Everyone Was a Master Actor

With the BUFF applied, Andeno felt strength coursing through his entire body. At his command, he charged forward without hesitation, carving a path through the Goblin forces and driving straight at the heart of their formation.

The Goblin King met him head-on, having completely seen through Andeno's intentions.

"The commander abandoned the battle just to defeat me and turn the tide in a short time. Naive, truly naive! Then I'll play with you for a bit!"

The battlefield was instantly split into two parts.

Beneath the open Goblin village, Andeno's fists clashed with the Goblin King's long staff. In the forest, the vast Goblin army and the Rescue Corps fought a battle of wits and courage—the Goblins fought with courage, while the Rescue Corps fought with wits.

Goblins were a race that fought on the ground. Their ability to leap through the trees was entirely the result of the Goblin King's years of training.

Goblins had short legs. Once they learned to jump, marching through forests and across human rooftops became much more convenient.

So never assume that because they were agile in the trees, they were weak on the ground.

Andeno swung his fist at the Goblin King's face. The Goblin King blocked it with its long staff. Though its level was lower than Andeno's, its combined attributes far surpassed his, so it naturally had no fear of him.

The vast majority of the Goblin forces were warriors, with only a few archers. There were no mages or priests—at least, Yang Yu had not seen any. That was why he was confident that the longer the battle dragged on, the greater his advantage would become.

"Priest Number Six, heal Boxer Number Two. Mage Number Three, use [Chain Lightning] and strike the archers positioned too far forward."

The only thing that made Yang Yu feel threatened was the ten Elite Assassin Goblins crawling through the woods. The moment the team showed a weakness, they would seize the opening like scumbags and throw the battle into chaos.

"Warrior Number Seven took an arrow to the knee. Fall back immediately and bandage it!"

He needed to find a way to deal with that assassin group watching them like hawks.

"Mages Number Eight and Number Nine are out of mana. Fall back and rest to recover it. If anyone has mana-restoring herbs, don't hesitate to share them with them."

While directing the team's defense, Yang Yu was also formulating a plan. Before long, a bold scheme took shape in his mind.

It was a simple tactic, but one that had always worked.

Lure the enemy in deep.

"Warriors Number Eight and Number One, you're low on stamina. Come back and rest."

"Mages Number Eleven and Number Fifteen, you're out of mana. Come back and rest."

The adventurers called by number were puzzled. They clearly were not that tired, yet Yang Yu had called them out.

"You really are exhausted. Come back and rest when necessary. Don't force yourselves. That's an order." Yang Yu's attitude was extremely firm.

The adventurers looked at one another. Seeing that those called out had mostly either killed Assassin Goblins or assisted in killing them, they suddenly understood. They immediately pretended to be exhausted and withdrew with a shared understanding.

With those people leaving the field, the situation that had been unfavorable to the Goblins instantly reversed. The Goblins launched a fierce assault, while Yang Yu seriously used the remaining personnel to barely hold back their advance. The battle once again fell into a stalemate.

Yang Yu glanced at the people he had just called down, revealed a troubled expression, and gave them a look before speaking in feigned helplessness.

"No choice. Even though you've only rested for a short while, I can only send you back out. In your condition, you can probably hold on for five or six minutes. If you really can't hold them back after that, I'll join the battle myself."

When he mentioned joining the battle himself, Yang Yu's tone grew noticeably heavier. Everyone nodded and returned to the battlefield while pretending to be exhausted.

Under Yang Yu's fiery command, the battle began to turn around on a small scale again, and the Goblin Assassin Corps gradually became impatient.

A few minutes later, Yang Yu called a weary warrior off the field and took his place.

Taking that as a signal, Mage Number Eleven suddenly fizzled out halfway through casting a spell, his face full of anxiety.

"Oh no, I'm out of mana. I really can't fire off even one more!"

In truth, he still had half his mana left.

"I'll hold on a little longer. Commander, replace someone else first!" After saying that, Warrior Number One, Seka Mens, began panting heavily. Even the hand wielding his spear slowed down. He could barely fight the enemy, but in reality, his stamina was still plentiful. Holding out for another half hour would not have been a problem.

"Ahh! I can't do it anymore, Commander. I request a rest." Warrior Number Eight even deliberately missed and took a Goblin axe blow, wearing an expression that said, "I'm really having such a hard time." In reality, he was the one in the best condition.

Every last one of these guys was a master actor.

At first, Yang Yu had not been sure whether they would understand what he meant. Now, however, he realized he had worried for nothing.

Not only had these teammates understood his intentions perfectly, they had also carried out the plan flawlessly.

Originally, if they had not understood, Yang Yu had planned to forcefully create a gap and expose a weakness. Now, it seemed unnecessary. All that remained was to see whether the other side would fall into the trap.

The Elite Assassin Goblins had been waiting for an opportunity in the trees, ready to cut in at any moment.

The Goblin King and Andeno were locked in an evenly matched battle. The assassins wanted to interfere, but the King's orders were absolute. They had to assist the regular army and kill those insignificant rabble.

What they had not expected was that these humans had not been crushed by the Goblin army in a single assault. On the contrary, their defense was as solid as a fortress. The assassins had no way to intervene and could only fire the occasional hidden arrow from the shadows, their abilities going to waste.

Suddenly, one of Yang Yu's actions caught their attention. He had pulled a warrior who had only recently been replaced back onto the battlefield.

Why was that?

The Elite Assassin Squad remembered that before these adventurers arrived here, they had already gone through several battles. They had even wiped out an Elite Assassin Squad. By the time they arrived, they had been utterly exhausted, yet they had never expected to encounter so many Goblins. They could only be forced to set up a defense and resist with all their might.

After observing from the trees for a while, the Assassin Goblin Squad became convinced of their thoughts.

The adventurers were already running themselves ragged. Even the person directing them had been forced into battle, and every person dragged to the front line looked completely drained. If they leaped in now and cut down the exhausted humans one by one, the opposing line would collapse in an instant.

If they did not act now, when would they?

The Elite Assassin Goblins unanimously approved the proposal and launched their surprise attack. Drawing their daggers, they attacked from all directions at astonishing speed.

"The fish took the bait. What a wonderful fishing trip."

The joy in Yang Yu's heart did not show on his face. Instead, he wore an extremely panicked expression.

When the few people who had been acting saw Yang Yu's flustered expression, they grew a little nervous too, wondering whether they had misunderstood something.

But when they saw the vicious Goblins burst from the trees, they immediately stopped thinking about anything else and focused on dealing with the Elite Assassin Goblins.

Because they had misjudged the adventurers' stamina—or perhaps because they wanted to conserve some strength for their next opponents—the Elite Assassin Goblins were unprepared for the counterattack. They took the adventurers' ultimate moves head-on, one after another, and were blasted to dust.

After dealing with their opponents, the adventurers hurriedly looked toward Yang Yu. They saw him casually kick an Elite Assassin Goblin corpse aside, completely ignoring his bleeding abdomen as he opened a potion and gulped it down. Then, as though nothing had happened, he continued directing the team against the Goblin army.

"Warrior Number Eight, Mages Number Eleven and Number Fifteen—and I won't call out the others by name. What are you standing around for? I know you still have stamina. Learn from Number One. Once you finish, get back into the battle immediately. Do you want the line to collapse?"

Everyone was speechless. So the real best actor had been beside them all along. They were merely extras.