Chapter 111: The Duckbill Dinosaur Cavalry

Joan found the Dingdor brothers among the ranks of the non-commissioned officers. The only companion beside them was Tom, the dwarf blacksmith clad in armor and wielding a war hammer. Joan approached and joined the three teammates, asking Dick, “Wes and the others haven’t arrived yet?”

“Wes, Gray, and Jamie live in a cabin on the back hill, quite a distance from the rally point. It takes them a bit longer to get here,” Dick explained, occasionally glancing into the distance.

Following his gaze, Joan first saw the neatly arranged chevaux-de-frise at the town’s entrance. These massive defensive structures consisted of long, thick wooden stakes, simple in design yet highly effective. The stakes slanted forward, sharpened to a point, capable of halting enemy cavalry charges.

Surrounding this double-layered chevaux-de-frise was a freshly dug trench. For days, Mayor Dingdor had rallied the entire town’s population to work around the clock. By the time the lizardmen bandits launched their assault, the townsfolk had managed to excavate a trench encircling the settlement—fifteen feet wide on average and six feet deep—lined with dense, sharp wooden stakes that made climbing out nearly impossible once fallen in.

Beyond these temporary fortifications, the walls of Derlin Town had been reinforced. Militia squads armed with powerful crossbows were stationed along the walls, while towering watchtowers flanking the town’s entrance were equipped with massive ballistae. These crossbow bolts were as thick as spears and could fly up to a thousand feet.

Seeing these well-prepared defenses, Joan felt a surge of reassurance. Her gaze drifted farther, piercing through the morning mist to a riverbank about three hundred yards away where a formidable army was encamped—no fewer than a thousand strong by visual estimate.

This formidable force was the Coldblood Tribe’s lizardman legion. Three-quarters of them were foot soldiers wielding long spears and carrying javelins, while over two hundred elite cavalry composed of noble officers and their retinues rode into battle clad entirely in leather armor and armed with long spears. The mounts of these lizardmen were no ordinary warhorses, but rather omnivorous ornithischian dinosaurs native to the swampy regions, locally known as "duckbills."

Across the New World, dinosaurs were a common sight from south to north, their variety so vast that even the most learned scholars could hardly catalog them all. The indigenous peoples had long sought to tame dinosaurs for use as beasts of burden and military mounts. Carnivorous dinosaurs, however, were ferocious and costly to maintain, making them poor candidates for domestication. Only rangers and druids, skilled in handling wild beasts, dared to tame such predators; for example, the Conti family kept "Raptors" as animal companions. In contrast, herbivorous and omnivorous dinosaurs were gentler, easier to tame, and far cheaper to upkeep.

During her residence in the Argon Valley, Joan had witnessed ogres charging into battle astride “bulbous-headed dinos,” their battle presence far surpassing that of horses. The vast swamps inhabited by the lizardmen also sheltered dinosaurs suitable for military use—those “duckbills” she now saw across the field, resembling giant waterfowl equipped with saddles.

The duckbill dinosaurs were strikingly peculiar creatures, unlike the typical image of dinosaurs. They bore duck-like beaks and webbed feet, yes, but were also covered in sleek, glossy gray feathers! Before seeing these creatures firsthand, Joan had no idea such feathered, scale-less dinosaurs existed. The sight was unusual, to say the least.

Despite their odd appearance, these duckbills were formidable. They could run as swiftly as fine horses, their broad, sturdy beaks resembling oversized shovels capable of easily knocking heavily armored knights to the ground. Joan’s only relief was that the duckbills had feathers but no wings—they could not take to the air like true waterfowl. Had they possessed flight, Derlin Town’s defenses would have been rendered utterly useless.

At the center of the lizardman cavalry rode a striking figure. His mount was unlike the rest—a massive, crimson seven-headed hydra-lizard. This beast’s enormous body rivaled a dragon’s, with seven long necks each ending in a fierce reptilian head that exhaled black smoke and spat flames from between jagged teeth.

The Coldblood rider atop the seven-headed fire hydra had dark reddish-black skin. His black-and-white cloak billowed dramatically in the breeze. His fierce visage, jet-black bat wings, and horned forehead reminded Joan of a demon from the abyss. Clutched in his hand was a blood-red trident. Without a doubt, this was Kotar, the newly appointed chieftain of the Coldblood Tribe—known as the “Demon’s Scion,” a high-ranking half-infernal lizardman warrior favored by the Abyssal Lord Sethinac.

Joan narrowed her eyes, studying Kotar intently. Even without detection magic, she could sense the powerful and malevolent magical aura radiating from him. Both his trident and cloak were enchanted items, though the distance was too great to identify their runic inscriptions. Shifting her gaze slightly, Joan noticed another lizardman rider beside Kotar—an elder in shaman robes, also mounted on a swamp duckbill. This was likely Elder Bassong, Kotar’s ally who had helped orchestrate the coup that overthrew the previous chieftain, Mirik.

Joan observed that Elder Bassong held a slender rod about two feet long. It appeared to be carved from some animal bone, ivory-colored, with a sizable sapphire embedded in its head—about the size of a quail’s egg. The gem caught the morning light, casting a dreamy, ethereal glow.

Drawing on her knowledge of magic, Joan surmised that the elder’s rod was likely a “wand.” Wands, staves, and scepters often bore embedded jewels—not mere decoration, but potent enhancers of specific categories of spells. For instance, sapphires were known to amplify summoning magic. Given the large sapphire embedded in Bassong’s wand, Joan had good reason to believe that his wand could cast druidic summoning spells to call forth natural allies such as tigers, leopards, bears, or wolves. The exact level of the summoning spell, however, eluded her.

Kotar and Bassong’s approach toward Derlin Town was aggressive but cautious. They clearly recognized that this human settlement was no longer defenseless; the trenches and chevaux-de-frise were proof the town had prepared for their assault. A frontal attack would inevitably result in heavy casualties.

Kotar, newly crowned and still consolidating his power, was unwilling to risk losing troops so soon. He resolved to conduct a thorough reconnaissance of Derlin Town’s defenses before launching a full-scale assault. At the same time, he intended to send a clear warning to these lowly scaleless creatures who dared oppose the Coldblood horde. He exchanged a knowing glance with Elder Bassong beside him, signaling the beginning of their ominous plan.