Chapter 1526: Red Maple’s Strategy

Shattered Rock Forest was a forest filled with jagged rocks. It also sat in front of the entire canyon entrance. In other words, the only way to enter Swallow Ear Canton’s domain was to pass through this part of the map. I looked up and stared at the growing, jagged slopes that ultimately led to an entrance about a hundred meters wide. There, God’s Domain’s tens of thousands of Gold Cavalrymen had already formed a shield formation. There were also countless Dragon Punisher Archers crouching atop the two mountains that formed the entrance. I had no doubt that they were fully prepared and were just waiting for us to attack them.

Crack…

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

My boots made crushing noises as I stepped on rocks and branches until I was about several hundred meters away from the entrance. Behind me, I heard my Dragonlight Cavalrymen grumbling among themselves—

Xu Yang said, "This terrain is super unsuited for cavalry battles. Not only are we slower than we would’ve been on foot, our mount’s stat boosts have been reduced by 74%. We may as well dismount before continuing our way!"

Chaos Moon frowned. "I don’t know. If we dismount, we will lose at least 1.5 million HP per person. It’s bad enough that the enemy is fully prepared, we have to ride uphill as well. Our casualties will be unimaginable."

Heaven’s Rain blinked. "In that case, we should remain mounted. We may be slower, but the stats will prevent us from dropping like flies. Also, the terrain close to the canyon entrance is flatter than it is here. We’ll regain our stats if we manage to reach that point. Of course, there is still no chance we are breaking through by force."

I leaped into the air before hovering about three meters above ground. I nodded and said, "Yes, Little Rain is right. Advance as we are and do not be in a hurry to attack. Wait until our bards and priests have caught up to us, and make sure that everyone on the frontline is fully buffed by the bards. I also want our priests to be stationed on the second defense line so that their healing range extends as close to the canyon entrance as possible."

Nor far away, Murong Mingyue nodded and said, "Mn. We’ve brought about 20k priests with us, which should be sufficient for this battle as long as the Dragonlight Cavalry doesn’t die too quickly."

Li Chengfeng asked, "How about us sky riders? Where should we place our focus?"

I pointed at the canyon entrance and said, "When the battle begins, we’ll support the ground force by blasting at the enemy’s shield formation or their ranged units. At the same time, we must take care to protect ourselves and survive no matter what. The death of a divine player will greatly impact our players’ morale, so I suggest we avoid dying as much as possible."

Li Chengfeng answered with a smile, "Understood. I doubt we can die with Beauty Mingyue behind our backs though!"

……

It was at this moment Stranger of Three Lifetimes walked up to us with a bunch of elite mages and a scepter in her hand. She said, "In that case, should we join you on the second line and launch a coordinated assault together?"

He Yi nodded. "That will be the best!"

In the sky, Lin Yixin glanced toward the forest floor. "I’ve already sent Purple Marquis and 50k Dragon Punisher Archers to climb the mountains. Whether they succeed or not, I will be joining you on the frontal assault as well."

Stranger of Three Lifetimes smiled. "Wonderful. Your participation will certainly add to our chances of winning!"

Luo River God of the Capital spoke up, "Same here. I will Far Shot my spells together with the mage party to clear out the Gold Cavalrymen at the canyon entrance."

"Mn!"

A while later, High Fighting Spirits said to me, "The priests and mages are more or less ready, and it looks like the Japanese are ready as well. Should we begin our charge?"

Chiang!

I unsheathed the Xuanyuan Sword and ordered, "Chinese force, attack!"

……

Crack crack crack…

The Dragonlight Cavalry and Kui Dragon Cavalry began riding up the slope, but their movement speed was so slow it was almost comical. Right now, they looked nothing like the best cavalrymen in the China server at all. It must be said that Red Maple had made an incredibly wise choice when choosing this location to buffet us. We would’ve swept his army like a tidal wave almost anywhere else.

"Careful. We’re less than 150 meters away from the enemy now…" Luo River God of the Capital warned.

The frontliners began using their defensive skills such as Beast Protection, True Qi Protection and more. It only increased their Defense by 30% or so, but it was better than nothing.

The sounds of many projectiles cutting through the air resounded from the mountain peaks. It was of course the enemy archers shooting at us from nearly 150 yards away! They were able to do so thanks to the height advantage!

Bang bang bang…

Arrows struck against armor and shield, dealing a lot of damage. Part of the reason was due to the Dragon Punisher Archers’ special qualities—

71,672!

54,889!

152,663!

……

It wasn’t like the Japanese had no top-tier archers either, so even players like Chaos Moon had lost 20% of her HP in ten seconds. Almost everyone else could only fare worse.

Bang!

High Fighting Spirits abruptly stopped in his tracks as a Shock Arrow stunned him. More and more frontliners became stunned and slowed down our progress even more.

"Don’t stop! Keep advancing!" He Yi flew back and forth across our battle line to body block as many arrows as she could. A lot of archers tried to shoot her down, but He Yi’s Defense was higher than most players’. Almost none of their attacks were able to pierce her Defense.

"Careful. We’re just 100 yards away from the enemy now!" Luo River God of the Capital warned again. "Era of Strife’s Holy Mages should be able to attack us now…"

Wang Luo’s prediction was spot on. Before she even finished her sentence, the sky turned red from the light of countless Fireballs and Galaxy Storms. The next moment, they erupted across the slope and dug countless shallow pits on the ground. At the same time, dozens of Dragonlight Cavalrymen fell from their mounts and died. The terrain disadvantage was just too much!

Li Chengfeng clenched his fists. "I’m going!"

"Wait!" I hurriedly shouted, "The time isn’t right yet!"

Unfortunately, the dragon warrior hadn’t made his fame being a good little shoulder. Before I could finish my sentence, he was already flying above the mountains and killing a group of archers with his Dragonbone Flurry. Naturally, he became the focus of the enemy’s firepower instantly. At least hundreds of Shock Arrows struck Li Chengfeng at the same time, and one of them actually managed to get through his resistances and stun him! His HP began falling drastically!

"Oh fuck…"

I leaped into the air while shouting, "Little Gui, save Li with Shennong Tastes Grass! I’m going to bring him back!"

"Got it!"

While Li Chengfeng’s HP suddenly shot up by 75%, I reached his side and relied on Battle Astral Wind to bounce off most of the incoming Shock Arrows. Then, I cast the Death skill of the Xuanyuan Art and removed 70% HP from all enemies within 1,000 yards of me!

All the players above and below the mountains panicked instantly. They temporarily abandoned Li Chengfeng to heal themselves.

"Let’s go!"

While the enemy was distracted, I hurriedly dragged Li Chengfeng back to our battleline by the collar.

Luo River God of the Capital smirked after we came back. "You’re a ballsy one, Li Chengfeng, but you do realize that our forces haven’t yet engaged the enemy fully? You were like a lice who was harassing a bald man. You’re just asking for them to kill you."

Li Chengfeng replied sheepishly, "Er… I wasn’t expecting them to hide that many people on the mountains. How am I supposed to know that at least 100k Holy Mages and Dragon Punisher Archers were concealed on that hilltop alone?"

He Yi chuckled. "Slow and steady, Li. Divine players are strong, but they aren’t so strong they can 1v10,000, can they?"

I nodded in agreement. "Mn. As divine players, our job is to snipe the enemy’s generals and commanders. These days, everyone’s a high-level dog, and Level 255s are literally everywhere. Unless you have a level advantage like me, let’s not roleplay Zhao Yun and try to seven-in-and-seven-out the enemy, shall we?"

Everyone laughed for a moment before continuing toward the canyon entrance. Our true assault could only begin after our frontliners made contact with the enemy’s shield formation. Until then, the natives basically had all the advantage. They had at least 5 minutes where they could attack us without fear of any retaliation.

……

Thud!

After I returned to the ground, I opened my palm and froze the air in front of me. Then, a 10-yard-wide shield with bloody runes on it took form in front of me and bounced away the arrows. I was starting to realize that there were many ways a divine player could employ their Domain power. In fact, Domain was in essence a formless energy. How we used it was entirely up to us.

Face covered in at least a dozen or so arrows, High Fighting Spirits shouted encouragingly, "Hang on, brothers and sisters! We’re just… 70 yards away from the enemy now! They’ll know our power the moment we reach their shield formation!"

Tiger Leopard Knight wasn’t as confident as he was though. "But bro, those cunning bastards are changing up to Mountain Stagger Arrows now. Most of our frontliners have already fallen below 25% mount tenacity. I don’t think—"

A dozen or so Dragonlight Cavalrymen abruptly lost their mounts and landed on their feet before he could finish. It was because their mount tenacity had reached zero. Without the Dragonscale Beasts’ stats, it only took the enemy’s Sea of Flames a moment to burn them to death.

Lin Yixin stepped toward the enemy slowly while staring toward the distance. Suddenly, her beautiful pupils shrank in alarm as she warned, "Shit, they’re making a move…"

"Fuck!"

I uttered through gritted teeth.

About 3,000 God’s Domain Gold Cavalrymen had detached themselves from the main formation. Red Maple was standing in front of them as he declared, "Gold Cavalry, ride forth and delay the enemy from reaching us! Today is the day we kill these Chinese before they can set even a foot in the canyon! Show them that Swallow Ear Canton is an impenetrable fortress, and that we Japanese will spend every last drop of blood to protect our home[1]!"

The cantering of hooves began as thousands of Gold Cavalrymen charged toward us. They were galloping downslope, so they had all the terrain advantage here.

"That cunning bastard…" High Fighting Spirits groaned out loud.

Li Chengfeng gripped his Cyan Peak Halberd tightly. "They say that all is fair in war, and this Red Maple is proving to be full of craft and cunning… This is like fighting in quicksand…"

In contrast to their pessimism, our beautiful guild leader simply raised her Suppressing Fire Sword and declared with determination, "It doesn’t matter what they throw at us. We’ll cut through all opposition and win! When two people meet, only one will emerge the victor!"

1. T/N: the one thing I appreciate about this novel is that it has nationalism, but at least the author didn’t make the enemy dumb shits. Red Maple has proven time and time again to be one of the most formidable enemies in this story ☜