War

"Clang, clang, clang!"

The not-quite-clear sound of metal striking metal suddenly rang out, instantly piercing the tranquility of the early morning.

Zhang Yang sprang awake, and at the same time, Wu Yuan's thunderous roar came from beside him:

"Enemy attack! Three li to the west, 39 Elite Archers, 12 Captain Archers, 40 Elite Shield Soldiers, 55 Captain Shield Soldiers, and 12 Heavy Armored Deer Horn Cavalry."

"Archers to the walls! Raise the barricades! Everyone else, take up spears!"

Amid the chaotic pounding of footsteps, Zhang Yang also charged up onto the walls in the blink of an eye. After taking several deep breaths, he had completely regained his composure.

He had guessed right, and he had guessed wrong.

Yesterday, he had speculated that the mysterious enemy had gone to claim the Deer Demon's legacy. That much was beyond doubt. Otherwise, the mysterious enemy could not possibly have Heavy Armored Deer Horn Cavalry under its command.

In fact, of the 67 Captain-Level Soldiers the enemy had now brought, at least one-fifth had probably received the Deer Demon's legacy and rapidly grown stronger afterward. Using war to sustain war was no joke.

What Zhang Yang had gotten wrong was that he had thought the mysterious enemy would not appear until at least this afternoon or tomorrow after receiving the Deer Demon's legacy. Instead, the other side had rushed over through the night. Had yesterday's battle provoked them?

"Activate Fog of War!"

"Order all the recruits in the Training Ground to enter the fortress and take shelter, including that instructor whose name starts with Qin. Give him a weapon and have him join the battle."

Zhang Yang spoke in a deep voice, and an information prompt instantly appeared.

"Will you hire the Training Ground instructor Qin Ge to temporarily participate in this battle? Please select a payment method: one-time payment of 100 energy / 100 energy for each enemy soldier killed."

"What the hell? That frail, weakling body of his?"

Zhang Yang expressed serious doubts, but given their current shortage of soldiers, he chose the one-time payment of 100 energy. He bet that if the fellow managed to kill even one enemy soldier over the entire battle, it would be a stroke of luck.

By then, the Fog of War had already spread out, perfectly covering the entire expanded fortress. The expenditure of 100 energy per minute was well worth it. Looking outward from within the Fog of War was completely unaffected, while those outside trying to look in suffered at least two-thirds visual obstruction.

At that moment, the enemy forces picked up their pace. As the distance closed, Zhang Yang and the others could finally see what their opponents were: Jackalmen standing around 1.8 meters tall, with humanlike bodies that were slightly hunched, yet moving faster than humans.

The weapons they used were basically similar to those wielded by Zhang Yang's soldiers.

"Qin Yidao, test shot!"

"Liu Dali, Sun Goudan, Xu Erhe, get ready! The moment the enemy activates a Level 3 Protection Talisman, shoot it to pieces!"

When the Jackalman soldiers entered a range of 500 meters, Zhang Yang issued the order. They now held the high ground. Counting the natural height of the hill and the height of the fortress itself, they had a drop of nearly 50 meters. Against archers of the same level, that made all the difference.

At Zhang Yang's command, Qin Yidao was the first to draw the Captain-grade Great Bow. A creaking sound that made one's bones ache rang out as he bent the great bow into a full moon. Yet Qin Yidao himself remained calm and composed. The effect of the Red Hawk Battle Rune was obvious at this moment; none of the other Captain-Level Archers could draw the bow to such a degree.

After taking a full second to aim, Qin Yidao abruptly released the bowstring. At the same time, a radiance clung to the Golden Eagle Armor-Piercing Arrow. He had activated the Armor-Piercing Arrow skill as well.

In the blink of an eye, a sonic boom erupted. Five hundred meters away, a Jackalman archer seemed to try to dodge, but he was still a step too slow. He could not see the Golden Eagle Armor-Piercing Arrow at all. The only thing visible was his entire arm and half his shoulder suddenly exploding into a cloud of blood mist.

The might of that arrow seemed no weaker than a high-powered sniper rifle on Earth.

But before Zhang Yang and the others could cheer, a series of thudding explosions rang out. The Jackalman archers had launched a counterattack by following the direction the arrows had come from.

Of course, it was completely meaningless. Ever since the fortress walls had been built yesterday, they had been fitted with two-meter-high wooden crenellations. Though the Jackalman archers were formidable, from such a distance and without using skills, their arrows could not possibly pierce those 50-centimeter-thick barricades.

The Jackalman archers seemed to understand this as well. After firing one volley, they resumed their jog. The Jackalman shield soldiers at the front also raised their shields and accelerated their charge. Their agility and flexibility were probably a whole tier higher than Song Dachui and the others'.

Zhang Yang even felt that they could leap onto the fortress walls without effort.

"Agility specialists? No wonder I hate mad dogs!" Zhang Yang muttered before continuing to issue orders.

"Everyone, be careful. All archers, form groups and focus-fire! Prioritize killing those Captain Archers. Wu Yuan, watch for any lords or heroes among the Jackalmen. Also keep an eye on the other directions. Don't let them circle around and cut off our retreat."

"Boom!"

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The other Captain-Level Archers began locking onto targets one after another. They were all in groups of four, with Qin Yidao and Liu Dali forming one group. This was the strategy they had settled on beforehand. Since their arrows were limited, they would first eliminate the enemy's ranged firepower.

The specific tactic was for one person to fire a test shot first. If it hit, all the better; if it missed, that did not matter, because three allies would immediately provide supporting fire to ensure the kill.

The tactic worked extremely well, especially with the fortress's terrain advantage and the cover provided by the Fog of War.

By the time the Jackalman soldiers reached 400 meters away, three Jackalman Captain Archers had already been killed by concentrated fire!

The white light of the Village Building Order swept over them. The looted demon souls, energy, Fragment of Hope, and so on were unimportant. What mattered was the Golden Eagle Armor-Piercing Arrow—the one officially strengthened by the system.

Zhang Yang immediately took it out and distributed it among the others. He had to admit, this function of the Village Building Order was practically made for using war to sustain war.

The Jackalmen on the other side were truly vicious, though. Even at this point, they still refused to activate their Level 3 Protection Talismans, instead charging straight into the deadly rain of arrows. Clearly, they had experience. They knew that even if a Level 3 Protection Talisman was activated, it could not withstand the powerful shots of Captain-Level Archers, and would merely leave them stunned after being blasted apart.

But that made them nothing more than living targets.

In a mere few seconds, by the time they reached 300 meters away, another four Jackalman Captain Archers had been killed. At that point, the enemy had lost seven Captain Archers, one was gravely wounded, and only four remained.

Just then, clouds of black smoke suddenly rose from all directions and surged toward the Fog of War. Before Zhang Yang and the others could react, the Fog of War had been swallowed up completely. Though the black smoke formed by those imps was blasted to death on the spot by numerous Captain-Level Soldiers the very next second, the Jackalmen had accomplished their goal.

Moreover, the incident had happened too suddenly. By the time everyone reacted, they were facing a downpour of arrows.

After all, the Jackalmen still had 39 Elite Archers among them.

This sudden wave of arrows directly killed three of Zhang Yang's Captain-Level Archers with headshots and critically wounded another. Although the remaining four Jackalman Captain Archers were immediately focus-fired to death by the enraged Qin Yidao and the others, it was still a step too late.

Outside the fortress, all the Jackalman shield soldiers let out chilling howls, and their charging speed suddenly increased. The Captain Shield Soldiers in particular left afterimages where they stood, crossing the 300-meter distance in only a few breaths. Though Wu Yuan was already roaring as he threw wooden spears, he and Song Dachui's group had only five Captain-Level Soldiers among them. The rest were Elite Soldiers, and they were also outnumbered. After two volleys of wooden spears, they had accomplished almost nothing. Wu Yuan barely managed to kill two Jackalmen with two throws, while Zhou Datou killed one. Every other throw missed!

Seeing more than fifty Captain Jackalman Shield Soldiers about to storm the walls, the four-man group of Song Dachui, Wang Mumu, Duan Kuan, and Zhou Datou roared and leaped out, intercepting the enemy head-on.

"Die!"

With a furious roar, Song Dachui swung the iron hammer in his hands, smashing a Jackalman shield soldier at the very front and sending him flying dozens of meters away, shield and body alike. The shield shattered, and the man died!

The result was not surprising. Though they were both Captain-Level Soldiers, these Jackalman shield soldiers were clearly agility specialists, and the Four Berserker Bears completely overpowered them with sheer strength.

"Bang!"

A Jackalman captain suddenly appeared beside Song Dachui. Before he could make a move, however, a tower shield as immense as a mountain slammed into him and sent him flying. Wang Mumu had made his move.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

Blades flashed like layers upon layers of waves crashing together. In an instant, blood sprayed through the air. Duan Kuan was already wielding a blade in each hand, darting like a ghost to Song Dachui's right flank. He killed three in a row, slicing through both men and shields alike.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Three iron spears tore through the air. No matter how agile that Jackalman captain was, he could not outrun the iron spears hurled by Zhou Datou.

"Clang, clang, clang!"

The three iron spears were blocked by shields, and the charge of the three Jackalman captains was halted. But before they could gather strength again, Song Dachui gave a savage grin and swept his enormous iron hammer sideways. The three Jackalman captains were blasted away once more, clearly beyond saving.

Before Song Dachui's move had fully run its course, Wang Mumu had already advanced from the left flank with his shield raised, covering every opening. Duan Kuan followed from the right flank, striking like a viper leaving its den, his blade skirting the edge of danger. Borrowing the force of Song Dachui's violent collision, he kept reaping lives.

This was the Four Berserker Bears. Everything had happened in the blink of an eye. The four of them had all been enhanced and strengthened simultaneously using mountain troll demon souls, giving them more than 50 percent compatibility. Zhang Yang had also invested 5,000 energy into them, which was why their teamwork had reached such a tacit level.

To be honest, if taken individually, each of the four would have had roughly equal odds in a one-on-one fight against a Jackalman captain.

But when the four of them combined, the effect produced by their mutual coordination had exceeded not only Zhang Yang's expectations, but Wu Yuan's as well.