

And so, the first round of conflict between the two sides ended. The Elite Heavy Hammer Skeleton Warriors, which Li Ziyu had spent a great price to create and had kept hidden by his side, had shone brilliantly, dealing the Cancerous Tumor Alliance Army a heavy blow right out of the gate.

「Cancerous Tumor Alliance Army, meeting room.」

"What do we do now?"

"A single defeat means nothing."

"Good thing it was daytime. If it were night, it would have been even more troublesome."

"Yeah, but we have to figure out a way to deal with those hammer-wielding Undead. Otherwise, we’re in trouble. The goblins’ morale is shattered; the Goblin Warriors are refusing to go to the front."

"I told you we shouldn’t have attacked. Now look, we failed in the very first battle, how embarra—"

Before the Lizardman Race Leader could finish his sentence, a spinning axe flew through the air. With a SPLAT, it split his head in two, continued on its path, and embedded itself in a wooden pillar behind him.

Everyone instantly fell silent. They glanced at the dead Lizardman Race Leader, then slowly turned their heads to watch Palamede, who was now standing up and striding toward the axe.

"Does anyone else wish to question my words?" Palamede grabbed the handle of the axe and, with a slight tug, pulled the Double-bladed Axe from the wooden pillar. He turned to the assembled generals and Clan Leaders, his tone chillingly grim.

The generals and Clan Leaders fell silent. They exchanged glances with one another before lowering their heads. Ever since Palamede had become the Alliance Supreme Commander, he had been relatively mild-mannered with them, allowing them to gradually forget who he truly was.

Before he was the Grand Marshal, he was the Legendary Race Leader of the Headhunter Race, known as the Slaughter Conqueror. Besides being a Clan Leader, he was also a powerful Warrior, and he had never been a good-tempered man.