Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

  A gnome was a very evil and dangerous creature. It fell under the kind of magic beast that was almost entry-level, and its individual power was not strong. But when it came to its ability to appear threatening and destructive, it easily beat a variety of magic beasts and ranked among the top few.

  The crux of the problem lay in their powerful reproductive capacity, as well as their astonishing adaptability. There seemed to be no place in this world where the gnomes could not thrive and multiply. Even in Ashes Woods that were brimming with negative energy, there would be traces of them to be found so long as those places were slightly closer to the edge of the forests.

  Their ability to reproduce was even scarier. The gnomes could get pregnant all year round, and after pregnancy, they only needed around a month before they were ready to give birth. Every pregnant gnome would give birth to around four to six babies. After the baby gnomes were born, they could eat all kinds of food normally. If their food supply was aplenty, after about three months, the baby gnome could grow to maturity—in other words, this thing could grow and give rise to an actual “generation” within four months after birth, which meant that a year’s time was enough to breed three generations of gnomes. Within the realm of magic beasts, other than the Slime, it was highly unlikely that there would be any other magic beasts that could reproduce faster than them.

  The most shocking thing was that if there was enough food, the”broodmother” would even appear among the gnomes. This was a strange female gnome that was deteriorating in all abilities with the exception of its reproductive capacity. A “broodmother” could reproduce via parthenogenesis. Around 20 days or so, it would be able to give birth to one batch of babies, and in every batch, there would be around ten babies total. Then so long as it was allowed a break of four to five days, it would be able to give birth to the next batch. This was literally comparable to species like the queen of ants. And the baby gnomes birthed by a broodmother were much stronger, grew much faster and were thus, naturally much more dangerous than the ordinary baby gnomes.

  There were studies by scholars that showed that if provided enough food, a pair of gnomes could multiply to more than 200 times in a year. This was indisputable madness. What was more insane was that from the second year onwards, there would be broodmothers emerging among the gnomes, and the rate of reproduction would skyrocket.

  This was the reason why many adventurers felt that the gnomes were simply like weeds; they could never kill enough of them. On the contrary, new adventurers who lacked experience often found themselves besieged by a large group of gnomes and then lose their lives in a most cowardly manner.

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  One very important reason why Baron Dahl chose the tribe of gnomes as his first target for this winter’s clean-up operation was precisely because of their ability to reproduce. If these fellows caught wind of the news and took flight to seek refuge within the mountains, perhaps by the next winter season, Dahl Hill would no longer be facing just one tribe of gnomes but several tribes that came together to form a gnome alliance.

  Of course, the scores could not be counted as such. The gnomes were no powerful magic beasts, and such a thing as “abundant food” was in fact, not very possible for them. And they were passionate about infighting. Once a tribe started to expand by just a slight degree, the tribe would easily fall apart into disunity—thereafter, the gnomes would become food for the other magic beasts.

  So over the years, tribes of gnomes could be found everywhere, but alliances of gnomes were rarely seen. Legends about the existence of a “Khan Gnome,” who was able to integrate the masses into several gnome alliances to eventually give rise to a newfound country and things like that, were just legends after all.

  This was like a rabbit, whose reproductive ability was much stronger than that of the gnomes. But who would be afraid to see herds of rabbits?

  A wave of arrows shooting all over the place drove the tribe of gnomes into a panicked state. The heavily armed soldiers were already shouting all kinds of slogans with weapons in their hands as they charged towards the gnomes.

  Most of them were using long weapons, like long guns and spears, forks and long blades…… anyway, their weapons all had long handles. This category of weapons could effectively maintain a distance between their enemies and them so that they could maximize the advantage of their equipment.

  These professional soldiers were all very strong physically. They wore thick and heavy armor so the weapons of the gnomes could not hurt them easily. On the other hand, they held weapons that were always able to heavily injure the gnomes. As soon as both sides exchanged blows, it did not take long for a handful of gnomes to fall down into a heap as the number of injured gnomes went past 20.

  Not only that, but also, not too far behind these soldiers, the archers were madly shooting arrows that rained upon the gnomes in torrents. These skilled shooters used bows of different lengths. Every three to four arrows released, they would be able to shoot down an enemy. From time to time, there would be a gnome suddenly shot by an arrow. Among them, most would be directly shot in a vital point and fall to the ground right away.

  This was a good opening that gave Baron Dahl great satisfaction. What followed closely was a scene that pleased him even more.

  Under the leadership of the Bishop, 12 clergymen from the Church of the Void Mask had positioned themselves into a square array with an arrowhead. Then they charged their way into the tribe of gnomes.

  The one acting as the arrowhead was naturally that strong and bearlike Sacred Warrior. He brandished the big blade that he held with both hands, and then wielding it as though it was an axe, he struck the gnomes down, one after the other. Even those gnome warriors who were clad in simple leather armor and who were more powerful that the ordinary gnomes, were just like piles of wood before him, without any strength to retaliate at all.

  The other Sacred Warriors that were close behind him might not be as powerful as he was, but their abilities were not inferior either. Brandishing all kinds of weapons, they knocked down the gnomes in succession. Unlike those professional soldiers, they were much more experienced in combat and were much more powerful. The gnomes that were knocked down by them, even if they had not perished on the spot, would have completely lost their ability to fight again.

  Meanwhile, two mid-ranked paladins were shooting arrows from time to time. Their targets were those gnome archers, who were also holding bows and arrows, or those gnome hunters who held onto short spears, prepared to aim at their enemies.

  They were much more skillful in archery as compared to the archers under Baron Dahl, and their bows were even more powerful. Especially with the auxiliary spells cast on their weapons by priests, their arrows were sharper and wielded more strength.

  So every time they loaded the bow and released an arrow, there was bound to be a gnome archer or gnome hunter falling to the ground. Not a single arrow would be in vain.

  Shortly after, this group had charged up to somewhere near to the core area where the gnomes had set up two tents adjacent to one another.

  And this time, the leaders of the gnomes, the tribal chief and Shaman, finally appeared.

  The tribal chief of the gnomes was a big and burly fellow who bore no resemblance to the common gnomes. He was even taller than an average human. He was covered in thick leather, held a huge wooden stick in its hands, and looked exceptionally vicious.

  The moment he jumped out of the tent, he let out a roar of anger. Hearing his roars, the gnomes who were originally in a frenzied state of panic, quickly regained their morale. In a messy crowd, they gathered towards their chief as though they were about to form a battle array.

  As for the Gnome Shaman, he was that old and thin fellow hiding in a corner, looking malnourished. He hung many bones as accessories on his body, but the wand in his hand was especially hair-raising—it was made by connecting a long leg bone to a skull that was likely from a human, and both of these still had remnants of blood stains on them. Exactly what kind of an evil and terrible method was used to connect these two pieces to make such a wand was truly an unknown.

  He did not make any noise and merely stroked his wand in silence as he looked at the crowd in a gloomy manner. But so long as his gaze swept across them, no matter how strong the soldiers were, they could not help but shudder, and their movements in battle also slowed down considerably.

  In the face of these two dangerous enemies, the clergymen had to stop in their tracks for the time being to prepare for another major battle.