Zither Emperor Volume 5 Chapter 31.2

Chapter 31 – Gold Behemoth (II)
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The fire burned intensely on the mountain. The Apemen, Tigermen, and Leopardmen were frantically running away in all directions. Gold Behemoths Dis and Perkins began divvying up tasks whilst they flew uphill. At this moment, every Behemoth had eyes filled with endless rage. As long as they reached the mountain peak, even if there were Gigantic Dragons, they would tear their enemies to shreds.
At last, Dis was the first to step atop the mountain peak. As an arrogant rank 9 magical beast, he didn’t fear the possibility of an enemy ambush. As he climbed the mountain, however, his heart was filled with such intense anger that it nearly exploded.
At that moment, to their surprise, the enemy they, the most unparalleled military force on the continent, actually confronted was thin air. Yes, that was right. Atop the mountain peak, apart from the chilly air, there was nothing. In the surroundings, only chopped-off tree stumps remained. It was absolutely empty; don’t mention humans, there wasn’t even a single ant.
“Bas——tard——!” Dis’ two eyes reddened in fury as he snarled wrathfully. He suddenly bent over, pounding his fists against the ground explosively.
Perkins moved quickly. Upon seeing Dis’ violent reaction, he immediately jumped away. The reaction time of the four Silver Behemoth also wasn’t bad as they all leapt back down the mountain immediately. When compared to Dis’ rage, the mountain fire was like floating clouds. The Berserk Behemoths weren’t as lucky. Facing the might of a rank 9 Gold Behemoth, they wanted to ignore Dis’ orders and run away, but they were unable to.
How gigantic were these twenty-meter tall Gold Behemoths? Their width exceeded 1.5 meters so their fists were huge. With Dis smashed the ground with all his strength, his entire arm pierced the ground. Unexpectedly, his crazy punches didn’t make a single sound. It was only less than a moment later that the mountain peak exploded with Dis’ location at the epicenter.
Boom——
Apart from the rare ores within Brenner Pass, the overwhelming majority of the mountain range was composed of extremely hard granite. At this very instant, this mountain peak unexpectedly dropped thirty meters in height due to the berserk pounding of a Gold Behemoth. Innumerable stone fragments shot out like artillery shells. Of the eighty Berserk Behemoths, not one was able to resist the tremendously powerful aftershock and tumbled down the mountain. Laughably, their gigantic bodies had a greater destructive force than the logs that had been rolled down the slope. At the very least, the rolling trees were incomparable to a Behemoth’s substantial weight and durable body.
The dust gradually settled. Golden rays of light glittered in the center as a figure stood up. The frantic pounding had reduced the ire in Dis’ heart slightly. The red light flickering in his eyes gradually vanished.
Perkins walked up the mountain, head and face filthy with grime. Alongside him were the four Silver Behemoths. He laughed loudly and commented, “Boss, you flipped out so violently. Look, that is Konya City.” As he said this, he lifted a thick arm to point at the base of the mountain.
Dis’ golden gaze followed the gesture, and cracking sounds echoed from the diamond-like bones in his body. Pipa. He coldly said, “So, this is the city that is prepared to bear my rage. Pass on my commands: Enter Konya City and kill. Leave no one alive.”
Perkins helplessly shrugged, throwing a broad arm as thick as a city wall over Dis’ shoulders. “Boss, who do you want me to pass this order to? Now we are even lacking an army.” While he spoke, he jerked his thumb behind him.
“Eh…” Dis realized that apart from him and Perkins, there were only four Silver Behemoths under his command. Even the entire army of Berserk Behemoths had been sent rolling down the mountain.
“Damnit, the first army!” Dis roared.
The few Silver Behemoths hastily sorted out the plundering legion that had been baptized in the enemy’s fire.
Perkins said, “Boss, looks like the situation isn’t good! The Milanese seem to already know of our raid. Otherwise, it would’ve been impossible for them to prepare such a good ambushing fire attack against us. What should we do now?”
Dis snarled furiously, “So what if they’re prepared? Don’t tell me they can still block our advancement? I don’t believe the Milanese have enough troops there to block us.”
Perkins countered, “Guti has very high expectations for us, so it’s best to be a bit more careful. Let’s wait for our army to regroup first. From what I see, just a moment ago our army was turned upside down.”
Dis disdainfully sneered, “Those inferior beastmen are indeed useless, being naturally afraid of fire. They can be counted as unlucky. We’ll just listen to you. The Milanese in Konya City can live a while longer.”
✶
While Dis and Perkins were talking, Ye Yin Zhu’s team of four had already returned to Konya City. The results of their fire attack was better than they’d anticipated. After seeing the majority of the beastmen struggle within the raging inferno, they didn’t dare to linger around and immediately descended the mountain. This was why the Behemoths could only find an absolutely empty summit.
When they entered through the city’s gate, Ye Yin Zhu had finally caught a glimpse of what a fully armed Dragon Cavalry Regiment looked like. Oliveira, wearing oceanic-blue heavy armor and holding a seven-meter-long dark-blue dragonspear, was commanding the Dragon Cavalrymen. Okafur was not present, so as the future Silver Star Dragon Cavalry Commander, Oliveira was duty-bound to lead.
“Yin Zhu, all of you have returned. What is with all that thick smoke in the distance?” Oliveira had proved himself as someone from the Violet Clan. Upon receiving the report from Sura, he had immediately begun issuing commands, giving Konya City time to react.
Ye Yin Zhu explained, “The mountain over there is relatively steep. We took advantage of the fact that the beastmen had not arrived yet to chop down some trees. We ignited them to implement the fire attack you mentioned before. The results were pretty good. The beastmen shouldn’t be attacking for a little while.”
Xiang Luan smiled and said, “Yes! The results were extraordinary. At least half the mountain is in flames. Since the weather has been arid, perhaps the damage to the beastmen wasn’t small.”
Oliveira’s eyes brightened. He clapped Ye Yin Zhu’s shoulder. “Brother, you have guts. You deserve to be called our Milan Institution for Magic and Martial Arts’ Freshman Champion. Now, our highest priority is to gain some time. Try to be specific—what are the numbers of the beastmen army?”
Ye Yin Zhu said, “There’s a countless number of them. I saw them while I was chopping down trees. I’m pretty sure that army is something we absolutely cannot resist.” Once he finished speaking, he scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed.
Sura said, “Let me answer. I’m an assassin; scouting is one of our specialties.”
Oliveira obviously knew that assassins were the best intelligence agents, so his gaze immediately shifted towards Sura.
Sura mulled over it, then said, “From my observations, the dispatched beastmen army is made up of four races altogether—all expert climbers. Specifically, there were Apemen, Tigermen, Leopardmen, and Behemoths. Among this lineup, the Behemoths are the strongest. Taking into account their reflective hair and large, visible figures, I’m certain that within this Behemoth legion, there is at least one Gold Behemoth. Although I’m uncertain about the number of Silver Behemoths, there is no less than seventy Berserk Behemoths.”
Listening to Sura’s report, Oliveira couldn’t help but suck in a large breath of cold air. The rest of that beastmen army wasn’t needed; just those Behemoths could easily raze the current Konya City to the ground. “Continue speaking. How many were there of the other beastmen races?”
Sura continued. “The Apemen made up the largest portion of the army, roughly fifteen thousand to twenty thousand. The Tigermen and Leopardmen numbers were a bit smaller. Just now, however, our fire attack was very successful. The widespread attack caused their army to descend into chaos. Simultaneously, the rolling logs and the fire also killed quite a few of the beastmen.”