Chapter 95 : Large Guilds Are Terrifying Indeed
[Wind Wall] could only resist normal attacks at the end of the day. There were countless ranged attack methods that could break through [Wind Wall].
"This is what's troublesome about large guilds...! They have all kinds of people."
Baron Trafalgar cursed under his breath. Where would ordinary adventurer teams have beast tamers? But the massive scale of the Black Eagle Mercenary Group meant they didn't lack talent.
Sigrdrífa immediately hugged Lily, but stealth couldn't carry others.
"Everyone! Please stand beside me!"
I spread my chains, weaving them into a huge spider web in front of me.
A skill usable when using whips, chains, and similar weapons: Net. It wove a shield-like net according to the weapon's length to defend against arrows and other physical ranged attacks. Its effect wasn't as solid as a shield, but had spider web-like stickiness that could temporarily halt attacks when they contacted the web's edges.
It looked similar to borrowing arrows with a straw boat, but in principle, these arrows were difficult to remove because they were only temporarily halted, not dispelling the magic attached to the arrows.
For example, the [[Cloud-Piercing Arrow]] stuck to the chains had an additional magic effect that dealt extra damage to light armor units. If one rashly touched it, it would be no different from touching thorns with bare hands.
The net I wove had no gaps for arrows to penetrate through. After one wave of arrow rain, the net was filled with arrows carrying additional magic effects. Not only that, arcane missiles were also flying from the distance.
Arcane missiles were a skill commonly used by mages, sacrificing damage in exchange for range and firing speed. They wanted to use arrow rain and arcane missiles to delay our escape speed. My detection skill sensed that multiple players were riding mounts toward us. They seemed specialized in riding skills, coordinating with their mounts for short-distance charges.
"They have so many mounts..."
"That's normal," Baron Trafalgar said. "Multiple players in the Black Eagle Mercenary Group have noble titles and their own territories. The stables in their territories raise mounts specifically for guild members. As long as they contribute to the guild, the organizers will distribute mounts."
Scary... they even provide mount distribution, no wonder they have so many people...
But this wasn't good news for us. If classified, would they count as light cavalry? There were nearly a hundred of them. Just the number of charging light cavalry was more than any adventurer team we'd encountered before.
As the arcane missiles approached, I seized the opportunity and met them with the net.
Skills without physical form couldn't be caught with nets, but if I timed it right—
"You can even use Refraction?"
Refraction—named after light refracting when hitting a mirror. As the name implied, this skill's effect was to absorb projectile single-target skills and magic, then adjust their direction and reflect them back.
The arcane missiles hit as if striking cotton, then bounced back toward the charging adventurers along with the arrows absorbed by the net.
"Huh?"
The adventurers were slightly surprised. Most immediately reined in their horses, but only a few broke away from the group and continued charging forward. They didn't seem to lack coordination; rather, they seemed to deliberately push to the front.
Sure enough, as the arrows and arcane missiles approached, the speed of several adventurers decreased significantly, replaced by the appearance of a wall made of illusory bricks in front.
Shield Wall—sacrificing one's movement speed to expand the defensive area and absorb frontal impacts.
Not a single arcane missile or arrow failed to be absorbed by the shield wall, though I hadn't expected to cause trouble with their attacks anyway.
I threw out my chains, and the moment the shield wall ended, I struck their mounts.
Mounts in the game weren't like mounts in some games that were like dead objects. Mounts had their own attributes, such as [[Courage]], which determined the mount's bravery and whether they would be frightened on the battlefield. Of course, this also meant that when mounts were attacked strongly and became uncontrollable, they would throw their riders off.
Several adventurers were thrown off by their panicked mounts, but several whistle sounds came from behind, and the startled mounts all calmed down again.
Another beast tamer...
Possibly due to some Buff the adventurers had applied beforehand, the mounts didn't die on the spot after being hit by the chains and could continue fighting. Should I have aimed for their heads?
However, there was no time. The second wave of suppressive fire arrived immediately. Their plan seemed to be using powerful suppressive fire to delay our escape pace. After all, anyone would defend themselves if they were about to be turned into a pincushion.
They used this time to let specialized adventurers advance, and the outer perimeter wasn't idle either. The encirclement network showed signs of gradually tightening and closing.
"Anna! This won't work. We need to break through."
"We can't go out rashly... They definitely have adventurers specialized in geography skills. We've been at the center of arrow rain twice. It's definitely not a coincidence."
The numerical advantage of the Black Eagle Mercenary Group was undeniably evident. If this continued...!
"Eh?!"
Sigrdrífa cried out in surprise. I thought she was injured somewhere, so while continuing to hold up the net, I turned back and asked anxiously.
"Rifa? What's wrong?"
"The [Golden Apple] is gone..."
"That kind of thing..."
There was no time to worry about the [Golden Apple] now. I was about to say this when I suddenly saw the golden apple in Sir Ivanhoe's hands.
He put on his helmet, mounted his horse, and placed the [Golden Apple] in a conspicuous position.
"Wait, Sir Ivanhoe..."
"Willing to sacrifice! Fearless dedication!!!"
Sir Ivanhoe completely ignored me, shouting out knight's code-like slogans, and actually charged out alone with the [Golden Apple].
[[Anastasia's affection toward "Ivanhoe" +3]]