“But if I don’t make a move now and wait until they suffer mass casualties, wouldn’t it appear a little deliberate on my part?” Melgor said, “After all, I participated in the battle yesterday, and I did seem stronger than them. If I suddenly stood by and did nothing today, Qian Weining will guess our intentions.”
Ren Xiaosu was stunned. Then he quickly praised, “You’re even actively trying to perfect the plan, Mel?! On top of that, I’m really surprised you thought of that!”
Melgor felt a little annoyed. Why didn’t it sound like he was being praised?
“How about this? You can cast a few fireballs in their presence.” Ren Xiaosu said, “Just act like you’re attacking the enemy with your Lesser Fireball for the time being.”
Melgor said, “Uh, should I slow down my casting frequency? That’ll give Qian Weining and his men some added pressure.”
Ren Xiaosu looked at Melgor strangely. “No, don’t worry. Your Lesser Fireball can’t kill anyone.”
Melgor struggled and said, “Although I haven’t practiced Lesser Fireball that many times, it should still be quite lethal….”
Ren Xiaosu smiled at Melgor. “Melgor, wake up.”
Melgor was speechless.
The enemy that came this time was more conceited than the previous ones. They brazenly arrived at the camp on horseback without any intention of hiding their tracks.
“Quick, douse all the campfires!” Qian Weining roared.
This time, they were fully prepared. A group of guards rushed over to the campfires and extinguished the flames with sand they had prepped beforehand. This way, everyone would be fighting in the dark and the trade caravan would not be on the back foot so easily.
Qian Weining and his men had already set up defenses inside the perimeter. However, the knights who were charging from outside did not try to force their way in. Instead, they used their cavalry mobility to quickly circle around the perimeter of the camp, taking potshots at the wagon fort whenever there was an opportunity. Each time they did, one of Qian Weining’s guards would get hit and drop to the ground.
Qian Weining and his men returned fire with arrows. However, they were not exactly archers by trade. Second, it was very difficult for them to hit an enemy moving at high speed.
As a result, Qian Weining’s side suffered quite a lot of casualties, while the enemy remained unscathed after a lengthy engagement.
Qian Weining’s trusted aide shouted to him, “Sir, hurry up and do something!”
Qian Weining took a deep breath before drawing his bow and loosing an arrow. The arrow shot out like a bolt of lightning and flew into the empty darkness.
Qian Weining said to his trusted aide, “The enemies who came this time are probably true elites of the Knights of Tudor. Furthermore, they have a very smart commander.”
He was implying that the enemy was very strong. If he did not manage to hit them, it was more of their fault than his!
His trusted aide said anxiously, “Then what should we do?”
Qian Weining told his trusted aide, “These people must have other plans. Right now, they’re just wearing down our patience. Everyone, ready yourselves. These people will eventually run out of arrows!”
Over the days, their carriages had been riddled with arrow holes, and some were even split apart. If it weren’t for the fact that their horses were kept within the wagon fort, most of them would have died.
Outside of the wagon fort, the galloping of horses reverberated like war drums, piling on to the frustration of everyone inside the campsite.
Just as Qian Weining was worrying about how to handle the situation, he suddenly heard Melgor shout, “Fire!”
Qian Weining’s eyes lit up. “Melgor has made his move! Quick, prepare for battle. Once Melgor disrupts the enemy’s formation, Yao Bo, lead your men and charge out. If you can’t kill the knights, kill their horses!”
Yao Bo perked up. “Yes, sir!”
They had Melgor’s Lesser Fireball to thank for emerging out of the battle yesterday, and everyone saw for themselves how powerful the spell was. As long as Melgor was willing to participate in battle, no amount of enemies that attacked would cause a problem for the trade caravan.
With the campfires extinguished and the sky dark, Qian Weining and his men could not clearly see what was going on at Melgor’s side.
They could only see some fireballs flying out into the darkness, followed by the occasional sound of enemies crying out in pain beyond the defensive perimeter.
But as time passed, Qian Weining realized the enemy numbers were not dropping as he listened to the sound of the galloping horses.
Qian Weining was puzzled. As an experienced soldier, he could roughly tell from the sound of the cavalry’s hooves the size of their numbers.
There were probably about 120 enemies when they first got here. However, their numbers did not decrease even after Melgor attacked them with his fireballs for a long time.
‘What’s this? Are you a griefer?’1
But Qian Weining felt that something else was off. He could clearly hear screams coming from outside the wagon fort. Based on the power of the Lesser Fireball spells yesterday, those who got hit by it would either die or get seriously injured. So how was it that their numbers did not go down?
Qian Weining fell into confusion.
But unbeknownst to him, Melgor was not faking it. His Lesser Fireball really could not kill anyone.
Exclamations came from outside. The enemy soldiers had indeed been hit by the fireballs. At the beginning, those who were hit by the fireballs thought they were definitely going to die. But after their initial scream, they realized they were alright!
They had made a lot of preparations for the entire day today. One of the groups even made a special trip to where the trade caravan was attacked yesterday to inspect the wounds of their dead comrades. Then that young man from the House of Tudor instructed the troops to be careful of the Lesser Fireball spell, which he deemed was very powerful.
But from the look of things, that was not the case at all. Could it be a sham?
As such, both the enemy outside the wagon fort and Qian Weining were confused…
Gradually, Qian Weining’s side started suffering more and more casualties. Ren Xiaosu, who had been resting, suddenly opened his eyes. “It’s about time. Cast an incantation in the southwest direction!”
Melgor decisively did as he was told. But when he was about to start chanting, Ren Xiaosu suddenly pulled him back. “That’s the fucking wrong direction! You’re facing the northeast over there. Why didn’t I realize your sense of direction was so bad?!”
“I do know my directions. I just got a little nervous….”
With that, Ren Xiaosu spun Melgor around, leaving him a little dizzy.
“Incantation! Now!” Ren Xiaosu shouted in a suppressed voice.
“Oh.” Melgor shouted towards the southwest, “Bleh… hah!”
Qian Weining and his men at the campsite were confused. Was that a spell incantation? Although they had interacted with sorcerers before, it didn’t sound like Melgor was reciting an incantation.
Three seconds later, a loud explosion reverberated through the darkness in the distance, and the horses of the trade caravan and the enemy started neighing in panic.
Qian Weining and his men nearly jumped in fright at the loud sound.
The horses that were lying down on the ground attempted to stand up, but Qian Weining and his men ran over to hold their reins.
The explosion was terrifyingly loud. You could feel its destructive power just by listening to the sound!
Qian Weining was in shock as he tried to rein in a horse. “What the fuck was that spell? Who told me that Melgor is just a fringe sorcerer? Can a fucking fringe sorcerer do that?!”
Qian Weining’s trusted aide wondered aloud, “Why does Lord Melgor also seem like he’s shocked?”
