Running Away Is Healthier

"Boom, boom, boom!"

The resounding thrum of massive bowstrings and the whistling of arrows breaking the sound barrier were constant.

Zhang Yang's six Archers, firing at an average rate of one arrow every two seconds, took only three volleys to focus fire and instantly kill nine Berserker Orc Captains.

This was because the opposing Orc Squad had no archers of comparable skill to suppress them.

Both sides rapidly closed the distance to 300 meters, then a fireball suddenly rose into the air, hurtling ferociously towards Zhang Yang and his men.

That's right, the opposing Orc Squad had no archers, but they did have a Mage who could conjure fireballs.

This moment was both startling and unexpected. The fireball was incredibly fast; though not as fast as an arrow breaking the sound barrier, dodging it would essentially require them to break formation.

But one must remember that both sides were charging at extremely high speeds. A hundred meters would take only two or three seconds. If they broke formation like that, they would be hammered by the opposing Orc Squad. Those Orcs were all two and a half to three meters tall, each comparable to the Four Berserker Bears, certainly specializing in strength and defense.

"Prepare to throw!"

Suddenly, Wu Yuan roared, pulling an Imprisonment Spear from his back while still running. Clearly, he intended to break formation and then use the Imprisonment Spear to suppress the enemy.

However, at this moment, Zhang Yang suddenly unleashed his Soul Force Field, touching the fireball in an instant, then rapidly compressing it. The entire Soul Force Field immediately enveloped the fireball tightly.

This was an unprecedented attempt, and an incredibly dangerous one.

His Soul Force Field could cover a hundred meters and was unaffected by flames.

But as the Soul Force Field rapidly compressed, just as it began to affect the fireball and even touch the extremely violent, tearing power within it—Zhang Yang felt his soul begin to burn. His entire being seemed on the verge of non-existence, about to be burned to ashes.

Does this mean action and reaction are equal? Newton truly was a grand archmage.

For some reason, at this moment, Zhang Yang even had the presence of mind to have such a thought.

Yes, he was neither terrified nor afraid. What he had feared before was close-quarters combat, not this mysterious and interesting fireball.

The reason was simple:

If it had been him before he fused with the Mountain Monster Spirit, he might have retreated at the first sign of difficulty.

Moreover, if he hadn't yet grasped the wondrous mysteries of Mana, he wouldn't have dared to be so reckless.

Ultimately, in Zhang Yang's eyes, that fireball, released by the Orc Mage and possessing mysterious destructive power, was merely a different structure of Mana.

Over the past few days, while he hadn't been able to make Mana permanently reside within his body, he had become skilled at using Mana to enchant weapons and equipment.

Could the power that could alter the atoms and internal metallic bonds of a steel longsword really be inferior to a simple fireball?

So, at this moment, even enduring the immense pain of his soul being burned, Zhang Yang focused all his Soul Power, instantly dissecting the fireball's first layer.

Then came the second layer, where he indeed found the familiar traces of Mana.

He didn't know how to describe it, but this was indeed a complete, even beautiful, structure in his eyes since he first encountered Mana.

The structure of Mana!

It was like the positive and negative terminals of a battery, gasoline and a spark plug, the 0s and 1s in the data world.

Perhaps this structure was still crude, but what did it matter? At least this structure could increase the utilization rate of Mana, this new energy source, rather than Zhang Yang having to use Mana for things only primitives would do.

Zhang Yang failed to decipher this Mana structure, but he still succeeded, because he only needed to ensure this fireball didn't land on his soldiers' heads.

To be honest, it was too simple.

Destroying the Mana structure, the Soul Force Field instantly withdrew. Almost simultaneously, this head-sized fireball violently exploded about seventy or eighty meters above the ground, ninety-eight meters in a straight line from Zhang Yang!

And only 0.01 seconds had passed at this point.

The entire battlefield seemed to erupt with a clap of thunder, as if a sun had suddenly fallen. From mid-air to the ground, everything became a burning, mushroom-shaped cloud of flames. The enormous shockwave was like an eighteen-level hurricane, whipping up sand and stones, directly causing both friend and foe, who were charging, to stop in their tracks.

The power of this fireball was too immense, comparable to a man-portable thermobaric bomb.

Well, Zhang Yang didn't actually know what a man-portable thermobaric bomb's power looked like, but that didn't stop him from using the comparison. He simply couldn't imagine the consequences if this fireball had landed on them. Even if Wu Yuan and the others had dispersed, they probably wouldn't have escaped the damage radius.

"Is this the mysterious power of a Mage? It's simply terrifying!"

Wu Yuan, a quasi-hero, muttered to himself, his face covered in dirt and filled with shock.

The opposing Orc Squad seemed equally shocked and terrified, looking utterly disbelieving.

"Damn it! What are you standing around for? Charge them!"

At this moment, Zhang Yang was the first to snap out of it, shouting loudly. He suddenly realized that the fireball the Orc Mage had initially conjured probably didn't have such immense power. Its current intensity was entirely due to the Mana structure he had casually modified.

This was truly bad luck. If it scared away his own soldiers' morale, that would be a real travesty!

Fortunately, Wu Yuan and the others were elites among elites. Their shock and daze lasted only for a brief moment. They then roared and charged forward, their Imprisonment Spears flying from their hands. Most of them focused fire on the Orc Mage who had conjured the fireball, which showed how badly they had been frightened.

If they were still so affected, the opposing Orc Squad was even more bewildered, especially that Orc Mage. So, they were in for it. Eighteen Imprisonment Spears, in the first volley, pierced the Orc Mage into a pincushion, including two Orc Shield Warriors who tried to protect him. Their shields shattered, their defenses broke, and they were instantly killed!

Before they could even react, the second wave of eighteen Imprisonment Spears whistled in, instantly felling over a dozen Orcs. They weren't killed outright; these Orcs had thick scales on their bodies. Even with the sharpness of the Imprisonment Spears, they could only penetrate a dozen centimeters or so. It would take at least three Imprisonment Spears to kill one instantly.

But the problem was that Imprisonment Spears came with an Imprisonment Spell, so these Orcs were instantly immobilized.

At this point, the six Archers who had stopped behind them coordinated perfectly. They were capable of hitting fast-moving targets. Now that the targets were fixed, becoming stationary targets, what else was there to say?

Creeeeak, the Captain-grade Great Bows were drawn to their absolute maximum, and their Armor-Piercing Arrow skills were instantly unleashed!

"Whoosh!"

A shockwave erupted. In an instant, the heads of the six opposing Berserker Orc Captains exploded like fireworks blooming across the sky.

But this was only the beginning. Just one second later, Wu Yuan and the others' third volley of Imprisonment Spears shattered through the air.

Following that, another round from the six Archers, and it was over.

A powerful elite Orc Squad, consisting of one Orc Mage, 15 Berserker Orc Captains, and 14 Orc Shield Warriors, was completely annihilated in these brief few seconds!

Such formidable combat power—

Wait, what does combat power have to do with it? There was still over a hundred meters between the two sides.

This was clearly the overwhelming effect brought about by more advanced, more powerful weapons.

"Charge! Wipe out that Orc Squad!"

Zhang Yang's mind was exceptionally clear at this moment. It had nothing to do with being happy; he understood his own strengths and weaknesses. Nothing was invincible forever. After this battle, the Orcs would understand their tactics and might even figure out why that fireball suddenly exploded. By then, these Orcs wouldn't be harvested as easily as cutting wheat.

So, if they didn't seize the moment to expand their gains while the enemy was still bewildered, what were they waiting for?!

Wu Yuan and the others didn't understand Zhang Yang's thoughts, or perhaps they couldn't conceive of things on that level. But this didn't affect the exhilarating feeling they had at the moment. My goodness, are the enemies all noobs? They're so easy to kill, and my greatsword hasn't even been unsheathed yet, wahahaha!

So, they screamed and charged forward, heading straight for the second Orc Squad 300 meters away.

The other side was also charging forward, probably because their neural reflex arc hadn't yet recovered from the sudden state of the first Orc Squad being completely wiped out.

One second later, they suddenly stopped and began to form a shield formation.

Further away, the large Orc army, which was besieging Jackalman Castle, seemed to have erupted into chaos. At least 130 to 140 Orc soldiers were pulled from the siege formation and, led by a tall, imposing Orc Hero, began to move towards them as reinforcements. That reaction was truly fast.

Of course, Zhang Yang's reaction was even faster!

"Retreat!"

Now that they'd made their grand display, when else would they run?

The moment they turned around, the second Orc Squad immediately roared in fury and began a wild pursuit, charging with all their might!

Their speed was astonishing! They had clearly activated some kind of skill.

Seeing this scene when he looked back, Zhang Yang immediately bellowed.

"Stop! Kill them!"

Wu Yuan and the eighteen soldiers immediately turned around and unleashed a volley of Imprisonment Spears, rendering the opposing Orc Squad instantly helpless!

Next, the six Archers followed up.

Boom boom boom!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

Two rounds of Golden Eagle Armor-Piercing Arrows and two rounds of Imprisonment Spears, and there were fewer than ten living Orc soldiers left.

But even so, these Orc soldiers still charged forward, yelling and screaming. Their courage was commendable.

But at this point, could they be indulged?

"Kill them!"

With a loud roar, Wu Yuan took the lead, accelerating his charge. He blasted the head of one Berserker Orc Captain with a single spear thrust, while the seventeen soldiers behind him descended like fierce tigers from the mountains, cutting down the remaining seven Berserker Orc Captains as easily as slicing melons.

It goes without saying, it was three against one. Did they have no shame?

After picking up most of the Imprisonment Spears, everyone made a quick escape without Zhang Yang even needing to give the order.

As for the Orc Squad that was preparing to flank them, sorry, it's not that we didn't want to wipe you out, but you moved too slowly. So, see you on the battlefield next time!