Battle in the Oakwind Strath (2)

Only a few short minutes later, the bandit camp became quickly chaotic as men scrambled to the entrance to the valley as the encroaching army began their attack. Archers launched volleys between the two armies, and dozens of men fell before the first men surged from their ranks. The two hundred cavalry soldiers charged forth from the Grens Provincial Army, and Luca recognized Thunder leading the charge, with the familiar face of Lydia on his back. Lydia was also a former soldier and used to help take care of the stallion quite often. As such, the warhorse gladly went into battle with her. The Commander had decided to send in one of the strongest members directly with the cavalry to provide a major blow right off the bat. By the time the bandits recovered from the head-on strike, a large breach would remain in their defence that could not be repaired before the army fully arrived.

Once the cavalry smashed into the bandits, the Commander ordered the rest of the army to charge into the breach and support the horsemen. At this stage, the three remaining vice leaders of the Mammoth Bandits had moved to the front, as Lydia's prowess made dozens of Lv. 3s fall and they likely learned that it would require all three of them to handle her despite her being a level lower than them. This was a pivotal moment for the trio up on the cliffsides. A large, brawny man with a 3m-long battleaxe, the blade having been rusted from the build-up of uncleaned blood and flesh. Just by stepping out of his tent, the focus of the battle immediately moved from the combat to the strongest person in the area.

"Shit, he broke through to Lv. 5! Lieutenants Sterben and Dante, with me! Vincent is too strong for the rest of the men, we need to hold him down!" Zachariah unhesitatingly drew his halberd and spurred his steed toward the bandits, using his powerful voice to clear the way. Behind him, a pair of provincial soldiers followed along, both armed with lances and a sword on their waists. Now that Vincent had become Lv. 5, the army and the adventurers stood no chance against him alone. The strongest men available had to block him for the subjugation of the bandits to be even a partial success after killing off the rest of their foes.

"Target sighted… target locked… Preparing to fire... " Luca, focusing his Silver Cannon onto Vincent as soon as he appeared, quickly condensed his mana into the strongest offensive spell he had available, which he'd received during his 3hr stint in the Mages Guild Archives: the Lv. 2 Lightning-type [Thunderbolt]. At Lv. 2, it was the strongest single-target spell available. Passing on this opportunity would be a waste. He had finally managed to reach 500mp, a number usually possessed only by Lv. 3 Mages, therefore he could use this spell, but due to his lack of affinity with the element, he needed double the mana to cast it, an amount that was undoubtedly worth it considering its 250 damage. Of the gathered mages, only Austin was capable of using this spell, as the only other Lightning Mage was only Lv. 1.

After spending 300mp to create the Thunderbolt bullet, he rechecked his aim before, "Taking the shot," he squeezed the trigger.

Far down on the battlefield, Vincent had just stepped out to survey the situation. He hadn't expected a sudden attack from the provincial army. He was very clear about how difficult it was to pinpoint its location. Seeing his men, who were about as trained as rabble, being reduced to less than half in less than five minutes due to the surge of cavalry and the countless well-trained soldiers and powerful adventurers, he reached for his battleaxe, strapped to his back, and began to draw it.

However, Luca's shot was well-planned, as it carved through the air, breaking the sound barrier and crossing the distance faster than any attack ever seen before. The confident warrior began to sneer, only to suddenly sense death and instinctively react to avoid it. Unfortunately, Luca's bullet was faster than his instincts, and it crossed the valley to pierce into the bandit leader's left chest, grazing the side of his heart before the spell within unleashed itself. With a roaring crack of thunder, a bolt of lightning suddenly burst from Vincent's chest, spearing through both sides of his body and destroying numerous objects in its short but powerful wake. The astonished warrior's eyes turned to look towards the cliffside, briefly managing to spot his killer before laughing like a madman and toppling to the ground, battleaxe clattering down beside him.

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You have successfully slain Vincent of Bloody Gold, a target more than 3 levels above your own. You may select one bonus ability from the rewards.

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Luca read this pop-up with a grin, "Target eliminated. Reed, relay the success to the Commander!" Luca knew his victory was a combination of two separate factors, and the loss of one would have made the attack only partially a victory. His choice of the spell had the highest damage of those that he knew, adding the triple damage from a critical hit, took out 750hp from the near 1500hp of the Lv. 5 Warrior. That alone would have only crippled him, thus making it easier but not lowering the loss of lives. The second was the sneak attack bonus's double overall damage. The first attack of someone in hiding will always be double the strength, and it can only happen once per battle. Luca's 750 damage was doubled to 1500 due to his decision to use his biggest spell right off the bat, thus ensuring Vincent's death.

Reed, absolutely horrified at the little boy's destructive prowess, briefly blanked before recalling his duties. His coded sounds were transmitted back to his compatriots, who in turn passed them on until it reached the ears of Zachariah, who began to guffaw with pure elation at the relief of not needing to fight such a powerful figure for this mission. He thoroughly enjoyed combat, but not if it cost his men their lives. "All units, attack!"

Checking his MP gauge, Luca determined that he had about 100mp left. While he did have strong AoE spells, he didn't have enough mana to use them due to his lack of affinity. "I can't help any more than this, so my job is done. Arc, come over here and start using your Earth and Water magic to help the army. Keep your wings folded, you don't want to take arrows to them."

(On it, big brother!) Arc, who had been itching for a battle for a long time, eagerly bounced up to the cliffside, issued a great roar, and began sending Ice Spikes and Earth Spikes down on the bandits, followed by the occasional Stream or Mud Ball to locations of tightly-clustered foes. All the while, Luca sat up and relaxed, taking his time to recover his MP.