Chapter 83: Flash

Time did not allow Xia Duo to overthink; the only thing he could think of right now was—he immediately took out his hand crossbow, leaned forward a bit, and shouted: "Prioritize attacking the Orc in front of Captain Jibu."

While speaking, he pulled the trigger, and with a soft "puff" sound, a crossbow bolt flew out, striking the Orc right in the chest; the mere leather armor could not stop the bolt from sinking in.

Afterward, the Orc let out a wild roar, followed by a moment of mental daze, and the spearmen behind Jibu seized this opportunity in time; two Long Spears struck the Orc's neck, and another hit the Orc's eye socket.

The intense pain caused it to lose its combat effectiveness on the spot, wailing in agony while clutching its eye, but in reality, the wound on its neck was even more fatal.

Foul-smelling blood gushed out; even with the blessing of a mysterious Spell, this Orc could only wait for death in silence.

But Xia Duo's side would not let any opportunity slip by; before other Orcs could rescue it, another round of spear thrusts followed, and this time, the Orc's neck was completely shredded.

It was unlikely anyone could save it now!

The Orc Xia Duo chose, based on his observation and judgment, appeared to be a commander-like figure, and Xia Duo discovered that this Orc retained the most sanity.

Therefore, when choosing a target to attack, he locked onto it first.

Following this, the other Orcs became slightly more cautious, but they still did not retreat; Xia Duo could only look for opportunities again, but with one Orc reduced, the pressure on the team members had eased quite a bit.

Xia Duo had the team members with less damaged shields help those with more heavily damaged shields bear more of the burden, while instructing: "I will count 3, 2, 1, and I will cast a Flash Spell to disrupt the Orcs; the front row, take care not to be hit by friendly fire, everyone else, wait for an opportunity to attack, do you understand?"

"Understood."

"3——2——1!"

After saying this, Xia Duo released the Flash, a variant modified from Light; a tiny point of light appeared before an Orc, followed by a sudden burst of intense radiance.

When Xia Duo was looking up Orc information in the Library, he saw a book mention that Orcs are photophobic; even under the midday sun, they would feel very uncomfortable and unable to see.

It was currently an overcast day, and they were in the forest, so Xia Duo could only artificially create a moment of intense light; after casting the Spell, Xia Duo closed his eyes, and while in the Spellcasting state, he locked onto his target through the different Magic Net signatures of each creature.

The moment the Spell erupted, Xia Duo also pulled the trigger of his hand crossbow.

Ding—

A very crisp sound; Xia Duo opened his eyes and saw the bolt bounce off the Orc's Shihu the moment it struck, but to his pleasant surprise, the Orc was indeed acting like it had been blinded, waving its Shihu around wildly.

The previous Flash even affected other Orcs, causing their attacks to slow down as well, and this delay allowed them to be immediately struck by the spearmen.

As for the Orc Xia Duo had attacked earlier, after being dazzled, it became extremely manic and had almost lost its mind; although it was still instinctively waving its Shihu, the actual threat was far less than before.

Xia Duo knew now was not the time to be frugal; he quickly pulled the String, fired another bolt, and it struck the manic Orc's lower limb; the moment it hit, the paralytic poison began to take effect.

A few seconds later, the Orc's movements began to slow down, followed by a round of spear thrusts that directly caused it to lose its combat effectiveness.

Thus, two of the nine Orcs had lost their combat effectiveness, while the other seven had either been corroded by acid, struck by Long Spears, or had previously stepped into traps.

With varying degrees of injury, taking them down was only a matter of time; only then did Xia Duo breathe a slight sigh of relief.

However, as long as one Orc was still alive on the battlefield, one could not truly relax.

"Captain Jibu, how are the shields? Can they still hold up?" Xia Duo asked.

"The situation isn't great, but they should still be able to hold up. Mage Xia Duo, can that Spell be used again?"

"It can be used again; you all go ahead and provoke them to attract their attention."

Having just been blinded, they would likely be on guard now; Xia Duo had not learned a true Flash, it was just a variant Spell deduced from Light, and it could not be fully cast instantly.

Before the intense light erupted, there would be a small point of light, which easily aroused vigilance.

Consequently, the front-row team members began to provoke them in broken Orcish; generally speaking, by this stage of the battle, Orcs would no longer flee.

However, the Orcs Xia Duo and his group had encountered that would flee were not just one or two; the provocation was merely to incite the Orcs' rage and make them lose their sanity to the greatest extent.

Whether an Orc has sanity or not, these are two completely different creatures.

"Cowards!"

"Idiots!"

The sounds of broken insults made the Orcs' rage soar, but they still maintained a sliver of sanity, though this sanity was used entirely for fighting.

Time passed second by second, and Xia Duo felt there was an opportunity, so he used the same trick again, "blinding" another Orc and sending it to its grave.

The further reduction of the Orcs lowered the pressure on the front row once more.

Just like that, when the last Orc fell, Xia Duo finally let out a long sigh of relief and instructed:

"Dien, take Laosuotou to cut off all the Orc heads and then count the loot; Yidimu, go and dig out all the swords in the traps."

Afterward, Xia Duo looked at Sami again, "Thank you for your support this time; otherwise, we would have had to pay a huge price to deal with these elite Orcs."

"Don't mention it, we are allies."

Xia Duo nodded and asked again, "Are you going to go deeper into the forest next? This group of Orcs doesn't look like an isolated case; they seem to be gathering together."

"Damn Orcs!" Sami cursed, "I want to continue deeper and kill as many as possible; what about you?"

Xia Duo really wanted to say that while Orc heads are good, one shouldn't be too greedy; he knew that turning in Orc heads could not only earn money, but there might also be some hidden benefits within the Mage Tower.

However, without knowing the specific details, Xia Duo felt it wasn't worth risking his life for it.

"I don't think we need to go any deeper into the forest; we should just wait out the time before the heavy snow arrives, don't you think?"

Hearing this, Sami also recalled his initial thoughts when he was summoned, which were just to get by as much as possible—not seeking merit, but seeking survival; when did his mindset change?

Was it the impassioned speech by that Official Mage when leaving the Mage Tower? Or was it witnessing the miserable state of the villagers when the Orcs passed through? Or perhaps a sense of contempt that arose during the process of clearing out the Orcs?

"Xia Duo, you're right; we really don't need to go any deeper into the forest." Sami's attitude changed quite quickly.

Just as the two were talking, Dien had already come over, "Xia Duo, Sami, those nine Orcs didn't carry anything valuable, only one unused Wolf Tooth Amulet."