Chapter 41: The Oppo Overwhelmed by Wealth

  The rangers surrounding the rear had blocked the svers’ st hope of escape.

  They tried to make a desperate final stand, only to crash into the shield wall a skewered by spears, falling with no ce to resist.

  The battle was over ihan five minutes from start to finish!

  Aside from a few escapees like Crk, more than 40 members of the Bloodhand Sver Group y dead.

  Matthew's soldiers, oher hand, suffered no fatalities, with only five lightly wounded.

  As the fight ended, Ange ordered the soldiers to up the battlefield. The soldiers who had fought were only now beginning to process what had just happened.

  "Is it really over?"

  "We won?"

  "These ruthless svers were this weak?"

  "They weren’t any tougher than those fishmen monsters!"

  "Haha, I overheard their talk before—every single one of them deserved what they got!"

  "Shame a few mao run off. They fled even faster than fishmen!"

  "..."

  As the soldiers ed the battlefield, they chatted among themselves, easing the tension and trying to shake off the uling feeling from the battle.

  After all, killing monsters and killing people were two very different things!

  Suppressing the excitement and adrenaline, Leon suddenly felt a wave of relief wash over him as he wiped the blood from his sword. He noticed Old John approag and couldn’t help but smile.

  Old John grinned and patted Leon’s shoulder before asking:

  "Well done, d! Where’d you learn those sword skills? Pretty fierce!"

  Leon opened his mouth, a bit at a loss, before pointing toward the Dark Forest in the distance:

  "Found it in there... I’m not even sure if I should be talking about it."

  After colleg all the ons and loading the svers' gear onto carts, Matthew decided not to distribute the lht away. First, it would take time, and sed, the soldiers weren’t yet ready for more equipment.

  When fighting in formation, simplicity, efficy, and uniformity are key tth!

  For Matthew, this battle was the first time he had faced real human oppos.

  Now that it was over and they had won so decisively, the weight on his heart lifted.

  This morale-boosting victory had been a must-win for Matthew.

  Not just a win, but a crushing, overwhelming victory.

  Only such a decisive victory could fully wihese soldiers and inspire them to follow him into even more dangerous battles!

  Matthenned meticulously, and it was this level of preparation that made the seemingly effortless victory possible.

  He had weakehe enemy in many ways before the battle even began.

  He had specifically instructed Vilge Chief Field to feign weakness, subtly making the enemy overfident.

  Then he sent Yaya to scout their numbers, which allowed for the full force of his troops to engage from a position of strength!

  Yaya had silently taken out all the enemy sentries, leaving the svers blind before the fight even began.

  From his vantage point, Matthew observed the enemy’s positions and assessed the most dangerous individuals, targeting them for early elimination.

  And all of this was just weakening the enemy’s strength—what was more crucial was how he had enhanced his own soldiers.

  Before the battle began, Matthew’s preparations were already in motion.

  Ange’s aura had allowed the soldiers to adapt to their sudden increase in speed and strength.

  The orderly formation built up their momentum step by step, leading them to the peak of their power just as they .

  Right at that critical moment, Matthew used "Mass Haste" to unleash their maximum destructive potential!

  Even before the melee began, Matthew had disrupted the enemy by ung a surprise attack.

  Using "Sleep" followed by five volleys of "Magic Missile," Matthew had quickly taken down the enemy’s stro warrior, Carman.

  This shattered the sver group’s morale and threw them into disarray!

  With preparation on his side, how could the enemy not be defeated?

  Of course, it wasn’t just tactics—money had pyed a huge role too.

  Ange’s aura training alone had atthew 500 gold s!

  The "Mass Haste" scroll used before the battle? That was worth over 2,000 gold s!

  The newly upgraded ons and armor the soldiers used were of fine quality, representing a signifit iment of gold.

  What about the svers?

  They were dirt poor!

  Even as professional meraries, none of them had ented gear.

  Sure, the sver group rofitable, but that money went to the higher-ups—not to these expendable grunts!

  These men were mere pawns, easily discarded, worth less than the sves they caught.

  paring the two sides, it was clear the svers were doomed to lose.

  Matthew g his status s, noting the now-dulled "-3" in the Luck category.

  His choices had been correct!

  Besides the ons and armor, Matthew’s only real gain was the experience points they had tributed.

  The 44 defeated enemies had provided him with 1,400 experience points and 3 skill points!

  His total experienow exceeded 3,000 points, enough to level up with 1,000 points remaining.

  He decided to save it for ter!

  Without hesitation, Matthew turo the assembled soldiers and produced five bottles of healing potion, saying:

  "Wounded soldiers, step forward!"

  Even though they had expected it, when Matthew revealed those valuable potions and pced them in front of the injured men, every soldier felt a surge of pride and gratitude.

  With a lord like this, what more could they ask for?

  They’d fight with everything they had!

  With this simple gesture, Matthew earhe undying loyalty of his soldiers.

  It was clear that in future battles, these men would fight fiercely and never retreat!

  Chief Field, still in a daze, watched Matthew’s vish use of wealth a faint.

  What lord or archmage ever cared this much about their soldiers?

  To be blunt, most of the soldiers hadn't even been worth as much as their ons or potions!

  Field didn’t o guess Matthew's deeper motives, but he was certain of ohing: as long as their lord tireating them this well, they would stand with him, even against the elves of the North.

  After drinking the healing potions, the wounded soldiers quickly recovered, deg themselves ready to fight again.

  The rest of the soldiers, having finished ing the battlefield, repaired their gear under Ange’s guidance, f up for the march.

  Matthew swiftly executed the two injured prisoners, firming the accuracy of the intelligehered during interrogation.

  Petting Yaya, who had pyed a crucial role, Matthew sidered his move with his motivated soldiers at his back.

  "We’ve eliminated 45 professional ehere are likely 80 more left, including five mid-tier professionals..."

  "They wouldn’t have expected their forward force to be wiped out in just a few minutes."

  "It’s beehan 10 minutes sihe fight began, but the kobolds are almost here..."

  The battle had only just begun!

  Note: After one hour the chapter will be posted