NOVEL WEB Chapter 23: Expedition (3)
Dragon Breath swept through, and in an instant, countless soldiers were turned to ashes. Even the Undead Giant Elephant charging toward the city walls was ignited, letting out a shrill roar.
In a moment, not only were the elephants halted, but the entire offensive momentum was curbed.
Under Gray's leadership, the morale of the Southern Alliance was actually quite high. But you must understand, charging at humans and charging at dragons are entirely different matters. Charging at dragons is basically a death sentence—an assured death. The weapons in human hands could never cleave dragon scales.
After taking down a few Undead Giant Elephants, the two black dragons didn't seem to have any intention of leaving immediately. Instead, they kept circling back and forth, continuously spraying Dragon Breath.
The vanguard began to scatter.
The lord standing beside Richie widened their eyes one after another.
"Holy Knight, oh no... Lord of Lich King!" Banette III, sweating profusely, stammered, "I think we need to send in the Undead Army. Humans can't handle the black dragons."
The other lords also turned back, staring at Richie in shock.
"I know," Richie said lightly, "Order your troops to keep moving forward, continue the attack, and do not retreat."
"Keep moving forward?" Benedict II couldn't bear it anymore, "The true purpose of the Southern Alliance should be to control the occupied lands after the battle, not to serve as cannon fodder on the battlefield. This serves no purpose. Humans can't deal with the black dragons, and we shouldn't need to bear such casualties."
Yilin stood silently among the lords, staring at Richie.
Richie glanced at Benedict II indifferently and said softly, "I will send troops to support you. But I hope everyone understands, humans are not as useless as you think they are; at least, the Human Army should not be merely for post-battle control. As allies, you should shoulder greater responsibilities."
Suddenly, the lords were speechless, staring at Richie with wide eyes and gaping mouths.
Richie was wrong? Strictly speaking, Richie was absolutely right.
But this differed greatly from the lords' initial plans.
Who didn't know that humans couldn't fight against these Dragon Clan, Angels, and demons—immortal creatures? Gray had always been the one to take the lead. In the lords' envisioning, in the worst-case scenario, they only needed to handle the opposing Human Army. Who would have thought they'd be made the vanguard?
Wasn't this basically sending them to their deaths?
Without a doubt, if the White Bone Holy Light Court didn't participate, this war would never have erupted. Because the Southern Alliance couldn't oppose the black dragons at all.
For those bewildered stares, Richie seemed oblivious, still standing quietly, only lightly waving his hand.
Soon, several more Undead Giant Elephants rose within the Undead Army, but this time they were surrounded by a large number of Undead Spiders. In a mighty tide, they charged toward the city walls once again.
At the same time, the bugle sounded again in the military camp, urging the soldiers to attack.
The soldiers being urged forward were equally dumbfounded.
...
"What is he trying to do?" Augustsburg raised an eyebrow.
"What's the next move?" the girl beside him asked softly.
Augustsburg breathed deeply and answered, "Continue."
...
Circling in the air, the two black dragons whose assault had just slightly subsided quickly received orders, swiftly changing direction and charging toward the elephants. Dragon Breath poured down again.
However, this time it wasn't so simple.
One of the elephants was instantly ignited like before, but the other two elephants managed to dodge in time and weren't harmed. Simultaneously, the Undead Spiders quickly spat webs at the gliding black dragons.
Undoubtedly, compared to the Undead Giant Elephants and Undead Spiders, black dragons are immensely strong. But if fifty spiders worked together, that was another story.
One of the black dragons was ensnared by the webs, forcibly pulled down from the sky.
The other black dragon hurried to rescue, but soon it too was dragged down from the sky.
...
"Oh?" Augustsburg touched his chin and laughed aloud, "Seems I haven't fought the undead in too long, forgotten they had this trick."
...
A brutal ground combat commenced.
Yes, brutal combat, not slaughter.
Even grounded black dragons were not easily handled by the undead. In terms of strength, the Undead Giant Elephants barely matched the black dragons, but the Undead Spiders were utterly outmatched; a single swish of a black dragon's tail could smash them apart.
So, even though the dragons had fallen, the battle still appeared grim for Richie.
...
"Attack." Richie repeated once more.
The lords present winced sharply but still reluctantly issued the command.
Soon, the stymied assault was reignited, and the soldiers, bypassing the areas where black dragons and elephants were fiercely fighting, continued madly surging toward the city walls.
The night sky was illuminated again by giant fiery projectiles hurled by trebuchets.
...
"What is he trying to do?" Augustsburg grew increasingly baffled, "Can he only deploy this many undead?"
...
A black dragon opened its mouth to spray Dragon Breath, but an Undead Spider leaped up and webbed its mouth shut.