The Splitclaw Clan's territory is mostly distributed in the Dark Mountains' psionic convergence points, which in the terminology of the Silver Dwarves are the leyline locations, which is closely related to their characteristics of having more spellcasters, but it also causes the Splitclaw Clan's territory to be more scattered, not as contiguous as the Whiptail Clan, nor as large of the wilderness as the Broken Fang Clan.

However, as one of the five major clans, the Splittal Clan also has a fixed primary territory.

It was an area between the Eternal Rift and the Grey Desert, forming a triangle with the Goatmen's Abyssal City of Vidia and the Mirror Lake, the largest source of water in the Dark Mountains, dividing up the most psionic plains in the Dark Mountains.

You can't expect the gnolls to give their territory a loud name, in fact, it is very casually called the "Splitting Claw Plains" by the Jackals, but the goatmen have given it the good name "The Land of Ashes", because the plains were formed by geological changes caused by a violent volcanic eruption thousands of years ago.

According to the Goatmen, the area was covered in heavy ash for nearly a hundred years, which made the Ash Lands a rare and fertile area of the Dark Mountains, and the Splittals were the only Clan of the Gnolls to produce large-scale agriculture.

But instead of producing food, they are planting all kinds of alchemy and voodoo materials on their territory, and in short, they are developing a "new type of agriculture".

The distance between the Land of Ashes and the Black Flame Pass is as far as the entire Translancia from south to north, so it stands to reason that the waves of this Black Plague will not affect here, but if nothing else, the accident that belongs here is coming.

On the night of the thirteenth day of the fall of the Black Flame Pass, near a Claw-splitting fortress in the Asheslands.

After a busy day, the Gnoll laborers are transporting materials harvested from the potions fields back to the stronghold, where a dedicated herbalist will process the herbs, some of which will be used by the spellcasters of the Splittal Clan, the rest will be sold to other clans for more food, and the last part will be given to nearby Goatman cities in exchange for some handicrafts that are in high demand in the Dark Mountains.

Most of the females who worked in the potion fields near the fortress were female gnolls, with their cubs playing, and the males of the tribe had been drafted to the front, and according to the most optimistic estimates, their husbands or children should have followed the mighty Chief Potana into the place called "Transnesia".

Of course, the gnolls are an indifferent race, and it is difficult to hear from the mouths of these females that they miss their relatives, but some fierce female jackals discuss the completion of the work, and take advantage of the darkness to go around the territory of the goatmen, and may be able to intercept a few unlucky goat-man traders.

The goats sell very good, but they're just too expensive.

For the jackals, they always have a way to get what they want without spending money, not to mention, the meat quality of the goat people is honestly quite elastic.

Some old gnolls were dissuading these young and impulsive reckless people, not to guide the young people to goodness, nor to go out to raid the goatmen, mainly because the men were not at home now, and if they annoyed the goatmen and provoked retaliation, the brutes in the fortress could not deal with them.

So it's better to be stable, and if you really want to rob, you have to pick a good time.

In the past, such reassurance from the elderly would always lead to ridicule and quarrel among the young people, and perhaps lead to a thrilling battle between the females, but today it is different.

A little gnoll who was following his mother and learning to cut the potion stalks with a stone scythe to collect the strange pungent liquid suddenly sneezed, and the furry little creature looked up and his eyes widened.

It stupidly stayed where it was, only to react when it was slapped by its tail by its impatient mother for being lazy.

"Look! The sky is cracking! ”

The little gnoll shouted at the evening sky, attracting the attention of the many gnolls working in the potions fields.

They looked up and noticed the strange changes in the sky.

Black cracks quietly appeared in the evening sky, as if a powerful gnoll had smashed the edge of the sky with a war hammer, spreading through the air like black cobwebs, and blowing down from the sky with a strange wind.

The superstitious gnoll people were quickly frightened.

The more timid female gnolls almost immediately grabbed the noisy cubs beside them and ran back towards their dens.

But more stupid and bold gnolls were still pointing at the sky vision in place, until a dozen seconds of energy had brewed.

"Boom"

In the terrifying loud noise, the cracked sky suddenly "cracked", and then a huge amount of filthy spiritual energy rolled down, like a book of black water with a strange starlight splashing down from the sky, swallowing most of the potion field that had grown quite well with a single look.

It was only then that the female jackals realized that something was wrong, screaming and picking up their cubs but not knowing where to charge, and the strongest clan fortress in their perception was engulfed in the roaring filthy psionic energy before their eyes.

They couldn't understand why this terrible thing was happening at this time, in this safe rear.

But the mighty Chief Potana could no longer intervene to save them at this time, so they could only hold the weeping cub in their arms, and bow their heads and huddle in a ball to meet the filth that rolled like black quicksand from behind.

In less than ten minutes, the fortress and the thousands of hectares of potions fields around it were swallowed up in one go.

A pretty standard raid behind enemy lines.

However, the scale and duration of the Astral Tear were much weaker than they should be, and it was more like an accident of Astral Tear than the actual weaponized Astral Rip technique.

Over the past thousand years, such accidents have been recorded in places where the borders of the various planes of the continent are unstable.

However, this place was specifically chosen for the astral tear, not because the goatman spellcasters who were carrying out this raid were a bunch of dead perverts who could only bully the old and weak, women and children, in fact, this target was also carefully chosen.

"Called the 'howling root' by the gnolls, or 'ghost-faced flower', the plant is ripe and cuts the stalks to produce a viscous pungent liquid that can be used by many gnoll warlocks or goatmen spellers as a pastime and entertainment tool.

A few years ago, Abyss City noticed that the Split-Claw Gnolls had begun to grow Ghost Face Flowers on a large scale, and their output far exceeded the original consumption of LSD, and we didn't understand what the Gnolls were doing with so many Ghost Face Flowers, but now we know it.

This thing is the main auxiliary material used to prepare the psionic plague. ”

At the edge of the clan's territory, engulfed by the astral rift, a gray-robed goatman spellcaster was holding the branch of a plant that had just been harvested by the gnolls, and explained to the haggard goatman astrology Pol:

"That elven ranger named Dames Golden Leaf confirmed in his reconnaissance three days ago that this potions field must be destroyed! He was still looking for more materials that could be used to craft the Plague, though he said that the Plague needed a base material called the Life-Eater Mushroom, and he had not yet discovered where it came from. ”

"I don't care about that! Gray-robed Warlock Dennis, are you explaining to me the justification of destroying the female gnolls and their cubs? No! I don't need these boring reasons to convince myself, actually, I'm having fun.

Unlike you, I still retain the qualities of kindness and kindness, which are so precious and equally stupid to goatmen, and I only know that I have three astral rifts left to fulfill my promise to Governor Murphy in exchange for my new stargazing tower in the filthy swamp!

My astrological observation of the Great Constellation of the Winter Wolf has been delayed for almost half a month, and I have missed a lot of the mysteries listed by the stars, and I don't want to give up the career that I have been holding on to for more than ten years.

Yes!

We only have two days left, but we still have three valuable astral ripping spells to perform, so you'd better put away your unnecessary sympathy for me.

These claw-splitting gnolls are now our enemies!

Treat the enemy only as cold as the winter wind, otherwise it will be a betrayal of one's own people. ”

The bearded goat-man astrologer Pol sternly reprimanded his soft-hearted apprentice, and then he glanced with some regret at the filthy psionic energy that was still rolling on the ground in the distance.

The black tides of energy mixed with strange points of light filled its cross-shaped pupils with fascination, and even though it was the twelfth astral tear it had personally caused in the past thirteen days, the apparently tyrannical goatman sorcerer was not satisfied.

It is full of regret and says:

"It's too far away from the Black Flame Mountain Pass, and the wonderful astral rift there can't affect it more here, and the degree of damage to the nearby plane boundary is not great, and the power of the astral tear is greatly limited.

Can't go any further!

Otherwise, we may not even be able to activate the complete technique, but fortunately, this time the tactical goal has finally been accomplished.

Let's get back to that.

On the way back to the Dark Mountains, pick three more worthy targets to complete the final attack, well, this feeling of personally manipulating the power of the astral realm makes me want to stop, the astral tearing grand technique should inherently be listed as a forbidden spell of war in the astral sorcerer sequence!

Yes!

We astronomers finally have our own forbidden spell sequence, and relying on our subtle observation of the astral plane, we can always further amplify the power of the astral torn apart.

It's a wonderful feeling to have the power of the stars, and Transcia is truly a blessed place for us. ”

Pol sighed.

Before it left the Black Flame Pass on Murphy's mission, it learned the complete and improved Astral Ripping Technique from Grand Duke Tracey.

Probably because the astral sorcerer is naturally gifted in this area, allowing it to pick up quickly after one or two attempts. If this thing also has a skill title, then Astral Sorcerer Pol is definitely already a strong contender for the championship of the "Astral Tearing Skill Competition".

This guy wasn't satisfied with unleashing the Astral Tear step by step, it even played this thing up in a new way.

In retaliatory actions the day before yesterday and yesterday, Pol succeeded in improving this small astral rifting technique, extending the duration of the astral rift, which would have been closed in half an hour at most, to about six hours.

This means that the astral tear released by it will not only have an instantaneous impact of filthy psionic energy and astral rewinding, but also can tear the living minds in the bombarded area to the greatest extent because of the extended duration, basically ensuring that there will be no more living people with normal minds in the bombardment area, and they will no longer be habitable for several years.

Such an act would be perverted, of course, but given that it was the time of war and that the goats had taken their refuge in Translasia, there was no doubt that the sabotage they were ordered to carry out would further advance the victory.

The goats don't have that much pride.

These creatures of natural darkness enjoyed such destruction, but even for such a dark little pervert, twelve small astral tears in thirteen days was still overloading, so after this series of operations, Pol and his apprentices had to return to Transnicia to get some rest.

Just as they had collected enough samples of the gnolls' potions and were about to find a place to rest, a Luna vulture tore through the clouds and fell from the sky, circled a few times, and landed accurately in front of the goats.

A female elven ranger riding on a vulture brought Captain Dams' order, and she said to the goats in a cold voice:

"Lord Dames has discovered the underground mushroom farm hidden by the Split-Claw Gnoll thirteen kilometers to the northwest, where the life-eating mushrooms used to make the evil plague are grown.

The captain orders you to get out there at once and cooperate with us in cleaning up those damn mushrooms. ”

"But it's hard to use Astral Rip in that terrain."

Pol the Astral retorted:

"You're wasting our time, there's only two days left before the deadline set by Governor Murphy, with all due respect, elf chick, you should let your captain find more worthy targets, preferably ground buildings."

"There's a heavily guarded Gnoll fortress above that cave!"

The elf, apparently disliking the evil goatman, exclaimed:

"The Captain needs you to launch the Astral Rip there to prepare for our burning operation underground, and you may need to perform two Astral Rips in a row to destroy that large fortress.

Also, the location of that fortress is not far from your Abyss City, so the captain asked me to tell you that if you can find reinforcements to help, he won't take any of the spoils of this battle. ”

"Yo, I'll just say, how could the proud elves take the initiative to invite our evil goatmen to help, they are waiting for us here."

Astral Sorcerer Boll sneered in a strange way:

"But just as you misunderstood us goatmen and thought we were all incorrigible bastards, let me tell you, elf chick, that you were very accurate about us.

The goats of Abyss City are a bunch of cowards, and the spoils of a fortress can not be said to help them, and our great Lord of Palbernatus is even more heroic among the cowards, he is more afraid of the Splitting Claw Clan than the big water monsters in the Mirror Lake, don't expect them to take the initiative to help because of the Black Plague.

I'm thankful that they didn't come and make trouble.

Go back and tell your Captain Dames that we need three hours to prepare for the Astral Rip, and you can launch an assault on the underground caverns at that point.

But beware of what's underground."

Pol's voice became hoarse, and he said:

"The gnolls have apparently found an 'ally', and the underground was once a kobold's paradise, but now it has become an even more dangerous kingdom for the nezumen. If those mushrooms are as important as you say, maybe it's not just the gnolls who are guarding them. ”

The female elf was stunned for a moment.

But then she realized that the Goat-Man Astrologer's reminder was correct, and with the Nezumi Underground and the terrifying numerical superiority, if they really set a trap in such an underground area, they would be dead if they dared to step into it.

The Elven Ranger immediately rose into the air and galloped towards Captain Dams's location.

Pol watched her leave, then turned back to the apprentices behind him:

"Elves, arrogant fellows, remember their faces! Don't be fooled by that pretty ascetic face, these pointy ears are the most dangerous, vicious, and ruthless race in the world. Just look at the shadow elves and know that they are evil by nature, but the other elves are better at covering them up.

Okay, let's go.

Take a break on the way.

When we get to the place, we're going to get busy. ”

A few minutes later, Captain Dames, who had been debriefed by the Ranger, realized that he hadn't taken the nezumi factor into account, but it was too late to retreat.

And he couldn't allow the gnolls to keep these life-devouring mushrooms and make more dangerous plague toxins, he was sure that there was more to the Dark Mountains than this mushroom farm, but since they had encountered it, they couldn't ignore it.

"It's not far from the gray desert."

Daems took out the map of the dark mountains drawn by the elves and looked at it, and after hesitating for a moment, he turned back to the elven ranger who had just reported the situation and said:

"Take the Ranger Legion's banner and take a trip to the Sin Fortress to find the Sin Dwarves there to help. Remember, don't go into their city, just explain the situation to them on the periphery. The dwarves of that city are sinners of all dwarven clans, and they have great malice towards all creatures of order.

But in the last Black Plague, they fought alongside us.

I still have some friendship with Colonel Fenris Brutebox, so remember to look for him by name, and don't have too much contact with other sin dwarves.

This is important.

They're all slave owners, and forest elves like us are the best 'goods' in their eyes, hell, but they're the only friends we can make in this land of gnolls. ”

(End of chapter)