Lord: Starting from the Pit-Dwelling Courtyard

Chapter 20: Goblin Hero

Mad lay prostrate on the hilltop, with Leonardo da Vinci and Sanlih behind him.

The morning sun spread in from the east, turning the wasteland gray-blue.

A kilometer away, the goblin army's campfires had not yet been completely extinguished, and several plumes of black smoke rose obliquely upwards, dispersing in the morning breeze.

"They're still fighting," Mad said in a low voice. "They attacked all night last night, and two breaches were made in the stronghold's wall. They used wood and stones to block them up all night and have held out until now."

Ron crouched and climbed to the top of the hill, with old Hall following behind. He lay down next to Mad and looked towards the village on the hill.

The slope in front of the village gate was covered with goblin corpses.

Some were already stiff, some were still twitching, and blood seeped into the dry, cracked loess, turning the entire slope a dark brown.

There were not many soldiers left standing on the stockade wall; a rough count revealed fewer than thirty, and almost all of them were wounded.

At the two gaps in the stockade wall, there were piles of stones and wooden fences that had been temporarily erected. Several soldiers were stuffing stones into the gaps while the goblins retreated to regroup.

"How much longer can we hold out?" Ron put down the monocular telescope he had made along the way; apart from the glass, everything else was made of wood.

Old Hall shook his head: "We can hold out one more time at most. Once it's fully light, the goblins will launch another attack. By then, the defenders on the stockade won't even have the strength to draw their bows."

Ron didn't speak. He looked down the mountain, his gaze sweeping across the slope, across the open space outside the village gate, and across the goblins who were re-lining up behind the open space.

Thousands of goblins huddled together at the bottom of the slope, resembling a mass of grayish-green mud.

A dozen or so wolf riders ran back and forth around the perimeter of the column, driving the stragglers back to the ranks.

Further away, a group of goblins with significantly better equipment were moving towards the front lines, carrying crudely made ladders and battering rams, forming a loose attack formation in the morning light.

"They're gathering," Old Hall said in a low voice. "They'll make their move at daybreak, and they got reinforcements last night. Otherwise, they couldn't have maintained a force of a thousand after several days of fighting."

Only then did old Hall notice the binoculars in Ron's hand.

"Young Master, what are you holding?"

Ron handed it to him: "See for yourself!"

Old Hall took a look at Ron's method and was immediately amazed.

Eagle Eye is a required course for all mages, but it requires 15 points of mental energy to learn, and only those who become architecture mentors can barely have enough mental energy to learn it.

So Old Hall had been eyeing this spell for a long time, never expecting that this little thing could replace Eagle Eye.

Ron shifted his gaze to the rear of the goblin army, where several larger goblins stood on a small patch of high ground, at least 1.6 meters tall, with two even approaching 1.7 meters.

They wore armor pieced together haphazardly from human corpses, but their weapons were real: a chipped battle axe and a longsword with a blunt blade.

One of them pointed towards the mountain stronghold and let out a series of hoarse roars, causing the surrounding goblins to lower their heads and avoid it.

"Goblin heroes," Ron said. "A few."

Mad swallowed hard. During his last reconnaissance mission, he had only seen them standing at the very back from a distance and hadn't dared to get too close.

This time, I could see clearly in the morning light: three goblin heroes, one of whom had bits of meat still hanging from his battle axe.

Ron didn't look at the goblin hero again. He glanced behind the high ground and saw that there were no more higher-level goblins, which was undoubtedly good news.

"The goblin heroes are the strongest force in this army."

"Three goblin heroes, or, if we're unlucky, three earth knights," Old Hall reminded him with a grave expression.

Ron nodded and looked away, beginning to draw in his mind.

He had already studied the terrain below the slope twice, and he had already created a mental model of it the night Mad provided the reconnaissance information.

The small hill is located to the flank and rear of the goblin army. Its slope is a mixture of gravel and weeds, with a gentle gradient, making it suitable for infantry assaults.

At the foot of the slope was a flat clearing, about a hundred paces wide, nestled between the small hill and the goblin army's camp. Behind the clearing was a temporary storage area for goblins' supplies, with several wooden crates and bulging sacks piled up, probably looted from a territory that had been destroyed previously.

He called Fanta, old Hall, and Leonardo da Vinci to his side and drew a simple diagram on the ground.

"The goblins' formation is in three layers. The front line is the siege force that is gathering, about eight hundred small goblins, plus fifteen large goblins carrying ladders and battering rams. Behind the middle line are the reserves and wolf riders, about two hundred, plus archers. The rear line is the goblin heroes on the high ground. We only have less than two hundred men, and we cannot confront a three-layered formation head-on."

Fanta stared at the simple diagram on the ground.

"Where to start?"

Ron's finger moved toward the clearing below the hill.

"There's an open space between the rear and middle lines. The goblins have pushed all their siege forces to the front, so the connection between the rear and middle lines is very loose. This means that Old Hall and I can sneak over there and set up traps in this open space. When they discover us, they will definitely send wolf riders to hunt us down. This is your chance. You must kill fifteen wolf riders in the first wave."

Old Hall immediately wanted to veto it, but Fanta nodded in agreement.

"No problem, my lord. I will personally lie in ambush at a distance and ensure that all the wolf riders are killed in the first wave of attack."

Fanta's guards were mostly knights, who were not only skilled horsemen but also archers.

Ron said with sharp eyes, "They only have fifteen wolf riders, which they must cherish. If they lose them all at once, those three goblin heroes will be furious and will definitely speed up their general attack. At the same time, they will send some of their forces to hunt us down. We must wipe out this goblin army as quickly as possible. If we can kill their goblin heroes, that would be even more perfect."

Old Hall ultimately didn't try to dissuade Ron, because he was going too; at worst, he would cover Ron's retreat.

"How long will it take to set up the things I prepared last night?"

Old Hall said, "I'll do it myself in about fifteen minutes, but to get it to the best condition, we need to test fire three times, so we're under a lot of time."

"That's enough." Ron drew an arc along the foot of the slope with his finger. "Set up here. When the goblins send out a portion of their main force to attack, as soon as they fall into the trap, Fanta will lead his army forward. Don't rush. It doesn't matter if we move slowly, as long as we keep the formation intact."

Fanta nodded.

"Da Vinci," Ron turned to the bearded man, "From now on, you will be under Fanta's complete command. If we win this battle, I'll allow you to choose two women first."

"Understood." Leonardo da Vinci's voice was deep. He hadn't said much since last night, and it was impossible to tell what expression was on his face at this moment.

It wasn't tension, more like the calm before a desperate struggle.

"Damn, the laborers and archers are yours. Split into two rows right here on the hilltop. The first row will use bone bows, and the second row will use light crossbows. You can only shoot when the goblins are within range. Don't worry about accuracy, just cover a small area. If any archers appear among the goblins, shoot them first."

The militia archers are mainly composed of hunters and light crossbowmen hastily assembled last night. They are positioned at the top of the slope, giving them a geographical advantage and allowing them to maximize their shooting range. Moreover, the goblin shortbows do not have the range of bone bows, so by the time they get close, many will die.

Mad nodded: "Rest assured, my lord."

"Everyone to your positions."

A kilometer away, on the wall of Wenger's stronghold, a sentry covered in blood rubbed his eyes.

There seems to be something moving on the hill in the distance.

But he was too tired; the wound on his arm was still bleeding, and his vision blurred for a moment.

When he looked again, the hill had returned to calm.

"I must be seeing things!" He turned around and carried the last bundle of arrows up the stockade wall.