Green Monster Epic

Chapter 373: Remnants

Alan's heart was wounded, so on this journey south, whenever he encountered scattered devils, demons, or even scouts from human armies, he showed no mercy, relentlessly pursuing and killing them one by one before stopping.

These fellows were truly unlucky, running into Alan just as he wanted to vent his negative emotions. Even if they exhausted every means of escape, it was all in vain.

Thinking about it, Alan wasn't an emotionless animal after all. Although his relationship with Kaya, this human woman, only went as far as friendship and partnership, his aloof and distant personality meant that any friends he made were people he genuinely cared about.

From their first interaction at the city lord's mansion to their temporary alliance and Kaya's help in setting up a noodle stall to ensure a reliable economic source for the village… Alan had always remembered these things and had thought about finding a chance to repay her.

It wasn't until Kaya revealed her true colors that Alan realized that everything had been nothing more than an act to get closer to him. This feeling of betrayal made Alan feel somewhat hurt, along with a touch of frustration. However, after repeatedly lashing out, he gradually calmed down.

When the incident first occurred, Alan left Mansa City without saying goodbye, because after experiencing this, he saw ulterior motives in everyone, even becoming cold towards Alba, with whom he originally had a good relationship. But after he calmed down again, carefully recalling everything that had happened, he felt how pitiful Kaya, this human woman, truly was.

There was no one Kaya could trust, and she didn't dare to genuinely get close to anyone. How lonely her heart must have been!

At least, when he interacted and got close to her, he had been sincere and had received a response, even if that response was false. It still brought fulfillment to his heart. The knowledge he learned from Kaya and the memories they made together during their adventures were also treasures in Alan's heart, and they couldn't be completely denied because of her later actions.

After some self-reflection, Alan no longer felt as distressed. It only meant that his already cold heart would be even more rational and suspicious when dealing with others who deliberately approached him in the future.

Originally, Alan should have traveled south with the other legendary experts, as Mansa City had prepared a batch of supplies and troops that could be transported to the grassland front under the escort of the legendary figures, killing two birds with one stone.

However, Alan's sudden solo journey south, without any burdens, allowed him to reach the grassland front two months earlier than Shaka and his group.

If it were any other mid- to low-level member, such undisciplined behavior would definitely have been met with reprimands and punishment from the higher-ups. However, who told Alan to become a legend now? As a strong individual, he naturally had the privileges of the strong. Alan's early departure not only caused no trouble but also made the higher-ups at the front lines, such as Nordin and Ahmad, feel gratified.

After all, on the front lines, the biggest weakness of the Wilderness Coalition when facing attacks from human armies was that they had fewer powerful experts to hold the line. Therefore, they suffered significant losses in legendary duels and the command of legendary leaders, and they were being forced to retreat by the enemy's army.

Legendary experts, in a battle between two armies, not only defend against attacks from the enemy's experts and prevent losses to their own formations, but they can also be stationed in elite legions, using their own strength as sharp arrows to lead the surrounding legions to tear apart the enemy's lines and create better opportunities for the main force.

For example, His Majesty Sylvanas, in the form of the War Ancient Tree, was stationed in the rear, with a natural domain covering almost half the battlefield. While buffing the warriors of his own camp, he weakened the demon legions. This had a greater impact than personally intercepting a legendary expert.

Most of the human experts were of this type. For example, the Holy Knights of the God of War would often activate a Pious Aura to enhance the defense of the warriors in their formation. Legendary Holy Knights and above could activate a War Domain, which could enhance the warriors' attack, replenish their stamina, and so on.

In this aspect, the experts of the Wilderness Coalition had a natural disadvantage, because from the moment they were born, they were fighting for survival. Therefore, it was basically impossible for them to focus on enhancing the army's combat power. Instead, they focused on improving their own strength, like Alan.

In the past, the Wilderness could use enough legendary experts to put pressure on the enemy's formations in the sky, restricting or forcing the enemy's experts to fight on a separate battlefield. This allowed the two armies to fight each other, and the Wilderness warriors, with their overall strength advantage, could gain a certain upper hand in the battle against humans, or at least not be at a disadvantage.

But now, because of the difference in the number of experts on each side, the experts in the human army only needed to send a portion of their experts to hold back the Wilderness experts, while the rest could lead the human legions to launch powerful attacks on the Wilderness legions, thereby affecting the entire course of the battle.

No matter how powerful an individual is, they can never dominate the outcome of a battle involving hundreds of thousands of troops, unless they are a deity in person.

Perhaps some may ask, since the number of human experts far exceeds that of the Wilderness, why would they bother leading a legion's charge instead of simply using their excellent individual strength to rush into the Wilderness warriors' formation and slaughter them at will!

Legendary beings are not invincible. The top of the high-level peak, as long as they are willing to risk their lives and use their trump cards, can delay a legendary expert for a while. Therefore, if they are truly trapped in a sea of people, legendary beings can be overwhelmed by mid- to high-level warriors.

At the same time, humans' physical fitness is considered relatively poor among the countless races in Mansa. Although they can make up for some individual differences through hard work, their overall individual strength, even at the legendary level, is still inferior to that of many other races.

For example, humans are inferior to ogres, earth goblins, and orcs in terms of strength; in terms of agility, they are inferior to races such as elves and gnolls… Therefore, in individual battles between experts, human experts generally suffer relatively more losses, either relying on level suppression or relying on excellent magical equipment and scrolls to make up for the gap.

Moreover, in battlefield battles, all kinds of situations change rapidly. Although using individual strength to lead the army is not impossible, the enemies are not fools. Everyone will think about defending against the other side, so as long as they hide a few experts in the army to ambush the other side's experts, it will be much easier than individual battles.

Therefore, unless it is necessary or they truly dominate the battlefield, the battles between legendary experts are more often fought on separate battlefields, which is easier and simpler.

However, humans always like to research different combat methods to exert the role of their experts.

Cultivating experts with domain abilities specifically for war, although they suffer more losses in individual battles, can benefit thousands of mid- to low-level warriors in a legion, gradually guiding the situation on the battlefield. This is something that powerful individual experts cannot do. In the case of buffing and assisting the army, thousands of mid- to low-level warriors can also protect the domain experts, making it very difficult for enemy legendary experts to break through and defeat a legion with a domain expert, and they may even be killed instead.

This is an important reason why human civilizations have been able to rise to the peak step by step on the Shire Continent and firmly suppress the Orc Empire in the East Hammer.

When Alan arrived, he received a warm welcome from Nordin, and even General Ahmad, the commander of the line, was very happy.

"I didn't expect that in just a few years, Chieftain Alan has already stood at the same level as us!"

Ahmad was not close to Alan, but he had dealt with him many times, especially when Nordin brought the council's supplies and tokens to the Hultan Grassland and specifically asked Alan to participate. In other words, even without the recommendation of Fisher, the leader of the Snowmane tribe, Alan would not have been able to escape the task of going south.

As for why Alan was specifically asked to go south to perform such a difficult and risky task, the reason was simple: to eliminate the weak and retain the strong. As someone who had a better chance of being promoted to legend than other talents, Alan had been receiving attention and resources from Nordin, Oscar, and others since he entered their field of vision.

Great risks also contain great opportunities. For Nordin, as long as talents like Alan can grow up as soon as possible to supplement the number of Wilderness experts, it is worth sending Alan to the death line to perform dangerous tasks.

If Alan died during the mission, then Nording wouldn't find it a pity. The wilderness has no shortage of talent; if one gifted individual is lost, another will emerge.

"General Ahmad, hello."

Alan nodded slightly, politely greeting the snow-white Ahmad, while also putting on a friendly smile, turning his gaze to Nording at the side.

Ahmad and Nording, these powerhouses, initially followed His Excellency Sylvanas south, nearly perishing in the Godfall Battle of Clearstream City. Later, after narrowly escaping the annihilation storm of divine power, Ahmad and his group reorganized the remaining troops and led them directly north, settling down by Lake Samay on the eastern front of the grasslands.

While reorganizing the scattered wilderness soldiers who were returning north, they also garrisoned on the spot, pursuing and suppressing those demon stragglers. Before the support teams from the rear arrived, Ahmad and his men received news of the Human Alliance's northward advance.

At the same time, the demon legions lurking in the shadows finally revealed their true colors, attacking Ahmad's unit stationed by Lake Samay for blood and sustenance.

When Alan was in Mansa City, City Lord Declan, while introducing the front-line situation to the legendary figures and arranging tasks, asked Alan and the others for their opinions, seeing if they would go to the eastern or western front. In the end, Alan chose the eastern front.

The scale of the eastern front's legion was relatively weak, mostly composed of warriors from various races who had fled back after the southward expedition to Clearstream City. Therefore, this army had fewer organized legions, and its combat power was naturally not too high.

As for the western front's legion, because they were originally the main force of the human-front defense army, and there were also warriors from various races who couldn't go south to support due to the emergence of demon guerrilla forces, their scale and combat power were stronger. Of course, since the armies dispatched by the humans mostly came from the Rose Duchy, the wilderness legion on the western front became the main force intercepting the human army's invasion.

The reason Alan chose the eastern front was actually very simple: there was still a team of warriors from the Greenwood Tribe among the eastern front's stragglers. Although Alan had mentally prepared himself for their possible demise, as the chieftain and a member of the tribe, he still hoped to personally visit the eastern front's position and look for their traces, even if only one person survived, that would be good.

As for the other legendary figures, they basically chose the western front's battlefield, after all, it needed more powerhouses, and the war was more intense.

"Alan, you've come at the right time. I just found traces of a legendary bone demon and need manpower to help!"

Although Nording was very happy about Alan's arrival, he hoped that the supporting force could go to the western front even more. However, now that Alan had come, he had to make full use of this support. Regardless of Alan's recent arrival, Nording asked Alan for help.

In fact, the situation on the eastern front was far from as peaceful as Mansa City understood. Instead, there were constant small-scale but extremely frequent skirmishes.

In addition to sending its main force north to engage in fierce battles with the wilderness legion's main force on the Begana Plain on the western front, the Human Alliance still had an army of over 200,000 men in the occupied areas of the Spring Country, constantly driving the scattered demon legion stragglers outward.

For the humans, they didn't need to exterminate these abyssal enemies. They only needed to drive them out of the Spring Country's territory to achieve their goal. Doing so would not only reduce the number of human soldiers killed in action, but also bring a lot of trouble to their opponents: whether these stragglers fled east or north, the forces in these directions were all enemies of the humans.

Therefore, the demon stragglers from the south had never ceased since Ahmad and his men were stationed here, and there were always large and small groups of troops fleeing this way, bringing skirmishes to the wilderness garrison.

At the same time, the demon army that had been attacking the Beastman Empire on the eastern front had never stopped guarding against the wilderness, so there had always been small-scale demon armies spying on the Samay line. In addition, the demon guerrilla legions that had been lurking in the wilderness, causing all kinds of trouble for the wilderness's support teams on the front line, began to converge southward after the wilderness reacted and quickly launched a campaign to wipe them out, intending to join the demon army in the east.

The followers of the Evil God once again launched an attack at a critical moment, and the large number of demon armies they summoned had a profound impact on the supply of the wilderness army on the southern front, even completely cutting off the supply line to the centaur front for a period of time.

If it hadn't been for the fact that the various tribes of the wilderness had never ceased their vigilance against the demon army over the years, a new wave of the Evil God's chaos might have reignited in the wilderness itself.

The total number of demon guerrilla legions summoned by the Evil God's followers this time was less than 50,000 at its peak. In the end, under the joint cooperation of a 30,000-strong cavalry quickly formed by the three golden bloodlines of the Centaur Tribe and Mansa City's 100,000-strong support army, they quickly found the main force of the demons and defeated their main force in one battle before they could regroup. The remaining 30,000 stragglers fled along the eastern front of the wilderness.

The demons in the wilderness wanted to advance south and join the main force in the Beastman Empire, they had to pass through Lake Samay. Therefore, Ahmad and his men, with less than 100,000 troops, not only had to guard against the demons in the south, but also had to deal with the demons coming south from the north. Their pressure under two-front operations was not small.

Most importantly, besides Ahmad, Nording, and Kajiso from the Kardirong Orc Tribe, there were no other legendary powerhouses on the eastern front. The remaining legendary powerhouses who survived had all been transferred to the western front, which was most in need of legendary powerhouses under the attack of the human army.

"Okay!"

Alan didn't decline. If it was a legendary demon, he would probably only need to hold the opponent back. He still had some confidence in this.

"Then what are we waiting for, let's go!"

As soon as Nording saw Alan agree, he immediately strode out, shouting in a loud voice: "Kajiso, stop slacking off, get up quickly!"

Alan cast his eyes on Ahmad, asking for his opinion. After all, Ahmad was the commander of the eastern front's wilderness legion, and Nording could only be considered a representative of the Temple of Nature.

"You guys go. This bone demon has been discovered for two days, and it's been delayed because Commander Nording and Kajiso couldn't deal with it."

Ahmad smiled slightly, explaining to Alan helplessly.

"As the commander, I can't leave this position, so I can only let the bone demon continue to gather a demon army on the east side."

"If you had come two days later, I'm afraid the bone demon's team would have expanded to a scale of 10,000, enough to pose a threat to our position."

Alan didn't know much about military strategy, and didn't understand why Ahmad and the others didn't send out troops in advance to wipe out this group of stragglers, but instead let them grow stronger little by little. However, this didn't prevent Alan from agreeing. After listening to Ahmad's explanation, he went straight out of the felt tent to pursue Nording's figure.

This time's battle was actually imminent even without Alan's appearance. Nording and Kajiso would also launch an attack on the bone demon Bridge within these two days. It's just that with Alan's arrival, Nording and the others would suffer fewer losses, and the possibility of killing the bone demon would be higher.

Leaving Bridge alive, on the one hand, was indeed because his strength as a legendary figure was not bad, and it was extremely difficult to completely kill him. On the other hand, Ahmad and Nording hoped to use the bone demon's influence to attract as many demon stragglers as possible under his command, so that the wilderness warriors could wipe them out in one fell swoop.

It was actually easier for scattered demon warriors to break through the eastern front's position, after all, their individual strength was extremely strong among their peers. The basic combat skills of the wilderness warriors, except for those from large tribes, were still lacking. Intercepting such stragglers was more difficult and resulted in more casualties than large-scale army battles.

"Oh, a new face has arrived!"

Alan wasn't unfamiliar with Kajiso. He had seen him fight the lizard legendary powerhouse Munchi, but the other party hadn't paid attention to the bear earth spirit who had just entered the high-level stage at that time.

At this time, Kajiso, who didn't know which felt tent he had emerged from, with two sharp double-edged axes on his back, looked at Alan scrutinizingly, his eyes gleaming, and he was full of teasing meaning when facing Alan.

Most of the powerhouses in the wilderness were familiar with each other. After all, there were only a few hundred people above the legendary level, and they would have dealt with each other several times over their long lifespans.

"Kajiso, this is Alan Wythe from the Greenwood Tribe, a newcomer who has just advanced to legendary."

Nording's voice was loud and he casually introduced Alan and the others to each other.

"Alan, this is Kajiso from the Kardirong Tribe, those two axes are quite powerful when he dances them."

"Newcomer?? I'm afraid his skills aren't very good, are they?"

Upon hearing about Allen's tribe, Kajiso's eyes revealed a hint of disdain. In a world where strength is revered, a Legend like Allen, without a powerful tribe as backing and newly advanced, was often not considered strong.

“Bringing him along, won't he be useless?”

“Rest assured, I won't hold you back!”

Allen sensed the other party's contempt and responded in a deep voice.

“Heh heh, I hope so!”

“Let's go, one more person means one more bit of strength!”

Noding didn't explain anything. If Allen wanted to earn respect, he had to display his strength.

“Knight Order, assemble!!!”

While Noding was calling out to Kajiso, the military camp by Lake Samael was already buzzing with activity. When he shouted the order again, a 2,000-strong cavalry regiment, temporarily assembled from followers of various deities of the Temple of Nature, had already begun to gather slowly.

Knights in various colored armors merged into a multi-colored cavalry force. These were the surviving members of the various Temple Knight Orders who had followed Lord Sylvanas south. They bore the emblems of their respective deities on their right breasts. Although the Temple of Nature had suffered a heavy blow due to the slumber of Lord Sylvanas, the eyes of these Temple Knight Order knights were still filled with fighting spirit and anger.

Decades of devout faith would not collapse due to a temporary setback. Instead, the fact that the deity they believed in had carried out their own determined ideals and fallen, filled their hearts with a sense of tragic grandeur, a spark of hatred, and a steadfast desire to follow.

“Charge!!!”

Allen moved slowly with the Knight Order, leaving the densely packed military tents and heading towards the hilly area to the east.

Beside him, Commander Noding rode a grayish-white Earth Rock Goat. The goat's body was covered with a layer of light granite, as if it had grown naturally on the goat's body. It was said that Commander Noding had encountered it on a journey and subdued this magical beast that could cast several earth-based spells.

Kajiso, who was walking alongside Noding, rode an ordinary warhorse, just like Allen, a chestnut-colored warhorse randomly taken from the military tents. Anyway, neither Allen nor Kajiso were used to fighting on horseback. They still preferred close combat on the battlefield, so whether or not they had a good mount didn't matter much.

“You've only just arrived at the front line, and I'm already taking you out. Do you think I'm being a bit excessive?”

Noding turned his head and asked Allen with a relaxed expression.

“I'm fine. This little journey has no impact on me. Whether we fight sooner or later doesn't really matter.”

It would definitely be a lie to say that Allen was as relaxed as he claimed. After all, this was Allen's first time fighting alongside colleagues of the same level, and he knew his shortcomings, so he was somewhat afraid that his problems would have a negative impact on the battle. However, Kajiso's contemptuous gaze made Allen feel very uncomfortable, so he didn't want to lose face in front of the other party.

“However, I've only just advanced to Legend, and my strength is still far behind you two. I'm afraid I won't be able to help you much if we really have to fight later!”

Not losing face was just to save face, but Allen's pragmatic attitude still directly revealed the reality, lest something go wrong on the battlefield and everyone would be embarrassed.

“Heh heh, if we really want to kill that Bone Devil, we definitely won't need you.”

After hearing Allen's words, Kajiso instead looked at this Gnoll in a better light. It seemed that the other party still had some self-awareness. Otherwise, if he really tried to be a hero, he might cause trouble for them instead. There were countless guys who thought they could walk sideways after advancing to Legend, but many of them suffered a great loss in their first Legend battle.

“When the time comes, you just need to lead the Knight Order to charge and kill that Devil army. The Bone Devil still has to be dealt with by me and Commander Noding.”

“Of course, if your battle ends quickly, you can also come and give us a hand. It would be best if the three of us work together to directly kill this Bone Devil.”

Noding nodded, indicating that he agreed with Kajiso's opinion, which was considered an arrangement of Allen's next task.

After listening to the arrangement, Allen nodded slightly and looked around at the group of knights.

This was not only Allen's first time joining forces with a colleague to deal with a powerhouse of the same rank, but also his first time personally commanding a cavalry army, so he felt a little apprehensive again. Allen had only led hundreds of Green Field clansmen in battles several times. How could he not feel a little insecure when a random army was measured in units of thousands like today?

“Don't worry, the warriors of this Knight Order are all above the intermediate level. There won't be any problems in剿kill a Devil army with a scale of only 6,000!”

Noding's eyes were sharp, and he noticed the worry in Allen's heart and took the initiative to comfort him.

“Tch~~”

Kajiso glanced at Allen, made a faint sound, and turned his head to look into the distance.

“But, I have never commanded an army of more than a thousand people.”

Ignoring Kajiso's ridicule, Allen's eyes were sincere and frank, and he spoke his concerns.

“It's okay, the Knight Order has a commander to direct them. What you need to do is to act as the vanguard of the Knight Order and disrupt the formation of the Devil Legion.”

This was the real reason why Noding brought Allen along. His goal was very clear: to wipe out this remnant of the Devil army and leave the Bone Devil Bridger behind.

“Okay!”

The remnants of the Devil Legion under Bridger's leadership were actually in a dilemma. To the east were the Demon Legions who had deep hatred and had been fighting for tens of thousands of years, and to the north were the territories of the powerful wilderness tribes, the Chakri Troll Tribe and the Kadi Rong Tribe, as well as the remnants of the Demon who hoped to cross the Samael Lake line.

Like a sandwich biscuit, Bridger led this remnant of the Devil army, hiding in this mountainous area called the Dia Hills, integrating the scattered Devil teams that were heading north one after another. Compared to demons, the greatest strength of devils is their strict hierarchy. Whenever two scattered soldiers meet, as long as the strongest among them determines the victory, command, then the remaining members can quickly merge into one and become a well-trained army.

As long as Bridger is given a little more time, his army will be stronger, and then the chances of survival in the material world will be higher.

“Lord, a cavalry has appeared in the west. The army of the wilderness has come to find us!!!”

An Ice Devil, who was only one step away from entering Legend, waved his small wings behind him, which were disproportionate to his body, and landed in a camp with crisscrossing gullies, reporting to Bridger the urgent information he had detected.

“How many are there?”

Bridger was not surprised. The larger his team, the higher the possibility of exposing his whereabouts. Now, the time when the wilderness army was dispatched was two days later than he had expected, which was already their luck.

“Around 2,000 people.”

“Hmm…”

The number of cavalry that Noding brought was just stuck on Bridger's psychological defense line. If there were a thousand more, Bridger might have less determination to fight to the death, and taking the remnants to fight guerrilla warfare with the wilderness troops in the hundreds of miles wide Dia Hills would add a lot of trouble in vain.

“Have you found the figure of a Legend powerhouse?”

“Yes, that Dwarf Knight Commander is in the team, but other than that, I didn’t see any other Legends.”

Noding's identity was too easy to identify. Dressed in iron armor, he had no intention of hiding his tracks from the beginning. Instead, he walked boldly in the front after entering the hills, which was very conspicuous. As for Allen and Kajiso, they hid among the knights. Anyway, their warhorses were not conspicuous, and they blended in with the knights without any abruptness.

“Gather the team, we’ll fight them!!!”

Knowing that the army of the wilderness might be a trick, Bridger did not hesitate at all. Their remnants were just eking out their lives in the hills. They had no supplies and no way out. The Devil soldiers under his command were panicked and needed a victory to stabilize the morale of the army.

After a simple but careful calculation, Bridger made up his mind to give the wilderness army that had come to his door a heavy lesson.

“Yes!!!!”