Chapter 9: Fishing in Troubled Waters
The battlefield was deathly silent.
At some unknown moment, the Fascist Western Expeditionary Corps had ceased its relentless harassment of West Lin Island. Around the island, apart from the occasional soaring of the Fierce Condor Knights, all was quiet.
Throughout the day, the proud sun slowly traversed the sky from east to west, gradually sinking into the clouds. The lush, broad leaves of the tropical rainforest stretched out vigorously, betraying no hint of the impending battle poised to erupt at any moment.
Out of sight from West Lin Island, Dahaino and the command post had relocated behind a gentle hill on the southern bank of the Lion River. The locals simply called this hill "Liuda Pit," named so because of the large pit left behind by a lime kiln behind the hill. The hill's absolute altitude was 102 meters, the highest relative altitude in the vicinity.
As the command post settled down, a series of orders were dispatched. Meanwhile, four thousand-strong teams that had just landed silently slipped into their respective positions, coordinating with the three thousand-strong teams that had arrived earlier.
Although the beastman soldiers were the least versed in strategy, everyone knew they were lying in ambush, preparing to wipe out the mercenary group that had cost them over 600 soldiers on a small island. It was even known that this mercenary group was one of the only five A-level mercenary groups across the continent.
Along with the troop deployment orders came a reward edict:
Anyone who captures Amy, Da Qingshan, Chi Aotian, or Horns alive will receive 10,000 gold coins, a viscount title, and the "Warrior of the Gods" honor. Anyone who kills any of these four will receive 5,000 gold coins, a baron title, and the "Invincible Warrior" honor.
In the Fascist continent, the titles of baron, viscount, and count had only emerged in the last decade, and most low-ranking officers and soldiers didn't yet understand the many benefits these titles brought. However, everyone knew what 10,000 gold coins could do, and they were even more aware of the "Warrior of the Gods" title, awarded only nine times in the past century, each recipient becoming a legendary figure in Fascist history and an idol revered by every soldier.
Titles, substantial rewards, and the supreme honor of being a brave warrior spread rapidly throughout the Western Expeditionary Corps like an undercurrent, as soldiers exchanged whispers and feigned indifference, gradually building up the will to fight.
A small fleet quietly set off from the northern shore of West Lin Island, around ten soldiers in each boat, their long swords gleaming brightly in the night. The tide had started to rise, and sitting in the boats, one could distinctly feel the ocean's force.
Each soldier pressed their long sword against their knees, rowing rhythmically with short oars in hand, the low chants accompanying their strokes as over twenty small boats swiftly headed for the opposite bank of the river.
Suddenly, a loud voice rang out from the middle of the river: "There's an ambush on the opposite bank, retreat quickly—" A short figure leaped to their feet on the boat, and all the small boats frantically turned around, the sound of oars splashing in the water filled the air. From the trees on the far bank, dozens of small boats were launched in swift pursuit.
All but one of the small boats quickly reached the shore, and the Fascist boats closed in rapidly, 50 meters, 30 meters, 20 meters away. Suddenly, a dwarf stood up on one of the boats, raising a blue battle axe from below the deck. With a loud roar, he hurled the axe, which sliced through the air in a blue arc, striking the nearest boat. The heads of two half-beast soldiers were cleanly severed, their blood spurting into the air before their bodies toppled into the water. The battle axe, spinning with a strange trajectory, returned to the dwarf's hand, only to be thrown again. A few wolf soldiers attempted to block it with small shields and long swords, but the immense force rendered these defenses useless, sending more bodies into the river.
As the blue battle axe cleaved through the night for the third time, all the Fascist soldiers desperately rowed their boats towards the northern bank of the Lion River, some even forced to jump into the water.
Both sides of the Lion River returned to silence, as if nothing had happened.
On the ninth night, the small fleet from West Lin Island set out again, but this time from the southern shore of the island. They silently circled half of the island before rowing upstream for about 1000 meters, gradually approaching the northern bank of the Lion River. As they neared the shore, a swordsman stood up, echoing the same shout: "There's an ambush on the opposite bank, retreat quickly—"
The mercenary fleet rode the current downstream, prompting more boats to emerge from the opposite bank, with one group flanking them from downstream. As the distance closed, 500 meters, 450 meters, 400 meters, a shout of "Fire" erupted, and over fifty prairie elves stood up on the leading mercenary boat. Despite the 400-meter range, even the prairie elves couldn't shoot directly at such distance, but a volley of arrows arched into the sky before raining down. The speed of the boats combined with the arrow's velocity quickly closed the gap between them, covering the leading Fascist boats. Dozens of centaur and wolf soldiers were struck by the falling arrows. The centaur soldiers on the opposite side also launched their arrows skyward, but the swift downstream movement of the mercenary boats caused the arrows to land behind them.
The centaur archers quickly adjusted their aim, and the second wave of arrows soared into the sky. With various chants resonating, yellow earth shields, white holy shields, and dark red dark shields appeared on different boats, some displaying known protective attributes. The mercenary group's few magic swordsmen expended minimal magic to conjure layer upon layer of magical shields.
As the arrows fell, they were deflected by the magical shields, losing their force.