Chapter 246: Harassment Tactics
The enemy’s strength is formidable, and they are numerous.
We don't have time to establish complete defensive fortifications, so what should we do?
An excellent commander, in situations where victory is unlikely, will often choose to retreat.
Unless absolutely necessary, preserving your forces and responding flexibly is the most important thing.
If you preserve your forces and lose nd, both can still be regained.
If you lose your forces while holding nd, you lose both.
An average commander usually chooses to "do their best and leave the rest to fate."
They do what they can and wait quietly for the enemy to arrive.
An incompetent commander will act recklessly.
"The enemy has traveled a long way, and their position is unstable. If we unch a surprise attack, we can catch them off guard and win a great victory!"
And then, they end up sending their forces to destruction!
Matthew reflected deeply on the excellent tactical principles and brilliant tactical examples in his memory, carefully applying them to the situation at hand.
"So, let's follow the pn we’ve set and do our best."
Nodding at the excited Leon and Ange, Matthew flew off into the distant forest with Yaya.
The bzing sun shone high, the sky cloudless.
Fierce winds whipped across their faces.
Matthew looked down at the scattered troll army below, stretching endlessly across the pins.
The dense mass of heads made Matthew instinctively grip his staff tighter and gnce at his talents.
Mana Siphon and Quick Casting were sufficient for dealing with ordinary soldiers.
But without "long-range casting," there was no way to hit the trolls below from 1,000 meters away...
While Fireball had incredible destructive power, its range was still too small.
At most, it could take out a dozen or so trolls in one strike.
Given that his soul strength couldn’t be rapidly advanced, Matthew couldn’t raise his Arcanist level in the short term.
Thus, he couldn't learn higher-level spells.
Fortunately, Matthew possessed the special legacy of "Talent Analysis," which allowed him to learn feats like "Spell Amplification" and "Spell Strengthening."
Matthew knew where to learn these two feats, and with the "Imperial Summons" in two months and the "Orc Onsught" in five, he figured he’d have to make a trip soon.
But for now, the focus was still on the trolls below.
As Matthew pondered, Yaya suddenly let out a soft "Hmm?" and gracefully spread her wings.
She made no sound, silently gliding behind a cloud.
A gray eagle was watching the spot they had just been in.
It suddenly sensed something and, with a quick fp of its wings, prepared to flee.
1st-Level Spell – Monster Hold!
An invisible force locked the eagle in pce.
Its body froze in mid-air, neither falling nor flying away, as an invisible hand of magic dragged it in front of Yaya.
The eagle's pupils shrank in terror as it stared at Yaya, who was inspecting it.
Matthew sensed a faint magical aura around the eagle. Meeting its eyes, he calmly waved at it.
"Hello!"
Crack!
Yaya mercilessly snapped the eagle’s neck, then said, under Yaya's curious gaze:
"Perfect timing—add some eagle leg to your lunch."
Below, the troll formation erupted into chaos.
Clearly, an angry troll priest was throwing a tantrum.
"Tsk tsk, impotent rage is never good!"
Having gotten what he wanted, Matthew flew away with Yaya without hesitation.
The commotion below didn't st long, and soon the troll army resumed its march.
It continued until nightfall.
A massive blood-red moon rose into the sky.
The intense red light poured down freely.
"This doesn’t look like a normal moon at all."
With that thought in mind, Matthew waved to Elio, who was on the other side.
Time to move!
Adjusting her breathing, Elio forced herself to focus only on the 30-troll patrol unit ahead, ignoring the overwhelming number of trolls beyond.
Each troll in the patrol unit was an experienced mid-level troll hunter.
They not only had strong combat and long-range attack abilities but were also excellent at reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance.
Unfortunately, despite their careful patrolling, their arrogant attitude showed in how they zily scanned their surroundings.
They made no effort to clear the bushes and tree trunks around them!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The sound of crossbow bolts flying through the air shattered the forest's silence.
The troll hunters reacted quickly, instinctively spreading out to dodge.
Some raised their hands to protect their heads and charged fearlessly toward the direction of the incoming bolts.
Their confidence in their physical strength and healing abilities was far beyond that of ordinary trolls.
Their response was impressive!
But unfortunately for them, they had met a different kind of opponent this time.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Over a dozen precise crossbow bolts pierced the troll hunters at the front.
The sharp, sturdy arrows easily tore through their defenses and muscles, embedding deeply into their bodies.
Even though these troll hunters had endured countless wounds before, the pain of internal injuries brought them to the ground, screaming in agony:
"Enemies!"
Their voices were strong, showing no sign of death!
The entire troll camp immediately descended into chaos as many trolls grabbed their weapons and rushed out, their eyes scanning for the enemy.
But all they saw was the blood-red moonlight in the sky. Fearful, they let out strange cries and retreated back inside.
At that moment, three fireballs exploded among them with a thunderous boom.
The spreading fmes whipped up a wave of heat, instantly killing three to four dozen trolls and toppling over a dozen tents.
This sent the troll camp into complete disarray.
Meanwhile, Matthew and Elio, the instigators, had long slipped away along their pnned retreat route.
Two or three dozen trolls pursued them furiously, only to run straight into Beelzebub and the waiting inspectors.
They were quickly and thoroughly eliminated.
The chaos sted for more than an hour.
It only calmed down after the troll priests sent their personal guards to shout and bring things under control.
A troll unit of over 1,000 was dispatched to search for the enemy, but all they found were dozens of mutited corpses.
"Useless scum!"
"Why are you still alive?"
The enraged troll priest killed over a dozen severely burned and slow-recovering trolls.
His brutal methods terrified the other troll soldiers.
"Barnes, take 1,000 trolls to patrol outside!"
"Make sure you wear your cloaks. Even though the Light of Destruction has weakened, it’s still dangerous!"
A burly troll warchief in iron armor revealed a bloodthirsty grin and responded without hesitation:
"Don’t worry, priest. I won’t let those vermin disturb your rest."
Waving him off impatiently, the troll priest Hunter lowered his head again, obsessively stroking a rge fragment of a stone tablet.
Completely absorbed in it, unable to pull himself away.
FALCON-N
