Chapter 24: Strategically Underestimating the Enemy

Chapter 24: Strategically Underestimating the Enemy

Outside the village, Axi, who had just halted, looked at his exhausted horse beneath him, casting a puzzled glance at Airael beside him.

Actually, it wasn’t just his horse; Airael’s horse was in the same pitiful state.

Facing Axi’s gaze, Airael quickly explained, “It’s just a minor side effect of that magic from earlier. But they don’t seem seriously harmed. Let’s let them rest for a bit and give them some water and food.”

Satisfied with the answer, Axi decided not to press further.

Although it was Airael’s magic that caused this situation, it ultimately stemmed from his decision.

If he hadn’t insisted on speeding up, Airael wouldn’t have pushed the two horses with such exhausting magic.

He hurriedly dismounted, thinking it best not to weigh down the already tired horse any longer.

Airael followed suit and got off her horse.

They surveyed the village, currently being ravaged by the Orcs.

The whole village was in disarray, chaos reigning as the Orcs caused uproar.

However, one thing was certain: the villagers were genuinely hiding.

They were neither in the fields nor within the village.

This realization brought a huge sigh of relief to Axi.

Things weren’t as dire as he’d initially imagined.

Clearly, the people from the north were not the type to surrender easily.

While they couldn’t match the elite Orc troops that had ventured deep into human territory, they could leverage their knowledge of the homeland to conceal themselves, making it difficult for the Orcs to find them.

The Orcs rummaging through the village had yet to notice the arrival of these two significant threats.

“Should we discuss an attack plan next?” Airael inquired, observing everything.

“Do you think it’s necessary?” Axi countered with a question, not waiting for Airael’s response before adding, “Given the state of the Orcs, we can just charge in.”

Airael momentarily stood stunned by his words.

But she quickly laughed.

It did seem like that was the case.

The Orcs, frantically looting, were in complete disarray.

And they had scattered individually.

At such a moment, there was really no need to devise any elaborate methods to deal with them.

Charging in and taking them out one by one was the way to go.

The simpler, more straightforward approach would suffice; complicating things might actually work against them.

Axi returned a smile.

Then they began to stealthily enter the village, edging closer to the Orcs.

Upon nearing a distracted Orc warrior who was busy trying to catch a chicken, Axi suddenly sprang into action, bringing his sword down hard towards the Orc’s unsuspecting head.

The sharp blade cleanly severed the Orc’s head from its body before it had a chance to comprehend what had just happened.

Even after all that time spent looking down on the Orcs, it was still strategically speaking; in tactical terms, being cautious was wise.

This ambush tactic enabled Airael and Axi to maximize their advantage.

If the conditions allowed for such actions, why not go for it?

Moreover, it was indeed straightforward.

All they needed to do was approach the Orcs slowly and quietly, then swiftly cut them down.

Following this approach, Axi and Airael discreetly took down several Orc warriors using the same method.

At this moment, the Orc warriors began to regroup.

They had nearly finished looting and were assembling in an open area in the village center to pile their spoils.

The Riding Wolves were also left tethered there.

Airael and Axi hid nearby, watching them closely.

“The Orcs should soon realize that several of their comrades are missing,” Airael softly remarked, observing the gathering Orcs.

Axi nodded in agreement, affirming Airael’s insight. Even the dimmest Orcs would remember their fellow warriors.

If comrades didn’t return at the designated time, something was certainly amiss.

After some contemplation, Axi quietly asked Airael, “Ailia, if you were to unleash your magic with full force, what kind of effect could you achieve?”

Hearing Axi’s question, Airael glanced at him, then fixated on the group of over twenty gathered Orc Wolf Riders.

At that moment, the Orc Wolf Riders were still oblivious to the situation, waiting for their comrades to return.

While waiting, they chatted in small groups, relaxed and unaware.

Airael felt a bit torn on how to respond to Axi’s question.

If she used the Staff of Eternity to cast her magic to its fullest, she could definitely wipe out all the gathered Orcs in one go.

That was her maximum potential.

Unfortunately, she wasn’t using the Staff of Eternity right now; it was safely stored in her Storage Ring.

After giving it careful thought, Airael offered a somewhat conservative answer, “I could probably deal with about eight or nine Orcs.”

Upon hearing that Airael could take out eight or nine Orcs in one shot, Axi nodded and said, “Then you release your magic first, targeting those Orcs to scatter them as much as you can, and I’ll charge in to finish the fight.”

Hearing this, Airael couldn’t help but twitch her lips.

It was indeed straightforward, direct, and somewhat brutal—just like what they had discussed at the village entrance.

But hey, I like it!

With a smirk, Airael began preparing her spell.

While it didn’t seem like any mages were amongst the Orcs, to avoid attracting the attention of any keenly perceptive Orcs, Airael kept the noise of her spellcasting to an absolute minimum.

As a result, the casting process took a bit longer.

Watching Airael cast her spell, Axi turned his attention to the Orcs.

After waiting for a while, the Orcs finally sensed something was off.

The village was quite small; after all their waiting, their comrades should have returned by now.

The Orcs chatted among themselves, speculating what might have happened.

Ultimately, they decided to send some Orcs to investigate what was going on.

Just then, Airael completed her spell.

A ball of lightning shot from where Airael and Axi were hiding, heading straight for the cluster of Orcs.

The lightning ball’s movement caught the attention of the Orcs, drawing their gazes toward it.

Some Orcs were fixated on it at that moment.

Because the lightning ball was now close to them.

Then, it exploded among them.

With a deafening “BOOM!”

But both Airael and Axi were elated.

The attack had performed spectacularly.

In one fell swoop, it took out ten Orcs, along with a few Riding Wolves to boot.