Chapter 126 - 101: The Thrashed Piggies (Part 3)
Chapter 126: Chapter 101: The Thrashed Piggies (Part 3)
Seeing the Holy Archers’ attacks prove effective, the commander of the Golden Corps immediately began the next phase of his plan.
"Holy Archers, in your squads, focus fire on one Porcupine-man per squad. Fire one volley, then switch targets."
"War Paladins, be ready to finish off any survivors. Don’t give them a chance to recover."
Following their squad leaders’ lead, the Holy Archers loosed their volleys. With each one, a Steel-backed Porcupine fell, either killed outright or finished off by a War Paladin. Few of the Steel-backed Porcupines could withstand this barrage.
Amuti watched the battlefield, his expression grim. The Golden Corps’ combined assault was devastatingly effective; any hope of saving the Steel-backed Porcupines was impossible.
Despite their large numbers, the Steel-backed Porcupines couldn’t go on like this. Once they were all dead, defeat would be certain.
"Steel-backed Porcupines, retreat immediately! Protect the Withered Messengers!"
"Spiny Porcupines, fall back with them!"
"Highly Poisonous Bees, Shadow Reapers, stay concealed. Report all enemy movements."
The Steel-backed Porcupines and Spiny Porcupines immediately began to fall back.
The Giant Shield Guards didn’t give chase. For one, they feared it was an enemy ploy. For another, their shield wall ability was still on cooldown. If they broke the formation now and the Steel-backed Porcupines suddenly turned back, they wouldn’t be able to raise the wall again. That would put them in an awkward position.
While canceling the ability would normally reduce its cooldown—theoretically allowing them to raise it again immediately—that only applied if the shield wall was undamaged and had ample energy. Having been under assault for so long, there was no way to instantly reset the cooldown.
Seeing the enemy’s Giant Shield Warriors holding their ground, Amuti understood immediately. ’Those shield-bearers’ wall isn’t mobile. If I had known that, I would have fought a mobile war instead of meeting them head-on!’
When the Golden Corps commander saw the Porcupine-men finally break and begin to retreat, he breathed a sigh of relief. It was rare to encounter a legion that could withstand a head-on assault for so long. Fortunately, his own forces were a cut above.
The next step was simple. They had been in this situation many times in previous battles; they just needed to press their advantage and pursue.
The Golden Corps’ entire ranged line began to advance, following the retreating Steel-backed Porcupines.
The Steel-backed Porcupines weren’t moving quickly, whereas the Holy Archers were very fast. They matched the Porcupines’ pace, picking them off with targeted shots as they went.
The Steel-backed Porcupines left a trail of corpses as they retreated.
Amuti watched the enemy’s flawless response with growing frustration. ’If I don’t find a chance to counterattack soon,’ he thought, ’this battle will be lost.’
"Highly Poisonous Bees, go! Distract those Priests and Warriors!"
’Since the enemy won’t reveal an opening on their own,’ Amuti resolved, ’I’ll have to force one out of them.’
At the command, the Highly Poisonous Bees that were already positioned around the enemy swarmed forward. A yellow cloud lifted from the ground and surged into the sky.
In an instant, they surrounded the Golden Corps’ ranged units, and the Highly Poisonous Bees dove in.
The Temple Guards immediately swung their greatswords at the bees in the sky, unleashing thick blasts of Sword Qi. Their martial skill was superb; every strike took down at least one bee, and the Sword Qi shot into the sky, creating a blast of air.
However, these attacks were like using a cannon to shoot a mosquito. While powerful to behold and capable of killing bees with every strike, they weren’t killing very many.
The Highly Poisonous Bees’ attacks weren’t strong, but their paralyzing toxin was incredibly potent. Anyone careless enough to be stung by several bees would inevitably have their movements impaired by the poison.
Whenever the Wisdom Priests saw a teammate collapse from poison, they would immediately cast "Purify" to cleanse the toxins.
However, this delay prevented the Holy Archers from continuing their pursuit of the Steel-backed Porcupines.
The Golden Corps commander constantly swung the scepter in his hand, driving away the surrounding bees.
’These bees are small, fast, and hard to hit,’ he fumed internally. ’Using a wide area-of-effect spell wouldn’t be worth it. How infuriating!’
"Holy Archers, use stealth and move up! Leave these bees to us."
The sheer number of Highly Poisonous Bees led the Golden Corps’ commander to miscalculate. He assumed all of the enemy’s forces were now on the field.
Believing victory was within his grasp and that the enemy had played their last card, he confidently sent the Holy Archers to pursue the Porcupine-men and attack the Scarecrows alone.
The Holy Archers obeyed the command, all entering stealth and disappearing from sight.
They left the Wisdom Priests and Temple Guards behind to deal with the pesky Highly Poisonous Bees.
As legendary-tier soldiers, the Holy Archers’ stealth was no mere optical camouflage. They used shadow stealth, slipping into the Shadow Plane to conceal their movements.
The Shadow Reapers were already lurking around the Golden Corps. They saw the Holy Archers enter stealth and watched as the entire group moved through the shadows toward the front line.
They exchanged silent glances and quietly followed.
Then, they struck at the Holy Archers bringing up the rear.
Leaving nothing to chance, several Shadow Reapers would strike a single Holy Archer at once. Without a sound, the archer would fall, dead within the shadows.
On the short trek toward the Giant Shield Guards’ position, nearly half of the Holy Archers were silently eliminated.