Chapter 49. Tactics

[*Sigh* My guard turned on me... tried to choke the life out of me. Since he was stronger, all I could do before losing consciousness was... go over the cliff. Poor Windy here fell alongside us. If not for her breaking my fall, I would've died as well.](Bozan)

Seeing the horse's body almost broken in half as it fell on a sharp stone, the party also looked at the supposed attacker, the guard of Bozan.

The man wasn't as lucky as the Monk. Instead, he fell and hit his head on a rock. He probably died instantly.

Christine seemed convinced, while the other two just shrugged their shoulders. Therefore, Michael approached Bozan to inspect the wound.

"Tsk! The wound on your leg is too deep. I'm not sure it's a good idea to have the bone put back myself. Bone shards might remain inside, or we might even damage your nerves. It could paralyze your leg for life or worse. And I'm not sure a Healing Potion can fix that."

[That's fine. I just need a Healing Potion to hold on and make sure I don't bleed to death.](Bozan)

Agreeing, Michael handed the man a vial, which he proceeded to pour over the open wound. The party gasped at the confident action, even flinching a bit.

On the other hand, the Monk didn't seem too bothered by the pain of a liquid touching his exposed flesh and nerves.

[Good! Now, I'm guessing you still have some unused flares?](Bozan)

[You're considering using the flares to draw the guards here?](Aybdah)

[Yes. I can't travel without a horse, and having only the four of you escort me back to Kyovashad is not a good idea. We're only about an hour or so away from the city on horseback.](Bozan)

[The flare will attract the nearby monsters, demons, and other unpleasant creatures.](Christine)

From the frown on her face, she wasn't a fan of this idea. The Monk just waved it off as if it was nothing of concern.

[This path is getting cleaned up daily. At best, Ghouls, Skeletons, or Ice Clan goatmen should be around here. No other intelligent creatures come this close to the city.](Bozan)

"Give us a couple of minutes to discuss this."

The party distanced themselves from the injured Monk and discussed their next course of action.

[It's dangerous.](Christine)

[It's an urgent Quest from the Sanctuary. It's supposed to be. Also, did your timer stop as well?](Aybdah)

[Yes.](Burt)

"So did mine. There's no update, though. Which means that we probably need to decide what to do first."

[Lots of creatures will attack us.](Christine)

"That's true, but we have the terrain advantage here. They can't ambush or surround us. Also, using the blessings we gained from the Sanctuary, they should be manageable if restricted to Level 10."

[Still, I agree with Christine that it will be difficult. We'll have to survive waves of enemies until the guards arrive. And we're not talking ten minutes to half an hour. It might be as much as two hours until the guards send someone here.](Burt)

"Mhm. So, let's decide by vote. It's the fairest way."

Surprisingly, all four of them voted to use the flare. Michael looked questioningly at Christine.

[It's the most logical solution.](Christine)

"I see. Then, let's discuss the strategy first. I'll use my Skeleton Warriors as tanks while we attack from behind them. I can spread them out enough to allow maybe one or two enemies to squeeze out through the ranks, and we can take care of them."

[The main focus should be ranged attacks.](Christine)

"Agreed. As long as I have Corpses, I can use my ability to keep summoning and healing my minions. So, the two of us can focus on killing them fast while Burt and Aybdah will take care of the stragglers that bypass my minions. To ensure our survival, Christine, you can attack the stragglers while I support my minions with spells and ranged attacks."

The conversation continued for another five minutes, after which Aybdah scouted the surroundings. Christine got up back on the cliff from where the Monk fell and brought up a long rope used to secure the chest with tithes.

They concluded that she'd stay up there and snipe the attackers, as she had the longest range among the four.

[I still don't like the idea of you staying alone up there. What if some creature sneaks up on you?](Burt)

[I have Detection.](Christine)

[Even so...](Burt)

[It's going to be fine.](Christine)

Seeing the two flirt so openly made Michael roll his eyes and ignore the duo. As Christine said, she had three amazingly good passive skills as an Archer Class. One was Archery, which increased both her accuracy and range. Another was Elemental Enhancement, which added a random elemental attack to her arrows each time she fired one. The final passive was Detection, which could locate enemies within a five hundred meters range around her.

After she explained it, it was like a mini-radar in her mind that would show the general location of the interlopers. This would ensure her safety while she guarded theirs from the cliff.

Seeing Christine undo the rope around the chest with tithes, Bozan raised an eyebrow and looked my way.

[It seems that you've decided to use the flare?](Bozan)

"Mhm. Do you have any weapons to defend yourself with?"

[I used a bow, but I'm in no condition to shoot arrows like this.](Bozan)

"That's okay. Just stay where you are for now. Hmm? Are you back already, Abydah? Anything worth mentioning?"

[There's an Ice Clan patrol nearby. The goatmen mentioned before by the Monk. Twenty of them in total. Five have cleavers, and the other fifteen have javelins.](Abydah)

Hearing the number, Michael winced, and so did the others. They couldn't use the flare and draw that huge group here; otherwise, instead of using the cliff to their advantage, they would be skewered by javelins from a distance with nowhere to run.

"We need to either kill or distract the group from our location. I can use my minions for that, but even with the four of us, I don't have enough confidence in wiping out 20 goatmen, of which 3/4 have ranged attacks."

[Yeah. If all of them attack at once, we're dead. Their weapons are at least three meters in length. If they have the strength and precision to throw those, I can confidently say that I can't block or evade multiple of them simultaneously.](Aybdah)

[None of us can. Piercing attacks are the hardest to deal with.](Christine)

[Not at our levels, at least. We need better terrain advantage if we want to deal with them with our numbers.](Burt)

Seeing us unable to decide what to do, Bozan coughed to draw our attention.

[About half a kilometer from here, there's a tight road between the cliffs. You can use it to decrease the number of goatmen attacking you at the same time.](Bozan)

[Hmm? Where? Is it in the Northern direction? I think I saw it.](Aybdah)

[Yes.](Bozan)

"If that's the case, go take another look, Aybdah. We'll decide what to do after you return."

After sitting on needles for half an hour, praying that the goatmen wouldn't suddenly move their way, Aybdah returned.

[Both good news and bad news. The goatmen are about a kilometer away from our location. From the looks of it, they are headed straight for us.](Aybdah)

"Shit. And the good news?"

[The location looks good, but... if we don't play our cards right, it might turn into our grave. It's indeed a narrow road between two cliffs that goes inside of a cave. Only about two goatmen can pass side-by-side at once, and the ceiling is lower than three meters once closer to the cave.](Aybdah)

[They won't be able to throw javelins with precision.](Christine)

[Mhm. But our own ranged attacks will be limited as well. You might be fine as an Archer, but my throwing knives will become utterly useless.](Aybdah)

[Hmm... it would be best if we could draw them inside the cave in pairs. It would be easier to take them out. I can also use my totems to weaken them and strengthen us, but it's limited to one use only. I only have about 6 Stamina Potions that we can use.](Burt)

"What are the effects?"

[Reduce fatigue to zero for about an hour or so, after which the one that used it will be dead tired.](Burt)

Hearing the effects and imagining how they could use it after they were almost overwhelmed by fatigue, Michael already came up with a plan.

"Aybdah, could you draw them to the cave?"

[Shouldn't be too hard. I think they're heading here now because they caught our scent. To be more precise, the scent of the horse over there. Too much blood on the ground, and the wind blows toward the goatmen.](Aybdah)

"I see. In that case, what do you think about going to that cave to deal with the goatmen first and then using the flare?"

Hearing my proposal, everyone looked at Bozan first. The Monk had a wry smile on his face, which looked worse than crying.

[I would ask you to carry me, if possible.](Bozan)

Looking at the wound on his leg, Michael grimaced.

"Aybdah, any trees you saw nearby? I need two long and sturdy branched to improvise a stretcher. We can use that and some of the sheets they used to shelter the horse from the cold."

Seeing the bloody sheets, nobody said anything, and the wannabe Thief/Assasin disappeared.

As they were in a hurry, Michael ripped a piece of cloth from the dead guard and used it as a garotte to stop the bleeding temporarily. The Healing Potion also worked its magic, and the Monk regained some vitality.

Not even ten minutes later, Aybdah returned and rushed them to get moving. It seems that the goatmen were closer than initially thought.

"Burt and I will carry Monk Bozan. I'll let the Skeletons guard us in the same box formation, and Christine, you'll have to scout in front. Aybdah, I'll leave it to you to draw the goatmen."

[Mhm.](Christine)

[No problem.](Burt)

[There shouldn't be any issues. They are about five minutes away from us. If we linger any longer, they should see us. I think they have night vision, so we should get a move on.](Aybdah)

"Got it. Keep your distance. Taunt them if you must, but don't put yourself in danger. As long as you maintain your distance and they can see you, it's enough. We'll also move slowly toward the cave to make sure we can turn back and help you in case of danger."

With the plan made and the injured on the very shabby-looking stretcher, the party made their way slowly to the cave while ensuring they weren't more than a hundred meters away from Aybdah.

Since it was only half a kilometer distance from the narrow road, they made it there pretty fast, and as soon as they reached the location, Aybdah came running toward them at full speed.

Not bothering to ask what was wrong, they hurried to get inside. Christine cleared out the way and confirmed that there were no animals in the cave, even if Aybdah already cleared it once before.

The space was relatively small, probably as big as a standard two-room apartment back on Earth.

After hurriedly 'depositing' Bozan in the back of the cave, Michael moved the four Skeletons to block the entrance to the cave. Observing the low ceiling, they indeed wouldn't be sitting targets for the fifteen javelin throwers.

Also, Christine took out the tithe box that the system recognized as a Quest Item from her Inventory and placed it on the ground. Since it was big enough, she climbed on top of it to get a better vantage point.

Not even a second later, Aybdah squeezed past the guarding Skeletons and retreated behind Michael and Burt.

"Judging by the sounds, they were right on your tail."

[They sped up for some reason. Goddamn! I almost didn't make it. There was a javelin that almost pierced through my head.](Aybdah)

[Oh, damn! Can you hear the sound of hooves? It sounds so intimidating with the echo that you'd think they are hundreds if we had no prior knowledge of their numbers.](Burt)

"Enough horsing around! Let's get ready. Christine, focus on the ranged ones. Also, Burt and Aybdah, I'll let the Skeletons make way for one goatmen to pass at a time. Make sure you both focus on it and kill it fast."

[Anything else?](Christine)

"No need to get overcomplicated with things. There are only twenty of them. Let's clean them up!"

[Here they come!](Christine)

Looking ahead, two monsters resembling buffed-up goats walking on two legs could be seen charging toward them.

Not hesitating any longer, Michael cast Blight and threw it at the first two, effectively slowing down their movement.

As the frontrunners slowed down, the ones behind ended up pushing them forward, making the poor goatmen wielding a cleaver stumble.

Taking advantage of the situation, Michael had the minions immediately attack. As four swords fell on the fumbling monsters, Michael sent forward three casts of Bone Splinters, making quick work of the first two.

"So far, so good!"