Chapter 915 - Black-Corner City
Chapter 915: Black-Corner City
There were also centaur warriors carrying bone longbows and blood diamond spears on their backs. They walked in unison like a long dragon that had no visible end and rolled over from the smoky horizon.
Lightning flashed in their eyes, and flames spewed out of their nostrils. Their hooves were inlaid with fine iron, and they had prickly horseshoes, which were stained with blood.
Although they were not as strong as the Turan, the tens of thousands of centaur warriors advanced in a uniform rhythm. Tens of thousands of horseshoes were raised almost at the same time, and they stomped on the ground with a loud rumble. It almost tore Leaf’s heart to shreds.
There were also wild boar men.
These were the greediest and most barbaric fellows of the Blood Hoof Clan. They were not as tall as the Turan and not as dignified and disciplined as the centaurs. Despite that, after they swallowed special minerals, they constantly ground the mandrake tree and solidified the resin into the most flexible armor.
There were also spikes secreting deadly poison, poking out brightly from under their battle armor.
Even if they did not enter the Totem Frenzy state…
They were all prickly, thick-skinned, the craziest, and most difficult of all the Bloody Hoofs.
However, when the elephant men swaggered out, whether Turan, centaur or boar men, all became small and dainty, overshadowed.
These burly men, who were more than ten arms tall, were like moving walls.
Every step they took would create spider-web-like cracks on the road paved with large bluestones.
Their ivory tusks were three to five times thicker than the bull horns that the Turan were proud of.
Their trunks were more like pythons covered with blood-red thorns, swinging in front of their heads.
Not to mention, the weapons on their shoulders were “battering rams” made of mandrake trees that had been uprooted, trimmed, and tied with iron hoops!
The rat folk captives who were shivering under the thunderous footsteps of the elephant men were like mice who were hiding under the feet of a big stupid elephant and would be stomped into meat paste if they were not careful.
Facing such a bloody hoof army.
Leaf was as lost as all the captives.
After several days, little by little, the desire for revenge that they had barely gathered was once again crushed into pieces.
They were not the first batch of captives to arrive at Black-corner City.
The rat people, who were ten times more numerous than the Blood Hoof warriors, had already gathered outside the city.
Glory had descended, and a great war was about to begin.
Black-corner City was one of Turan’s five bases and the Blood Hoof Clan’s most important military base.
The soldiers of Turan from all directions gathered there continuously, causing the population of Black-corner City to instantly increase by dozens of times.
Expanding the city, building camps, storing military rations, mining ores, and forging weapons..
Countless tasks were waiting for the rat people to complete with their sweat, blood, and even life.
Just outside the city, the foundry workshop that was spewing poisonous smoke day and night and splashing molten steel had to tire and accidentally burn and smoke hundreds of rat people every day.
They should feel honored.
If not for the unprecedented scale of the war and the urgent need for a large number of spears, arrows, and sabers, they, who had unclean blood, were not qualified to touch the sacred metal, let alone forge their dirty flesh and bones into the sharpest weapons.
And behind the surging black smoke from the foundry workshop.
Leaf saw Black-corner City.
What a magnificent and domineering city!
The city stretched as far as the eye could see. It was not supported by half a mandrake log. Instead, it was made of black mountain rock, white bones, and red ores. It was built so solidly that even the fury of thunder could not destroy it.
The lowest house was at least four or five stories high. Behind it, there were layers upon layers. At the highest point, there was a huge altar that looked like a holy mountain. It was at least ten stories high, no, twenty stories high, no, thirty stories high.
Thirty stories high!
If it weren’t for the blessing of the ancestral spirit and the blessing of the totem power, how could there be a house in this world that was built to the height of thirty stories without the use of mandrake wood!
This magnificent scene was like a red-hot iron, almost imprinted deeply in Leaf’s mind—the scene of his mother being burned to death and Anjia being kidnapped.
He almost put down his hatred, believing that the death of his mother and brother, and the destruction of Half Mountain Village, were all sacred ancestral spirits, an unbreakable will.
The laws of the Turan people.
Being strong was the right thing to do.
The Blood Hoof Army and Black-corner City were so powerful.
Everything they did, including the destruction of Half Mountain Village, was of course the right thing to do. It was even the right thing to do.
Moreover, the broken-horned Minotaur warrior had also performed a Blood Bestowing Ceremony for his brother, giving him the most glorious thought, right?
No, that was not right.
What was not right!
Leaf’s canine teeth were deeply embedded in his lips. He used pain and fresh blood to struggle against this thought.
However, many of the captive rat people could not hold on any longer.
Under the suppression of the Bloody Hoof Army and Black-corner city, their desire for revenge was gone.
Everything in the past had vanished with their hometown.
Now, they only wanted to kill, plunder, burn, and destroy like a real warrior of Turan!
“Let me join the Blood Hoof Clan!
“I passed the brambles and Bison Falls!
“I have been hungry for three days and three nights, but I still have enough strength to break a mandrake tree!
“I can help men smash the heads of all their enemies, whether they are from the Gold Clan, the Thunder Clan, or the barbarians who believe in the Holy Light. Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill, Kill!”
In front of them, an exceptionally strong prisoner who was more than three arms tall suddenly shouted crazily.
He struggled with all his might and accidentally bumped into the Turan who was escorting him.
The Turan naturally did not move.
However, the blood and mud on the prisoner’s tail accidentally rubbed against his face.
Perhaps it was because he was more relaxed after returning to Black-corner City, but the Turan did not get angry. Instead, he grinned.
“Alright, as long as you can take this punch, you are qualified to be my servant!”
The Turan used two fingers to break the ox tendon rope that bound the captive, signaling the captive to get ready.
More Blood Hoof warriors gathered around excitedly, shouting and placing bets again.
“Five steps!”
“Seven steps!”
“I don’t think he can do it. He’s too thin and weak. He can only last three steps at most!”
They said something that the captives could not understand and threw out strings of money made from the bones of totem beasts.
The strongest prisoner of the rat subjects took a deep breath. His eyes were wide open and his chest swelled up like a bellows, becoming as tough as a shield.
He held his breath and could not speak anymore. He could only use his eyes to signal the Turan who was not much taller than him. “Come on!”
The Turan snorted.
He did not gather any strength and simply threw a punch. It seemed to land lightly on the chest of the prisoner.
The prisoner was shocked at first. He did not expect that this punch would be so painless.
Then, he was overjoyed. He was certain that he had become a member of Black-corner City and the Blood Hoof Army.
He turned around, opened his arms, and walked toward Leaf and the other prisoners.
One step, two steps…
“Glorious, Blood Hoof—”
He had just taken the third step and had barely finished his sentence when the chest of the captive continued to swell.
Accompanied by the cracking sounds of his bones, his upper body exploded like a volcano. Fresh blood and his organs, which were as messy as mud, dyed the ground within seven or eight arms red.
The Blood Hoof Warriors did not expect this guy to be so useless. He could not even take three steps. The guy who had lost everything cheered at the half-dead body that was still poked.
“Idiot, it’s not so easy to join the Blood Hoof clan alive.”
The companions behind Leaf whispered.
He told Leaf that the war had not completely broken out yet, and the five clans were still recruiting and sharpening their weapons. They did not need so many rat people to be cannon fodder.
The rat people were “recruited” to Black-corner City mainly to forge iron, mine, build roads, build cities, and transport grain. They had to shoulder the most laborious work.
According to the experience of the glorious era, at least seventy out of a hundred rats would die of exhaustion in the preparatory stage of the war.
However, it was impossible for them to be granted the blood of the clan in such an unhonorable way.
“Whether it’s forging, mining, or building bridges and paving roads, it’s impossible for us to join the Blood Hoof Clan.”
The companion said, “There’s only one way for us to get rid of our identity as rat people and to enter the Gladiator Arena!
“Although we are not qualified to be real gladiators, we are merely consumables on the arena. We are the most honorable gladiators, toys to pass the time before the magnificent battles.
“But at the very least, we have the opportunity to temper ourselves and participate in the battle, and we have the slightest hope of becoming unceasingly stronger.
“Even if we’re unable to injure a gladiator in a game, so long as we endure for a period of time under the Gladiator’s formidable offensive, then we have the possibility of obtaining the favor of a certain audience member, becoming his servant, and joining the Blood Hoof Clan!”
Leaf’s heart skipped a beat.
He did not know if he really wanted to join the Blood Hoof Clan.
In the burning hut, his mother twisted silently in the flames; his brother spun in the air and landed heavily on the ground; and Anjia’s complicated gaze.
And the awe-inspiring Blood Hoof Army, the magnificent Black-corner City.
These two images overlapped seamlessly, making the youth unable to see his fate and intentions clearly.
But one thing was certain.
Whether or not he joined the Bloody Hoof Clan.
He desired to become stronger.
He was willing to do anything, to pay any price, to become stronger regardless of the consequences.
To become stronger than all the rat people…
To become stronger than all the Blood Hoof warriors, including the barbarian elephant people…
To become stronger than the Gold Clan’s king of Turan, who had nine totems in his body…
He would kill the Minotaur in the most brutal way possible…
And every Blood Hood warrior who showed up in the village that day.