Chapter 242: The Struggle Underground (Part 2)

The golden flames burning outside the semi-transparent, amber-colored, dazzling runes on the bronze staff looked like fragments of the sun appearing in the dim Underground.

Every wave of the rune staff meant a burst of holy fire raining down from the sky. The golden snakes darting wildly across the battlefield ruthlessly swallowed the elite Dark Elf cavalry. The rolling torches were lit by the wails of the Dark Elves.

However, the Dark Elves would not let their elite troops become targets. At that moment, a squad of spellcasters like Mages or Sorcerers charged out from the rear flank. Riding on lizards, they waved their staves or magic books and released many low-level but effective spells: fireballs, acid, lightning, or ice arrows.

Of course, this time their targets were no longer the Dwarf warriors fighting outside the city, but the Rune Priests and Rune Mages on the city walls. Just as these magical attacks were about to land on the Dwarves, bright runes flashed on the kite shields held in their left hands. A silvery-white Spirit Light like thin mist rose up.

Dazzling runes like stars were embedded in the twilight. The long-range conjuration spells were annihilated outside the barrier made of runes. Not a single Dwarf Rune Master was harmed.

At this time, the catapults in the distance hurriedly adjusted their angles and changed the counterweights on the heavy hammers. Just before the lizard cavalry lost half of their numbers, they fired another batch of magical cannonballs at the city walls. These included glowing red fireballs, crackling spherical lightning, and yellow-green acid.

After passing through the barrier, the magic attached to those cannonballs disappeared, as if they had turned into hollow iron balls. This was because these magical cannonballs were not pure energy like spells; they needed a physical attachment to work.

Even without the magical effects, these metal balls thrown by the catapults were heavy, even the hollow ones weighing over ten jin. The physical impact alone hitting a person could cause significant damage.

Facing this shower of clattering metal, the Rune Masters could only lower their heads and hold their shields high. They huddled together to form arrays, relying on the scale-like formation of their shields to protect themselves.

After the dust and smoke cleared, the spellcaster team of the Dwarves had suffered some injuries. However, regarding the recent attack, no one had died. This was because these spellcasters wearing heavy armor were far more resistant to impact than Mages.

But due to this round of long-range attacks, the Dark Elf cavalry that was about to face total disaster finally got a chance to catch their breath. They immediately pulled back to a distance and did not engage the Dwarves at all—that is, they retreated.

The first wave of the Dark Elves’ attack today was thus repelled. However, facing enemies several times their number in the distance, even the berserkers among the Dwarves wisely chose not to pursue. After pulling out the enemies’ weapons and armor, they silently retreated behind their city walls. They closed and began repairing the damaged Mithril gate, which was one of their most important defensive guarantees.

After a long time, the Dark Elves finally did not launch a new wave of attacks. Instead, they began to gather the forces they had previously deployed. The Dark Elves did not send anyone to collect the bodies of the dead. This was because the tradition of the Dark Elves was like the law of the jungle: the strong eat the weak.

In their view, the dead had no value, and the truly valuable equipment had already been cleaned up by the Dwarves. They believed that Dwarves, who treated forging as their second life, would not leave behind anything valuable.

After that, there was about half a minute of silence on the battlefield. Then, deafening cheers erupted from the walls of Blindstone City. All the Dwarf soldiers struck their shields or armor heavily with their weapons, creating loud and sharp metal clashing sounds, welcoming the heroes who had gone out of the city back in triumph. The warriors on the city towers cheered and jumped for joy. Their faces turned red with excitement, and their long beards seemed to stand up.

However, unlike the lower-level warriors, the Rune Mages who had just retreated from the front lines showed not a trace of joy on their faces. Because they knew that without reinforcements, facing enemies several times their number, the coming days would become extremely difficult.

In the Drow environment, long-term residents were often extremely selfish. Although there were outliers like those who worshiped the Loaded Dice God, these capable ones had long escaped this gloomy Underdark and fled into the embrace of Eilistraee.

Because Eilistraee was a goddess filled with sorrow and sadness, she not only protected all good Dark Elves but also protected those Dark Elves who hoped to return to a peaceful life on the Surface.

This was why most Evil Dark Elves burned with anger against this good goddess. However, for those Dark Elves who worked hard to escape the web of the Spider Queen, she was a joyful dawn.

Only through the Church of Eilistraee did the Dark Elves who returned to the Surface have a chance to be accepted by mainstream society. Because many non-Elf races on the Surface were unwilling to believe any good Dark Elves returning from the Underdark. Without this buffer, they would face significant discrimination.

Of course, more of them either died in the conspiracies and secret struggles within the city, were wiped out by patrol teams during their escape, or became food for the various strange and powerful creatures in the Underdark.

These remaining selfish creatures, full of distrust towards everything around them, meant that despite all the incentives, the Drow army was still not considered brave in every battle. Or rather, it was hard for them to show bravery.

However, many factors determine the victory of a war, not just individual quality. After all, the Dark Elves had an overwhelming advantage in numbers. Although the Dwarves were tenacious and relied on their terrain, they were ultimately at a disadvantage. Although they did not show signs of collapse for the time being and even gained the upper hand at one point in the battle, the wise men in the city were worried about the future.

The number of the Dark Elf coalition army, composed of many cities, exceeded 80,000. Meanwhile, their slaves were close to 200,000. Blindstone City now had fewer than 8,000 living Dwarf warriors and a slightly larger number of adult Gnomes. Even adding trusted members of other races and subtracting the old, weak, sick, and disabled, the available combat power was at most around 16,000.

Although these Dwarf warriors were indeed brave and good at fighting, and the creations of the Gnomes could play their due role on the battlefield, the power comparison this time was simply too unequal. Facing an attack on a single city, this army could handle it with ease. But now, facing the coalition of Dark Elves from almost the entire layer of the Underdark, the army that Blindstone City was once proud of began to show its powerlessness.

In a battle between the two armies, both Drow and Dwarves were experienced and skilled warriors with fine armor. Actually, not many were killed on the spot; most were seriously injured but not dead. Although this world relied too much on Magic and medical science was not very developed, thanks to the help of Divine Arts from Priests, many injured ones stood up again. This recovery work began immediately after the ceasefire, which could be said to be the only tacit understanding between these mortal enemies.

However, unlike the Dark Elf medical camps full of moans and gasps, the Dwarf camp was full of hearty laughter. Among bandages, herbs, and blood cotton, a group of Halflings in funny clothes were performing slapstick comedy.

These Gnomes spit out jokes with the speed of a machine gun. With the performance of these little guys, the somewhat sad atmosphere of the Dwarves improved greatly.

This was the unique Bard system of the Gnomes—the “Prankster”. Pranksters regarded humor as the highest form of art and pranks as the highest form of humor. Besides using light and funny little skits to cheer up their friends, Pranksters could also use their wit and nearly cruel humor to anger enemies, and finally make them lose their combat ability with a string of rapid-fire witty remarks.

The steel furnaces in Blindstone City never stopped. Male and female Dwarf Blacksmiths were waving heavy hammers in their hands. With the sparks flying between the heavy hammers and the iron anvil, the outlines of weapons appeared. At the same time, damaged weapons gradually recovered their original shapes amidst the flames, ice water, and hammering.

The consumption of weapons in war was huge, far beyond human imagination. The craftsman district here was busy operating at full capacity. This was naturally to ensure the reliability of the weapons for the soldiers on the front lines.

“Damn it! I want to go to the battlefield too,” shouted a long-bearded Dwarf after changing shifts and putting down his hammer.

His companion patted his shoulder and said, “Stop complaining! Although I also want those Black Skins to taste the power of our hammers, the work here needs us more. Because we are the best Blacksmiths in the city, our weapons can kill more enemies than we ourselves can.”

These were the War Blacksmiths among the Dwarves. Besides being skilled makers of weapons and armor, they could also use their battlefield experience and extraordinary weapon manufacturing skills to create deadly items for their compatriots to defend their homeland.

Although usually only Spellcasters could create Magic Items, clever Dwarves found many ways to complete things that other races must rely on Magic to do.

Moreover, besides the unbelievable skills of creating War Items, War Blacksmiths could also bring terrible death and destruction in battle. After all, often no one knew how to use their creations—or rather, how to use them most effectively—except for themselves. And if necessary, they would always be at the very front of the battle, never retreating.

The Underdark had no alternation of light and dark with sunrise and sunset. The intelligent creatures here usually used Magic Items to understand the changes in time.

About eight hours later, the catapults of the Dark Elves were pulled again, throwing cannonballs at the walls of Blindstone City. The Dwarves retaliated with ballistae. A large number of Minotaurs were sent up to carry siege rams and crash against the city gates. The huge Siege Towers were brought closer to the Dwarf city walls by the monstrous strength of Ogres. The Mages on top began to pull out Magic Wands to coordinate with their own Ballistae to conduct targeted strikes on the Dwarf firing positions.

Priests unfolded one Scroll after another to stack various protections for themselves and their companions. Mages hid in the rear and kept releasing spells, but not to attack enemies or protect themselves. Instead, they controlled the energy to create one rectangular Force Field after another. They floated in the air close to the city walls, rising step by step, forming more than ten transparent Siege Ladders.

These Force Field Siege Ladders were made of Magic, floating in the air, could not be pushed over or overturned, greatly increasing safety. The ladders were transparent and colorless, flashing with faint Magic light. Most Dwarves could not recognize them, but for the Drow, it was not a problem. Drow education was always comprehensive; even warriors had received basic Magic training.

About half an hour later, dozens of floating Force Field Siege Ladders were built, and the Mages retreated to the rear to rest. The warriors, fully armed and holding Longswords and Scimitars, swarmed up. From a distance, it looked like the city walls were crawling with dense ants.

Soon, close combat began, and both sides engaged in fierce fighting. The Dwarves had the advantage of height and terrain, so they naturally gained the upper hand at first. But the Dark Elves came prepared and had many numbers, gradually turning the situation around.

It was unknown which family wielded a pair of large Scimitars in the front. This was probably not just due to their own strength but also absolutely helped by Magic Items.

A Dwarf roared, waving a Battle Axe and smashing it down from above. The Drow martial artist dodged to the side, jumped lightly, and leaped directly over the Dwarf’s head, landing on the city wall.

Then the Dwarf beside him suddenly turned around, swung his arms, and his Battle Axe whistled as it swung. It looked like a whirlwind rolling towards him. That guy dodged skillfully, and when the Dwarf’s strength was exhausted, he swung his Scimitar and struck the opponent heavily in the chest.

The Dwarf’s fine Breastplate protected him. But he still stumbled, rushing out two steps before managing to stand steady. Another Dwarf rushed over to support him, using a Greatsword, which was rare among Dwarves. The Black Skin raised his blade to block, feeling half his arm go numb from the shock. He quickly stepped into the gap on the side and jumped back with a kick to avoid pursuit.

Dwarves were short in both height and limbs, had great strength, but lacked agility. They used heavy short weapons like giant axes and war hammers. On flat ground, charging in formation, they were unstoppable. But on the narrow city walls, they were not flexible enough. Conversely, the Dark Elves were known for their finesse, and this situation was like a fish in water for them.

Several skilled Dark Elf masters stood their ground on the city walls, wielding dual weapons in their hands. The strong among them could even handle attacks from three Dwarves at the same time and still stand firm. The narrow space also limited the Dwarves’ local numerical advantage.

However, these guys never attacked proactively. Using these few as footholds, more Drow climbed onto the city walls and joined the battle. People were occasionally hacked down or fell off the walls, leaving gaps, which were immediately filled by those behind.

The situation gradually shifted. More and more Dark Elves climbed onto the city walls. The Dwarves charged several times but failed to drive the opponents down. More than one-third of the territory was already occupied by the Dark Elves. This was easy to identify because the Black Skins all wore Magic Cloaks, which was equivalent to wearing an extra armor. The Dwarves did not have this habit; they preferred to wrap themselves in metal blocks like iron cans.

Just as the battle between the Dwarves and the Dark Elves reached a stalemate, the Gnome reinforcements from the second line had already arrived at the first line. These Gnomes wore light Mithril chainmail and inserted themselves into the chaotic battle with spins and rolls.

Their small size and agile movements made them like fish in water in this chaotic battlefield. They never fought head-on with any enemy but instead focused their targets on the Dark Elves fighting the Dwarves. Flanking and ambushing were their specialties.

Using their size advantage and lethal chain stabs, combined with fine Dwarf weapons, a significant number of Dark Elves died from sharp swords stabbing from the direction of their knees. These were the best light infantry among the Gnomes, the assassins of the battlefield—the Blade Dancers.

Many young Gnomes thought participating in rapier duels fought for fame and glory was a fashionable thing. Such duels were generally for sports purposes, not full of anger.

However, after experiencing several defeats, most young people became bored with this game and turned to less dangerous things.

However, some people had a talent for fencing. They developed a love for blades and combat. They became fanatical about fighting and obsessed with studying sword techniques.

Their love for fencing changed the sport, beautifying the sometimes barbaric hacking and slashing into an art form that could make the audience hold their breath and the opponent bleed. These Blade Dancers were also particularly good at dealing with opponents larger than themselves, which was equally important for any Gnome who wanted to pursue the art of war.

Now, they completely gave up all flashy performances and turned all movements into elegant killing. To protect their homeland, which they relied on for survival, and their determination not to become slaves.

Suddenly, the clanging of steel and the hissing of magical energy on the battlefield were drowned out by the roar of gunfire—that was the fierce attack of the Gunners.

To many people, Gunners were brave and mysterious figures. When most people, out of respect for Mages represented by spellbooks, carefully kept the secrets of black powder, the Gunners knew that the secrets of firearms could not be kept forever.

Although the firearms at that time were simple, mostly inaccurate, and even dangerous devices, they were a growing and improving craft that would become more powerful after fully integrating Magic.

Gunners were experts in using noisy weapons and always appeared in the fiercest battles. They were brave, witty, and often reckless. The Gnome Gunners in front of them put themselves in close range, their gun barrels flashing non-stop, knocking down Dark Elves while severely damaging their morale.

However, it seemed there were other Gunners shooting cold shots from a distance. They were the distant gods of death, using their strange and amazing weapons to eliminate high-value enemies they deemed worthy from afar.