Green Monster Epic

"Pfft!"

"Pfft pfft!!"

"Careful!!"

Just as Allen and his group were about to leave the Tagar Desert, they were suddenly ambushed. A dozen javelins rained down, causing a commotion among the caravan. Several unlucky individuals were struck, clutching their wounds and groaning in pain.

If not for Allen's quick reflexes, sensing the danger and wielding his greatsword in a whirlwind defense, deflecting a powerful javelin, he might have been injured as well. Of the ten hobgoblin warriors beside him, only one suffered a minor scratch from a javelin. The others were unharmed, though they looked around anxiously, their eyes darting across the sandy landscape, unable to pinpoint the source of the attack.

In contrast, Regis and his human mercenary squad, with eight members still combat-ready, immediately formed a circular formation upon detecting the ambush. They surrounded the caravan led by their employer, Feli, and deflected several incoming javelins. While forming the defensive perimeter, Jim, the scout of the human mercenary squad, quickly spotted the hidden enemies with his keen eyesight, shouting, "Enemies behind the dunes, southeast, 200 yards!"

Hearing the warning, Allen charged forward without hesitation, feeling ashamed of the difference in performance between the two groups of warriors, hoping to redeem himself. The javelins, though seemingly powerful, had been assessed by Allen when he deflected them. He was confident that dealing with these enemies wouldn't be too difficult.

"Watch out, Allen, it's a band of desert snakemen!"

Regis didn't stop Allen and his tribe from charging forward. Instead, he followed Jim's alert, identified the enemy's location, and provided Allen with information.

"Desert snakemen are skilled in using poison. Be careful of the toxins on their weapons."

However, Regis quickly realized that goblins, due to their harsh living environment and powerful digestive systems, possessed a high resistance to common poisons, unlike the fragile humans.

"Got it! Boys, hack these cold-blooded bastards to pieces!!"

Due to their cold-blooded nature, snakemen generally prefer to live in desert environments with extreme temperature differences. However, they have been known to appear in other wilderness areas. While Allen and his group had seen them before, this was their first direct confrontation.

"Ooh wah!!"

The hobgoblins emitted strange cries, their feet kicking up clouds of yellow dust as they charged across the soft sand. They swung their weapons in wide arcs, deflecting or dodging the incoming javelins.

At least in terms of individual strength, the hobgoblins displayed a level of combat prowess that somewhat redeemed their earlier performance, bringing a hint of pride to Allen's face. The distance of 200 yards seemed considerable, but with Allen and his group's relentless charge, disregarding their stamina, they quickly closed in on the snakeman band, who blended seamlessly with the yellow desert, making them difficult to detect.

"Hiss, hiss hiss!!"

The snakemen's sleek skin glistened, covered in fine scales. Their mouths opened to reveal slender, forked tongues, sensing the changing environment. Their lithe bodies swayed, possessing an exotic allure, but a glance at their lower bodies, with their thick, serpentine tails, would send shivers down anyone's spine.

Their seemingly slender arms each wielded a thin rapier. Several unused javelins were stuck in the sand beside them. As one snakeman hissed out commands, a dozen or so snakemen stared with their large eyes, their narrow, vertical pupils fixed on the approaching hobgoblin warriors. Their cold gazes seemed to lower the surrounding temperature by several degrees.

The hobgoblins paid no attention to the snakemen's eerie appearance. Their best fighting style was a straightforward, head-on assault. If they failed to gain the upper hand in the initial wave of attacks, they would quickly lose heart. However, it was clear that the snakemen's strength wasn't particularly outstanding. The eleven hobgoblins and the seventeen or eighteen snakemen initially fought to a standstill, each side holding its ground.

The hobgoblins' fighting style was direct and forceful, while the snakemen relied on their agility. Their serpentine tails provided better leverage on the soft sand. Despite the fierce battle, the hobgoblins often only managed to clash weapons with the snakemen after five or six attacks. More often, the snakemen relied on their nimble movements, wielding their two rapiers in intricate patterns, like a snake striking with its fangs, targeting the hobgoblins' weaknesses.

It wasn't until Regis led three mercenaries into the fray that the situation began to shift, gradually tilting in favor of the human caravan.

Allen slashed his greatsword at the snakeman leader, but the smooth scales absorbed almost half of the sword's momentum. With a ghostly twist of its body, the greatsword plunged into the sand as if without resistance, sending up a cloud of sand and gravel. However, the snakeman wasn't unscathed. Although it seemed to have deflected most of the force, the weapons still carried a considerable impact. Even with the snakeman's natural scale armor, its internal structure was still flesh and blood. The impact was unpleasant, and the snakeman's tail slithered an S-shaped path in the sand, quickly retreating several yards to distance itself from Allen.

Allen himself wasn't in good shape either. The snakeman's rapier movements were ghostly, always striking from Allen's blind spots like a hornet's stinger. By the time Allen noticed, it was often too late to defend or dodge, putting him in a difficult position. In particular, the snakeman's attacks came from both sides, making its movements even faster and more agile, inflicting several minor wounds on Allen in a short time. Fortunately, Allen was tough and resilient. Although he had no time to tend to his wounds, they had already begun to close and stop bleeding. The poison on the snakeman's rapier didn't seem to have a significant effect. Other than feeling slightly dry-mouthed and dizzy, Allen felt nothing else. At least, these reactions weren't enough to affect his combat ability.

The arrival of Regis and his fresh troops provided a breakthrough in the previously stalemated battle. Compared to the hobgoblins, the human mercenaries were more experienced in combat. They were able to handle the snakemen's attacks with ease, coordinating with the hobgoblins' attacks to leave shallow or deep wounds on the snakemen. Before long, two or three snakemen fell to the ground, unable to rise.

"Hiss hiss hiss!"

Seeing the situation turn against them, the snakeman leader ceased engaging. After dodging another of Allen's attacks, it hissed out instructions. Immediately, the snakemen on the sand raised their serpentine tails and swept them violently across the ground, creating a sandstorm that enveloped the battlefield. By the time the battlefield cleared, the dozen or so snakemen had vanished without a trace. Only trails of sand, quickly spreading forward, remained on the distant desert, soon disappearing behind the dunes.

"Don't chase them!"

Regis stopped Allen and his group's eager movements. The battle had come suddenly and ended quickly. Fortunately, most of the hobgoblins only suffered minor injuries, thanks to their robust physique and excellent poison resistance.