Chapter 249: Act 16 – The Battle for the Lumberyard (3) (First Update)
The cave-dwellers in the lumberyard quickly spotted a group of adventurers on the other side of the riverbank—a team led by a warrior, accompanied by two crossbowmen and a mage, a typical composition common in both the Erluin and Cruz regions. The appearance of these humans undoubtedly stimulated the creatures of Jotungrund, who had a strong sense of territory, leading to sharp whistles and the creaking sound of wooden gates swinging open. The underground creatures surged out, with about two squads of over thirty cave-dwellers wading toward the riverbank.
They split into two routes, attempting to encircle the adventurers. The adventurers clearly noticed the commotion, and the crossbowmen shot two arrows; one missed, while the other hit but had no significant effect. The bolt struck a cave-dweller in the chest, causing it to stagger back a step in the water, creating a splash—but that was all. The cave-dweller shook its head, raised its spear, and continued to join its comrades.
“Those skins are tough,” Crenshia, hiding in the bushes, frowned as she observed, “The rumors hold true; it’s hard to deal with these creatures, whether it’s a hundred or a thousand.”
“They’re fast too! From the river to here, about three hundred feet, and they only took a few seconds,” Juliette replied. “That speed is frightening; they’re quicker than the best cavalry!”
“Quicker than the best cavalry?” The tall leader of the Fireland Battle Corps beside them chuckled dismissively, “That’s only because you haven’t seen truly excellent cavalry, Miss Juliette.”
The red-haired mercenary leader froze for a moment and then turned back to glare at him.
But Brendel nodded; the cave-dwellers’ speed was roughly on par with second-rate cavalry. They were a bit slower than the finest warhorses. However, in Vaunte, truly elite cavalry often do not ride on warhorses, such as Erluin’s strongest aerial patrol knights—the name describes how these knights traverse the battlefield, calm and detached—it actually refers to the Dragoon Corps, which is organized within various legions in Erluin and often contains the elite of the aerial knights.
“Stop arguing,” Crenshia interrupted, breaking into the exchange between Vurn and the female leader, “Look, there are at least over two hundred cave-dwellers in that lumberyard. Such a large number, we definitely can’t handle it with just our mercenaries.” The middle-aged man shook his head as his silver hair gleamed in the sunlight among the trees, “My Lord, do you have any strategies?”
His gaze intentionally or unintentionally fell upon Brendel.
Antinna let out a soft hum from the side, recognizing this man’s intentions. Indeed, relying on the strength of Brendel and Xi, even a frontal breakthrough would not be too difficult; two gold-ranked against a hundred black iron was basically no problem. The remaining mercenaries, along with the assistance of the three major leaders, could assault the lumberyard in at most two hours.
However, if they were led by the nose by these creatures, what authority would the lord have left? Moreover, seeing Brendel’s calm demeanor and confidence, she knew this young man, whom she had always followed, must have anticipated this.
Thus the noblewoman replied coldly, “Cave-dwellers are not good at sieging. Sir Ron of Basol once ventured underground to communicate with these creatures, and he described their habits clearly in his writings. The capabilities of cave-dwellers are most restricted in this kind of riverbank terrain, and even their best skill of digging tunnels would be rendered ineffective. No matter how tough their skin is or how fast they run, as long as we take over the lumberyard and turn offense into defense, they won’t have any means to counter us.”
Vurn turned back to glance at Brendel, somewhat surprised as he replied, “Is that so? My Lord, you chose this location as the launching point for the attack, and I suppose you considered this point as well?”
Brendel, though maintaining a calm facade, couldn’t help but twitch the corner of his mouth, thinking to himself that this was indeed not the case.
The lumberyard’s location near the riverbank was a common phenomenon; it was convenient for downstream transportation and allowed for the construction of waterwheels to power the sawmill—after all, magical power was still a rare commodity in these remote areas.
But he had done little research on Toniger’s areas; knowing that there were four lumberyards near Firburh was already the limit. As for the state of these lumberyards, only a fool would have that knowledge.
“There is a strategy,” Brendel nodded, “but it will depend on how many troops our bait can draw out from the enemy.” The young man turned back to smile slightly at these nominal subordinates, “However, everyone can relax; this battle isn’t as difficult as you imagine. Just treat it as a warm-up for our mercenaries to adapt to each other.”
Warm-up?
The three major leaders present, along with many smaller mercenary leaders, were taken aback. Over three hundred mercenaries facing more than two hundred cave-dwellers—what kind of warm-up was this? It looked like an evenly matched grueling battle.
“Just wait and see.” Brendel focused his mind, letting his gaze fall on the riverbank. At that moment, the battle on the riverbank had just begun; as the ‘adventurers’ detected the cave-dwellers’ intentions, they began to retreat towards the forest side. Their speed was quick, but still couldn’t match the cave-dwellers’ innate advantage, and soon they were caught up at the forest’s edge.
However, one of the mages in that team quickly struck the ground with his staff, loudly reciting a spell. With a ‘whoosh,’ the pebbles and soil beneath them lifted off the ground, ascending to form a roughly two-meter tall, three-meter wide fortress—complete with breastworks and embrasures, solidly constructed from hard earth and stone—shielding the four individuals within.
Fortification spell.
Everyone was taken aback; among the laws of magic, few level three spells could manifest such an effect—though far from the realm of legendary magic casters who could shape entire cities out of thin air, this at least proved that the law mage on the field possessed at least peak black iron strength.
Who was so extravagant?
Others turned back, wanting to see who was willing to send a level three law mage to the front lines as bait. However, only Crenshia spotted a hint of an indifferent smile on Vurn’s face beside her.
“Vurn, is that your person?” she asked in a lowered voice.
The leader of the Fireland Battle Corps nodded carelessly. “Maferri; he’s the best mage in my band,” he replied.
“You really are generous.” Once Crenshia confirmed her suspicions, she felt a sense of unease instead of relief. The silver-haired middle-aged man looked at the tall, silent Vurn, then at the taciturn Brendel, suddenly feeling his position waver.
Initially, he had fought alongside that young lord the longest during that night’s battle, thinking he would leave a favorable first impression on Brendel. Unexpectedly, this seemingly taciturn, honest old soldier had quietly reached an unspoken agreement with the young man.
Perhaps they had even made some sort of pact.
Crenshia inwardly cursed, biting her teeth. But soon her gaze was instinctively drawn to the battle at the forest’s edge—after Maferri cast the fortification spell and retreated behind the warriors and crossbowmen to rest, the middle-aged mage leaned against his staff, panting heavily. Clearly, the previous level three spell had taken a great toll on his energy and strength.
Yet the effect was evident.
As Antinna had said, cave-dwellers were not adept at sieging. These creatures from underground had strong hind limbs but weak and short front limbs. When they attacked, they typically did not rely on the strength of their upper limbs, as the front limbs were used for wielding tools and gripping spears. During offensive maneuvers, cave-dwellers relied on the strength of their hind limbs to lunge at enemies, attacking through kinetic energy conversion.
However, a wall posed a tremendous issue for them. While two meters high was not tall, when the cave-dwellers leaped high to attack those humans, they were met with a glinting sword edge—leaving them unable to evade in mid-air.
In just one encounter, two cave-dwellers were sent reeling backward. Their small bodies flew back, rolling several times before landing on the riverbank; their companions hastily made way, appearing at a loss as they slowed their advance.
By sending out sound waves, they realized a towering earth-and-stone fortress stood in front of them.
The cave-dwellers looked at each other in confusion, but the ‘Muru’ cave-dweller who caught up from behind let out a sharp, whistle-like sound, prompting them to scatter and attack from all sides.
“Too forced…” The red-haired mercenary leader frowned. She knew that the four mercenaries acting as bait were specifically chosen by Brendel from their ranks, all were elites with at least peak black iron strength. Even on flat ground, they could withstand the assault of thirty cave-dwellers for a while; not to mention they had the advantage of terrain.
Nevertheless, to hold out against thirty cave-dwellers until more of the enemy’s reinforcements were drawn out seemed quite overambitious.
Yet she did not expect that, after the purple-red cave-dweller warriors pushed their comrades to launch two rounds of attacks, decisively used their sharp whistles to command all cave-dwellers to retreat and prepare around the earthen fortress.
What was going on?
The four mercenaries stood ready by the battlements. The earlier skirmish had already drained much of their stamina; if the cave-dwellers made another push, they might very well seize this temporary stronghold. But unexpectedly, at this moment, they retreated.
It was worth noting that mage Maferri had already caught his breath; in a while, he could rejoin the fray.
“Cave-dwellers are unwilling to pay the price. Although a strong push at this moment could breach our defenses, attacking while both terrain and personal strength are against you cannot be done without heavy casualties,” Brendel explained as he felt the astonishment of the various mercenary leaders around him.
Though these individuals were experienced in various battles, it did not necessarily mean they had fought against the underground creatures of Jotungrund. In the ruthless underground, population and military strength were both precious resources, not to be squandered freely.
This was also the reason why, on average, individuals in the underground world usually possessed higher combat capabilities.
“I see,” Crenshia glanced at Brendel. As mercenaries on the battlefield, they might not think too highly of nobles and scholars from privileged backgrounds, but being able to apply such esoteric knowledge effectively in battle earned him some respect. “But I didn’t expect cave-dwellers’ siege capabilities to be so weak; do those underground creatures not have a habit of building cities?”
Brendel nearly choked on that question. He thought the beings from Jotungrund were certainly far more capable than humans when it came to fortifications. Underground castles were originally designed to prevent demonic invasions, and their walls were so thick and sturdy that even a stronghold-style city like Bruglas would pale in comparison; moreover, the artistry of construction originated from the dwarves among the mountains, making Firburh’s defenses appear inadequate by comparison.
“Cave-dwellers do possess siege capabilities,” he replied, “They are a first-class unit in Jotungrund, usually operating alongside another first-class unit known as bear goblins.”
“Bear goblins?” Vurn inquired.
(PS. I have been struggling with writer’s block; I hope for your understanding. However, recovery is gradually underway. No one wishes for interruptions in updates; if we stop updating, you simply won’t see new chapters, and my losses will be greater.) (To be continued. For more updates, please log in for more chapters and support the author, support legitimate reading!)
