Chapter 34 Ambush

As the saying goes, the key to victory in war depends on six words:

Favorable timing, advantageous terrain, and popular support.

Clearly, the Dark Lord's forces came prepared, having given careful consideration to the battlefield.

At this moment, the ridge where the elves were trapped was a bare, rocky summit, devoid of soil even in the absence of rain. Subjected to the harsh, unyielding gales, not a blade of grass grew. The terrain of the ridge was also extremely treacherous, offering no escape once surrounded.

The Dark Lord's forces evidently held the advantage of terrain.

Conversely, for the elves, skilled at communicating with plants and preferring the cover of forests, their natural advantage was diminished to the extreme.

The seed of the Golden Tree, brought forth by King Elrond of Rivendell, relied entirely on the nutrients and energy stored within itself to rapidly grow, its roots sinking deep into the rock. Like gnarled, entangled hands, the roots casually shattered the stone, pushing their way out, resembling the tenacity of a pine tree growing on a mountaintop.

But the harsh reality was that the planting requirements for this invaluable Golden Tree were exceptionally high, demanding both spiritual energy and nourishment. Elrond's planting here, accelerated by secret methods, would only sustain the Golden Tree for two days before it withered and died.

In the present situation, the Golden Tree and Galadriel's Ring of Water, Nenya, complemented each other. When Nenya needed to recharge, the Golden Tree would step forward to withstand the assault, supporting it for a time. Once the Golden Tree had sustained sufficient damage, Nenya would unfurl its protective shield, enveloping the Golden Tree and rapidly healing its wounds, a mutually beneficial arrangement.

However, this also meant that the elves' doom would arrive as soon as either of these two pillars was broken.

Nenya, one of the three Elven Rings, was wielded by Galadriel, certainly no weakling. For contractors, challenging her would be exceedingly difficult. However, the Golden Tree was not so invulnerable! It had been hastily cultivated, its master Elrond was severely wounded, and its massive size made its greatest weakness obvious: its need to be rooted in the ground!

The Dark Lord's carefully chosen battlefield did not disappoint. Here on the treacherous ridge, the Golden Tree, rooted in this place, could hardly obtain the spiritual energy it needed to grow. More importantly, the ridge was only twenty meters wide, flanked by jagged cliffs. An explosion from below would trigger a violent collapse, even a large-scale landslide.

Of course, such a landslide would be a catastrophe for ordinary people, but for the High Elves and Ringwraiths, such power was a minor inconvenience. However, the foundation of the Golden Tree, which they relied on as a bulwark, would crumble in such a collapse. The spectacle of the Golden Tree tumbling through the mudslide would naturally sever the support the elves currently relied on!

Below the battlefield ridge lay a deep valley, where torrential rain fell ceaselessly, gathering into a torrent. The water flow at the bottom of the valley was already strong, and a rumbling sound, like muffled thunder, could be heard, indicating that a flash flood was imminent.

Three people stood here. One wore a miner's helmet with an integrated headlamp, another carried a huge satchel, and the last was broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, wearing a flesh-colored elastic vest, his muscles clearly defined. He resembled a strange combination of a miner, a backpacker, and a fitness instructor.

To be more precise, these three men did not seem to belong in the world of Lord of the Rings, but rather a small group of backpackers who, in order to save time after work, had come out to play still wearing their work clothes.

The miner raised his head, looking at the protruding rocks overhead. One could even see clearly that a thick root of the Golden Tree had effortlessly pierced through the rock, and then continued to sink deeply into the stone. The hard rock, combined with the Golden Tree's gnarled and tenacious roots, created an indescribable beauty of resilient life.

The miner approached the rock in front of him, poked it with his finger, and then stuck out his tongue to lick it.

"Hmm, Venus, dig a parallel, deep hole here, at least fifty-one centimeters deep. Then tell the warehouse to bring out eleven point three pounds of explosives and stuff them in. Remember, not too much! These explosives are hard-won, carefully prepared by me. Otherwise, I'll add to your labor costs."

The one called "Warehouse" was the man with the big bag, and Venus was naturally the bodybuilder. It seemed that the miner was a demolition expert, and under his guidance, the explosives were quickly placed.

The miner stepped forward, gently tapping the rock with his fingers, then listening carefully for a while, and finally nodded in satisfaction:

"Very good, Venus. Although your excess energy made you dig ten centimeters too deep, it will make the explosion even better. The next thing is up to me. Set up a delayed detonator and wait for the fireworks, the landslide, and the mudslide. This damn weather, it seems I have to get this done in ten minutes, otherwise I'll have to wait to be swallowed by the flood."

Then, the miner took out a device from his pocket, which looked like the delayed detonator, and was about to walk over.

But at this moment, he suddenly felt as if his feet were glued to the ground. It seemed difficult to lift his feet, and it wasn't the feeling of stepping into mud and having his shoes sucked in. Instead, it felt as if he was being pulled by something.

He lowered his head, and a chilling sensation immediately ran through his body! Because the miner could clearly see that several gray-brown, menacing roots had suddenly appeared on the ground, grabbing his shoes tightly!

Immediately afterward, Venus flew past the miner in a strange posture with his hands protecting his head. His speed was faster than the miner could turn his head. Next, he crashed heavily into the rock wall behind!

He vomited a few mouthfuls of blood after landing, and his face immediately turned pale. One could see that faint green light remained on Venus's chest. The light was like heated oil, still making a sizzling sound on Venus's chest!

As soon as Venus landed, he immediately raised his fists and slammed them together. The gloves he was wearing suddenly burst open, revealing a pair of iron fists with a metallic sheen! When the two fists collided, countless electric currents surged out and spread throughout his body!

But at this moment, another flash of green light appeared in the distance. An elven mage was waving his staff, and a large number of illusory magic patterns appeared in the air at the front of the staff. Then, a scorching green light dragged out a long trail, traversing the sky and shooting towards Venus again!

Elven magic: Wrath of Nature!

On the right shoulder of Venus, a dazzling wolf's head-shaped light suddenly appeared. Obviously, he was also a contractor, and his iron fists were already surrounded by lightning. His charge had a tragic momentum of pressing forward with indomitable will and establishing oneself after destruction!

He punched the Wrath of Nature, smashing the ball of light to pieces!

Although Venus suffered minor injuries again as a result, he was like an iron man, unaffected by negative effects such as being knocked back. Instead, he pounced on the elven mage as if nothing had happened.

This was Venus's ability: Overlord Armor.

Normally, humans will make certain stress reactions to external attacks. For example, if the stomach is hit, the human body will instinctively curl up. Or if someone punches you hard on the bridge of your nose, then tears, snot, and blood will flow happily.

But Venus's ability, although it cannot eliminate damage, can eliminate these instinctive reactions of the human body. After he upgraded this ability to a high level, he can weaken the enemy's damage and become immune to positive effects such as being knocked back.

At this time, Venus's fists were flashing with sparks, pouncing on the elven mage. In the torrential rain, the sparks even tore out a long trail, making a harsh "tearing" sound. Obviously, once he got close, the elven mage would be in a very embarrassing situation.

But at this moment, a sun-shaped, dark gold shield appeared in front of him! Venus roared angrily and slammed his fist hard on the shield. Electric snakes ran wild, but the man in front of him showed no sign of retreating!

Reef appears!

At this time, the man with the huge travel bag had changed his expression drastically. He took a step back first. The zipper on the side of his travel bag automatically slid open, and a metal ball about the size of a soccer ball fell out of it. Then, the metal ball quickly unfolded, folded, deformed, and plunged into the ground, instantly turning into an automatic fire control system that appeared in the Avatar world. The dark muzzle spewed out dazzling flames in an instant.

When the Warehouse retreated the second step, three spider mines slipped out of his travel bag again and were buried underground!

When the Warehouse retreated the third step... he was slammed into a dizzy state by a figure that pounced on him. This figure braved the torrential rain of bullets, fearlessly stepped on the spider mines, and raised a long sword shimmering with deep blue light at the Warehouse!

Fang Senyan had made his move!