The Era of Gods

Chapter 100: Slarda’s First Battle as an Epic Hero

Translator: 549690339

Strike while the enemy is sick, take his life when he is weak. The Centaur will not show mercy just because the enemy is feeble. Nearly five hundred Centaurs spread out into a crescent formation, surrounding the enemy. The thundering of hooves rose as the massive bodies, each clad in heavy full-body Armor weighing hundreds of kilograms, fiercely collided with the besieged Fishman warriors.

A ghastly symphony of breaking bones echoed as numerous Fishmen were sent flying, their blood spattering the ground.

A Centaur, with a hideous laugh, raised his Horse Chopping Knife and cleaved a Fishman in half, before leaping several meters high and crashing down upon another.

This Fishman, dragging its fishtail behind, fiercely slapped it down onto the ground with a ‘boom’, causing a dull explosion. An intense shockwave radiated out from the center of the Fishman, catching the leaping Centaur off-guard. The Centaur’s whole body swayed, barely managing to regain balance, just as the Fishman was about to counterattack. Then, suddenly, a roar came from behind:

“Make way!”

The surviving Fishmen quickly parted, and the Fishman immediately performed an agile backflip to retreat, revealing the Naga Team behind it.

It’s finally starting, huh!”

The onlookers above the Vault of Heaven perked up their spirits. It was clear that these four hundred-some Naga were Lin Xiao’s trump card, and the Fishmen were mere cannon fodder.

On the other side, Shang Xiaoxue was also issuing commands, instructing his Clan to prepare for battle.

Even Lin Xiao himself looked forward to it. This was the first battle since his Clan’s strength had improved after the final exam, and he wanted to see if the Clan he had meticulously cultivated could measure up against other outstanding students’ Clans.

He was not concerned by the Fishmen’s defeat. With their current equipment, it was normal for them to lose.

It was like an armed uprising wielding pitchforks going head-on against a fully armed Empire elite legion. Even if they were ail adults, the difference in equipment was huge. It was a qualitative gap; their loss was completely normal. It would be unreasonable if they won.

He considered getting a Blacksmithing Clan in the future to craft weapons and Armor specifically, equipping every Fishman with a piece of fine steel weaponry. Armor was unnecessary, since they were just cannon fodder anyway.

Unlike the Fishmen, who were purely cannon fodder, the Naga under Slarda’s command formed an irregular linear formation and slowly advanced. The Naga were taller than the Centaur, each bulging with powerful muscles that made Shang Xiaoxue wary. He commanded his Centaur to adopt a similar linear formation but also quietly directed another group of Centaurs to circle around from the other side, preparing for a pincer attack.

But Slarda was already aware of his opponent’s intentions. Their battle was taking place near the edge of a small hill, where he had previously sent a group of Fishmen to observe from the top and spot the other group of Centaurs.

So when both sides had closed enough distance, he lifted his heavy anchor and bellowed:

“Kill them!”

The Naga Team swiftly launched an assault. Their thick tails whipped back and forth across the barren land, flinging rocks and kicking up clouds of dust.

The Centaur Hero, hearing the Divine-mandate by his ear, raised his sword and roared with fervor:

“Children of the great God of the Centaurs, kill the heretics before you, kill!”

The two forces rapidly closed in, the Centaur uniformly raising their sharp Horse Chopping Knives in a slashing pose.

But just as they were about fifty meters apart, the front line of Naga suddenly accelerated sharply. In an instant, they crossed several tens of meters and violently collided with the first line of Centaurs, creating chaos and sending many tumbling.

A single strike toppled the first line of Centaurs. Those Naga leaped over ten meters high, plummeting into the second line of charging Centaurs. When they landed with a ‘boom’, it sounded like a thunderclap. A forceful blast, like a bomb, exploded outward, and flying debris hit the charging Centaurs, sending them into disarray once more.

A wave of Salted Fish Charge followed by a Thunder Shatter attack resulted in two lines of the three-row Centaur charge formation collapsing.

Especially the first line, which had received a fivefold critical hit face-on, even with the Naga’s inferior weapons, the sheer brute force of their fivefold outburst was enough to shatter the skeletons of the Centaurs and kill them from the impact.

No matter how thick the Armor, it wouldn’t fare well against the onslaught of massive blunt force, which was more lethal than cutting weapons.

But on the other hand, good equipment indeed provided a huge advantage. If the Centaurs had been without Armor like the Naga, the Salted Fish Charge and Thunder Shatter would have nearly annihilated them instead of just killing less than a third of their number, with most of the fallen being stunned, though temporarily unable to return to the fight.

In an instant, the heavy casualties momentarily stunned the Centaur Hero’s spirit, and then it turned into Wrath. He drew a javelin from behind and hurled it furiously.

The spear’s shadow flickered and vanished, and not far away, a Naga bowed to the ground violently, a fine steel javelin piercing its torso and pinning it to the barren earth with its blood-stained tip.

The last line of Centaurs needed no command as they each threw a javelin in retaliation as well.

Unfortunately, they lacked the formidable strength of the Centaur Hero. The Naga, being more responsive than the Centaur and aided by Basic Footwork, managed to consciously dodge many of the throws. A twist of their bodies helped them avoid lethal hits or at least minimize the damage.

After two volleys of javelins, the distance between the two sides was less than ten meters. The Centaur drew their combat knives and charged forward.

Meanwhile, Slarda had already set his sights on the Centaur Hero who had thrown three javelins, killing three Naga. Using his tail to increase his body length to ten meters, he leaped down from the high ground. His thick tail swept rapidly, and as a faint white light surged, his Speed suddenly increased by fifty percent.

Hero Skill: Sprint LV1. Slarda significantly boosted his own Speed, increasing his Moving Speed by 50% on land and by 150% in the water. When moving at high speed in the water, he gains 30% physical evasion and 15% skill evasion, as well as higher Life and Mana regeneration rates.

At that time, Slarda’s Agility on land was eight points, which, after the bonus, was about twelve points, barely catching up with the Centaur Hero’s Speed. However, he definitely couldn’t keep up with the Centaur in a long-distance pursuit.

But at this moment, neither side had any intention of dodging. For any melee hero, avoiding battle was out of the question. The Centaur Hero hurled a javelin from afar, charging forward without caring whether it hit, pulling out the immense, specially crafted Horse Chopping Knife.

Meanwhile, Slarda simply placed the huge anchor in front of him which sparked with a ‘clang’, serving as both a weapon and a shield.

In less than three seconds, the two had crossed the distance of over four hundred meters, and the distant Centaur Hero clasped the handle of the knife with both hands, let out a light shout, and forcefully swung it down.

In an instant, a dazzling blade aura split the air, creating a snow-white, three-meter-long aura that ploughed through the ground and rushed toward the charging Slarda like lightning.

This was the Centaur Hero’s Hero Skill, which could unleash a blade aura attack up to three times his own strength in a straight line within a forty-meter range. Each enemy touched would reduce the damage by 30%, capable of slaying up to four enemies before the aura faded away.

The sharp blade aura caused Slarda’s eyes to narrow slightly, his scale-covered fearsome face twisting even more menacingly as he moved. He violently whipped his thick serpent tail, and his massive body sprang up twenty to thirty meters high, his ten-meter-long serpent-tail body spanning the Void, crashing down like a meteor on the charging Centaur Hero.

“Boom!”

Slarda fell like a meteor from the sky, and with a thunderous roar that shook the earth, a wave of air mixed with large bolts of lightning blasted out several tens of meters, the ground breaking into countless rocks that flew hundreds of meters into the air. Thick dust rapidly spread, and the Earth itself trembled.

Hero Skill: Thunder Shatter LV1, Slarda violently strikes the ground, dealing impact damage equal to 1.5 times his strength and Thunder damage equal to 1.5 times his intelligence to surrounding targets. It also shakes and slows the targets; the higher his strength, the larger the shock range, and in water, it also inflicts double the shaking and slowing effects on the target.

Being shaken meant a dizzy, sluggish response, which was fatal in battle.

Slarda, a seasoned fighter, seized the opportunity and swung the several meters long anchor down hard onto the head of the dizzied Centaur Hero. However, the opponent was a hero with high resistance to negative states and managed to react in the nick of time, instinctively raising the Horse Chopping Knife to block.

“Clang!”

The terrifying strength combined with the heavy anchor smashed directly onto the Horse Chopping Knife, hitting the Centaur Hero with such force that he tumbled and sprawled on the ground.

Then Slarda swiftly went on the offensive. After becoming a Hero Skill, Salted Fish Charge’s power remained unchanged, still providing a five-times critical hit, but with more lenient usage conditions, no need for charging—it was simply an anchor smashing down.

Shang Xiaoxue, from outside the Vault of Heaven, waved his hand subconsciously, but it was already too late.

Slarda’s strength was superior to that of the Centaur Hero. With a five-times burst of power added to the anchor’s weight, the Centaur Hero’s head was smashed into a pulp; even his thick helmet was crushed flat, with blood spraying out of its seams like a squashed ripe persimmon.

Landing on the ground, Slarda let out a thunderous roar, and a flash of blood spread from beneath his feet to a hundred meters away as the Blood-draining Aura unfolded.

Allies within its range could convert twenty-five percent, or one-quarter of the damage dealt to enemies, into life essence to heal their own physique and wounds.

“What a fierce hero!”

“And an Epic Hero at that.”

The Ancient City rolled back his disdain, showing a hint of acknowledgment in his eyes.

Not to mention other aspects, just with the individual strength of the Naga and this Epic Hero, Lin Xiao already had the power to stand alongside them.

They hadn’t recognized that this Naga wasn’t the one they had imagined, as it was far too similar.

Only Tang Ling still seemed somewhat unconvinced and snorted:

“How does being an Epic Hero matter? His Clan is so few in numbers. Each of us has accumulated thousands of main forces, equipped so superbly. Though Epic Heroes are powerful, they can still be overwhelmed.”

But his companions ignored his stubbornness, recognizing that resources could pile up, but Epic Heroes were not easily obtained. Even among this group, none possessed one. At this point, they had all tacitly accepted that Lin Xiao’s demonstrated potential was sufficient to join them.

Indeed, among the elite, there are many second-generation descendants without abilities, the so-called spoiled rich kids. But any second-generation taken as a Clan heir would never be incompetent.

They had resources ordinary people could only dream of, yet they worked harder than the average person.

They were not the arrogant fools depicted in novels; on the contrary, they were more inclined to make friends. As long as you had ability, you could earn their respect.

Not all, but most are like this.

In just two or three moves, Slarda had cut down a hero.

Slarda’s burst strength was terrifyingly powerful, far exceeding what the Centaur Hero could endure. With one blow, he was instantly slain.

Upon the death of the Centaur Hero, the morale of the nearby remaining Centaur warriors plummeted. However, another group of Centaurs had circled around and initiated an attack from the rear of the Naga Team.

This gave Shang Xiaoxue, who was ready to end the battle, a glimmer of hope and prevented an immediate surrender..