Ambush Battle

The rallying power of the God of Justice's church was truly formidable; many stranded Adventurers and believers would answer their call to fight together.

However, what Anse worried about was not Land and his group.

His gaze swept over the crowded, chaotic mass of people on the bridge and landed on the Flame Fist Fortress. The gate remained motionless, showing no sign of opening.

The worst-case scenario had unfolded!

The Flame Fist Soldiers on the walls were on high alert, with ballistae and catapults ready, but their orders were to ensure the fortress remained secure.

If they opened the gate now, the Underdark Creatures would bite at the heels of the refugees and storm the fortress, with unimaginable consequences.

Anse looked at Priest Berg. "You go first; we will stay behind to intercept."

He knew someone had to provide cover. As long as Land and his group reached the bridge first, they could use the narrow terrain to hold off the enemy, fighting while retreating until they reached the city walls, where they would receive ranged support from the Flame Fist Soldiers.

If the Duergar Slaves reached the bridge first, the entire caravan might be overtaken.

Berg understood the situation as well. He pointed to four young Priests. "You stay and help."

"Yes..." The four Priests decisively grabbed their bows and arrows and broke away from the caravan.

Seeing this, Brat's eyes lit up. He trotted over to the supply wagon, grabbed a longbow, a quiver of arrows, and a shield. "I'm borrowing these; I'll return them later."

He knew how to use a bow, though he wasn't particularly skilled.

Berg patted Anse on the arm and gave him a deep look, but in the end, he said nothing, urging the caravan to depart quickly.

Anse scanned the surroundings and pointed to the watchtower at the head of the bridge. "We're going up there."

"Right..."

The group quickly climbed to the top and watched the approaching swarm of monsters from afar.

In just this short time, Land's team had lost many more people; someone fell almost every second.

Anse placed six Sweet Berries into his inner pocket, but he noticed his palms were slightly warm and his heart was pounding—not from nervousness, but from excitement. His state of mind was better than ever.

"They're here."

The intersection was only a few hundred meters from the bridge, and in just a few dozen seconds, the crowd was less than two hundred meters away.

Finn drew his bow and nocked an arrow, aiming at an angle toward the sky. With a whoosh, the arrow traced a parabolic arc, plunging into the monster swarm behind the crowd. It struck down an Orc, triggering a minor commotion.

As a Ranger, two hundred meters was within his effective range, though his accuracy was lacking. However, with the monsters bunched together, he didn't have to worry about missing.

Finn fired continuously, indeed relieving some of the pressure on Land and his group.

However, Land and his people were fighting while retreating, which hindered their speed, and many Duergar Slaves were running ahead of them. If it weren't for the large number of civilians drawing the monsters' attention, monsters might have already reached the bridge.

"Focus fire on the ones in front; don't let them get on the bridge first," Anse commanded.

"Understood."

By now, the closest monsters were less than a hundred meters from the bridge head. Brat and the Priests also began drawing their bows to intercept, though their archery was mediocre and their accuracy was low.

"Hoo—"

Anse took a deep breath and focused his mind. Magic surged through his body, his long hair stirred without a breeze, and his skin shimmered with a faint metallic luster.

"Magic Missile!"

Three Glimmering Missiles fanned out, whistling through the air in eerie, unpredictable trajectories before striking three Goblinoids in the front with precision.

A faint boom echoed through the air as the three Goblinoids were knocked flat, tripping up even more monsters in their wake.

Casting the spell again, Anse immediately noticed the difference.

Channeling magic was effortless, his casting speed was faster, his guidance was precise, and the range was significantly longer than expected.

Under the enhancement of the "Spell Sniper" feat, the base range of Magic Missile was 180 feet (approx. 54 meters), but the range just now had exceeded 70 meters. He had felt he could hit them, so he cast it early, and the result proved him right.

He surmised it had to do with the increase in his primary attribute, Charisma. While it seemed to have only increased by one point, the actual improvement was conservatively over 35%.

Moreover, Charisma didn't just affect magic power, spell Saving Throws, and Attribute Checks; its boost to a Sorcerer was comprehensive.

"Shoo, shoo, shoo..."

Finn and the others stood on high ground, veins bulging on their faces as arrow after arrow vanished from their bowstrings.

The goal now wasn't to kill, but simply to hinder the monsters' advance.

Only a dozen people remained in Land's group. Seeing that they had reinforcements, joy appeared in everyone's eyes, and they couldn't help but quicken their pace.

"Magic Missile!"

Anse's Draconic language was sonorous and powerful, carrying a metallic hardness. Every two seconds or so, a wave of missiles slammed into the monster swarm.

His mind was exceptionally clear. He targeted whoever approached the bridge head, occasionally firing a few Magic Missiles into the thick of the swarm to create chaos, striving to ensure every missile achieved maximum effect.

After six consecutive Magic Missiles, even he felt a bit dizzy.

Attacks spread out were difficult to use for killing, but their delaying effect was excellent. Deterred by this, the monsters in the front ranks slowed their pace involuntarily, indirectly hindering the pursuit.

Land and his group showed signs of breaking free from the enemy, now only a few dozen meters from the bridge head.

However, for Anse and his group, this distance was becoming dangerous. There were archers among the Goblins who had begun to retaliate, and arrows occasionally struck the watchtower.

"Fall back, group up, take the rooftops, move!"

Anse had no intention of dying young. As soon as he finished speaking, he turned and took a running leap, jumping from the watchtower to the roof behind it, then scrambling up onto the next.

The others were stunned for a moment before following suit. The Priests retreated first, followed by Finn and Brat.

But the support could not stop. Once Anse found his footing, he turned and unleashed two Sorcerous Bursts—Thunderclap, using the sonic shock to stun a wave of enemies.

Looking down from above, the area within dozens of meters in front of the bridgehead was a sea of black. Monsters and humans were converging on this single point, and Land and the others were caught in the crush.

Suddenly, Land broke away from the group, raised his shield, and charged headlong into the fray. He sent dozens of monsters flying, seized the bridgehead, and turned to hold the line.

Zahir the Paladin acted as the arrowhead, helping his teammates carve out a path.

Seeing this, the four Priests immediately slipped down from the rooftops to assist Land in defending the bridgehead.

Brat watched Land and Zahir fall into a bitter struggle. He hesitated for a moment, but did not jump down to help.

He stood in front of Roland with his shield in his left hand, blocking several arrows in quick succession. "You go, I'll protect you!"

Anse understood. He stopped retreating and stood his ground, focusing on his spellcasting.

"Sorcerous Burst—Thunderclap!"

One shot after another.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The Flying Dragon Bridge seemed to be caught in a thunderstorm. The thunderous explosions, occurring almost every half-second, drew the eyes of everyone nearby.

The occasional Chain Burst sent towering Orcs flying. The leading monsters were struck with fear, their steps faltering, which triggered a wave of trampling and chaos.

He had forcibly carved out a vacuum path for the humans using nothing but Zero-Ring Spells!

He didn't kill many enemies directly—only scattered experience notifications appeared—but the suppression effect was absolute.

The price was mental overload; his head throbbed, and two streams of blood trickled from his nostrils.

"Watch out—"

A shrill scream and several warnings reached Anse's ears simultaneously. He swallowed the second half of his incantation, forced himself to endure the magical backlash, and ducked down to dodge.

"Bang!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the shield in Brat's hand shatter like glass. Brat's body was struck as if by a siege ram; he was sent flying several meters before crashing straight through a roof and disappearing from sight.

"Brat!"

Anse gritted his teeth, his blood boiling, his emotions impossible to describe.

He lay against the ridge of the roof and peeked over. Zahir and the others were already making their way onto the bridge, while the Priests were throwing debris and furniture from the surrounding houses at the monsters to build barricades.

"He's alive."

Relieved, he bent down and jumped to the next roof, peering down through the hole:

Brat was struggling to stand. A Javelin, with only its head remaining, was embedded in the breastplate of his armor. There was no visible bleeding, but blood was constantly spilling from his facial orifices.

Anse was overjoyed and quickly flipped down to reach him.

Brat's face was flushed red, blood leaking from his mouth and nose. He couldn't speak, but his eyes lit up with surprise when they landed on Anse.

"Don't move."

Anse propped up Brat's head with his leg, pulled the Healing Potion from his robes, and poured the entire bottle into his mouth.

There was no time to check the effects. After inspecting the injury, he realized the Javelin had been barely stopped by the breastplate; the external wounds were minor, but the internal damage was severe.

"Take this off first." He drew a dagger from his pack, cut the straps, undid the buckles, and somewhat roughly stripped off the breastplate.

This type of armor was heavy and prone to pressing against fractured areas, causing secondary injury, and it was too heavy for him to carry Brat while wearing it.

"Let's go, we can't delay."

He had just helped Brat up when, with a loud clang, the door was kicked open from the outside.