Chapter 18: Set Off! Luring and Ambush!

Hart Gelin pulled out the longsword at his waist at the right moment, pointed it toward the west, and let out a roar.

"All units! Prepare to set off!"

"Roar!"

Amidst the earth-shaking roars, this team, with its complex composition but unprecedentedly unified goal, began to move slowly.

Fula stood behind Roko, her small hands tightly gripping a small refined steel dagger Roko had given her a few days ago, her palms covered in sweat.

The mountain-shaking shouts just now had made her little face turn somewhat pale, and her body couldn't help but tremble slightly.

But when she raised her head and saw Roko's calm and powerful back on the high platform, the fear in her heart was replaced by an inexplicable courage.

She also wanted to fight.

For the Master.

And to prove that she was not a burden who only knew how to hide in the back.

The team left the temporary camp and marched toward the river valley in the west.

Twenty Knight Reservists served as the vanguard and flanks.

Protecting the somewhat chaotic soldiers, bandits, and serfs in the middle.

On the march, the atmosphere was oppressive and tense.

Except for the rhythmic footsteps of the Knights and the sound of armor rubbing, almost no other noise could be heard.

Everyone was silently accumulating strength to deal with the coming war.

Roko did not move with the main force.

Shortly after the team set off, he took Fula and the three strongest Knight guards Hart had specifically left behind, and quietly detached from the team.

He chose a more concealed route, circling toward a hill with higher terrain on the side of the river valley.

The view here was wide, and the entire entrance to the river valley and the large area in front could be seen at a glance.

"Young Master, everything is arranged."

The Knight guard Luoen reported in a low voice.

"Bake has already led fifty selected bandits and a few radical serfs to the entrance of the river valley from the front."

"According to your instructions, they will take the initiative to provoke, attracting the main force of the Goblins out of their nest as much as possible."

Roko nodded, his gaze cast toward the distant river valley.

The terrain there was treacherous, the entrance narrow, while the interior was relatively open.

If they attacked head-on, they would surely pay a heavy price.

His plan was very simple.

Use the Goblins' greed, impulsiveness, and lack of discipline as a weakness to lure them out.

Then, wipe them out in one go.

"What about Hart's side?"

"Captain Hart has already led the main force and is well-hidden at the designated ambush site."

"The Knights form a cone formation as the core of the assault."

"The remaining soldiers and serfs are distributed on both sides, responsible for flanking and interception."

Luoen reported in detail.

Roko gave a hum and said no more.

He took out a monocular telescope and carefully observed the movement in the distance.

Fula stayed quietly behind him, her small body tense.

Her silver-gray cat ears stood up, vigilantly catching any sound around them.

Her gaze occasionally glanced at Roko's steady profile, as if she could gain a bit of courage just by looking at him.

Time passed bit by bit.

The wind on the hill grew stronger, blowing until one's cheeks stung.

Waiting was always the most agonizing.

Finally, from the direction of the river valley entrance in the distance, faint, noisy shouts of killing and the roars of monsters could be heard.

Roko raised the telescope.

In his field of vision, the bait team led by Bake was engaging with a group of green-skinned Goblins and earth-yellow-skinned Chailangren rushing out of the river valley.

Bake and the others were fighting "fiercely," but they were not obsessed with the battle; after resisting symbolically for a while, they began to retreat "in a panic."

Just as Roko had expected.

Those Goblins and Chailangren had indeed taken the bait.

Seeing the enemy "fleeing in defeat," they immediately shrieked excitedly and chased after them.

More and more monsters poured out of the narrow valley mouth, dense and numerous, like a tide, chasing in the direction where Bake and the others were fleeing.

The number far exceeded previous estimates, probably no less than two thousand!

Among them, one could even see some Goblin elites with significantly sturdier builds, as well as a few Chailangren Shamans riding on Wargs and waving bone staves.

"They're here."

Roko put down the telescope, his tone calm.

The bait had successfully lured most of the fish out of the pond.

Now, it was time to close the net.

The pursuing Goblins and Chailangren had no idea that danger was descending.

They howled excitedly, waving their crude weapons, wanting only to catch up to those damn humans and tear them to pieces.

When they chased the bait team and plunged headlong into that seemingly unremarkable area of shrubs and low hills.

A sudden change occurred!

"Kill!"

A roar like a thunderclap erupted from the flank!

Hart Gelin, holding a Knight longsword, was the first to rush out from behind the hidden dirt slope!

The Knight guards behind him followed closely, like unsheathed sharp blades!

They formed a perfect cone-shaped assault formation, their horse hooves shattering the earth and kicking up clouds of dust.

With an unstoppable momentum, they slammed into the chaotic flank of the monster group.

Puchi! Puchi!

The Goblins and Chailangren rushing at the front didn't even have time to react before they were crushed along with their weapons by the high-speed charging Knights!

The sharp Knight swords flew up and down, each swing bringing up large sprays of blood and severed limbs.

The sturdy armor deflected the inferior weapons swung by the monsters in their panic, and the Knights, like a sharp knife, tore through the monsters' formation unstoppably!

"For freedom!"

"For land!"

At the same time, the soldiers, bandits, and serfs ambushed on the other side also rushed out with shouts!

Their formation was far less neat than the Knights', and their weapons were a motley collection.

There were rusted iron swords, wood-chopping axes, and even just sharpened wooden sticks.

But their eyes were filled with blood-red madness!

The longing for freedom, the greed for land, the excitement of slaughter.

And the ferocity of being pushed to the brink.

At this moment, it erupted completely!

Like a pack of starving wild wolves, they threw themselves fearlessly at the Goblins and Chailangren who had been scattered by the Knights and were in complete disarray!

The scene instantly became incomparably bloody and chaotic.

Shouts of killing, screams, the sound of weapons clashing, and the roars of monsters rang out one after another.

The air was filled with a thick smell of blood, mixed with the scent of mud and sweat, which was nauseating.

A thin, weak serf, driven by fear, closed his eyes and swung the wood-chopping knife in his hand, hacking wildly.

With a clang, the wood-chopping knife hit a Chailangren's bone club, making his tiger's mouth numb.

The Chailangren bared its mouth full of fangs, grinned, and raised the bone club to smash down!

The serf was scared out of his wits and collapsed to the ground, looking like he was about to lose his life on the spot.

Just then, a bandit with a face full of flesh grinned and hacked that Chailangren over with an axe.

Then, without even looking at the serf on the ground.

He licked the blood off the axe blade and continued to pounce toward the next target. ===== CHAPTER 19 =====