CHAPTER 712: CHAPTER 712 RETREAT

Ye Shikai clenched his teeth, placed the Poison Stinger Missile back into the Storage Ring, and let out a silent sigh in his heart, "Mona, this is the debt your elf race owes me."

"Ye Shikai, what are you doing?" Mona shouted loudly. To the astonishment of those at East Village, Ye Shikai had actually leapt down directly onto the orc’s Siege Hammer.

Roar roar.

"What’s all the noise about?" Ye Shikai drew his sword fiercely and instantly stabbed to death two orcs by his side. His action obviously took the orcs by surprise; they never expected a human to jump down and engage them in close combat.

"Bang." After several clashes of metal, Ye Shikai had already killed all the orcs near the Siege Hammer. Meanwhile, the orcs behind him came to their senses and rushed forward in a frenzied attack, trying to slay Ye Shikai with their blades.

"Fire arrows to cover him." At this moment, a sharp and commanding voice came from the village walls. What surprised Ye Shikai even more was that the one giving orders was Liruo, who had always been hostile towards him. Now, she was leading the archers to shoot down at the advancing orcs, repelling them.

"Forget it, today I’ll go all out too." Ye Shikai took out the Fire Element from the Storage Ring, activated the Inner God Scripture, and his Inner Strength instantly peaked. Having advanced to Kun Level, Ye Shikai’s handling of the Fire Element had become much more adept, and the power had greatly increased as well.

"Burn for me," Ye Shikai bellowed, and a fierce blaze spewed forth from the Fire Element, instantly engulfing the approaching orcs in flames and turning them to ash. There were no trees nearby for Ye Shikai to worry about, so he wielded the "flamethrower," spraying flames haphazardly.

Roar, roar.

From within the flames came the orcs’ agonized groans; for a moment, no orc dared to come any closer.

"Come at me, come on!" Ye Shikai was also seeing red, his eyes blazing as if they were on fire, and he bellowed at the orcs in front of him.

"What are you standing around for, fire arrows!" On the East Village walls, all the elves’ attention had been drawn to Ye Shikai’s hand. Perhaps, these naturally fire-fearing elves were feeling the "warmth" of fire for the first time.

Several more orcs fell to the indiscriminate volley of arrows. The orcs looked at each other in confusion—advancing meant being burnt to death, standing still meant being shot to death; wasn’t the only option left to run? Ye Shikai felt a surge of joy in his heart; these orcs were already scared like birds at the twang of a bowstring. Just another scare and the enemy’s spirits would surely be in complete disarray.

"Old fellow, it’s all on you now." Ye Shikai channeled his Inner Strength, and the flames from the Fire Element burst forth, slowly converging into a gigantic Fireball in the air.

"Boom." The Fireball exploded outwards with immense force, tearing a gap in the orc formation ahead and leaving nearby orcs scorched from the splattering flames. After Ye Shikai’s wild onslaught, the orcs’ morale began to waver. Eventually, an orc turned around and fled in the opposite direction—the direction of retreat...

Following that orc, more began to retreat—one, two, three—and the number increased rapidly.

Suddenly, a burly orc leaped out from behind, cutting down one fleeing orc with a single stroke, then turned and with another cut, slew another. For a moment, the fleeing orcs halted their steps as if this orc acted as an ancient sergeant responsible for beheading deserters to boost morale.

With the bellowing of that orc, the others turned around, taking their spears in hand, slowly advancing towards Ye Shikai.

"It seems I need to deal with you first." Ye Shikai gripped his metal sword and charged forward fiercely. The orc General, seeming to understand Ye Shikai, stepped out from the orc group, sword in hand, making it clear—they were to duel one-on-one.

Ye Shikai held a metal sword in hand, shorter than the beastman General, but in terms of combat strength, Ye Shikai was certainly not outmatched. The beastmen soldiers around continued to shout, seemingly cheering and egging on, as the beastman General charged forward with a reckless headbutt. Ye Shikai did not dodge; instead, he braced himself with one hand on the beastman’s back and flipped over.

"Swipe." In the instant he flipped through the air, Ye Shikai thrust his metal sword viciously into the beastman’s back. Blood flowed uncontrollably, and the beastman roared out loud—Ye Shikai had seriously wounded him; had the beastman’s skin not been so thick and flesh so resistant, he probably would have been pierced clean through.

"Good, good, good." The elf soldiers above shouted loudly.

"Come again." Ye Shikai turned around, both sides facing off. Ye Shikai was not in a hurry to make a move. The two sides were in a "default" cease-fire, solely for the sake of this duel—therefore, the longer the delay, the better.

Ye Shikai skillfully evaded the opponent’s attack. The beastmen fought like savages, relying entirely on brute strength for combat and sturdy bodies for defense. No wonder, these beastmen had no Inner Strength; they could only rely on the power of their bodies.

"It’s time to end you." Ye Shikai’s pupils constricted as he lightly touched down on the ground, sword in hand transforming into a streak of white light and body into a black shadow as he surged forward.

"Break."

After a clear, crisp clash of metal, Ye Shikai had already appeared in front of the beastman General, his sword piercing through the beastman’s chest.

"I’ve won." Ye Shikai said indifferently, as the beastman General in front of him did not stir, as though he had lost consciousness. Indeed, he truly had lost consciousness...

Ye Shikai pulled out the sword, and the beastman General slowly fell to the ground. His heart had been run through by the sword—an immediate demise.

"Victory, victory, victory!" The soldiers on the fort cheered and shouted, even Liruo, who had previously held hostility toward Ye Shikai, began to look at him with newfound respect. Ye Shikai, a mere human, had actually slain the barbaric beastman.

Roar roar.

The beastmen retreated one after another. At the gate of East Village, Ye Shikai stood alone with his sword—a one-man defense that was impenetrable, like a War God, striking terror into the hearts of others.

"Tree Barrier." At that moment, a Barrier condensed in the air, enveloping the Mili Forest within. The beastmen of the East Village, seeing the turn of events, quickly turned and retreated. Ye Shikai understood the intention of the Great Elder of the Primordial Soul; with the beastmen from East Village withdrawing their troops, the attacking forces from West Village and Central Village began to retreat as well.

"Young friend, come up here." The Great Elder of the Primordial Soul walked atop the fort walls and called out to Ye Shikai below.

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"You really threw caution to the wind just now." After returning inside, Mona found Ye Shikai right after she had issued her orders. Jumping into the beastmen’s ranks was like jumping into a meat grinder, a thin line between life and death.

"If East Village had been breached, we would be in even greater danger. In comparison, I was just making a decisive decision, that’s all." Ye Shikai spoke faintly, wiping off the bloodstains from his armor with a wet towel, all of it beastman blood.

"They’ve only retreated temporarily for repairs, and they will launch a second wave soon. You should go and stabilize the situation first."