Moving closer to the mountain gnoll shaman that was slowly sneaking through the forest while doing its best to avoid being detected by any of the heavenly lake serpents fighting in the battle not too far away, Scaly was just about to make a move and attack the mountain gnoll shaman, when it suddenly came to a stop in the middle of a small opening in the forest. Separated from the battlefield by no more than a dozen or so meters.
Not just that, but after it had come to a stop, the mountain gnoll shaman soon began taking out all kinds of talismans from a small bag that she didn’t notice on it before. Starting to arrange them throughout the opening while muttering something to itself in the process.
However, the main thing that stopped Scaly from making a move against this powerful mountain gnoll shaman when it came to a stop, was that she noticed another mountain gnoll emerge from the forest and join the shaman inside the opening. Doing the exact same thing, as it also took out a bag of talismans before starting to arrange them inside the opening together with the other mountain gnoll...
Rustle~
Not just that, but as time passed, more mountain gnolls appeared-
[Mountain Gnoll, Shaman, lvl 57]
[Mountain Gnoll, War Shaman, lvl 51]
[Mountain Gnoll, Shaman...]
And although none of them were anywhere near the strength of the great shaman, they were all shamans. Making Scaly wonder just what they were up to, as the talismans placed around the opening in the forest slowly took shape into some kind of formation of sorts.
Not that she had any idea about what it was, as she had never encountered something like this before and was left trying to draw from what little remained of her past life memories related to magic.
In the end, because of this, she instinctively understood that the strange magic formation should be the mountain gnolls attempt to launch a sneak attack on the heavenly lake serpents. Even if she had no idea how it worked... And, given her plan to disrupt the mountain gnolls and prevent them from killing the heavenly lake serpents without giving her a chance to get her hands on their hearts, Scaly didn’t hesitate as she began gathering her magic together for an attack.
Soon enough, causing a small ball of water to appear above her head before it started to rapidly increase in size.
Knowing that she probably wouldn’t be able to kill off the shamans who were working together with her current strength, Scaly intended to use her strengthened water ball magic to create a massive ball of water that she would drop on top of the incomplete magic formation. Destroying it and also alerting the heavenly lake serpents not far away about what was happening-
Growl?
Growl!
Of course, the mountain gnoll shamans noticed her doing this almost immediately, but there was nothing they could do, as the water ball had already grown more than five meters wide at this point in time thanks to her increased mana capacity and stronger magic compared to the last time around, she had used this kind of large water ball magic.
Not to mention her control of the simple water ball spell had similarly increased with the increase to her magic...
Whoosh-!
And so, before the mountain gnoll shamans had any time to stop her, Scaly threw the large ball of water down towards strange magic formation from the branch of a nearby tree.
SPLASH-!
Rumble-!
Soon enough causing the talismans and the panicking mountain gnoll shamans below to get soaked the next second before the glue-like effect of the water dragged them and the talismans that they had painstakingly laid out with extreme care, out of the forest and into the battlefield before they had any time to fight back.
Although the water ball didn’t cause any damage to them, it was rather difficult to deal with and only the great shaman mountain gnoll standing in the middle of the opening was strong enough to instantly throw off the binding effect of the water and remain in place, while the rest only managed to do so after they had been dragged out of the forest and into the battlefield.
ROAR!?
Growl...? Growl!
Rooooaaar!
But... Given that the commotion caused by the entire situation was by no means small, it didn’t take long before the heavenly lake serpents and mountain gnolls on the battlefield discovered the mountain gnoll shamans who had been swept out into the battlefield all of a sudden.
Growl...!
Seeing this and hearing the loud exclamations from the heavenly lake serpents as they seemed to figure out that they were outmatched and began retreating almost immediately, the mountain gnoll great shaman let out a terrifying growl filled with killing intent before it focused its attention on the branch that Scaly had been standing on seconds earlier when she had launched the water ball spell.
But... Given that she understood what she was about to do would undoubtedly anger the mountain gnolls to death, she didn’t plan on staying around to see the outcome of what she had done. Having already escaped back into the depths of the forest by the time that the mountain gnoll great shaman turned its attention towards the branch she had been hiding on top of only seconds earlier.
No matter how much stronger she had become after her fourth evolution, she in no way intended to try and face off against the angered mountain gnolls who would be out for blood after their ambush plans had been ruined.
After all, outside of the mountain gnoll great shaman inside the forest, the mountain gnoll lord on the battlefield would most likely also come running after her soon if she didn’t escape from the scene in time and ended up locked in a battle with the mountain gnoll great shaman.
With that in mind, Scaly had long since disappeared by the time the mountain gnoll great shaman looked for her to take out its anger after its plans had been ruined.
GROOOOWL!
Also realizing that the ambush plan was a familiar at this point in time, the terrifying growling sound of the mountain gnoll lord echoed out across the battlefield, as it stopped holding back and began to go all out against its opponent without holding back. Instantly seizing the upper hand in its battle with the powerful heavenly lake serpent.
ROOOAR!
Of course, the massive heavenly lake serpent was by no means weak, as it still managed to keep up with the mountain gnoll lord even after this.
However, it also understood the situation the moment it noticed the mountain gnoll shamans suddenly being swept out of the forest, as it instantly signaled for the rest of the heavenly lake serpents to retreat, while it continued holding back the mountain gnoll lord.
Even knowing this, there was nothing the mountain gnoll lord could do, other than watch the heavenly lake serpents gather together before starting to escape from the battlefield in the same way they had come. Passing through a small valley between two nearby tall mountains.
If things had worked according to the original plan, this path would have been sealed by the great shaman, but now, there was nothing to stop the heavenly lake serpents from making a quick escape.
Growl!
To try and make up for the losses that they had suffered during the battle, the mountain gnoll lord could only call out for the rest of the mountain gnolls to work together to try and bar a few of the weaker heavenly lake serpents from escaping.
At least, with the help of the mountain gnoll great shaman who had just emerged from the forest just now, it shouldn’t be that difficult to at least pick off some of the weaker heavenly lake serpents before they could escape from the battlefield.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
However, as his battle with the massive heavenly lake serpent continued and they slowly moved closer to the path between the two tall mountains, the mountain gnoll lord was shocked and angered, as he discovered that none of the heavenly lake serpents ended up being killed during their escape. Instead, close to half of the shamans ended up dying during their attempts to assist the rest of the mountain gnolls in restraining the weaker heavenly lake serpent.
Of course, the main reason for his anger was the fact that the one behind the death of these shamans was not a powerful heavenly lake serpent, but instead a winged lizard of some kind, who seemed to be intent on taking advantage of the desperate situation. Deliberately targeting the far more fragile shamans before escaping just in time to avoid being surrounded and killed.
Even the great shaman had no way to stop this little winged lizard, as one of the remaining powerful heavenly lake serpents kept it occupied and prevented it from reaching the winged lizard in time.
Obviously, the heavenly lake serpents understood that the winged lizard wasn’t targeting them and instead helped them quite a bit, so they decided to lend a hand, thus resulting in the current devasting situation for the mountain gnolls who had no way to catch the winged lizard or do any real damage to the escaping heavenly lake serpents.
GROOOWL!
In the end, to prevent further losses, the mountain gnoll lord could only reluctantly call out for the rest of the mountain gnolls to retreat. Preventing any further losses, but at the same time also allowing the heavenly lake serpents to escape mostly unscratched from the situation.
The only real victor of the massive battle that had played out between the heavenly lake serpents and the mountain gnolls being a certain winged lizard...