Chapter 58: The Strategic Retreat and the Swamp Trap

Even though Promen mostly spoke the truth, a great person once said to despise the enemy strategically, but to value them tactically.

Therefore, despite being greatly indebted to Promen, Theresia still teared up and lashed out, “A veteran of ten thousand battles? More like a deserter of ten thousand battles! Wait, I get it now. You *are* a veteran of ten thousand battles, but you played the comedic role, primarily responsible for entertaining your kin as a clown during wartime to relieve the pressure of their mass slaughter.”

“Yes, that must be it. From the moment I first saw you, I noticed your unparalleled talent for comedy. Are you truly not considering a career in entertainment? With your gifts, you could absolutely become a world-famous clown. I’ll invest one gold coin. What about you, Theodore?”

Theodore feigned deep contemplation before replying, “One copper coin, perhaps. While he certainly has talent, I suspect there’s something amiss with his mind. To achieve widespread fame, one needs a normal brain, and he simply doesn’t inspire much hope in that regard.”

Theresia nodded in profound agreement. “You know, you’re right. Hmm, then I’ll invest ten copper coins. No more than that.”

Promen: “…”

Breathe. Deep breaths.

‘No matter. They can still talk so tough; it’s clear the previous beating wasn’t enough.’

‘In this era where might makes right, he would use his fists to correct their mouths.’

****

On the front lines, Promen began to display his true power, seamlessly blending various divine arts with Dark Acolyte martial techniques, demonstrating a warrior’s prowess to youngsters who would appear countless millennia later.

Exhilarating. Truly exhilarating.

After battling the legendary Giant Dragon Knights for three hundred rounds, Promen felt his blood surge.

‘The legends I once could only look up to are nothing special after all.’

Promen conveniently ignored the fact that he was bullying two underage, untrained Giant and Dragon children who hadn’t learned cavalry tactics.

Theodore, in particular, was only around twenty years old, which was akin to a two-year-old infant in the Giant race.

However, a truly heinous villain evidently needed the basic quality of ‘kicking nursing homes in the north and punching kindergartens in the south.’

Yet, just as he believed he could savor the blood of the Black Dragon and the Giant today, a spear of light soared from the horizon, pinning him to the ground.

Immediately after, Theodore and Theresia’s attacks descended upon Promen, tearing away a large chunk of his bodily tissue.

Promen gazed towards the horizon. Theodore and Theresia had fought him for so long without these reinforcements appearing, and he hadn’t detected any auras nearby, making him think they had fled.

Promen looked at the Dragon Knight in the sky and asked, “Is this your plan?”

Seeing the long-range attack succeed, Theodore let out a sigh of relief.

This was indeed his plan. The close-range formation had proven utterly incapable of withstanding Promen’s relentless bombardment. This divine construct possessed the ability to quickly identify weaknesses in a formation and deliver precise, high-intensity strikes.

Unless the formation’s strength threshold was exceptionally high, the demands on the raid team members would be too stringent. They were not the same divine-powered armies Promen had faced in his time.

Remote attacks, on the other hand, could both hinder Promen’s detection abilities and prevent him from replicating his previous tactic of violently smashing through their formations.

With remote assistance, the pressure of battling Promen drastically reduced. However, all attacks could only inflict physical damage upon him.

Thus far, neither Theresia nor Theodore had any clue how to utterly destroy Promen.

A stone spear smashed down from mid-air, and Promen fiercely clashed with it using his claw.

“Do you know? One important reason why Giant Dragon Knights were so powerful back then was their ability to withstand ultra-long-range attacks while maintaining full combat effectiveness to charge enemy lines.”

Promen spoke to Theodore and Theresia with a grotesque smile. “In our era, striking enemies from thousands, even tens of thousands of miles away, was commonplace. Most units, apart from the Giant Dragon Knights, would suffer significant losses before even seeing the enemy’s face.”

“Attacks imbued with divine power can traverse vast distances without losing much of their potency. Can your magic and battle aura achieve that?! I already know where they are!”

After paying the price of bodily injury, Promen widened the distance from the Dragon Knight and began to hurl numerous divine power orbs towards the distant formation.

“Impressive,” Theresia praised, flying towards the divine power orbs without looking back.

Promen initially thought they were going to intercept the divine power orbs to maintain the formation, which would have been even better.

Those divine power orbs concealed a power that could briefly paralyze living beings. If they touched them, he would seize the opportunity for a fatal blow.

Closer, closer.

‘Yes, destroy those orbs.’

Promen locked onto the Dragon Knight, his attack poised, and then… he watched the Dragon Knight fly further and further away.

Promen stared blankly at the decisively fleeing Dragon Knight.

‘No, was it that sudden?’

‘Aren’t they going to try again?’

‘Confront me head-on!’

‘He had just gotten into his rhythm; let him show off a bit more! He was almost recalling all his combat experience from back then!’

Promen used divine art to accelerate himself, chasing after them, and continuously shouted, “Hey! Don’t run! How about I fight you with one hand? I’m not strong!”

Even with his speed increased, it was only comparable to Theresia’s full-speed flight, at most unable to close the distance.

Spatial transfer required calculations, and he didn’t want to try the Black Dragon’s war stomp with the Giant again by directly colliding with her. Detonating himself once was already quite taxing.

As soon as Theodore realized Promen was preparing to attack the rear formation, he sent a magic signal for the rear raid team to abandon their position and retreat immediately.

While it was true that divine power attacks lost little potency over ultra-long distances, they weren’t spatial attacks. Ultra-long distance also meant that if the signal was fast enough, there was ample time to react.

Combined with the small number of people and the pre-arranged plan, the raid team members fled with remarkable efficiency.

Hearing Promen’s shouts, Theresia did not ignore him. Instead, she turned back enthusiastically and said, “I know you’re not strong. I, the magnificent Black Dragon King, never contend with nobodies, so I’ll let you off today. Scram!”

Promen felt his lungs explode with rage. “You’re no Black Dragon King! Do you think I don’t know what a Black Dragon King looks like?! You disgrace the Black Dragon race! There’s not a single coward like you in your entire family! In your next life, remember to be born a worm that burrows into the ground, not a Black Dragon who never fears a direct confrontation! Stop right there…! Damn it!”

Before Promen could finish speaking, he stumbled and fell face-first.

Clearly, he was too busy chasing the Dragon Knight and forgot to check for traps beforehand, but the raid team members had not.

His massive body crashed heavily to the ground, then rolled into a swamp.

The dirty, viscous, life-devouring swamp was filled with toxic gases.

Promen inhaled and fell into a brief stupor, but he quickly suppressed its effects.

Divine arts, though powerful, were not omnipotent. This swamp, mixed with magic and poison, continuously obstructed the flow of divine power within him.

While the effect wasn’t immediately obvious, a continuous accumulation would certainly lead to problems.

Promen did not hesitate to detonate the swamp.

****

“Hiss, this monster is formidable. This time, all the magic-blocking potions were poured in, to the point where even Dragons and Elves couldn’t use magic.”

“The quality of his energy is very high, feeling much like highly concentrated magic, but it’s the first time I’ve seen someone squander highly concentrated magic so casually.”

“Moreover, his combat ability is extremely strong, and he possesses high intelligence. Truly monstrous, to be able to fight his way out of 100 floors.”

“I knew it. After floor 70 of the labyrinth, the level of the guardian monsters felt monotonous. Turns out they were all concentrated on the final floor.”

“He’s about to emerge! Second team, advance! First team, go set up on the floor above!”

Theresia and Theodore, having successfully reunited with the raid team, transformed into their human forms and lay panting on the ground, watching the raid team members systematically handle Promen.

When the condition for victory shifted from defeat to delay, these labyrinth conquerors fully demonstrated abilities commensurate with their bounty.

It was true that Promen could use divine arts and divine power from tens of thousands of years ago, but the outside world hadn’t idled during those millennia; they had concocted some novel things with magic.

They couldn’t kill him, but they could certainly disgust him.

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