Chapter 559.5: The Fall of the Cole Elves
Looking at Sera beside him, he began to feel anticipation and excitement.
"Maybe, we Gray Dwarves can truly gain a foothold in the Material Plane..."
Despite feeling a slight sense of loss, Prince Krezer understood very well.
Only by capturing Black Raven Castle and achieving the most crucial step of the plan could they consider the future.
Sera, maintaining a calm expression, was unaware that Prince Krezer had already "submitted," but even if she knew, she wouldn't care much.
Being well-versed in the underground world's power dynamics, Sera naturally understood the disparity between them and Bay Territory.
From the moment they made contact, the Gray Dwarves had already stepped onto the path laid out by Bay Territory.
They were destined to walk this road to the end with no turning back!
If they remained "obedient," they would naturally enjoy the bright future promised by the Lord.
If they harbored other thoughts, Sera wouldn't hesitate to replace their leader with someone more compliant.
Bay Territory would never give up!
"Proceed according to the original plan. Once we take them down, those guys can make their entrance."
Sera meticulously checked her weapons and armor, issued the final battle orders to Prince Krezer, and then turned to walk into the mist.
Watching her leave, Prince Krezer, feeling the pressure weigh heavily on him, turned his gaze fiercely toward the inner castle walls.
He was not someone to be trifled with.
Facing Bay Territory and Sera, both of whom were stronger and more capable, he had endured plenty.
Now, he could finally vent all of it on his opponents.
The moment the Cole Elf Commander saw Krezer appear among the Gray Dwarf ranks,
He immediately recognized his identity!
Staring at the silver-gold gleaming armor he wore, the Cole Elf Commander narrowed his eyes and muttered in disbelief:
"To have assembled such an elite force... has he already unified all the Gray Dwarf factions?"
"And what about the Dwarf Kingdom? Did they surrender willingly, or were they completely crushed?"
"These Gray Dwarf warriors show no signs of prolonged battle. Their weapons and armor are brand new... What exactly has been happening in the underground world?"
A storm of thoughts swirled in the Cole Elf Commander's mind.
But unfortunately, the outcome of the battle was already being determined within his hesitations.
Prince Krezer raised his war hammer high, with crackling electricity surging around his body.
"Seize this castle wall, and we will finally break free from the darkness that has bound us for millennia, reaching the prosperous and stable surface world."
"Our descendants will no longer suffer hunger, darkness, and cold. We will have a new future!"
"All forces, attack!"
As Prince Krezer's resounding battle cry spread, the red-eyed Gray Dwarves howled and charged forward.
Yet, just as the Cole Elf warriors braced themselves for combat, they were quickly dumbfounded.
The first thing to hit them wasn't the ferocious Gray Dwarves, but massive boulders hurled over an eight-meter-high wall from nearly two hundred meters away.
"Boom!"
A deafening crash shook the entire wall, the enormous rock tumbling and rolling but failing to hit any Cole Elf warriors directly.
However, the sheer force behind it drained the color from their faces.
Not to mention the flying debris, which left several soldiers caught off guard and injured.
Although no one was killed, the immense pressure made their scalps tingle with fear.
No one could be certain whether, in the chaos, the next giant boulder would crush them into pulp.
What worried the Cole Elf Commander even more was that the destructive force of these boulders was concentrated directly against the inner castle walls.
Judging by the tremors he felt, the damage was considerable. If the catapults continued their relentless bombardment, the walls might collapse entirely.
And if that happened, the casualties would be secondary; the real disaster would be the complete loss of morale among the defenders!
Before the Cole Elf Commander could formulate a countermeasure, a relentless barrage of crossbow bolts rained down upon them.
"Ah!"
"Dodge!"
"Help me..."
"Ugh..."
"..."
Chaos erupted as over a dozen Cole Elf warriors, still trying to evade the boulders, were instantly struck down by the bolts.
Hearing their comrades' agonized screams, the remaining Cole Elf soldiers broke into a cold sweat.
If they looked up, they risked getting shot; if they stayed down, they might be crushed by boulders. Panic gripped them, leaving them paralyzed.
The double-layered attack had completely shattered their focus, preventing them from stopping the Gray Dwarves from closing in.
The soldiers might have been overwhelmed, but the Cole Elf Commander could not afford to ignore this disaster.
However, when he saw the siege towers and battering rams steadily approaching, an icy chill ran down his spine.
In his momentary daze, a group of swift Gray Dwarves reached the walls and unfurled magical scrolls.
The enchantment preventing spellcasting under the mist's interference was nullified through sheer financial brute force.
Fifth-Circle Spell – Feather Walk!
A dozen Gray Dwarves instantly rose above the battlefield, their bodies floating as they climbed effortlessly onto the castle walls.
Behind them, thirty more elite warriors followed their lead, leaping onto the walls right behind them.
A watchtower, already shaking from the boulder strikes, housed a dizzy Cole Elf sentry who inadvertently witnessed this terrifying sight. He immediately shouted:
"They're on the walls! Watch out!"
The Cole Elf warriors tensed up, their peripheral vision catching a glimpse of the siege towers still forty to fifty meters away, sparking confusion.
Weren't they still too far away?
Sensing something was wrong, the Cole Elf Commander rushed to the walls at full speed.
Slashing down an incoming bolt, he instinctively looked down below.
A dozen Gray Dwarves, sprinting along the edge of the wall, surrounded by crackling lightning, were charging forward.
The electric arcs had yet to strike, but an eerie, paralyzing sensation crawled up the Cole Elf Commander's spine, sending his mind blank with shock.
Before he could react, the lightning-clad Ashes swung his Thunder Hammer in a devastating blow.
"Crackle!"
A surge of electric arcs, like a monstrous blue beast, roared toward the front lines.
The branching tendrils of lightning lashed out like writhing tentacles, seeking out Cole Elf warriors clad in metal armor.
In an instant, over twenty Cole Elf warriors collapsed, convulsing violently.
The remaining soldiers gasped in horror, staring at the electrified Ash, who exuded the overwhelming aura of a peak Supernal warrior. In desperation, they raised their bows and fired.
With a roar, Ashes lifted his shield to guard his head and charged straight toward the splendidly armored Cole Elf Commander.
Target the leader; take out the king!
The arrows merely sparked off his shield and armor.
Watching this unfold, the Cole Elf Commander felt as though he had been targeted by a monstrous beast.
As Ashes charged toward him, the commander suppressed his instinct to engage and instead barked an order to his nearby guards:
"Hold him off!"
As the commander, directing the battle was his top priority—he was beyond the age of reckless duels.
More importantly, he feared that if he fell to this fearsome Gray Dwarf warrior, the entire defensive line would collapse.
Heavy casualties were one thing, but absolute defeat was unacceptable.
But Black Crow Fortress must not fall!
This is not only a matter of family honor but also a crucial stronghold of the Cole Elf Kingdom!
Clang!
Two extraordinary elf warriors staggered back in shock.
Seeing that they had only momentarily slowed Ash's rampage before he resumed his charge, they gritted their teeth and held their ground despite the numbing pain in their wrists.
Watching Ashes's wild charge halted, the Cole Elf warriors on the walls let out a sigh of relief.
But they had celebrated too soon!
Over a dozen lightning-clad modified Gray Dwarf warriors surged up at the moment they relaxed. The surging electric web entwined and spread in all directions.
In an instant!
The crisscrossing lightning struck down over a hundred Cole Elf warriors.
Their bodies convulsed, overwhelmed by searing pain and paralysis, losing all control—even soiling themselves in the process.
The modified Gray Dwarf warriors had not formally stepped into the extraordinary realm.
Yet their formidable combat prowess granted them an average challenge level of 18+!
Meanwhile, the elite Cole Elf warriors had an average challenge level of merely 11+!
The gap between them was simply too vast!
The gathered modified Gray Dwarf warriors swiftly spread out.
They charged into each cluster of Cole Elf warriors, disrupting their formations, drawing their focus and firepower.
Even with the emergency magic barriers cast by their spellcasters, the Cole Elf warriors, unable to withstand the lightning surges, could not stop the modified warriors' advance.
The basic attributes between the two sides were worlds apart.
The Gray Dwarves' superhuman strength exceeding 20 points was more than enough to crush the Cole Elf warriors, who were not known for their strength.
In just thirty seconds,
The Cole Elf warriors on this section of the wall had plunged into deep trouble.
Over two hundred Cole Elf warriors were struck down. Most were still alive, but they were now incapacitated for the fight.
When thirty high-level Gray Dwarf warriors mustered their courage and stormed the walls,
They were greeted with the gratifying sight of the fallen Cole Elf warriors lying scattered like discarded debris.
Without delay, they followed the prearranged plan, splitting into six groups, gripping their heavy steel shields, and advancing along both flanks.
The disorganized Cole Elf warriors were no match for these elite Gray Dwarves and were swiftly routed.
The Cole Elf commander, stunned by this successive series of blows, finally roared out:
"Spellcasters, eliminate them!"
His shrill, distorted voice echoed across the entire fortress wall.
The Gray Dwarf warriors' hearts tensed at the call. They held a deep-seated fear and wariness toward enigmatic spellcasters.
But today was an exception!
"Ah…!"
A wretched scream abruptly ended!
A Cole Elf spellcaster, his heart pierced, had barely let out a shriek before his head was mercilessly severed.
Sera emerged from the shadows, her blade of formless, glistening light instantly slashing another fleeing Cole Elf spellcaster.
Arcane Barrier!
Shattered!
Flame Shield!
Shattered!
Natural Protection Ward!
Shattered!
The spellcaster barely reached for the emerald leaf pendant around her neck.
But the deadly edge of Sera's blade had already cleaved through her head.
In the final moments of her spinning vision, the last thing she saw was Sera's cold and ruthless expression, frozen in time.
Around her, over ten Gray Elf assassins emerged from the darkness, having completed their first strike upon entering the battlefield.
"No…!"
The Cole Elf commander's heart-wrenching cry sent a shudder through his troops.
They instinctively turned to look, only to find their last hope—the spellcasters—laying dead and scattered in the carnage.
A nameless fear gripped their hearts, their minds reeling from the devastating assault.
Sera, undeterred by their stunned gazes, swept forward like a gray tempest, tearing into the Cole Elf ranks.
Her slender frame concealed monstrous strength. Each swing of her blade cleaved Cole Elf warriors and their armor cleanly in two.
The other modified Gray Elf warriors followed suit.
Their strikes were swift and ruthless. Old grudges had faded into the past—this was a fresh vendetta, one that would not end until their enemies lay dead!
Their charge led directly toward the Cole Elf commander.
The Cole Elf warriors, already stricken with fear and bombarded by continuous volleys of bolts, could barely muster even sixty percent of their full strength, cut down like weeds.
Boom!
A colossal siege tower slammed against the inner fortress walls. Howling Gray Dwarf warriors surged down like a crashing tide.
Below, the battering ram began its relentless assault, hammering a deep dent into the gate.
In the blink of an eye, the entire defensive line was in crisis!
At this perilous moment, the Cole Elf commander, who had just been flustered in the chaos, finally regained his composure.
Without hesitation, he gripped his pendant, preparing to crush it—only to witness a terrifying sight.
His entire body was no longer under his control.
And standing before him, appearing almost out of nowhere in the open ground, was a cloaked figure—Matthew.
The staff in Matthew's raised hand shimmered with the radiance of time's power!