Sudden Tension

The moment Zhang Yang charged outside, Liu Dali, Qin Yidao, Sun Goudan, and the other ten captain-level archers no longer dared hesitate. They leaped out of the small fortress one after another, only to collide head-on with Wu Yuan and the others, who were retreating.

"Enough talk. Wang Mumu, Duan Kuan, Zhou Datou, follow me. Everyone else, defend the small fortress to the death. Even if I die, don't come out."

Zhang Yang shouted casually. He had no time to worry about anything else now. He only knew that this opportunity was hard to come by. At present, he and that mysterious enemy still had an information gap: the enemy didn't know that he had ten captain-level archers hidden away, nor did it know that each archer had only three Wolf Fang Arrows.

If this dragged on, and the enemy's imps completely grasped the state of their forces, then they would truly be finished.

"Once we reach the edge of the Fog of War, immediately release the Wind-Chasing Arrow skill. Three men focus fire on one target, and Qin Yidao provides the follow-up shot. I want them dead on the spot!"

As they spoke, Zhang Yang and the others reached the edge of the Fog of War. The eight wolfmen soldiers in the distance did not attack proactively. Instead, after observing the Fog of War for a while, they began to retreat.

With only a few more seconds of delay, they would enter the forest. No matter how many archers there were, it would be difficult to threaten them then.

But at that moment, the nine captain-level archers rapidly drew their great bows and activated the Wind-Chasing Arrow skill simultaneously. A chorus of sonic booms shrieked through the air. The nine Wolf Fang Arrows were invisible, crossing more than three hundred meters in the blink of an eye and shooting three wolfman archers dead where they stood.

Yet barely half a second later, muffled groans rang out. Six of their own captain-level archers were struck by arrows and wounded.

As it turned out, when Liu Dali and the others appeared at the edge of the Fog of War, the six wolfman archers opposite them had also drawn their bows with grim resolve. They didn't even try to dodge—or perhaps they knew there was no point. Both sides drew their bows too quickly, and the arrows exceeded the speed of sound. There was no time to see them, or even hear them, before they arrived in front of them.

"Twanging!"

Qin Yidao, who was a few steps behind the others, drew his bow. The tremor of the great bow was terrifying, while the shriek of the Wolf Fang Arrow tearing through the air was even more frightening.

Before the sound had faded from the air, the head of the fourth wolfman archer opposite exploded into a cloud of blood mist.

He had been blessed with extraordinary talent. Taking advantage of the instant when that wolfman archer steadied himself and drew his bow to fire, he had aimed for a second, activated the Golden Eagle Armor-Piercing Arrow skill, and combined it with his own Super Strength Battle Rune. Only then could he kill it with a single shot.

The reason the wolfman archers' first volley of six arrows had merely struck their targets instead of blowing their heads apart was that the distance was too great. Without using a skill, hitting the body was already an achievement. Moreover, they had been given far too little time to aim. They had practically fired the instant they drew their bows.

By the same logic, this was why Zhang Yang had ordered the other nine archers to activate the Wind-Chasing Arrow skill—to focus fire and wipe them out.

The first clash between the two groups of archers lasted only about a second from beginning to end. Then Wang Mumu, Duan Kuan, and Zhou Datou on Zhang Yang's side rushed forward like lightning, shielding the wounded archers with their shields.

At the same time, the two wolfman shield soldiers on the opposite side quickly protected the remaining two wolfman archers. In the blink of an eye, they retreated into the forest and vanished without a trace.

This was a contest decided in a single exchange. Anyone with poor eyesight or slow reactions might not even have known what had happened.

"Retreat!"

Zhang Yang shouted decisively as well. He didn't pursue them, nor did he even check the kill notifications. He retreated to the small fortress in one breath, only then letting out a slight sigh of relief.

Who knew how tense he had been just now? The sharpness and decisiveness displayed by the enemy soldiers were enough to prove how terrifying their opponent was.

At that moment, a thought stirred in his mind, and a string of kill notifications appeared before his eyes.

"Killed a level-15 Jackalman Archer Captain."

"Obtained four level-15 incomplete captain-level demon souls."

"Obtained four Fragments of Hope (gray)."

"Obtained 2,000 energy points."

"Obtained four Captain-grade Great Bows (white)."

"Obtained 60 Golden Eagle Armor-Piercing Arrows (white)."

The spoils were quite impressive, especially the sixty Golden Eagle Armor-Piercing Arrows. Their damage was slightly higher than that of the Wolf Fang Arrows. Distributed among them, each captain-level archer could receive six. Adding the two Wolf Fang Arrows they already had, each person could fire eight arrows.

"Wu Yuan, how are your injuries?"

Zhang Yang asked. They had technically repelled the mysterious enemy's vanguard. A bitter battle was unavoidable next, so recovering from their injuries was very important.

"Thank you for your concern, Village Chief. Our injuries aren't serious. Even Song Dachui will be full of vigor by tomorrow morning. However, the enemy we encountered this time seems even more troublesome than the deer demons. Those wolfman archers in particular shot both quickly and accurately. I think we'll need to be more vigilant if they come again."

Wu Yuan spoke solemnly, still looking shaken. It was fortunate that he had led the group this time. With the strength of a quasi-hero, he could block most of the arrows. Otherwise, the Four Berserker Bears truly wouldn't have been able to withstand even two quivers from the enemy.

Zhang Yang nodded. After thinking for a moment, he opened the Golden Scales to examine the four captain-level remnant souls. As expected, all four could raise a soldier's level. However, each demon soul could only raise one captain-level soldier, and the chance of successfully strengthening a weapon was rather low.

"The terrifying suppressive power of captain-level archers is already obvious. A Spearman Captain or Sword and Shield Captain of the same level would definitely be crushed without powerful shields and armor, or if they couldn't get close enough to attack. Even Wu Yuan's health bar can withstand only five arrows. So should I prioritize improving the archers next?"

Zhang Yang hesitated for a moment, then called over an imp. "Can you sense whether the enemy's imps are still there?"

"They're there, Village Chief. There are at least eight imps now, guarding the eight directions outside the village. No matter what you do, they'll see it all clearly."

"Mm. The clearer they can see, the better. I was afraid they wouldn't see clearly."

Zhang Yang sneered inwardly. The imps' presence undoubtedly made the battlefield even more brutal and frightening, greatly increasing the difficulty. After all, creatures equivalent to Ghost Eyes were the finest scouts, and no one would refuse to use them.

But having imps didn't mean certain victory. Given the current situation, it wasn't impossible to use the imps to turn the enemy's own schemes against them and lead them into a trap.

Gritting his teeth, Zhang Yang used his final two precious recruitment slots. He recruited two archers. Along with the two archers from before, they could be upgraded into four captain-level archers exactly.

Ten minutes later, the demon soul fusion succeeded, but only one archer's weapon was successfully strengthened. He received a Captain-grade Great Bow and thirty-five Golden Eagle Armor-Piercing Arrows.

The remaining three captain-level soldiers could only make do with the weapons dropped by the Jackalman archers.

But this was still far from enough. Zhang Yang simply used the four gray Fragments of Hope next, exchanging them for twelve iron shovels. He didn't dare take a reckless gamble or test the upper limit of the Fragments of Hope's wishes. In any case, the most important matter now was expanding the small fortress and giving the enemy the impression that he had resolved to rely on fourteen captain-level archers, the terrain, and the Fog of War to hold out.

"Now, let's see what you'll do."

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Yang put on an expression of thirty percent panic and loudly ordered the soldiers to work together. Some chopped trees, others dug earth, and they expanded the small fortress according to the terrain and the range of the Wood Demon Tower's Fog of War.

The Fog of War had been shut off by then, and Zhang Yang's performance was convincing. He kept shouting orders and instructing them in the essentials of constructing the small fortress, looking completely unaware that imps might be spying from underground.

Nearly an hour later, he was drenched in sweat from his exertions before finally leaving. He found a large tree reserved inside the fortress and leaned against it, looking utterly exhausted.

In truth, these several large trees had been deliberately left behind for him to nourish with the Soul Force Field. Really, he wasn't afraid of that mysterious enemy blocking the village entrance, nor was he afraid of a siege. There was enough monster meat in the Village Building Order's space to feed them for half a year. Given half a year, did the enemy believe he wouldn't dare make hundreds of Imprisonment Spears, or even master the techniques for drawing Talismans and Battle Runes?

By then, captain-level archers would suppress them from long range, Imprisonment Spears would seal off the middle distance, and at close range—he still had the Soul Force Field!