What followed unfolded exactly as Leilin had predicted.
Along the way, ogres continued to come out and provoke them in ones and twos — anywhere from five or six to a dozen or so, but never more than twenty.
At that level, of course, they couldn't do any real damage to the caravan. Each time they slunk back in defeat, sometimes even leaving a few corpses behind.
Many of the mercenaries, who had been terrified at the start, eventually graduated to climbing atop the carriages and laughing at the sight of ogres fleeing in disarray.
This lighthearted attitude even spread to the Pale Hawk mercenary group.
At the very least, Leilin noticed that the other members all wore expressions of casual overconfidence — everyone except Siegfried and the mage.
"Two more days and we'll be out of this territory! This is the easiest job old Bam has ever had!"
During the caravan's advance, the dwarf Bam clutched his beloved wine bottle like a treasure, his ruddy nose gleaming.
"Those disgusting, filthy things — I never want to see them again for the rest of my life…"
Rafinia wore a look of pure disgust. Ever since her brave showing last time, she hadn't participated in any of the attacks on the ogres.
It seemed the little lady had been thoroughly frightened by her previous harrowing experience.
"Oooooh…" Just then, the terrifying howls of ogres rang out once more from ahead of the caravan. But old Bam just let out a contented burp, seemingly completely unbothered by the sound.
"Burp… Here they come again, here they come again! The ones who bring gold coins… I wonder who'll be lucky enough to cut off an ogre ear this time. That bounty's no small sum…"
"This time, it probably won't be that simple…"
Leilin drew his long sword, his face grave.
"What do you mean?" Bam still seemed somewhat puzzled. But his expression quickly changed.
A continuous, unbroken chorus of roars echoed in from every direction. Carrying a terrifying will that even made the warhorse Nick let out an anxious whinny.
"Damn it. There are so many!!!"
Old Bam's wine bottle dropped to the ground with a sharp, ringing crash. But he had no time to mourn his treasure now — he immediately yanked the flintlock pistol from his waist.
Thud-thud! Thud-thud!
Up ahead, the caravan had descended into total chaos. A massive number of merchants abandoned their goods and fled for their lives toward the rear, triggering an even greater panic. The mercenaries suffered heavy casualties. Even from here, one could see the dense mass of tall silhouettes closing in.
"It's a trap! We've walked right into an ogre ambush!"
"Help! There are at least two hundred ogres!!!"
"Damn it — where's the Pale Hawk? Where's Siegfried? Did he already die fighting the ogre shaman earlier?!"
The overlapping shouts washed over Leilin's companions, draining the color from their faces in an instant.
Then they were swallowed up by the surging crowd, swept along helplessly like powerless leaves in a typhoon, fleeing without direction or purpose.
"Sister Hera!!!" Rafinia screamed, leaping onto the carriage and taking over from the coachman who had long since vanished into the mob. She gripped the reins with white-knuckled desperation.
The halfling thief wore a helpless expression before disappearing into the tide of bodies.
As for the human archer? He had already saddled Rafinia's beloved horse Nick and bolted the moment the chaos began. At that time, Rafinia had been struggling to control the carriage and couldn't stop him. The archer had gotten away with the horse entirely.
Cries and screams rose and fell without end, while the ogre roars and sounds of slaughter looming from behind served as the perfect catalyst. The entire massive caravan collapsed in an instant.
Huge crowds shoved and crushed against each other. People were even willing to draw blades on their own companions in the desperate scramble for a way out!
In the midst of this enormous turmoil, Leilin quickly became separated from his carriage. Of course, this was intentional.
"So it really was a trap. Just a pocket formation, but the fact that ogres can come up with this kind of strategy really demands a bit of respect…"
At this moment, the heavy carriage was like a leaky, battered ship in a tsunami, liable to be swallowed at any moment, and old Bam had long since vanished from sight. Given the dwarf's stature, Leilin could only silently pray that he hadn't been trampled to death in the panic.
"But this is also my opportunity!"
Leilin's body darted nimbly through the crowd, charging in the opposite direction. Over there, the ogre howls grew ever louder, accompanied by ghastly sounds of tearing and biting.
"The main force of that ogre tribe should be gathered here now. This chaos is perfect for me to fish in troubled waters… and besides…"
A cold gleam flashed in Leilin's eyes.
The number of ogres was far from sufficient to match the entire caravan head-on. Even if they managed to rout the whole convoy, they would pay an equally devastating price.
That was why they had set up traps and ambushes along the road, and deliberately left an escape route open behind.
It wasn't kindness — it was calculated to trigger panic in the caravan. As long as there was still hope of escape, not everyone had the courage to turn and fight to the death.
And in the struggle for that road and the chance to survive, how many people would hesitate to turn on their companions?
More importantly, chasing down a routed enemy was a battle that cost almost nothing.
"Someone capable of devising this kind of strategy must be one of those cunning ogre shamans or the two-headed chieftains…"
A shrewd light flickered in Leilin's eyes. "So the only way out now is to push forward through the opposite direction — to break straight through their pocket encirclement. Their main force is concentrated here, and after the battle they'll have a massive haul of loot and prisoners. The chance that they'll turn back to chase me will be extremely small… As long as I can grab a fast horse or just run hard for a while, I can quickly break free from the ogre-ravaged zone…"
Anyone who could see this and act on it possessed genuine resolve and determination. Unfortunately, Leilin looked around and found almost no one who had made the same choice.
Perhaps some shrewd merchants might have seen it, but the atmosphere of panic had drastically dulled their capacity for rational thought. Or perhaps they had seen it but lacked the martial strength to break through on their own, leaving them to drift with the current and pray to the Goddess of Luck for a miracle.
"And besides… If I don't head toward the front lines, where am I going to find high-level ogres to drain energy from?"
Leilin's body burst into an enormous abandoned carriage. When he emerged moments later, he had shed his leather armor. The ornamental fine-steel longsword he normally carried had been tossed aside. In its place, he wore a black formfitting outfit and had wrapped a dark cloth over half his face, making him look like an ordinary common thief.
Only on his left hand did the
The further back he went, the fewer people he encountered. Abandoned banners, carriages, and even armor and weapons lay scattered everywhere.
Great quantities of blood flowed across the ground, forming dark crimson pools.
Occasionally a few ogres would emerge, still chewing on half-eaten corpses — a sight that chilled the blood.
On the battlefield, a handful of mercenary groups were still fighting desperately. At the very center, the banner of the great pale eagle stood unbowed.
"Captain, the brothers can't hold on much longer!"
The mage waved his hand, and several bolstering spells — [Courage] and the like — shot out one after another, revitalizing the nearby mercenaries.
It had been the Pale Hawk and several other mid-sized mercenary groups that had held back a significant portion of the ogres, buying the rest of the caravan time to escape.
But now, an endless stream of ogres continued to close in, even putting the mercenary groups at a numerical disadvantage.
"We've bought enough time for the retreat. Our duty as mercenaries is fulfilled! Prepare your spells, scatter the formation and pull out! We'll regroup at Boulder Town, the one we passed earlier!"
Siegfried was wreathed in surging battle qi, and his armor emitted a soft, luminous glow — it too was a magical item of considerable rank.
His massive silver-white greatsword was now drenched in ogre blood.
[Heavenly Fury Strike!!!]
The devastating combat technique of a high-tier warrior dwarfed even Rafinia's earlier display by several measures. The explosive surge of battle qi shot out like arrows, inflicting devastating casualties on the surrounding ogres in an instant and tearing a gap in the encirclement.
"Full breakout — NOW!!!"
Siegfried spurred his horse into a wild gallop, but as he passed the mage, a low voice carried over: "We'll break through the front lines and regroup at the largest city ahead!"
As a seasoned mercenary captain, Siegfried was nothing like the noble, selfless figure he appeared to be on the surface.
In truth, in the mercenary profession, being a good Samaritan would get you killed in short order.
But as long as he and the mage survived, the Pale Hawk could always be rebuilt.
"Judging purely from a mercenary's perspective, what they did was already more than adequate. Their little tricks at the end are entirely understandable…"
At the edge of the battlefield, Leilin's body concealed itself in the shadows. Arms crossed, he offered his assessment. "It's just… these ogres aren't as simple as they seem…"
His gaze swept past the front line of the ogre encirclement and settled on several spots deeper behind, where a thin sliver of killing intent flickered.
[Chain Lightning!]
The black-robed mage tore open a scroll. Rings of silver-white lightning detonated, leaping and bouncing through the ogre ranks. Those struck by the white bolts collapsed screaming, the acrid smell of char rising from their bodies. A path cleared before the mage.
Delight surged in the mage's heart — but before he could make any further move, a tremendous wave of magical energy suddenly erupted from nearby.
"Not good!!!" The mage's face twisted in horror.
After the ordinary ogres fell, several smaller-bodied ogres suddenly materialized out of thin air.