Bab 32: On the Verge
Editor: Atlas Studios
As soon as Liu Dali, Qin Yidao, Sun Goudan, and 10 other captain bowmen witnessed Zhang Yang rushing out, they jumped out of the small fort without hesitation and ran into Wu Yuan and the rest, who were retreating.
"Cut the cr*p. Wang Mumu, Duan Kuan, and Zhou Datou follow me. The rest of you guard the fort. Don't rush out even if I die!" Zhang Yang casually shouted.
At that moment, he couldn't care less about others. All he knew was how rare this opportunity was. The mysterious enemy also had a lack of information about his side. It didn't know that Zhang Yang had hidden 10 captain bowmen and that each of them owned three wolf-tooth arrows.
If time dragged on and the enemy imps got a complete insight into the state of Zhang Yang's personnel, he would be done for.
"After charging to the edge of the War Fog, instantly release your Seeking Arrow. Three of you focus on the target; Qin Yidao, provide support. I want to kill them on the spot!"
Soon after, Zhang Yang and his men arrived at the edge of the War Fog. The eight werewolves in the distance didn't take the initiative to attack, but began to retreat after observing the War Fog for a while.
In just a few seconds, the werewolves would enter the forest, and it would become more difficult to threaten them even if he had enough bowmen.
But at that moment, the nine captain bowmen drew their bowstrings and fired their Seeking Arrow. In a whistling sonic boom, nine wolf-tooth arrows spanned a distance of more than 300 meters and impaled three werewolf archers to death.
However, just half a second later, a series of muffled grunts sounded. Six of the captain bowmen on Zhang Yang's side had also been wounded by arrows.
It turned out that when Liu Dali and co. appeared at the edge of the War Fog, the six werewolf bowmen also fired their arrows. Perhaps they knew that it would be useless for them to dodge, so they fired arrows regardless. But as the arrows were so fast that they exceeded the speed of sound, one couldn't even hear them whistling across the air before they were already in front of their faces.
Boom!
Qin Yidao, who was a few steps behind the crowd, stretched his bowstring and released an arrow. The sound of his huge bow trembling was scary, and the whistling of the wolf-tooth arrow breaking through the air was even more terrifying.
Before the sound faded away in the air, the head of a fourth werewolf bowman on the opposite side erupted in a bloody mist.
He took advantage of that second to activate his Armor-piercing Arrow skill while the werewolf bowman released another arrow. Moreover, with his strength-boosting battle mark, he slaughtered the enemy in one shot.
The reason why the first six arrows fired by the werewolf bowmen hit the archers but missed their heads was because the distance was too far away. Even though they didn't activate their skills, the fact that they hit their target was already incredible enough. Besides, the time for them to aim was also too short, and they had to almost instantly release the arrow.
By the same token, this was also the reason why Zhang Yang ordered the remaining nine archers to release Seeking Arrows all at once.
The first exchange between the bowmen lasted about a second from beginning to end. Wang Mumu, Duan Kuan, and Zhou Datou from Zhang Yang's side had already come forward like bolts of lightning, using their shields to protect the injured bowmen.
At the same time, the two werewolf shield soldiers on the other side also quickly shielded the last two werewolf bowmen and retreated into the forest in the blink of an eye, disappearing from sight.
This was a face-to-face battle. If one had bad vision or slow reactions, one wouldn't even know what just happened.
"Retreat!"
Zhang Yang decisively shouted and decided not to go after them. He didn't even bother checking the kill information, but returned to the small fort right away before feeling slightly relieved.
Only God knew how nervous he was earlier. The enemy soldiers were tough and decisive, which was enough to prove how terrifying they were.
At that moment, the kill information from the previous encounter mapped out before his eyes.
[Successfully killed Level 15 Captain Werewolf Bowman
Obtained 4 x Imperfect Captain Demon Soul.
Obtained 4 x Wish Fragment (Gray)
Obtained 2000 Energy Points.
Obtained 4 x Captain-grade Bow (White)
Obtained 60 x Golden Eagle Armor-breaking Arrow (White)]
It was quite a good harvest, especially the 60 Golden Eagle Armor-breaking Arrows that could deal more damage than his wolf-tooth arrows. Evenly distributing them, each captain bowmen would get six, and counting the two wolf-tooth arrows from before, everyone would be able to shoot eight arrows each.
"Wu Yuan, how are the injuries of your men?" Zhang Yang asked.
Wu Yuan and his men were considered to have repelled the vanguard of the mysterious enemy. A vicious battle would be inevitable, so it was important for them to recover from their injuries.
"Thank you for your concern, Village Chief. Our injuries are no hindrance. Even Song Dachui, who has the most serious injury, will be alive and well in the morning. But the enemy we encountered this time seems to be tougher than the deer lord. Especially the werewolf bowmen—their arrows were fast and accurate. I think we need to be more alert next time."
Wu Yuan solemnly replied with some lingering fear. This time, it was also thanks to his quasi-heroic strength and courageous leadership, allowing them to repel most of the arrows. Otherwise, the 'four tyrannical bears' wouldn't have been able to tank two quivers of arrows.
Zhang Yang nodded, pondered for a while, and clicked on the golden scale to inspect the four imperfect captain souls. Unsurprisingly, the imperfect captain souls were also able to promote soldiers, except one demon soul could only promote one soldier to captain, and the success rate of weapon enhancement was low.
The fearful deterrence of the captain bowmen is apparent. If the other captain spearmen and captain shield soldiers aren't equipped with powerful spears and shields and can't get close enough to attack, they will surely be crushed. Wu Yuan's health bar was only able to resist five arrows, so should I prioritize the promotion of the bowmen?
Zhang Yang hesitated, then decided to call out the imp. "Can you sense whether the enemy imps are still around?"
Yes, Village Chief. There are at least eight of them today, guarding outside the village in eight directions. No matter what movement you make, they will see everything.
Well, it would be best if they can see everything clearly. I was afraid that they wouldn't be able to, Zhang Yang inwardly sneered.
The existence of enemy imps undoubtedly made the battlefield more cruel, frightening, and much more difficult. After all, the imps were equivalent to the perfect scouts. No one would ever refuse deploying them.
But it didn't mean that when one owned imps, one would win every battle. Right now, in this situation, it wasn't necessary that using imps would beat someone at their own game and make the other party fall for the trick.
Zhang Yang gnashed his teeth and used his last two incredibly precious recruitment slots to recruit two bowmen. Including the two other existing bowmen, he upgraded all four of them to captains.
Ten minutes later, the demon souls were successfully fused, but only one bowman's weapon was strengthened. He received a captain-grade bow and 35 golden eagle armor-breaking arrows.
The remaining three captain bowmen could only settle for the weapons dropped by the werewolf bowmen.
But this was far from enough. Zhang Yang used up four Wish Fragments and received 12 shovels. He didn't dare to cause trouble, nor did he dare to gamble on the limit of the Wish Fragments. Anyway, the most important thing was to expand the small fortress and show the enemy that he could defend to the death by relying on 14 captain bowmen, geographical location, and the War Fog.
Now, I'd like to see what you'll actually do.
After taking a deep breath, Zhang Yang showed a determined expression and loudly yelled for the soldiers to gather. He commanded them to chop trees, excavate, and expand the small fort according to the terrain and spread of the War Fog from the Tree Demon Tower.
At that moment, the War Fog had deactivated. Zhang Yang's acting was spot on. He kept yelling and leading the construction process of the small castle as if he were completely unaware of the imps lurking underground.
Almost an hour later, he was drenched in sweat. Before he left, he looked for the few large trees reserved inside the fortress, leaning on it as if he were exhausted.
In fact, he specifically chose these big trees. Zhang Yang used his soul force field and cultivated them. It was true. He wasn't afraid of that mysterious enemy blocking his village entrance or launching a siege, or that the demon meat in the space of the Village Building Order wasn't sufficient to feed his men for up to six months. With six months of time, he believed that he could make hundreds of Spear of Imprisonment and even master the skills of creating talismans and battle marks.
When that time arrived, he would have captain bowmen for long-distance suppression, Spears of Imprisonment for medium-range attacks, and the soul force field for close-distance confrontations!
-- Hadiah diterima