Within the collapsed walls of Brandon Stone City, the chaotic battle had reached its climax.
In terms of average strength, the gray dwarves were indeed much stronger than the humans. However, the paladins and mercenaries who had been blessed by the holy light weren't completely helpless.
The paladins brandished their swords to repel the enemies who were charging at them with their axes raised high, while the mercenaries took the opportunity to shoot arrows from the side.
If it weren't for Pattilina's artillery bombardment, perhaps both sides wouldn't have been able to maintain their current stalemate.
"Everyone, pay attention. Don't advance recklessly!"
Locus, who had cut down a gray dwarf, shouted loudly to restrain the troops.
According to Jenn's plan, their mission was to give the gray dwarves enough pressure on the frontline so that they could sneak in and steal the statue.
Although Locus wasn't very comfortable with this plan, they didn't have any better ideas at the moment.
Under the bombardment of Pattilina's artillery, they had repelled the gray dwarves several times and even occupied a small area at the city gate.
However, Locus knew that all of this was only temporary. If they chose to advance recklessly because of this small victory, it wouldn't end well for them.
But it was a pity that not everyone listened to Locus's orders.
The paladins were still fine, but the mercenaries had begun to plunder the gray dwarves' houses for the spoils of war.
No matter what, they had risked their lives in exchange for these spoils of war. It wasn't easy for them to come to the underground world, and if they could get something after a battle worth bragging about, it would be worth it.
Everything went smoothly until darkness arrived unexpectedly.
Dark clouds suddenly appeared and shrouded the 'vanguard' warriors. Then, an undetectable dark light flashed, and the next moment, the mercenaries fell to the ground, lifeless.
At the same time, pitch-black, elegant, and slender figures emerged from the shadows. They held crossbows, floated in the air, and aimed at the targets below.
"Dark Elves!"
Locus was shocked to see these dark-skinned elves.
Although the people on the surface weren't familiar with many species in the Underdark, the dark elves were definitely not one of them.
Due to the Dark Elves' tradition, their famous "hunting" activities had long earned these dark-skinned natives a notorious reputation comparable to the most savage thugs on the surface.
Now that they had appeared here, it was enough to make one's heart tremble.
"Everyone retreat immediately!!"
Locus ordered without hesitation. The Dark Elves were much more terrifying than the Grey Dwarves. There was no point in staying here any longer.
Furthermore, he had already received a response from Pattilina. After confirming that Jenn had left, Locus planned to retreat.
And now, the appearance of the Dark Elves made him even more determined, and he quickly announced the order loudly.
The others didn't raise any questions. The sudden appearance of the Dark Elves had left them horrified. So when they heard the order to retreat, they retreated without any hesitation.
At the same time, Pattilina fired several cannonballs at the dome, using the falling soil and rocks to form a powerful barrier to stop the dark elves and gray dwarves from retaliating.
Under Pattilina's cover, Locus quickly retreated with the rest of the people.
Although the battle was much easier than expected with the help of the 'Valkyrie', the War God Shrine still suffered considerable losses.
However, the War God Temple still suffered considerable losses. Nearly a third of the paladins died in the battle with the grey dwarves, and the mercenaries also suffered heavy casualties. Only a few were left.
However, the spoils of war they plundered from the Grey Dwarves were enough to make up for the mercenaries' losses.
"Mr. Jenn!"
Leading the way into the stronghold, Locus soon saw Zayen standing there. Unlike what Locus had imagined, the young man in front of him did not show a flustered or panicked expression. On the contrary, his clothes were still neat and tidy, and there was not even a crease on his pants.
Seeing Locus, Zayen looked up and nodded at him.
"Hello, Mr. Locus."
"How's the situation?"
At that moment, Locus couldn't wait any longer and stared at Jenn.
Upon hearing Locus' question, Zayen didn't hesitate in the slightest. Shortly after, he flipped his right hand at Locus. At the next moment, a statue of a god appeared in front of Locus.
"Fortunately, I didn't disappoint you."
"T-This is …!"
Looking at the statue before him, Locus was so excited that he didn't know what to say.
As a holy knight of the War God Shrine, he could clearly sense the holy power from the statue. That was the power of the God of War!
They completed the prophecy!
The statue of the God of War was right in front of them. As long as they brought this statue back to the shrine, the glory of the War God Shrine would once again envelop this continent!
The hundreds of years of darkness would end just like that!
At this thought, Locus' eyes turned red. He extended his trembling hand and tried to take the statue from Jenn's hand.
However, what Locus didn't expect was that just as he was about to get the statue, Jenn suddenly flipped his wrist again and quickly put the statue back into the leather pocket on his waist.
This action shocked Locus.
"Mr. Jenn, you …"
"An insurance."
Jenn shrugged in response to Locus' question.
"In order to avoid burning the bridge after crossing the river, I have to add a condition to our deal.
Once the temple safely sends us out, I will hand this statue over to you.
I think you should be able to understand my concerns, Holy Knight Head Locus. "
"This …"
Locus wasn't a fool. He quickly understood what Jenn meant.
If he gave the statue to the Temple now, then if the Valkyrie came knocking on his door, he would have to face the consequences.
The Temple of Light was likely to hand over Jenn, who no longer had any value to them. Although the possibility was low, it was not impossible.
Besides, Jenn wasn't a believer of the Temple of War. Of course, he didn't need to sacrifice himself for the Temple of War until his death.
But to Locus, he was more inclined to keep the statue on his side.
Jenn's concerns were unnecessary in Locus' opinion. Since he had already received the God of War's blessing, the Temple of Light would definitely not leave him alone.
But he also understood that for a practical person like Jenn, a verbal promise was meaningless.
Just as Locus was about to say something, Jenn waved his hand and stopped him.
"Now isn't the time to talk nonsense. I saw an army of dark elves on the way here. If I'm not wrong, they should be coming for us.
We should leave this place immediately. Otherwise, things will become more troublesome! "
Hearing Jenn's words, Locus suddenly became serious.
They had indeed encountered dark elven warriors. Although they didn't know how many of them there were, the appearance of the dark elves itself was already a warning!
If what Jenn said was true, that there was an army of dark elves behind them, then they must leave this damn place immediately!
Thinking of this, Locus immediately made up his mind and ordered everyone to evacuate the Underdark.
After hearing this order, everyone's spirits were lifted.
They had stayed in the Underdark for so many days, and they were long sick of it.
And in the previous battle, there were also dark elves. Just the name alone was enough to give people goosebumps.
If those terrifying dark creatures really came for them, they didn't want to stay here as cannon fodder.
Therefore, after hearing Locus's order, everyone immediately retreated and ran in the direction of the teleportation portal.
Since General Pander brought almost all the soldiers away, when Locus and the others arrived at the location of the teleportation portal, they didn't see many Valkyrie soldiers.
This also made Locus rather puzzled. Originally, he was prepared to force his way through the teleportation portal, but he didn't expect that the Valkyrie soldiers who were originally stationed here had disappeared.
Could it be that it was really as Jenn said …
Thinking of this, Locus couldn't help but glance at the young man beside him.
In the previous plan, Jenn had indeed vowed to himself that he had a way to lure the Valkyrie army into the city of the gray dwarves and bring a little chaos and attack them.
At that time, Locus was puzzled as to what he was going to do. But now, it seemed that no matter what Jenn did, he had obviously achieved his goal.
Jenn didn't care about Locus' silent doubts. At this moment, he narrowed his eyes and stared at the teleportation portal in front of him.
Unlike the teleportation portal used by mages, the appearance of this teleportation portal was completely luxurious.
It had carved a huge, lifelike door on the originally stiff and smooth stone wall. From afar, the dark stone wall looked like a doorway, and around the doorpost, Jenn could see hundreds of mysterious ancient text symbols that recorded the fluctuations of space. It was obvious that these text were the key to connecting the surface and the underground.
Locus didn't waste any time. Instead, he stretched out his hand and took out a palm-sized round stone slab from his bosom. Then, he placed it in a small hole next to the teleportation portal.
Soon, the teleportation portal began to tremble slightly. Then, the inlaid symbols began to emit a bright and dazzling magical radiance. Along with the flashing of the runes, the dark hole in the center of the portal began to distort. The originally hard stone wall began to soften like the clear water in a pond and began to slowly tremble. Then, it turned into a teleportation portal that emitted a soft light in front of everyone.
"We only have 30 minutes, Mr. Jenn."
After keeping the teleportation key, Locus stared at Jenn and said.
In response to Locus' words, Jenn nodded in response. Then, he glanced at the slightly impatient Elise and revealed a meaningful smile.
Then, Jenn stepped into the teleportation portal.