Chapter 40: A Crushing Blow!

  Yaya, with her exceptional perception and stealth skills, had eagerly embraced her father's lessons on ambush tactid was thrilled to put them into practice.

  Alta wasn't her first target, nor would he be her st.

  Eight notifications fshed in Matthew’s mind, attesting to Yaya's success.

  "Tsk tsk, Yaya's movements are incredibly swift. She's a natural-born fighter. Once she grer, her bat abilities will be even more formidable..."

  "Three Level 2 rogues, three Level 2 barbariaries, and two Level 3 rogues provided me with a total of 180 experience points."

  "Current total experience: 1600. Still need 400 more to level up..."

  "They’re now just 300 meters away—it's time!"

  Matthew’s eyes glinted as he sent Yaya the signal to retreat, watg the swaying reeds and shrubs ahead.

  He nodded lightly to Ange and pulled out the final spell scroll from the Ser family.

  Fifth-tier spell—Mass Haste!

  It granted all allies within 50 meters a 40% boost to movement speed and a 20% increase in attack speed for three minutes!

  An indescribable lightness enveloped each soldier.

  They surged forward like arrows loosed from bows, moving swiftly across the terrain.

  Despite their speed, the soldiers maintaiheir formation, as they had practiced tless times.

  The t reeds obscured their vision.

  Crk, the squad leader, nervously touched the hilt of his sword and frowurning to his uneasy rades and asking his men:

  "Why haven’t the sentries responded? How close are they? Should we fall back?"

  fidently shaking his head, bare-chested aing a spiked fil, Carman sneered.

  "Haha, don't worry. Bay Vilge's hunters? They’re too afraid to eveer the Dark Forest—how could they pose any threat to Alta and the others?"

  "I bet that little lord of theirs just brought his baby soldiers to scope things out."

  Stroking the cloth-ed handle of his fil, Carman smirked, resting the spiked head on the ground. He poioward Bay Vilge:

  "That coward won’t dare attack. He doesn’t know we’ve got a big surprise waiting for him!"

  "When he runs, I'll be the oo catch him. Spellcasters are always loaded..."

  The other members of the sver gang ughed along, boasting:

  "Carman’s right. Alta’s probably already scouted the vilge and picked out the best targets. Heh heh heh..."

  "Exactly! They always grab the best loot first. By the time it’s our turn, we’re left with the scraps..."

  "True, I’d like to be a sentry ime."

  "Tch, what kind of riches a small vilge offer? We’d be better off in the Dark Forest..."

  "Shut up! Stop mentioning targets during a mission! Haven't you learned your lesso?"

  Crk cut off the chatter, gring at a Level 4 rogue who had voiced his desire to be a sentry. He ordered coldly:

  "Since you’re so eager to be a sentry, go find Alta and tell him to report back quickly! We o know where the enemy is!"

  The scolded rogue shrugged nontly, ag ued by the reprimand.

  He was about to disappear into the underbrush when he suddenly froze irembling.

  With a thud, he colpsed!

  An arrow quivered in his skull, its feathers still trembling, while his wide, terrified eyes stared bnkly ahead.

  Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

  The sharp whistling of arrows filled the air, and the unprepared sver group erupted in pained cries.

  Crk, furious, swung his sword to defle ining arrow and rolled to the side, shouting:

  "Spread out! Prepare fagement!"

  Before he could even stand up, he caught a glimpse of a horrifying se out of the er of his eye:

  Carman, t and powerful, stood frozen amidst the barrage of arrows, pletely oblivious to the danger surrounding him.

  It was as if every arrow magically avoided his position.

  "Is Carman a traitor?"

  "No, that’s impossible! That scumbag is rotten to the core. He has nowhere else to go but the sver group..."

  "Could it be... mind trol magic?"

  Crk didn’t want to admit it, but even someone as resistant to magic as Carman had fallen silently under a spell.

  If Carman could be targeted, Crk realized he himself wasn’t safe either.

  Before Crk could react, a volley of more than a dozen blue magic missiles screamed through the air.

  Crk quickly deduced that all of the missiles were aimed at the motionless Carman!

  It was clearly the first-tier spell—Magic Missile!

  Crk had only ever seen a mid-tier mage cast three missiles at once. But the sight of over a dozen missiles in succession was terrifying.

  No one in the sver group dared step in to shield Carman; instead, they hastily scattered in all dires!

  Thwack!

  Over a dozen bloody holes appeared on Carman’s body, and the spray of blood drehe area in red.

  Fortunately, he felt no pain. Half of his head was gone, and he died without a sound, likely still trapped in some absurd dream.

  Fear gripped Crk's heart, his selfish instincts taking over.

  Without hesitatiourned and fled, his swift movements far outpag his rades.

  As he dashed in panic, Crk saw a terrifying but fortunate sight just before he dove into the reeds:

  The soldiers, marg in perfect step, burst through the t reeds with unstoppable force, smming into his panicked rades.

  A few warriors, uo evade in time, roared in defiance as they unched desperate terattacks.

  If they were going to die, they would take some down with them!

  But their finely crafted ons only left insignifit scratches on the soldiers' shields.

  The seasoned Crk quickly realized that the soldiers in the front line were also professional warriors.

  Twenty shield-bearers in perfeation!

  Terrifying!

  Before the desperate warriors could ge their tactics, a row of spears jabbed out from behind the shields like a snake’s bite.

  Thud!

  The struggling warriors were impaled, their bodies left dangling like salted fish before being tossed aside like garbage.

  Only one warrior, the stro at Level 4, mao break through three spears.

  But before he could regain his footing, the oning shield smashed into him, throwing him off bance, and the deadly spears struck again!

  He was doomed!

  Crk burhe image of these "light-footed" soldiers and their deadly, synized shield wall into his mind.

  He abandoned all thoughts of his rades and dove into the thickets.

  He had to inform Carman—this was no ordinary oppo!

  The shrieks of pain and despair rang out behind him, only to be quickly silenced.