Chapter 200: The Fierce Piranha

In fact, on the battlefield, the first wave to make contact with the enemy is usually either elite troops or cannon fodder. The former can tear through the enemy lines with a single surge of momentum, while the latter is used to drain the enemy’s physical strength, energy, and morale.

However, the enemy numbers were not very large, and they showed no signs of organized military formations. Most importantly, this chaotic rush to attack mixed their own members, who were already of varying quality, together.

If viewed objectively, every member within this group still had differences in strength. Among them, some appeared to have decent skills. Unfortunately, even those with good skills were basically unsuitable for the current environment.

George, who sat calmly in the center of the crowd, could easily tell from their fighting habits that these men ahead were following the usual paths of small squad adventurers and common bandits.

This was quite similar to the martial arts or combat styles George had seen before he transmigrated. If the situations George encountered before his transmigration were constrained by tradition and schools, then these men in front of him were completely forced by their living conditions.

For them, without proper logistics or medical care for the wounded, any injury could mean they would leave their careers forever.

As for trusting their safety and hope for survival to their companions? First, do not mention those bandits who forget loyalty for profit, who might stab you in the back while you are sick. Even the trust between ordinary adventurers can only be built after facing dangers together again and again.

Therefore, before that, they could only try to save themselves as much as possible during the fight. Whether fighting alone or raiding in a group, every slash, stab, or sword swing they made considered their own safety more than attacking the enemy.

They had to keep an eye on everything around them and listen to everything, observing the threat of the enemy’s weapons to themselves, and dodging or turning to block as needed. At the same time, they had to spend energy thinking about how the enemy would dodge and what to do after dodging.

Perhaps in the past, they could win against enemies with similar fighting styles by relying on their bravery and ferocity. But compared to the skilled elite soldiers in George’s formation, the enemy’s close-quarters fighting style required more space to maneuver against the opponent.

If the enemy had not rushed forward in a crowd but had met in the wild, Hiren’s fight might have required some effort. But now, wherever the crowd was dense, there was Hiren’s figure.

He swung the longsword in his hands with the momentum of a great two-handed sword. It felt like if no one stopped him, the attackers would be terrified to death within two minutes, and the enemy team would collapse on its own, as if it were happening right before everyone’s eyes.

Even if we ignore those enemy cannon fodder who had no time to react, even the elites among them who tried to respond, even if they wanted to escape Hiren’s attack range, it became an impossible dream because of the blocking of their own comrades.

Just as George was critiquing the current situation in his mind, a huge change happened on the battlefield. Hiren handed the longsword he had been swinging with both hands to his left hand. The move changed from the original wide sweeping slash to a rare direct thrust.

After his right arm bent slightly and moved back and forth like a pile driver, it was immediately seen that the three heads on Hiren’s left exploded like watermelons filled with firecrackers. The so-called “skull suddenly cracking and brains splattering” was no more than this!

Since the enemy dared to send a team of about five or six hundred people to intercept them, they were not completely harmless. After the initial panic caused by the failed surprise attack turning into a counter-attack, the area around Hiren was suddenly cleared out. All the enemies knew to stay away from this human meat grinder.

Just as Hiren was preparing to move his position and continue his killing path, a large mass of multi-layered, tough, and sticky thread-like substances came down from the sky towards Hiren. This was the second-level spell of the Conjuration school, Web. It looked like there were spellcasters among the enemy as well. Even Hiren, who did not like learning much, knew the effect of this famous spell: any creature caught in it would be unable to move or would have its speed severely affected for a short time.

Therefore, he had to kick off with both legs and leap forward, then use his newly freed right hand as an axis, curling his whole body into a side roll to dodge this spell. If it were a normal time, Hiren might have stood still to test the effect of the Web spell, seeing if he could break it violently with his strength.

But in this battle where he was surrounded layer by layer by enemies, he dared not take this risk. Although he usually acted without seriousness and did things vaguely, his performance at critical moments always earned others the praise: “A tiger’s father has no dog-like son!”

Seeing the Web spell appear, George in the rear couldn’t help but frown. For George’s group, this was a very dangerous spell. It often trapped entire squads of soldiers, leaving them waiting for the enemy mage’s Fireball.

The sticky threads produced by the Web spell are flammable, so on a certain level, it would enhance the effect of the Fireball. Combined with the restriction on movement, it made the Fireball easier to hit. Add the Grease spell to ensure the Web hit, and it became a textbook-style spell attack tactic.

However, since the webs created by this spell require many solid anchor points to spread, this spell is basically not encountered in open terrain. When performing missions in complex terrains like indoors or forests, anyone must be careful.

At this moment, the birch trees on both sides of the road were the best anchor points for the Web spell. George looked at the four soldiers who were struggling with the webs ahead, and he seemed to regret resting casually by the roadside to attract the enemy’s action.

This could be said to be a spell very suitable for initiating a surprise attack, and it was often used to hinder pursuit or advance. In fact, trying to destroy the webs with weapons is difficult, but these webs still have a fatal flaw: being flammable, they are naturally afraid of fire.

If you happen to have something on fire in hand, throw it at it. Any flame can burn and remove it at a rate of one square foot per second. However, when the web burns, creatures trapped inside will suffer fire damage. If friendly troops are trapped, one must be careful when doing this.

Although Hiren successfully dodged the interference of the web, this move put a relatively long distance between him and his team. More importantly, a squad of ten men immediately engaged him.

They used a relatively loose combined attack formation to limit Hiren’s movement to a certain area. Obviously, the enemy did not plan to let Hiren, the biggest threat in their eyes, go back to their ranks and cause havoc.

After facing these men who were completely different from the previous rabble, Hiren immediately instinctively sensed their threat. Although death seemed far away, his intuition told him that it was probably impossible to return to his post in a short time.

Therefore, he turned his gaze to George, who was still in the team. George gave him a reassuring look. Hiren, who always had confidence in George, immediately focused on dealing with the enemies in front of him.

The huge Hiren actually sneered, rinsing his right hand and twirling the Star-Iron Longsword in his hand. That bizarre and slightly comical behavior seemed like a joke. But his gaze was simply like a butcher looking at pigs and sheep waiting to be slaughtered. Hiren faced the ten-man squad sent to restrain him alone; he not only showed no fear but gave people the feeling of a fierce tiger pouncing on a lamb!

Unfortunately, the team lacking Hiren, the stabilizing pillar, immediately showed increased pressure in the face of enemies several times their number. The soldiers holding shields at the very front were the first to suffer. Although they were not yet scattered into a mess, they showed a feeling of being on the verge of collapse. Now it was not like the previous pocket formation of three men, which had the effect of closing the door to beat the dog.

Just then, a golden Divine Arts Scroll appeared in the hands of Priest Mario and the Paladin Alamil. After the two of them chanted a hymn like a “Hymn of Joy,” two beams of light, one white and one blue, instantly covered their entire team.

This sudden casting made the enemy slightly panicked at first. Then, realizing they had nothing wrong, they immediately calmed down and continued to attack George’s group. At the same time, the enemies in the rear rows used their crossbows to shoot at the center of George’s team.

After the two beams of light passed, the soldiers in the battle immediately felt their strength increase significantly, and the fatigue generated also decreased obviously. With their greatly increased strength and the protection provided by the sturdy Paper Armor embedded all over their bodies, although they were temporarily at a disadvantage under the enemy’s fierce attack, they were finally able to stabilize their formation for the time being. While defending, they calmly looked for flaws in the enemy’s moves and then suddenly attacked to kill.

As the situation improved, the screams of the enemy personnel on the battlefield could be said to be rising and falling one after another. These Divine Arts Scrolls could be said to be the key to turning the tide of the battle. They were the Mass Bull’s Strength and Mass Bear’s Endurance. Belonging to the category of high-level Divine Arts of the sixth level: Bull’s Strength made the target stronger, providing two levels of enhancement bonus to the target’s strength; Bear’s Endurance gave the affected creatures stronger vitality and endurance. The spell also provided two levels of enhancement bonus to the target’s constitution.

Just in terms of the value of these two scrolls themselves, this move burned at least over 1300 Gold Coins. Of course, the losses caused by the battle were paid by George. But George had no interest in paying attention to his financial problems now. Arrows flying in from a distance one after another greatly distracted his attention. And the female mage Lino Ebertz even hid behind George’s carriage. Judging from the saying “A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall,” she did a really good job!

Seeing people being shot by arrows one after another beside him, George couldn’t help but frown. Although this did not seem to be a strong bow, the warriors wearing armor basically did not receive serious injuries. But this clearly affected their movements. Although these arrows could basically not pierce the Paper Armor worn by the soldiers, they still needed to avoid their unprotected parts.

Then Hiren casually swept to the side. Lino Ebertz, who was hiding nearby and watching the battle, saw the arrows flying towards them like fireflies in the air suddenly “pop!” and all stopped in mid-air. Then they fell down one by one. In this way, this batch of arrows became almost completely harmless.

However, George seemed not satisfied with his action just now. When the next round of arrows came, he held his right hand forward in a virtual grasp. The flying crowd of arrows “pop!” and stopped moving one by one, but this time they did not fall directly, but strangely hovered in the air.

Then George swung his right arm and waved his hand hard. Those arrows returned along the original path at a speed faster than when they came. The enemy archers, who were stunned for a moment, did not remember to dodge, and the vast majority fell to the ground with arrows. The scene was like a strong wind sweeping through the wheat fields in autumn, with the full wheat heads bowing down one after another.

The first practical application of George’s Primordial Qi Great Grappling was not entirely satisfactory, but it was still effective. On the contrary, Lino Ebertz behind him looked as if she had seen a ghost, and her expression towards George was quite complex.

The archers of Bolerum Territory, feeling just as humiliated as George, rolled up their sleeves and launched a very fierce attack into the crowd of enemies.

The sudden dense rain of arrows seemed to form a curtain in the air. The overwhelming momentum, dense as if covering the sky and earth, made the attackers in this direction all stop in their tracks for a moment. Then, the triangular arrows unique to Bolerum Territory, which were too fast for the naked eye to catch, seemed to swarm like a beehive, forcing the enemy to dodge again and again.

But in such a battlefield environment, if you dodged the first arrow, you might not dodge the second one. Immediately, some attackers were pierced through their hands and feet in this round of arrow rain — in an instant, blood splashed! They were often pinned to the ground by the power of the arrows, and then became stepping stones for their comrades in the midst of screams.

In the current situation, all the fancy tricks of archery lost their meaning. Whether it was the fast, accurate, and fierce pursuit of a one-shot kill! Or to suppress the enemy’s evasion space to cooperate with capturing criminals. Letting the enemy have nowhere to dodge and nowhere to escape with slow arrows. None of these had any market here. What was needed here was explosive covering fire.

Feeling as if his blood was boiling, George no longer sat in command as before. Taking advantage of the fact that the two Divine Arts buffs on him had not yet disappeared, he did not use his original matching sword, but instead took a two-handed great sword from behind the carriage. Then, with amazing agility, he darted through the defensive formation.

Changing the longsword to a great sword could expand the attack range and enhance the striking power. The huge double-edged great sword came towards the enemy with a terrified look, directly slashing onto their solid breastplate. Although the smooth metal surface slightly dispersed the power of this blow, the attack swung by George, standing on the ground, was sharp and unreasonable. It directly tore through the stubborn resistance of the armor, driving half of the great sword into the opponent’s chest, tearing out broken lung tissue and blood.

“Great Mountain Break!” This simple-named move was just like its name — the user’s heavy attack was as powerful as falling rocks in a landslide. Whether it was flesh and blood or hard iron and stone, it was difficult to stop its advance.

No mercy, no pause — George’s spirit was like a polished mirror, unaffected by anything. Like a giant, he easily lifted the broken body hanging on his sword and slammed it hard into another enemy who looked different in identity nearby. The huge wound was further torn open. In the pulling, the double-edged great sword directly chopped the opponent’s liver and right lung. Blood sprayed out like a fountain, splashing beautifully, squeezed out from the body like a torn bag.

Although the other guy had tried hard to dodge, this heavy blow comparable to a buffalo charge still knocked this guy like a baseball hit by a home run. He flipped horizontally at high speed for several circles before “pop!” landing on the ground, twitching a few times before stopping all movement.

After George deliberately used bloody means to deal with the two people who were putting the most pressure on the defense line nearby, he pointed his great sword forward and shouted: “Kill!”

The soldiers behind him also raised their morale one by one. Everyone shouted in unison, stepping forward. Although their eyes were bloodshot, they stared fixedly at what was in front of them, but shouted without any emotion: “Kill!”

At the same time, George noticed that Stone Marx, who had always had little presence, also appeared in another direction of the battlefield. He used the momentum of rotation, swung his blade, and slashed horizontally! The blade with water patterns drew a heart-stirring sharp trajectory beside him. The arc of light driven by the Crescent War Blade, wherever it passed, blood surged wildly, and heads were chopped off one after another.

However, at this time, his clothes were also cut by the enemy, but he cleverly avoided vital points. And thanks to the armor, no blood flowed from the wound. His robe was already dyed ochre, which seemed to be splashed by the enemy’s blood.

Even after the intense action just now, Stone Marx still stood with a strong stride. His two hands held the scimitars steadily but without lacking agility, and his breathing was still long and powerful.

Very strong, really very strong. This feeling was constantly transmitted to the enemies and allies around him. At the same time, George became interested in him because that guy did not seem like an ordinary Ranger but more like a professional Soldier.

The posture, steps, and eyesight fully reflected the solid foundation of a professional soldier. Rich combat experience plus fine weapons. Sharp reaction speed, combined with skilled dual-wielding of scimitars, made both offense and defense flawless in front of the enemies he was facing now.

‘This guy has a story! If he is not hiding his strength now, I need at least one minute to deal with him in a one-on-one situation.’ George thought unkindly in his heart.

But just as George was distracted, a black flash suddenly appeared in the shadow beside him. Then this shadow figure rushed straight towards him.