NOVEL WEB Chapter 29: Prairie Fire
“It’s the orcs!”
“They’re coming from all sides”
“There’s an ogre!”
The scout teams cried out one by one. By the time Ria understood the whole situation they had been encircled from all sides.
“Fuck, it had to be them of all monsters” She cursed as she gave the command to gather around.
“Is there something wrong with them?” Shi kun asked as he stood guard around her. Now that the enemies were attacking, his first priority was to ensure the mages' safety.
Or so he thought anyway.
“His majesty had warned me about the orcs. They are the most annoying foes to fight against.”
“How come? They’re not that strong compared to average players,”
“I asked the same question to him as well.” Ria replied as she surveyed their surroundings. Led by three ogres, there were 200 orcs surrounding them.
“They don’t have any particular strength or weakness. And they won’t surrender unless they are vastly overpowered. Do you need me to continue?”
“Tch…I see” Shi kun looked around with furrowed brows. Since the opponent had similar strength to their own, the only outcome would be a gruesome fight.
Neither side will gain anything from the battle.
Even if the humans managed to win, it would be a Pyrrhic victory.
“You’re missing something,” Jacob pointed at the front with cautious eyes.
“I’m not, Jacob. The three ogres, one of them is leading the other two, right?”
“Seems like it.”
*ROOOAR*
The ogres weren’t willing to let their enemies observe them any longer. Without any fancy tactics, they launched their attacks from all sides.
“Engage in melee combat,” Ria commanded with a mike like device in her hand.
“Shi kun, attack from the left and keep an eye on the ogre,”
“Jacob, we need a decisive blow. Otherwise, our causalities will be too high.”
“Got it.” Both replied at the same time and headed towards their subordinates.
Ria stood alone at the center as she observed the battlefield. She didn’t know how they were ambushed, but it didn’t matter now.
The ogres believed that they could win by launching a surprise attack. They had no idea that she had a cruel surprise waiting for them.
[Clairvoyance]
Ria’s eyes shined with a golden hew as she activated her one and only skill. In the next instance, the world slowed down around her.
She was able to observe each and every detail on the battlefield in slow motion. Of course, that wasn’t all. An enormous amount of information flowed in her brain.
There were thousands of possibilities in which the orcs would move. Their tactics, strengths, and weaknesses were laid bare in her eyes.
She knew about the ogre's next commands, even before they came up with it themselves.
Only a second had passed throughout this process. The golden glow faded from her eyes, leaving behind a splitting headache.
*Huff* Huff*
‘This will be tough,’ Ria grimaced in pain as she held her head. She was sure about defeating the 200 orcs with her capabilities.
Even the two ogres could be handled by Shi kun and Jacob. However, there was one more opponent left.
‘We need him…’ Her frown deepened as she thought about Zyrus. The ogre leading the other two was way too powerful. To compare him with the others would be a joke.
Her ability was akin to a cheat on the battlefield. But even then, she couldn’t bridge the gap in their power with it.
“I was thinking why he chose me of all people, but now it makes sense.”
“What? Why are you here?” Ria stared at Jacob with a befuddled look.
“Just passing by. Remember, it’s not a fight between humans and monsters,” Jacob replied with a shrug and left like a wind.
“Right! Why did I forget them? It’s so stupid,” Ria murmured as a bulb lit in her head. She also learned a valuable lesson at this moment. She realized that in order to make the best use of her skill she had to think outside of the box.
Even though the time it took her to come up with a plan was short, the battle was already going on in full swing.
[Taunt]
Shi kun activated his skill as he stood against dozens of orcs.
-5,-10-3-7
*Bang* *Crash*
Some swung their maces at him while others hacked with their broadswords, but his shield blocked all of their attacks.
The Taunt skill was a double-edged sword. Red-eyed orcs charged at him from all around the battlefield. Fortunately, apart from drawing aggro, the skill was able to reduce the damage taken from taunted opponents.
Even then, Shi kun was losing a significant amount of HP.
Ideally, 'Taunt' was used when the tank player had reliable damage dealers around them. What Shi kun was doing now could only be considered a suicide attack.
Much to Ria’s surprise, Jacob also used a similar strategy.
‘They’re both nutcases,’
She knew about their plans, but regardless of that, her assessment remained the same.
*Flicker*
Standing ahead of his not-so-useful subordinates, Jacob used the most common spell in the sanctuary.
[Fireball] [Fireball][Fireball]…
Well, even the trashiest spell could become powerful if you cast it a dozen times.
The entire battlefield was lit up by the balls of sizzling fire.
“Descend,”
*BOOM*
“AArgh-”
“Fire!”
“Save us lords,”
.
.
“Boss is so cool!”
“I feel bad after using the translator,”
Both allies and enemies were captivated by the might of a powerful mage.
“What a showoff,” Shi kun grumbled as he cast a sideway glance across the battlefield. At this point, over 40 orcs were attacking him from all sides.
“Let them in,”
“Cover the retreat,”
“Focus fire!”
Ria wasn’t standing idle either. She shouted left and right with puffed checks. It was quite a comical sight.
As a result though, rows and rows of orcs fell with her every command. There was no way the ogres could keep up with her when it came to battle tactics.
*GRRR*
The ogre leader knew that as well. He snarled with his gritted teeth and waved his hand.
Upon his command, the two ogres joined the fray.
Both Jacob and Shi kun were spent force by now. Although Jacob had managed to throw a barrage of fireballs at the orcs, it cost him nearly all of his mana.
He wasn’t like Zyrus who had balanced stats. As a matter of fact, his physical stats were worse than a goblin. Even with his mana stats that was the highest in the first ring, he wouldn't be able to do anything in this situation.
On the other hand, Shi kun had lost more than half of his HP. His taunt skill was still in effect, and as a result, nearly 50 orcs were attacking him.
With their combined efforts they had changed the flow of battle. One way or another, Shi kun and Jacob had reduced the orc's numbers by half. Thus, it was now a 100 vs 400 battle.
However, Ogres were an exception. Just like Shi kun and Jacob, they were as strong as an entire unit on their own.
The way things stood, both sides would suffer severe causalities in the next phase.
Ria wasn’t worried about such an outcome though.
She had left the two ogres and the 200 orcs for her allies to take care of. All of her attention was focused on the remaining leader at this moment.
“Retreat.”
*Awoooo*
The goblin riders made an abrupt retreat at her command. Now, there were less than 300 players left to face off against two ogres and 100 enraged orcs.
“All Units! Attack the ogre,”
“Protect the dealers,”
Jacob and Shi kun commanded one by one after Ria made a retreat. The Former divided the mages into two groups to attack the ogres whereas the latter sent the tanks and swordsmen to protect them.
*Swing*
“Argh-”
*Thunk*
“Motherf-”
Quite a few players died in the meantime. After all, neither the orcs nor the ogres were nice enough to let them change their formations.
“CoWardSs,” The ogre leader sneered in human language as he surveyed the battlefield.
He looked on as Ria and the goblin riders were running away. He neither had the desire nor the ability to stop them.
The foes this time were stronger than expected. Even after launching an ambush, he had lost half of his subordinates. Of course, not all was bad from his perspective.
After killing these strong humans, his brethren would level up as well.
The battle went on as orcs and humans died one by one.
‘It’s about time,’ Jacob stood back after drinking a blue vial, the one and only mana potion he had.
With shaky steps, he walked towards the burning area. He had sent his remaining subordinates to the other side.
*Sizzle*
Orange fire danced atop the dried grass while the air was filled with the scent of charred meat.
“Phew.. I should’ve spent some stats on vitality… Anyway, I hope this works,” Jacob muttered with clenched fists and walked on, even when his skin was melting due to the heat.
Neither the orcs nor the ogres paid attention to his actions. After all, what could a man do in the middle of a burning fire besides becoming a charred corpse?
Their thoughts were indeed logical. However, the man in question was a mage.
A genius one at that.
[Breeze]
A gentle wind blew with a sweep of his hand. It was powerless against the raging fire that burned all around him.
“Fuse.” Jacob shouted and poured out all of his mana. What he wanted wasn’t just a simple spell.
He wanted to create a new spell, something which he had done twice before.
*Crackle*
But unlike before when he was awarded the spells via achievements, the process was different this time.
The result remained same nonetheless.
[Prairie Fire]
A devastating magic descended in the middle of the battlefield.