Chapter 38 - Mammoth Army

Though Han Wu was about to face a Demigod, he displayed no hesitation, immediately summoning his locusts out from the gate. The swarm was so vast that they obscured the very sky, effectively turning day into night.

Han Wu’s opponent, the Demigod Elephant Lord, was shocked to see so many locusts. It was clear that Han Wu had spent a lot of time and resources nurturing them.

But having more units doesn’t make them stronger

.

Even though both his locusts and my mammoths are Elite life forms, a single mammoth can single handedly crush 100,000 locusts

, the Demigod remarked inwardly.

Having reached this conclusion, the Elephant Lord scoffed, “Are these all your forces? How disappointing.” He harbored no doubt that Han Wu's efforts would be futile against his overwhelming army.

Han Wu smiled wryly, not deigning to reply. He continued to summon his units, bringing out his Elite Heavenly Demon Insects, Abyss Bugs, Dark Curse Bugs and Unique Locusts.

He also had especially mutated Unique locusts, including the Poison Heavenly Demon Insect affected by the Hive, Law of Gluttony, and Poison Orb; the Earthcracker Abyss Bug affected by the Hive, Law of Gluttony, and Molten Earthflare; and the Cloaked Dark Curse Bug affected by the Hive, Law of Gluttony, and Shadow Nail—a total of 18,000 Unique locusts under his command.

The sight of the Unique locusts caused the spectators to nearly tumble from their seats in shock.

“Are those Unique locusts? Why does he have so many?”

“Are they even locusts? What kind of Evolution Path did he discover for them to mutate so much?”

“I think Locust Plague must be from some influential family who was sent out to the outside world to refine his skills. How many resources did it take to produce such extraordinary locusts?”

Even the Elephant Lord, a Demigod, was forced to acknowledge Han Wu's exceptional talent, realizing that Han Wu's ability to evolve Common locusts into Unique locusts was a testament to his genius.

Han Wu could’ve actually multiplied their number by ten times if he had had one more day. He wondered what kind of reaction the audience would’ve displayed had he summoned 180,000 Unique locusts instead.

The Elephant Lord exclaimed, “Is this your true strength? I'm really looking forward to this fight!”

Han Wu, however, chose to ignore the Elephant Lord until the match finally started.

The Elephant Lord swiftly ordered his Heroic Fulgur Mammoth to unleash its ability, the Rank 3 mid-tier Lightning Breath. A surge of lightning arced forth from the mammoth's trunk, striking the locust swarm and electrocuting a large number of them, temporarily clearing the sky.

Han Wu didn’t back down, instructing his Dark Curse Bugs to attack. “Rank 2 low-tier Shadow Nail!”

The Dark Curse Bugs unleashed a massive barrage of Shadow Nails, piercing the Heroic Fulgur Mammoth’s shadow.

While a single nail posed no threat to the Fulgur Mammoth, the cumulative effect of their numbers was devastating. 10,000 nails slowed the mammoth down, 100,000 significantly restricted its movement, and 1 million nails rendered it completely immobile. The Fulgur Mammoth was ultimately rendered motionless!

Han Wu then commanded his Unique Poison Heavenly Demon Insects to attack. They fluttered their wings and dove down towards the Fulgur Mammoth. The momentum allowed them to impale the Fulgur Mammoth with their sharp horn.

Despite the Poison Heavenly Demon Insects' relentless assault, they could only manage to penetrate a maximum of 3 inches into the Fulgur Mammoth's thick hide. Such shallow wounds were of little consequence to the enormous creature.

The Elephant Lord laughed, “Your Unique locusts are weak! They are powerless, even with my Fulgur Mammoth immobilized!”

Han Wu, however, asked, “Are you sure?”

The Poison Heavenly Demon Insects instantly erupted in a cloud of poison, forcing their horns to embed themselves deeper within the Fulgur Mammoth's hide. The poison began to spread through the wounds, causing the Fulgur Mammoth immense pain.

Although one Poison Heavenly Demon Insect posed little threat to the colossal Fulgur Mammoth, Han Wu had plenty more to spare—6,000 to be exact. He would simply double the number of insects until he achieved the desired effect. While the Fulgur Mammoth was frozen in place, Han Wu could launch his attacks for as long as he pleased.

Seeing the danger, the Elephant Lord urgently ordered his mammoth army to stop the locusts and save the Fulgur Mammoth. Han Wu, in turn, commanded his locusts to swarm the oncoming mammoth horde, aiming to delay their advance.

The Elite mammoths were considerably easier to deal with compared to the Fulgur Mammoth, with many of the Elite mammoths dying to the poisonous explosions from the locusts. Upon witnessing the unfolding events, the Elephant Lord’s expression turned serious, recognizing that he had underestimated Han Wu’s capabilities.

While employing his full strength against a Divine Being was considered dishonorable, the Elephant Lord prioritized the survival of his units. Therefore, he chose to unleash his Divine Skills.

[Barbarous Divine Skill: Thick Armor.]

[Barbarous Divine Skill: Vigor.]

[Barbarous Divine Skill: Healing.]

While the usage of his three Divine Skills cost the Elephant Lord half his Divine Points, he deemed the cost worthwhile. The injured mammoths quickly healed, and a thick layer of armor, generated from their renewed vigor, formed around them. Consequently, the locusts' self-destructive attacks, though forceful, barely made a mark on the mammoths' thick armor, leaving them completely unscathed.

The mammoths responded with powerful swings of their trunks, causing significant casualties among the locust swarm. The locusts attempted to evade the attacks by ascending into the air, but a number of them were caught in the powerful suction of the mammoths' trunks and were crushed in the process.

Han Wu’s army was losing.

“Your strength has compelled me to employ my Divine Skills. I will eliminate half your forces and then allow you to surrender.”

Despite possessing the upper hand, the Elephant Lord chose to be merciful.He wanted to make a good impression on Han Wu, as he recognized that Han Wu was a genius capable of nurturing locusts into Unique life forms. Reasoning that Han Wu wouldn’t remain a Divine Being, the Elephant Lord aimed to cultivate a positive relationship with him from the outset.

Han Wu, however, refused to surrender, knowing that he had yet to fully demonstrate his capabilities.

“Minotaurs, heed my command and charge!” Han Wu suddenly shouted, and another gate appeared behind him. The Minotaurs, hearing his orders, stomped into the arena filled with fighting spirit.

Sarman, the Heroic Minotaur, unleashed a powerful roar as he launched himself forward. The 2,604 Minotaurs following him surged forward into the huge army of 740,000 mammoths.

The Elephant Lord was stunned by the unexpected turn of events, and it took him a few seconds to finally realize what happened.

He has Minotaurs, an extremely strong race from the Demonic Civilization? How did he manage to tame them?

Han Wu, however, was far from finished. He watched the Minotaurs intently and upon seeing Sarman's totem eliminate a mammoth, he immediately called for his other race. “Skeletons, move forth!”

A second gate materialized behind Han Wu, from which a colossal, pale bone throne was ceremoniously carried out by the now 190 Skeleton Knights. The Skeleton Lord sat on the throne with an air of royalty, but to Han Wu, the sight was laughable. It looked like a child playing pretend.

The Osteomancer and Skeleton Reanimator, both Heroic skeletons, stood attentively beside the Skeleton Lord, acting as his servants, ready to serve him at any moment.

The crowd were shocked to see what Han Wu had summoned.

“Hey, is that the infamous Heroic life form, the Osteomancer? Am I dreaming? Can someone pinch me?”

“I think I’m dreaming too. Maybe we can slap each other and both of us can wake up at the same time.”

“I want my money back! This isn’t fair! The Demigod only has a single Heroic life form but this Divine Being has three! He even has a Lord life form too. This is unreasonable! Who’s in charge of this match? Come out and explain yourselves!”

“They've rigged this whole thing! They're just trying to rob us! The Blood Coliseum is a sham! I want my money back now!”

Han Wu was taken aback by the sheer intensity of the crowd's backlash upon summoning his skeletons. However, he disregarded their accusations, as they were directed at the Blood Coliseum, not him. His only concern was to achieve victory with the minimal use of his trump cards.

In a sudden motion, Han Wu jumped up to the throne, picked up the little Skeleton Lord, and then occupied the throne himself. “Skeleton Reanimator, it’s up to you now,” he said.

Despite its fury at Han Wu's commandeering of the throne, the little skeleton was bound to obedience, as Han Wu was its god. The Heroic Skeleton Reanimator, in a gesture of deference, nodded and bowed to Han Wu before leaping onto a flying locust. The locust carried the Skeleton Reanimator to an elevated position above the mammoth army, enabling him to utilize his skill on the nearby carcass of a dead mammoth.

The skeletal remains of a mammoth violently ripped itself out of its flesh prison and stood up. While it no longer had a nose, its tusks were noticeably sharpened. With a powerful charge, the skeletal mammoth rammed its sharpened tusks into a living mammoth, causing its swift demise.