Chapter 1084 - 516: Highland Beast Tide

The four-person team moved alongside several other Adventurer squads. The commanding officer leading their group was said to be a squadron leader from the Red Dragon Team—a Level 5 Ranger and the person with the highest Profession level among everyone present.

Therefore, even though it was their first time joining this team, the four of them quickly recognized their position and chose to obey the orders of those stronger than them.

"Don’t worry, it’s not as dangerous as you think," a friendly Adventurer—who was also the captain of another squad—initiated a conversation.

He was just an ordinary member of the Red Dragon Team, but after finding out the identities of the four, he was happy to chat and exchange information with them.

The four-person team nodded skeptically.

THUD! THUD!

A moment later, the war drums on the city wall sounded. Everyone returned to their assigned defensive zones. The monsters on the wasteland were drawing closer and closer.

BOOM!

Blais, whose gaze was fixed intently ahead, suddenly heard something—a series of explosive sounds echoing from the distant wasteland. Unfortunately, when he looked in the direction of the sound, there was only darkness; he couldn’t see what was happening at all.

"The boss must be making a move," the Adventurer beside him said, beaming with pride.

"Boss?"

"It’s Commander Gauss. The Commander will block those dangerous monsters out on the plains."

"Oh?"

The four from the Ancestral Province suddenly realized why they had run into Gauss last night. He had most likely left the town to hunt monster bosses just like tonight, and had spotted them from a distance.

"They’re here!"

"Prepare the flaming arrows! Fire at will toward the monster clusters across the river ahead!"

Before they could think any further, orders rang out nearby, and they had no choice but to bury their heads and immerse themselves in the impending battle. They raised their bows, nocked their arrows, ignited the arrowheads in the bonfires, and let them fly.

Gauss shot and killed another Commander-level goblin on the plains.

Looking at the 1 Commander Point added to his panel, he felt slightly regretful. The first-kill reward for most Commander-level species was 10 points, but subsequent second and third kills would rapidly diminish until they reached the base of 1 point. As the most common monster species, the points a Commander-level goblin could contribute had long since dropped to 1 point.

After approaching and storing the corpse of the dead Commander-level goblin into his Storage Bracelet, Echo of Yesterday, Gauss immediately flapped his wings and rushed toward his next Commander-level target.

With the Eye of the Raven, he could perceive the vitality of living creatures, giving him a more quantified understanding of what Spells to use to kill his targets. By simply conducting some practical tests, he could roughly figure out how much damage was needed to kill an enemy with a certain amount of health.

"Another group of little Stone Monsters." Gauss casually cleared out a group of monsters nearby, crushing them into gravel as he thought to himself.

Based on the intelligence from the reconnaissance cavalry of the Ancestral Province, it would still be two to three days before the main forces from the Giant Tooth Highlands arrived. However, the proportion of monsters with obvious regional characteristics in the current beast horde had already begun to quietly rise. When that time came, it also meant that Extraordinary Demons would appear.

At this thought, he silently sped up his actions.

In the blink of an eye, two more days passed.

Gauss had been working diligently around Warren Castle.

His Commander Points had reached 49. Although it was currently not enough to advance to Intermediate Dragon Speech, based on the 73 points it cost to upgrade the Eye of the Raven, he wasn’t too far from his next advancement.

In addition, his total monster kill count had reached 137,221. This was an increase of four thousand compared to two days ago. This speed wasn’t considered fast; in fact, it showed signs of slowing down compared to the previous days.

This naturally wasn’t because Gauss wasn’t working hard, but because the first wave of monsters from the Jade Forest had been almost completely wiped out. Meanwhile, the second beast horde from the Giant Tooth Highlands had spent the last two days on the move.

It wasn’t until today, when Gauss sent out the Death Crows to scout, that he saw a grayish horde on the distant horizon. Therefore, Gauss held a short, small-scale meeting this morning to relay this intelligence.

Objectively speaking, for ordinary Adventurers and soldiers, the Demons from the Giant Tooth Highlands were much more troublesome than the monsters from the Jade Forest. This was because many of those Demons were not made of flesh and blood, but instead existed in life forms akin to earth elementals. As a result, they were unafraid of fire and possessed superior defensive power. Their shortcomings naturally existed as well: their relatively slow movement speed and generally heavier bodies.

As long as they exploited these weaknesses and adjusted their combat strategies, they could still overcome the enemy. Gauss had already ordered someone to draw up an illustrated booklet, compiling the intelligence, appearances, combat styles, and weaknesses of the highland Demon species gathering on the wasteland. Everyone had to start studying it.

As long as they survived this second wave of the beast horde, the crisis around Warren Castle would be over for the short term. No one dared to slack off. All sorts of pre-battle equipment and fortifications were undergoing emergency maintenance.

"Eden, you’re going to have to put in more effort over the next two days," Gauss instructed the little thing on his shoulder.

In truth, over the past two days, Eden had done quite a lot behind the scenes. The death crises Gauss had seen looming over others through the Eye of the Raven had all been resolved by Eden. He didn’t have the time to stay in the town; he had to keep those powerful bosses outside the walls.

"I understand."

Gauss let out a breath.

The reason he was taking it so seriously was that the black aura he saw on others through the Eye of the Raven today was several times denser than in the previous days. It had also become incredibly complex, churning endlessly. This indicated that compared to the second horde from the Giant Tooth Highlands, the first wave from the Jade Forest was nothing more than a minor skirmish.

Of course, this didn’t mean that the overall strength of the Giant Tooth Highlands completely crushed the Jade Forest. It was just that the invading monsters from the highlands were likely more elite. Moreover, the presence or absence of an Extraordinary Demon commander made a massive difference.

Against Commander-level Demons, Gauss could often kill the enemy in a very short time with just a move or two. However, against Extraordinary Demons, even with an absolute advantage in strength, he might be temporarily delayed and forced to expend more effort and energy. When that happened, it was inevitable that some Commander-level Demons would reach the city walls. This would introduce unexpected variables to the defense of Warren Castle.

As the second Extraordinary entity in all of Warren Castle, Eden’s task was equally critical.

At this moment in the wilderness, a vast army of Demons was marching in silence.

Among them, a Two-headed Hill Giant was the most conspicuous. Its height exceeded ten meters, and two heads stood tall on its broad shoulders. Slimy, matted hair hung down, and brown, foul-smelling gas spewed from its fang-filled mouths.

"There’s a human city over there, little brother."

"You’re the little brother. That’s not a city; it’s a small town."

"What’s the difference? As long as there are human snacks, it’s fine. I’m going to eat ten—no, a hundred more people than you. You sneaked a bite last time."

"Greedy bastard! You clearly ate more!"

The two heads seemed to possess their own independent consciousnesses, and as they spoke, they began to bicker over their share of "food." In reality, they shared the same torso, so it made no fundamental difference who did the eating. But that didn’t stop this two-headed creature from constantly arguing over all sorts of trivial matters.

Only in battle, when facing an enemy that posed a mutual threat, could they temporarily set aside their personal conflicts and devote themselves entirely to fighting in coordination. Although the two heads possessed dual personalities and would fall into disputes, it also meant that their capacity for thought and control during combat was double that of ordinary creatures.

Composite Magic, which was extremely difficult for standard creatures to master, was as simple as breathing for them. As long as the two heads worked together in Casting, they could produce a stacked attack where one plus one was far greater than two.

And within this mighty army, aside from the Two-headed Hill Giant, there were several other massive entities. They, too, were leading their respective Vassal Armies, silently pushing forward in the same direction.

The purpose of their journey was to destroy every human settlement they laid eyes on—villages, manors, and small to medium-sized towns. Before this, they had already annihilated a small town beneath the highlands, along with over a dozen villages and human settlements.

They didn’t think much of the distant town standing like a nail on the plains, viewing it merely as just another human settlement to be ruthlessly crushed, like the ones before.