Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 557 Cleaning up the mess
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Dave threw a bloody alien head in front of the surviving members of the Silver Moon Tribe. He spat fiercely on the ground and said through gritted teeth, "Damn monster!"

This group of lizardmen, numbering only 500, still caused considerable trouble to the expeditionary force even after they were trapped in a situation where they could not break out. Their desperate counterattack even caused combat casualties among the special forces team.

Especially the leader of the Red Lizardmen, who, after enduring the double attack from the air and ground forces, and even after all the Black Lizardmen who formed a human wall to protect him were killed one after another, still fought back - in the end, he even self-destructed, controlling the blood-red lightning to explode directly with himself as the center, blasting the rubble within a radius of 50 meters into ruins, and even the gravel on the ground was melted into glass-like crystals by the high temperature under the raging plasma.

One bloodline warrior of the special forces team was killed and two were injured. Wayne was affected by the plasma explosion and his left leg was seriously injured... If Dave hadn't used the alchemical sword to block several electric currents for him in time, his entire leg would have been burned to charcoal.

In an attempt to save the berserk Wolf Head, Vice Captain Callum had his arm blown off. When the soldiers recovered his limb from the rubble after the battle, they found it utterly mangled. Both the accompanying medic and the airship team's spellcaster said, "There's no way to mend the limb. We'll have to get an alchemical prosthetic when we get back."

Fortunately, the survivors who hid in the clay mine, under the leadership of the old patriarch's son Sek, dug up the mine passage and sealed the entrance, thus saving hundreds of tribesmen who retreated into the mine from being slaughtered.

The youngest son of the tribe leader, named Sek, was only in his early twenties. With red eyes, he held up the enemy's broken head, raised it high and roared with despair and anger like a lone wolf.

The surviving members of the tribe fell on the sand and cried bitterly. The demon lizardmen had set fires wantonly during the invasion. Many of their relatives who died in the battle could not even find the bodies, and they could only pay tribute to them by looking at the charred ruins.

According to the tribal tradition of the "rootless people", if the body is incomplete after death, it will not be possible to be buried and enter the kingdom of the god of the earth and mountains to be reincarnated.

The Silver Moon Tribe had more than 5,000 members, but now only one in ten is left. The number of elderly, weak, women and children who survived is less than 500.

"Chief Zhuo! And Lord Wayne, Lord Daf... all of you honored wizards!" The young new chief, Zeke, fought back tears, his eyes red as he spoke, "Please forgive the Silver Moon Tribe for breaking the alliance we just made with you. We will not follow you to the fertile land of Saint Valen. We have decided to stay and fight to the death against those enemies who have taken the lives of our people!"

In the past, the battles between the "rootless people" tribes were mostly for the right to graze pastures and the title of tribal warrior. Although small-scale conflicts broke out within the tribes, people would die... but generally speaking, they were relatively restrained. After the battle, they would even exchange prisoners, and occasionally form alliances to fight against the forced conscription and slave plundering by the kingdom's nobles and the church.

The massacres carried out today in the name of genocide, with all houses burned down and all livestock slaughtered, are a blood feud that they will need several generations to wash away.

The Eye of Illusion sighed and soothed slowly, "Those who managed to survive are the elderly and weak. Even if we sacrifice everyone's lives, we won't be able to complete our revenge in such a short time. Return with us to Saint Valen and settle down... At least give the children a chance to grow up safely. They will one day become warriors like you. Then we can fight side by side and wash away today's hatred." The usually arrogant and noble wizard was rarely humble, offering advice in a gentle voice, which stunned the young Silver Moon leader, "But...but our oasis...our home, and our herds..."

Zhuo Ao also shook his head and sighed, "Silvermoon Oasis is destroyed. The monsters burned everything that could be burned. This place is too close to their outpost camp. Staying here means death."

He paused, took a deep breath, turned to Wayne, and patted his chest in greeting, saying, "Commander Wayne, please forgive the Emerald Tribe's previous arrogance and disrespect. We are willing to follow you to the fertile land of Saint Valen. Gods be upon us, the Emperor's gift is the highest honor for us, but there is only one condition..."

Wayne breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "Your Majesty has always been magnanimous and benevolent. As long as your people are willing to abide by the laws of the kingdom, all preferential conditions can be negotiated."

Zhuo Ao laughed self-deprecatingly and said, "No, we are not selling ourselves for profit, nor are we greedy... Please tell His Majesty the Emperor that the rootless people of the borderland tribes pray to him to allow our warriors to join the expeditionary force, fight alongside you, and shed the blood of other races to commemorate the innocent people who died."

Wayne was stunned for a moment, squinted his eyes and looked around, and found that the young tribal warriors gathered around him were all staring at the weapons on the soldiers' backs, and the desire and hope revealed in their expressions were difficult to conceal.

After experiencing this extremely bloody battle, the warriors in the wild oasis finally understood that only by mastering this magical and powerful magic weapon could they contend with those horrific alien monsters; otherwise, they would only die in vain.

"Only after becoming a full citizen of Saint Valen and swearing allegiance to His Majesty are you eligible to join the Northern Army..." Wayne explained apologetically. "Besides, learning to use our weapons takes time. Every soldier fighting alongside you today has undergone at least a year of arduous training, honing their marksmanship and combat skills in true life-and-death combat."

Bale, the young warrior who had rashly attacked Wayne earlier, stepped forward, touched his chest, and saluted. "Warriors of the Borderland Tribe never fear a challenge. Commander Wayne, please forgive my earlier rudeness. We are willing to swear allegiance to His Majesty. No matter how arduous the training, it will not faze us. When we meet His Majesty, we will prove to him... who is his most courageous and fearless warrior!"

The tribesmen behind him roared in agreement, and everyone rekindled their hope for the future.

In order to prevent the Lizardmen from making a comeback, after hastily cleaning up the battlefield, Wayne and others let the wounded and women and children go first on the alchemical vehicles, while the expeditionary soldiers and tribal warriors evacuated on foot.

After arriving at the Emerald Oasis, they gathered all the tribesmen, abandoned most of the baggage and livestock, and retreated directly to the first stop in the south - Highland City.

(End of this chapter)