Chapter 175 – General Dolai's Great Fury

Land of Trials, Crimson Giant Tower waiting area.

Lords continued watching the light spot at the tower’s base, occasionally glancing toward the entrance while wondering when that young figure would emerge. As they pondered, their voices gradually softened, no longer chatting with casual amusement but staring fixedly at the light spot with increasingly astonished expressions.

“That newcomer seems to have been inside for quite a while now.”

“Yes, over ten minutes already.”

It wasn’t unheard of for first-timers in the Land of Trials to last long, but combined with that strikingly youthful appearance, it evoked surprise—even shock. Those who’d bet on 100 seconds, 300 seconds, or 500 seconds had lost everything down to their underwear.

Yet no one cared about that now. They were solely focused on how long this newcomer could endure, or perhaps…

Thud!

At the Crimson Giant Tower’s base, the light spot suddenly brightened and shot upward like a rocket, ascending to the second level where it blinked rhythmically, announcing its presence.

He actually made it through!

The newcomer cleared the stage!

“Holy crap, that’s insane!”

“When I first entered the Land of Trials, I was already thirty-two—my sixth year as a Lord. Even then, I failed three times at the first challenge before barely scraping through. Compared to this youngster, it’s really like new waves pushing out the old.”

“When this newcomer comes out, I must connect with him, exchange contacts or something.”

“Indeed, it shouldn’t be long now. He’ll probably emerge soon—the second challenge is considerably tougher than the first.”

In the distance,

Shen Linglong—who hadn’t mingled with other Lords and was wrapped up tightly like an eccentric—overheard the amazed exclamations from Sword Demon and Silver Light. A slight smirk curled her lips, revealing a superior smile that said “only she knew the truth.”

What was there to be surprised about? Everything unfolded exactly as she’d predicted.

Tianyuan was somewhat impressive, but he still fell far short of her Han Yue. Sister Han Yue had entered the Land of Trials at a very young age too, breaking through relentlessly and clearing three challenges on her first attempt. It was from that point onward that Sister Han Yue left her contemporaries in the dust with her unparalleled speed.

Tianyuan couldn’t match that.

Well, to be fair and impartial, Tianyuan also possessed talent far surpassing his peers, only overshadowed by Han Yue.

That alone was remarkable—no wonder Sister Han Yue valued him.

Shen Linglong kept her eyes on the light spot, observing how long Tianyuan could hold out in the second challenge, planning to report every detail to her dear Sister Han Yue later.

…

Inside the Crimson Giant Tower, Chaos dimension.

「Ding!」

「Prompt: You have cleared Crimson Giant Tower – First Challenge, obtaining random reward ‘Miracle Building – Blaze Cannon (Rare).’」

Acquired a complete rare-tier building.

Not bad.

Clearing stages in the Land of Trials yielded rewards, though minor stage prizes were merely supplementary—decent but not precious. The truly valuable rewards came only after conquering an entire giant tower.

However,

“If you focus solely on rewards, you’ll miss the Land of Trials’ greatest hidden benefit—combat!””This kind of battle, where one fears neither life nor death and can exert every ounce of strength to fight against powerful enemies, is incredibly precious for any intelligent troop. Even if they advance to the rank of General or Commander in the future, this life-and-death combat experience will remain a valuable foundation of knowledge.”

Back then… three months ago, he had considered using the power of the ‘Newbie Challenge Realm’ to temper Deadbone and Dolai.

Unfortunately, he had fought too quickly and fiercely back then, and before he knew it, he had cleared the entire Secret Realm, missing out on that precious opportunity for tempering.

Now, the Land of Trials could not be fully cleared, but once a level was passed, it could not be revisited.

He had to take it slow.

This was also why he didn’t let Deadbone and Dolai take action in the first battle—to give others a chance to temper themselves, especially generals like Rakshasa and Red Robe, who couldn’t enter the Hero Arena.

「Prompt: Proceed to the second level?」

「Prompt: The second level battlefield is evolving…」

In the blink of an eye, the world transformed.

It was still a vast, boundless grassland, lush and green, with the Tianyuan Generals and elites appearing at the center of the field.

This time, without Deadbone’s command, the Skeleton Generals quickly formed defensive formations, while the wraiths seemed to merge with the Skeleton Generals, almost becoming one with them.

In just a few seconds, they had assembled into a preliminary formation.

Like a seamless whole!

Tree Spirit Grandma also started with her ultimate move. Amid the rumbling tremors of the earth, a vast and dense forest of roots surged upward, blocking out the dazzling sunlight and leaving only dappled shadows in its wake.

At the same time, massive figures with steel-like exteriors appeared on all sides of the legion, just as they had in the first level.

Nuns rode chariot-like armored giant scorpions, charging forward.

The difference was…

The total number of enemies in the previous level was 300, while in this level, it was… 600!

Doubled!

But the pressure was far more than doubled!

As soon as they appeared, the tails of the three hundred giant scorpions rose high, their needle-like tips tearing through the air like armor-piercing shells, emitting sharp, piercing whistles as they slammed into the dense forest of roots.

It was as if dozens of autocannons were mounted in mid-air, sweeping across the land.

The whooshing sounds echoed incessantly as resilient roots and thick tree trunks were torn apart like rotten wood, splinters and debris flying everywhere. The ground, mud, and grass were blasted into the air, rising over ten meters high.

Dust and smoke filled the air.

Seventeen scrambled up from the ground, a horrifying wound torn open on her left waist, flesh curling inward. Her expression remained unchanged as she spat out the grass that had splattered into her mouth.

Even the Bone Buriers and Skeleton Generals were pierced by the shell-like needles, their armor cracking and half their bodies shattering.

Although no one in the Tianyuan Legion was truly lost in this volley, there were quite a few injured.

Mu Yuan gasped sharply.

“The second level is terrifying indeed.”

Without a doubt, if Dolai and Deadbone didn’t step in now, their conventional forces would truly be unable to advance.

“Dolai!”

“Coming, gurgle~!”

A Dolai shot up into the sky, its right hand extended, five pale fingers spread wide, palm aimed at the distant enemies that had not yet engaged their legion.

Fireball!A scorching, blazing Fireball materialized and instantly expanded, transforming into a massive sphere that, even in its highly condensed state, measured over ten meters in diameter.

With a distant point of its finger, the orange-red fireball tore through the sky, casting a fierce glow upon the distant landscape.

BOOM——!!

Like a setting sun sinking into the earth, half of the enormous orange sphere embedded itself in the ground, followed by an eruption of boundless light and heat that dyed the entire sky crimson. Rolling red clouds and scattered red light painted a scene as resplendent as a sunset.

A resplendence filled with the beauty of destruction.

Flames surged and spread.

Isloria watched, her bright eyes reflecting the orange-red radiance, her hair lifted by the wind, and her clothes flapping wildly.

“No matter how many times I see it, it’s always breathtaking.”

In one-on-one combat, she was only slightly inferior to Dolai, but such world-shattering Moves were beyond her capabilities. Even if she could perform them, they would drain her completely in an instant.

But Dolai? It could effortlessly unleash a dozen or twenty of them.

Dolai’s energy recovery speed was incredibly fast, leaving her far behind. If the battle were prolonged, it could easily lay waste to entire cities.

She often wondered if Dolai was a Dragon in human skin, or some other creature of immense size.

But no.

Dolai was indeed not human, yet it was merely a Slime.

That made even less sense than being human!

However,

as the dust gradually settled, the results of Dolai’s superheated, colossal Fireball were less than ideal.

On the scorched, blackened, and blazing earth, giant iron-armored scorpions curled their tails into spherical shapes, shielding the nuns within.

Their bodies were almost entirely charred, but only a few scorpions and nuns at the very center had perished under the super Fireball.

The rest of the giant scorpions were merely severely injured.

Then, the scorpion tails slowly retracted, revealing the nuns inside. Though most of their clothing had been burned away and their skin was reddened and charred, their vitality remained tenacious.

They showed no expression.

They raised their Silver Crosses high.

Hum—

Heavenly light descended.

The healing Holy Light fell upon them, and their charred skin quickly sloughed off, replaced in the blink of an eye by new, fair skin as smooth and pure as a baby’s.

This Holy Light then fell upon the iron-armored scorpions, healing their shattered bodies at a visible pace.

Nuns equipped with purification skills scattered Purifying Holy Light, clearing the burn effects from themselves and the scorpions.

In an instant,

the giant scorpions and nuns had recovered at least sixty to seventy percent, with little loss in combat effectiveness.

Dolai: “???”

Had it just wasted its effort?

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Dolai had made a fool of itself.

General Dolai was furious and prepared to super-duper double its energy output. But at the critical moment, Dolai’s intelligence returned to the forefront, realizing this approach wouldn’t work.

Not to mention that the ‘Pseudo-Blazing Sun’ would harm allies and required a longer time to condense. The iron-armored scorpions and nuns were no mere underlings—they were all Elites, with strong defenses and rapid recovery. Large-scale attacks like this were unlikely to be effective.

In that case,

Dolai pondered.

Sharp needle-like projectiles tore through the air, flying toward it. Quickly, it sprouted wings and performed a 360-degree aerial flip, leaving a trail of afterimages in its wake.Simultaneously, steel pellets materialized and floated around its form one after another, crackling arcs of lightning swirling around them, pulsating with a peculiar rhythmic cadence.

The next instant, the pellets shot forth like streaks of lightning.

Piercing through with a speed far exceeding the reaction times of the nuns and giant scorpions.

Thud—

The nun’s head shattered like a watermelon, pierced and destroyed.

The giant scorpion’s sturdy skull was also punctured as easily as cardboard by the pellets, dying in the blink of an eye.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

In an instant, General Dolai achieved the astonishing feat of thirteen consecutive kills.

And with far less commotion, it avoided harming allies.

“Hmph, this is the true power of this Dolai!”

It darted through the air with extreme agility, drawing enemy fire while continuously gathering electromagnetic projectiles, hurling them down one after another.

Dolai also deduced that shattering the nuns, and even the giant scorpions, didn’t require so much energy, so it reduced the output to enhance its endurance. It knew how to be thrifty too (hands on hips)!

A few minutes later, under Dolai’s ‘orbital strikes,’ the giant scorpions and nuns had already suffered over half their losses.

And General Dolai’s energy reserves were far from depleted.

Mu Yuan had roughly measured it before.

The energy reserves of the Undead General were about three to four times that of Isloria. Meanwhile, Dolai’s energy reserves were more than double that of the Undead General, far surpassing Isloria’s.

Its recovery rate was dozens of times greater than Isloria’s.

Even if the Undead General didn’t tap into backup energy sources, its endurance couldn’t compare to Dolai’s.

At this moment,

Even with Dolai drawing attention and continuously eliminating enemies, the other commanders and elites still faced immense pressure. Giant scorpions charged forward, while nuns waved their hands, casting streaks of Purifying Holy Light.

But under such heavy pressure, the Skeleton Generals, wraiths, and other high-intelligence elites improved rapidly.

Bone Spears were hurled, Heavy Swords swept horizontally, and Ghost Claws reached out.

Their coordination grew increasingly seamless, often synchronizing spontaneously without the Undead General needing to issue mental commands.

Howling, surging death energy swirled above the formation.

Faintly, it bound them together into a unified whole.

One chapter for now, the next one will be updated later.

(End of chapter)