Chapter 190: Fewer Than 5,000 Humans, a Chaotic Battlefield of Humans and Grey Dwarves
2025-01-05 Author: Amnesty L
Alar took the alchemy potion and, without hesitation, drank it all in one gulp. She believed this powerful human who had appeared before them would not harm them.
With his power, killing them would be far too easy.
"What is this... My injuries have healed?"
Just after Alar finished drinking, she felt a gentle power emerge within her, surging throughout her body and filling her with a warm sensation.
The fatigue from the recent battle faded bit by bit, and even some of the wounds on her body were rapidly healing.
This is incredible!
"This... this is too precious!" Alar looked at the alchemy potion in her hand, which she had just finished in one gulp, her silver eyes filled with shock and the pain of such a waste.
"Is this the 'magic' that Grandfather mentioned?"
An item like this, capable of healing injuries, could easily be exchanged in the Valley for a month's supply of food for ten people.
"This is just an alchemy potion, but you can also understand it as a form of magic," Tang Zheng said, shaking his head and explaining softly.
From their earlier conversation, he had already learned that the silver-haired girl before him was the granddaughter of the deceased human hero he had heard about from the information he'd extracted from the grey dwarves.
The fifty-odd humans behind her also noticed this scene and let out cries of astonishment. The group, who had been hesitant before, immediately followed suit.
They were afraid that Tang Zheng would take back the five bottles of alchemy potion he had given them.
"Um... uh..."
After realizing the value of the alchemy potion, Alar became somewhat flustered. She wanted to tell her companions to return the potions, but she was also worried about their injuries.
For a moment, she was stumbling over her words.
"To me, it's not something of high value."
Tang Zheng waved his hand casually, signaling for Alar not to be nervous, and continued, "The reason I gave you one bottle and let your companions share five is because your power far surpasses theirs, and your life level is higher."
"Their life level is weaker, so a diluted alchemy potion is sufficient for your companions."
"Thank you so much!" Alar didn't seem to be good at expressing herself, and she once again gave Tang Zheng a deep bow.
"This isn't the time for such things. How many people do you have left?" Tang Zheng asked.
"A little over 5,000," Alar bit her lip.
"Then how many troops did the grey dwarves send?"
"About 5,000. The unit you just eliminated, Lord, was their vanguard," Alar said.
She had originally planned to take the initiative, setting some traps along the road, but ended up running right into the enemy's vanguard.
"So the numbers are even, but your weapons are too poor."
Tang Zheng nodded, glancing at the weapons they were using. Most of them were taken from the grey dwarves.
But there was a significant size difference between grey dwarves and humans. Weapons that were usable by grey dwarves were not as effective in human hands.
[Experience Slot: 181062/120000]
Tang Zheng glanced at his status panel. Killing the numerous grey dwarf soldiers had earned him nearly 70,000 experience points in one go.
He silently calculated that, on average, one dwarf soldier gave about 150 experience.
"Um, Lord," Alar's hoarse voice sounded softly.
"Hm?" Tang Zheng looked at her.
"What I said just now wasn't about our military strength. It's that we humans only number 5,000 in total," Alar said with her head lowered. After speaking, she quickly thought of something else and hurriedly added, "Rest assured, Lord, all of us can fight."
Tang Zheng narrowed his eyes.
A race of only 5,000 people was no different from being on the verge of extinction. And this was despite humans having a relatively strong reproductive ability.
How many able-bodied adults could a tribe of 5,000 people field?
Seeing Tang Zheng's silence, Alar couldn't help but feel a little panicked. The powerful man before her was their only hope.
Having witnessed Tang Zheng's power, Alar faintly realized that he most likely possessed Hero-level power, just like her Grandfather.
However...
Even someone as strong as her Grandfather... could he really fight against such a massive grey dwarf army all by himself?
Alar still felt lost. She only knew that those who stepped into that domain were very powerful, but she had never truly witnessed how powerful they were.
Her Grandfather hadn't taken action for a long time before his death. In his own words, as long as he was alive, other tribes wouldn't dare invade them.
Alar clenched her fists, and the humans behind her also remained silent.
It seemed there was nothing they could do.
"Lead the way. Any later and your people will be in danger," Tang Zheng said faintly, dusting off his clothes.
Alar was startled.
"Based on your description just now, this dwarf unit probably wasn't the vanguard. It was specifically sent to intercept you."
"In other words, the real grey dwarf army must not have taken this route," Tang Zheng said.
Alar's pupils contracted. She reacted abruptly, her face instantly turning deathly pale.
Beside her!
The more than fifty human soldiers had also recovered from their injuries. Hearing this conversation, they couldn't afford to grieve for their fallen comrades and all scrambled to their feet in an uproar.
"Alar! Those grey dwarves are attacking the Oasis from another route!"
"We have to get back quickly, or everyone will be in danger!"
Anxious shouts erupted from all around.
"We're leaving now!"
Alar also understood the gravity of the situation and picked up the silver spear stuck in the ground beside her.
"Wait, the weapons on the ground," a human companion in the crowd reminded her.
The deaths of five hundred grey dwarves had naturally left behind a large number of weapons. For the weapon-poor Human Faction, this was a vital opportunity to arm themselves.
"Alar, have some of your people stay behind to collect the weapons. The rest will leave immediately."
Tang Zheng said to Alar, then patted the evil spirit hound on his shoulder, which had taken the form of a goshawk.
"Xiao Hei, you stay behind and protect them."
"Scree!"
The evil spirit hound let out the cry of a goshawk and nodded.
After leaving five people behind, Alar immediately led Tang Zheng and the others, rapidly returning towards the Oasis where the humans lived.
A lifeless, desolate desert.
On a flat expanse of desert, a patch of green suddenly appeared, like a green sail embedded in the Sand Sea.
Although this desert valley was called "Despair Valley" by everyone, it still held true life in the form of these oases, born from an underground water source.
Abundant vegetation grew in the Oasis, with shady green trees. Wild animals could be faintly seen, and at the edge of the Oasis, one could clearly see cultivated land planted with crops.
This Oasis was only the size of a town, yet it was already one of the three largest oases in this vast desert region.
Yet at this moment!
A murderous air filled the entire Oasis.
A grey dwarf legion of about 5,000 had already arrived before the Oasis. All the dwarf soldiers gazed at the lush, tree-shaded Oasis ahead, their faces revealing expressions of greed and desire.
From now on, this Oasis would be their territory!
And standing in their way was just a group of weak humans.
The Grey Dwarf Commander-in-Chief stood on the shoulders of two grey dwarf soldiers, raising a hand to his forehead to shield his eyes from the scorching sun as he gazed towards the distant Oasis.
He saw only crowds of humans dressed in rags, without even a single decent weapon among them.
"Conquer this place today, and tonight, everyone can drink in this oasis!"
"For Your Highness!"
"For the revival of the Gray Dwarf Race!"
"Brave warriors, charge!"
The Grey Dwarf Commander-in-Chief bellowed.
Hearing the word "drink," the eyes of all the grey dwarves lit up, and they began to salivate.
Drink was their greatest love, but there were too few things in Despair Valley that could be used to make it. "Wine" was already a luxury of luxuries in the eyes of most dwarves.
"For Your Highness!"
"For the revival of the Gray Dwarf Race!"
"For Your Highness!"
"For the revival of the Gray Dwarf Race!"
All the grey dwarves shouted in unison and charged headlong towards the human oasis.
There were no tactics, nor was there any need for them!
With the power of their Gray Dwarf Race, they had no need for such tactical considerations to deal with this group of weak humans.
Besides, not a single grey dwarf thought they would lose.
On the other side.
The Human Faction had mobilized completely. Aside from the elderly who could no longer move and the newborn infants, everyone else stood blocking the front of the Oasis.
Those without weapons grabbed stones and tree branches!
Everyone looked at the grey dwarf soldiers surging towards them like a tide, and a sense of despair spread through the crowd.
No one thought of running away.
Because in this desert, they humans had no way to survive if they left the Oasis.
Standing at the very front of the humans.
Was a middle-aged man with silver-white hair, his face full of exhaustion and scars, with an earth-gray scarf wrapped around his neck.
He was the Tribe Leader of this generation of humans.
*Smack!*
"Is the human race going to perish in my hands?" The middle-aged Tribe Leader's face was full of bitterness as he raised his hand and slapped himself hard across the face.
He was pained by his own incompetence and pained by the sight of numerous kinsmen dying one after another before his eyes.
"Tribe Leader, what are you doing!"
"Tribe Leader!"
"It's all because we're useless! We've dragged you and Alar down."
Seeing this, everyone's faces flushed red, and some of the women even started crying outright.
"All of you, shut up!" the middle-aged Tribe Leader shouted, turning his head to sweep his gaze over the crowd.
"Even if the humans are truly to be wiped out today, we absolutely cannot let the enemy have an easy time!"
"You want to exterminate our race? Then bring it on!!"
The crying stopped.
A ferocious, terrifying look appeared on the faces of all the humans. Gazing at the surging grey dwarf legion, they roared in unison:
"Then bring it on!!!"
The middle-aged Tribe Leader was the first to charge out, engaging in combat with the foremost grey dwarf soldiers.
The two races clashed in an instant. For a time, all sorts of miserable screams and wails echoed across the battlefield. Facing the powerful grey dwarf army, the humans held on for only a moment before they were pushed back.
Despair surged once more!
"Ahhh—"
"What is that!"
"Ahhh!!!"
"There are more humans in the rear! Kill them too!"
"So strong... ah!!"
Suddenly, a great commotion erupted from the grey dwarves' rear.
This gave the retreating humans a moment to catch their breath. A bewildered look appeared on all the humans' faces, as they clearly didn't know what had happened.
"Tribe Leader, look! It's Alar!" a joyous shout rang out.
The panting middle-aged Tribe Leader quickly raised his head and looked toward the most chaotic area in the distance, at the rear of the grey dwarf legion.
(end of chapter)