"My shooting accuracy still needed improvement."
Bai Xiaowen hunched over as he ran, silently reviewing his mistakes.
"I aimed the first arrow at the heart, but it hit the stomach. The second arrow hit the heart purely by luck—I hadn't even aimed!"
Bai Xiaowen's Shooting Specialty was currently Advanced Level 1, meaning he could use ranged weapons fairly skillfully. But he was still far from being able to hit whatever he aimed at every time.
Ralph had sent him to serve as bait and handle the dirty, exhausting work, but Bai Xiaowen was not angry. On the contrary, after learning that the enemy camp concealed a female Elven Sword Dancer who could rival Ralph—or even surpass him slightly—Bai Xiaowen had been eager to be the bait.
"Ralph, it won't be so easy for you to take the lion's share of the credit."
Bai Xiaowen ran only thirty meters or so before stopping beneath a large tree.
A length of vine hung from the tree's branches. Bai Xiaowen grabbed it with both hands and climbed up hand over hand. In just a few moves, he was up in the tree and coiled the vine away.
Preparing that length of vine had taken Bai Xiaowen nearly an hour.
Before long, two Imperial Regular Army soldiers arrived beneath the tree with several auxiliary soldiers. Without pausing, they spread out through the forest ahead and searched everywhere for Bai Xiaowen's trail.
After they had gone some distance away, Bai Xiaowen slid down the vine and landed soundlessly.
Back in the camp, Ralph and Loga had already begun fighting Elliott, the Imperial envoy, and his guard squad.
The two Viking warriors were exceptionally powerful. Ralph's two-handed greatsword whirled through the crowd, kicking up a Death Spiral, while Loga's sword and shield covered his openings. Corpses of Imperial Army auxiliary soldiers littered the ground around them.
However, the envoy's guards were no pushovers either.
Though they realized they had fallen for a lure-the-enemy tactic, the two remaining Imperial Regular Army soldiers did not panic. They rushed forward, loudly ordering the auxiliary soldiers to engage. Beside Elliott, the cloaked female elf Lyra Redleaf spun her hands and drew two exquisitely crafted daggers. With a quick sidestep, she lunged at Loga.
The daggers slashed horizontally and vertically!
A cross-shaped strike left a bloody X-shaped wound across Loga's chest, cutting his Life Value by more than 20 points!
"Not good!"
Loga roared in pain, and Ralph also realized something was wrong. He had not expected this guard squad to conceal such a formidable opponent in addition to the four Imperial Regular Army soldiers.
But by now, there was no retreat.
"For the Northern Frontier!"
"For freedom!"
The two Viking warriors roared their slogans. Ralph unleashed a Heavy Cleave, killing an Imperial archer with a single blow! The other Imperial soldiers hurriedly backed away as the two men attacked the Elven Sword Dancer from front and rear.
Though she was an Elite Class, Lyra Redleaf still felt enormous pressure under the seamless coordination of the two close companions.
Elliott, the envoy, had gone pale with fright. Seeing that the situation had turned unfavorable, he naturally gave the order.
"Run!"
This camp was only thirty li from Elu City. As long as they entered the Elu City Guard patrol zone, they would be safe. The lord of Elu City would never dare risk angering the Empire by letting an envoy die within Elu City territory.
Wave after wave of attacks had left Elliott terrified, and he instinctively wanted to find a safe haven.
"Coward!" Lyra Redleaf cursed angrily. Under Ralph and Loga's combined assault, she could only rely on her nimble footwork to evade, unable to bring her strength into play at all. If Elliott had shown even a little courage and sent his Shield Armor Warrior to assist her, they could have held them off. Once the search party returned, these two ambushers would be the ones fleeing!
Seeing his target trying to escape, Ralph naturally refused to allow it. Abandoning the female elf, he charged forward and cut down an auxiliary soldier beside Elliott with one strike. The man's head flew more than two meters into the air before rolling to Elliott's feet.
That bloody beheading finally erased Elliott's last trace of hesitation. He shouted, "Lyra Redleaf, hold off these two rebels while I go to Elu City and gather reinforcements!"
Lyra Redleaf exhaled, kicked twice against the rock wall, and vaulted over Ralph's head like an acrobat. She landed in front of him, her twin daggers whirling as they left two deep wounds on Ralph's body.
Ralph, disadvantaged in agility, had no way to ignore the female elf and pursue the envoy. He could only turn and fight her.
Loga rushed over to help. The two planned to deal with this elf first, then chase down Elliott.
Elliott and the only remaining Imperial Army Shield Armor Warrior mounted their horses under the cover of several auxiliary soldiers and galloped swiftly toward Elu City.
After evading the search party, Bai Xiaowen did not go watch the frontal battle. Instead, he headed back and strung a tripwire across the only path between the camp and Elu City, cheerfully preparing to pick up kills.
"After I voluntarily acted as bait and drew away nearly half of the Imperial Army's forces, Ralph and Loga launched a sudden attack. Their strength was roughly equal to the Empire's remaining forces, provided that the Sword Dancer Lyra Redleaf joined the battle."
"Imperial envoy Elliott is worried about his situation and fears a third wave of ambushers. He will definitely conclude that the camp is no longer safe and flee back to Elu City!"
"The fastest way is naturally on horseback. And that powerful Sword Dancer will definitely stay behind to hold off Ralph, the Champion Swordsman. That makes what follows quite clear... There can be no more than three people coming from the camp, one of whom is Imperial envoy Elliott, along with one or two Imperial Regular Army soldiers!"
Bai Xiaowen's mind worked at an incredible speed, nearly comparable to a top-of-the-line computer. He had already thought all this through while luring the enemy away. During the boring wait, he had even set parameters such as horse speed and route, calculating several possible times when Elliott might appear.
"Hmm, they're here." Bai Xiaowen crouched in the shadows to the side and took out the White Birch Hard Bow.
Clop, clop, clop.
Urgent hoofbeats rang out. The two riders, almost side by side, slammed directly into the tripwire! Even the large rocks anchoring the vine were dragged several meters away by the powerful impact.
The riders were flung more than ten meters like pebbles, tumbling across the ground.
An accident like that would probably have left an ordinary person crippled for life. Even though Elliott and the Imperial Regular Army soldier were stronger than ordinary people, they had both been knocked unconscious.
Bai Xiaowen did not approach. Instead, he immediately nocked an arrow and drew his bow.
"Villains die from talking too much."
Bai Xiaowen muttered, then cleanly loosed his arrows, turning the two men on the ground into pincushions. At close range against stationary targets, Bai Xiaowen was still quite accurate.
System Messages: "You killed Imperial Army Shield Armor Warrior Skola." "You killed Imperial envoy Baron Elliott Olisifer." "Side Quest: New Mission completed. Completion Rating: C (Pass)." "Your reputation with the Northern Frontier Resistance Army has greatly increased. Current Reputation Level: Revered." "Your reputation with the Imperial Expeditionary Army has greatly decreased. Current Reputation Level: Hatred." "Special Notice: Lord Glandis's Affection Level toward you has greatly decreased. Current Affection Level: Hatred."
My name is Skola, an Imperial Army Shield Armor Warrior. I just got killed. Never mind that I never showed my face—only getting a name after dying, is there anyone more miserable than me? Please give me a hundred tons of recommendation votes to comfort my wounded heart.
P.S. Thanks to [Can't You Update Faster] for the reward! Thanks to [Bond—No Rift] for the reward!
Before you continue