Chapter 167: The Door of the Dead (1/2)

Even though the medusas were technically rated higher than the lizardmen in terms of combat strength, the end result was that they weren’t even able to apprehend a bunch of stick throwing rats… ‘everything in this world had its own Achilles’ heel I guess’.

“Well what are you all waiting for, ATTACK!” With a wave of my hand, I ordered the remaining 1500 lizardmen to join in the full-scale assault. Having had a few days of worth of pent up rage in her, Manasha was raring to go, which she did so with a furious charge. Behind her, Majosha and her husband, Harlow, exchanged a couple of helpless glances before chasing after her.

However, by the time they reached the battlefield, they found that there was basically nothing left for them to do thanks to Weslin’s splendid performance.

“Numila, watch over these three exits and make sure none of the Abaddon Rodents escape.”

“Don’t worry dearest, this harpy definitely won’t allow any ratmen to escape.”

“If there are too many of them escaping, don’t push yourself too hard either, just do your best.” Due to the lack of progress assaulting this cave, it truly felt like I had a fishbone stuck in my thraot these past few days. Now that we finally found a solution to that problem, it was only to be expected that I would go all-out.

Having finally some form of catharsis for my sullen mood, I said: “Don’t push yourselves too hard, it’s fine if some ratmen escape. Without their nest, it’s only a matter of time before we round them all up anyway.”

“Alright, this harpy will listen to you.”

“Then I’m off.”

“Be careful, dearest.” Numila lovingly planted a wet one on my cheeks.

Slightly moved and slightly exasperated at the same time, I gave her a smile before giving her a peck on her featherless forehead. “Wait for my return.”

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“Mhm.” The Numila standing before me right now seemed more like a docile lamb than anything else, gone was the arrogance she showed during my initial encounter.

Truth be told, I had a bad feeling about this nest. Even with our recent successes, I couldn’t help but worry that the nest was hiding something else as well. After all, Violet Snow had been bullying these rats for some time now but they had never once shown any ability to craft spears.

So why did they suddenly possess a long range attack the moment we tried to attack them?

That contrast was kind of like if you attacked what was supposed to be a bunch of cavemen from the stone age but found out that they actually had bronze weapons and wooden armor…‘these rats were supposed to be in the stone age so how did they suddenly advance to the bronze age? That makes no sense!’

I had some of the hellhounds sniff the bone spears just to be sure. Based on what they sniffed out, it definitely was the unique scent of the ratman lingering on those spears.

‘Curious.’ That was one of the reasons why I insisted on waiting for the reinforcements to arrive.

As we navigated through the tunnels, we found countless ratman corpses scattered throughout. Just based on a quick count, there had to have been at least 500 corpses along the path we just walked.

With Weslin acting as our vanguard and clearing the path ahead of us, there was nothing to worry about as we proceeded forward. As long as we continued following the trail of corpses, it would only be a matter of time before we caught up with Weslin.

I had to admit though, the resistance these rodents were putting up was a lot fiercer than I had predicted. Normally, these ratmen were cowardly and avoided death like the plague, yet now these rats were actually engaged in a bitter fight to the death with us. Without any regard for their injuries or lives, they threw themselves at the lizardmen in a frenzied counterattack.

Thankfully, the lizardmen had their sturdy scales to protect them from the ratmen’s attacks. However, the razor sharp teeth of these rodents wasn’t something to be underestimated. Even with their scales, a particularly vicious bite could as just as well reap the life out of their bodies.

That was why I would stumble upon a few injured lizardmen from time to time. They were mostly covered in wounds that weren’t too severe but even so, these wounds were starting to take a toll on their combat ability. In order to avoid any unnecessary losses, I handed them over to the guardsmen and instructed these devils to evacuate the wounded out of the cave where the harpies could take over.

After proceeding forward for another four to five minutes, we finally caught up with Weslin’s vanguard army. As for why it took so long to do so, it was because the Prison of the Dead was a maze to begin with, this nest being dug out of said maze was naturally just as snaking and easy to get lost in.

Right now, Weslin was leading her lizardmen in a charge against the Abaddon Rodents’ defensive formation. Opposite her, the ratmen were furiously tossing their spears as if they had an endless supply of them in hand. Unfortunately for them, the defenses of the lizardmen were simply too strong and no matter how extravagantly they wasted their spears, the most they achieved was cause some minor abrasions.

Of course, it was a different matter entirely when those spears landed in a fatal spot like the eye sockets. However, the throwing skills of these rodents were only a smidge better than the harpies so for them to hit a target the size of a coin was…difficult.

Thus, the lizardmen attack proceeded extremely smoothly. It was basically a bloody and merciless slaughter.

Having been forced to retreat multiple times, the rodents’ morale wasn’t even that high to begin with. The moment they saw us arrive with the main army, they immediately despaired. Soon, there were signs of a massive retreat. Only those who couldn’t escape tried to fight back by biting the lizardmen.

‘This seems a little too easy, so easy it’s almost like taking candy from a rat baby. This just feels a little too smooth, almost unnaturally so.’

“What’s the matter?” Seeing me stop and frown, Violet Snow who had been by my side all this while, lifted her tiny head and asked: “Aren’t you going to advance?”