Forest Battlefield

The high-pressure energy orb, filled with blue and white energy, flew directly towards the center of the battlefield under the Punk's control. Mid-air, the crystalline energy orb, which had been a single mass, suddenly split into several ribbon-like pale blue strands. These long strands, entwined with specks of energy, vanished into the ancient mud of the forest in an instant. Almost all the enemy professionals on the battlefield felt the surging energy brewing in the mud beneath their feet. However, now weary from the warriors' attacks, even though they sensed the violent energy about to erupt from the ground, they could only reinforce their defenses at the last moment.

In their haste, neither the enemy warriors nor the enemy mages could mount any effective counter. They had, after all, underestimated what they perceived as "mere apprentice-level spells."

Experience tells us that underestimating the enemy always comes with a heavy price.

Less than a second after the dazzling energy ribbons disappeared into the muddy ground, the entire mudflat surged like a stormy sea, with wave after wave of massive mudslides rolling precisely towards the enemy formations. A large portion of the mud, due to the fermentation of decaying plants, possessed an incredibly strong adhesive quality. Driven by such immense force, it didn't scatter into fine droplets but instead, due to the churning beneath the ground, the entire mudflat undulated as a cohesive mass. The enemies were utterly unable to maintain their balance amidst such violent fluctuations. Several weaker apprentice-level professionals were even flung high into the air, causing the enemy mages' casting to be almost entirely interrupted. This was undoubtedly an excellent opportunity for our warriors to charge and slay.

"Tidal Surge" was, after all, a Journeyman Level spell. While it certainly had advantages in both range and power, at least covering the dispersed enemy pursuit squads entirely within its effect was more than enough. However, when it came to duration... it was indeed less than ideal.

After violently churning beneath the muddy ground for two rounds, the intense mud waves subsided. However, in the context of this guerilla warfare, this characteristic of ending its surge in a short period was not a drawback but rather an excellent means to coordinate combat.

Just as the enemies were lying on the ground, rolling around in disarray, "Tidal Surge" also slowly came to a halt. The Princess Guard, who could no longer contain their boiling blood, saw this "easy" scene and, like rampaging gorillas, let out roars and charged forward. Meanwhile, most of the enemy combatants, except for a few quick-thinking warriors, were still in a state of utter bewilderment before being decapitated by the "muscle-bound men" who seemed to have been injected with chicken blood. Many mages didn't even have time to activate their trump cards and various tricks before a greatsword was cleaving their foreheads!

Seeing that the situation was gradually stabilizing, the Punk couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Although he had always appeared calm and collected, he had secretly been worried about reinforcements arriving. After all, the enemy pursuers were all professionals, and their speed and stamina were not to be underestimated. Fortunately, he still had a couple of "appropriately timed" spells that played the role of a crowd-controlling mage almost perfectly in this battle, unlike that disgraceful old mage nearby who only knew a few fireballs and hadn't even hit anyone!

On the other hand, his teammates were also fearless, each one practically vying to be the dangerous meat shields and taunts. It was only with the combination of these factors that they achieved this perfect victory, leaving barely any enemy deserters.

At the same time, the Punk was also seriously summarizing the experience from this battle. He had to admit that having a melee professional to tank damage in front was indeed very beneficial for unleashing a mage's powerful crowd-controlling abilities. Furthermore, having a flexible tank to tie down multiple enemies also facilitated a strategy of focusing on and defeating enemies one by one.

With this thought, the Punk decided to focus more on various alchemy golems and summoned creatures in the future, at least paying more attention to related knowledge and magic items. However, this tank absolutely could not have any unstable factors hidden within. He would rather choose a clumsy alchemy golem than those cunning and treacherous contract servants.

Now that this battle had come to an end, the Punk was also a "Brave Warrior" with considerable merit. The warriors in the team showed due respect to this previously unknown mage. Our little Princess Nasya had reached the point where her cheeks would flush red just by seeing the Punk. Anyone experienced in matters of the heart would recognize the signs of the little princess's unrequited love. It was just that the little princess's first love was destined to be fruitless, because the Punk currently had no intention of dealing with the Princess, who was a big trouble. Moreover, in his heart, love and other "superfluous" emotions were unhelpful for becoming stronger and acquiring knowledge, so he had no interest in such "instinct-driven" behaviors. Even the respectful attitudes of the soldiers were merely boring and annoying "harassment" to the Punk!

Although the "Princess Guard" could be considered to have achieved a great victory in this battle, there were still a small number of unavoidable sacrifices within the team. This once again caused a tangible reduction in the strength of the already small team. Most importantly, in the future journey, such dangerous "chance encounters" would happen many more times. And as long as they failed to achieve such a "swift victory" even once, the consequences... would be unimaginable!

This uneasy atmosphere could not be alleviated by meager words. Due to the extreme time pressure, the warriors didn't even have the leisure to dig a simple grave for their fallen comrades. Under the pursuit of powerful enemies, they had to continue their journey through the "muddy land" without rest!

The Punk, however, felt no pointless "shared sorrow for a fellow creature" towards the fallen soldiers. A saying from Earth held true: "Choosing to be a combatant means you have already accepted the resolve to kill and be killed." However, in his heart, he was also somewhat fortunate that he hadn't chosen to travel alone, as that would have been a truly desperate situation with no escape. As for whether this current team could pass through the considerable forest of "Old Muddy Woods"... the Punk gently shifted his gaze, looking towards Mainesi's position with a deep look.

"So, for this nameless princess, you who have given almost everything, how much longer can you hold on?"

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