"Go! Fetch all my gold coins at once!"

  The leader of the Hot Sand Consortium forcefully ground his cigar against the city wall, bellowing at the goblins behind him.

  The goblins scurried off in haste. In under three minutes, basket after basket of gold coins was hauled onto the city wall.

  "These are the gold coins of Heatbreath City, widely recognized as currency. Repel those ogres, and every last one of these coins is yours!"

  The consortium leader scooped up a large handful of coins, stood up, and then let them cascade through his fingers.

  The glistening coins tumbled, their clear, tinkling sound immediately seizing the attention of the numerous foreign mercenaries on the wall.

  Heatbreath City was an expansive metropolis that issued its own gold coins.

  The extent of its influence was unknown, but without a doubt, these coins were the most reliable form of currency outside of barter.

  Those who took on the goblins' mercenary jobs were the sort who lived on the edge, willing to risk their lives for gain.

  Despite the ogres' fearsome reputation, the allure of gold was simply too strong to resist.

  "Warriors of the Dirty Spear Tribe, charge with me!"

  A troll with fiery red hair inched forward, his eyes glinting with greed as he roared at his tribesmen.

  Nearly twenty trolls, each carrying several sharp javelins on their backs and sporting a few throwing axes at their waists, readied themselves.

  The other mercenaries, though eager, held back for the moment, waiting to see how the trolls would fare.

  They watched as the trolls lined up along the city wall.

  The so - called city wall, much like the dwarves', stood only five or six meters high.

  For these trolls, who were around two meters tall even when hunched, it hardly qualified as a proper defense.

  And for the ogres, it was laughable.

  Something no taller than themselves couldn't seriously be called a wall, could it?

  "Warriors of the Dirty Spear Tribe, you are fierce and skilled hunters! Don't let those mindless ogres strike fear into your hearts!"

  "Use your strengths! Aim for their eyes!!!"

  The red - haired troll rallied his troops, his voice booming.

  "Javelins!!" In unison, all the trolls, including their leader, drew javelins from behind their backs.

  "Prepare!!"

  The trolls' hunched frames suddenly arched backward, the javelins in their hands taut like a fully - drawn crossbow.

  "Throw!!!"

  The red - haired troll let out a thunderous roar as he spotted the approaching ogres.

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  The trolls' bodies snapped forward, and their long, sinewy arms propelled the javelins like arrows. Their target?

  The ogres' eyes. While it might be a challenge to aim for the eyes of two - eyed ogres, the one - eyed ogres, especially Nu at their head, made for easy pickings.

  That single, large eyeball was practically a bullseye.

  The javelins shot forward at breakneck speed.

  Nu barely had time to squeeze his eye shut.

  The earth - yellow energy around him flared as the tender skin of his eyelid proved no match for the sharp projectile.

  "ROAR!!!!"

  Nu's deafening roar echoed across the battlefield.

  He flung his arm up to shield his face, discarded the machine gun, and yanked the javelin from his eyelid with a savage tug.

  Blood trickled down the side of his massive eye.

  Karin, watching from the rear, felt a cold shiver run down her spine.

  If Nu, the chief's closest companion, were to fall here, she'd surely face the chief's wrath upon their return.

  "Give it to me! Now!!"

  Nu snatched the large iron shield from the ogre beside him and brandished his big bone hammer.

  "Useless! All of you are useless!!!"

  Thanks to the Branding of the Rock, the javelin had only partially penetrated his eyelid. Although bleeding, Nu's vision remained intact.

  "IT HURTS!!" Nu bellowed, his vision tinted red with rage.

  Shield held high in his left hand, bone hammer swinging wildly in his right, he charged forward like a runaway tank, heedless of the hail of attacks from the city wall as he slammed into the goblin fortifications.

  "Advance! The entire army, move forward!!!" The dwarf leader, hammer in hand, urged his troops on, no longer concerned with the mounting losses.

  If they didn't seize this moment to break through, victory over the city would remain out of reach. The dwarf militiamen, following suit, began their steady advance.

  They employed a three - stage firing technique, maintaining a continuous exchange of fire with the goblins on the wall.

  The airships above, sensing the urgency, unleashed their full might.

  A series of sharp, shrill whistles pierced the air as huge aerial bombs rained down on the goblin city.

  The earth - shattering explosions sent tremors through the ground and struck fear into the hearts of every goblin.

  "Quit slacking and get in the fight! If even one ogre falls here, all our efforts will be in vain!" Karin prodded the Dog Captain beside her and joined the advancing troops.

  "I'm just a gnoll. Without those goblin machines, I'd have no fear. But in this chaos, what good can I do?" The Dog Captain eyed his small, wiry frame, a look of confusion on his face.

  "Spineless coward. You're fit for nothing but guarding doors for the rest of your life!"

  Karin shot him a scornful look, summoned her hellhound, and began launching shadow arrows one after another.

  The Dog Captain flushed, a mix of shame and determination in his eyes.

  "I fought hard for this chance. Given that we're both outsiders with the Branding of the Rock, I'm willing to help you. But if you're too scared, you might as well stick to door - duty from now on."

  Karin's words struck a chord with the Dog Captain.

  Gritting his teeth, he readied his curved crossbow, loaded a bolt, and rushed forward.

  "Don't underestimate me!"

  The gnoll bared his teeth, a cruel smile spreading across his face.

  "When it comes to marksmanship, we gnolls are second to none!"

  The gnoll lunged forward and released his shot. The crossbow bolt whistled through the air, embedding itself in the neck of a foreign mercenary on the wall.

  An instant later, a fierce burst of flames engulfed the mercenary's neck.

  The fire consumed the mercenary's neck from the inside out, and he crumpled to the ground, dead. It was a gruesome and painful end.

  Barring a few exceptional races, no one could survive a neck set ablaze in such a manner.

  The gnoll wasn't exaggerating.

  Their physical prowess was marginally better than that of goblins, but their true strength lay in their marksmanship and expertise with toxins.

  This was precisely why that goblin alchemist had dared to face off against Gorgin with a group of gnolls in tow.

  The goblins' poisons, laced with the alchemist's potent concoctions, could, upon breaking the skin, severely weaken an ogre's combat capabilities, if not outright incapacitate them.

  The Dog Captain still had his poisoned crossbow bolts from before.

  When combined with the power bestowed by Gorgin's "Krummashaaar!!!" effect, his combat effectiveness was surprisingly formidable.

  "Oh?" The Dog Captain stared in disbelief at the fallen mercenary.

  That was a kobold, right? Dead in one shot?

  "I never knew I was this good!" The Dog Captain's spirits soared.

  "The weapon was a gift from the chief, and the bolts were left by your old master. What's there to be proud of?" Karin rolled her eyes.

  "Hey, why are you so full of yourself?"

  "I serve the chief. I have no need to be humble in front of a mutt like you!"

  "Grrrrrrr~~~~"

  The Dog Captain growled, baring his teeth menacingly.