Merchant From Earth in the Magical World

For the Swamp Tribe forces… if the use of Poison Flies was the tactical core of their army, then the Snakehide Buffaloes were its backbone.

The Snakehide Buffalo resembled a massive ox, but its skin was not covered with fur. Instead, it was protected by a layer of scale-like armor, similar to a snake's. This was also the origin of the name Snakehide Buffalo.

The hard, scaly armor provided the Snakehide Buffalo with superb defense. Coupled with its tremendous strength, this made the Snakehide Buffalo the mainstay of the Swamp Tribe's army. It could be said that as long as Snakehide Buffaloes remained within their ranks, the Swamp Tribe possessed the confidence to continue the war.

Moreover, the advanced form of the Snakehide Buffalo, the Tier 10 Snakehide Brute, possessed an extraordinarily intimidating skill: Death Gaze. This was a type of instant-death skill. Under the Snakehide Brute's gaze, there was a certain probability that the targeted creature would die instantly. Whether it was an ultimate creature or an exceptionally powerful hero, once the instant-death effect of the Snakehide Brute's Death Gaze was triggered, death was unavoidable.

It was precisely because of this equalizing skill that the Snakehide Brute had become a strategic deterrent, in a sense. However, it was only a deterrent. After all, the Snakehide Brute was just a Tier 10 magical beast. This power ranking was enough to prove that Death Gaze didn't change much.

Although no one wished to encounter a Snakehide Brute, there were still many ways to avoid its Death Gaze if one did. Effective methods naturally included blinding it or moving out of the Death Gaze's attack range. For a hero, there were far too many ways to blind a Tier 10 magical beast. When the Snakehide Brute activated its Death Gaze skill, simply blocking its line of sight with anything would render the skill ineffective. Even if struck by the Death Gaze, the skill's fatality rate was very low. Otherwise, if the Snakehide Brute truly killed anyone it gazed upon, the Swamp Tribe wouldn't still be confined to the swamps; they would have unified the world long ago.

The true strength of the Snakehide Brute lay in its defense and offensive capabilities. If Death Gaze chanced to kill someone unlucky, then so be it. If it couldn't target them or failed to kill, there was nothing to be done.

In the forest combat, Lizardman Beast Tamers with their Snakehide Buffaloes blocked the advance of the Combat Werewolves. Upon seeing several Snakehide Brutes among the group of Snakehide Buffaloes, the Combat Werewolves immediately used their shields to cover their entire bodies, preventing them from being struck by Death Gaze. Then they quickly moved toward nearby trees, using their shields and the tree trunks to fend off the Snakehide Buffaloes' charges.

The Combat Werewolves knew their Firemen Axes would struggle to damage the slippery, hard scale armor of the Snakehide Buffaloes, so they focused on defense, and used their Firemen Axes to strike their shields, drawing the Snakehide Buffaloes' attacks.

The Human Crossbowmen moving with the Combat Werewolves were there precisely to deal with such heavily armored units. The crossbowmen hid behind large trees, loaded special armor-piercing bolts onto their drawn crossbows, and then shot at the Snakehide Buffaloes attacking the Combat Werewolves.

Yan Xing had equipped his Human Crossbowmen with modern military crossbows that fired specially customized armor-piercing bolts capable of penetrating the heavy plate armor worn by Knights. As long as the angle of impact was great enough, they could also penetrate the scale armor of the Snakehide Buffaloes.

The crossbow bolts lodged themselves in the bodies of the Snakehide Buffaloes. The grievously wounded Snakehide Buffaloes let out mournful cries. They turned to attack the crossbowmen who had ambushed them. Meanwhile, the Combat Werewolves immediately swung their Firemen Axes, using the sharp pick-heads to aggressively pierce the Buffaloes' rumps. The pick-heads of the Firemen Axes had an excellent armor-piercing effect, and the Snakehide Buffaloes' rumps were a weak point, quickly pierced until they bled.

The Snakehide Buffaloes' attention was once again drawn to the Combat Werewolves. Seeing the Snakehide Buffaloes turn their heads back, the Combat Werewolves immediately retreated behind their shields. The crossbowmen seized the opportunity to draw their crossbows, load bolts, and fire.

Combat Werewolves and crossbowmen worked together to encircle and slaughter the Snakehide Buffaloes.

Scattered Werewolf archers used dense volleys of arrows to block the Lizardmen from supporting the Snakehide Buffaloes. The burning lines of fire on both sides brightly illuminated the forest battlefield.

The Carnivorous Birds, having devoured all the Lizardmen's Poison Flies, chased after the breathless Lizardmen under the command of the Werewolf Beast Tamer.

The Lizardman Beast Tamers knew that if they didn't join the fight directly, the battle would be completely lost. The Lizardman Beast Tamers, who had been controlling magical beasts from the rear, finally stepped forward.

They unleashed attack Magic. Using Lightning Arrows, fireballs, ice cones, and stone spikes, they attacked the Carnivorous Birds charging toward them.

They released enhancement Magic. Using Protective Stone Skin, Protective Divine Shield, Unyielding Strength, and War Spirit, they armed the Lizardman warriors gathered around them. Then they ordered these Lizardman warriors to rescue the Snakehide Buffaloes embroiled in a difficult battle.

As the Lizardman Beast Tamers directly joined the fight, the Werewolf Beast Tamers, who had been riding Chocobos and commanding the Carnivorous Bird offensive from the rear, also stepped forward. The Werewolf Beast Tamers likewise used Magic to focus fire on the Snakehide Buffaloes and used enhancement Magic to boost their warriors' fighting strength.

For a moment, Magic of various colors flew about, and the light from the cast spells shimmered in the narrow woods. The magical offensive and defensive battle unfolded, pushing the combat in the woods to its climax.

However, since the Lizardman Beast Tamers gained no advantage in the magical exchange, they couldn't change the fact that their forces were being routed. All their Poison Flies had been wiped out, and the embattled Snakehide Buffaloes could neither advance nor retreat. The Lizard Beasts were still trapped by the lines of fire, blocked in the pools of water. Meanwhile, the Lizardman warriors, gaining no advantage in the archery exchange, were beaten to the point they dared not show their heads.

The Carnivorous Birds rushed forward heedlessly, and some Werewolf archers also charged under the cover of the Werewolf Beast Tamers' Magic. In a short time, the Lizardman Beast Tamers found themselves cut off from their rear, trapped in the middle of the enemy's offensive wave.

The few remaining Snakehide Brutes were killed. Death Gaze was sometimes also a curse for the Snakehide Brutes. For whoever discovered a Snakehide Brute on the battlefield would concentrate their forces to eliminate it, no matter the cost. This also led to the scarcity of Snakehide Brutes.

With the Snakehide Brutes dead, the remaining Snakehide Buffaloes were riddled with bolts, their scaled armor a bloody mess in many places from the Combat Werewolves' Firemen Axes. The death of these Snakehide Buffaloes was only a matter of time.

Next were the Lizardman Beast Tamers trapped in the middle. Already, crossbowmen were shooting bolts at them. The powerful armor-piercing bolts pierced the defense magic cast by the Lizardman Heroes and lodged in their bodies.

The Lizardman Beast Tamers, feeling their lives threatened, immediately abandoned the unsalvageable Snakehide Buffaloes and fled toward the rear. The Werewolf Beast Tamers, riding Chocobos, followed unhurriedly.

The Lizardmen's last vestiges of resistance were gone. Encircling them in the woods for annihilation would only lead to unnecessary friendly casualties. They were simply herded forward, allowed to think they could still escape, and thus continued to flee northward. During the escape, each Lizardman would think that as long as they could outrun their companions, they could survive. Their fighting spirit would be further eroded. They wouldn't trust anyone's orders, nor would they entertain any thought of turning back to fight desperately.

They would run headlong into Steel Fang's ambush. There, they would be ambushed by lurking Poison Flies and, ultimately, easily eliminated.