Chapter 1269: Shadowy Figures (2)

“Lowly maggots!”

Along with the furious snarl, a gigantic figure strolled out of the fog. It was only after the fog dissipated that everyone witnessed its true ident.i.ty; a human-shaped giant that was more than 100 meters tall. At a glance, it looked like a gorilla covered in golden fur, but it had a huge eye in the middle of its forehead. Its enormous mouth that split from ear to ear was enough to leave one immensely terrified. What was most eye-catching about it was the long, razor-sharp, and unicorn-like white horn.

In its face, even the holy knights glowing in golden brilliance seemed no different from tiny bugs. Upon witnessing its emergence, the knights turned around and darted toward the city wall for safety. It seemed like they were clearly aware that taking this monster head-on was useless. But the instant the giant noticed their escape, it blew its top, strode out of the fog, and snarled while giving chase.

“Stand… right there!”

After stepping out of the Chaos fog, the ma.s.sive creature shrunk in size. But even so, it was still as tall as a 20 to 30 storey building. The Horned Behemoth bellowed and strode forward. Gazing from a distance, even though its movement seemed really slow and clumsy, as a matter of fact, it wasn’t slow at all. In just a few moments, the Horned Behemoth caught up with the knights and the Chaos creatures cl.u.s.tered around it had already been crushed. Be it enemies or allies, in the eyes of the Horned Behemoth, it was aiming only for those s.h.i.+ny, minute humans.

“Now, brothers! With our beliefs, let’s manifest the most sacred existence! Let the light of knights enfold this world!”

The leading white holy knight yelled. After leaping over the corpse of a Chaos creature, he looked over his shoulder at the Horned Behemoth that was getting closer. Upon hearing his call, the other knights following closely in the back swiftly came to a halt. Following the lead of the white holy knight in the front, the knights raised their weapons, and shouted.

“AlZ, MASIRL!”

In an instant, golden brilliance shone in all directions. Along with their yells, golden rays of light emanated from their bodies, shot straight into the sky, and coalesced as one. In the blink of an eye, a virtual image of a knight riding a warhorse as gigantic as the Horned Behemoth appeared in the sky. Facing the Horned Behemoth that marched toward it, the enormous, golden knight kneed the horse’s belly, pointed the spear at the enemy, and stooped over slightly. The warhorse under him sprinted ahead, launching an a.s.sault on the Horned Behemoth in midair. The instant the golden knight arrived before the Horned Behemoth, his body had coalesced entirely and didn’t seem any different from a physical presence!

“d.a.m.n you, Order bast*rds! How dare you anger me. I will let you taste my wrath!”

Facing the charging golden knight, the Horned Behemoth let out an outburst of anger, extended its left arm, and abruptly swung its claw!

Clink!

The golden knight’s razor-sharp spear slammed onto the Horned Behemoth’s palm. However, this mighty strength that was enough to puncture a hill didn’t deal any substantial damage to the giant. In a thunderous boom, the knight’s spear and the Horned Behemoth’s left palm clashed. But shortly after, the latter flipped its arm around, gripped the knight’s spear, and hurled its right clenched fist as it bellowed.

Bang!

The Horned Behemoth landed a punch on the golden knight’s huge defensive s.h.i.+eld. Despite that, the latter was apparently up for the challenge. Facing this attack, the knight’s stance shook and stabilized quickly. Both sides entered a stalemate. The radiance emanating from the golden knight’s body flickered ever brighter, forming dazzling fireb.a.l.l.s that hovered and surrounded him. At the same time, the fireb.a.l.l.s spread and flew toward the Horned Behemoth.

“Roarrr———!”

The instant the Horned Behemoth came into contact with the flames, it let out an anguished wail. It seemed like the golden flames dealt huge damage to it. But despite that, the Horned Behemoth didn’t back down. After sensing the might of the golden flames, it lifted its head, let out a roar, and the white, razor-sharp horn on its forehead erupted in bolts of blinding lightning, striking at the golden knight!

Lightning bolts slammed and shattered the wrapping flames, while the flames devoured the blinding lightning. In an instant, bursts of electricity and flames enfolded the battlefield and Chaos creatures couldn’t even get close to both of them. They were instantly crushed into powder in the aftermath of their collision and vanished into thin air.

“This fella is as foolish as ever.”

Looking at this scene, Rhode couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. Strictly speaking, the Horned Behemoth was one of the harder Chaos Lords to deal with. Just like what Orchid Heart mentioned, it could compete against dragon soul heirs in terms of brute strength. Moreover, with its powerful resistance to magical attacks, it wasn’t easy to defeat it—but that was before players discovered its weakness. After its weakness was figured out, it became nothing more than a bunch of EXP in the players’ eyes.

The reason was simple. Apart from muscles and flesh, there was nothing more to the Horned Behemoth.

That’s right, the Horned Behemoth was an extremely simple, stupid, and gullible fool. Of course, if such a terrorizing character was utilized in the right way, it could still wreak havoc. But it was a pity that the chaotic nature of the Horned Behemoth made it a ticking time bomb. Besides, it wasn’t only a threat to enemies, but more so for its allies instead. In the forums, the Light Parliament topped the list for being the ‘weakest teammate’, while the Horned Behemoth was in second place with only a narrow deficit. As a matter of fact, ever since the Horned Behemoth appeared, it already showed major signs of being a ‘weak teammate’.

The Horned Behemoth was first discovered in the later stages of the game when players opened up the land of Chaos. From the start, as the Horned Behemoth had strong brute strength, an ability to manipulate lightning, and high magical resistance, many player groups were annihilated several times. At that time, many player groups were in danger. They were afraid that their territory would be wiped out by the Horned Behemoth that led Chaos armies. But… Not long after, players realized that even though the Horned Behemoth was brutally strong, it was basically useless in other aspects, especially in terms of IQ. It was like the perfect model of a muscle-head.

And what made players recognize the Horned Behemoth’s weakness was during the battle between Order and Chaos. Back then, the Horned Behemoth teamed up with another Chaos Lord in attacking one of Starlight’s territories. In the game, unless players had a large territory, it was usually incredibly tough to resist an alliance led by two Chaos Lords. Furthermore, many players believed that they would be unable to defend against the powerful strength and body of the Horned Behemoth. However, Rhode came up with an almost unimaginable idea and proved to all players just how stupid the Horned Behemoth was.

Rhode led a team of pure-speed rangers in attacking the Horned Behemoth. After the Horned Behemoth was enraged, it actually led its army of tens of thousands of units in pursuing the ranger team with less than 50 members!

The other Chaos Lord also didn’t expect the Horned Behemoth to fall into the trap so easily. As a result, it was caught off guard and defeated by Rhode’s group, which turned certain death into victory. In the end, without any chances of winning, the other Chaos Lord had no choice but to retreat. On the other hand, Rhode was worried that the Horned Behemoth would return to cause trouble. But later, he received news from the front that after the Horned Behemoth wiped out the ranger team of 50 members, it withdrew its troops in satisfaction!

That’s right. After leading a Chaos army with 100,000 troops and killing the ranger team of 50 members that lured its attention, the Horned Behemoth returned home in joy, seeming to have forgotten its purpose. Not only that, but when Rhode led his group and pursued the other Chaos Lord, he also unknowingly encountered the Horned Behemoth again. At that time, Rhode was already prepared to head home in defeat. But in a surprising turn of events, the other Chaos Lord rebuked the Horned Behemoth for fleeing on the spot and the Horned Behemoth retorted by punching it to death! Back then, the players who witnessed this scene were wide-eyed and completely speechless. What was strange was that after defeating the Chaos Lord, the Horned Behemoth didn’t even look at Rhode’s group. It turned around and directly returned to the land of Chaos instead…

That was the first time the players how comical the Horned Behemoth was. Thereafter, players also gradually figured out that this Chaos Lord was a total idiot. And if that wasn’t enough, it was still a reckless and unreasonable fool who beat the c.r.a.p out of someone else when in disagreement. It could be said that it clearly displayed characteristics of Chaos, so over time, most Chaos Lords refused to head into battle with that fool. As for now…

“Seems like Ion tried so hard to bootlick Chaos, but Chaos isn’t entirely confident in him yet.”

Gazing at the extensive battlefield that was cleared out and the clash between the golden knight and Horned Behemoth, Rhode couldn’t help but speak with a smile. Earlier on, he had a hard time observing the Chaos army through the fog. But after the Horned Behemoth showed up, he discovered that the Horned Behemoth’s army was largely different from other Chaos armies. It seemed like the other Chaos Lords were aware of how absurd the Horned Behemoth was, so they weren’t willing to mix with it. But Ion apparently didn’t know that, which was why he sent the Horned Behemoth into battle. Ion must have been impressed by the formidable strength the Horned Behemoth possessed, which was why he sent it to the front. It was just like how people were impressed by Lu Bu’s[1] bravery and valued his presence. But back then, perhaps they didn’t expect the person that they valued so highly to be a disloyal person. Similarly, perhaps Ion also didn’t expect this powerful trump card of his to be an actual idiot… On the other hand, Chaos also didn’t remind Ion about something so critical, which went to show that Ion was something that could be abandoned. Poor Ion… Sold his country for glory and yet, he was still used as a chess piece by Chaos. What a tragedy for him…

Alright, time for execution.

“Everyone get ready.”

At this thought, Rhode ordered his group in a lowered voice. He extended his arm and held the cross-shaped badge hanging on his chest. Shortly after, his entire body became indistinct and merged with the environment as one. His group also did the same. After a few moments, the hundreds of people hidden in the city wall’s shadow disappeared completely.

“Move out according to plan. Coordinate with ‘Superman’ and his team; the golden knight won’t last much longer!”

Rhode commanded, carried Lapis in his arms, and leaped down the city wall, landing like an elegant cat. At that moment, the battlefield was in complete disarray. In the clash between the Horned Behemoth and golden knight, the surroundings were entirely wrecked. Fortunately, there was a distance between the two giants and the steel city walls, so the city walls weren’t implicated. But even so, Rhode and his group didn’t stop. They lowered their bodies and dashed ahead like specters into the disorderly Chaos army.

Countless Chaos creatures continued to rush ahead, even when they were obstructed by the Horned Behemoth and golden knight. Most of the Chaos creatures under the lead of the Horned Behemoth were hominids that resembled gorillas. Of course, in the tradition of the Chaos creatures where ‘a thousands monsters had a thousand forms’, these huge, two to three meters tall gorillas had all sorts of body shapes. Some had snake heads, while some of their limbs were like that of reptiles. At that moment, they howled wildly, charged forward, but were quickly devoured and smashed by the aftermath of lightning bolts and flames.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Lapis curled up in Rhode’s arms, covering her ears as tightly as she could. She witnessed dazzling flashes everywhere. Even after she covered her ears, she heard deep rumbles that shook her heart. A few moments ago, she also witnessed a mysterious Chaos creature pouncing on Rhode, but was struck by a lightning bolt. In a loud bang, the Chaos creature exploded like a housefly, splattering putrid, green blood. Fortunately, Rhode was quick enough to dodge the seemingly poisonous venom and continued das.h.i.+ng ahead.

At that moment, if Lapis were to look down from above, she would realize that Rhode’s group didn’t charge into the core of the Chaos army. On the contrary, they split into smaller groups and circled the Chaos army. For some unknown reason, the Chaos creatures didn’t seem to detect their presence. They simply shuttled pa.s.sed Rhode again and again. Rhode also didn’t seem concerned about the integrity of the city walls behind him. He carried Lapis in his arms and scanned the surroundings in alertness, at the same time evading the Chaos creatures and encircling the Chaos army.

It’s about time.

The moment this thought came to mind, the Horned Behemoth who was at a deadlock let out an outburst of anger. Along with its bellow, the scattering lightning brilliance grew increasingly brighter. Not only that, but the Horned Behemoth also widened the huge eye in the middle of its forehead, and a red light beam emanated and shot straight at the golden knight.

This time, the golden knight couldn’t dodge in time, perhaps not expecting the Horned Behemoth to make this move. The red light beam struck his head, leaving him groaning in immense pain. At the same time, the stalemate between them finally broke!

“Argh…!”

The Horned Behemoth s.n.a.t.c.hed the golden spear from the knight and struck away his heavy s.h.i.+eld. The flames wrapping the golden knight began to crumble due to the lightning strikes. At the same time, the Horned Behemoth roared, clenched its fists, and raised its arms, swinging on the golden knight!

Pow!

In a loud boom, the golden knight shattered immediately. Its ma.s.sive body disappeared into thin air, only to be replaced by tiny knights who were entirely powerless. Before they landed on the ground, the Horned Behemoth raised and swung its arms with force again, slamming onto the ground.

Boom————!

The earth shook, ruptured, and collapsed. Columns of spiritual light emanated from under the Horned Behemoth’s fists, signaling the departure of lives.

“Yes! That’s the way!”

Looking at this scene, Ion couldn’t help but nod in satisfaction. The reason why he led the Chaos Lords here was for this! And now, the defensive line crumbled in the face of the Horned Behemoth. At the start, even though Ion was annoyed by the fact that the Horned Behemoth moved off on its own, he didn’t mind its disobedience anymore. After defeating the golden knight, the Horned Behemoth’s battlefront could be said to be emptied. And now, as long as it shattered the city walls, the defensive line would fall apart entirely!

“Roar———! Bast*rds of Order; this is what happens when you defy Chaos!”

Ion watched keenly as the Horned Behemoth raised its arms and bellowed.

Then…

It turned around and returned to the Chaos fog. Along with this decision, the Chaos army that was swarming ahead gradually retreated.

What’s… Happening?!

[1] A famous military general in ancient China.