Translator: alyschu
We galloped for five kilometers. Battle cries were breaking out from the forest directly ahead of us, and flashes of skills constantly peeked from the gaps in the foliage. Cavalrymen were slamming into one another, mages were going on a rampage, and even archers were displaying a surprisingly solid ability to kill. When I parted the thick leaves blocking my sight, I was greeted by a most stunning sight.
On one side of the clearing, Bloodthirsty Demon was charging Cyan Beast’s formation with tens of thousands of cavalrymen. On the other, Breeze and Rain was doing the same thing with almost one hundred elite Beast King Cavalry. At the back of both forces, archers and mages were providing their frontliners with firepower, and priests were casting healing spells like the rain.
Number-wise, Bloodlust wasn’t too behind Cyan Beast. Bloodthirsty Demon had brought everyone in his guild on a do-or-die gamble, and Breeze and Rain had brought 100000+ Beast King Cavalrymen and 100000+ ranged and support classes as well. All in all, their total numbers were very similar.
However, Bloodlust’s individual combat ability was far weaker than Cyan Beast’s. In just a couple of charges, many of their frontliners had died atop their own pools of blood.
Face looking as red as a tomato, Bloodthirsty Demon roared on top of his lungs, “Breach their defense line! We must breach their defense line!”
Breeze and Rain chuckled. “It’s fine. Let the meat come to the meat grinder!”
God of War appeared from behind his troops. He stood at the center of a group of shielders and smiled a kind of confident smile that suggested that Bloodlust was nothing to him. It was the truth. This battle was a cat toying with the mouse from the start.
……
“So that’s God of War? OMG…” Hickey commented from beside me as she observed the man from super far away. We were crouching, but we weren’t particularly worried that God of War would notice us. Without a skill like Dark Pupils, there was no chance he could see our dots on the map.
“Mn. He’s a great fighter with even greater equipment. His individual strength is even greater than Breeze and Rain’s…” I commented with a nod.
Hickey stuck out her tongue in shock. “Breeze and Rain is already plenty powerful. Just how strong is this God of War exactly?”
I gave an example. “He can probably kill Bloodthirsty Demon in three exchanges.”
“H… how is that even possible?” Hickey’s mouth fell open in clear disbelief.
I gave the Purple Ying Sword a small wave. “It’s nothing to be surprised about. I can pull off the same feat if I had tried to go all out against Bloodthirsty Demon earlier. I just don’t want to because Iron Skull Wilderness already does not have the players to throw back the Indians. Also, if I had killed Bloodthirsty Demon earlier, Bloodlust would have surely fought us to the death. We would’ve been in dire straits before the Indians even lifted a finger…”
Hickey giggled. “Yes, you are right. So, when are we acting?”
I activated Dark Pupils and paid attention to everything that was moving on the map. “Not yet. The opportunity still hasn’t arrived yet. Tell everyone to keep themselves concealed as much as they are able.”
“Okay.”
……
A short while later, I spotted some unnatural movement on the map. A group of players was moving away from Cyan Beast’s main army and moving to flank Bloodlust from the dense forest to the side.
“Fuck!”
I hurriedly ascended to the clouds and observed the detachment from above. As I thought, I saw around 20k Lightning Archers running along the forest line. Obviously, Breeze and Rain had borrowed them from Flames of War for his invasion. His tactic became perfectly clear to me at that moment. Breeze and Rain was planning to have the Lightning Archers ambush Bloodlust’s main formation from behind. If they were allowed to succeed, the Beast King Cavalry would run over Bloodlust like a lawnmower.
I descended back to the ground and said in a low voice, “It’s time!”
Seeing that Hickey was looking at me with a confused expression, I shared my POV with her and explained, “You see these red dots? They’re the ace unit of Flames of War called Lightning Archers. They can fire Lightning Arrows that have an extremely high chance of paralyzing the enemy. If they are allowed to ambush Bloodlust, the latter will crumble in ten minutes tops. Therefore, we are going to help Bloodlust and intercept the Lightning Archers halfway. We will move in parallel to their units and extend the battle line to several kilometers long so we can hit them all at once. We’re faster than they are and we know where they are, so we can definitely pull off this surprise attack successfully!”
Hickey nodded. “Got it. Leave the army arrangements to me!”
“Mn. When the timing is right, I will swoop down and distract them. The rest will be up to you and Warscar. Make sure you succeed the first time, okay?”
“Hee hee, don’t worry!”
……
I returned to the sky and paid close attention to everything on the battlefield. Using the dense forest as cover, the Zephyr Cavalry galloped away unnoticed by the enemy until they were about 3 kilometers away from the battlefield. Then, they circled back, moved in parallel with the Lightning Archers, and slowly approached them like some sort of caterpillar track.
Beep!
Hickey sent me a call request that I accepted. “Boss, we’ll be launching our assault exactly 120 seconds from now.”
I nodded. “Got it!”
I turned on the timer and spurred the Ancient Divine Dragon to the sky again. When there were only 15 seconds left on the clock, I abruptly pulled my mount’s hair and barked, “Now! Get them!”
My little dragon let out a mighty roar and charged toward the Lightning Archers. I immediately cast Summon the Storm and showered a group of surprised archers in fatal ice and lightning. Another Coiling Dragon Revolution and Thousand Ice Slash later, I landed in the middle of the Lightning Archers without fear.
……
The detachment panicked at the side of me. A high-level commander barked angrily, “The devil’s here! Stun him to death with Lightning Arrows now!”
“Haha, come at me!”
I pressed my hand to the ground, and 1000 gold departed my pockets in an instant. The ground trembled, and Rise of the Guardian Dragon exploded from beneath the archers. Blood-curdling screams filled the air as several hundred enemies were one-shot again.
Of course, it wasn’t like the enemies were doing nothing while I was ravaging them. I only enjoyed a few seconds of freedom before my vision darkened, and I found myself immobilized. The Lightning Arrow’s stun chance was seriously insane.
I smiled despite my rapidly declining HP, however. It was because I could already feel the tremor on the ground. A long line of orange dots were riding my way like a hurricane, and the only cavalry with this kind of movement speed besides the Dragonlight Cavalry was the Zephyr Cavalry!
As the leaders of the charge, Hickey and Warscar emerged from behind the forest line first and tore right through the Lightning Archers. Behind them, a long line of Zephyr Cavalrymen did the same thing and shredded the enemy’s battle line in many places.
“Focus fire!” an archer shouted.
The Lightning Archers who weren’t hit yet retaliated with powerful Lightning Arrows that killed many Zephyr Cavalrymen, but we were mowing them down faster than the other way around. In just a moment, blood and gore colored the ground until it looked like the reddest sea in the world. The enemy commander had made the critical mistake of exposing his units for speed. Had he taken the slower but safer approach of navigating through the forest, the cavalry charge wouldn’t have been enough to decide the battle.
……
More than half of the 20k-strong Lightning Archer Legion had been killed in less than ten minutes. Berserk gave the Zephyr Cavalry tremendous penetration and destructive power, so there was no chance the archers could have withstood them. At the end of the short skirmish, almost 20000 bodies were left behind on the forest clearing. Only 2000+ Lightning Archers had managed to escape into the forest.
“Chase them! Kill them all!” Warscar shouted. This was probably the most exhilarating battle he had ever been in since he joined the game. His viking heritage was on full display at that moment.
Swhoosh!
However, I descended right in front of Warscar and the Zephyr Cavalry before raising my sword, shouting, “The battle’s over! We will withdraw five kilometers to the north right now!”
“But guild leader…” Warscar stared at the escaping Lightning Archers reluctantly.
Hickey immediately scolded him, “Do you want to die, Warscar? Obey the guild leader’s order!”
That broke him out of his stupor and caused him to nod rapidly. “Right, right. Do as the guild leader says! Withdraw!”
Already, a group of Beast King Cavalrymen had appeared from the distance. Obviously, Breeze and Rain had learned of the disaster and dispatched them to stop us. I bet he was hopping mad right now.
Unfortunately for the enemy, the Zephyr Cavalry was too fast. It only took a moment for the Beast King Cavalry to lose track of them.
……
After we passed through a forest and stopped at a different clearing, Warscar complained to me, “Why did you order a retreat, boss? Had we charged into the forest and killed the last couple thousand archers, Cyan Beast would’ve lost their strongest ranged party…”
I rolled my eyes at him before replying, “2000+ Lightning Archers aren’t enough to threaten a real army, and didn’t you see the Beast King Cavalry who were chasing us? Had we done as you said, they would’ve cut off our retreat and surrounded us. Do you think we can battle Breeze and Rain’s 100000+ Beast King Cavalry and escape unscathed? Would you like to bear that responsibility?”
Warscar said sheepishly, “Er, fine. I…”
Beside him, a corps commander, War Dead, said with a chuckle, “Brother, let’s just do as the guild leader says, okay? It is a fact that his tactics are clean, decisive and extremely effective.”
Warscar nodded in agreement. “You’re right.”
……
Smiling, Hickey asked me, “So, we’ve taken out 20000 Lightning Archers and lost less than one thousand men. I bet Breeze and Rain is about to explode. What do we do now, Lu Chen?”
I thought for a moment before saying, “Let’s have 10000 archers enter this forest and find a good ambush location. I’m one hundred percent sure the Beast King Cavalry will come after us. By now, Breeze and Rain should’ve figured out that their greatest threat in this canyon isn’t Bloodlust, but us. We are the only ones who can land the fatal blow to their troops.”
“Got it.”
……
It was at this moment Warscar pointed to the east. “Boss, look! Those… look like Bloodlust players. Have their forces begun routing already?”
I looked at the direction he was pointing. Just as he said, I saw a couple hundred Bloodlust players in tattered clothing running away from the battlefield. They definitely looked like they had been routed for sure.
Not long after, our suspicions were confirmed when we saw at least a thousand Beast King Cavalry chasing them from behind.
