Chapter 76

The giant mouth of the alligator snapping turtle directly bit through the orc with a "crack," throwing half of the corpse away while swallowing the other half. On the ground nearby lay a war wolf that had died from the violent impact, blood flowing from its mouth, its body twisted like a pretzel.

"Dammit!"

Sarota cursed as he got up, but he was not seriously injured. The five orcs beside him were in a similar state, having been protected from most of the impact by their war wolves. They staggered to their feet, picked up their scimitars, and immediately formed a protective circle around Sarota.

The courage and loyalty of these orcs were truly commendable, as they did not choose to flee even in the face of such a terrifying creature. However, Sarota had no time to marvel at this. He scanned the surroundings and noticed that the human scout was standing about seventy meters away, casually leaning against his warhorse and watching them.

Sarota narrowed his eyes, his expression becoming increasingly fierce.

He had been the hunter, but the situation had suddenly reversed, making him the prey. This made him feel a chill, but it was quickly followed by a surge of intense anger. The detestable human seemed to be toying with them, and this was a complete insult to Sarota!

With the team now entangled with the alligator snapping turtle, they couldn't immediately go after the human. Sarota glanced at the turtle and quickly determined that it wasn't as powerful as it appeared. Almost instantly, he issued orders to the orcs around him—

"Hai, Kose! Protect me and be cautious of the human's arrows!"

"Kase, lead your men to retreat! Try to attack, but stay away from its head!"

After a series of commands, Sarota took off a delicate bone necklace and held it in his hand. He recited a strange incantation, and the necklace turned to dust. Swinging his wooden staff, he invoked a spell.

A pale yellow "Life Chain" appeared on Sarota and all the orcs, then disappeared.

Two orcs raised their scimitars to protect him. Because Sarota was slender, he was completely shielded from any arrow attacks by the two strong wolf riders. Two of the orcs who had been thrown also got up, their injuries not severe, and joined the group. Thus, five orcs formed a defensive line against the alligator snapping turtle and slowly retreated under Sarota's orders.

In just five seconds, Sarota had stabilized the situation despite the disadvantage. This was just the beginning of his strategy—bones from his staff were removed one by one, and ancient orcish curses were released, such as "Flesh Slowing" and "Armor Erosion," which immediately slowed the alligator snapping turtle. The once formidable creature opened its mouth wide but could not keep up with the orcs' retreat, its body moving as if filled with lead.

The orcs immediately took advantage of this and charged at the sides of the turtle, hacking at its shell and thick legs where its head couldn't reach. However, these attacks were largely ineffective. After a series of "cracks," the scimitars shattered without leaving a visible mark on the turtle's shell!

"Snap!"

At the same time, an orc standing beside Sarota suddenly swung his scimitar, cutting a long arrow that had been shot from a distance. Because of the distance, the trajectory of the arrows Rodi shot was easily spotted, so several consecutive arrows were either dodged or blocked by the orcs. Seeing this, Rodi gave up on attacking but did not move far away. Instead, he stood in the fog, watching the scene of the orcs facing off against the alligator snapping turtle as if he were watching a play.

Because of his threat, the two orcs protecting Sarota did not dare to join the fight against the turtle.

In front of Sarota, the alligator snapping turtle's clumsy body thrashed wildly and finally, with a powerful burst of strength, it knocked an orc who couldn't dodge in time. However, due to the "Life Chain," the orc who flew seven or eight meters away only spat blood and then got up again, while the other orcs' faces only slightly paled but they still maintained their fighting ability.

"Damned human..."

A stalemate where no one could kill the other was not what Sarota wanted. He did not want to waste time with this creature that had emerged from the water. Glancing around, Sarota gritted his teeth and reached into his wide robe, pulling out a puppet made of purple grass.

When this somewhat comical purple "puppet" appeared in Sarota's hand, the two orcs who had been protecting him immediately showed signs of reverence and even fear—because in the eyes of most orcs, the power of a shaman not only lay in weakening enemies or making their own warriors fierce... the truly terrifying aspect was their ability to control enemies' bodies using "shamanic puppets," even turning them into mindless zombies!

According to their classification, Sarota, who had reached level 10 as a shaman, could already use powerful spells like "Puppet Stasis"!

However, a level 10 shaman could only use "Puppet Stasis" with the help of a sufficiently powerful "voodoo prop" to ensure success. The puppet in Sarota's hand was a powerful "spirit" that had been passed down for nearly a century through the hands of four or five shamans in the Rohar's Hammer tribe!

"Die—"

Raising the puppet and pointing it at the alligator snapping turtle, Sarota's staff suddenly struck the ground. A "buzz" sound followed, and a purple light instantly enveloped the turtle, which then abruptly froze in place!

"Chop off its head!"

Sarota's voice was calm and ruthless. Seeing the massive, seemingly invincible turtle firmly immobilized, the orcs' morale instantly soared. They roared and charged at the turtle's head, their scimitars flying and instantly creating bloody gashes...

Although the turtle had thick scales, it did not mean that areas like its eyes and neck were equally hard. The orcs were skilled at slaughtering animals, so even though the turtle was enormous, they instinctively found its vital points—swords plunged into the turtle's eyes, and the subsequent fierce cuts mostly landed on its soft, scale-less neck!

"Thud—"

Blood spurted from the back of the neck as the turtle opened its mouth in pain, trying to move but unable to do so due to the powerful spell...

The dull sound of metal blades and bone continued, and in less than a minute, the turtle's head, now a bloody mess, was completely hacked to pieces by the powerful orcs. Sarota's forehead was covered in sweat from maintaining the powerful spell, but this decisive "Puppet Stasis" had instantly turned the tide of the battle from a disadvantage.

"...So this is how powerful you are already, with such grand ambitions." Standing a hundred meters away in the fog, Rodi muttered to himself, "Life Chain, Armor Erosion, Strength Amplification, Puppet Stasis... truly formidable."

This was not flattery but a genuine expression of admiration from Rodi.

The opponent's level was high, his mental fortitude strong, and he remained calm and decisive even when suddenly attacked, taking the most correct actions and even being cautious of possible arrow attacks from Rodi's side. In just a minute, he had completely turned the tide of the battle. Such a terrifying figure becoming the chief of Rohar's Hammer in the future was no coincidence.

Seemingly feeling a bit tired, Rodi squatted down, pulled a blade of grass, and put it in his mouth, his eyes on the alligator snapping turtle named "Zelik." He first glanced at the "health bar" display, then at his own, muttering, "Time's about right..."

Then... he raised his scimitar and slashed at the warhorse beside him.

Sarota, far away, did not notice what Rodi was doing. They had just finished a brutal attack and decapitated the turtle—ultimately, the powerful "voodoo stasis" spell was far superior to the turtle, and the battle ended almost immediately. Sarota then issued new orders: "Retreat! Move away from the water!"

"Stay close to me, don't run around. The human might be trying to lull us into a false sense of security. Spread out and charge, but be careful of his arrows!"

Clearly, Sarota was determined to kill Rodi. In his mind, although today's pursuit had encountered various unexpected events, as long as he could ultimately eliminate the opposing team, any losses would be acceptable...

Thinking of the other team he had pursued, Sarota believed that the wolf riders should have already finished the battle—those humans only knew how to ambush and run, and there was no way they could defeat his elite warriors... Once everything was resolved, he could continue with his plans...

With this certainty, Sarota's confidence returned, and his steps became more determined. He held the purple puppet, his narrowed eyes looking into the distance—

But then he was taken aback by the scene a few dozen meters away: the human, who had been so confident earlier, seemed to have not expected them to easily defeat the turtle and was now frantically trying to mount his horse to escape. However, just as he mounted, the horse suddenly swayed and fell to the ground... dead.

It seemed the horse had been exhausted from the long run. Sarota grinned, feeling that the gods were on his side—raising his staff, he was ready to cast "Bloodlust" again and was not afraid of the human fleeing, as in his eyes, the damned human was now a "fish in a barrel"!

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