Chapter 56: The Great War Begins!

"What should we do now?"

Eclauss asked Luo Xiu,

"With this kind of force, it's completely impossible to hold them off!"

"We do as we discussed at the beginning."

Luo Xiu pulled out two enslavement contracts and a dark broadsword from his magic pocket, speaking in a calm voice.

Eclauss looked at the enslavement contracts in Luo Xiu's hand and clenched his right hand into a fist.

These were forced upon him and the black-robed woman by Luo Xiu using the elementary effect of [Enslave].

For people of their level, breaking a contract of this caliber wasn't particularly difficult, but even the slightest motion to undo it would prompt Luo Xiu's speed to cut them down with absolute ease.

Taking a deep breath, he shouted to the knighthood:

"Everyone! Maintain the maximum skill-release distance and adopt a tactical defensive posture to whittle down the enemy's low-tier forces!"

"We only need to hold out for three hours! Reinforcements will arrive in three hours!"

"Keep your distance and do not fight to the death!"

Hearing Eclauss's command, the knights inevitably felt fear grip their hearts as they looked at the approaching swarm of slimes.

Yet, they immediately assumed their well-drilled defensive formation.

The holy paladins took the front line, the berserkers guarded their rear, shielding the group of priests, while the scout squad circled the flanks and rear, positioning themselves alongside the hunters and mages.

They slowly advanced toward the tide-like mass of slimes.

Eclauss waved his right hand, and a pale blue radiance washed over everyone in the knighthood.

Tactical Master Tier 3 Skill: [Tactical Defensive Guard]

Following that, two silver blades materialized in his hands, and he said to Luo Xiu:

"I have no other choice left. I hope you can actually pull this off."

With those words, he dashed forward, charging straight into the surging sea of slimes.

The black-robed woman cast a deep glance at Luo Xiu, then closely followed behind Eclauss, running out into the fray.

Ominous energy surged at her fingertips, and a mire-like magic array manifested beneath the slimes' feet. The low-tier slimes seemed to fall into a strange state; not only did their movements slow down, but some even spun around and began crawling in the opposite direction.

Warlock Tier 3 Skill: [Chaotic Quagmire]

Just as before, the knights bombarded the slime swarm with a barrage of various ranged skills. The only difference this time was that the entire knighthood maintained the utmost limit of their range, leaving a vast, empty stretch of ground between them and the slimes.

Eclauss's figure continuously shifted amidst the swarm. His movements possessed an aesthetic grace, every sweep of his blades resembling a perfectly executed demonstration of technique.

Under his cuts, one Tier 2 slime after another let out wretched cries, chunks of gelatinous flesh sheared from their bodies as they were left teetering on the brink of death.

In his mind, Luo Xiu's instructions echoed:

"Once the battle begins, you only need to target the Tier 2 slimes. Remember, do not kill them; leave every single one of them with a breath of life."

"Your objective is to butcher 69 Tier 2 slimes in this manner."

To this day, he still couldn't fathom the point of doing this.

69?

Did 69 have some sort of special significance?

Damn it, the guy is an absolute lunatic!

Eclauss ran and repositioned at high speed, avoiding any unnecessary harm.

At the same time, he meticulously regulated the force behind every slash, not only to prevent himself from outright killing the slimes, but also to conserve his stamina.

However, there were simply too many of these creatures. Barely a moment had passed before he felt a palpable sense of exhaustion setting in.

Furthermore, he had a premonition that those Tier 3 slimes had already locked onto him.

Dammit, wasn't there supposed to be help coming?!

Where are they?!

"ROAR!!!!"

Just as he was pondering, a earth-shaking roar erupted from behind.

A silver-white figure, even larger than the Tier 2 slimes, vaulted over the sea of creatures and descended from the heavens, crashing heavily onto the plains.

A Tier 1 slime shrieked as it was squashed flat into a puddle of mucus by the mountain-like silver-white figure.

Silver Moon Bear!!!

Eclauss's eyes widened in shock.

And it looked like a Tier 2 Silver Moon Bear, at that!

Was this the help the lunatic was talking about?

The knighthood behind him was also bewildered, trying to discern whether this newly arrived giant beast was friend or foe.

"Maintain the original offensive targets!"

Seeing the giant bear begin to harvest the exact slimes he had painstakingly whittled down to a single breath, Eclauss immediately shouted to the knighthood:

"Focus your fire on those Tier 1 slimes and inflict casualties!"

The moment Eclauss finished giving his orders, he wanted to pivot and continue his quota of slaying Tier 2 slimes.

Suddenly, his hair stood on end. An intense, ominous intuition forced his body to instinctively lunge sideways.

A massive, vaguely shaped slime projectile soared through the air and slammed into the exact spot where he had been standing.

BOOM!

Corrosive mucus splattered in all directions, instantly eating a deep pit into the earth.

Cold sweat trickled down Eclauss's forehead. He looked up in the direction from which the projectile had come, only to find a Tier 3 slime, as massive as a city wall, staring down at him.

Its sharp, triangular eyes flickered with a mocking glint—evidently the culprit behind the projectile.

Not only that, but a full five Tier 3 slimes turned their heads, opening cavernous maws the size of sinkholes directly toward him.

Within their jaws, foul-smelling slime projectiles were rapidly condensing, their shapes vaguely discernible amidst the energy fluctuations caused by the mages' ceaseless ranged bombardments nearby.

Eclauss wanted to dodge, but the combined coverage area of projectiles from five Tier 3 slimes was simply too vast.

There was no way for him to completely escape the blast zone.

He could only cross his twin blades in front of him, preparing to take the blow head-on.

Yet, a muscular figure draped in a cloak materialized directly in front of him.

Facing the incoming colossal slime projectiles, the figure merely raised his weaponless hand and threw a punch.

The projectiles exploded like fireworks, and a thick white mist billowed outward.

Luo Xiu, draped in his tattered cloak, charged straight out of the dense fog.

"Finish your mission. I'll handle these Tier 3 slimes."

Leaving behind those words, Luo Xiu leaped into the air, hoisted the heavy black broadsword in his hand, and charged directly toward those wall-like slimes.

Eclauss stared at the scene before him, still shaken. A second later, regaining his senses, he gritted his teeth and lunged back toward the Tier 2 slimes.

Looking at the Tier 3 slimes towering before him—each one vastly larger than himself—Luo Xiu felt as though he had stepped into a scene from a pre-apocalyptic film he'd watched in his previous life.

Insignificant humans facing prehistoric behemoths at the end of the world.

Of course, in the movies, humans always won.

Therefore, it would be no different this time.

Luo Xiu kicked off the ground with explosive force, targeting the foremost wall-like Tier 3 slime, and instantly propelled himself to eye-level with it.

The surrounding Tier 3 slimes watched Luo Xiu leap proactively before them, letting out rumbling, bubbling roars as their massive divine carcasses swept toward him with astonishing speed.

Yet, their speed was still somewhat sluggish compared to the current Luo Xiu. Right now, Luo Xiu possessed stats that comprehensively surpassed Tier 3, having continuously poured every single attribute point harvested by Leila directly into Constitution and Agility.

Like a phantom, he flashed past the gaping maws of the Tier 3 slimes and brought his heavy sword down in a ferocious arc toward his target.

A heaven-shaking roar tore from the throat of the targeted Tier 3 slime. It never expected a puny human to actively leap before it and initiate an attack.

Even within the Keren Kingdom, it was a minor lord in its own right!

It had clawed its way up from countless slimes, stepping over the corpses of its peers to reach this position.

How dare this foolish human!

Its body reared up like a towering wave, jaws agape as it moved to viciously devour Luo Xiu.

Luo Xiu's lips curved upward. The broadsword in his hand slashed down violently as his momentum surged forward!

Swish!

The body of the Tier 3 slime slowly split down the middle. The crimson light in its eyes dimmed, maintaining a final expression of utter disbelief.

Then, it collapsed with a thunderous crash!

[Host has slain a Large Slime, Points +20]

Without the slightest pause, Luo Xiu shot backward in full retreat.

He turned his gaze toward the black slime standing atop the heads of the remaining Tier 3 slimes.

The black slime's gaze locked onto him as well.

Their eyes met in a silent gaze.

Luo Xiu knew that from this very moment onward, the war had truly begun.