Chapter 174: The Disappearing Soul Flames (1/2)
Because the bone pillar wasn’t able to move, the rodents were quickly able to leave the danger zone. Yet when were things ever so simple…just as they were all about to make it back, the bone pillar, having realized that it couldn’t catch the rodents, blew up…
It was a bonafide explosion, one that sent a shower of bones into the air. To be exact, it sent a shower of skeletons into the air. Of these skeletons, some had a beastial form while some had a humanoid form, all of them however, looked dangerous. Plus, they turned out to be extremely fast as well.
As the skeletons flew through the air, some of them directly landed on the heads of the rodents and that resulted in a prompt death by bone claw and teeth.
A large number of the fleeing rodents ended up dying to this aerial ambush skill. Furthermore, because these were my fodders to begin with, I didn’t bother training them as a division. Thanks to that, there was hardly any order to their retreat.
Rat squeezed against rat as they hurriedly scampered back to our side. Yet, the more they hurried, the more chaotic things got. The more chaotic things got, the more panicked they became and that ended up causing even more of them to die from the skeletons.
Initially, I had planned to test out the strength of the bone pillar once they retreated but who would’ve thought that it would disassemble itself like that. Worse of all, these skeletons were noticeably stronger than the usual skeletons we encountered in the past. In the meantime, the morale of the rodents had basically crumbled to the point where none of them even considered fighting back.
“Stop them from retreating. I want them to hold off these skeletons right now. If anyone refuses to comply, just kill them!” Now that the battle had gotten so chaotic, I had to cancel all my previous plans so as to prevent the rodents from destroying our formation with their mindless escaping.
“Go, I want you to lead your brethren into battle. Make sure not to show any mercy, just cut down anyone who tries to escape.” I turned to Weslin as I gave out that merciless command.
“Alright.” Realizing that her chance to redeem herself had come, she discreetly threw a glance at the expressionless Habona before turning around to nod at me. Weapons raised, she boldly rushed into the chaotic melee while shouting for her brother, Westley, to send her five hundred or so lizardmen to aid her: “Follow me, kill off all those rodents who try to escape!”
Looking at all the fleeing rodents around her, a burning anger overwhelmed her as she bellowed: “No escaping! You filthy rodents had better turn around and fight or I’ll execute you myself!”
However, with how chaotic this battle was, only a portion of the Abaddon Rodents heard her threat despite her loud voice. Furthermore, not all of them understood the language of the devils as well. Thankfully, I had the foresight to assign her rat translator beforehand just for such situations.
Repeating her threat once more, the rodent translator loudly chittered. Unfortunately, it still seemed like some of them didn’t receive the message or perhaps they simply pretended not to hear it. All these rodents who were dead set on escaping immediately tried to penetrate the defensive line of Weslin’s troops but were easily slaughtered.
Picking one of the rat corpses, she callously tossed it aside and knocked down a couple of fleeing rodents: “Cowards must die, kill!”
“Kill!”
As her five hundred lizardmen roared in unison, a cruel smile couldn’t help but grace her lips. A claw swipe later, the brains of one unfortunate rodent ended up splattering against the bony hallway. Right after that, the figure of a rodent could seen flying across the air from her mighty tail swipe. “We don’t need deserters in our army, kill!”
At that, her other brethren rushed into battle as well.
While all that was happening, the hapless rat translator was stunned into silence and momentarily forgot its duty. Seeing that, Weslin threw the rodent a withering glare that almost made its poor rodent heart jump out of its body. Realizing its error, it hurriedly translated that last order.
“All those who wish to live had better turn around and fight!”
Now that the situation had developed to this stage, the fleeing rodents finally understood that running away was nothing but a shortcut to a quick death. At least by attacking the skeletons, they still had a chance at survival.
With no other choice, they could only turn to fight unless they wanted to face the ruthless lizardmen whose viciousness even made me uncomfortable.
However, because there were several thousands of these formidable skeletons ,who honestly looked rather terrifying as well thanks to their strange bony shape, the rodents’ morale was at an all time low. Yet with a supervisor like Weslin, the rats had no choice but bring out their will to fight to the death.
Truly, a textbook implementation of [broken pots and sunken ships]. With no way to retreat, they ended up having to bring forth their best.
Truth be told, I was truly worried that these rodents might end up destroying our formation with their escape. If that were to happen, my main force would be caught in an awkward position as they faced off against the skeletons. Thankfully, I didn’t care all that much about their lives and promptly ordered Weslin to stop them from fleeing.
And die they did. Thanks to the formidable offensive power of the skeletons, the hides of those rodents basically stood no chance against their bony claws and teeth. While all that was happening, I took the opportunity to observe the situation. The first thing I was able to confirm was that my previous concerns about an “undead virus” didn’t come true. Even after being clawed by the rodents, they merely bled and didn’t turn into undead after dying.
Given that revelation, all the intelligence that had to be gathered, had been gathered. Continuing to expend their lives would no longer reap any benefits. Thus, it was time for them to dispatch the reinforcements.