novelraw Chapter 18 One Thought to Subdue the Enemy
Chapter 18 One Thought to Subdue the Enemy
In the morning light.
Loki and Misfield met the rest of the Rose Squad at the entrance to River Valley Town.
This adventurer team of six included four women... This configuration always gave Luo Qi a subtle feeling when he thought about the target of this expedition.
Most of the team members were not very satisfied with the mission.
Apart from Dorothy, who was somewhat impatient, only the tall shield guard calmly organized his equipment.
The others all seemed impatient, as if they intended to finish the task quickly and then wait in the Adventurers' Guild for the next, more rewarding mission.
To save time, Grace, the leader of the Rose Squad, even brought several large chocobos from home.
These camel-like animals are adapted to rugged and varied mountainous terrain. When adventurers undertake missions that require them to travel long distances, they often rent one or two of them to pull carts and transport supplies in order to save energy.
Although extraordinary adventurers have great stamina, being fully armed for too long will eventually consume too much energy, leading to a decline in their condition.
Furthermore, some less capable adventurers would modify the chocobo-drawn carts, and when they encountered troublesome enemies, they would rely on the modified carts to form a cart formation.
Well-funded adventurers often buy several.
As the second-generation adventurer, the captain of the Rose Squad has a large flock of chocobos at home, and they are much stronger than ordinary chocobos. The difference between them is like that between a thoroughbred horse and an ordinary horse.
Luo Qi was fortunate enough to experience a luxurious mount in another world.
"Captain, at this speed... I don't have time to scout!"
Dorothy, the rabbit-woman girl, served as the scout for the adventurer's party. Instead of riding in the chocobo-pulled vehicle, she ran ahead to scout the situation.
During normal marches, the main force would stop from time to time to wait for scouts to report on the situation.
Now, Grace lay comfortably in the car, letting the chocobos race at top speed. Although the scouts could keep up, they were too slow to report any intelligence.
"Is it necessary to investigate mere goblins?"
She had already removed her plate armor and chainmail, and was only wearing light armor.
This adventurer believed that even without armor, wiping out a mere few hundred goblins would be a simple task.
Loki and Misfield traveled for more than a day, while the adventurer team only traveled for half a day. Around 3 p.m., the group arrived at the place where Loki and Misfield first met.
"This place... is perfect for an ambush!"
The scout immediately spotted the problem in the area: "Could there be an ambush?"
"I was ambushed here on my way to River Valley Town. Theoretically, the probability of the goblins successfully setting up an ambush here again is very low..." Misfield said with a frown.
Ambushes and sneak attacks are most effective when the enemy is completely unprepared.
If you repeatedly lie in ambush at the same location, the target will already be on guard, so how can it possibly be very effective?
"Heh, the goblins we're facing this time are quite intelligent."
Luo Qi shook her head slightly.
Is there an ambush?
Yes, it's guaranteed!
Why does repeated ambushes become less effective because the target becomes wary? When the person being ambushed has this thought in their mind, the success rate of the ambush has already reached 50%.
On a high slope on one side of the mountain road, hundreds of goblins are hiding among the bushes.
Their green skin acts like natural camouflage, making them difficult to spot when you just glance at them.
These goblins are preparing stones. Once adventurers arrive in this area, a large number of stones will fall from the sky. The gravitational potential energy of tens of meters will be converted into kinetic energy, and the destructive power of those stones will be no less than that of a heavy hammer!
If the armor is even slightly inferior, it can result in serious injury.
"Tsk, the Rose Squad got lucky this time. If I hadn't participated in this mission, most of the squad members would have died in this valley."
Luo Qi sat in the car, communicating with the Emperor's Banner in his mind.
One after another, invisible figures flew out of the carriage, the leader of which was the goblin shaman.
Under its command, the goblin subjects within the banner became more orderly, with many subjects standing behind the three tall goblin elites, gathering their power behind those elites.
Meanwhile, these more than one hundred goblin subjects set up an array.
The entire area was shrouded in a black aura under the influence of the array and the goblin subjects.
Then, wisps of black energy swirled around the goblin's consciousness at the top of the valley, and the illusion array took effect.
These goblins were constantly overwhelmed by their deepest fears, and their bodies trembled uncontrollably; but if someone with a strong enough will fell into the illusion, it was not difficult for them to break free and awaken.
But without a doubt,
Weaker than ordinary people, and having existed for at most two or three years, goblins do not possess such a strong will.
The vast majority of goblins were terrified, as if they had encountered a natural enemy.
No matter what happens in front of me, I will no longer react.
Even as death looms, it remains motionless.
"With the help of so many subjects, the imperial dragon aura has finally begun to have some of the desired effects!"
A slight smile appeared on Luo Qi's lips.
His thoughts continued to penetrate deeper into the Emperor's Banner.
Under the remote control of this banner master, the elite goblins within the banner, wielding blood-red longswords, effortlessly killed the terrified goblins one by one, as easily as chopping down scarecrows.
During this time, an elite goblin and several special goblins were awakened from the illusion array under life-or-death crisis.
But it was too late.
They had lost all their companions and helpers, while Loki's goblin subjects had doubled in number.
This is a long time.
The goblin elite was about to put up a stubborn resistance, but the goblin shaman, empowered by more than two hundred goblins, casually cast a weakening curse, and the goblin elite immediately became like a puddle of mud on the ground, with no strength left to resist.
"With the help of the subjects of the Emperor's Banner, the combat power of the spellcaster within the banner might be even stronger than before he entered it!"
Goblin shamans are indeed stronger than elite goblins who excel in melee combat.
But an ordinary goblin shaman could not so easily take down a goblin elite.
Before Rose Squad's vehicle even reached the area below the goblin ambush site, Loki considered eliminating the potential safety hazard after a few attempts.
"It's a pity. Given the style of the Rose Squad leader, even if they don't suffer in this mission, they will suffer in other missions sooner or later. I hope they can hold on until the little scout leaves the team."
Luo Qi was somewhat expectant.
Because of the tight schedule, Miss Scout had not yet told the other members of the Rose Squad about last night's mission. She had only converted all the mission details into silver coins, which she planned to have Misfield give to the Rose Squad when paying the commission.