Chapter Eighty-Three: Turnaround and Kill! First Update
Military Crossbow.
The best equipment for novice adventurers, it can penetrate plate armor at close range and is the core equipment Soren acquired first in Amber City.
Crossbows are important weapons for overcoming challenges, as they allow you to defeat enemies when strength alone cannot win. The military crossbow in front of him uses steel crossbow bolts; if shot at a demon’s body, it may not cause much damage. But if it hits directly in the brain, even a frenzied combat demon like Soren can ensure a one-shot kill!
As long as the skull is pierced, most enemies can be taken down.
This military crossbow is the key to breaking the situation. In a scenario where he cannot advance to become a professionist and can only fight with an ordinary person’s physical abilities, Soren must seize every opportunity.
This chess dimension is truly an extreme challenge!
Now, Soren only hopes that after completing the challenge, he can obtain spoils worth his effort.
Stealth.
To muffle his footsteps and due to his lack of shadow hiding ability, Soren decided to remove his shoes entirely.
Halflings benefit from stealth since many do not wear shoes; their thick soles make almost no noise when they move. Now, Soren is stealthily moving without shoes, trying to minimize the chance of being discovered by enemies. In such a situation, even a one percent chance could affect the final outcome.
Avoid the light; the darkness is the best cover.
Soren quietly approached the battlefield, where a group of low-level demons was gathered, led by a towering frenzied combat demon. This type of demon, which he could easily wipe out with a swipe, is now the most terrifying creature in the entire village. Many human militia members lay dead around it. As a mid-level demon with a challenge level above 5, it possesses the power to easily destroy a village in the material plane.
Survivors are few.
In Soren’s eyes, there are barely a dozen people capable of fighting, one of whom is a middle-aged man who looks like a militia captain. He shows signs of military swordsmanship, likely a retired soldier. Among the crowd is a white-robed priest; it’s unclear which deity he follows, but judging from his spellcasting movements, he is just a low-level priest.
The number of divine techniques the priest can cast is extremely limited, and his inherent perception ability is likely not high!
The number of divine techniques a priest can use depends on their own perception. Poor foundational talent makes it challenging to advance to higher realms.
The only thing that surprised Soren is that he actually spotted a wizard, one capable of casting third-circle spells, likely the strongest human present. Unfortunately, he is facing demons, and judging by the corpses of demons nearby, this wizard has few spell slots left.
There’s a priest, there are warriors, and there’s a wizard.
Soren seems to have thought of something, but now there’s no time for searching.
There are still intact houses in the village, and judging by the attire of these people, they seem to have settled here. Therefore, the route to break the situation is not singular; there could be useful items in other parts of the village. But now, the battle is nearing its end. If Soren leaves at this moment, they will be doomed; he can only brace himself in this situation. If the demons kill these people and free up their hands, an ordinary person like him could hardly survive.
Soren lurked in the darkness, quietly closing in with bare feet.
On the ground lay another frenzied combat demon’s corpse. The body showed evident corrosion marks, and there were noticeable arrow wounds on its chest. It seemed it had first been pierced by what looked like an arrow attack, and then the wound was corroded.
“Mayoufu Strong Acid Arrow?!”
Soren’s pupils constricted slightly, and he thought to himself, “It’s a spell that was popular during the Arcane Empire, a very powerful second-circle spell. It shares the same creator as Mayoufu Meteor.”
A second-circle penetrating spell can sometimes be more powerful than third or fourth-circle spells.
Sure enough!
Faced with the mid-level demon before him, the already low spell slots of the wizard quickly retreated and, after creating some distance, cast another spell, swiftly forming a spell arrow made of strong acid in his palm.
Puff!
The frenzied combat demon’s chest was pierced by the spell, acid spreading all over its body and corroding it, causing it to emit a horrifying scream.
Boom!
A huge wooden beam was thrown out, and the nearby white-robed priest couldn’t dodge in time, getting crushed and emitting a crisp sound of bones breaking.
The coward demons seized the opportunity and rushed in, and in the blink of an eye, the white-robed priest was reduced to a bloody mess.
“They can’t hold on much longer.”
Soren seemed to want to rush out of the darkness, but suddenly he felt something and hid back into the shadows.
“Kekek!”
A strange cackle echoed, as a wizard in a black robe appeared under the night sky, slowly walking out from the edge of the village. It seemed he had been protected by a spell against evil; the nearby demons did not actively attack him.
He approached the survivors and said in a deep voice, “Kanos! Hand over the Arcane Card!”
“Maybe.”
“I could also spare your life!”
The panting middle-aged wizard glanced at the dead priest beside him, his face showing a hint of sorrow, and slowly said, “Don’t even think about it! The Arcane Card will never be handed over to someone like you!”
The black-robed wizard chuckled as he watched them, slowly saying, “Well then. I’ll find it myself after you all are dead.”
His figure vanished from the spot.
It seemed he was using an invisibility spell, a mid-level wizard with a considerable casting level.
“Arcane Card?”
Soren’s figure lay flat on the ground, his ears perked up to listen closely. The appearance of the black-robed wizard increased the difficulty of his plan because with an ordinary person’s body, he might not even withstand a single Arcane Missile.
Where is the card?
If he could obtain the Arcane Card and use it, perhaps he could turn the tide.
But!
Where would the Arcane Card be placed?
The demons launched another assault; although the figure of the black-robed wizard had vanished, Soren could still determine from the water traces on the ground that he was moving, circling around, closing in on another wizard.
“A mid-level wizard.”
A bold thought popped into Soren’s mind as he silently considered, “His melee capability shouldn’t be much stronger than an ordinary person. If his protective spell field is broken, a single crossbow bolt could kill him.”
Eliminating the wizard and relying on these survivors would give them over a 50% chance of defeating the demons.
It’s worth a shot!
Soren quickly made his decision but needed to await a better opportunity. As long as someone could break the black-robed wizard’s energy protective field, his chance would come.
After all, wizards become stronger only in the later stages.
—“Aganar Fireball!”
A pillar of fire suddenly appeared, igniting the middle-aged wizard. The black-robed wizard’s figure became visible as he let out an excited maniacal laugh.
Another improved spell from the Arcane Empire.
Seizing the chance to ambush, the black-robed wizard severely wounded his opponent, nearly burning him beyond recognition. Though he didn’t die instantly, he was essentially half-dead.
Not the right time yet.
Although the situation for the survivors was desperate, Soren remained calm, waiting for the right moment to strike.
At this moment, he was like an assassin.
He had only one chance to strike; failure would spell certain death!
—“Fire Arrow!”
In response to the black-robed wizard’s ambush, the middle-aged wizard finally retaliated with a third-circle Fire Arrow, swiftly dodging the demon in front of him and charging towards the black-robed wizard. As a retired soldier, he understood that the spellcaster was the greatest threat; if the black-robed wizard was allowed to act, everyone would die here.
“Now’s the time!”
The opportunity Soren had been waiting for finally appeared. He suddenly dashed out of the darkness, unnoticed by anyone nearby.
Even if someone noticed, a mere ordinary person might easily be ignored by a demon.
150 meters.
120 meters.
80 meters.
As the militia captain fought fiercely against the black-robed wizard, Soren quickly raised his military crossbow. At approximately 80 meters, hitting the target is not difficult, but achieving a one-shot kill requires considerable skill and a bit of luck.
The head!
He must hit the enemy’s head directly.
Soren took a deep breath, flipped to the side, and rapidly pulled the trigger on his military crossbow. Just as a glimmer of cold light appeared, when the militia captain swung his sword to break the black-robed wizard’s energy protective field, in the moment the black-robed wizard retreated to dodge, the crossbow bolt pierced through just above his temple.
Astonishment!
The entire battlefield was filled with expressions of incredulity.
All eyes turned to the suddenly appearing Soren, and even the chaotic demons did not expect that the wizard who summoned them would fall to the hands of a civilian.
Even if it was due to the military crossbow he held that he killed the black-robed wizard.
“Finally taken down!”
At this moment, Soren felt incredibly excited; killing a wizard as a civilian was something he had never dared to imagine before.
Yet here he achieved it.
Everything was a peak performance; the timing was almost precise to the millisecond. Any mistake could have meant certain death for him!
But the final outcome was his success.
There was no time to think too much; Soren quickly reloaded the military crossbow and aimed at the nearby frenzied combat demon. As long as he kills this enemy, the crisis would be resolved.
Such achievements are hard to replicate; he must clear the chess challenge in one go.
“Eliminate them!”
The militia captain evidently recognized this opportunity. As an old soldier, he rushed towards the enemy, ready to attract some of their vitality and buy shooting time for Soren.
A top-tier crossbowman!
Though he appeared to be an ordinary civilian, such skill is either due to extraordinary talent or sheer luck.
He hoped it was the latter.
Only those favored by the goddess of luck can help them through this crisis.
………………. (To Be Continued ~^~)
