Chapter 562: Snake-King Slaying Party
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Seeing Han Sen draw nearer to the valley’s exit, Wang Liang hurried the group into battle formation. They were ready to fight against the snake-king.
The party was composed of elite evolvers. Some of them were currently serving in the army, whereas some others had retired. Having all shared military experience, they were hardened warriors with phenomenal abilities in battle. They did not fear the fight to come.
After he had established their formation, Han Sen had just about brought the Snake-King and its following of lesser ice-snakes out of the valley. Without the deep snow to hide their bodies, however, they all looked like colossal foes.
When the battle began, Han Sen ceased running. He summoned his ghost-pawed claws and started to attack the snake-king.
Dong!
Han Sen dodged the gaping maw of the silver-eye ice snake king, and with the ghost-pawed claws, countered to slice off one of its silver scales. The snake-king’s silver flesh was too thick to fully pierce, however, and all that was inflicted upon it were three scratch marks. They weren’t proper cuts, and were far from critical, life-threatening wounds.
Wang Liang and his men then ran towards the gathering of snakes. They maintained their formation, though widening to surround the snake-king.
Without the cover of the snow, the ordinary and mutant ice-snakes were unable to compete with the elites. In a great reckoning, countless ice-snakes were slain. As each snake dyed the earth a sickly red, their corpses were sent flying with great force.
Now, the ten evolvers had surrounded the snake-king. The beast was fierce, wild and mad. When it lifted its rear, it lashed around to smash numerous glaciers. Given how crazy it was, Han Sen and his fellow fighters did not dare to fight the creature head-on, face-to-face.
Giant creatures were born powerfully, and substantially outperformed humans. The silver-eye ice snake king’s scales were solid, and its flesh was thick. Although Han Sen and his party gave the beast a series of strong attacks, none seemed likelier to kill the beast than the last. Instead, all they did was amplify the snake-king’s rage to even greater degree.
Seeing the snake-king behaving like a sordid monster from some ancient tale, Han Sen felt gloomy. The ghost-pawed claws were too short, and didn’t seem viable to fight a creature as large as that. If he had a longer weapon, perhaps then he would stand a chance.
Right now, though, Han Sen was glad to have brought along Wang Liang and the rest of the elites. Had he not, he didn’t think he could do anything or have the opportunity to fight the snake-king without the interference of countless lesser ice-snakes.
"You guys go on ahead; I’ll take a break," Han Sen shouted to Wang Liang, as he left the battlefield.
Wang Liang thought to himself, "We’ve come here to help you slay the snake-king. We’re risking our lives enough, and now you run off? You are obscene!"
As he cursed Han Sen, Wang Liang caught a glimpse of a certain flame. A red firebird that looked like a phoenix appeared, drawn from Han Sen’s body. The flames were scorching hot, and they rose high into the air. In just a moment, the flames had encircled the entire area.
Wang Liang noticed that his and his party’s beast soul powers had been greatly increased. Though he was surprised, he was very glad and said, "Halo beast soul; and for such a large effective range? I wonder if it is a sacred-blood beast soul."
The beast soul powers of everyone else in the party were also greatly increased, and it felt to them that the fight had become easier. The pressure had most certainly eased up, and they look extremely pleased.
Han Sen left the desert bird behind on the battlefield and continued on his way, but he made sure to keep his eye on how the others did, as they battled the snake-king in his absence.
Of the ten of them, six of them were using a sacred-blood weapon. Three of the six were employing heavy weapons; there was a lance, a great-axe and a hammer.
These three posed the greatest threat to the snake-king, but still, the scales were too hard and they could not damage it.
"It’s only a sacred-blood class creature; it cannot be indestructible! It must possess a weak point somewhere!" Han Sen watched the snake-king’s every movement.
But no weak point could be found. The silver scales could endure ten strikes from the evolvers, and with such defense, there was no need for it to move around and protect certain parts of its body. It could bear the brunt of any attack.
Pang!
An evolver was unable to dodge in time and was struck by the snake-king’s tail. He was sent flying for over ten meters and roughly crashed into the ground. He spat blood from his mouth, but the hit he had taken was not life-threatening. Quickly, he brought himself back up to his feet.
Han Sen jumped back into fray, filling in the spot left by the hurt evolver.
"Boss! The snake-king’s scales are too tough. It’s impossible for us to kill it! Why don’t we retreat and think of something else?" Wang Liang shouted across the battlefield, as he continued to engage with the enemy.
He wasn’t alone in this suggestion, as others had thought of falling back, too. Despite everything they threw at it, nothing seemed to heavily wound the snake-king. Their hopes of victory were fleeting, and they were getting discouraged.
To lose hope was a scary and dangerous thing. If you were weary, or even bleeding in a fight, knowing that you were dealing the same amount of damage to your enemy meant there was a chance of victory; there was no reason to be afraid. But they didn’t seem to be damaging the snake-king and if their hope of victory was slipping away, so too would their battle fervor.
Han Sen however did not respond. He continued to fight the snake-king, while paying extra attention to the movements of the enemy.
He wanted to wait a while longer, so that the poison of the ghost-pawed claws might take effect. But there was no change in the snake-king’s behavior, and it didn’t seem to work. It was as powerful as ever.
"The flesh and bones of the snake-king are tough. Even if I use Yin Force, it would probably be useless. Perhaps I could use Yin Force on its head and damage its brain?" Han Sen thought to himself.
If he truly attempted striking the snake-king’s head, this would be a perilous move. One mistake would result in a big bite, courtesy of the snake-king’s cavernous mouth. The meter-long, frostbite-primed snake-teeth seemed as if they could slice right through and kill you before the frostbite could even take effect.
Pang!
The snake-king twirled, lashing away one more evolver. So powerful was the strike that the longsword was wholly bent out of shape. This beast was a fearsome thing.
"Boss, we must fall back! We cannot slay this creature." A voice called out from one of the evolvers.
Han Sen responded, "Keep fighting! Everybody must obey my commands. If any of you choose not to, don’t bother returning to the shelter. Go find Dong Lin and explain your desertion."
"Wang Liang, move to your left by three meters and attack its left side! Zhao Qiang, move right by two meters, forward one meter and strike its right-wing!" Han Sen barked the orders.
Wang Liang had little choice but to listen and follow Han Sen’s orders. The two who had been given instructions however weren’t exactly sure what their boss was hoping to achieve.
The formation they were in was the result of much practice and perfect synchronicity between the elite evolvers. Never had they been issued a command that altered this formation, and no matter how smart they thought Han Sen was, they didn’t think he could randomly come up with a brand-new and better formation; and nor did they want him to.
Because these changes could result in an accident, it was now down to an individual’s talent; the daily training and practice of blocking, dodging and striking were more important than ever. No immediate command such as this could put them in a better position than they already were.
But Han Sen was different. The way he viewed things, the men were just pawns on a chessboard. His use of the Dongxue Sutra was increasing, and this allowed him to control them as if he were a game player.
Earlier, when Han Sen had quit the fight for a brief while, he didn’t just stop to observe the beast and try to find its weak points. He was also observing the skills and abilities of Wang Liang and his people. He had to gain a greater understanding of their powers to be able to issue the right commands.
At first, Wang Liang was forced to listen to Han Sen’s command despite lacking any desire to, but his opinion quickly changed. And so too did the opinions of the rest of the party, for when their formation changed, their new positions made it considerably easier to fight the snake-king. They were all further from danger, and no one received another blow from the snake-king.
They were beginning to really admire Han Sen. They all used to be soldiers, so they were familiar with the qualities and traits that it took to be a brilliant commander. But in regards to Han Sen, they had never seen someone command others so well, and in such a calm and informal manner. It was unbelievable.